episode_0012

Seojin, who seemed on the verge of death, regained consciousness thanks to the potion I gave him.

“Seojin!! Are you awake?!”

“Ugh… Where am I… Could this be another world? Finally, I can become a hero and travel with voluptuous elves, a powerful wizard, and a water elf warrior, indulging in adventurous and naughty deeds!!”

“Phew. Seeing you talk nonsense reassures me that you’re back to normal.”

As Kim Jiho wiped off his cold sweat and let out a sigh of relief, Bae Jisoo and Kim Hanna approached.

“Mr. Jiho, what exactly happened?”

“Team leader, are you here? Seojin suddenly foamed at the mouth and collapsed.”

“Fortunately, Jinsu had a potion, so we used it for emergency treatment.”

“Seojin foamed at the mouth?”

When Bae Jisoo raised an eyebrow in confusion, Seojin, who had regained his senses, suddenly bowed his head towards me.

“Oh, great being of existence!!”

“Um…?”

All eyes turned towards me due to Seojin’s strange behavior.

“Jinsu, what did you do this time?”

“Senior Jiho wanted to test my abilities, so we played together. Isn’t that right, senior?”

Even though I had just been scolded for using my abilities on a colleague, I felt like I might get scolded again, so I threw Kim Jiho under the bus.

Fortunately, Kim Jiho nodded without ignoring me.

“That’s correct. I wanted to test the separation ability in detail, so I experimented on myself.”

“I see. You didn’t use it on Seojin, right?”

“Absolutely not. Right, senior?”

“Jinsu is telling the truth.”

“Hmm? In that case…”

The gaze that was on me now turned to Seojin, who was kneeling on the ground, trembling.

“Why is Seojin acting like that?”

“I’m not sure either…”

Just as I was about to continue speaking, Bae Jisoo’s phone vibrated.

“One moment.”

“Yes. Yes. Dalseong Park? Got it. I’ll send it right away.”

He put away his phone and let out a shallow sigh.

“There’s a report of an F-class superpower attacking another superpower in the labyrinth at Dalseong Park.”

“Kim Jiho.”

“Yes!”

Bae Jisoo is 29 years old.

Kim Jiho, who had just played the [separation] game, is 36 years old.

While they usually address each other formally, in work matters, they switch to informal speech, showing a respectful team leader and a respectful team member.

“Kim Hanna.”

“Yes.”

The straightforward electric gorilla also responded firmly, as if distinguishing between work and personal life.

“And… Park Jinsu.”

“Yes.”

“If it’s an F-class disturbance, it’s fine for just the two of you to go, but since it’s your first time, Jinsu, go and gain some experience as well.”

“Understood.”

Although I didn’t choose this job willingly, I thought of it as a police game, which made me feel somewhat good.

Moreover, the people going with me are C-class.

As an F-class individual, I probably won’t have much to do.

The good feeling I had just moments ago…

“Hold on tight, Jinsu.”

“Yes…”

As soon as I got on the motorcycle with Kim Jiho, things took a turn for the worse.

I had to ride with a muscular middle-aged man instead of a beautiful woman and shout, “Let’s go, bro!” What a pain.

As I sighed and reached out my arm, I felt the firm muscles under my touch.

“Ugh. Once I get my salary, I’m getting my own motorcycle.”

Even before receiving my salary, when I started thinking about spending money, Kim Jiho took out a glass bottle from the motorcycle trunk and handed it to me.

“It’s a low-grade potion, right? Take it.”

A kind senior who didn’t forget that I had used my potion on Seojin earlier returned the favor.

I wanted to accept it without hesitation, but the potion I had used was a fake copy.

On the other hand, the potion Kim Jiho was giving me was authentic.

Should I accept a kind gesture from someone who doesn’t have the attitude of an electric gorilla and is willing to backstab me? I hesitated and shook my head without realizing it.

“It’s okay. Since I used it on a colleague anyway.”

Adding my own persuasive words, I declined, but Kim Jiho chuckled and forced the potion into my hand.

“Haha. Just take it as a gesture. A low-grade potion could be a lifeline for an F-class superpower, so I can’t take that away from you.”

“Senior…”

“Let’s get going then.”

“Yes!”

Unintentionally, I ended up getting a real potion with a fake one.

Riding on a motorcycle, we arrived at the labyrinth in Dalseong Park.

As we approached the gate, a wall of psychics blocked our path, despite pushing through many merchants.

“I’m from the Association. Please step aside,” Kim Jiho said, showing his Association badge like a police officer, and miraculously, the path opened up.

A woman, who seemed to be injured and receiving emergency treatment with bandages, was sitting next to the gate.

“I’m from the Association. Are you the one who made the report?”

“Y-yes! Seungbin is inside the labyrinth! Please! Help us!!”

“Calm down. I have a few questions to ask first.”

Starting with a brief introduction of the villain and where they encountered them, Kim Jiho listened to the woman’s story and then turned to me and Kim Hanna.

“Hanna, stay outside and catch her if she tries to escape.”

“Got it.”

“Jinsu, you’re coming in with me.”

“Understood.”

After giving instructions, Kim Jiho prepared to leave, and Kim Hanna, as if waiting, took out a small potion from her pocket and handed it to the injured woman.

“You look like you’re in pain. Here, take this potion.”

“I’m o-okay…”

Although she didn’t seem okay at all, it was clear that she refused because she couldn’t afford the potion, as she was wrapped in bandages.

She probably came to the F-rank labyrinth to earn some money and ended up encountering a villain.

Feeling a slight sense of pity, I watched as Kim Hanna handed the potion to the woman with an ugly smile.

“I can get potions from the Association. So just take it.”

“Thank you… thank you…”

‘What a shameless woman… but she seems okay.’

She wasn’t completely heartless after all.

“Jinsu, let’s go in. Stick close to me.”

Lost in my own thoughts, I was called by Kim Jiho after he finished the procedures.

“Yes, let’s go!”

Let’s play cops and robbers for a bit.

As we entered the labyrinth, Kim Jiho opened the labyrinth map.

Glancing back, he seemed surprised and shrugged his shoulders.

“You… don’t have one.”

“Have what?”

“Normally, when you enter the Association, they give you one. If you had arrived on time, you would have completed a simple training and received supplies in the morning.”

Oops, my bad for being late.

Anyway, as I looked at Kim Jiho’s labyrinth map, I noticed three red dots on the map.

“Are these villains?”

“Yes. When a report of a villain comes in, it’s registered in the system and displayed like this.”

“What about the unregistered villains?”

“They have to be caught the old-fashioned way.”

“I see.”

In other words, it was easy to catch and manage normal psychics who became villains, but it was difficult to catch those who were hiding and not registered.

“So they’re trying to register as many as possible.”

After confirming, Kim Jiho put away the labyrinth map and rotated his shoulders.

“Fortunately, it’s only an hour away from here.”

“An hour… and that’s fortunate?”

“Of course. This is an F-rank labyrinth, so this is the norm. If it were a D-rank, it would take at least 6 hours one way.”

“Ah. Suddenly feeling like quitting my job.”

“Haha! Don’t forget, we only deal with C-rank or lower villains. It’s said that it takes a week to track down B or A-rank villains.”

“I’ll just quit.”

“This kid? Just become a B or A-rank first, then think about it~”

“Isn’t a 6-hour one-way trip still quite long?”

“Hahaha! You’ll get there in no time if you run~ Let’s go then.”

I really felt like quitting my job.

If only I could ride a motorcycle or a car, I could get there quickly, but unfortunately, we couldn’t use such means of transportation inside the labyrinth.

For some reason, we couldn’t cross the gate.

So even psychics with a lot of money and good abilities, like B, A, or S-rank psychics, either walked or used a Flying Scroll to fly within the labyrinth.

A Flying Scroll costs 10 billion for one.

Duration is 10 minutes.

“Shall we go then?”

“Yes.”

I let out a sigh.

Just a while ago, Kim Jiho said, “If you run, you’ll get there quickly.”

With his [Body Enhancement], Kim Jiho’s running was like no other.

“Let’s go together, senior!”

It was like a speeding car.

“Oh no. Jinsu, you need to exercise a bit.”

“But isn’t this just how I am…?”

In the end, Kim Jiho ended up carrying me and running.

Although the speed slightly decreased, he was still faster than me running at full speed.

Running endlessly towards the same scenery, getting closer to a massive structure.

“Are we going in the right direction?”

“Yes! Just keep going straight!”

“Got it!”

Before long, we approached the red dots.

“Senior! There are three people over there!”

“Jinsu, stay back and follow. You don’t have physical abilities, so be careful.”

“Understood. But I’ll still support based on my judgment.”

“Alright.”

As Jiho approached, preparing for a fight, I recognized something familiar.

‘Those guys… could it be?’

One dagger rogue.

One sword and shield warrior.

One archer with a bow.

Although there were no healers or magic users, it was a sturdy combination…

‘Those guys!!’

The thugs who had picked a fight with me for no reason.

Those who had been teetering on the edge of crime had finally crossed the line and become villains.

The archer who had been on guard seemed to have spotted Jiho and me and opened his mouth.

The other two also drew their weapons and looked at us.

“We’re from the Association. Will you come quietly? Or do you want to fight a bit before getting caught?”

“Damn… screwed. But it’s just two of them… what about that guy?”

“The asshole who escaped last time?”

“Haha! Then as long as we watch out for the muscle pig, we should be fine. Hey, guys!”

Initially cautious, the thugs started preparing for battle as soon as they saw my face.

“Jinsu, do you know these guys?”

“An ill-fated encounter, shall we say? I almost got caught by them yesterday.”

“Oh. So they’re not first-timers but repeat offenders? Even better.”

With a sinister smile, Kim Jiho cracked his knuckles.

“Damn it! Kill them, Association or not!!”

At the dagger thug’s words, the sword and shield warrior rushed forward.

“Hyaaah!!”

The warrior tried to strike Jiho’s shoulder with simple yet powerful swordsmanship, but Jiho’s muscles hardened as he took a deep breath.

The sword and muscles collided.

Clang!

“What… is this?”

The sword broke.

Jiho scratched the spot where the sword hit, as if it was itchy, and chuckled.

“Now it’s self-defense, right? Isn’t that right, Jinsu?”

“I saw it clearly!”

“Then let’s teach these bastards a lesson.”