Chapter 14

Jimmy suddenly appeared after graduating.

Sonia tried to act familiar out of joy, but Amon stopped her.

She could react that way because she had no idea about Jimmy’s whereabouts, but Amon did.

He had been hearing about Jimmy’s activities through the Director.

‘Why that drug addict…’

After graduating from the orphanage, Jimmy headed straight for a gang.

He never studied, never built any meaningful connections, and the only thing he knew how to do was torment people. He had always shown signs of idolizing gang life.

It was only natural for him to join a gang.

Once in the gang, his daily routine involved shooting guns, stealing from people, extorting protection money, and running from the police.

If he got shot, he wouldn’t have insurance to cover hospital bills, so naturally, he’d turn to drugs.

The drugs he started taking to numb the pain would eventually become his pastime, and soon he’d be a low-life gangster, trembling in one hand and clutching a pistol in the other.

Amon knew well that Jimmy hadn’t strayed far from that path.

He didn’t feel sorry for him.

It wasn’t the environment’s fault—Amon had changed the atmosphere of the orphanage, and Jimmy’s peers were now living decent lives.

The excuse of becoming a gangster because of the environment didn’t hold up.

In fact, Amon was wary of Jimmy.

The thought process of drug addicts was something even criminals couldn’t understand, and Amon couldn’t predict when Jimmy might snap and come after him.

And then, Jimmy appeared right in front of him.

He didn’t even bother hiding his weapons, his left pocket bulging, and behind him were a bunch of low-life gangsters just like him.

It was clear his intentions weren’t good.

Sure enough, instead of a greeting, Jimmy started spouting nonsense.

“Give me my money. You’re a bad guy. You damn bastard…”

Did he even know what he was saying?

The needle marks on his left hand that hadn’t faded yet answered that question for him.

Amon quietly shielded Sonia, hiding her behind him.

Something about that must have triggered Jimmy, because he started going berserk.

“Again! You always get the good stuff! Why do you always get the good stuff? It’s not fair! That old hag Director…! She’s old but still chases after men! You must’ve sold yourself to her, you male whore!”

Amon’s brow furrowed at Jimmy’s incoherent, illogical rant.

Though hard to follow, it was clear there were some deeply unpleasant insults in there.

It was bad enough that Jimmy was slandering him, but insulting the Orphanage Director like that was equally infuriating.

Sonia, standing beside Amon, also seemed to grasp the gist of it, her gaze turning icy.

But Jimmy, oblivious, kept going.

“You’ve got it good! Always getting special treatment! You damn bastard!”

Amon didn’t argue back.

He was well aware that he received the Director’s favoritism.

The Director was human, after all—it was only natural.

Even the Goddess doesn’t show universal love to all of humanity.

Amon believed that only someone completely indifferent to humanity could do such a thing.

Still, that didn’t mean the other orphans didn’t feel a sense of relative deprivation because of the favoritism.

Because of this, Amon was always conscious of the fact that he was favored and lived a life of giving back to the other orphans.

Love flowing downward.

Even if that didn’t grant him absolution, it at least gave him a reason not to be cursed by someone like Jimmy, who lived his life causing trouble for others.

But arguing with a drug addict was one of the most pointless things in the world, so Amon decided to ignore Jimmy instead of engaging further.

However, whether it was because Jimmy still had some pride left despite his drug-addled, low-life existence, or because his self-esteem was so low that he reacted sensitively to even the smallest things, he didn’t take well to being ignored.

Spitting as he shouted at Amon, Jimmy yelled, “You think you’re so great! I’m an adult now too! I’ve got lots of friends, I make money… and… and… I can shoot a gun!”

Jimmy pulled out a gun and aimed it.

His finger on the trigger, Amon and Sonia instinctively dodged.

But Jimmy, seemingly unaware of the gravity of his actions, fumbled with the gun.

Deciding that further conversation was too dangerous, Amon resolved to end this bad relationship here and now.

Coincidentally, he had the sword he received as a farewell gift from the Swordsmanship Dojo in his hand.

But just as he was about to make the sign of the cross and charge at Jimmy, Sonia stopped him.

“I’ll handle it.”

Amon was puzzled by her words.

“Why?”

She pointed at Amon and said, “I told you I’d protect you. I’ll show you I meant it.”

With no time to argue in front of a drugged-up gangster, Amon quickly made a decision.

“Don’t get hurt.”

He trusted Sonia.

Sonia smiled happily at Amon’s concern, grabbed her sword, and charged at Jimmy.

***

Combat time: 1 minute.

In that short time, Jimmy and his gang were subdued by Sonia.

At first, when Sonia approached, the gangsters were puffing out their chests and whistling, but they were quickly knocked out by the flat of her blade.

The fact that they were taken down in just a minute was partly due to their slow reactions from being high, but even if they hadn’t been, the outcome wouldn’t have been much different.

After all, a pistol with no special engravings was no match for two people who had been honing their swordsmanship for two years.

The gap between Sonia and them was vast—she could deflect bullets and knock out the gang with the flat of her blade.

Once the gang was subdued, Sonia handed them over to the police.

Objectively speaking, it would have been safer to finish them off to avoid future trouble.

But Sonia was still too young to coldly execute incapacitated enemies.

So she chose to hand them over to the police instead.

Amon respected Sonia’s decision.

‘This isn’t a game.’

Killing someone in a game and committing murder in real life are worlds apart.

The weight of guilt in the human mind is immense, and Amon didn’t want Sonia to carry that burden.

It might have been a soft choice in this world, but sometimes such purity is necessary.

That’s why Amon also decided to spare Jimmy and his gang.

However, even if they were spared, he had to make his point clear.

“If I see you within 1 kilometer of the orphanage, you’re dead. If I see you outside this city, you’re also dead.”

In other words, stay quiet and live your lives in this city.

It might have been an excessive declaration, but considering they had aimed a gun at someone, it was still merciful.

Jimmy knew Amon well.

Amon was kind but not naive.

He pursued goodness but didn’t hesitate to enforce the justice he believed in.

Jimmy, who had been beaten countless times by Amon’s decisive actions, knew Amon would keep his word.

So he couldn’t take Amon’s deadly warning lightly.

He accepted the warning, promising to remember it, and was handed over to the police who had arrived on the scene.

After handing over Jimmy and his gang, Amon and Sonia headed back to the orphanage.

As they disappeared, Jimmy and his gang were loaded into police cars and taken away.

Inside the car, they sat handcuffed, heads bowed in silence.

The car was filled with a heavy stillness.

Jimmy ground his teeth in frustration.

Remorse?

That wasn’t in a drug addict’s vocabulary.

His mind was filled with nothing but thoughts of revenge.

Of course, to get revenge, he’d first have to escape the police and avoid prison, but he had a plan.

‘That businessman…!’

He thought of the businessman who had hired him for this job.

Impeccably dressed, with slicked-back hair.

His face was familiar, but Jimmy’s drug-addled brain couldn’t place it.

All he remembered was that the businessman had orchestrated this attack and promised more drugs and $10,000 as payment.

It was supposed to be a chance to get back at Amon and maybe even get Sonia, but it had failed.

‘It’s fine. If I can just get that $10,000…’

With that money, he could get better treatment and take his revenge on Amon.

Lost in these thoughts, Jimmy was quietly laughing to himself in the police car when a familiar voice came from the passenger seat.

“The results of the request have been confirmed, Mr. Jimmy. Thanks to you, we now know who the Mystic Power user is.”

Jimmy, startled, looked toward the passenger seat.

There sat the businessman who had hired him, fiddling with a tablet as he spoke.

Seeing the businessman, Jimmy’s face lit up, and he tried to act familiar.

Though Jimmy couldn’t see it, the businessman didn’t hide his displeasure as he humored Jimmy.

Jimmy took this as a positive sign.

“Give me my payment and the powder… and get these handcuffs off me!”

Jimmy acted as if he believed he’d be walking out of there any second.

The businessman didn’t hide his disdain.

“This is why it’s such a hassle dealing with low-life drug addicts…”

The businessman shook his head in exasperation.

The police officer in the driver’s seat chimed in, “That’s why they’re cheap labor.”

“Exactly.”

Jimmy couldn’t follow their conversation.

It wasn’t until the police cars, which should have been heading to the station, arrived at the docks that Jimmy realized something was wrong.

By then, it was too late.

Even a drug-addled fool could see what was happening.

If he had thought about it more deeply, Jimmy would have realized he had broken the first rule of the cyberpunk world:

Money doesn’t lie.

The cost of paying $10,000 each to a bunch of no-name, uninsured, family-less drug-addicted gangsters versus the price of 12 bullets for their heads.

The two were incomparable.

A rational person would have seen the red flags from the start.

But Jimmy had overestimated his own worth, and his inflated ego, combined with the lure of the drugs offered as payment and his lust for Sonia, had blinded him to any suspicion.

“Please, spare me…”

Jimmy begged and cried.

But neither the police officer nor the businessman showed any interest in his tears.

Without hesitation, they pulled the triggers, aiming at the heads of Jimmy’s gang members.

The officers, as if it were routine, tossed the limp bodies into the sea.

There was no emotion in their efficient division of labor.

To them, it was just another day, another job.

One by one, Jimmy’s gang members became water ghosts, and soon it was his turn.

As the gun barrel approached, the last thing Jimmy remembered was the taste of salty potato chips he couldn’t even recall eating.

***

After dumping the 12 bodies, the businessman got into his car and, escorted by the police, headed off somewhere.

“Yes. Yes. They’ve been dealt with.”

The businessman muttered into the air.

He nodded respectfully, speaking with reverence to whoever was on the other end of the call.

“It’s confirmed. The Mystic Power that emerges in life-or-death battles can’t possibly be hidden.”

The businessman spoke with certainty, his eyes fixed on the void.

“Yes. It’s a girl. That girl is definitely the one.”

Escorted by numerous police cars, the businessman cut through the city’s night.

The Hixen Group logo on his car reflected the red neon lights.

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