Chapter 5
Chapter 5
Be Carefulooo
* * *
Gerald’s obsession with the job of the Public Enforcement Corps came from that very reason. Even though he was still a student, he had buried Winter’s cries in an instant.
One could hardly imagine how many more rights he would enjoy once he became an official investigator.
"Shit, life’s easy. Real easy."
"Easy for you, maybe. What about the midterms? We totally blew it."
As if sparked by the whining voice, complaints erupted from here and there. Of course, knowing it was all just teasing, Gerald replied with a snort.
"If you don’t make top of the class, just settle for second place."
No sooner had he reached that sharp conclusion than one of the bullies below came dragging a girl up the stairs. With her twin pigtails, she gave the impression of someone who’d never once strayed from the rules.
If Winter was ranked first in the entire school, then the girl was the brilliant student following close behind.
Her name was Michelle, wasn’t it?
"Brought her."
"Leave her there."
As if she couldn’t grasp what was happening, Michelle shrank back as Gerald stepped in front of her and met her eyes. At the same time, the patrol drone also came to a halt.
Faced with that abnormal scene, Michelle couldn’t budge. It felt like her classmate had transformed into something beyond words.
"I’ve made the decision of my life. No, I should say I’ve chosen my future. But my grades are a little short."
Lowering his posture, Gerald growled softly.
"So do me a favor. Pass me your answers during the midterm."
"Why should I...?"
"Because you can’t take the test otherwise?"
Michelle’s dry throat tightened as she finally caught sight of the gang surrounding her. It was a situation she couldn’t possibly refuse. But even so, she didn’t want to become an accomplice to Gerald’s crime.
What she wanted was a stable life, not one full of such dangerous twists.
"What’s there to think about? Just close your eyes and help me out until graduation. Who knows? Maybe I’ll return the favor once I join the Public Enforcement Corps."
"I..."
Her feet took a step back on their own.
She had to run.
That was the only thought dominating her mind.
But—
"Unlike Winter, you’re a girl, so I’m sure you’ve got more ways you can be useful."
At that quiet remark, she couldn’t help but collapse inside.
"Of course, if you pay back with your brains, I’ll spare your body."
Michelle’s face turned deathly pale in an instant. Only then did she understand why Winter had ended up in the hospital.
Seeing her spirit so clearly broken, Gerald smiled in satisfaction—but that smile didn’t last long.
He thought she’d never dare rebel, with Winter serving as a living warning, but what was this?
Michelle’s eyes had been searching the air for a while now.
It wasn’t a spasm caused by panic.
That was the distinct sign that appeared when someone manipulated a device.
"Why is it that goody-two-shoes punks always end up doing something unexpected?"
Tap.
As the words “Out of service area” appeared and the connection was cut, Michelle flinched and turned her head toward Gerald in shock.
In his hand was a Sheriff-exclusive controller. It didn’t just control patrol drones—it could also disable a device’s transmission and reception functions.
That had been the critical reason Winter hadn’t been able to call the Public Enforcement Corps that day.
Of course, it only functioned within a strictly limited range, but even that was enough to control the area.
It was clearly a criminal act, but for Gerald, something like this no longer meant much.
"Ah..."
Michelle collapsed to the ground with a thud, letting out meaningless sounds. Like a broken radio, she kept sputtering, nonstop.
Gerald leisurely took in her dumbfounded expression and delivered the finishing blow.
"There’s no one coming to help you. So shut up and cooperate."
"Don’t you think it’s a bit early to assume that?"
A voice rang out unexpectedly.
When Gerald turned his head, what he saw was someone who hadn’t been there just a moment ago. He was clearly young, but it was hard to guess his exact age.
His eyes.
Yes, those eyes—chillingly cold and sunk deep—disrupted any clear judgment.
Feeling strangely irritated, Gerald tilted his body with a sneer.
"And you are?"
"Me? Someone with a lot of unresolved issues with you."
After confirming Gerald’s face, the man—Shin—grinned sharply.
* * *
Finding Gerald and his gang had been almost disappointingly easy. They weren’t ex-special forces criminals or anything—just a group of ordinary students.
Simply following them after school was enough to reach the intended objective. Though he hadn’t expected them to produce another victim in such a short time.
In the past and even now, school violence had always been treated more lightly than other crimes. The justification was always the same.
The recklessness of youth.
People often said that for the sake of their future, they should be given leniency.
They argued that immature individuals deserved a chance to correct their mistakes—but it still made no sense how someone grown enough to harm another could fall under that category.
They surrendered to injustice, submitted to power, exploited loopholes in the law.
These so-called kids, who had long lost their innocence, formed groups that were no different from gangs.
This wasn’t just a personal judgment.
Gerald’s actions, his beliefs, and his exposed behavior proved everything.
"Don’t tell me Winter hired you?"
It wasn’t an absurd guess. The cause-and-effect was clear. There were no other variables to consider.
Gerald acted as if he had everything under control—
"I don't know who this Winter guy is. I came here because I heard that girl's scream."
Shin wasn’t the type to explain things honestly. Instead, he pointed toward Michelle.
Only then did the gangsters click their tongues, having grasped the situation.
"Ah, unlucky bastard ran into a boomer."
"Seriously, coming all the way to the plant just to pull this shit? In broad daylight? Must be some homeless freak."
"Now that you mention it..."
All eyes turned toward Shin.
His outdated coat and fading gloves clearly showed signs of wear, yet there was no denying his look had a certain flair to it.
Still, by no stretch of the imagination did he look like someone thriving in society.
Above all—
"He doesn’t even have a device."
"Wow, what kind of confidence brings a guy like this here?"
Anyone without a device couldn’t access many of the Dome’s conveniences, including protection from the Public Enforcement Corps. It wasn’t crippling for daily life, but in a situation like this, it definitely put him at a disadvantage.
Because—
"It means we can just bury him and no one would care."
The moment one of the gang stepped up cockily, Shin grabbed the punk by the collar and yanked him forward. Then he smashed the kid’s nose in with his knee.
So fast the sequence of movements was barely visible.
"Guh—"
Without time to even scream, the delinquent collapsed unconscious, tossed aside by Shin as he spoke in a flat voice.
"Next."
"This guy’s fucking insane."
Even with one of them already down, the gang’s morale didn’t falter. They’d racked up dozens, maybe hundreds of violent acts by now. And their opponent was just one man.
"He might know a thing or two about fighting, but he’s clearly overestimating himself."
Without waiting, the gang all rushed him at once. They were used to hunting prey in packs. No matter how strong someone was, once their arms and legs were held down, there was nothing they could do.
"Don’t cry and beg when we beat your ass—we’re not letting you go."
But it didn’t take long for the ones attacking so smugly to change their minds.
It happened when they saw their friend’s fist—wrapped tight in brass knuckles—shatter completely upon impact.
"What the—"
"So you were just playing at being a tiger with this weak crap?"
Shin narrowly dodged a metal pipe that came dangerously close to his temple, then immediately folded his attacker’s arm back at an angle it was never meant to bend.
There was a sound of something rupturing, followed by an inhuman scream that echoed throughout the space. Only a handful of them remained standing. And even they didn’t last long before collapsing to the ground.
It wasn’t as if Gerald had just stood by, doing nothing while his gang was taken down.
He knew this wouldn’t end unless he stepped in—and he pulled out his trump card.
Sensing the shift, Michelle cried out.
"Watch out! Mister!"
"Even so, you’re not a mister."
At that very moment, a patrol drone flying at maximum speed slammed into Shin.
As a sound like a drum bursting rang out, Michelle shut her eyes without realizing it.
He had collided head-on with a chunk of metal accelerated to its limit.
She felt like she knew what must have happened without even looking. But the situation unfolded differently from what she expected.
"Kids these days even carry patrol drones around."
Shin didn’t budge an inch.
Instead, he was blocking the patrol drone using his elbow and knee like clamps. Even then, his center of gravity remained astonishingly stable. Standing on one leg almost looked more natural.
What followed was even more shocking.
He crushed the core of the patrol drone with his bare hands.
"Crazy."
Biting his lip, Gerald was stunned in a very different way from Michelle.
There were two main possibilities.
Either he had installed a high-performance slot, or he possessed extraordinary genes.
In either case, there were almost no visible signs on the surface.
He had planned to toy with him a bit before letting him go, but his mind changed.
"Don’t think you’re walking out of here."
"Are there really people who have to think about something that obvious?"
"Yeah, keep talking while you can."
As Gerald manipulated the hologram hovering over the controller, nearby patrol drones that had been wandering around converged on them.
There were four of them, but Shin smiled happily, like someone receiving a gift.
"How touching. You’re even going out of your way to ease my worries."
"Cut the bullshit and die."
In an instant, taser needles were fired from the patrol drones occupying all directions. They moved at a speed impossible to perceive with ordinary dynamic vision, but Shin leapt anyway. Using the patrol drones as stepping stones, he rushed straight at Gerald.
When one patrol drone hurriedly flew in to block his path, Shin spun in place like a top, as if he had been waiting for it.
Then, at the moment the centrifugal force reached its limit, Shin kicked the patrol drone away.
Straight toward Gerald’s legs.
Kuu-bang!
The patrol drone shot forward in a straight line, belying its massive weight.
Gerald only fully registered what had happened after the bone-chillingly clear roar reached his ears.
"Kyaaaaaah!!"
No amount of screaming at the top of his lungs could ease the pain.
Looking down at his lower body, dyed bright red, Gerald went into convulsions.
"You fucking retard!"
"The retard is you. You, who got injured while controlling a patrol drone."
Only then did Gerald realize what Shin had meant by “worry.” That lunatic was planning to dump all responsibility on the patrol drone.
A truly infuriating scheme.
"I already reported this to the Public Enforcement Corps. Let’s see who ends up dead, you bastard."
"Did you really report it?"
"I’ll blow your head—"
Gerald cut himself off mid-sentence, sensing something ominous. The controller he had dropped earlier, unable to endure the shock, was now in the other man’s hand.
"No way."
"You should use devices in moderation. Using them all day makes you stupid, you know?"
Shin smiled brightly as he manipulated the hologram.
After repeated attempts to make a call failed, Gerald’s eyes widened.
"Give it back."
"It wasn’t yours to begin with."
As the corners of Shin’s mouth curved endlessly upward, Gerald’s arms began to tremble violently.
"You really want to die that badly?"
"Reeaaally, yew might end up dying liiike thaaat. Better be caaarefuuul."