Chapter 291

I Become a Mafia in the Academy

"It's been a long time since I've been to the zoo!"

Fresh air and sunshine.

Everyone strolled through the zoo with drinks in hand and smiles on their faces.

"Yeah, I think it was the first year of middle school, and that was the last time we came for a picnic."

Nodding his head in agreement with Se-ah's words, Young-jae looked around, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere.

"What, we're honey, aren't we? Enjoying the zoo for free and skipping class. I wish it could be like this all the time."

Why did he buy so much food? His hands were full of food from the zoo.

"Don't buy so much food! Didn't you hear the instructor say this is part of the mission? What if you get an upset stomach?"

"Yeah~ I've never had an upset stomach in my life~ Would you like one?"

"Uh, here."

The kids were already in enjoyer mode.

After all, they're at the zoo with their friends in this weather.

Maybe this is the natural behavior.

"Boss, we're going to try the monster world over there, what do you think?"

Monsters appeared alongside dungeons as the world changed rapidly.

The Monster World, where even the general public can safely see such dangerous creatures, is apparently the most popular place in the zoo.

"Forget me, you guys go see them."

Maybe it's because I've seen enough monsters during my vacation, but I didn't want to come all the way here to see them.

If you're at the zoo, you should see the animals, not the monsters.

"Really? We'll go by ourselves, then! Hurry up! There's a line!"

With that, Se-ah, Jin-woo, and Young-jae ran toward Monster World.

Behind them, Kang Hyun was walking leisurely towards the aquarium area.

……He's enjoying himself, too.

Why don't I take my time too?

I slowly started to look around the zoo.

There were zones organized around the world and animals playing in them.

Elephants, giraffes, goats and meerkats.

It was my first time seeing a meerkat in real life, so I was looking at it a bit warily.

"Huh?"

I noticed a familiar head. That dark hair, those pigtails…….

"Marie Nate. What are you doing?"

"Hic?! Hic!"

Marie, still frightened, bumped the back of her head against the tempered glass.

She rubs the back of her head, tears streaming down her face, and looks up at me.

"Oh, Eugene?"

"Yeah. All the other kids are heading to Monster World. What are you doing here?"

She answers my question, rubbing the spot where I hit her hard.

"Well, I don't know……monsters are scary, so I just like to stay here and look at the cute animals……."

With that, she tilts her head back towards the meerkat.

Sure enough, the sight of the meerkat standing still and looking around was soothing to watch.

"It sure does."

"Isn't it?"

"Well, come on, let's go see the other animals."

"What? Me, too?"

"You're going to go see the animals anyway, so you might as well go with me."

Technically, now that I knew she was going to be here, I was preparing myself for whenever it might happen.

"You don't want to?"

"Oh, no, it's fine, What animal do you want to see next?"

The other kids are all together, so if something happens, it won't be too bad.

As I was thinking about this, I suddenly felt a strong humidity in the air.

This is…….

"Wow……I've never seen a hippopotamus before, but it's really big."

Is this a collection of animals that live by the water?

Hippos lazily lying in the mud and enjoying the sun.

"Hey, here's the deal: adult hippos are strong enough to tear through any monster, so why is there a warning to watch out for the little ones?"

"Because if you mess with a little hippo, you're in big trouble."

"What?"

"Well, there is such a thing as……huh?"

Out of the corner of my eye, in the distance, I could see Kang Hyun sunning himself with the hippos.

……He's just friendly with all the creatures that live in the water.

At that moment, an announcement started playing over the zoo's loudspeakers.

-We would like to inform our visitors that in a few minutes, Shinrok will be arriving at our Monster World exhibit. We ask that you please proceed with caution to avoid any confusion. We would like to remind you that you can find more information at…….

Shinrok is finally arriving.

It was the news I had been waiting for.

"Let's get moving."

"Uh-oh. Yeah, yeah!"

Before we moved to the zoo's parking lot, I remembered what Ji-hyun had told us.

"When you hear the announcement that Shinrok is arriving, meet in the parking lot, because we need to at least establish that we're here on a mission.”

The moment Shinrok is handed over to the zoo is the most vulnerable moment for security.

Ji-hyun gave us the order to prepare for that moment.

But why?

"Yes, yes, this way!"

A huge truck with Shinrok inside is parked at the zoo, but nothing is happening.

‘No way, the Shinrok kidnapping isn't happening?’

It wasn't completely out of the question, as there were plenty of events that had been skipped so far.

The unpredictability of CS was part of its charm.

"Orai! Orai! Open the gate!"

As the bed of the truck slowly begins to open, the children's eyes are drawn to it.

The children are nervous because the mythical creature is finally coming out.

-Uh-oh!

Suddenly, a soft glow illuminates the area.

It's the size of a small car. Its body was covered in green fur reminiscent of grass, with a faint blue tint to it.

Most impressive of all were the massive horns on its head.

Reminiscent of a densely grown tree, the giant antler was a mystery in itself.

"Wow……."

"That's Shinrok."

"……It's so pretty."

Was it because of its name? The children stared at the scene with mesmerized eyes.

Ji-hyun stepped forward as if she was bothered.

"Is this him?"

She reached into the cage.

"Why don't you go outside and live happily ever after instead of being hunted?"

And with that, she moved him away.

A moment later, a voice on the official's radio.

-Checking on the move.

"Okay~ Yes, Shinrok has arrived safely at the special zone. Thank you for your help, hero Ji-hyun."

"Aaah~ Never mind, it's good that I let the kids breathe a little."

Oh, what a grown-up thing to say.

I thought it's been a long time since I've seen a hero.

"Oh, and send the money to that account I gave you the other day. You know?"

"Sure, I'll send it right away, no problem."

……Somewhat uncharacteristically for her, I thought, she's going out of her way.

“Well, our job is done. Have some fun and gather until 12 o'clock. I have to go back to the academy by then. Do you understand?”

"""Yes!"""

The children chorused with excitement at Ji-hyun's shout.

They were all happy that it had ended so neatly, and they turned to leave.

But then

──Kaaaaaang!!!

A huge explosion sounded from the direction of the zoo.

"What?"

Ji-hyun stared blankly at the direction of the explosion as if she didn't expect it.

At the same time.

-Chizik…… this is…… special…… annex…… attacked……from a group of monsters──

The noisy voices of the officials came over the radio, and as screams came from the back, Ji-hyun shouted at us.

"First-year A class, move now! Civilian rescue is a priority!"

Our vision reversed in an instant.

It was a wide area movement skill activated by Ji Hyun.

Transported to the center of the zoo by her ability, we had to face a completely different scenery from the one we had just enjoyed.

"Ooh, my child is missing! Please, my child, please──."

"A monster has jumped out of the cage! Run!"

"My legs! My legs! My legs!"

Animals running around in the middle of a vast zoo, flames leaping from everywhere and the monsters that had just jumped out of their cages.

"Kim Young-jae! Eugene Han!"

Ji-hyun, who had traveled here with us, shouted at the top of her lungs as she moved the civilians out of the zoo and toward us.

"Kim Young-jae, rescue the children and the civilians first, and Eugene Han, take a few people and get to the bottom of this damn thing!"

"Yes."

Since the order came from Ji-hyun, it's already been decided where we're going.

"Jin-woo, Se-ah, Kang Hyun, and Marie, you four will follow me. Se-ah, I want you to map out the surroundings first."

"Yes!"

"Marie, start making the puppets right away. As soon as Se-ah mapped out the fields, send the dolls to wherever you detect strange movements and figure out what's going on."

"Oh, yes! I'll start building the dolls right away!"

"Kang Hyun, you'll move independently and take out anybody who looks like an enemy, and if it's too difficult, you're welcome to draw blood. Are you comfortable with that?"

"…… Okay. Let's get moving."

"Lastly, Jin-woo, you're escorting Se-ah and Marie until we get the situation under control."

"Roger that, boss."

At the same time as my orders, the kids start to move.

In real time, a model of the zoo begins to draw in front of Se-ah. Soon, she sees dots moving irregularly over it, objects moving in mysterious clusters.

"Marie!"

“I’m figuring it out now!”

Meanwhile, Marie, who has made a doll in the shape of a bird, flies into the sky and identifies suspicious places.

"C-5 is a herd of zebras. F-7 is a group of civilians gathering! And, D-2 has a…… city, Shinrok?! I think Shinrok is being taken by some weird people!"

Shinrok?

There's really a terrorist group that's targeting Shinrok?

If so, why now…….and not when they're preparing for the transfer, when security is at its weakest?

"Ah."

Maybe I'd been thinking too conveniently.

It's true that the most vulnerable time was before Shinrok's transfer, but Ji-hyun was there at the time.

That meant that even if they did manage to steal Shinrok, they would have been tracked down by Ji-hyun, a specialist in tracking.

But if it's an attack on the zoo, Ji-hyun won't be able to deal with them because she'll be rescuing civilians.

In other words, this operation was designed after they knew she was coming.

"So there was an insider……."

The use of civilians as hostages is a nasty trick but it was the most obvious way for them, who didn't care about civilian casualties.

There was one silver lining, however.

They didn't have the full strength of our freshman class A in their calculations and they didn't have any information about me.

‘Eugene Han! Get a few people and get to the bottom of this damn thing!’

That was definitely the message in Ji-hyun's voice.

You can do it, Ji-hyun's voice said, kill them all.

Then, as a true disciple, shouldn't I follow my master's words?

"Whoa……."

I put the Gloves of Midas from the cube on my bare hands.

The black leather gloves fit perfectly on his hands and a red aura is already rising from its surface.

"……Jin-woo, Se-ah, Marie."

There was another reason why I couldn't stand this situation.

"From now on, we will move quickly to Area D-2."

It's not like it's anything else…….

"I’ll go first."

Are they coveting what I wanted first?

"Don't fall behind."

I felt like I had to crush them with all my might to break free.