# Chapter 11
When the Blue Tiger’s attention shifted toward the rapidly retreating Iyeon, Sano destroyed the rooftop floor beneath the tiger, sending it crashing to the ground. Kkigigeek. The sound of claws scraping against walls as it fell echoed chillingly.
As the paper airplane’s speed increased, the battle scene quickly receded into the distance. Iyeon caught a glimpse of spikes emerging from the crumbling building’s outer walls, threatening the Blue Tiger. While the Blue Tiger was busy destroying the spikes with its tail, Sano leapt out from among the flying dust and struck its flank.
The booming sounds of combat gradually diminished. Iyeon raised his head to look at the sky.
The Muribul birds were still circling in the sky above the combat zone.
– So you think the Muribul birds have a boju?
Hyegang, who had worked with Iyeon more than once or twice, was quick to understand. Iyeon, who had stopped near the Muribul birds, nodded.
“Yeah.”
There was a high possibility that the Blue Tiger had attacked them simply because it had followed the energy of the boju without knowing its exact location. The overwhelming energy emanating from Sano after they arrived would have further confused it. If Iyeon had been the Blue Tiger, he too would have suspected Je Sano rather than the Muribul birds as the culprit who had stolen the boju.
– How will you find the boju? It’ll be tricky to catch them by yourself.
Hyegang was right. In fact, it had taken quite some time to catch just one Muribul bird earlier. It was uncertain whether Sano could buy enough time to catch all six birds and search each one.
In response to Hyegang’s understandable concern, Iyeon spoke while keeping his gaze fixed on the birds flying busily about.
“I’ve figured out how to catch them.”
– Huh?
Although the sample size was small, compiling the stories about Muribul birds’ mischief revealed a clear pattern in what they targeted. When put together, it was quite a convincing commonality.
“They’re just pretty crows, right?”
Shiny things.
Someone like Sano, who could manipulate all ores and minerals freely, could instantly draw up all sorts of brilliant stones buried underground, but unfortunately, he was currently very busy.
From here on was Iyeon’s part.
Iyeon rummaged through his bag and took out a fresh piece of paper. Something that would shine enough to attract the Muribul birds while still being simple enough to draw with his limited skills.
Fortunately, the weather was bright.
The slim pen moved lightly. Soon, a toy-like object popped out of the paper. As Iyeon held and shook the materialized object, light reflected from its surface at various angles.
– Ah, a mirror? You’re smart.
“It’s nothing.”
Iyeon could see several Muribul birds turning their heads in his direction, having spotted the constantly shining object.
BANG!
The thick tail struck the ground like a whip. Debris scattered again from the devastated road.
The fragments seemed to possess a will of their own as they avoided Sano’s body. Sano lightly brushed off his dirt-covered hands, his body otherwise completely unscathed. The metal that only emerged like scales on his skin when using his ability strongly had now spread to cover the back of his hands.
It was gradually reaching its limit.
‘Was too much expected?’
The results weren’t worth how much he had been holding back. A dark shadow fell over Sano’s eyes. His blue-burning pupils glowed ominously.
Standing firmly in front of the Blue Tiger, Sano stretched his hands toward the abandoned buildings on either side. The stone buildings stretched like taffy toward the Blue Tiger.
Faced with the imminent threat of being crushed, the Blue Tiger growled and lowered its body. Sporadic electrical currents crackled around its body.
They both instinctively knew. This would be the final attack.
“Blue Tiger!”
Just then, a loud shout pierced through the thundering noise. Sano and the Blue Tiger looked up.
Not far above, in low altitude, Iyeon stood on a paper airplane with his goggles pushed up to his forehead, holding a red megaphone. Putting the scribble-like crumpled device to his mouth, Iyeon smiled playfully and waved.
“Is this what you’re looking for?”
The Blue Tiger, upon confirming the marble in Iyeon’s white hand, leapt up with a massive roar. The gigantic tiger, nimbly climbing up the arbitrarily twisted building that Sano had warped, rushed straight toward Iyeon.
“I’ve gone through all sorts of things just trying to fill a quarterly quota.”
The scene of all the terrain options disappearing and the zone defense wall smoothly coming down was accompanied by a sense of relief. Sano glanced down at Iyeon’s grumbling. After the long battle, his clothes and face were all grimy.
“For someone saying that, you seemed to be enjoying it.”
“What are you talking about? I was extremely serious.”
Wasn’t that alright? His voice sounded sincere as he asked.
When Iyeon waved the Blue Tiger’s boju that he had obtained from the Muribul birds, the Blue Tiger rushed toward him. However, Iyeon tamed the Blue Tiger by teasing it a few times like someone playing with a cat using a toy, then handed over the boju.
Having retrieved its boju, the Blue Tiger lost interest in the two men and disappeared, easily scaling the high defense wall.
“If we had destroyed the boju, we could have killed the Blue Tiger.”
“It’s a victim too, you know.”
Having its boju stolen by a Level 8 mutant, wouldn’t that be embarrassing for a Grade 2 mutant? Iyeon added evenly with a smile. Sano, who had been staring at Iyeon, turned his gaze to the opposite direction. Beyond the forest of buildings, the sun was already setting.
“It wasn’t the direction I wanted…”
“Hm?”
“Good enough, I suppose.”
There was something unfathomably distant in Sano’s eyes as he spoke. Somehow finding that appearance concerning, Iyeon pretended not to care while secretly stealing glances at his profile.
*
“Good work~.”
The clink of cans colliding was cheerful. Sitting on a bench in front of the office under the sunset sky, Hyegang emptied a can of beer in just a few gulps. It was an astonishing speed.
“Why are we all drinking this together?”
Iyeon muttered, holding his can glumly. Next to him, sitting a little distance away, Sano hadn’t even opened the beer can placed in front of him. Despite the uncooperative atmosphere, Hyegang remained composed.
“Let’s call it a welcome party for the new member?”
“New member…”
It wasn’t wrong, but somehow it felt awkward.
“Hey there, Je Sano-ssi! I’m Lee Hyegang. Looking forward to working with you.”
Sano merely glanced up without giving any reply. However, whether he answered or not didn’t seem to matter to Hyegang, who showed no signs of concern. His interests were very clear as he was already opening the next can.
“You just wanted to drink and bought these, right?”
“Hey now! It’s a company dinner. We’ll expense it!”
“…”
He’s really fleecing a company that has only two members. Judging by the way he spoke, it seemed he had already used the company card.
Iyeon looked at Hyegang with disbelieving eyes before bringing his own can to his lips. Perhaps because he’d been running around all day, the beer he gulped down tasted especially sweet. …Wait? This is actually sweet beer!
“Hey, did you buy imported beer?”
“I bought them in packs of four, so it’s a good deal. Don’t worry.”
What’s good about buying a truckload in packs of four?
“The beer tastes amazing~.”
Hyegang had already turned his back and was enjoying the urban scenery alone, apparently unaware of the meaning of a company dinner.
“You don’t drink?”
Instantly feeling left out by Hyegang, Iyeon glanced at Sano. Perhaps due to his straight-backed posture, his large figure, shadowed by darkness, looked much bigger than during the day. Though it was the largest can size at 500mL, the beer looked like a miniature next to Sano and remained untouched from when it was first placed.
Sano, who had been looking somewhere and seemingly lost in thought, raised his head. When their eyes met, Iyeon felt awkward and mumbled with the can at his lips.
“No, well. I’m not trying to pressure you…”
Isn’t that not the way of the world these days? I’m an open-minded boss, after all. That’s right. The gaze looking at the round head babbling nonsense became slightly askew. It was a look of viewing something pathetic.
“It’s impressive you’ve maintained the company this long.”
“What now?”
By now, Je Sano’s blunt remarks no longer bothered Iyeon. He responded indifferently as he finished his remaining beer. While Hyegang drank exceptionally fast, Iyeon himself was no slouch when it came to consumption. As he busily opened a new can, Sano’s voice continued.
“Why didn’t you kill the Muribul birds and check them?”
“What kind of cruel world did you come from?”
“I’m talking about efficiency.”
Iyeon had used a mirror to lure the Muribul birds, then searched them one by one, releasing those without the boju. Iyeon wasn’t particularly lucky, so he had barely found it after checking about five birds.
Of course, it would have been much faster to kill them one by one when they approached and search them. If they had done that, they probably wouldn’t have gotten this filthy either.
“We achieved our goal without killing them.”
“Using the time I bought with my life.”
“I knew you wouldn’t die. …Still, I’m sorry.”
Sano had indeed worked hard. Most likely, the battle took much longer than he had initially anticipated.
“But you made an effort too.”
At first, he had been unsure, but when Sano planted a spear in the Blue Tiger’s back, he became certain. Sano wasn’t using his full strength.
No matter how powerful a boju might be, if a Mugunghwa Tier 5 couldn’t inflict that level of damage on a Grade 2 mutant, Chohosi would have been devastated long ago. He had no intention of killing the Blue Tiger from the beginning.
“It wasn’t an effort.”
“Then what was it?”
Sano didn’t answer that question. Iyeon didn’t ask further and picked up his beer can.
“Here.”
Dark eyes, appearing black in the shadows, looked his way. Iyeon smiled casually.
“Good job.”
Tok. Iyeon’s can lightly tapped Sano’s can, which sat there quietly. It made a dull sound.
Out of the twenty-seven cans, excluding the one politely offered to Sano, Hyegang drank seventeen cans, and Iyeon drank ten. The two heavy drinkers, their faces not even flushed, engaged in what was more a group monologue masquerading as conversation before eventually lying down on the bench. It didn’t take long for steady breathing sounds to be heard.
Beyond the now completely darkened rooftop fence, building lights and car headlights moved in lines like small bulbs. Far away, the Red Void, a landmark visible from anywhere in the city, glowed red. Within the rooftop where faint noise continuously flowed, Sano, who had been sitting silently watching the drunkards the entire time, rose.
The deep shadow stopped around Iyeon’s waist. The face, hidden in darkness, was unreadable. Sano’s eyes grew cold. His upper body slowly leaned toward the man lying down. Like a predator stalking its prey, his slow movement precisely targeted his goal.
