Chapter 393 – Forever 15 Years Old.
A ragged piece of junk barely resembling a vehicle.
The succubus stepped out of the car, speaking as if nothing were amiss.
However, the juvenile offenders who followed her couldn’t help but feel on edge.
No wonder.
“Um… is this really the place?”
“Are you planning to sell us out?”
“Why next to a police station!!!”
The destination was right next to the police station.
Because of the building’s location, the juvenile offenders showed heightened vigilance.
They had shaken off all the anticipation they felt before coming.
No matter how free from the law they were, they were still not exactly upstanding citizens.
And the leader of the group stepped up to the succubus on behalf of the juvenile offenders.
He was preparing a plan to escape using the ability of a teleportation user if things went south.
“Speak clearly. Why did you bring us here?”
“I told you. It is one of the facilities of the secret base.”
“Is this place…?”
At that, the juvenile offenders began to examine the building closely.
There were no windows, only a door, and not even a sign to describe the building.
Despite being next to a police station, it was quite bland yet instinctively gave off a slight sense of fear.
Finally, one of the juvenile offenders asked again.
“But why is it specifically next to a police station?”
“Oh, that?”
The succubus casually replied.
“Running a secret organization costs a lot of money.”
“So?”
“Do you think an ordinary person would have that kind of money?”
After hearing that answer, the juvenile offenders started to feel invigorated again.
“Ah! So it’s run by the government!”
“Exactly.”
The juvenile offenders thought they had made a smart decision to follow her.
However, they still couldn’t shake off all their doubts.
Now, a girl with teleportation abilities stepped forward.
“But what kind of place is this?”
“You are chosen ones, but you haven’t passed the proper test yet.”
“So is this perhaps… a type of testing ground?”
“Correct. It’s impressive that you realized that so quickly.”
The juvenile offenders chatted amongst themselves, filled with excitement.
“The world really needs us!”
“Then maybe the secret organization’s headquarters is underground at the police station?”
“Of course! There must be robots like the ones we only see on TV!”
“I saw it in Kamen Rider! There must be a Gundam sleeping down there!”
Even though they were juvenile offenders, they were still elementary school students.
So, they were now imagining things that fit their age group.
As the succubus clapped her hands to change the atmosphere, their imaginations quickly faded.
“Now, shall we all go in?”
As she spoke, everyone started to approach the building slowly.
Suddenly, the succubus glanced at the group of juvenile offenders.
“Is there a leader among you?”
Then the other juvenile offenders, excluding the leader, pointed their gazes at one person.
Receiving all those gazes, the leader stepped forward.
“I’m their leader!”
“Oh? But that won’t be the case from now on.”
At those words, the leader felt a surge of anger.
“Why not! I’m the best among these kids!”
“The secret organization is fundamentally meritocratic.”
Of course, the succubus continued her calm remarks.
“Only the most outstanding among those who take the test can be the leader.”
“What do we get out of it!”
If there’s nothing good, then I’ll make sure to repay you later.
That was what the leader was thinking, but when he heard the succubus’s next words,
“You can choose your desired color first. You can even choose the lunch menu.”
“That sounds great!”
He immediately resolved to become the leader.
Though she didn’t specify what color, it could only mean one thing.
It must be the color of the suits.
Then, a question popped into the leader’s mind, and he quickly voiced it to the succubus, who was already holding the doorknob.
“There are four of us. Where’s the other one? Kamen Riders are a team of five, right?”
“They arrived before you and are waiting. They’ll be good rivals for you.”
“Really? Are they the same age as us?”
“No. They are a bit older than you. However, their mental age is similar.”
At those words, the leader couldn’t help but smirk with pride.
Even if they were older, they could only be middle school students at best.
Plus, if their mental age was the same as elementary students…
That guy must be a complete idiot.
“Well, it doesn’t matter. I’m still going to be the leader.”
“Heh. I’ll look forward to it.”
And finally, the succubus opened the door of the building.
As she opened the door, what lay before them was a dimly lit space with a faint light.
Five chairs and desks sat waiting as if they had been there for ages.
And someone was sitting in one of those chairs.
It was probably the person the succubus mentioned.
But there was one thing that bothered him.
“Come on in.”
“Uh… okay…”
The appearance was quite strange.
A large eye patch covered their left eye, nearly obscuring the left side of their face.
Both hands were wrapped in bandages, leaving only the fingertips exposed.
It was even wearing a somewhat shiny black coat.
Moreover, no matter how you looked at it…
“Why is this old man here!”
“What the hell is this kid talking about?”
It was just an adult.
Reluctantly, they had a rather handsome appearance, yet a remarkably youthful face.
However, no matter what, they certainly did not look like an elementary or middle school student.
At best, they looked like high schoolers.
It wasn’t just the leader that felt that way; the other juvenile offenders were also wearing subtle expressions.
How could someone be called a ‘child’ looking like that?
“What the heck is going on here! Why is this old man here!”
“I’m in the second year of middle school, you know?”
“Stop it! You totally look like an old man!”
The man stubbornly insisted he was a second-year middle schooler.
It felt like he was getting scammed somehow.
Wasn’t the secret organization also a lie?
And why would an old man ramble about being in middle school?
“How dare a lowly human try to provoke me…? Hehe… interesting…”
“Ah, he is indeed a middle schooler.”
The man in front of them was definitely a middle schooler.
Though their appearance looked like an old man, the way they talked was unmistakably of a middle schooler.
Indeed, a serious case of middle school syndrome.
Only then did everything fall into place.
The eye patch, the bandages.
And the succubus’s words before they entered.
Though older than the juvenile offenders, their mental age would be similar.
Meanwhile, one of the leader’s subordinates pointed to the man’s hands.
With an intensely curious expression.
“Why are your hands bandaged?”
“Oh, this? There’s a very dangerous entity sealed inside them.”
Hearing that, two ability users chimed in.
Since they were ability users, they must have been curious about others’ abilities.
“Show us! Show us!”
“That’s a lie, right?”
“If it’s not a lie, then show us!”
“Hey, calm down, everyone. The entity sealed in my hand lacks a bit of patience compared to me.”
The leader was beginning to think he was the epitome of a middle schooler.
If someone were to come in and say this idiot wasn’t a middle schooler,
He would actually ask that question himself.
If not a middle schooler, then what else could be considered one?
“The succubus mentioned that you’d be on a similar level to us.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
At that moment, another subordinate of the leader pointed at the man’s eyes with excitement.
With curious eyes that seemed to reflect the naïve heart of an elementary school student.
“So the eye patch is to seal your evil eye, right?”
“Oh, for a mere human to catch on to that is impressive.”
The man chuckled, gently stroking the side of the eye patch, and then murmured, staring off into the distance.
“I’ve lived seeing things I’d rather not see with this eye…”
The thought of the man in front of them being an old man quickly faded away.
But the leader still felt something was off.
There was just a sense of déjà vu he couldn’t shake.
Those lethargically vacant eyes.
And the tone of voice that irritates people.
Then suddenly, something popped into the leader’s head.
It was during a lecture from a large guild’s hunter invited by their school.
The hunter had passionately explained about the recently designated disaster, ‘Hyeji.’
Reciting the rules regarding power, escape behavior, and actions not to take.
During that process, he had strongly emphasized one critical point.
“When ‘Hyeji’ occurs, there’s a high probability of a harmful species lurking nearby.”
– “Especially that insane dog bastard!… I mean, harmful species Kim Shinwoo should never be involved with!!! Never!!!”
He had emphasized that point to the point of consuming one-third of the lecture time.
Even showing a multitude of photos whose origins were unknown.
‘…….Something looks similar…’
From the photos, Kim Shinwoo had a red left pupil with a large scar over it.
He also had magical power tattoos on both hands, which couldn’t be confirmed now.
It was as if he intentionally tried to hide his identity.
The leader’s instincts sounded a final alarm in his mind.
But the moment he turned his gaze back to the man.
“By the way, are you really a middle schooler? You totally look like an old man… Are you just a crazy bastard?”
“Hah. Didn’t I tell you not to provoke me? I don’t want to offer any more flowers to the graves of those who died at my hands…”
“……Woah, that’s a crazy bastard in a different sense…”
He thought it was a false alarm from his instincts.
No matter how he looked, he seemed too different from the harmful species he had heard about.
‘It must be a misunderstanding…’
As all the juvenile offenders took their seats,
The succubus began to slowly close the only exit to the outside.
“Now, let’s get this started.”
