Ch.54Can’t You Just Be My Comrade?

“Do you guys know about the monster that was rampaging in Yeongdeungpo with only its legs remaining?”

“Yes, we know!”

“We saw it on the news!”

“Good, then this will go quickly. The culprit behind that thread is the one that appeared on the news.”

“W-wait, did I hear that right?!”

Originally, D.P’s main mission was to arrest deserters who escaped from military bases.

But what on earth is our general saying now?

“I need you to track that thing down.”

No…

No, no, no!

This kind of thing is usually the specialty of Hunters, not soldiers.

And now we’re being assigned to this?

I wonder if this is right, but then…

“We’re currently in the calm before the storm, right before a war situation.”

“…!”

The word “war situation” coming directly from the mouth of a four-star general.

At those words, Sergeant Choi Hansol and Private Kim Joonyoung swallowed hard.

“Consider this a DEFCON 3 situation and proceed with the operation accordingly.”

“Y-yes! Understood!”

“Then, Sergeant Choi Hansol. Should I track this thread?”

“Yeah. Since it’s such a thin object, it’s more suitable for you than me, Joonyoung.”

“Then… I’ll begin.”

Lee Seokgyu parked his Lamborghini near a hamburger shop.

Trying to be a “general who gets along well with his soldiers,” he bought hamburgers for the soldiers and returned to his car alone so as not to disturb their work.

“Here, eat while you work.”

“Th-th-thank you!!!”

Sergeant Choi Hansol saluted, feeling uncomfortable despite the general’s smile telling him not to feel burdened.

Meanwhile, Kim Joonyoung, who had Riverine’s magic thread wrapped around his middle finger, had been muttering to himself for a while, and then…

“Connect… connect… connect… success!”

Soon, the magic thread tied to his middle finger began to glow with a bright golden light.

“Oh? What’s that?”

“Sir! I have the ability to give very simple commands to inanimate objects existing in nature!”

“So you’re using that ability to command the thread now?”

“Yes, that’s right! Although it’s called a magic thread, magic that has separated from a human body becomes part of nature! In other words, it’s an inanimate object, so I’ve commanded this magic thread to track down its creator!”

“Hahaha! Now that’s an ability I like!”

He thought it would take at least a few days to track down the culprit.

Lee Seokgyu smiled with satisfaction, thinking they had already found the perpetrator thanks to these unexpectedly useful talents.

He immediately started the car again and said:

“So, can you track it right now?”

“Yes, I can!”

“Excellent. Then please guide us right away. I’m putting my trust in you two!”

“I-it’s an honor!”

“Thank you!!”

***

The Korean peninsula is primarily mountainous terrain, with rugged and steep landscapes making up most of the country rather than flat terrain.

Perhaps that’s why.

Although Seoul had become one of Asia’s representative cities after many mountains were cut down for redevelopment, there were still numerous mountains with dense forests, which were optimal places to hide.

“P-please, let us out…”

“I want to go home!”

“Please send us back! I really won’t tell anyone!”

In what appeared to be an abandoned factory from long ago.

Now, of course, no one used it, and it was rusted all over, but it had been remodeled by the Villain’s Troupe who had illegally entered Korea.

About a hundred citizens trapped in iron cages were constantly crying out to be released.

But four people remained completely indifferent, as if they were used to it.

Among them, Villain’s Troupe members Paul and Riverine were just about to head back into the city to catch the monster in Jamsil.

“Leader, we’re heading out.”

“Have a safe trip.”

“……”

“…? Leader?”

Riverine, who was walking alongside Paul while controlling her lower body, tilted her head in confusion.

Usually, their leader would say something like “Come back safely” or express unnecessary worry, but today she had been unusually quiet.

“Leader? Leader?”

Riverine called out to Katarina with some concern.

However, she was currently lost in deep thought and couldn’t hear anything.

‘That boy… why did he say he would help the Villain’s Troupe but wouldn’t join us?’

Currently, Katarina’s mind was completely filled with thoughts of Han Shinwoo.

A young man who suddenly appeared and offered to help her.

He was someone who could sense parallel worlds just like her, and at the same time, he showed interest in treating the Monster Disease, considered the world’s incurable disease—a rare talent.

Looking at the conditions alone, he should have been Honorary Member No. 1 of the Villain’s Troupe, but…!

‘Why… why on earth would he refuse to join our organization?!’

The two conditions he set.

One of them was to stop tracking the Jamsil monster, which was fine to give up.

After all, the only reason they were trying to find the Jamsil monster was to meet it and invite it to join them, assuming it was a monster friendly to humans.

Since they already had a few “monster comrades” on their side, giving up on the Jamsil monster was just a bit disappointing.

But the second proposal was different.

He said he would cooperate with the Villain’s Troupe but wouldn’t join them!

‘Are we that bad?’

An evil organization is cool, isn’t it?

I thought boys his age usually liked this kind of thing.

She thought she had found the perfect partner—someone with common goals, someone willing to risk their life for friends, and someone who could even share abilities.

“Excuse me, Leader…?”

“Riverine!”

“Y-yes?!”

Could it be that the Villain’s Troupe was unappealing?

Or was “I” the unappealing one?

She wanted to know that first.

If it turned out that I was the problem, then it was simply a matter of changing myself.

Katarina, whose mind was increasingly filled with obsession over Shinwoo.

She suddenly turned to Riverine, who had been trying to talk to her, and asked with a serious face, really! Really seriously:

“Riverine, what do you think of me?”

“…? What do you mean?”

“I mean me as a person. How do I appear as a person, as Katarina?”

“……Huh?”

Riverine couldn’t understand what she was talking about at all.

Seeing her expression, Katarina pounded her watermelon-sized chest in frustration and turned to Paul to ask again.

“Mr. Paul!”

“Yes, Leader.”

“How do I look?! As a woman.”

“A-as a woman…?”

How is she as a woman…

Well, she’s terrifying as hell.

She’s internationally wanted with a bounty of 100 million dollars, the highest reward amount for an international fugitive.

If she’s scary, she’s just scary—what does “as a woman” have to do with anything?

But the expression she was making clearly showed she wanted to hear something else.

“W-well… I think you’re beautiful.”

Paul smiled broadly and told a white lie, proving that his years of life experience hadn’t been wasted.

“Right? I’m pretty, aren’t I?”

Katarina, who might seem shameless but obviously knew she was pretty.

“And to be honest, my body is sexy as hell. Don’t you want to fuck me just as much as Riverine?”

“L-Leader…”

“Uuugh…”

The confident Katarina sneakily moved behind Riverine and began squeezing and kneading her breasts as if they were her own, complaining with an aggrieved expression.

“So why would he reject someone like me?!”

Squish, squish.

“Leader, if I may ask, were you rejected?”

“Yes! I was rejected!”

Katarina’s hands unconsciously tightened from the frustration she felt.

“Nngh?! L-Leader…”

Riverine was clearly embarrassed and silently pleading to be released, but Katarina behind her obviously couldn’t see that.

“Mr. Paul! We’re the Villain’s Troupe! The most famous evil organization in the world! The masters of the underworld! So why would he reject us?”

“…I think that might be precisely why he’s rejecting us.”

Would you want to join a Mexican gang that kills people and sells drugs, no matter how well-paid and well-treated you’d be?

…But if he compared their Villain’s Troupe to something like that, Katarina would probably go berserk again.

“In the first place, ordinary people don’t want to join the Villain’s Troupe—they tremble and run away just at the sight of us, unless they’re already criminals.”

Paul explained this obvious fact to Katarina as if soothing a child.

“I guess so…”

Katarina finally acknowledged this and removed her hands from Riverine’s slightly protruding breasts.

“Damn, but I still really want to get that guy into our organization…”

“Is there really someone in this country who impressed you that much, Leader?”

“E-enough to fondle my chest like that…?”

“Yes! There is! So much that I can’t hold back tonight! Speaking of which, Riverine, you’re coming to my bedroom naked tonight!”

“N-no way!”

Riverine, her face completely red, threw several nyan-nyan punches at her leader, who always seemed to go for her body whenever something displeased her.

Just then.

“L-Leader!”

“Oh. Our information gatherer.”

The figure who should have been “eating” by now to gather information about the Jamsil monster, but was told to just stand by after the plan was scrapped by Katarina.

A woman with ocean-blue hair who appeared mature on the outside but was actually the most flustered member of the Villain’s Troupe, in charge of being the “cutie.”

Dorothy.

She came running breathlessly, completely drenched in sweat, rolling her eyes around frantically, trying to say something as if this was no time to be relaxed.

…But what should she say first?!

“Ah… that! Um… that! Augh.. gaaah! Awuuu…”

“Dorothy! Take a deep breath first, then speak! At this rate, we won’t hear your answer even after the problem explodes!”

“Ah, y-yes!”

Hoo-ha-hoo-ha!

Hoo-ha-hoo-ha-hoo-ha-hoo-ha!

Following the leader’s orders, Dorothy exhaled and inhaled, breathing in and out until her chest felt like it would burst, and finally calmed down a bit.

Now able to speak again, she finally said what she had originally come to say.

“Th-the thing is, I think our hideout has been discovered!”

“What?! Damn… I’m already distracted enough with this man problem…!”

“A-and the people who are after us… one of them seems particularly angry, saying his son was hurt because of us!”

“To think they’d interrupt my ‘love’ over something so trivial…! I’m already in a bad mood, so I’ll handle this myself!”