episode_0023

Bank Robbery

(Bang!)

“Do you know how comfortable it is to blatantly rob a bank like this?” Arthur asked as he sat in a chair, looking at Seohyun, who was dressed in a costume next to him.

“What do you mean?”

“Being bold like this—”

(Crash!)

“…means you can even boldly open the safe.”

“I’ve opened it.”

(Ta-da-dak, clink, clink, clink)

The henchmen came up from the underground carrying bags and stacked them in the center.

“Come on, let’s move quickly!”

(Clack! Clack!)

Arthur stood up, applauding from his seat.

“……”

Standing up, Arthur, with a skull helmet, a suit, and various concealed weapons inside his coat, approached the Headhunter, who had the money bags piling up next to him.

“Wow, impressive, isn’t it?”

“I know.”

“Do you know how much this costume costs? There’s really no kind employer like me. I even provide such expensive equipment for employee efficiency.”

“…You seem to be wearing something different from what you wore last time, right?”

“Oh, did you notice?”

Arthur showed off his costume.

“If you don’t know this, you’re clueless, even the color is different.”

Unlike the black suit he wore when revealing himself for the first time and on days other than today, today he was wearing a green suit.

“New clothes, new mindset.”

“…”

“In fact, this has debuff magic defense.”

“Then I’ll give you that.”

“It’s about time for the police to contact us.”

Arthur said, looking at the phone next to him.

(Ring!)

And not long after, the phone rang.

(Click)

“Yes, I’ve got the call. This is Mad Hatter, branch manager of Union Bank, Zone C Central Branch.”

[…Guest?]

“The area around us is already surrounded.”

“Oh, it’s the police.”

[You may have the skill to kill an A-class hero, but it will be difficult to escape from this situation.]

“Making the impossible possible! That’s the magician’s mission!!”

[…]

Though unspoken, it was clear that the command center on the police side treated Mad Hatter as a lunatic.

“All right! Here are the conditions! 10kg of steak, 8kg of spaghetti, 4 bottles of top-notch wine.”

“8 bottles.”

“Yes, 8 bottles, and um… one helicopter?”

[…The Unified City does not negotiate with terrorists.]

“That’s the United States. They have heroes like Patriots there, so that’s how it is.”

(Swish)

(Tadadadada!!)

As Arthur raised his hand, the henchmen aimed their guns towards the sky.

“Ahh!!”

[…]

“I’ll give you two hours. Oh, by the way, my loyal subordinates are wearing bomb vests, just so you know.”

(Thud, thud)

Henchmen wearing bomb vests approached the bank window.

“If you release your hand from the button in your hand? If your heart stops, it will explode. I’ll let you know the power…is quite something.”

[……]

(Zing)

A red laser was aimed above the masks of the henchmen wearing bomb vests.

[…We cannot prepare a helicopter.]

“Alright. Let’s leave out the big one. Oh, and if the food isn’t good, he might be disappointed in Zone C. Well then.”

(Clang)

“…Should I say he negotiates well or has guts?”

“It’s because of his boldness that he negotiates well.”

[What’s the difference between boldness and guts?]

Hector’s voice came through the earpiece.

“What?”

[Guts is doing things without any plan or thought.]

“So I’m bold. Because I have a plan.”

[…Alright, you win.]

“Okay, add one more win.”

(Swish)

Arthur took out a notebook and pen from his pocket and scribbled.

Me | Hector

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“One win out of 30”

“…”

Jim turned away without saying anything at the densely drawn lines in Arthur’s notebook.

“Guys are always childish.”

Avoiding eye contact, Red Queen walked up to Headhunter, who was wandering around the bank, and said,

“Oh, a childhood friend?”

“Yes.”

“Were those two like that when they were young too?”

“Hector was the same. But… ”

“Was Arthur different?”

“Yes, he’s improved in a good direction now. It was much darker in the past.”

“Everyone has things they can’t talk about.”

Headhunter told Seohyun that Arthur had things he couldn’t talk about.

“Hmm.”

And she looked back at Arthur drinking his tea.

“Ouch!!”

The tea was hot, and Arthur stuck his tongue out in surprise.

‘…He was dark in the past?’

Watching Arthur, Headhunter thought.

(Click! Click! Click!)

Foods with heavenly flavors guaranteed by their aroma were being wheeled into the bank.

“Hmm, smells good.”

Arthur accepted the food one by one by smelling them.

“It’s amazing. There are no police this time,” Hector’s voice came through the earphones. It seemed they hadn’t deployed any police this time, probably because the last time they did, all of them were arrested.

“Excuse me.”

Arthur took out some bills from his pocket and handed them to the waiter.

“…”

The waiter stared silently at the bills I handed him.

“It’s a tip.”

“…”

(Swish)

At the word “tip” and the value of the bills, the waiter took the wad of bills.

“It seems like there’s someone smart on the other side,” as Hector had expected, there was someone in the command center who was far from incompetent.

“Why are we not sending in the police?”

“Mad Hatter has a record of finding all the infiltrating police. Whether it’s because of his ability or some other method, he has definitely found the police who entered underground or disguised themselves as waiters.”

Inside the command room, Detective Layton voiced his opinion.

“The opponent is very clever. Obvious methods won’t work.”

“So what’s your suggestion, Detective?”

“If we can minimize the area, we can block him off as an A-class hero if possible.”

“…”

“Either way, he has to come out. We just need enough forces to subdue him no matter which direction he comes from.”

Detective Layton’s suggestion was close to the right answer. Ultimately, the person who needs to get out of the bank is Mad Hatter. No matter which direction they come from, they need to be subdued.

“We can’t demand that kind of manpower just to catch a B-class villain.”

The superintendent leading the command center was also not wrong. The villain Mad Hatter’s grade is B-class. This is partly because Mad Hatter’s abilities are not precisely known.

Of course, his colleague, known as Red Queen, was designated as A-class after showing prowess in a confrontation with the A-class hero Snow White, but the command center still does not know that Red Queen is in the bank.

“They are the ones holding hostages. If they demand something with the hostages, we are at a disadvantage.”

The words of the reduction were correct. Eventually, when the mad hatter puts hostages and makes demands, the police have no choice but to show that they will comply.

“We need to suppress it in the end.”

Suppress or escape. This situation can only be resolved by one of the two. Well, as with any hostage situation, there is also the option of surrender, but there are hardly any villains who surrender in the first place.

“Then do we kill all the hostages and suppress them?”

“…”

Another problem is this. The mad hatter has hostages and their subordinates are carrying bombs. This is a very big issue in suppression.

“……”

“…Then let’s wait for now.”

“Okay.”

That’s how the police made the decision to watch.

“Mad Hatter, everything has been moved.”

“The goods?”

“Preparations are complete.”

“Okay, then let’s start getting ready to go out.”

(Swish)

Arthur picked up the phone and called the police.

[What’s going on?]

“It’s negotiation. Oh, I had a delicious lunch. The cooking in Zone C is also delicious.”

[What kind of negotiation are you trying to make?]

“I will release half of the hostages.”

“Half? What do you want?”

“Hand over the hero to me.”

I’m a villain. So naturally, they would have called a hero over there too. A hero is a big obstacle to my escape.

[…Alright.]

“Okay. Once we confirm the hero has left, we’ll release them.”

“The hostages come first.”

“If you want to receive them as corpses, you can do that.”

[…]

“I’ll give you 10 minutes.”

(Tick tock)

“How was it?”

“He seemed like a really bad guy.”

Seohyun answered Arthur’s question.

“Sometimes I don’t know what’s real about you.”

“Well, that’s just me. I’m such a diverse person.”

“Of course.”

(Click)

Headhunter nodded and took out a gun from his arms.

(Click)

“Are you going to stay there?”

And pointing at the dark room where the door opened in the corner, he said,

“?”

“…”

(Tap, tap)

Footsteps were heard in a space where no one should have been.

“You have a good sense.”

The man in a black hanbok walked out and said,

(Click! Click! Click! Click!)

As the man came into view, the hatters aimed their rifles at him.

“Hands up.”

(Swish)

The man raised his hands without any resistance.

“We need to talk, please understand.”

“What?”

(Ahhhh!!)

As soon as the man finished speaking, inside the building, the shadows grew larger and engulfed the people.

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

“…”

“Sob! Sob! Sob!”

When I came to my senses, I was in a Korean-style funeral home.

“……”

I could tell. My body wasn’t mine right now. More precisely, it wasn’t Arthur Reed’s body.

(Swish)

Looking around, I could be sure. It was a different body from Arthur Reed’s, and the funeral portrait hanging on my left.

“Oppa…”

The young girl standing next to me said, holding onto my arm.

“It’s okay.”

I could definitely tell. More precisely, I couldn’t forget. In my past life, I was Baekhyun, not Arthur Reed, and this was my father’s funeral home.

(Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!)

As the door opened, men dressed in black rushed in.

“You bastards! Why did you come here?!”

Some of the people eating shouted at the men who had gathered at the funeral home.

“Senior!”

“Get lost!!”

“I came to pay my respects too.”

A man who seemed to be the leader of the group, a man with scars on his eyebrows, walked forward and said.

(Thud thud)

The man walked straight up to me.

(Swish)

Then he bowed and walked towards the memorial portrait.

“…Ahem!”

The man coughed, lit incense, and bowed. But I could see it there. The expression on this man’s face, smiling.

(Swish)

The man who finished paying his respects walked up to me.

“Pity, such a pity.”

The man looked at the portrait and clicked his tongue.

“He was going to do great things, but ended up achieving nothing and died.”

“…Is that so?”

I didn’t want to see this memory anymore, so I spoke into the empty air.

“…”

“…”

“…”

As soon as I finished speaking, everyone around me and time itself stopped.

(Swish swish swish!)

Then the surrounding objects, people, and space turned into smoke and disappeared.

(Swish)

My body also returned to Arthur Reed’s body, not Baekhyun’s.

“I hope you don’t feel bad. I can’t be sure either.”

The smoke gathered and turned back into the man in the black hanbok from earlier.

“I understand.”

“It seems we think alike in some ways.”

“You received the event too?”

“Of course.”

The man standing in front of me right now

He is another possessor like me.