Black Badger

I quickly plastered a bright smile on my face.

"It's all thanks to you, Senior. Thank you for guiding this lacking newbie onto the right path."

"You sure know how to talk~."

Ricardo smirked as he sauntered along.

I widened the smile on my lips while watching his sharp grin.

Maybe because he was dressed up like that, but it made me feel even more on edge than usual. Now that I was aware of my kinship with Ray and Kyle, the fact that I was hiding my non-human nature from Ricardo only added to my discomfort.

Even though he'd gone so far as to console me, assuming I was human.

In any case, I ignored the bitter feeling and kept grinning.

"And it was a compliment, Senior."

"Well, well... Now you're even lying to your sky-high senior~."

"It's true. Half of it, anyway. The name that came up was just so surprising."

"Jason?"

Barbie blinked up at me.

"Why Jason?"

Why, you asked...

I pondered for a moment how to explain. I didn't like Jason Tvain, but not enough to badmouth him endlessly.

Ricardo chuckled in front of me, finding my speechlessness amusing.

Asil answered in my place.

"That guy's only nice to women."

Ah.

"So it's not strange that you dislike him."

So that's the type he was...

Though that wasn't why I disliked him.

Unsurprised, I walked along the desolate road. Come to think of it, Ye-hyeon hated him so much that he extended that dislike to Yoon and even me, Yoon's deputy mentor. But with Ami, he'd been moderately kind. It was a very him-like reaction. Even though it was my first time hearing about it, it felt like something I'd known all along.

Still, if that guy knew my true identity, he'd probably gnash his teeth and try to take my head.

Well, there was no guarantee Ricardo or Ro would react any differently.

I headed toward the arena, thinking about the Earth that had changed so drastically due to the creatures and our arrival.

Recalling the question Yoon had tossed at me when he took the "From E" from me.

*

The arena was held on the 17th floor of a 20-story high-rise tower that was no longer in use.

The area around the tower swarmed with people. It felt like looking at an arena built in a deserted spot where crowds only gathered during events. There were people who looked like they were extremely wealthy and others who seemed to struggle just to get a meal. Some appeared to be utterly ordinary office workers, while others were unmistakably part of a gang. The crowd consisted of such an utterly unpredictable mix.

I stood there with my mouth agape for a while at the scene that suddenly confronted us after walking down the ruined road.

The seniors, who were regulars on this mission, weren't surprised.

They indifferently pushed through the crowd toward a food truck with dazzling simple lighting. The pair of man and woman we were looking for drank beer at a standing table.

As we stopped next to the boisterous table, the two turned their heads and looked at us.

The man reacted first.

"Ah! Our dear traitor."

Me?

"You?"

"Fisher. Doing well?"

"Craig."

Asil nodded with a slightly stiff expression.

"Long time no see. You too, Regina."

It wasn't me.

It was about Asil.

I felt a bit awkward, having nearly responded thoughtlessly, and watched the pair smiling at Asil.

Why was he a traitor?

Asil ignored the odd greeting and got straight to the point.

"The entry tickets?"

"Don't be so heartless. It's been ages since we last met."

I narrowed my eyes and watched the silver-haired senior converse with the man and woman, whom I assumed were police.

The male cop named Craig's words carried a bite. From his expression and tone, it didn't seem like he was using "traitor" as an affectionate nickname.

The male cop roughly set his beer mug down on the table.

"You're exactly the same as a few years ago. Like you've been pickled in preservatives. Ah, you actually were, weren't you?"

"If you'd betrayed us just a few years sooner."

The woman laughed, pointing at Asil's eyes with the hand holding her beer mug.

"Then it would've been a much closer match."

"That's why I feel sorry every time I see your eyes. Looks like you two can't get rid of those crow's feet either, huh?"

"These bastards are only getting worse~...."

Ricardo, who had been wearing a menacing smile next to the impassive Asil, chimed in.

His mouth smiled, but his green eyes didn't. With his hands in his pockets and one eyebrow raised, his grin looked downright sinister.

Barbie added, flicking an unlit cigar.

"At least take care of your hair, mister."

"Both of you, cut it out. Craig. The tickets, quickly...."

"I know this kid."

The female cop suddenly pointed at me.

Were you drunk?

I could see Asil furrow his brow sharply at her blunt remark. But the cop called Regina was too focused on me to notice Asil's reaction.

"You're a newbie, right?"

Ah, this knight thing really had massive repercussions.

I nodded curtly.

"Yes."

"How'd you know?"

"No, she's the one. The one who went to assist Jonathan Kudo and luckily saved Poden."

"Luckily?"

A chilling thorn emerged in Ricardo's voice.

"In your heads, getting buried in a building counts as lucky?"

As expected, he was sensitive about it.

Everyone was taken aback by the anger pouring from his voice. Asil and Barbie turned to look at Ricardo.

Was he in a bad mood because we were in front of a criminal organization's arena? Normally, he'd sneer, but not explode like this.

To prevent the atmosphere from souring further, I hurriedly interjected into the conversation.

"She came out alive by luck, and Chairman Poden was safe too. That's what you mean, right? I think I was lucky in that regard myself."

"Ah. I remember now. So you're the newbie?"

The male cop suddenly scowled and glared at me.

"Have you ever run a mission inside?"

Boom boom boom.

The massive speakers next to the food truck blared noisily. The chatter from the growing crowd grew louder. As the start time for the event approached, I felt the increasing clamor and answered no. This was my first official mission inside a core.

Craig didn't like my answer.

"How many humans are in there that you're shoving in such a green newbie?"

He raised his voice, his brow furrowed.

"Don't you know how cramped it is in there? If this kid slips up on controlling her strength once, it's a disaster! Even if none of the bastards who go in there are right in the head, isn't this just too reckless?"

"Just hand over the tickets."

Anger now edged Asil's voice as well.

With a face like he was barely restraining himself from grabbing his former colleague by the collar, he held out his hand.

"Before we formally complain to your superiors."

"Huh? What? You sticking your hand out? You gonna lay a hand on me?"

"The moment you touch even a finger of Craig's, that's when the tip-off to the press goes in."

Regina giggled, pointing at Asil's finger.

I stared in disbelief as she propped her chin and smiled slyly.

"Black Badger touches civilians! How's that for a headline, Fisher? Isn't it cool? It's been too long since we made the news; I miss the reporters now."

Crash!

One end of the table the two cops were leaning on collapsed.

My jaw dropped and I looked at the source of the noise.

The others stood frozen in place too. Asil and Craig with wide eyes, Regina.

Ricardo blinked before breaking into a long smile.

Barbie dusted off the table debris from her elbow as she dodged with her bent body.

She looked at the cops with a composed face and said,

"Oh, sorry. My heel was too high, and I slipped."

I chuckled a little.

That's how we got the tickets from the cops. I wondered if it was worth all the trouble, but we got them in the end. Three tickets handed over with grumbling. Thanks to that, we could distance ourselves from these people who were either drunk or astonishingly rude—we couldn't tell which.

*

Asil apologized to us the whole way to the building entrance.

From what I heard, they harbored some grudge against him for a specific reason. It wasn't just because he'd quit the police and joined the Black Badgers that they were acting so touchy.

It seemed related to why he'd left the force, but he didn't explain that far.

In any case, Ricardo waved his hand, which was wrapped with a silver snake, at the apologetic Asil.

The senior rolled his green eyes.

"You think the pigs hating us is anything new~?"

Right. The police and Black Badgers weren't exactly on good terms.

"Let's just wrap this up quick and head home~.... I doubt those idiots will properly kick things off, though...."

"The arena's crappier than last time."

Barbie grumbled, buried in the crowd pouring into the elevator.

"Who the hell decides to build an arena on the upper floors of a building like this?"

We got our tickets checked before boarding the elevator.

After the check, we were crammed into the elevator. It took on passengers right up until the warning alarm sounded, then shot up quickly to the arena. The elevator buttons only worked for one floor.

The 17th floor, marked with an arena sticker.

Light poured in.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, blinding bright light assaulted my eyes. Squeezed among the people, I entered the arena and faced the dazzling space filling my vision.

Wow.

They had really built an arena in such a high place.

Surprisingly, the scene before me was just what I'd imagined when thinking of an arena. It seemed like two or three floors had been hollowed out, with the stage for the matches below and slanted seats densely packed along the sides.

People filled those seats to the brim.

I closely examined the iron bars surrounding the sunken arena.

"Creatures and illegal augmentees come out through there."

Asil followed my gaze and explained.

"As soon as the police give the signal, we jump into the arena and take down the creature."

"Will they give a proper signal?"

I wasn't so sure.

Asil smirked at my expression.

"They'll be in a bind without our help too. I'll relay from outside, so stand by."

"Yes. Thank you."

"...Don't take what those guys said too seriously."

The former detective hesitated, turned his head, and added with difficulty.

I looked at the senior, who was awkwardly avoiding my gaze.

"He was mad at me and took it out on you. Sorry about that."

"No. It didn't bother me at all, so don't worry."

"Asil, heading out soon?"

Barbie leaned over from her seat next to me, holding some caramel popcorn I'd no idea where she'd gotten.

"Let us know right away if the pigs contact you."

Asil nodded, and Ricardo, standing next to Barbie, smoothly snatched her popcorn.

I watched Ricardo and Barbie giggling at him, along with the people gradually filling the surroundings.

The EDM that blasted through the arena, the noise from the crowd, the eye-searing bright lights, and the laser beams that swept over the seats—all of it assaulted my senses. The organizers, clearly the hosts of the event, who stood in every corner of the arena didn't make for a pleasant sight either.

I wanted to finish this quick and get out. I thought, feeling a bit drained.

I hoped the match would start soon, so I could witness the end of the one who'd dared point a blade at Colton, then face the creature.

Creatures captured by the mafia in bizarre ways.

Creatures humans couldn't ultimately tame, but which obeyed the will of the titans....

"High school girl?"

Asil's voice suddenly pulled me from my thoughts.

"Why's a high school girl here?"

The being that halted the senior who was about to leave.

And the one that even made the other seniors, who were leisurely enjoying their caramel popcorn, open their eyes in surprise sat four seats away from me.

She wore a neat school uniform.

She held an elegant opera glass in her hand.