Kwak Hyeok-jung's body was burned black, but the Execution Force mbers who found so of his remains in the ashes collected them in a container while spitting curses.
"Fucking dog. You rampage all you want then kill yourself?"
"A vile and cowardly bastard till the end, sir."
"Son of a bitch. Pay for your sins in hell."
The expressions of the squad mbers looking at the damage left by Kwak Hyeok-jung, now reduced to a handful of ashes, showed a mix of relief, sense of achievent, bitterness, and anger.
"The damage this ti is really severe. No wonder citizens are anxious when this keeps happening."
It happened in the middle of downtown, and several buildings were damaged.
There were quite a few civilian casualties who couldn't evacuate in ti.
"Still, capturing the Executioner is a remarkable achievent. The infamous Sword of Belphegor has lost an executive. This is the victory the citizens have been thirsting for."
"That's right. The fear their elusive movents caused among citizens was sowhat exaggerated compared to reality."
"But now that such a high-profile executive has died, the public's sense of relief will be great."
The squad mbers' gazes turned toward Jo Sujin and the 1st Unit personnel who were resting in the distance.
"...She's truly amazing. She's not even much older than ."
"I know, right?"
"Huff."
Jo Sujin was sitting with a drained expression from the exhaustion she hadn't felt in a while.
"You'd better sit on this."
Deputy Squad Leader Kim Taesung approached and handed her his coat.
"Oh, thank you."
Jo Sujin, not refusing, used the coat as a cushion and sighed.
"Taesung, are you okay to move already? You took quite a beating."
"The injuries have been treated. I'm fine with this much."
"Heh. As expected. Your toughness is second only to Chang-seong."
Jo Sujin gave a thumbs up and said while massaging her stiff wrist.
"Man, that was really intense. I had to exert myself for once."
"The Executioner was terrifyingly strong."
"Well, Kwak Hyeok-jung has been infamous for a long ti."
Jo Sujin shrugged her shoulders.
"Though it seems he did sothing while we weren't looking. He was strong, but definitely not that strong before."
"However, there's sothing I don't understand. For , it's hard to comprehend why they would use up an executive who had beco that strong..."
"When have those bastards ever done anything that made sense?"
Jo Sujin snickered.
"They probably thought there would be no problem sending him in. In fact, if we hadn't set up this trap and waited, they would have succeeded perfectly, right?"
"That's true."
"If we hadn't co, the 3rd Unit alone couldn't have captured him."
"..."
"And even then."
Jo Sujin continued with a voice that seed reluctant to admit.
"Without those two aces, we couldn't have caught that bastard. We would have had to wait for reinforcents, and eventually lost him."
"..."
"This noona is pissed about that fact but also fucking proud. You know what I an?"
"I do."
Kim Taesung's face wasn't entirely bright either.
"Damn. After all this experience, now I'm benefiting from aces. Maybe I'm getting old."
"If you say that elsewhere, you'll get stoned."
"Hehehe. I'm a bit young, right?"
"..."
"You're not answering? You're pissing
off again."
Kim Taesung gave a short laugh.
"I'm joking."
"Kid, you always act so serious, but you've gotten more comfortable, haven't you?"
"Honestly, with my experience, it's about ti I loosened up."
"What are you saying? You never relaxed even when I told you to."
Jo Sujin, who had been grumbling, sighed and got up.
"Let's go. We need to clean up."
"Yes."
"And boost our rookie's confidence. That guy really did a big job."
Kim Taesung nodded in agreent.
"Yes. I have to admit."
"You worked hard too, Taesung."
"Senior Squad Leader, you worked hard as well."
"Hehe, well, we caught the Executioner, not just anyone. That's worth bragging about, isn't it?"
"You've been doing plenty of that already."
"Bastard."
Jo Sujin slapped Kim Taesung's shoulder, saying she'd let it slide because it was him.
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"Wow, rookie! You've barely eaten a few als here and already earned more than your keep!"
"Earned your keep? At this rate, he should be paying for our als too!"
The squad mbers' reactions toward
were explosive.
"Not at all."
"If you keep this up, you'll have enough intern allowance to pay tuition and have plenty left over, right?"
"Hehe, an intern about to make big money."
"Hmm. That's fine. I already have a scholarship."
"Tch. Smug bastard."
"Good-looking, skilled, there's nothing this guy lacks."
"My little sister has super high standards, should I introduce you two?"
"Hey, hey. That's a bit..."
"This fucker is laying pressure on the rookie because he got rejected himself?"
"HAHAHA!"
'I guess I can say I've been fully accepted now.'
As an elite unit, they had higher standards and were more demanding than other units, but once you earned their recognition, they beca an easy unit to be in.
"Hwang Ji-su. You were amazing too."
Squad Leader Park Eunsung praised Ji-su.
"To show such composure and skill in your first real combat situation... 'Beyond expectations' doesn't even begin to cover it."
"Thank you."
"Right. This little one did really well too."
Jo Sujin grinned and pat Ji-su's back heavily.
"Are you two dating? Your teamwork was so in sync?"
"T-that's ridiculous!"
"That's completely absurd."
We denied it almost simultaneously.
Glare!
For so reason, Ji-su glared at .
'Why?'
'Shut up.'
Our eye contact was brief but aningful.
"Hehe. You two are so cute together. This noona had those days too."
"You never did, did you?"
"Shut up."
Jo Sujin suppressed the squad mber's joke with her fist and said to .
"Hey, rookie."
"Yes, Senior Squad Leader."
"You've set a record."
"...Which one, ma'am?"
"What else? The ti it took for this noona to acknowledge you."
Jo Sujin cackled.
"You should feel honored."
"Wow, that's definitely a new record!"
"I heard even Deputy Squad Leader Kim took months to be acknowledged!"
"Exactly! I was getting grilled until my third year!"
"That's because you were completely useless."
Jo Sujin looked straight into my eyes and solemnly declared.
"From now on, you are granted two privileges."
It was a gaze 180 degrees different from her predatory look when we first t.
"One is the authority to call this noona as 'Noona-nim'."
Whistle!
The squad mbers whistled.
"Noona, isn't that personal favoritism!?"
"You should maintain your dignity, unni! He's more than a decade younger!"
"Do you really want to die?"
"No, ma'am!"
Jo Sujin shot a fierce glare at the squad mbers who quickly shut their mouths, then turned to .
"And the other one is the authority to be called by your na by this noona."
'Well then.'
"...I'm honored."
"You bastard, if you talk about going to a different unit after your internship ends, it'll be death for both of us. Got it?"
'She must really like .'
I smirked and answered.
"Understood."
[You have received 1st Unit Senior Squad Leader Jo Sujin's acknowledgnt!]
[Achievent points 300 awarded!]
"Great. Taesung!"
"Yes."
"Write a nice report! We'll go submit it when we leave work later!"
"Wow, you're casually passing the buck."
"If this guy gets snatched by another unit, you won't be spared either. Understood?"
"Are you asking
to advocate for him, Deputy Squad Leader?"
Kim Taesung smiled faintly, recognizing the sense of relief embedded in the squad mbers' banter.
"Understood."
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"What are you doing?"
"What?"
The unit commander looked at Jo Sujin with an incredulous expression.
"Just last week you were raising hell about getting an intern, looking ready to grab your superior's collar, and now what's this?"
"Ah, that was then and this is now!"
"Sigh."
"Hey!"
The unit commander pressed his throbbing temples and asked.
"So. How much did you exaggerate?"
"Huh? What exaggeration?"
"Look, I get that you like the rookie, and I'm surprised too, but let's not add MSG to this."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Are you going to keep pretending not to know?"
"No, seriously! What exaggeration are you talking about?!"
Jo Sujin slamd the desk, claiming innocence.
"You expect
to believe all this?"
The achievents in the first operation were already unbelievable.
Bae Woo-hyun, who was an A-rank hunter, had even transford into a Ma-in, and he was captured by just Ji-su and Su-hyeon, both cadets?
Plus, he withstood Kwak Hyeok-jung's rampage alongside Jo Sujin and even stabbed his heart at the end?
While Kim Taesung was holding out alone and got seriously injured?
Jo Sujin grumbled to the commander's disbelieving face, saying she wouldn't have believed it either if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes.
"That kid could graduate now and be valedictorian, right? I heard he even caught Min Hae-na."
"The prevailing theory is that Min Hae-na was better skilled then, but he won by showing good sense."
"I don't know. He must have gotten stronger since then. Besides, that kid got caught up in all sorts of incidents during the break—Blood Plaza, train hijacking, and whatnot. He seems like the type who grows naturally when given experience points."
"Hmm."
What kind of talent could make even Jo Sujin change her stance so dramatically?
Curiosity filled the unit commander's eyes.
"Fine, I get it. I'll report to the Captain, so keep that in mind."
"If you let that guy go, you'll regret it forever."
"I said I got it."
"Because I'll raise hell. If you don't want to lose your delicate hair to stress, you should make every effort to..."
"I got it, now get out!"
"Such a temper. No wonder your scalp doesn't get enough blood flow."
"Want to write an incident report?"
"Nah, I can just pass the buck to Taesung anyway~."
Slam!
The unit commander beat his chest as he watched Jo Sujin run away after teasing him till the end.
"Ugh, what sins did I commit in my past life?"
Did I sell out the country or sothing?
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Back at the academy, Ji-su had beco the center of attention for week two, along with Su-hyeon.
However.
"I'm dying of exhaustion."
Regardless, Ji-su, who had used up all her strength, barely made it to the dormitory and had to lie down imdiately.
"Hey Ji-su! I heard you did sothing big?"
Kwon Seung-yeon, who had just finished showering, sat down next to Ji-su, who was sprawled out without even washing.
"Whatever. We almost died."
"I heard you worked with Su-hyeon to catch a Ma-in who was an A-rank hunter and even fought against that Kwak Hyeok-jung guy. That's impressive."
"Huff, he was strong. It was definitely different from the simulation."
"I guess so?"
Seung-yeon smiled.
"But you did well."
"Huuu. Yes, I did well."
Ji-su, who was thinking with her eyes closed, suddenly said.
"By the way, the bracelet worked really well."
"What?!"
Seung-yeon was surprised.
"Bracelet? What bracelet?"
"One exactly like the one on your arm. He gave it to
saying it would help charge my mana a bit."
"Hmmmm."
Ji-su giggled at Seung-yeon's reaction.
"Seung-yeon, are you jealous?"
"A little?"
"You're not even hiding it now."
"Well, it's just one person to another, you know."
Seung-yeon, quickly regaining her composure, snickered.
"Anyway, it was Kwak Hyeok-jung, not just any Ma-in, right? How did it feel?"
"Complicated."
"But you got your revenge."
"Yeah, but the aftertaste isn't clean. Especially that Ma-in called Bae Woo-hyun. By the end, his sanity seed to return, and he was making all sorts of excuses..."
"Ah."
Seung-yeon nodded, understanding.
'Co to think of it, it was the sa back then.'
Back when she was fleeing from Kwak Hyeok-jung and roaming the black market with Su-hyeon.
Watching the fate of Kang Woojung, who eventually beca a Ma-in, she had to endure a strange, indescribable emotion for several days.
'The world doesn't fall into perfect categories of good and evil. Though Kang Woojung wasn't a good person, either.'
Guessing that Ji-su was probably feeling similar emotions to her own, Seung-yeon changed the subject.
"Still, how did you and Su-hyeon work so well together?"
"He's just so good at fighting. It was comfortable."
Ji-su turned her head with a "hmph."
"Right? And he has a knack for easing tension when people are stressed."
"...True. He does."
Ji-su, recalling Su-hyeon's face as he reassured her and put the bracelet on her wrist, suddenly muttered.
"...He was quite handso."
"...!?"
Suddenly?
Seung-yeon's expression beca complicated.
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