Ch.92Don’t Make a Commotion

“This doesn’t look like a hospital.”

“Oh my? You can’t tell what kind of place this is from the lighting?”

“It’s not a butcher shop, at least.”

“Meat?”

“Ahaha, you’re both so innocent, really.”

After laughing at my and Sa Gu-gu’s responses, Gu Seo-ryong opened another iron gate, leading us into a room with a bed.

In the dusty, bug-infested room, Gu Seo-ryong pulled thin clothes from an old wardrobe and shook them out a few times.

She stripped naked in front of me and Sa Gu-gu without any hesitation and changed her clothes.

Wearing a rather revealing black dress and manipulating her body to appear as if wearing high heels, Gu Seo-ryong gestured to me and Sa Gu-gu.

“You’ll need clothes for yourself and for Gu-gu. Our goal is to explore A City without being detected by the Laboratory, right? Both of you stand out too much as you are.”

“Meow?”

“Aren’t your clothes more conspicuous?”

“Not at all! There are plenty of women who dress like this in this area, so these clothes are fine.”

I was wearing only firefighter pants with my upper body exposed, while Sa Gu-gu wore a white dress with cat ears and tail that kept popping out.

I might stand out, even if Sa Gu-gu doesn’t.

Gu Seo-ryong manipulated something on her phone, then motioned for Sa Gu-gu to follow her.

“The A City citizen account is still active. Money… already hacked. Tsk, that’s the problem here. You wait here.”

“What are you planning to do?”

“I’ll make some quick money and buy clothes. Gu-gu? Better come with me just in case. Stay in the shadows. Don’t come out. Stay quiet inside.”

“Quiet!”

As I watched Gu Seo-ryong leave, I quietly took out a cat and sank it into her shadow.

Then, left alone, I slowly examined the place where Gu Seo-ryong said she was born.

Creeeeak, the sound of old iron bars.

Every room along both sides of the narrow corridor had iron bars and locks.

It’s hard to consider this a normal living environment.

No matter which room I entered, the structure was identical.

A corridor behind iron bars, a room with a bed inside, and a shower.

Dirty beds and contraceptives scattered on the floor, used syringes, handcuffs, torn cloth pieces.

I brushed away dust from the bed, scratched the black traces with my fingertips, and smelled dried blood from long ago.

The syringes had a faint smell of stimulants, and the handcuffs had bloodstains from what looked like wrists being cut into.

Next to a mouse-infested pillow was a half-chewed business card.

Picking it up, I could read the faded letters on the discolored card.

Thrilling experience, anything possible, girls always available.

Among construction workers, I occasionally saw people with something similar.

I know what this place is called from what I heard from them.

This is a brothel.

And a rather extreme one at that.

[Hey, miss, how much?]

Just then, I heard a voice through the cat I had sunk into Gu Seo-ryong’s shadow.

A man clinging to Gu Seo-ryong, who looked fragile in her thin clothes.

He roughly grabbed her arm and tried to drag her somewhere.

[Please don’t do this, I’m not that kind of woman.]

[Dressed like that in this weather and saying you’re not? It doesn’t matter if you’re not. I’ll pay you, right? Come with me, hehe…]

Gu Seo-ryong was being dragged away helplessly, while the man felt a mix of excitement and anticipation.

She allowed herself to be pulled into a deserted alley.

[Ugh, ah… it… feels good… haa…]

[You like it that much?]

[I love it, ah… it’s the best, fuck…]

Excited breathing, joy, pleasure.

On top of the man writhing on the ground, Gu Seo-ryong had inserted the tip of her tail into his neck, injecting stimulants while manipulating his phone.

[Oh my? Lucky me. Darling, you have quite a lot of money, don’t you?]

[Huff, huff… I’ll pay, I’ll pay anything…]

[Really? Then I’ll take it all?]

Gu Seo-ryong wrapped her tail around the man’s wrist, pressing it against the phone and holding it against her own phone. A notification sound rang out.

After dropping the man’s phone on the ground, Gu Seo-ryong made a clicking sound, used her sensory confusion ability, and left the man in the alley.

[I’d like to just kill him, but… hmm.]

[Kill?]

[Gu-gu? Didn’t Mommy tell you to stay inside? Shh, be quiet.]

[Shh.]

After sending Sa Gu-gu, who had briefly poked her head out, back inside, Gu Seo-ryong went out to the main street.

Click, click, the sound of high heels drawing the attention of citizens.

Gu Seo-ryong walked proudly, smiling as if inviting people to look at her.

She said we shouldn’t stand out, but is that okay?

[I’m sorry, but our store…]

[Oh? I came to buy clothes. Does this store not accept customers?]

Arriving at a clothing store, Gu Seo-ryong showed her phone screen and went inside, changing Sa Gu-gu’s clothes.

A hat and coat like those from detective comics I saw as a child.

Even if cat ears and tail pop out, they can be hidden by the clothes.

Gu Seo-ryong changed into a seemingly less revealing but still form-fitting dress, and after picking up jeans and shirts, she bought a pile of oversized men’s clothes.

“Here, put these on.”

Shortly after, Gu Seo-ryong returned to the underground area and threw clothes at me.

A large black tank top and a beige jacket.

No pants.

“Those pants, they’re your favorite, right? I bought these to match. Here, shoes too.”

“It’s uncomfortable.”

“Bear with it. You too, Gu-gu!”

“Nyanyanya…”

Gu Seo-ryong caught Sa Gu-gu who was trying to kick off her shoes.

She explained what we would do next to me and Sa Gu-gu, now properly dressed like humans.

“Now, I’ll go to the villains to get citizen IDs made for you and Gu-gu.”

“Can you make citizen IDs?”

“It’s illegal, but yes. Now, look here.”

Flash! A photo was taken with the flash from Gu Seo-ryong’s phone.

“Gu-gu, follow Mommy. Just in case… no, this time don’t go into the shadow.”

“Meow?”

“Humans tend to let their guard down around mother and daughter. Annoying ones bother us less too. Stay by my side.”

“So much walking today!”

An excited Sa Gu-gu spun around the narrow room and pulled on Gu Seo-ryong’s arm.

Being dragged by Sa Gu-gu who wanted to leave quickly, Gu Seo-ryong pointed at me.

“Could you walk around outside and gather information with that cat? Listen in on people’s conversations to learn about the city’s situation. A City seems quite different from what I remember.”

“Understood.”

“Meow!”

I stood up and created two more cats.

Sa Gu-gu tried to run toward me when she saw the cats, but Gu Seo-ryong grabbed her by the scruff of her neck.

“Just to be clear, you’re only investigating. Don’t cause a commotion like in W City.”

“I know.”

“No, you don’t. Here, Matan might chase us, so be careful.”

“Matan?”

“Yes, an annoying guy with the Matan ability.”

Gu Seo-ryong explained to me about a superhuman with the Matan ability.

A City’s third S-rank hero, Baskerville.

His ability’s nickname is “the pursuing hound.”

“Within A City, he can shoot ability bullets that infinitely pursue their targets. All Homicide-rank to Destruction-rank monsters and low-level villains are his prey.”

“An ability that covers the entire city and has lethal power? Impressive.”

Abilities weaken the further they get from the core.

It wasn’t strange for Electris’s electromagnetic field to cover the entire city since it had no lethal power, but an ability with enough power to kill humans having that range?

“It’s not a significant threat to monsters like us, but once Matan starts chasing you, it becomes annoying.”

“I’ll be careful.”

“Good, then… if I call for help, come running like a prince, okay? See you later, darling.”

Gu Seo-ryong waved her hand as she left, then glanced at her shadow.

She must have noticed the cat inside her shadow.

After she left, I exited the underground with two cats.

#

At the entrance where boards had been torn away, I sent the cats out to the alley first, then slowly walked out, examining my surroundings.

The alley was full of moisture as if sunlight rarely reached it even during the day, with similar boards visible on both sides.

“Tsk.”

I clicked my tongue near a board attached to the wall, using sound waves to examine what was inside.

Using a monster’s echolocation, I sensed a structure similar to where I had been with Gu Seo-ryong through the reflected sound waves.

Was this entire narrow alley full of brothels?

“Hahaha, oppa, you’re so funny.”

“How about it? This much.”

“Come on, where else would you get service at that price~”

Through the cat that had gone outside the alley, I heard people’s voices.

Under the neon lights illuminating the dark street, women dressed more revealingly than Gu Seo-ryong smiled at drunk men, hiding their irritation.

The faint smell of alcohol from liquid spilled on the damp asphalt.

The red and blue lights reflecting and scattering on the water’s surface were similar to what I saw in Kowloon Walled City.

“Whoa… what’s with this person?”

“Is… is he a superhuman?”

“What’s with that height…”

As I sent the cat further away and exited the alley, I walked down the street receiving stares from people around me.

Mixed emotions of fear, anxiety, gratitude, and envy.

The emotions around me were completely different from those at the locations where my cats were.

“A superhuman I’ve never seen before… a new registrant?”

“He looks different from the superhuman assigned to this area.”

“Isn’t he just a big person?”

“Wow, is he really a superhuman? I’m jealous…”

Perhaps because of my size and height, with the heads of nearby humans barely reaching my chest, people who saw me thought I was a superhuman.

Humans tensed up and made way for me, while others bowed their heads in gratitude.

This is definitely… different from W City.

“Hey, be careful… there’s a superhuman over there.”

“What? It’s not patrol time. What’s a superhuman doing in Zone 9…”

“He’s not a villain, is he? I heard villains have been hiding around here lately.”

“No way. Would a villain walk around so conspicuously?”

“Let’s avoid him just in case. I don’t want to get caught in Matan’s crossfire.”

Walking through the dark street among tense citizens, I spotted a hot dog food truck in the middle of the street and stopped.

The owner was bent over arranging something. I searched my pants pockets and took out a few coins and bills.

“One hot dog.”

“The sound of coins? What the… we haven’t accepted cash for ages…”

The store owner stood up, saw me, and exclaimed in surprise.

“A-are you a superhuman? Yes, I’ll make your hot dog right away. Please wait a moment.”

A frightened reaction. The owner quickly grilled the bread and sausage for the hot dog, then took the cash I offered and politely held it out with both hands.

“The money isn’t necessary. I can’t accept payment from a superhuman.”

“If I’m a superhuman, I don’t have to pay for hot dogs?”

“Pardon? Well… of course not…? If you could just show your superhuman registration card.”

“Superhuman registration card?”

Finding this strange but liking the news, I was about to order 500 hot dogs when I closed my mouth at the mention of a superhuman registration card.

“You don’t have a registration card? Unregistered superhumans are… surely not a villain…”

“I’m not a superhuman.”

Seeing his ominous look, I denied being a superhuman, and the owner stared at me with suspicious eyes.

“…Well, neither villains nor superhumans would pay anyway. And with cash… are you from outside the city?”

“That’s right.”

“Huh, that’s rare. With your size, not being a superhuman, and an outsider at this time.”

The owner made a meaningful comment as he put the cash in his pocket and began assembling the grilled bread and sausage.

“What do you mean by ‘at this time’?”

“Ah, you can hear it right now.”

Vegetables, sauce, sausage, cheese… just as I swallowed at the appetizing smell, I heard something exploding in the distance.

Rat-tat-tat, gunfire sounds and boom, boom, explosion sounds.

Wondering what was happening, I shifted my gaze and sensed blood and gunpowder from nearby.

“It’s the heroes hunting villains. Cage just made an emergency declaration recently. Said he’d completely root out the villains who’ve settled in A City…”

“Hmm.”

Citizens passed by as if used to it, and the hot dog was completed without incident.

Just as I was about to receive the finished hot dog, two heroes flew in from where the sounds had been coming from.

“Oww~ it’s hot! Mister, do you have ice?”

“Ah… thank you for your hard work! Yes, I do.”

A hero with burns all over his body, probably from something like a grenade.

The store owner, startled, took out ice, and the hero entered the small food truck.

Then, without hesitation, he used the freezer full of ice like a bathtub and submerged himself.

“Ah, I feel alive again…”

“Ah…”

With a sizzling sound as his body cooled, the store owner tried to hide his troubled expression.

Those were probably ice cubes he needed to serve drinks to other customers.

“I need something to eat. Oh, what’s this? A hot dog! Lucky me~”

“Ah, that’s for a customer…”

Just then, the other hero grabbed my hot dog.

I frowned and grabbed the hot dog as the hero was about to eat it.

“…What’s this?”