“What kind of item is it?”
Behind me, a few people were already starting to plan how to subdue Seo Gilsoo.
“It’s a whip. I’ve even used it to take down a D-Rank Ogre.”
“A D-Rank?”
Excuse me, but Seo Gilsoo is a C-Rank.
Of course, I didn’t say it out loud.
I just pulled some bubblegum from my pocket and started chewing.
Chomp, chomp.
“If it can handle a D-Rank, then this is nothing, right?”
“I know a few people at the Hunter Association. Looking at him, I don’t think he’s even over D-rank. Maybe E-rank?”
You’ve got it completely wrong.
I glanced at the girl sitting next to me. She looked to be about high school age and was on the verge of tears.
She clutched something like a violin case tightly to her chest, clearly afraid of losing it.
Meanwhile, the passengers behind me kept whispering among themselves.
“If he’s an E-rank, he’s manageable.”
“But he’s got a gun.”
“I have an item, too, so I’ll find a way. In exchange, once I successfully land a hit, you have to step in and help me immediately.”
“Right. Of course we’ll help.”
While Seo Gilsoo chuckled beside the driver’s seat, the so-called E-Rank Hunter started gathering the frightened passengers.
A combination of amateur knowledge about Hunters, the fact that Seo Gilsoo didn’t look capable of rational judgment, and above all—
‘They don’t know there’s an enormous bomb on this bus right now.’
The E-rank Hunter’s confidence mixed with Seo Gilsoo’s erratic behavior led the people into a state of reckless, positive thinking.
I quietly watched the scenery along the Northern Arterial Road as the bus sped forward.
‘At this point—’
The Hunter Bureau probably hasn’t figured out where this bus is heading yet.
But Choi Woojin must have caught on.
I glanced again at the girl sitting beside me.
Should I say something to her…?
Before I could decide, the girl spoke.
“We won’t all make it out alive, right? He’s firing a gun and everything…”
In the novel, she was just another nameless extra like me.
But the arts school student before my eyes now had a name.
Han Suah.
“Uh… well, I guess?”
I answered blankly. Her eyes welled up, and tears fell like tiny droplets.
“I have a competition soon… I got mad at my mom this morning because she didn’t wake me up… I shouldn’t have been so angry…”
Watching her, I felt a subtle pang of emotion.
When I only saw this incident in the novel, I didn’t know because each of these extras was just treated as ‘Casualty 1’—
“Unnie…”
“Mhm.”
“Unnie, if I die and you live… could you pass a message to my mom?”
“Mm…”
“Tell her I didn’t take this bus because she woke me up late. Tell her it was because I stopped at a convenience store to buy something… Tell her never to feel sorry.”
“Ah… okay.”
At my lukewarm response, the student asked
“Unnie, do you have anyone you want to tell something to?”
“Ah… I… I…”
I caught Seo Gilsoo glancing out the window for a moment while chuckling.
The time had come.
I focused on a road sign along the Northern Arterial Road.
‘It begins now.’
I spoke as I thought that.
“There is, but. I… well…”
The E-rank Hunter who had been inciting the passengers brushed past me.
As he bent his body to move past, Seo Gilsoo was searching for something at his waist.
The E-rank Hunter soon straightened up and pulled a small item from his shirt.
The item extended, forming the shape of a whip.
“I’m planning to tell them myself. For sure.”
I told the student as I watched the moment the tip of the man’s whip touched Seo Gilsoo’s body.
Seo Gilsoo quickly snatched the whip. The E-rank Hunter froze.
“Wh-what the…”
But Seo Gilsoo grinned and pulled a party popper out from his clothes.
The kind of small popper used for birthday celebrations.
Seo Gil-soo gripped the long string at the end of the popper with his teeth and yanked.
Bang!
White, fine pink powder burst out along with golden foil, scattering everywhere.
“Hahaha! Welcome to Happyland, everyone!”
At Seo Gilsoo’s shout, the face of the man holding the whip went blank in shock.
As the pink powder spread, the expressions of those standing awkwardly, waiting for the E-rank Hunter’s signal, vanished as well.
Phew.
I held my breath and blew the chewed gum into a huge balloon.
The balloon popped at its limit, coating my mouth and nose with sticky gum.
At the same time, the sadness vanished from the face of the student next to me.
And soon…
“Wahahahahahaha!”
“Hehehehehe!”
“Wow, that’s hilarious! You look so funny!”
“Mom! I got first place in the competition!”
“Yejin! I love you! So much!”
The bus was gradually filled with people’s laughter.
Seo Gilsoo watched and laughed along.
“See! I told you dying wouldn’t be so bad!”
I observed Seo Gilsoo jumping and frolicking with the passengers, slowly lowering myself under the seat.
I held my breath beneath the feet of the passengers laughing and bouncing wildly.
The firework Seo Gilsoo detonated contained Funny Powder.
Funny Powder in a concentration thick enough to knock out someone like an E-rank Hunter in one shot.
So why am I fine?
That’s because… this bubblegum covering my mouth and nose is an item.
Sun
It’ll block most poison gases. But where would you need that?
Lately, Funny Powder cases have been coming in frequently. I heard some guys spray the powder and run away in those situations.
Sun
It’ll definitely block something like Funny Powder. But Noona.
Noona?
Sun
So, can I experiment on that slime now?
This item was created a few days ago by Kang Ilyeon, that crazy creator.
Absolutely not. And why are you suddenly calling me ‘sis’…?
Sun
Because you’re Yugyeom’s Noona
What’s even more chilling is that a photo of Kang Ilyeon, Kang Wolyeon, and Lee Yugyeom together was uploaded as that crazy creator’s profile picture!
Lee Yugyeom. Just what on earth have you been doing out there?
* * *
Wiiiiiiiiing—
The sound of sirens wailed loudly.
A Hunter Bureau official car equipped with a siren raced down the road.
The speed was so great that the vehicle narrowly avoided collisions while overtaking the cars ahead.
In the driver’s seat sat Ham Ina, frozen stiff.
“Maintain first lane. Current distance: 1 km.”
Beside her was Kwon Ik-seung, who sat motionless, window down, staring intently at something.
[Speed limit exceeded. Speed enforcement zone, speed enforcement zone.]
The GPS continued warning about the dangerously increasing speed in a mechanical voice.
Ham Ina wanted to turn it off immediately but couldn’t take her hands off the wheel.
The car the two of them were in was currently chasing the problematic No. 316 bus, being the closest among the investigation teams.
Even so, Ham Ina couldn’t see Bus 316 yet!
Kwon Ikseong seemed to be seeing the No. 316 bus—which appeared as a mere dot to Ham I-na—as if it were right in front of them.
[Speed limit exceeded…]
‘I know, you jerk! Just be quiet…’
As sweat ran down Ham Ina’s forehead, Kwon Ikseong furrowed his brows.
“The car is exiting onto the IC.”
“Pardon?”
“That… there.”
Kwon Ikseong squinted, as if trying to read letters far away.
Then—
[Ah… I keep telling you the speed limit is exceeded, but you really don’t listen.]
…?
The GPS’s mechanical voice sounded eerie.
Ham Ina thought she misheard.
But—
[It’s been a while, Team Leader Kwon Ikseong! As an investigator, you should observe the speed limit. What are you doing?]
…It wasn’t a hallucination.
In fact, on the navigation screen, a character of a black fox wearing pink sunglasses had appeared over the map.
Even as a rookie, she knew exactly what that character meant.
She had seen it frequently in the case files handled by Team 1.
“Gamer.”
Kwon Ikseong said in a low voice beside her.
The symbol of the infamous hacker, Gamer.
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