Black Badger

I wanted to punch Jaeyeon.

But reason told me now wasn’t the time, and it cooled the impulse that had surged through me.

First, we needed to get out of here.

“What kind of man is this Yates, anyway?”

I asked without removing the hand covering my face.

“If we tell him the truth honestly and ask to leave, do you think he’ll let us go?”

Jaeyeon snorted.

That was already an answer, but I didn’t want to accept it.

He, of course, dragged me back into reality without mercy.

“He’ll be thrilled that a rat crawled into his trap. If we get caught, we won’t die easy.”

Yun muttered as if suppressing the urge to kill someone.

“If it comes to that, I’ll use that lunatic as bait and run.”

“Would he kill us?”

I finally lowered my hand and sat up lazily, staring gloomily at the floor.

White, featureless plastic finish.

“One of us is the right hand of the most powerful man in the hierarchy, one’s a famous scientist and the youngest son of the Choi family at Aitek, and one of us is...”

And me... what am I?

“...the Commander’s ace pet who caught the Elders’ attention, apparently.”

“Don’t you feel embarrassed calling yourself an ace pet out loud?”

Jaeyeon asked flatly.

I glared at the man responsible for this entire mess.

“Shut up.”

“But I do feel sorry for you. Yates probably doesn’t even know who you are.”

Huh?

Why?

“Only the Elders who were there that day know your face. To the rest, you’re just another stray Badger.”

“The one in the Colosseum knew me.”

“That’s why he’s dead. Overstepped his bounds, dug too deep, got cocky.”

“So the other Elders really don’t know me? Even though I’m attending a party hosted by one?”

“Of course they ran background checks! But what would they find?”

Jaeyeon shrugged, then grinned slyly.

He always reminded me of those fox spirits in old comics whenever he smiled like that.

“In short, if you get caught, you’re definitely dead!”

Just me?

“You won’t die quickly either. Yates’ torture methods are exquisite. He’s a devoted traditionalist—strictly old-school interrogation. Compared to him, our imagination is pathetic!”

“Hey.”

I ignored the unwanted trivia about Colton’s interrogation techniques.

Jaeyeon looked at me, and Yun, who had been sitting sullenly beside us staring at his phone, also looked up.

I glanced between the two handsome men in black suits and said,

“Listen carefully. If I die here, it’s all your fault.”

Jaeyeon didn’t answer—he just smiled.

Maybe I should delay the escape plan and punch him first.

As I considered it, Yun slid his phone into his pocket and stood.

“Let’s stop wasting time with this useless talk and figure out how to get out.”

How is this talk useless?

We just established that if the Elder’s lackeys caught us, only my neck was on the line! That’s extremely relevant!

Still, I stood up obediently.

Changing my height gave me a better view of our surroundings.

The Portal was closed now. Annoyingly, it didn’t look like we could use it to go back.

The blue waves had vanished, leaving only the skeletal frame of the Portal device.

Everything around it looked pitiful.

It resembled an unused basement storage. Under the weak glow of a fluorescent light, random items were scattered everywhere—boxes, toolkits, paper cups, a water dispenser.

No signs of life. Good.

It didn’t seem like anyone would come soon either.

That was all the information we could gather for now. I finished surveying the area and asked dully,

“What about calling the Commander or Falcon?”

“Bad idea,” Yun replied.

“First, the moment we make a call, our location will be exposed. Second, we’ll be found long before help can arrive. And third, in Falcon’s case, there’s no guarantee he’d even help.”

“Perfectly reasonable. I’ll turn my phone off.”

My supervisor nodded.

I really wasn’t good with this kind of thing. I’d lived on Earth for a while, yes—but I’d been gone too long. I had no idea how far modern tech had advanced or how to counter it.

When it came to espionage—whether human or mechanical—I was a complete amateur.

Jaeyeon, on the other hand, was an expert.

Yun... well, someone like him shouldn’t be an amateur, though I didn’t want to think too hard about that.

“So how do we get out?”

The problem was, the people who’d be coming after us were also professionals.

We had to escape before they found us. I wanted to go home, change into something comfortable, and sleep.

I pressed Jaeyeon.

“You got in here. You must know how to get out.”

He stayed silent for a while, lost in thought. With his unstable mind, it was impossible to guess what he was thinking.

Was he retracing the route he took to get here?

Silence settled over the pale basement.

A few minutes later, the fickle man finally spoke.

“Yehyeon is—”

Yun punched him.

Smack!

Jaeyeon’s fist flew back in retaliation.

Thud!

“Real mature, both of you,” I muttered wearily.

“Thanks to you, I’m sure we’ll escape completely unnoticed.”

They ignored me.

The two of them fought viciously, and I had no intention of stepping in. They rolled and slammed into everything in sight, smashing boxes and walls alike. Thud! Bam! Crash! Yun’s punches and kicks were precise, efficient, and deadly. Jaeyeon’s were wild, emotional, and merciless.

What the hell is wrong with them.

I sighed and glanced around.

Then I spotted a crowbar.

Good.

I picked it up and swung it like a sword.

WHAM!

The two tangled men were struck together and crashed against the wall.

The wall cracked, and both men groaned lowly.

I tossed the broken crowbar aside.

“Is this how you behave just because your handlers aren’t around?”

Jaeyeon cursed, shaking the dust from his hair. Yun, sitting amid the debris, brushed rubble off his jacket.

Both spat blood.

I looked down coldly at the aftermath.

“At this rate, we’ll beat each other to death before anyone else does. Get it together.”

Then I turned toward Yun.

He sat among the ruins, squinting up at me.

I took in his calm, pale face and said sharply,

“Sir, it’s not work hours. Let’s drop the ranks until we’re out of here.”

Yun lifted his head.

“The situation is what it is, isn’t it?”

I braced myself.

I expected him to reply with, ‘Did you eat something bad?’ or ‘Be prepared then.’ Maybe even raise an eyebrow.

But he didn’t.

He just stared at me with that dry, emotionless face.

“...All right.”

A chill crawled down my throat.

“I’m scared.”

“What do you want me to do about that.”

He looked at me like I was ridiculous.

“You’re the one who said it—why are you scared now?”

“Why did you accept it so easily? That’s what’s scary!”

“Want me to throw a punch?”

Yun said flatly, getting up.

Jaeyeon, who’d been lighting a cigarette, stood up too. I tensed, half-expecting another brawl.

Thankfully, they both focused elsewhere.

Footsteps. Outside.

“Looks like we’ve been found,” Jaeyeon muttered, staring at the door.

I gave him a deadpan look.

“Wow. Truly. Astonishing.”

“You’ve gotten even cheekier than before.”

“Got a gun?”

Yun was already pressed against the wall beside the door, speaking quietly to Jaeyeon.

“They’ll have one.”

“None.”

“Would a gun even matter?”

I listened closely, gauging the distance by the sound of the approaching steps.

“They’re all enhanced bodies anyway.”

“You really don’t get it,” Jaeyeon sneered, giving me the look one reserves for clueless rookies.

“In a place like this, standard ammo’s loaded with Grindream.”

Wonderful news.

I rolled my eyes against the wall.

The footsteps stopped.

The enemy had halted right in front of the door. Naturally—they must have heard ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ the commotion these maniacs made earlier. It would be a miracle not to be discovered.

I didn’t want to kill anyone if I could avoid it.

I muttered while watching the doorknob turn.

“You’re not planning to kill them all, right?”

The door opened.

The Elder’s guard on patrol that night didn’t get the chance to shoot.

As soon as the door cracked open, Yun swung and disarmed him. Jaeyeon’s fist followed, smashing the man’s jaw.

Crack!

The guard’s eyes rolled back, and he dropped like a log.

Yun caught the man’s body with a kick.

“Nice start,” Jaeyeon whistled, kneeling beside the unconscious guard.

“I’ve got a gun now, honey.”

“Don’t talk to me.”

“Let’s try to get out without shooting anyone.”

Failing miserably at using informal speech toward Yun, I crouched beside Jaeyeon.

Then, as he reached for the gun, I snatched it first.

Ignoring Jaeyeon’s annoyed mutter about ‘I only answered your question,’ I looked up at my superior.

Yun met my eyes.

“We won’t get through this easily. Even a lower Elder didn’t earn his seat for nothing.”

But killing is still a crime.

Of course, I knew. Once someone became an Elder’s lackey, their existence was erased from society—so even if we killed them, it wouldn’t count as murder.

Yun and Jaeyeon clearly had no intention of sparing lives, and neither would the others.

If I were captured, I knew what would happen. It wouldn’t be clean.

This was the most dangerous place for me.

“No usable blades, and you’re terrible with firearms,” Yun said, as if reading my thoughts.

“I told you to practice shooting.”

“I’m sorry,” I muttered gloomily.

“I didn’t exactly expect to end up in a situation like this.”

For now, our goal was clear—escape with minimal combat.

Thinking that, Jaeyeon and I began stripping the guard’s clothes in silent agreement.

***

Ami was drinking a Java Chip Frappuccino.

A delicious Java Chip Frappuccino.

It was Friday evening, and the weather was pleasantly cool. Patrol duty had ended hours ago. After dinner near the route she’d covered, she’d stopped by a takeout café for a drink.

If Yun hadn’t been busy, she would have gone home to have dinner with him.

Hilde had said he had plans today as well.

They probably went somewhere together.

So she was about to head home when Ska contacted her—he was on his way back from work and asked if she wanted to grab a beer.

Come to think of it, Ska’s apartment was in Ami’s patrol district. Delighted, Ami accepted the offer. Opportunities to see Ska were rare these days. Before he’d become an aide, they used to hang out often.

He said he’d eat dinner and take a walk nearby, told her to come slowly.

So she wandered through the lively streets, waiting for her friend, sipping her Java Chip Frappuccino.

Sweet, creamy Frappuccino...

Standing by the busy roadside, eyes fixed on the order number display, she beamed when her number appeared.

Her Frappuccino was ready!

Pop.

Too focused on the drink, Ami forgot the world for a moment.

She didn’t notice someone approaching.

“Huh?”

Just as she took the cup, she blinked wide—then looked down at her suddenly burning side.

“Ugh?”

“Ami!”

Ska’s urgent voice.

“Choi Ami!”

She’d been stabbed.

A sharp pain pierced her flank. Ami’s eyes widened before she sank slowly to the ground.

The screams of bystanders rang out, mixed with Ska’s voice as he shoved through the crowd toward her.

And from somewhere—faint but distinct—came the voice of the fleeing culprit.

“So you like the white-haired one that much?”

She jerked her head toward the sound.

But the speaker was gone. He’d already vanished into the mass of people.

For a long moment, Ami stared blankly at the spot where the unfamiliar voice had been.

Until Ska cursed violently over the wound that refused to close—

And until she realized, with quiet despair, that she’d dropped her Frappuccino.