Chapter 23: There Is No Perfect Crime in the World

“I’m back.”

“Oh, you’re early.”

“Yeah.”

Karin had come home. It was a bit earlier than her usual time after school.

Seeing that somehow made my heart pound.

Strangely, Karin was unusually quiet.

I slumped onto the sofa and started flipping through TV channels.

“Hey, mister. Why are you flipping channels like that?”

“Eh, nothing good to watch.”

“Hmm, okay.”

“Zero one.”

Nothing on.

If there were a proper program, I could pass the time enjoyably.

“But, mister.”

“Yeah?”

“Did you happen to come to school today?”

I paused flipping channels.

I never expected her to ask such a question.

My voice was definitely disguised, and she couldn’t see my face.

I even tested it by filming with my phone just in case. Now that I think about it, Karin kept looking at me meaningfully, which was annoying.

“Your school? Why would I go there?”

“Hmm, really?”

“Of course not.”

“So, what did you do today? I thought you had the day off.”

She asked me like she was interrogating me, even though she hadn’t changed out of her uniform.

I pretended to be calm, lying back on the sofa. I could feel her arms crossed behind me, looking down.

“Me? I was super busy today.”

“What did you do?”

“We had to interview new recruits for our team. And there was training. Thanks to my recent exploits, reporters are all over me. I’m really busy!”

“Oh, I see.”

“What do you want to eat? You must be hungry.”

Karin said yes, she was hungry, but without changing clothes, she started searching for something.

Under the sofa. The fridge. The wardrobe. She rummaged through everything.

“What are you looking for?”

“I think it’s around here somewhere…”

“What? What are you doing? Hey, don’t!”

Had she sensed something?

Karin began searching the house like a detective.

“Mister, your taste seems to have changed. The style’s different from the last lady you liked.”

“What do you mean? Hey, that’s not it. It’s just a pure romance story, okay? What are you thinking?”

Karin glanced at the DVD I had hidden deep away, speaking as if it were nothing.

“Hey, get out. You’re invading my privacy, you know that?”

“Hmm, where did I hide it…”

“Hide what? Me?”

It was clear now.

What Karin was searching for was the Justice Armor—the shameful tokusatsu costume.

I wondered how she found out, but I didn’t show it.

I planned to deny it to the end, and she wouldn’t find the evidence.

Because the Justice Armor was safely stored in my inventory.

A smile unconsciously formed on my lips. It was amusing that Karin was completely off track.

“Did you hide it in your inventory?”

“…!”

I crossed my arms and smiled confidently.

“That’s right.”

“What are you talking about? Speak so I can understand.”

I grew bold.

I had the evidence anyway. She wouldn’t be able to find it.

“Hurry up and go wash up.”

I said that and stayed calm.

Is this how a perfect criminal feels? The exhilaration pounded through my entire body.

It was a moment I wanted to cheer for this strange sense of guilt.

“So you really are Mister, huh?”

“Huh?”

Karin’s hand was pulling out my Justice Armor from the inventory.

Why was it coming out from there?

No, how did she access my inventory?

“Mister, you wanted to be ‘Red,’ huh?”

“…!”

I couldn’t believe the reality.

I wasn’t even curious how this happened.

I started walking, then broke into a run, wrapping my body toward the window and jumped out. Crash!

“Mister!”

Ignoring Karin’s sharp voice from behind, I fled the scene.

When do people think they’ll die?

When their heart is pierced by a bullet?

When struck by an incurable disease?

Right now, I wanted to die of shame.

The constant vibration of my phone snapped me back to reality.

-Karin: Mister, aren’t you hungry? I’m hungry.

-Karin: Mister. It’s okay, that kind of thing happens.

-Karin: Mister, why aren’t you answering your phone?

-Karin: Sorry for not telling you earlier. Since you’re from my territory, you can share inventories.

-Karin: It was actually hard, but I’m glad you helped today. My friends all said you’re super cool.

-Karin: I cooked what I learned at school, so hurry back!

In the end, I returned home.

Karin’s awkward tone of defending me felt strangely uncomfortable.

“Mister, aren’t you hungry? I cooked something delicious.”

“Yeah.”

“Hey, don’t sulk. Just sit there.”

“Okay.”

Sitting at the table, Karin, wearing an apron, carefully served the food and set the chopsticks and spoon.

“Actually, Teacher Tak—well, the trash teacher—was really disliked by the kids. They said he used training as an excuse to vent stress and that he treated them unfairly.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah. I heard he’s out for eight weeks and can’t teach for a while.”

“Actually, after he hit me, the teacher pulled out a weapon and attacked. I had no choice but to hit back a few times. But he seemed like he was foaming at the mouth, so it was kind of shocking.”

“I heard he was a first-generation Awakened and super strong before…”

“All the third graders who got hit by you were hospitalized.”

“Uh…”

“They were bad kids who bullied others, so don’t feel guilty. Everyone said ‘serves them right.’”

Though I couldn’t see her face, Karin’s voice sounded pleased.

“By the way, didn’t you say you cooked?”

“Yeah. Smells good, right? Should be tasty.”

Karin put a pot of stew on the table. Crawling out of the pot was an unidentified creature with red suction cups, struggling for its life.

Karin, acting as if she didn’t notice, pressed the strange creature’s head down into the broth with a ladle.

“They say eating delivery food all the time is bad for your health because of all the sodium.”

“Oh, really? But this looks even worse for your health…”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Nah, never mind.”

Our eyes met again.

The creature in the pot looked at me as if resenting me.

Hey, what did I do? Did I dunk it into the broth or slice it raw?

“But honestly, I felt kind of secure today. Like having a guardian. Heh.”

The meal began.

With trembling hands, I brought the spoon to the stew.

This was the first food made for me, and if I didn’t eat it, even Karin would be hurt.

I shut my eyes tight and ate.

Surprisingly, it was delicious.

That’s right. Usually, the worse something looks, the better it tastes.

Only then did I open my eyes and start eating. The stew felt like it was pixelated.

Wasn’t that the “Skull Water” Hwonhyodaesa talked about?

I learned something today: what you see isn’t everything.

The next day, I got a stomachache.

Since I was sick, I rested well at home. Although I was the team leader, the team wasn’t running properly, so there wasn’t much to do.

‘I really need proper team members soon.’

The people in Team 3 were already completely out of sync.

I thought I was pretty sociable. My interpersonal skills were okay.

No, even if it was a harmonious team, I planned to replace them.

The members of Team 3 I had investigated were all a mess.

They hardly trained properly and only cared about rewards.

Hunters should be constantly training to get stronger.

But these guys didn’t care about that.

So, they mainly hunted on the first or second floors of dungeons.

Since lower floors only have low-grade monsters, mining there was relatively safe.

The guild pays a basic salary anyway, and sometimes if you farm magic stones or good materials, it’s like hitting the lottery. So their lifestyle wasn’t bad.

Of course, safe mining isn’t a bad thing.

Magic stones have become an indispensable resource in modern society where Gates have appeared, and many companies want them.

They develop new materials, make weapons and armor, and resell them to hunters for profit.

Thanks to this economic cycle, even hunters who only hunt the lower floors contribute to society.

‘I need a team.’

A team of my own.

Comrades who can support me anytime and watch my back.

No matter how strong I am alone, I can’t handle everything by myself.

The importance of power groups was clear even in this other world.

Why I teamed up with the Demon King.

It wasn’t just the shocking support he promised; what truly resonated was something else.

“Do you want to rebuild the Order of Knights?”

The Demon King’s words to me.

From now on, I need people.

Mid-rank or top-rank dungeons are filled with brutal monsters.

Even watching overseas raid videos, large-scale battles were spectacular.

I can’t do everything alone.

Recently, I tried training acquaintances to join my team, but maybe it was too harsh—they all ran away.

‘I have to go out and scout directly.’

The Hanul Guild has a scouting team, but I wanted to pick my people myself.

Remembering that, I called the Demon King.

After a few rings, his voice came through.

“Leader Lee.”

“Leader this and that, do you remember what I said before?”

“Before? Oh, that one.”

The Demon King paused, then chuckled softly.

“I found your curriculum interesting. The plan to let prospective hunters loose in the survival zone for a battle royale, I get the implications.”

He proposed the hell training train curriculum.

As he said before, hunters do only half-baked basic training and jump into real battles.

That’s why when emergencies happen, they’re unable to respond and get defeated.

So, he wants to create a real, strong, practical training system and incorporate it into the business.

“But you also have to consider human rights.”

“Human rights coming from the Demon King’s mouth?”

Ridiculous.

The same guy who used to collect heads as if riding a horned beast was now talking about human rights?

“Unfortunately, I can’t invest in your business.”

“That’s a shame. Well, that’s not why I called. What about that friend who said they’d sign the contract—uh?”

The Demon King had said before that an S-rank rookie hunter would join the guild.

“I was just about to put them on your team. How about an interview today?”

“I’m on my way.”

If I want to go to the higher dungeons, I need teammates who can work with me.

And if they’re S-rank, we can get permission to enter higher-level dungeons.

I arrived at Hanul Guild, where reporters swarmed the entrance.

Unfortunately, their cameras weren’t pointed at me.

Passing through a human barricade, I entered the building through a path prepared by the guild.

No one recognized me yet. Not yet.

“I’m here to see the guildmaster.”

“Ah, team leader. He’s in an emergency meeting right now. Please wait a moment.”

The royal floor desk staff guided me to wait in a chair.

It seemed there was an emergency meeting because of the chaos outside.

“Ugh, Hyunji, this won’t do. I have to go quickly!”

“It’s okay. Go ahead, oppa.”

It’s rare for people to come up to the royal floor. It’s literally a place for the boss.

The man in the suit seemed desperate to use the restroom, leaving in quick steps.

Only the woman wearing a black hat and I were left.

‘Is that the person?’

The Demon King asked me to meet an S-rank hunter. The woman here was a strong candidate.

‘She looks so fragile.’

Thin arms and legs didn’t look like she trained properly.

She glanced at me from beneath her hat.

“Hoo.”

She sighed deeply upon seeing me and then walked briskly over.

What was this?

“Just give it to me.”

“Huh?”

Why was she suddenly asking for something?

“I’ll sign it for you.”

I blinked, not following what she meant.

“You can’t hide your beauty with that hat. Next time, wear a mask too.”

What was she talking about? Was she crazy?

“I’ll make an exception just for today. I’m in a good mood.”

She smiled as she spoke, and I smiled back.

“Who are you?”

“…?”

A brief silence.

Then her jaw flushed bright red.

Her lips seemed like they wanted to say something but mumbled and, flustered, she returned to her place.