# Chapter 201
Hyegang, who was just turning on the computer, responded.
“What?”
“Didn’t Je Sano… follow along too easily?”
His serious face was full of distrust.
“It’s weird. He’s not that docile. He makes others move, not move himself.”
“You really have a firm image of Sano-hyung.”
“Director Jin didn’t even tell him to come out, yet he got up that quickly? Did someone get some leverage on him? Gasp! Did he accidentally kill someone…?”
“Hyung, get a grip.”
“But it really is weird!”
Iyeon finally shouted in frustration. The intuition he’d developed from spending months with Sano was setting off a loud siren.
However, Hyegang dismissively cut him off.
“If it’s really bothering you, ask him later. Stop worrying unnecessarily and let’s do a Jeong-Yeon mission. The deadline is coming up.”
“Huh, we’re not going to wait for Je Sano?”
“I know you’re perfectly capable of doing it alone. You need to pay for deceiving me all this time and making us work inefficiently.”
“…”
Iyeon always had nothing to say about that matter. It was easy to leave the office with dragging footsteps.
Today’s mission was to catch an 8th-tier mutant horn squirrel that was roaming around apartment complex garbage areas and making holes in trash cans.
The horn squirrel looked like a flying squirrel about the size of a baby’s forearm with a horn on its forehead. Generally, they were docile but curious, with a habit of wanting to decorate their nests elaborately. Moreover, the horn on their forehead was quite sharp, making it perfect for injuring ordinary people who approached carelessly. Because of this danger, it received an 8th-tier rating, up from 9th-tier.
It had probably made holes in the trash cans while looking for decorative materials for its nest. He wasn’t sure why it chose garbage areas specifically, though…
– Have you arrived?
Since the goggles with the broken screen from the lake battle were still in that condition—just thinking about taking them to D.S and getting scolded made his future look bleak—Iyeon wore them on his forehead instead of over his eyes as usual. It was only to use the communication function with Hyegang.
“Yeah, but…”
Iyeon adjusted the goggles to hear Hyegang’s voice better and looked at the scene before him. The grand entrance gate of the complex was so well-maintained that the stone material seemed to gleam.
The apartment complex where the horn squirrel had been reported was an enormous development. Seeing the endless line of apartment buildings, it seemed like there would easily be over 1,000 units.
The problem was that there would be just as many garbage areas within the complex.
“How am I supposed to search all this?”
Iyeon muttered as if in pain. Now he understood why Hyegang wanted to do this when Sano wasn’t around. Je Sano, who pretended not to care but was actually obsessed with cleanliness, would absolutely refuse to do this…
– Don’t worry, you won’t be rummaging through garbage. If we combine the sighting information, we can roughly pinpoint an area where the horn squirrel’s nest might be.
That was at least a relief. Even the easy-going Iyeon didn’t want to be digging through trash cans in broad daylight.
“Let’s get this over with quickly. Where is it?”
– Enter through the main gate, turn left, then walk straight ahead.
Following Hyegang’s instructions, Iyeon came upon a walkway with landscaping. Despite being a facility exclusive to residents, it was as spacious as a neighborhood park with densely planted trees.
“Is this some kind of maze park?”
– It seems they’ve put some effort into it, probably because it’s a wealthy apartment complex. I heard there are many areas that residents don’t use much because it’s difficult to find your way.
The neatly planted boxwoods reached up to Iyeon’s waist. With trees planted in the flower bed areas here and there, it looked somewhat like a jungle. Since it was a high-end apartment complex, it seemed well-managed, making it closer to the realm of art than a wild jungle…
“Wouldn’t it be better to look at this from above?”
– Yes. Try to get an overview first.
Normally, Hyegang would have rendered a map of the area, but because of the broken goggles, the transmission function was also non-functional. Since this was a disaster of his own making, Iyeon took out a piece of paper from his bag without complaint.
It had been a long time since he’d held a pen. As Iyeon scribbled freely, a messy line was added one by one to the white paper. Having quickly completed his drawing, Iyeon flipped his arm as far as possible and placed the paper against his back. Soon, something pointed… emerged from the paper along with pure white sand.
This something, which looked like an abstract geometric shape, had a plate-like form with two pieces—one long and one short. The slightly wavering shapes, which looked more flexible than expected, attached to Iyeon’s shoulder blades as if sprouting from them.
– It’s been a while since I’ve seen those wings.
Hyegang’s voice, who was watching Iyeon through the park’s CCTV, could be heard. Thoroughly brainwashed over the past few years of missions by Iyeon’s claim that two flat things attached to his back were wings, Hyegang didn’t even seem surprised.
Iyeon fluttered the wings a couple of times as if testing them, then soared up. The wings of different lengths were slightly unbalanced, but his flight form was quite stable.
After circling the park a few times, he could grasp the overall structure. The park was divided into about three areas: the western area with benches, exercise equipment, and simple walking paths; the eastern area with hills and a playground; and the southern jungle-like area where Iyeon had just been at the entrance.
“I don’t think it’s in the western area, so either eastern or southern?”
– Probably not the eastern area either. If there was a horn squirrel nest where kids play, the mothers would have freaked out.
“That’s true.”
Iyeon landed in the most densely wooded part of the southern area. As soon as his feet touched the ground, the pure white wings shattered like foam and disappeared.
– Um… Hyung, I just saw something.
“Huh? Where?”
Hyegang was monitoring all the CCTVs in the park. Soon, a calm briefing came through to Iyeon’s ear.
– I think it’s the horn squirrel. It’s not moving fast, but it’s continuously on the move. Number 7, number 7 means… turn right from where you are.
“Got it.”
Iyeon started running. Tap, tap. The sound of his regular footsteps powerfully struck the ground.
– Keep running, and when you see a tree with red berries, jump over the boxwood hedge on the right. Keep running along that path and turn right again.
Iyeon ran along the path, jumping over trees like an obedient robot following Hyegang’s instructions. Leaves stuck to his clothes as they flew about from his dynamic movements. One or two residents who were rarely strolling in the park noticed Iyeon running frantically, but they only gave him a glance as if they didn’t think it was worth paying much attention to.
Even though he kept running without seeing a single ant in his field of vision, Iyeon neither asked Hyegang if he was going the right way nor stopped to check his surroundings. Hyegang had never led Iyeon down the wrong path.
– Turn left there. Look next to the large tree on your right.
And then.
– Do you see it?
As soon as he turned the corner, he saw a round creature leisurely walking in the distance. Iyeon grinned.
“Yeah.”
Horn squirrels were easy to catch once spotted. Though there was a risk of being injured by the horn that they wielded unknowingly, they were basically the lowest-tier mutants, so their attack power was pathetic. It took about 10 minutes to rush in, wrap a rope around it, and capture it. The tightly bound horn squirrel whined a little before quickly becoming docile.
“But it smells weird.”
– Of course it does. How many trash cans do you think that horn has destroyed?
Ugh. Iyeon frowned and held the horn squirrel away from his body. All kinds of unknown stenches mixed together, becoming twice as strong.
– Just bear with it a little longer. I’ve contacted the Superhuman Department, so they’ll be here soon.
Hyegang calmly reassured him from across the communication line. I wonder if I should wear a gas mask. Iyeon grumbled and headed toward the park exit.
– It’s been a really long time since we’ve done a mission like this.
“Has it?”
Come to think of it, it had been quite a while since he and Hyegang had done a mission just the two of them. Recently, Sano had been constantly by Iyeon’s side.
– Should we apply for something a bit more difficult next time? We have Sano-hyung, and your ability too. Though it would still be a low-tier mission.
“Do whatever you want. I don’t care.”
The selection of the quarterly mission list received through government connections was entirely Hyegang’s jurisdiction. Hyegang had a natural talent for picking out missions that could be handled in the fastest and easiest way. Whatever he chose, Hyegang would bring what Iyeon could do best. At this trust-filled answer, Hyegang chattered excitedly.
– It’ll be fun. I think it’ll be even more so now that your ability utilization has increased a lot.
“Really?”
– Yes. It was fun when you were materializing drawings, but this is like leveling up and gaining a new skill?
That was such a Hyegang-like expression. Iyeon laughed with a puff.
– But maybe there’s no need for an operator like me anymore.
“Huh?”
– You know what I mean. It would probably be much more efficient for you to judge and act on your own than for me to relay everything verbally.
His voice sounded a bit gloomy as he said this. Slightly taken aback, Iyeon waved his hands and denied it.
“Why would you say that? According to the records, I’m still only Tier 2, so I can’t use it freely anyway. And I’m more comfortable with you helping me.”
