Chapter 11: Crime City (6)

The thug who had been stomping toward us threateningly let out a horrific scream in an instant.

A hand had shot out from the shadows and clamped down on his shoulder, crushing it.

“Aaaaaargh!!!”

A cracking sound followed—the kind you’d hear from a piece of machinery being crushed by an industrial vise.

Crunch—

“Uuuugh!!!”

Unable to endure the pain of his twisted joint, the thug collapsed to his knees.

The one who had so swiftly taken him down stepped out of the shadows.

With golden eyes glowing in the dark alley, she approached—resembling a natural predator of the wild.

She had come without a sound and subdued her target in a flash.

“Uuuuugh!!! Let go! I said LET GO!!”

The thug, now on his knees and howling helplessly, began flailing as if trying to fight back.

Then, as if realizing this wouldn’t end well, he frantically dug into his coat.

His trembling hand pulled out a knife about the length of a palm and started swinging wildly.

“You f**ing btch! Let go!!!”

“…”

ST watched him with an indifferent gaze.

And just as the blade came close to her body, she flicked the back of her hand ever so lightly.

Clang!

With a sharp sound, the blade snapped clean off and flew through the air.

The thug froze.

Staring down at the hilt in his hand, now missing its blade, he went pale.

“H-huh…!”

It finally dawned on him what kind of opponent he’d picked a fight with.

ST gave him another hard kick to the shin, toppling him.

Thud!

“Khff…!”

But this time, the man stifled his scream.

He didn’t even dare to resist anymore.

On an instinctive level, he had realized she was out of his league—in physique, enhancements, skills, courage, everything.

With the threat completely neutralized, ST turned to face me.

“Miss Eve.”

Her eyes seemed to be asking, “What should I do with him?”

I pressed my lips together briefly in thought, then answered in a light tone.

“Hmm… didn’t he say earlier there weren’t any CCTVs around here?”

The thug, still on his knees and blankly staring up at us, went ghost-white as he grasped the implication.

He began to plead in a shaky, terrified voice.

“I-I’m sorry! I sincerely apologize! I’ll regret this for the rest of my life!!!”

“………”

ST and I silently stared down at him, which only made him panic further.

He slammed his forehead to the ground over and over, groveling.

“Please! Just spare my life!!”

It was a pitiful, desperate display.

I let out a sigh.

Seeing him so completely groveling made me lose any lingering resentment I had.

So I simply gave a warning.

“If we ever meet again… it won’t end this lightly, got it?”

“…! Y-yes, ma’am…! I’ll remember that…!”

I gestured for him to go, and he scrambled to his feet.

Clutching his swollen shin and limping, he fled deep into the alley like his life depended on it.

I watched his pitiful form disappear into the shadows, then said,

“Thank you, as always, ST.”

As always, she responded calmly and respectfully.

“It is only my duty.”

She had been guarding me like a shadow every time I went out.

Even earlier today at the shop—when that thug was causing a scene—she could have stepped in at any moment.

But I had stopped her.

No matter how awful the customer was, I didn’t want to be seen resorting to violence, especially in front of the shop owner.

I had held back to avoid harming their business.

But out here, there were no eyes watching.

Running into him again like this… I couldn’t help but think it worked out for the best.

Was that too cruel?

“Haa…”

Honestly, this kind of thing had happened more than just once or twice.

Thugs kept getting drawn in by how I looked and then ended up getting obliterated by ST.

There had been well over dozens of them.

Some weren’t just your average small-time scumbags, either—some were legitimate threats, the kind you’d call hardened criminals.

Once, even a dozen of them had come at us together.

Yet ST had effortlessly handled them all.

From my perspective, her combat skills were simply awe-inspiring.

‘I wonder what she used to do, back in the day?’

The question occasionally surfaced in my mind—but ultimately, I decided it didn’t matter.

With someone like her by my side, I had nothing to fear in this city.

Unless the secret of my [Miracle] was exposed and attracted the attention of a major corporation…

‘No way something like that would happen, right?’

Maybe I was just overthinking things.

After all, only two people in this world knew about my ability: ST and Kyla.

As long as they kept quiet, there’d be no issue.

Thankfully, neither of them seemed like the type to run their mouths.

ST was the one who had first warned me about how dangerous the Miracle could be, and she herself had urgent need of my power.

As for Kyla, I’d already contacted her and made sure she understood how important it was to keep things quiet.

So I was confident that my secret was safe.

Well—except for one thing that still lingered in my mind…

“Still, you must always be cautious.
A secret known to more than one person can never stay a secret forever.”

That expression on ST’s face when she said that…

It was far too serious for me to reply.

I’d just nodded, unable to say anything.

But deep down, I had optimistically assumed it would be fine.

‘Come on, as if…’

I’d been lost in thought as I walked and soon found myself back at my lodging.

“Then I’ll wish you a good night, Miss Eve.”

“Yeah. You too, ST. Sleep well.”

She nodded lightly and disappeared back into the city’s darkness.

At first, I’d wondered if we’d end up living together.

She didn’t remember her original home or affiliation, after all.

Her bank accounts had probably been locked too—she was legally dead.

But whenever I stayed in, she always seemed busy.

Whenever I went out, she’d appear out of nowhere to follow me.

‘What does she even do at night?’

I was curious—but it was her private life, so I didn’t pry.

I entered my room and collapsed onto the bed.

“Haa…”

Above me was a low ceiling, the size of a small single room.

Maybe one or one and a half pyeong, at most.

The room I was staying in was so tiny that placing a bed filled it completely.

At times like this, I felt lucky I didn’t own much.

Compared to the one-room studio I’d lived in during college, this was even smaller—but since my body was now smaller too, I guess that was one upside.

Even so, this cramped little space was still considered quite nice by this city’s standards.

‘Kyla really pulled some strings for this place.’

Most people here lived in far worse conditions.

In this hyper-dense megacity, real estate prices were astronomical.

Rent, let alone ownership, was prohibitively expensive.

The top 1% owned 95% of Omega Detroit’s real estate, forcing the rest to pay insane rent.

It wasn’t rare for entire families to live in one-room units like mine.

And in worse cases, dozens of people would rent a single small room together.

Their sleeping spaces were separated by iron bars and stacked like beehives to the ceiling.

Every slot was rented out individually—each bed was both home and living space.

Naturally, the conditions were horrific.

There was no way such cramped, low-cost spaces could stay clean.

People lived like caged animals, surrounded by bugs, mold, foul smells, and filth.

You might ask—why not just move somewhere better, like the countryside?

But that wouldn’t help.

In this world, nearly every megacity was like this.

The countryside was in even worse shape—barely inhabited, ghost towns at best.

No disaster caused this.

It was simply the result of extreme urban centralization.

The few elders who remained in rural towns died off decades ago, and everyone else kept migrating into cities for survival.

Even agriculture and fisheries—the backbone of rural economies—were outcompeted by corporate-run vertical farming towers near cities.

The countryside lost its people and its industries, and became a wasteland.

Omega Detroit, having absorbed everyone from the surrounding regions, was now like a massive city-state.

The corporations that controlled the jobs here were essentially kings.

That’s why I feared my secret getting out.

If those in power—who monopolized both capital and influence—ever made me a target, I’d never survive.

I had to be extremely cautious.

In that sense, maybe ST’s warning wasn’t just paranoia.

“Whew…”

I shook off my thoughts and lay down.

At least tonight seemed peaceful.

No gunfire outside, and best of all—it was the weekend starting tomorrow.

The idea of resting with no plans lifted my spirits a bit.

Until the next morning, that is.

ST showed up at my place despite it being my day off, and said something that erased that good mood instantly.

“Miss Eve, I have something to report.”

“Huh? What is it?”

As usual, her voice was calm. But the news she brought was chilling.

“There’s a rumor going around this area…
about a miraculous new technology that can cure cybernetic addiction.”