Black Badger

Walker looked back at me.

His thick eyebrows lifted.

I stopped beside him and carefully checked his expression.

“I’d like to ask a somewhat sensitive question.”

“Go ahead.”

I chose my words carefully.

“It’s a question about your biological parents.”

Walker stared straight at me.

“I don’t know.”

“Were they gone from the time you were born?”

“Yeah. I drifted around here and there. Mostly lived off old Spider.”

Ah. So that was why they seemed to have quite a long history together.

“I don’t know anything about my biological parents.”

“I see. I’m sorry.”

“That’s not something you need to apologize for. But why bring this up?”

How should I even start this?

While I hesitated, Walker spoke first.

“You think I’m mixed-blood?”

My mouth fell open.

“I told you last time. I didn’t become a problem-solver for nothing.”

“...That’s incredible.”

This man’s intuition was frighteningly sharp.

It was hard to believe he’d been so thoroughly outmaneuvered by Ju. Even the first time I went outside the Core and met Jin, and when I went out to rescue Shu, he had shown astonishing deductive ability.

No wonder the Personnel Director hadn’t earned Yehyeon’s forgiveness for nothing.

“It’s a plausible line of reasoning. I find my own strength strange sometimes too. To be precise, I just wonder how other humans manage to live with bodies that weak.”

“...I don’t know much about biology myself. But just in case, how about submitting your biometric data? To the Green Dream manufacturer dispatched to HQ, and to John Mühlen.”

“Nothing stopping me.”

Walker agreed readily.

As I let out a sigh of relief, a man with arms as thick as most people’s thighs, sleeves rolled down around them, spoke up.

“But isn’t John Mühlen under home quarantine right now?”

Ah.

I nodded.

“Yes. That’s right. If I get the time, I was thinking of bringing him the samples myself.”

“You know where he lives?”

“Yes.”

“Why do you know?”

Huh?

Flustered, I looked up at him. He was looking down at me as well.

A man who looked less like a person and more like a massive grizzly bear.

Caught off guard, I answered,

“...I... I’ve been there before....”

“Why?”

“...With the Personnel Director... drinking....”

“You woke up and found yourself at a genius scientist’s house?”

I felt embarrassed.

I turned my gaze away and nodded.

I heard Walker snort.

“Told you it wouldn’t end well.”

“...I didn’t expect it to be this bad.”

Suddenly remembering that time made my head feel distant.

“Anyway, since I know the place, I’ll deliver it later.”

As long as the calls don’t keep pouring in nonstop.

If I really can’t find the time because of constant summons, I’ll have to ask someone else.

The giant man made an affirmative sound. Feeling relieved, I followed Walker, who said he would go submit the samples right away.

The share house of John Mühlen and Giacomo Ro was a fifteen-minute motorcycle ride from HQ.

It wasn’t far, so I could bring them immediately.

Though it was entirely possible I wouldn’t even have time to get there....

I needed to deliver the biometric data as soon as possible.

The sight of the seniors suffering wouldn’t leave my mind.

I couldn’t lose the people around me like this.

Thinking that I should submit my own data as well, I quickened my steps toward the medical wing, following Walker.

***

Thomas was holding a gun.

He had been standing guard with it for two hours now.

The P District—one of the most densely populated areas even within Center Core. And yet, its public safety was a disaster. Classified as a Harlem, a zone where military and police wouldn’t even try to approach. That was where Thomas lived.

It was crawling with illegal drugs and owners of illegal enhanced bodies.

A place packed with dealers who risked their lives to catch and raise Creatures for money.

Now that Black Badger was shut down, this Harlem—left unprotected from Creature attacks—was where Thomas stood. He understood reality well. The military and police weren’t going to protect this place.

They’d probably think they were lucky if they didn’t get shot just coming near.

Soldiers didn’t even try to approach districts like this.

Only seasoned police used to patrol the alleys, but even they would’ve been redeployed elsewhere by now.

That was why Thomas understood exactly how serious the Black Badger shutdown was.

People died all over this street trying to raise even Grade-2 Creatures.

Even the most useless Badger could deal with a Grade-2 Creature while answering a phone call. Thomas personally knew four people who had been bitten to death by such Creatures.

But a Grade-4 Creature? A Grade-6?

The moment they appeared, you’d be minced meat.

You might as well be dead already.

Still, shouldn’t you at least resist before being minced?

If luck held, maybe only Grade-2 Creatures would show up until antibiotics were developed....

There were plenty of bullets here.

“Shit.”

Three hours into standing guard, thinking that—

“There.”

The Creature arrived.

“At least Grade-5—.”

That was the last thing Neil, the illegal Creature breeder, said.

Thomas watched [N O V E L I G H T] Neil’s body fly through the air like a paper doll. He saw it trace an arc before being slammed onto the asphalt.

An ominous sound followed.

He wasn’t such a bad guy that he deserved to die like that.

He illegally raised and sold Creatures, sure, but he hadn’t killed anyone.

“Open fire!”

There was no time to mourn.

When Thomas snapped back to himself, the area was already drowned in gunfire.

“Fire! Fire!!”

Tadadadadadang!

People fired frantically.

But the shots barely hit. The Creature was too fast. It scuttled up and down building walls at an unnatural speed, making it even harder to hit.

Instead, more people were struck by stray bullets.

Screams and gunshots.

A long, slender Creature leapt down onto the road, then clung to a building wall as if it had suction cups. Creatures kept crawling forward even as they were hit by bullets.

One of them latched onto the wall of the building Thomas was in.

A white, silkworm-cocoon-like thing began climbing the building. Thomas aimed at the white Creature crawling up and fired in bursts.

But the Creature, its blunt end curled into a spiral, astonishingly swallowed every bullet he fired.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

This was beyond common sense.

“What the hell is that thing?”

But it was there.

Right in front of him.

A mouth gaping open.

A black maw filling his vision.

It opened so wide that all Thomas could see was the deep abyss of its throat.

So this is it.

The moment he thought that, the black split in two.

“Huh?”

Thomas froze.

“Ah?”

There was light.

A beam of light emerging as it split the abyss in half. Between the darkness torn apart on both sides, the Harlem road came into view.

Blinking in shock, Thomas only realized after the cheers erupted that the silver glimmer was the radiance of a sword.

The pale light emitted by a Black Badger’s blade.

Hildebert.

“Holy shit! It’s real!”

People had already recognized the Badger’s arrival.

Those standing guard looked out the windows, pumping their fists.

“Taleb! Taleb! Taleb!”

“It’s him in person!”

People threw down their weapons and cheered.

“A Black Badger!”

“Super antibody, fuck!”

“Jedi!”

“May the Force be with you!”

Hildebert swung his sword.

A sharp sound slicing through the air.

Cheers and gasps exploded. Thomas couldn’t even properly process what was happening. He only barely registered that a man with white hair swung his sword once.

By sound. His eyes couldn’t keep up.

With that single swing, the onrushing white Creatures were severed.

With a second swing, there wasn’t a single moving Creature left.

People screamed like mad.

“Aaaaaaah!”

A roar loud enough to shake the buildings flooded the street.

“Taleb! Taleb! Taleb!”

Hildebert sheathed his sword.

“Taleb! Taleb! Taleb!”

The white-haired Badger twisted his body.

Staring up at him in a daze, Thomas finally snapped back to his senses.

Ah.

“Hildebert!”

He leaned out the window in a hurry.

At the shout loud enough to drown out the cheers, the man heading for his motorcycle looked up.

Thomas didn’t miss the instant those yellow eyes met his.

If he hesitated, the busiest man in Center Core would mount his motorcycle and disappear.

“Thanks for saving us!”

He shouted quickly.

“I like Lexic noodles too!”

Hildebert smiled brightly.

Just like people online said. Talking about how good Lexic noodles were seemed to put him in a good mood.

The man grinned widely and gave a thumbs-up.

Then he spun around and sprinted to his motorcycle.

The Badger departed, ignoring the flood of words thrown at him.

Thomas hurriedly pulled his phone from his pocket and filmed Hildebert as he rode away on his motorcycle.

The most famous figure on the internet vanished from sight in moments.

Leaving behind the afterimage of white hair.

***

A day and a half after the shutdown.

Hildebert became the most famous person in Center Core.

{Mario Badger Deployment Footage}

{Telling Hildebert Lexic noodles taste bad}

{‘He’ Appears}

Leeho let out a hollow laugh and clicked the last video.

Since the shutdown, people hadn’t tried to go outside.

Internet usage had skyrocketed after the announcement.

Naturally, videos that captured Hildebert well were flooded with comments.

-Did he even draw his sword? I didn’t see the motion at all;

-Return of the Jedi

-Come on, just because there’s an epidemic doesn’t mean Mario goes down~. White-haired Mario needs to eat Lexic noodles. Yesterday too he gave a thumbs-up when someone said Lexic noodles were good.

└ It’s-a me! Ma~rio!

└ Tiditidiriti ti!

-Insanely handsome.

-Why does he like Lexic noodles that much??

└ Guess his tongue isn’t working right.

-I want to cut his hair.

-But aren’t Lexic noodles actually good?

-They say enhanced bodies are made with tax money, but then they suddenly start dropping like flies, and they keep pushing only that white-haired guy. Smells like public opinion manipulation.

└ Next time, Creature feed #1

So far, the death toll was still low.

Not zero. It couldn’t be zero. The military and police couldn’t handle Creatures as skillfully as the Badgers. And the number of Badgers collapsing from infection kept rising.

Two hours ago, another person died from the illness.

Soldiers, police, and civilians were dying here and there. The casualty count was steadily piling up.

There was still no proper solution.

They said even the second quarantine ward area was packed full of tents.

‘The calm before the storm.’

Leeho watched Hildebert’s video with a grim expression.

It was almost surprising that the storm hadn’t hit yet. This epidemic was surely something Kyle’s side had spread. Part of a biochemical attack. A spectacular success.

‘Of course, they won’t just let people waste away and die like this.’

Before the situation was brought under control, they would use magic to pour Creatures into the Core.

It was only a matter of when.

Last night was quiet.

Today was fairly quiet as well. The day was ending, but nothing major had happened yet.

Just how long would this not-quite-peace last?

Leeho sighed and turned off YouTube.

An unfamiliar pair of eyes was reflected in the blackened screen.

“Aaaah!”

“Oh my, I’m sorry.”

As he jolted, a woman who had been looking down at his phone widened her eyes.

“I startled you.”

A woman covering her mouth shyly.

Leeho blankly looked at the pixie-haired woman.

She was an elegant-looking member of the medical staff he had seen since his quarantine began.

The black-haired woman smiled at Leeho.

“You were watching such a captivating video that I couldn’t help myself.... I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to peek.”

“It’s fine.”

Leeho replied awkwardly. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

“How are you feeling?”

The woman asked with a gentle smile.

“If it gets worse, please be sure to tell—.”

BOOOOM!

The wall of the quarantine ward collapsed.

Medical staff and reporters let out piercing screams.

The Badgers snapped their heads up. Those with any strength left ran out of the barracks.

Hands instinctively gripping weapons.

“A Creature!”

A horde of Creatures smashed through the wall.

“Creatures!”