episode_0016

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Agents walk through the facility’s interior corridors, which are lined with gray. Their footsteps echo with impatience.

They have urgent tasks to attend to. If the Association’s operations are paralyzed, there’s no doubt that villains will take advantage of the situation.

They don’t even have a moment to breathe, as they also have to deal with the aftermath of a tragic incident within the Association itself.

Amidst this chaos, Justice strides forward. Despite the noisy and crowded corridor, her footsteps echo clearly and distinctly.

She is headed for the conference room located in the center of the Association’s building. Although she is needed everywhere, the conference room is where she must go.

“Justice.”

“You’re here.”

Upon entering the room, she finds most of the Association’s executives gathered. With the Director and Crow absent, Justice must now shoulder both their roles and continue the struggle alone.

“We were just talking about you. How are you going to take responsibility for this?”

The elderly executives raise their voices and point fingers at the hero, considered the strongest.

“The Association’s reputation is in tatters. If this continues, the government will intervene. How could this happen? How could a hero affiliated with the Association kill the Director?”

“Because of you, we can’t respond properly and are getting battered by public opinion. If you were going to cover it up, you should have done it properly!”

The words of the old men buzz in Justice’s already complicated mind. She feels like she might explode from the stress she’s been under, and listening to this scolding only makes her feel more unhinged.

“Crow said it couldn’t be him. He asked you to wait because he would take responsibility!”

“Enough. We were fools. We should have dealt with it properly from the start.”

Justice remains silent, but the executives continue their conversation, cursing Crow.

“Damn that sly bastard. He acted all high and mighty, but in the end, he was planning to make fools of us behind our backs.”

“We don’t have time for this! We need to restore the Association’s reputation immediately. Justice, you must make a statement as soon as possible. It’s already late, but we need to contain the situation as quickly as we can.”

“It’s been three days. Three days… The initial response is the most crucial.”

Justice doesn’t even sit down.

She stands tall, clenching her fist tightly.

Her knuckles turn white from the force of her grip.

Her composure begins to crack.

“Damn it! The problem is that those materials were leaked in the first place. If this is the case, no matter what we do, we’ll always be one step behind!”

“It’s because you people can’t do your jobs properly! You should have secured the media first…”

“Stop talking nonsense. They didn’t just leak it to the media; they posted it on various websites. This is a clear provocation. A provocation aimed at the Association! Everyone, please focus on the real issue here!”

Everything they say is correct.

However, their words are so certain and clear that it makes her suspicious.

“Justice, listen to me. There’s a press conference scheduled for this evening. We’re writing a script to minimize our losses, and you just need to read it. Do you understand?”

Perhaps, as Crow said, there are still traitors within the Association. They might have turned their backs on Crow and some of their subordinates, keeping quiet and putting on an act…

But Justice can’t even begin to guess who is involved in the plan or where it started.

To be honest,

Instead of vague and uncertain conspiracy theories,

The claim that Crow was involved with REP seems more credible.

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June 27th, the Director was found dead. The estimated time of death was 11:03 p.m.

However, strangely,

The CCTV at the entrance of the Association captured the Director leaving the building around 7 p.m. He clearly left the Association four hours before his estimated time of death.

There was no record of him re-entering the building after that. This suggests that the Director infiltrated the building, avoiding the internal surveillance cameras. There is ample reason to believe this. The Director had to fight against traitors within the Association to stop the REP project. It seems he intended to gather information from within after infiltrating.

However,

Coincidentally,

On that very day, Crow also secretly infiltrated the Association. This leads to two speculations.

One, the Director and Crow were allies.

Two, Crow infiltrated to assassinate the Director.

But there is not a single piece of evidence to support the first speculation.

Instead, the Director was killed by a bullet from a gun often used by Crow and its matching ammunition.

A specially crafted bullet to combat Ability Users,

Provided by the Association, was shot into the back of his head, killing him instantly.

Bang!

As the gunshot rang out, the alarm sounded within the Association, and agents and Heroes on standby nearby began searching the premises.

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At that moment, Crow had a hunch. Something was going awry.

After the familiar sound of a short, intense gunshot, the Association building began to seal itself off. Knowing its excellent design and structure all too well, Crow immediately sensed that he was caught in a trap from which he couldn’t easily escape.

“Shit.”

Crawling through the ventilation ducts, he kicked open the vent cover and quickly made his way out into the hallway. When the lockdown started, sleep gas and hot air would blow through the vents. Since he had come up with the idea himself, Crow couldn’t help but blame himself.

‘If I had known this would happen, I should’ve left a way out.’

He tried to come up with a plan to escape, but he had only one option left.

To walk down the hallway naturally,

And get searched by the Association personnel blocking the entrance.

This would expose his attempts to dig up information about the REP plan. His future activities would undoubtedly be restricted.

Perhaps, inadvertently, there would be those who would try to assassinate him.

Still, getting out of the building was the priority.

Of course, he didn’t need to worry about the gunshot. Although it came from the Director’s office, the fact that there was only one shot suggested that the shooter was highly skilled.

And, naturally, Crow was certain that the skilled shooter was the Director.

After all, he was incredibly strong.

He was a seasoned fighter who could still actively participate in combat despite his age.

‘Stupid man. I should’ve just left quietly.’

So, for now, he needed to get outside and assess the situation himself.

At least one person had to stay away from the incident to handle the aftermath later.

If an accident occurred within the Association,

The innocent or those unaware of the situation had to follow the Association’s response protocol unconditionally.

And that protocol was simple:

Stop whatever you’re doing and move towards the entrance.

“Cr-Crow! What’s going on!?”

An agent ran towards Crow, looking terrified. He seemed to be scared out of his wits, but as soon as he met Crow, he sighed in relief and caught his breath. He probably thought he’d be safe as long as he was with Crow.

“I don’t know either. Let’s just go for now.”

“B-But the sound of a gunshot…”

“I heard it. It’ll be fine, let’s go outside and see what’s happening.”

The two of them quickly walked towards the entrance.

Already, agents, employees, some heroes, and executives who had rushed out without knowing what was going on were gathered at the entrance, undergoing searches.

“Damn, what’s all this commotion?”

“I heard a gunshot. There might be casualties.”

Murmurs filled the air.

And outside, suspicious eyes scrutinized the building’s personnel.

Amidst all this,

Crow looked around, trying to locate the Director, but

The Director was nowhere to be seen.

“…”

Then,

Crow felt another bad hunch.

If the Director hadn’t pulled the trigger…

‘…No, that can’t be.’

A creeping sense of unease began to gnaw at him from within,

But Crow trusted the Director.

He wasn’t the kind of person who would die so easily. He didn’t become the Director for no reason.

At the very least, he could protect himself. He’d be fine.

What worried Crow more was,

How he could help the Director if he had killed someone.

Perhaps this was a trap set for the Director.

If the Director was framed and arrested, the Association would be thrown into chaos.

As Crow was deep in thought,

Zzzz—

The walkie-talkies of the personnel conducting the searches buzzed, demanding a response.

“Please wait a moment.”

They briefly moved the building’s personnel back and

“Echo to Alpha, Alpha. Standing by for new instructions.”

Began to listen to new orders,

But before the voice on the walkie-talkie could finish, everyone started glancing at each other.

“…”

Crow felt it at that moment,

That those glances were directed at him, too.

Something was definitely going wrong.

This was a trap not only for the Director,

But also for Crow himself.

“Crow, put your hands on your head and get down on the floor slowly.”

Their gun barrels turned towards Crow.