When Jeong Ho-san came to his senses, he was already in Choi Jun-hee's car.
"Fasten your seatbelt tightly."
"Don't we have a separate patrol car?"
"Ah, that junk? We can't make it on time if we use that."
Choi Jun-hee, who said that, tapped the glove compartment and took out a portable siren from inside.
'Portable' 'siren'. While Jeong Ho-san was blinking at that mismatched combination, Choi Jun-hee smiled and stuck the siren on the car roof.
"Now, let's go."
The moment Choi Jun-hee stepped on the accelerator, an ear-splitting noise started blaring from the siren.
As Jeong Ho-san opened and closed his mouth at the sound that nearly deafened him, Choi Jun-hee said:
"This way, they'll know right away it's an ACID car!"
Jeong Ho-san nodded blankly at Choi Jun-hee's voice, which was almost shouting. He couldn't say things like it would be better to just ride an ACID-owned car, or if this method was really necessary.
Because his body was stuck to the car due to Choi Jun-hee's rough driving that followed.
At the sound of the siren, the cars lined up in front struggled to make way. A cleanly emptied road appeared in front of Choi Jun-hee.
"E-everyone's cooperating well."
"Ah, not really, it's because I'll just push through any car blocking the way."
"I-is that allowed?"
Choi Jun-hee smiled.
"Yes, we're not responsible for vehicles damaged during dispatch. You could say it's one of the few perks of this job?"
Haha! Choi Jun-hee laughed like that and stepped on the accelerator. Vroom, it floated. Surely, the car just floated now. Jeong Ho-san's eyes shook.
Though Jeong Ho-san had experienced all sorts of things while conquering gates, he couldn't get used to a car shooting like a bullet through the city in broad daylight.
The car body shaking as if it would break apart at every turn, his body swaying back and forth from centrifugal force, the direction changing constantly.
While Choi Jun-hee stepped on the accelerator with a grin, Jeong Ho-san firmly gripped the handle attached to the car window and prayed he could get out of this car safely.
What if the car gets torn apart by centrifugal force like this? No, wouldn't it be faster for the window to break and my body to be swept out? Jeong Ho-san endured the driving that was close to violence with his eyes tightly shut.
When they finally arrived at the scene, Jeong Ho-san got out of the car in a battered state. His hand trembled as he grabbed the door to open it.
The uniform shirt he had carefully ironed without a single wrinkle had its buttons popped off as it was swept left and right, exposing his chest. His hair, which he had carefully combed up, was disheveled with his bangs slightly falling down. Jeong Ho-san brushed up the bangs covering his eyes and made a bewildered expression.
To end up like this just from riding in a car for about 10 minutes.
Choi Jun-hee, who had been in the driver's seat, looked fine, even better than before. Choi Jun-hee, whose face looked refreshed as if she had shaken off all her stress, grabbed her pager.
"Where is everyone?"
As if also functioning as a radio, a voice was heard from the pager.
"Yeah, I brought the new recruit. Uh, we'll join soon."
Choi Jun-hee patted Jeong Ho-san's back, who still hadn't come to his senses. Jeong Ho-san finally came to his senses and raised his head. Only then did the situation come into view.
He could see that ACID team members had already arrived and were controlling the situation. Red control lines had been set up, and he could see a few people milling about inside. Beyond the already controlled road, he could see citizens hurriedly turning their cars around.
Choi Jun-hee pointed to a convenience store and said:
"The friends who were patrolling came right away, but they lost the culprit. He's in there. With hostages."
Choi Jun-hee, who pointed at the convenience store, frowned. A man strode towards Choi Jun-hee as if he had spotted her from afar.
"You've arrived?"
"Yeah, brief me on the situation."
The man quickly briefed on the situation.
"The culprit robbed a nearby jewelry store about 20 minutes ago. It seems he didn't check that the owner had an artifact specifically for awakeners. The culprit, who received an unexpected attack from the owner, panicked and used his ability..."
"What was his ability again?"
"Ice-type."
While Choi Jun-hee clicked her tongue, the man continued speaking.
"The jewelry store owner died on the scene. A few citizens nearby also suffered frostbite while the culprit was fleeing and have been taken to the hospital."
"And our culprit?"
"He couldn't run far. Our team members who were patrolling nearby received the report immediately and arrived here. As soon as he saw our team members, he seemed to panic and holed up in that convenience store."
"The people in the convenience store?"
"Kyung-hoon saw, they're still alive."
Choi Jun-hee's expression darkened. It was good news that the hostages were alive for now. But what a cornered culprit might do...
"Let's go over there for now."
Five or six people were gathered in front of the convenience store. They all nodded slightly at Choi Jun-hee.
"Kyung-hoon. How's the situation inside?"
At Team Leader Choi Jun-hee's words, Park Kyung-hoon's pupils, who had x-ray vision ability, turned green.
"There are three hostages in total. The culprit is by the counter, and the hostages are in the room behind the counter. We can't approach the hostages without getting past the culprit."
"Is everyone alright?"
"For now."
"Phew."
Choi Jun-hee made a troubled expression.
"This is the most difficult situation. A hostage situation."
Choi Jun-hee, who slightly turned her head towards Jeong Ho-san, sighed and said:
"I guess we need to talk to the culprit first."
There was no need to hold up a megaphone in an old-fashioned way. Choi Jun-hee called one of the women standing around.
"Hey, uh, who's from the support team?"
"Song Min-ah from Unit 3 support team."
Choi Jun-hee nodded at Song Min-ah's words and said:
"Set up a line inside. So I can talk to the culprit."
"Yes!"
The woman immediately drew up her mana. A pair of small birds were created at the woman's gesture. One bird stayed on the woman's hand, while the other flew into the convenience store where the culprit was.
"Connection established."
[W-what is it?]
The culprit's voice was heard through the bird's mouth. Jeong Ho-san's eyes shook at the young voice that seemed to have barely passed puberty.
But Choi Jun-hee continued speaking without any hesitation:
"You already know the situation. You're surrounded and there's no way out. You know it won't end well if you harm the hostages."
[I-I've already killed someone. I know what happens to people who kill!]
"One or four, it doesn't matter? How about this. The sentence would be quite different. If you surrender now..."
[No, I won't surrender! I-I'd rather die here than go to prison!]
Choi Jun-hee's face crumpled.
She cursed silently and gestured to her surroundings. At Choi Jun-hee's gesture, the team members who had been holding their breath carefully approached the convenience store.
The problem was...
[It's, it's over. It's all over. Rather...]
The culprit's state was much more unstable than expected.
"No, don't! Wait a moment!"
Before Choi Jun-hee could open her mouth, magic power violently surged from inside.
Jeong Ho-san gathered magic power in his legs. Though there was no order to enter... he couldn't just stand by and watch this situation.
The world slowed down.
To Jeong Ho-san, who had strengthened his body to the limit with physical enhancement, the world looked slow. Jeong Ho-san kicked the ground with his magic power-filled foot.
Passing by the team members slowly entering, Jeong Ho-san's body instantly reached the convenience store wall. Jeong Ho-san, who flew inside by breaking through the wall, confirmed the culprit who was exploding with magic power.
As he confirmed the culprit's pupils dyed blue, click, time flowed. The culprit hastily poured the magic power he had drawn up onto this uninvited guest.
"Ugh!"
Cold magic power touched his whole body. The magic power gathered in the air soon became sharp thorns flying towards Jeong Ho-san. Jeong Ho-san wrapped his face with both arms to protect it.
The thorns made of ice couldn't pierce Jeong Ho-san's tough forearms and shattered in mid-air. The culprit's face blurred as he saw the ice shards scattering.
The culprit, who was hit by Jeong Ho-san's body, immediately lost consciousness.
"Huff, huff."
Jeong Ho-san examined the culprit. As felt in his voice, the culprit had a young face that seemed to be barely a high school student. Jeong Ho-san frowned as he looked at the soft chin without a single beard.
"A kid like this..."
Why, such an act?
To become a murderer at an age when he should be honing his abilities at Hunter Academy.
"A-are you alright?"
Belatedly, ACID team members started pouring in. Jeong Ho-san grabbed someone's outstretched hand and got up from his seat. Jeong Ho-san turned his head at the sharp gaze he felt from behind and stiffened his expression.
An angry-faced Choi Jun-hee was glaring at Jeong Ho-san.
"Geez! How can you enter like that without saying anything?"
"I'm sorry. The situation looked urgent..."
"Haah."
Choi Jun-hee, who exhaled shortly, shook her head and said:
"No. If it weren't for our new recruit, things could have gotten worse. Well, let's get the hostages out first?"
At Choi Jun-hee's gesture, the ACID team members who had been stiff until now started moving.
"Sob sob, thank you."
"W-we're alive!"
The convenience store employee and customer who had been trapped by the culprit burst into tears as they went outside. Jeong Ho-san watched them with mixed feelings.
Seeing them made the act committed by the child who had fainted from his attack feel real.
"This child, no, I mean the culprit..."
Choi Jun-hee restrained the culprit's hands and feet with the artifact she wore on her waist and said:
"For now, we need to move him to the ACID detention center. A temporary detention center. The real detention center was destroyed last time. But it's enough to restrain guys like this."
"After he's moved to the detention center..."
"After his sentence is determined through trial, he'll pay the appropriate price for his crime. As you know, the price for awakener crimes is always harsh."
This young child probably won't see the outside world again. Both Choi Jun-hee and Jeong Ho-san knew this child's future.
"Such a young child..."
"This isn't that young, you know. Believe me, you see all sorts of guys doing this job."
Choi Jun-hee said as if it wasn't a big deal.
"Load him up."
At Choi Jun-hee's words, two ACID team members rushed over and took the culprit away. Choi Jun-hee looked at Jeong Ho-san, who couldn't take his eyes off the culprit, and said:
"We don't need that kind of sympathy or understanding. We catch those who do bad things. That's our job. So get your head straight."
"Yes."
"Awakeners are dangerous no matter how old they are. That guy could have done the same thing if he was 10 years old, not 16. So throw away that meager sense of guilt. It's the most useless thing in ACID."
You can't gauge the danger of awakeners just by looking at them. In this world, a child barely reaching your waist could crush a person to death with one finger, and an old person who could barely walk alone could burst someone's head with one word.
So Choi Jun-hee had no choice but to be resolute.
"An innocent person died today because of that guy. Let's not forget that."
That was the only thing that mattered to her.
Catching those who have done bad things.