Chapter 68: Additional Pay (3)
After calming the nausea caused by the Eagle ride with medicine, Hyeon-yul checked the mission details.
「Incident Start
—While checking a company run by villains, an item suspected to be drugs was found.
Incident Progress
—Rapid component analysis confirmed it as an unknown drug.
—The company was inspected and surrounded for swift recovery.
—Distinguishing between villains and civilians is crucial while checking for the existence of additional drugs.
Points to Note
—Certainty about the existence of additional drugs must be established.
—Wear equipment to prepare for the drugs.
—Villain attacks may occur.」
Hyeon-yul shifted his gaze and looked at the company building.
It was a company with a 5-story building, close to mid-sized in scale.
Hyeon-yul checked the logo.
‘This is the place I circled as a company run by villains, isn’t it?’
I had done the work of checking logos or emblems existing anywhere inside companies based on those the Black Eagle had investigated as suspicious.
I thought I did it just recently, but I didn't realize it was progressing faster than expected.
I didn't even know how deeply they usually investigated places like this.
‘At this rate, they probably know about Asan’s death too.’
Why weren't they revealing that fact to the other Black Eagles?
Along with curiosity, a slight confidence in the power held by the Black Eagle surged.
Didn't I confirm one fact yesterday at that place mimicking a cult?
That besides brainwashing the believers, they used some drug that transformed non-Awakened into Awakened.
That drug was one discarded due to severe side effects when I was being experimented on.
Although I found transaction records in the computer based on the confession of the ringleader villain who led that place, that was all.
Considering the current speed, couldn't the Black Eagle track it even with just the transaction history?
Just in case, I planned to visit Yu-jong, the Night Rat and information broker, today.
Hyeon-yul walked forward.
As I got closer to the building, the number of people increased.
I felt a power surrounding the building interior, along with crowd control in the vicinity.
‘…Magic?’
It was ambiguous to call it magic.
Then, it was highly likely to be psychic power.
“Are you the Black Eagle member?”
Someone came running, out of breath.
He showed his Civil Servant ID first.
He was a White Sparrow.
“Yes.”
Hyeon-yul replied briefly and similarly held out his black Civil Servant ID.
“Nice to meet you. Villains and civilians inside have not yet been distinguished. The ability suppression device is currently active.”
“Does that mean abilities can’t be used inside?”
“No. Black Eagle members can use them after undergoing an exception procedure. Would you please follow me?”
That White Sparrow was polite.
Even though it should be obvious I was from Team 3.
“I want to ask something just in case, would that be alright?”
This was the first time I was in such a situation, so I couldn't help but ask.
“You can ask anything.”
“How can one become an exception?”
What kind of power was it?
How did it work?
“The uniform you are currently wearing basically grants an exception from that power. Besides, this time, a Black Eagle member who uses psychic powers is controlling it themselves, so the adjustment is smoother than before.”
Hyeon-yul listened to those words and looked at his uniform.
The more I looked at it, the more useful it seemed.
“Thank you for informing me.”
“Not at all. This way.”
The White Sparrow walked ahead, and Hyeon-yul followed.
There were many people around.
‘Are they all White Sparrows? This many?’
Unlike Black Eagles, they didn't usually wear uniforms, so it looked like a crowd of civilians had gathered.
I had never seen this many people on other missions, so I kept looking.
They, too, glanced my way while doing their own work.
Their gazes weren't as sharp as before.
Was stopping the incident where the Poison King spread poison that big of a deal?
‘I don’t understand.’
Hyeon-yul just accepted it as it was.
“…Sorry.”
The White Sparrow, who was leading, spoke to Hyeon-yul awkwardly in front of the door.
Hyeon-yul looked at him silently.
“I misunderstood based solely on rumors. This is just my personal thought. I really, really wanted to apologize if I met you.”
The White Sparrow bowed deeply and held the door open.
Hyeon-yul looked at the White Sparrow for a moment.
Honestly, whether they apologized or not didn't matter much.
It wasn't the first time someone disliked me, and I thought showing my abilities was enough anyway.
But it was convenient when they came out like this.
What should I say at times like this?
Hyeon-yul thought for a moment, then smiled more brightly.
“Thank you for saying that.”
I couldn't know if those words were lies, or if he was just doing it for his own conscience.
If it was a lie, I just had to respond with a lie.
Hyeon-yul went inside, and the White Sparrow belatedly clutched his chest.
‘…He wasn’t as scary a person as I thought.’
Excluding the heavy atmosphere unique to Black Eagles, I directly experienced how false the rumors were.
It was the White Sparrows themselves who had most vehemently said they couldn't accept the Team 3 newbie.
They committed the huge mistake of not delivering information only to that newbie, knowing that a Black Eagle's life could depend on a single piece of information.
Yesterday, a major incident occurred on their side related to the cult case, and despite these various events, I heard the Team 3 newbie spoke in their defense.
He might have been a villain in the past, but it was right to see him as not one now, at least.
‘Even I should reflect.’
The White Sparrow nodded.
“…Oh!”
A woman with a natural half-up hairstyle saw Hyeon-yul and ran over with surprised eyes.
Her voice was still loud.
“Perhaps, the one I met back then, that, um, uuuhm.”
“I am Seo Hyeon-yul.”
“That’s right, Mr. Seo Hyeon-yul! No, um, the Team 3 member. Do you remember me?”
“Didn’t you use the power of clouds?”
“That’s right. How did you know? I’m Lim Tae-rin from Team 2, who makes everything well.”
Tae-rin raised the corners of her lips and extended her hand.
When Hyeon-yul extended his hand, she shook it firmly.
“You were excellent last time.”
Tae-rin gave a thumbs-up.
Hyeon-yul subtly leaned back and bowed.
“Thank you.”
“The Team Leader, I mean Team Leader Do-jin, said he would bring excellent support, are you perhaps him?”
“I don’t know about excellent, but I am the support.”
“As expected of our Team Leader, right? He brought someone excellent right away.”
At Tae-rin’s continued words, Hyeon-yul felt quite burdened and hesitated.
‘Did he promise something with Team Leader Do-jin?’
Yang Do-jin wanted me to join Team 2.
If so, it was natural for Team 2 to also sweet-talk me.
I hesitated whether to see it in that context.
“Oops! This isn’t right. Follow me. I want to introduce the rest of the Team 2 members too, but they might be busy right now dividing civilians and villains.”
“A question arose from what you just said, may I ask?”
“Of course. I’m ready to answer anything.”
I didn’t know how everyone could approach so readily like this.
Hyeon-yul avoided Tae-rin’s sparkling eyes and asked.
“How do you usually divide villains and civilians?”
I didn't know about other things, but that point was the most curious right now.
Were their eyes different from mine?
Was there something that could identify villains?
“…Hmm, the result will be different from what you expect.”
The energy slightly drained from Tae-rin’s voice and steps.
She hesitated whether to say this or not, then opened her mouth.
“First, we look through the asset list. On average, in the case of villains, their assets often increased suddenly compared to their earned salary. Second, for safety, we divide them into high-risk and low-risk groups based on their abilities. And finally, we examine the flow of abilities through brainwaves to determine the frequency of usual use.”
“Are you saying you distinguish through statistics?”
“That’s right. Other than that, there are only confessions or voluntary reports, but that’s difficult, right? So for now, that’s the only method.”
“Thank you for informing me.”
“…Perhaps, were you a bit disappointed?”
“No. I thought there was some basis for it.”
Hyeon-yul sincerely thought so.
It was true that the more villainous acts one committed, the more assets accumulated.
I hadn’t touched anything other than what related to my unpaid wages, but the others seemed to have laid hands on the assets of the people they killed too.
Dividing into high-risk and low-risk groups based on ability was also natural.
The better the ability, the higher the chance a villain would recruit them.
I also knew that ability usage frequency could be determined by brainwaves, as I had undergone it frequently during experiments.
“However, I didn’t know you could immediately access the asset list.”
“That part is honestly a bit scary. It sounds like you can do anything, doesn't it.”
Tae-rin lowered her voice and whispered.
She wasn’t wrong.
Right now it was aimed at villains, but if pointed elsewhere, it would become a formidable weapon.
After finishing her answer, Tae-rin moved hurriedly, only occasionally striking up conversation.
The office was full of traces indicating everyone had left work abruptly, showing the mission was carried out urgently.
Hyeon-yul straightened the receiver that was ringing ‘beep beep beep’.
“Ah. That’s it.”
Tae-rin didn’t go inside the office but pointed at an object visible from afar.
Something was placed on the desk farthest from the entrance.
As Hyeon-yul started to approach, Tae-rin stopped him and pointed immediately to the right.
“Equipment, you need to put it on. When I checked earlier, the contamination level was rising. That’s why it was placed far over there.”
“Understood.”
Though not particularly necessary, Hyeon-yul put on the equipment.
Tae-rin also put on equipment along with him.
When Hyeon-yul looked at her, Tae-rin answered confidently.
“In our Team 2, we learned that once assigned a mission, we must take the initiative!”
Her voice was resonant.
“Understood. Then, I will check.”
Hyeon-yul walked towards the place containing the drugs.
The sound of footsteps following behind was heard.
I checked the drugs contained in a bag-like box.
The color was transparent.
“I will open it for a moment.”
It was tightly sealed, and there was no smell.
Hyeon-yul opened the lid and briefly lifted the face part of the equipment slightly.
The moment the smell hit my nose, I almost let out a scoff.
‘…Found it like this?’
It was the drug I had identified yesterday.
‘Is this simply a distribution point? Or are they producing more here?’
After thinking for a moment, Hyeon-yul looked at Tae-rin.
“I know what kind of drug it is.”
“…Already?”
“I will check if there are additional drugs, so could you please inform them that this drug is the one found in the mission Team 3 handled yesterday? Ah, were electronic devices like computers confiscated from the CEO’s office?”
“I believe they were confiscated. Alright, I’ll inform them and come back.”
Tae-rin nodded and ran.
She moved urgently, likely not knowing the details of the mission.
‘The CCTV is over there.’
Hyeon-yul didn't touch the CCTV, just stood with his back to it.
Although I reported this place as being run by villains, I didn't know exactly what they did.
He was just one of the villains who came to sweet-talk Shin Dae-ho.
There wasn't just one or two such villains.
Shin Dae-ho himself was very weak, so what was there so much to gain from him?
Hyeon-yul’s eyes melted.
First, I surveyed the entire company.
My eyes swept from the top floor down to the basement.
‘There’s nothing here.’
Was that all?
‘Really…?’
Hyeon-yul thought and thought, looking at the box.
Where did this come from?
Hyeon-yul sniffed the scent lingering on the box.
The smell of oil clung to it.
‘……Car.’
Hyeon-yul sent only one eye back to its original place and went outside.
“I relayed the message……”
“Go to the basement immediately and seal off all cars.”
Light flickered on as if a car’s ignition was turned.
“W-Wait a moment!”
Hyeon-yul ignored Tae-rin’s words and ran.
If hit head-on by a running car, even an Awakened person would be helpless.
Conscious of the hallway CCTV, Hyeon-yul vanished the moment he turned into the corridor.
Hyeon-yul reappeared in the underground parking lot.
One car, no, four cars were preparing to leave.
Hyeon-yul looked at the surrounding situation.
White Sparrows were coming down, but it wasn't a situation where they could block them.
Hyeon-yul pulled the wheels of all currently moving cars into the shadow.
The cars moved, but only the wheels spun round and round.
Confirming this, Hyeon-yul returned to the original corridor and pretended to run quickly.
“Why are you walking so fast…?”
Tae-rin said, following Hyeon-yul.
It felt like he disappeared midway, but was it just my imagination?
“Did the message, come through?”
“Ah! Just a moment.”
Tae-rin touched her wireless earphone.
She mouthed words while walking ahead.
After continuing the conversation briefly, Tae-rin’s eyes widened.
“They found it!”
“They found it?”
“Yes. They said the cars strangely wouldn't move? It looked like the wheels were… missing or something.”
Hyeon-yul heard those words and withdrew his power.
“Check inside them.”
“But how did you know?”
“It was close to a hunch. I inferred where this box came from.”
Hyeon-yul offered the most plausible explanation.
“Right, the most helpful thing for moving boxes is a car, isn't it?”
“That’s right. Ah, may I help with sorting out the villains?”
Hyeon-yul changed the subject before Tae-rin could delve deeper.
“…Really? You can do that?”
“Yes. I’ll help before I go.”
It was the task of distinguishing villains from civilians.
It helped in catching villains, so why wouldn't I?
‘…Ah, so this is why the Team Leader wanted Mr. Seo Hyeon-yul. He’s a really nice person.’
Tae-rin thought vaguely, then felt doubt instead.
‘But why did the rumors spread like that?’
I couldn't understand.
“…Are you investigating well?”
At the chilling voice, Yu-jong didn't just stand up from his seat, he jumped.
‘……Shittttt!’
Yu-jong swallowed the curses rising from within.
It had been quiet for a bit, why the sudden fuss?
“Were you that happy to see me?”
When Hyeon-yul asked, Yu-jong bowed his head deeply.
‘Would someone like you be happy to see me, you shithead!’
His inner thoughts were different.