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“Is this… the case you mentioned?”
The scarred man stared blankly at the object in his hand: a T-shirt printed with a purple heart. A pink dagger pierced the center of the heart, and on the dagger’s hilt was written [I_Vu].
“That’s limited-edition merch. It’s expensive.”
“Ah…”
He glanced at the black SUV parked behind Baek Ho. In front of its wide-open trunk, Sophia was pulling T-shirts and underwear from a purple box and handing them to the rescued Undead. The grotesque nudity was covered at least, but seeing so many people in the exact same outfit made for a strange sight… like a fan club at a concert.
“…Thanks.”
The scarred man folded the T-shirt and tucked it into his pocket. It wasn’t his taste, but he liked that it was a gift… from a necromancer, no less… the first he’d ever received. The fact that it was said to be expensive didn’t hurt.
“Excuse me, Necromancer.”
“Yes?”
“No, I was just wondering. Why do you go to such lengths to look after the Undead?”
He’d been on the front lines for over a decade and had never met a necromancer who went out of their way like this. He’d heard rumors that Commander Baek of the special task force did… but rumors were never reliable. He suspected it was just opinion-shaping for the commander-in-chief election.
“It’s a simple curiosity. You don’t have to answer…”
“My mother was a Reaper.”
“…What?”
“Go.”
Baek Ho left the scarred man standing there and climbed into the driver’s seat.
‘A Reaper had a child? How?’
Rough breathing reached the scarred man’s ears. He turned and found Frank standing with his back to the car, taking heaving breaths, shoulders shaking.
“Hoo…”
Tears, like scattered droplets, slid from Frank’s upturned face. Why was he like that? Following his gaze, the scarred man looked to the building. All he could see was the LifeGuard rescue team at work.
“Someone would think a terrorist attack happened.”
Black smog poured from the mid-levels. Two white hovercars floated there, green magic circles engraved along their side panels, racks of missiles bristling around them. They looked more like craft built to kill than to rescue.
Ziiing…
He zoomed his view with a flick of ocular controls. A pillar of light extended from a hovercar, illuminating the interior beyond the broken wall, and heavily armed soldiers poured out carrying stretchers.
“Hmph.”
Just then… while he was silently lamenting the boss’s unpaid wages… a woman in a white coat stepped out from the breach. She paused before boarding the hovercar and glanced down at them. When their eyes met, hers curved like half-moons, as if to ask, “So you were the ones?”
The scarred man averted his gaze. She wouldn’t retaliate, probably, but he didn’t want to leave unnecessary traces.
“Thank you for your efforts,” Sophia said, passing the scarred man with a nod. She went to Frank and perched on the edge of the hood beside him.
“What are you looking at? The LifeGuard?”
She patted Frank’s back. “An acquaintance of mine used to work for LifeGuard… Brings back memories. Oh, Frank, you don’t really know much about LifeGuard, do you?”
“Hoo…”
“They’re Underheaven’s premium insurance provider.” She held up two fingers. “They’re famous for two reasons: rapid deployment and overwhelming force. That rescue team is probably high-grade necromancers and Reapers.”
“Hoo…”
“They’ll do anything to protect their client’s life. If there’s a threat, they kill whoever it is. But once the client’s out of the danger zone, they don’t care. Their only concern is the client.”
The scarred man frowned at the pair… one suddenly crying nonstop, the other chattering on about things no one had asked. He suspected their vessels were contaminated, their error circuits misfiring.
‘Do the necromancers not manage them…?’
He rolled his eyes toward the SUV. Baek Ho sat in the driver’s seat, buying I_Vu concert tickets on the dash display.
“Tsk, tsk…”
A necromancer had ignored his familiars and fallen for an idol. Even a bad fate was still a tie, but the scarred man shelved his plan to ask for a vessel recharge… for now.
Slurp…
Frank sucked jajangmyeon straight from the bowl and sniffed. “Sweet…”
He had been sulking and crying at Baek Ho until a minute ago; the moment he heard about concert tickets, he melted like nothing had happened.
“Honestly, there were way too many. We couldn’t even fit luggage in the trunk because of the merch.”
“Chomp chomp.”
“Why buy things you can’t even wear? I don’t get it.”
Baek Ho’s voice held no inflection. He didn’t even address Frank; he was busy wiping down the gold revolver in his hand.
“When did you pick that up?” Sophia squinted. “What?”
“It’s the one the Undeadog boss was carrying.”
“Was it? I just found it on the ground.”
“…”
“I wondered who would throw something this nice away. Guess money really is falling from the sky for some people.”
Sophia made an impressed “wow” and shook her head, dumbfounded by Baek Ho’s shamelessness.
“Wouldn’t an artifact have a tracking function?”
“It’s fine. This will do.”
Dark magic cloaked the revolver. It looked as if it were burning, shrouded in smoke. Watching the black mist, Sophia couldn’t hold back her long-suppressed curiosity.
“D. When did you learn Bari Sect techniques?”
“When I was at school.”
“They wouldn’t teach that at a military academy.”
“I taught myself.”
“You’re not asking me to believe that, are you?”
The Bari Sect’s technique was a magical martial art with unknown founder and origin. In the past… when Awakened ones fought rifts as Hunters… it was recognized as a branch of dark magic and had plenty of practitioners. Now that Awakened who respond to dark magic power mainly learn necromancy, it, like other black arts, had faded into obscurity.
“Does it sound impossible?”
“Of course. Even I, and I’ve been on the front lines a long time, have only once seen a commander use that sorcery as a subskill. Considering that person’s age… D doesn’t add up.”
“I see.”
Baek Ho breathed on the cylinder and polished it with a squeak. “Want the truth?”
“I’d appreciate that.”
“The truth is…”
He lifted his head, eyes deep and dark, and spoke slowly, as if confessing something he’d held back for a long time.
“I’m a Regressor.”
“…Re-, re- what?”
“A person who went back in time. A Regressor. Don’t you even watch dramas?”
“…”
“But there’s a snag. I lost my memories. I only remember the Bari Sect technique.”
“…”
A playful curl tugged at his mouth.
“Can I believe that?” Sophia bit her lower lip, annoyed at being teased. “Fine. Don’t say more.”
She pivoted to what mattered. “So there’s no problem when you use it? Does it strain your heart? Do you taste blood? I’ve heard that when a low-rank necromancer uses that sorcery, it eats away at the body.”
“Right. Even now, just drinking water tastes like blood.”
“…What?!”
Sophia slammed the table and shot to her feet. “Are you insane!”
At her shout, Frank choked on his noodles and coughed.
“Don’t you know how dangerous that is? If you mess up, you’ll never use dark power again! If you’re a necromancer, focus on necromancy like a proper necromancer!”
“…”
Her raised voice quieted the restaurant. Diners began getting up, shuffling outside in a hurry… the word “Necromancer” had a way of clearing rooms.
“What’s it to you? Eat.”
“Ha…”
Sophia exhaled a long sigh. Would the commander know this too? If he did, he wouldn’t have left Baek Ho alone. She hesitated… tell him or not?
A waiter set down the sweet-and-sour pork.
“…”
Sophia swallowed and sat. “Eat well.”
“Oh, you too.”
At Baek Ho’s halfhearted reply, Sophia frowned again. She felt foolish for trailing along just because he’d offered something tasty. ‘What’s so great about city food… the smell is nice, at least.’
She bit back what she wanted to say and kept to the necessary. “Please refrain from using the technique as much as possible. Who am I to preach, but why do necromancers… aside from necromancy… use other dark arts? It’s all based on decades of data. If you can’t use it properly… “
“W-what are you doing!”
Startled by Frank’s shout, she looked up. He was staring, chopsticks trembling, at the sweet-and-sour pork slicked with sauce.
“Why?”
“D-dipping….”
At that moment, Sophia’s wrist buzzed. A call. She glanced at the ID… an acquaintance.
“I’ll take this. Looks like Deiven’s location has been identified.”
She stepped outside. Being a restaurant inside a megabuilding, the world was noisy… ads blaring, crowds chattering.
“Hey, Venus! You got time?” a drunk at a food stall called, leering.
Sophia lifted a middle finger, then pressed it to the back of her ear. “Yes, it’s me.”
- Hey, teacher~ I heard the news. You’re hanging with Commander Baek’s son, right?
A cheerful woman’s voice buzzed in her ear.
“Has the rumor already spread that far?”
- The special unit’s sleazeball spread it. So? Is the rumor true?
“I don’t know about the rest yet, but one thing’s certain.”
- What is it?
“He’s handsome.”
- …More than Commander Baek?
“Yes.”
An uproar burst on the other end, several women squealing. She wasn’t alone.
- So when is he leaving the city? What posting does he want?
“I don’t know. Will he become a commander…?”
- Did I go too far? Being silly?
“No. Everyone’s just curious.”
- Right. There’s almost no info. Hooh… Anyway… calm down. I sent Deiven’s location from an hour ago. Check it.
“Thank you. You must be busy.”
- Ah, it’s fine. Thanks to the special unit clearing Sector 81 last week, I’m breathing again.
“I’m glad it helped.”
She worked her Smartbone as they spoke. Where had Deiven been while she chased after Baek Ho? Assuming he’d been lurking near home, she opened the file.
“…Huh?”
The dot on the map pointed to the building they’d been standing in front of moments ago.
‘Why is Deiven here…’
She opened the attached photos. A man in a pulled-down cap cradled a puppy doll as he slipped into an alley. Across from him, a black SUV and a crowd in idol merch T-shirts clustered. Her own silhouette was faintly visible.
- Did you confirm?
“…”
- Teacher?
“…”
“As expected.”
Baek Ho swept back his hair. “Rather than analyzing everything, move by your instincts in the moment. Most of the time, they’re right.”
“You’re unlucky.”
Sophia nodded at Frank’s remark. “If I hadn’t let my guard down, I’d have caught him right there. What a shame.”
Baek Ho opened the door and stepped out. When Sophia asked where he was going, he held up a black cigarette.
Sizzle…
He shut the door and lit it. Leaning against the car, he inhaled deeply. Acrid black smoke swept through him, and a notification popped up… some dark power recharged.
“Hooh…”
He exhaled five slow streams. A man walking toward the building’s entrance caught his eye: cap pulled low, purification mask, work jacket and pants. A common laborer’s outfit… yet he stood out to Baek Ho because of the radiant blue near his heart. Compared to the deep-blue blend of a Reaper’s dark-tinged power, the pure power of an Awakened was far more striking.
“He’s here.”
Baek Ho tapped the window. As Sophia moved to get out, he stopped her. “I’ll go alone. If the three of us go, he’ll spook and run.”
“You must not make a mistake.”
Deiven’s house was under watch by the Superhuman Management Department. They couldn’t let him go up. Baek Ho had to persuade him and redirect him to reach his wife another way.
“A mistake? Me?”
He set the still-lit cigarette on the car. “I’ll be back before it burns out. Start the engine and wait.”
“…Okay.”
As he walked off, Sophia murmured to Frank, voice low, “Is he usually like that? A bit…”
“Unlucky?”
“Haha…”
“He’s in a good mood right now. Leave him, he’ll be back soon.”
Sophia watched Baek Ho’s retreating back, eyes wide. The more she saw him, the further he drifted from the image she’d had.
Baek Ho stepped in front of the man approaching the megabuilding.
“Deiven.”
“Who are you…?”
“Fixer.”
He drew a small slip of paper from his pocket and showed it… the Undeadog reservation certificate Deiven had been tricked into buying. Deiven’s brows knit when he saw it. If this man had it, he had seen Deiven’s family.
“…What are you?”
“I was hired by your wife.”
“H-hired?”
“Yes. She told me to tell you not to run, and to come back safe.”
At that, Deiven clenched the handles of his bag. Inside were the Undeadog doll… and two days’ worth of gnawing worry.
“I see… Actually, I also…”
“Move!”
Baek Ho grabbed Deiven’s arm and yanked him aside. They both leapt as a long, thick metal spike slammed into the spot where they’d been standing.
Crash!
Bystanders screamed and scattered. Among the fleeing backs, a few figures in black suits stood rigid… Reapers from the Superhuman Management Department.
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