Chapter 456: Running for It (2)

Did he notice?

I carefully retraced what had just happened.

No.

There’s no way.

He didn’t even see my face — not even a strand of my hair.

And yet an unpleasant feeling lingered. The unease kept crawling under my skin, forcing me to think seriously.

Only after replaying my movements more than ten times did I reach a conclusion: Ricardo could not have seen my face. No matter how I thought about it, it was impossible. My senior hadn’t even properly seen my skin tone.

There’s no way he recognized me just from my back.

I had even run in a way that wasn’t like me on purpose.

......

Well, I did deliberately drop the antidote.

But recognizing me from that alone would be unlikely. Rationally speaking, the probability that I wasn’t discovered was far higher.

Stop thinking about it. Nothing changes no matter how much I dwell on it.

I forcibly tried to let it go. I trudged to the subway and focused solely on getting home safely. I kicked off my crumpled shoes into the rack and stepped into Lin’s flat.

Hmm.

But still.

No matter how I think about it...

That irritation in his final shots bothered me.

I stopped in place while washing my hands.

If it were the Ricardo I know, he wouldn’t be that irritated at an illegal enhanced-body owner running away like that.

There had been several people inside who were immobile but still alive. Was there really any need to fire so aggressively at someone fleeing in such a pathetic manner?

He hadn’t slept. Of course his mood must’ve been foul.

But normally Ricardo would’ve thought, “What is that idiot doing?” and then stepped over him to deal with the ones inside.

Yet his reaction earlier felt as if he’d somehow realized it was me and deliberately fired.

I could feel the anger in those shots aimed at my legs.

......

......

“What are you doing?”

Lin called out to me from in front of the bathroom.

“You’re dripping water all over the floor.”

I’ll change the running pattern.

There are countless sprint forms.

If I observe a bit and practice a few times, modifying it is easy.

Next time I’ll go with the Tom Cruise run.

Then I won’t get caught.

When I went to Asil Fiscer’s side, nothing unusual happened. Compared to Ricardo’s case, the attackers’ scale had been much smaller, so it was easier to respond. Asil would assume the attackers turned on each other.

The former police senior hadn’t even seen my heels.

Let’s keep it this way.

It would be nice if I could keep intercepting attacks midway like this — but I had no idea how long that would remain possible.

Of course, if given enough time, I could stop them all. But I only had one body, and too many people to protect.

And not everyone could handle things as skillfully as Ricardo.

“Hilde?”

“I’m going to sleep.”

Sleep whenever you can.

***

Jonathan, who had woken before dawn on his day off after being tormented by nightmares, received a message from Ricardo at that exact moment.

[△]

A triangle?

Not an X — a triangle?

Jonathan’s eyes widened.

He immediately pressed the home button to call Ricardo — but an incoming call flashed first.

His brows knit sharply.

He was about to reject it when he saw the caller’s name.

Ska.

Jonathan answered.

“What is it?”

“Ric.”

At the name thrown at him, Jonathan’s back straightened.

“He says he isn’t injured, but...”

Jonathan didn’t listen further.

He kicked off from his spot.

Without a second of hesitation, he dashed outside, mounted his bike, and sped toward his comrade’s house. He forgot his helmet. He didn’t have the presence of mind to grab it.

But he didn’t forget his gun and blood injection.

Screeeeech!

The Badger stopped in front of the house, leaving loud skid marks.

Several patrol cars with flashing lights were already parked around Ricardo’s home.

Yet no sirens wailed. No shouting echoed.

Ricardo stood on the road in front of the house, arms crossed, speaking to a police officer. He turned his head.

At the sight of Jonathan, his comrade raised an eyebrow.

“You came all the way here dressed like that~?”

Jonathan had forgotten to change out of his pajamas.

He glanced down briefly at himself before calmly dismounting.

“What the hell happened here?”

He grabbed Ricardo’s arm before the man could even answer.

His green-eyed friend clicked his tongue in irritation.

“I told you I’m fine~! If you’re not going to listen, why even ask...?”

“How did the house end up like this?”

Jonathan’s nose sharply caught the scent of gunpowder and corpses.

“...And that junior?”

Since recently, among those who had read the will, Hildebert had been referred to only as “that junior.”

Ricardo’s house being destroyed was surely the work of those entangled with Hildebert.

Had any trace of him been found among the dead?

Thinking that, Jonathan looked away from the wreckage and back at his friend — and froze.

Ricardo was angry.

Jonathan blinked at the bulging vein in Ricardo’s brow.

“...What happened?”

“I’ll tell you, so listen.”

This time Ricardo grabbed Jonathan by the elbow and led him away.

Only once they were far enough that the police organizing the scene couldn’t overhear did he speak.

“I saw something strange...”

***

The man who had fled in a pigeon-toed run, suspiciously dropping an expensive “Green Dream antidote.”

His trail was quickly shared in the group chat composed of those who had read the will.

Ami had created the group chat with approval from leadership and Yun. The group name was “Sheep Hunting Gathering.”

Naturally, Ami had chosen the name.

[Sheep Hunting Gathering/Ricardo Sordi: This is just speculation, so of course I could be wrong.]

[Sheep Hunting Gathering/Yehyeon: You didn’t see his face at all?]

[Sheep Hunting Gathering/Ricardo Sordi: Correct.]

[Sheep Hunting Gathering/Choi Ami: But Rick is really sharp. And the bad-luck aura feels exactly like that junior!]

[Sheep Hunting Gathering/Choi Yun: You didn’t shoot?]

[Sheep Hunting Gathering/Ricardo Sordi: I tried to shoot his legs but missed.]

[Sheep Hunting Gathering/Ska Owen: Even that sounds like that junior.]

[Sheep Hunting Gathering/Carl Dow: Are you physically alright? With your home in that state, where are you staying...?]

[Sheep Hunting Gathering/Ricardo Sordi: I’ll stay at the Aide-de-Camp’s place until repairs are done.]

[Sheep Hunting Gathering/Jack Black: The cabin is empty as well, sunbae.]

[Sheep Hunting Gathering/Ricardo Sordi: I’ll pass on that.]

[Sheep Hunting Gathering/Choi Ami: Huh, why! We’ve maintained it well — it’s in good condition!]

The fact that Asil Fiscer and Ricardo had both been attacked on the same day, only hours apart, was delivered to headquarters in a modified form.

The full truth wasn’t revealed. It was simply conveyed as: “A group of enhanced bodies targeting Black Badgers exists. Be cautious.”

The news had a far greater ripple effect than usual. It shook headquarters’ atmosphere for quite some time.

It wasn’t the first time extremists had targeted Black Badger agents.

But now, with Hildebert missing.

And the matter with CIS unresolved.

This new development unsettled everyone.

Naturally, the number of Badgers being caught off guard decreased.

The Sheep Hunting Gathering chat members felt annoyed, claiming even this must have been within Hildebert’s calculations.

[Sheep Hunting Gathering/Choi Ami: That junior will never reflect.]

The next targets were Sophia Kalak and Carl Dow.

Neither of them reported seeing someone presumed to be Hildebert.

[Sheep Hunting Gathering/Sophia Kalak: Strangely enough, a perfectly intact antidote was left at the scene.]

[Sheep Hunting Gathering/Carl Dow: Same here.]

There were also bodies that appeared to have died from infighting or friendly fire.

But that alone wasn’t enough to draw conclusions.

So the Badgers heightened their guard and waited to find traces of Hildebert.

Days passed.

Nothing happened.

Then a Science Wing employee was attacked.

The victim was Sean.

“A, a man with a scar across his nose hid me because I was crying so much... maybe he pitied me...”

Sean was suffering severe PTSD.

Still, when the Badgers rushed in, he managed to stammer out what had happened.

“If not for him, I’d definitely have died... or been kidnapped... they said if you drag someone away alive, they’re worth more... I heard them say it...”

“A scar?”

Yun asked coldly.

“Across his nose?”

“Y, yes. But please don’t look for him. He saved me. Otherwise I definitely...”

“Describe his appearance and characteristics in detail.”

“Oppa!”

Choi Ami jabbed Yun in the side for being insensitive toward the victim.

After helping the trembling Sean calm down, she gently asked,

“Do you remember anything else?”

Black eyes. Tall. Face obscured by hat, hood, mask. A scar visible on the bridge of his nose above the mask. Brown skin. Black eyebrows, probably...

“Did he run pigeon-toed?”

“Excuse me?”

Sean looked puzzled.

“No. He held his hands stiff like blades and vanished extremely fast.”

The attack on scientist Sean caused another wave.

It proved that the recent series of attacks were not limited to enhanced-body owners.

Headquarters grew even more tense.

Leadership issued an announcement: temporary residential quarters would be assigned to any employee who wanted one.

The once half-empty residential blocks filled instantly. Even the old buildings packed tight. People hurried inside at night and installed security measures everywhere.

Meanwhile, flowers continued piling up in one corner of the lobby.

Bouquets increasingly heavy with chrysanthemums stacked neatly.

***

Do I really need to go help Yun?

After hearing the news, I blinked my bloodshot eyes and considered it briefly.

He seems more than capable without my help.

He probably already has the antidote too.

I thought about it for three minutes.

Then I decided to go.

I hadn’t been discovered for a while, and what was at stake was my senior’s life.

A price that can never be reversed.

After downing ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) coffee, I resolved to slip in among those daring enough to attack Yun and Ami’s second residence.

Before that, I conducted a thorough self-check.

Something had bothered me for a while.

Yun once told me, “You people feel a bit different.”

I still don’t understand what that meant.

Sylvia had also once looked at Jack and me and said, “You smell the same.”

That too made no sense.

Smell...

...Do we smell?

“Lin. Do I smell?”

“Excuse me?”

I asked him directly.

My subordinate looked at me strangely, then frowned.

“Wait a second. Since when are you speaking casually?”

“Smell me. Tell me if there’s anything strange.”

“...What are you suddenly...”

Lin sighed but pressed his nose to my neck and checked.

“Just shampoo.”

He arched a brow — then suddenly recoiled.

“Wait. We use the same shampoo. Don’t tell me we smell the same?”

“Plenty of people use that brand. But maybe asking our own kind is pointless...”

“Ugh, still gross! Buy your own shampoo from now on!”

“Stop being picky.”

I answered while checking random clothes I’d picked up around me.

I hadn’t meant to put any emotion into it, but perhaps I sounded cold. Lin looked slightly frightened.

He studied my complexion briefly, then said,

“...We’re still searching for a suitable location to install the device.”

He meant the Core device installation site.

The project Yoow and the others were focusing on most intensely right now.

I listened to Lin’s progress report — which he was spilling nervously without prompting — and then went outside.

I even wrote on paper and asked Team and Elizabeth and other humans whether I smelled strange.

Their answers were nothing special.

When I asked whether I smelled like Lin, I just received odd looks.

So without any clear answer, I hurried to tail the squad heading to the Choi siblings’ residence.

No matter how sharp Yun’s sense of smell is, gunpowder and blood would mask everything.

Thinking that, I slowly approached the familiar house.

To save Yun...

...But what if, instead, I get hit by Yun’s attack and die?