Black Badger

Chapter 87

A student with straight black hair that grew down to her waist.

She wore a neat gray school uniform. Asil strode toward the student, who looked like she had just come home from school.

Barbie let out a bewildered exclamation.

"Where are you going?"

It seemed a minor had caught his eye.

I awkwardly got to my feet as well. It wouldn't look good for the youngest to just sit there blankly while the senior moved.

A high school girl sat not too far away.

Nothing seemed particularly incongruous about the way she carefully held an opera glass in one hand. She lacked the charisma or aggression that emanated from the elders. No stinging gaze came from their retainers lurking nearby.

She was just an ordinary student, with nothing of the sort detectable.

From behind, Ricardo muttered, "Anyway, that nosiness of his..." I followed and stood behind my detective senior.

"What are you doing here?"

The senior jumped straight in with his question.

The high school girl looked up.

Asil spoke in a stiff voice to the student, whose eyes widened in surprise.

"This place is illegal just to enter."

The answer didn't come right away.

The student simply sat quietly amid the noisy arena and stared up at Asil. She was a plain girl. She wore no makeup, no alterations to her uniform, and no special accessories.

She just held an expensive-looking opera glass in her hand.

An old-fashioned opera glass with a long handle attached to one side. I shifted my gaze from her puzzled face and examined the opera glass closely.

It was a high-quality item.

Not some crudely made thing from cheap materials. Every intricate pattern engraved on the handle showed the touch of a skilled craftsman.

It must have cost quite a bit.

Where did she get it? It wasn't something you could find just anywhere.

Did she inherit it?

But why did I stare at the opera glass so intently?

The moment I grew puzzled by my own behavior, the student spoke up.

"Uncle, aren't you here to watch the match too?"

Sharp observation.

I let out a small awkward laugh, but Asil didn't even twitch an eyebrow.

The senior asked in a truly police-like tone.

"Where are you from? School?"

"It's already over. I came right after school ended."

She tugged down the hem of her gray skirt that covered her knees.

"I didn't even have time to change. The uniform has the school crest. And here's the name tag."

Below the school crest on the yellow name tag pinned there, "Marie" was written in rough letters. Asil, confirming the neatly embroidered student's name, furrowed his brow even more.

"Do you know what kind of place this is? It's not somewhere an underage student should come alone."

The senior lectured with a stern face, but Marie wasn't fazed.

She looked up at Asil with an expression of complete confusion.

"Why not?"

"For one thing, it's illegal. And this place is full of lowlifes. A minor like you who can't protect herself could end up in who knows what trouble."

"But I love these matches so much!"

A smile spread across the student's face.

It was such a bright smile that it made the viewer pause for a moment.

It held pure, genuine enjoyment.

"Creatures versus illegal augmentees! Isn't it thrilling and fun?"

"If you want to see that stuff, go to a movie theater or watch YouTube."

"But neither can compare to seeing it live."

Marie didn't wipe the smile from her face.

I took in the sight of her bringing the opera glass up to her eyes. She seemed more excited than anyone for the match about to start. The warnings from the man standing nearby with a scowl didn't seem to reach her ears.

Something felt off.

The student lowered the opera glass and turned back to us.

"My dad was an illegal augmented body owner too, you know."

"Ah."

"He used to show off his strength at home to me and Mom all the time. But."

The plain student widened her smile again.

In the increasingly noisy arena, Marie concluded with a smile full of conviction.

"One day, he got trampled to death by a creature without a fight!"

Waaaaah!

Cheers engulfed the surroundings.

I looked up and saw the main MC appear in the arena. He was a typical white guy with sleek blond hair swept back and an eerily white smile.

Dressed in a tuxedo, he waved to the crowd from atop a massive drone.

A hologram window popped up beside him.

That huge hologram board seemed to be the betting panel for the matches. The constantly changing numbers made my eyes spin.

Tacky.

As I frowned, Barbie's voice came from behind.

"You need to get in there!"

Ricardo and Barbie were right behind me.

Barbie grabbed Asil's arm as he glanced back and furrowed her brow.

"Go quickly! I'll look after this kid!"

"Bye, Marie~."

Beside Barbie, who was pulling Asil along, Ricardo grinned with wide eyes.

It was the attitude of someone who had seen plenty of students coming to the arena out of bravado-filled rebellion or twisted curiosity. Ricardo cheerfully ignored the MC's microphone drivel—"Finally! He's back! Overcoming all sorts of hardships! Finally! By your side!"—and looked down at Marie.

"Want to grab some hot dogs with us after one match ends~?"

Marie blinked several times.

While she pondered briefly and gave an affirmative reply, Asil quickly exited the arena. Thanks to Barbie's urging that we would handle the nosiness, so he should hurry.

Ricardo kept chatting with Marie.

It felt like being at a massive concert hall—ears ringing, air thick and stuffy.

While my seniors busied themselves, I scanned the betting board and the ecstatic audience. The police were supposed to raid all at once later and arrest everyone, but I doubted it would go smoothly.

There would definitely be tramplings. And surely some with weapons.

Is this even possible...?

Someone tugged at my elbow.

"Over here."

It was Marie's voice.

By then, my seniors had sat down on either side of her. I gave a faint smile as I watched Marie hand a caramel popcorn bucket to Barbie.

"Why?"

"Sit and watch with us, then we'll go get hot dogs."

Marie spoke in a bright tone, like a student cheering at a live baseball game.

And she flashed a fresh smile. One that carried a different vibe from the usual delinquent students who frequented this place.

Her bright smile grew even wider.

"The first match is about to start!"

The sound of iron bars opening.

Cheers dropped sharply in an instant. The EDM cut off abruptly. I gazed down at the student with shining eyes, then slowly turned my body. My heightened senses picked up on the match proceedings. Hesitant footsteps approached. The thudding steps of the creature emerged from the iron bars.

The MC's voice.

[The first match begins!]

Cheers shook the arena.

*

The first match ended quickly.

I hadn't expected an ousted elder to appear in the very first one. In fact, the first sacrificial lamb was simply a drug-addicted illegal augmentee. Did he impulsively get the augmented body illegally and then fail to pay up? Or was there some other backstory I couldn't guess?

Either way, he died pathetically with his head smashed open.

The wild boar creature with its mouth torn to its ears greedily licked up the brain matter splattered across the arena floor.

"Ah, it was too short. Such a shame."

Marie, who had been watching the match intently through her opera glass, sighed.

She neatly placed the opera glass on her lap and murmured in a disappointed voice.

"Can't I watch just one more before I go?"

"You've got unique tastes~."

Ricardo chuckled softly, arms crossed and legs folded.

Barbie couldn't accept the weirdness of the girl sitting beside her. She shot Marie a glare, unable to control her expression.

Ricardo, on the other hand, was nonchalant. He directed his gaze to the arena with his characteristic sly smile.

I observed my senior, who looked like he was watching a boring holiday special movie.

"What are you staring at~?"

"You look bored."

When I answered bluntly, his green eyes rolled.

I met the gaze from those deep green eyes head-on.

"This whole thing."

Cheers announced the start of the second match.

Ricardo, who had been looking at me with inscrutable eyes, turned his gaze forward.

I threw my eyes back to the arena as well. The second augmentee was entering to face the wolf creature with its torn mouth.

I thought he wouldn't answer, but the senior replied bluntly.

"What these bastards are doing is all predictable...."

Was he talking about the criminal organization?

"The cops' prep is taking longer than expected.... Let's step out for a bit once this ends...."

The second fighter wasn't one of Colton's sacrificial lambs either.

He seemed like someone lost between an inflated ego and a reality that couldn't keep up, heading toward ruin. Overly self-conscious, he made every action feel unnatural.

But unlike the first victim, he had a will to live. He gripped his weapon and tried to survive the match.

He failed, though.

The second participant was eaten alive.

The sound of the illegal augmentee's muscles and bones crunching echoed through the arena.

The crazies had attached a mic to the creature's back.

Ricardo still wore his bored smile.

"Shall we go get those hot dogs now~?"

As the participant's death cries cut off, the green-eyed senior stood with a grin, hands in his pockets.

He looked down at Barbie, whose appetite had clearly vanished, and Marie, who seemed entranced.

"If we wait too long, it'll be crowded. Let's go quick...."

We exited the arena.

The noise died down in an instant. Vision darkened. After taking the elevator down and stepping outside, cool air rushed in.

I felt a small sense of liberation as my vision cleared sharply.

That food truck in the distance had never looked so welcoming.

The hot dog food truck was to the left of the beer one.

We headed there, crossing an area where it was hard to spot anyone except the staff working the trucks. The wasteland around was lit only by the lights near the food trucks. We reached the truck, braving the chill wind that bit at our cheeks.

The menu had just one item.

Ricardo ordered hot dogs for the number of people.

Five hot dogs dropped into the oil side by side. While they fried to a golden crisp, Asil came running, having gotten a call from Barbie.

"Go with this kid."

Barbie said, looking at Asil approaching through the darkness.

The senior, who had run up in quick steps, nodded with a complicated gaze at Marie.

"Yes. Their prep is taking a bit longer...."

"Tell them to hurry it up. Their incompetence isn't that surprising, but...."

"I'm on it."

"Here."

Marie suddenly held out a hot dog.

"The hot dogs are ready!"

Golden-fried hot dogs.

Dusted with sugar and squirted with ketchup. I watched as my seniors paused their conversation and took the hot dogs. They gripped the sticks alongside the ones in Marie's hands. Barbie took the first one, Asil accepted the second with reluctance, and Ricardo smiled as he took the third.

Then me.

Marie offered me a freshly fried hot dog.

I reached out with a faint smile.

"Thanks...."

Ah!

What was that?

My eyes widened reflexively.

What just happened?

My hand stung?

"A bug?"

Did a mosquito bite me?

As I lifted my hand to check the injury, the police approached from afar at the same time.

"You there, young lady! Come here right now!"

Unfortunately, a familiar voice.

I rolled my eyes slightly and spotted a cop striding over sleazily, hands shoved in the pockets of his aviation jacket.

Regina walked toward Marie with a fierce expression.

"Do you even know what kind of place this is, coming here?"

A small scuffle broke out behind.

The girl refused to be taken by the police. Regina refused to let Marie go. They bickered in front of the food truck for a while. But while Regina's high-handed words, Asil's grumbling, and Barbie's nagging continued, I was busy examining my hand.

Weird.

It definitely stung, but where did it bite?

Ever since reuniting with Jae-yeon, my senses of pain and touch had sharpened—I could even feel a mosquito needle prick. Yet on my hand, I couldn't find any trace of a bug bite.

It didn't feel like an illusion....

I didn't stop looking at my hand until Marie relented and decided to go with Regina.

Until Ricardo, who had been quietly observing me, tossed out a question.

"What are you looking at so intently?"

As I looked up at Ricardo, Marie waved goodbye while walking away with Regina, and Barbie waved half-heartedly before commenting, "She was a nutcase," it all happened almost simultaneously.

As did me widening my eyes while looking at my seniors' hands.

"Ricardo."

My sharpened vision caught the small scars on my seniors' bodies—ones they were probably numb to from long missions and wouldn't even feel.

Tiny puncture wounds, like from a needle going in and out.

"Why isn't the blood stopping?"

On my seniors' hands, beads of blood the size of needle holes were welling up.