episode_0024

I didn’t completely anticipate this situation.

Choi Gaeun didn’t expect this to happen.

However, from the moment she reported to the hero, I couldn’t help but wonder if the heroes would come after us.

Because, if the hero investigated the scene, it would be easy to find out that the safe and the villain’s car had disappeared.

And in a country like South Korea, known for its abundance of CCTV and black boxes, finding a fleeing vehicle wouldn’t take too long.

It was only a matter of time before the hero found us.

However, due to an unexpected event, we ended up wasting too much time.

And to make matters worse, the hero who showed up turned out to be Choi Gaeun.

Gaeun’s face was flushed, her eyes flickering in embarrassment.

“You, you left Minji behind… I mean, how could you leave a girl alone for so long…”

Gaeun struggled to speak, pointing her finger at me several times.

I was in a dilemma.

What should I do?

Should I be honest?

Or should I confidently step forward, like in a cafe?

After much deliberation, I chose the latter.

“It’s not a crime for a man and a woman to be together, right? Minji will probably understand.”

“What are you… How could she understand something like this…”

“Besides, Minji and I already had this kind of relationship.”

“What?!”

It wasn’t exactly a lie.

It was difficult to clearly define the relationship between Hanbyul, Minji, and me.

If anything, it could be seen as a relationship between a victim and a perpetrator.

In the case of Hanbyul, I might not have known that I was the victim.

I tried to endure it, but I was tempted to ask for help.

“Minji, too… had that kind of relationship with her?”

At that, Choi Gaeun looked at Hanbyul.

Witnessing that pitiful sight, Choi Gaeun couldn’t easily look away.

She couldn’t maintain her usual confident attitude at this moment.

Her trembling eyes and hesitant fingers were evidence of her confusion.

She seemed vulnerable in this aspect.

However, Gaeun was unaware of this.

“In fact, Minji and I had a deeper relationship.”

“Deeper, how?”

Gaeun bowed her head, perhaps imagining something.

That imagination was probably correct.

I had endured Minji’s coquettish behavior until she finally showed her affectionate side.

“…Anyway… about that vehicle. You know it belongs to the villains, right? Did you take care of them?”

“…Yes.”

“I knew it… There were marks as if they were hit with a blunt object.”

Gaeun nodded.

Seeing me carrying a bat, Gaeun must have thought of me when she saw the scene.

Then she added, “What about the safe?”

“I… didn’t do that.”

“…You’re lying.”

I lied.

Even though there was a safe inside the vehicle.

I denied it first, even though there might have been footage of me carrying the safe in the CCTV or black box.

I thought I could hide it, after seeing Gaeun’s reaction earlier.

“If you don’t believe me, feel free to check inside the car.”

“T-There?”

Gaeun, flustered, pointed her finger towards the car, specifically towards the sprawled Hanbyul.

Although her complexion had improved slightly, her reddened chest and groin, due to intense stimulation, were even more noticeable.

“Yes. Go ahead.”

As I stepped aside, Gaeun approached the vehicle with hesitant steps.

Her hesitant approach made her look like someone who had placed explosives in front of her.

“It’s… hot…”

The interior of the vehicle was still hot.

The scent of a female and the heat continued to flow through the open door.

Sensing it from nearby, Gaeun hesitated to check the inside of the vehicle.

“…It seems like there’s nothing inside.”

“Can you check further inside?”

“It’s okay. No one will care even if the villain’s safe is gone anyway.”

Without going further inside, Gaeun’s only action was to observe from outside the door.

And eventually, she gave up.

It seemed like she had no interest in this side after all.

Then, she looked at Hanbyul blankly and spoke up, surprised by her own words.

“You, you did well. As an aspiring hero, it was a good thing to subdue and report the villain.”

“Yes.”

“But it was dangerous, the opponent was a B-rank villain.”

B-rank.

It was unexpected. Although I thought that their abilities were stronger than I initially thought, they didn’t seem like a B-rank villain.

And there was a story that I knew.

“Surely Minji alone…”

“Where did you hear that story… Ah, maybe you heard about Minji and me, our relationship.”

Gaeun questioned how I knew about that story, but then she glanced at Hanbyul and seemed to understand.

Gaeun explained to me about the past when Minji subdued the Scorpion Gang. She said that the fight ended with Minji using telekinesis to suppress the opponent before they could even use their abilities.

However, right after that, taking advantage of the weakened telekinesis, the Scorpion used their abilities and resisted the telekinesis to escape successfully.

If Minji had known that the opponent was an ability user and fought from the beginning, there was a high chance that Minji would have lost.

I understood why Kim Scorpion, a heinous villain, was not in prison but running a loan shark business in Incheon.

I missed him back then.

And now, I caught him.

“To catch a B-rank hero alone before the test…”

Gaeun’s gaze changed slightly.

It was a gaze that felt a bit warm.

“Ah, anyway, report the car later and return it.”

Saying that, Gaeun quickly disappeared as if she was running away.

The atmosphere and gaze just now. It wasn’t bad.

It seemed like Gaeun clearly recognized me as a man.

And I looked at Hanbyul inside the car.

“…Will she wake up?”

***

After some time, when Hanbyul woke up, I bought her some light clothes from around and sent her off in a taxi.

Hanbyul, who had lost her strength, became even more timid, so we didn’t have much conversation, but she nervously asked for my phone number, and we exchanged numbers.

I also got into a taxi with the safe and headed to the pawnshop in Myeongdong.

At first, the taxi driver looked suspiciously at me carrying the dented safe, but he didn’t pay any more attention after that, maybe because he didn’t want to get involved.

I was relieved because I felt the same way.

When I arrived at the pawnshop, I looked for someone to help me with the safe.

Finding someone to help was not difficult.

An old man appeared and said he would open the safe for a hundred thousand won, and after I paid him, he opened the safe right there.

It was a safe with a pad for entering a long password like a door lock, and the old man pressed a few buttons and opened it.

He didn’t hesitate at all to enter the long password.

“How…”

Satisfied with my surprised reaction, the old man chuckled and explained.

He said that while he didn’t know about safes that use keys or dials, for safes that use a password like a door lock, there is a long and complex emergency code known only to a few employees in case of a lost password.

And somehow, the old man knew that code.

Maybe because there were so many villains around.

Of course, there wouldn’t be an ordinary old man in a place like this.

Inside the open safe were thick bundles of paper and—

A shining gold bar.

I immediately took the safe and entered a bar inside the pawnshop.

Unusually, Violet was standing side by side with the bartender at the bar.

And when I saw the half-open safe and entered, I brightly smiled.

“As expected, you’re competent.”

“…No need for compliments.”

It was as if they were welcoming me warmly, as if they knew I would come.

The news of defeating the scorpion seemed to have reached Violet’s ears.

I casually handed over the safe, but Violet stared blankly at the bartender.

The bartender raised his hand for a moment and shook his head.

“I can’t lift something this heavy.”

“Is that so?”

“…Ah.”

That was true.

Since obtaining strength and stamina skills, I hadn’t paid much attention, but now my body was beyond the realm of an ordinary person.

I gave up on handing over the safe and instead placed it on the floor, taking out the gold bars and bundles of paper.

“Ugh, this is heavy too?”

The bartender received the gold bars, his face turning red.

I also thought it was heavier than expected, but it seemed to be heavy enough for an average person to lift.

“It should be worth fifty million won?”

“Fifty million won?”

Violet smiled softly.

Then, as if finding me cute, she patted my head.

Of course, since I was much taller, Violet had to tiptoe.

I found her reaction strange.

I couldn’t empathize with that reaction because I didn’t know how much gold was worth.

I only vaguely knew that people needed to buy gold, and that gold was very expensive, but I didn’t know the exact amount.

“This large gold bar looks like it’s over 10kg.”

Violet said, tapping the gold bar with her finger.

“If this is high-purity gold, after checking it—”

Her fingers increased one by one, until suddenly all ten fingers were spread out.

“It could be worth over a billion?”

At the unexpectedly high amount, my mouth slowly opened.