Chapter 8

The West Maze, one of the peripheral areas of Night Haven.

Objectively speaking, this place wasn’t exactly a great place to live.

Probably because every construction company and corporation recklessly shoved their way in and built structures haphazardly.

The result was an unreasonably complex structure with excessively long vertical spans, making it highly vulnerable to all sorts of terrorist activities.

Ultimately, following indiscriminate biochemical terrorism by an unknown group, Night Haven had no choice but to tacitly withdraw from this area.

Thus, the West Maze became a part of the underworld—a refuge for those pushed out of mainstream competition or those who couldn’t reveal their identities for various reasons.

Most of the abandoned, complicated buildings were arbitrarily used as bases by criminal organizations. The rest that remained unclaimed were occupied by homeless people or weaker factions.

Outsiders coming in had no choice but to struggle just to find a place to stay.

Moreover, most of the people entrenched here were Beastmen factions where fists spoke louder than laws.

Compared to the outside world, which at least maintained some order thanks to corporations and police, this place was much closer to a lawless zone.

Without strong backing, you could easily lose everything and end up enslaved without any recourse for grievances.

But all environments and conditions depend on timing and circumstances.

If your face stands out too much.

Or if you possess an ability like telekinesis that would cause trouble if discovered.

Or if you’re an illegal resident without any ID to begin with.

For someone like me, forced into the underworld for various reasons, the environment of the West Maze had more advantages than disadvantages.

No CCTVs meant I could secretly use my powers without getting caught. Beat up bad guys, and no one would come to arrest me.

Plus, the Beastmen around here tended to have refined tastes, so the food was generally pretty good.

Like finding the perfect puzzle piece, the West Maze was the perfect place for me.

‘Hehe, found some clean cardboard. If I lay this on the floor, it’ll be less cold, right?’

I returned to my recently chosen base with the cardboard I picked up from the street.

My base was an office in a high-rise building.

It was spacious, but clearly untouched for a long time—abandoned desks and trash were scattered everywhere.

Of course, I didn’t buy it. I just stumbled upon it while passing by.

Nearby buildings blocked sunlight, leaving only shadows. No electricity, no running water, no heating.

And there was no elevator, so you had to climb countless stairs.

Even homeless people and weaker factions deemed this place a dud.

But none of these constraints mattered to me.

I didn’t need electricity. If it got cold, I could wrap myself in layers of cloth.

And as for the stairs? I could just fly up using telekinesis.

Compared to sleeping curled up like a shrimp on the rooftop, this was dozens of times better.

Staying at inns here was risky since you never knew when they’d get targeted, so sleeping there never felt restful anyway.

‘If I punch a hole here and secure it with wires… Done!’

After laying down the cardboard taller than me,

I pulled a few wires from beneath the floor and secured the cardboard firmly.

Then, stacking layers of thick cloth scavenged from the trash on top of the cardboard…

Voila! A makeshift bed that didn’t require wrapping myself in cloth like a sleeping bag.

Considering my lack of manual dexterity, it turned out surprisingly decent.

Maybe my desire for a bed sparked some unexpected creative drive.

‘…It’s hard.’

Of course, cautiously sitting on it revealed it wasn’t particularly soft.

Still, it was far better than the bare, cold stone floor.

But it was stiff enough to leave my body aching all over after waking up.

‘Well, given the materials are just cardboard and blankets, this is probably the best I can do. Where am I supposed to find soft materials around here?’

Clean stuff was rare, and soft stuff was expensive.

And clean yet soft things? Forget about it—they didn’t exist around here.

Unless I ventured out of the underworld to raid a furniture store.

Realistically, crafting a soft, fluffy bed was impossible.

‘…If only I had a little more money…’

I muttered to myself, deep in thought.

So far, my thievery had been limited to once a day, twice at most.

Honestly, that was enough to scrape by for a day.

Eventually, when Night Haven stabilized, I’d have to leave this place anyway.

When leaving the underworld, you had to abandon everything, including money.

There was no real reason or motivation to hoard wealth.

But… right now, I really wanted a proper bed.

How blissful would it be to wake up in a soft, fluffy bed that enveloped my entire body?

How happy would I be lying under the covers, munching on snacks and sandwiches!

‘…Tch, maybe I should just figure out how to buy a bed. Yeah, if I just get a bed, I won’t need anything else.’

Let’s not get greedy. Just aim for a bed.

With a firm goal set in my mind, I glanced casually out the window.

Beyond the window stood another building uncomfortably close.

And through its glass, the crimson sunset sinking below the horizon reflected.

Night would fall soon.

I telekinetically pulled over a nearby cloth.

The pristine white cloth wrapped around me smoothly, familiarly, and without hesitation, I leaped out the window.

My body, plummeting toward the ground, slowed to a feather-like glide thanks to telekinesis.

And before my eyes stretched the dark back alleys of Night Haven.

Maybe I’ll catch five people today.

My gaze, hunting for prey, sparkled brighter than usual.

*

Is winter approaching?

The night air of Night Haven was quite chilly.

Much colder than when I first reincarnated here.

During the day, it might not matter, but wandering around lightly dressed at night felt somewhat burdensome.

‘I should stick some hand warmers inside my clothes later.’

I hated the cold more than the heat.

Come winter, I’d definitely need to prepare properly against the chill.

BAM!

“Gwack!”

Anyway, moving on.

Today marked the fifth day since I resolved to buy a bed.

Things had gone relatively smoothly.

This place had no shortage of people sneaking around doing shady things in the back alleys.

Hitting my daily target of five wasn’t difficult within a single day.

Wandering around, dropping into crime scenes, beating and robbing, then flying back up.

Repeat: wander, drop, beat, rob, ascend.

Not once had anyone managed to counter my telekinetic flicks.

This was easier than eating cake while lying down.

‘Well… I don’t plan on fighting anyone who can handle my telekinetic flicks anyway.’

Thump.

A telekinetic flick struck the man menacing a woman like lightning to the crown of his head.

The man collapsed limply to the ground without resistance.

Oddly, he was wearing a motorcycle helmet.

Unfortunately, my telekinetic flick could strike as long as there was even a small gap above the crown.

Even with a helmet, knocking him unconscious posed no problem.

Mission complete. Naturally, I approached the unconscious man and rummaged through his belongings.

To my surprise, a remarkably clean wallet emerged.

‘Is that leather? I could sell this separately to Greg.’

This was the fanciest wallet I’d seen in the back alleys so far.

Most wallets here were either rags or made of some questionable material.

This one looked unmistakably genuine leather or something equally high-end.

If I closed my eyes and sold it… my dream of owning a bed would take three confident steps forward!

‘…No. I might get caught if I get greedy. Let’s just take the cash and leave it at that.’

For some reason, memories of being chased by vampires after taking a ring surfaced in my mind.

Of course, unless I was incredibly unlucky, I wouldn’t get caught just for a wallet.

But petty greed could lead to big trouble. I decided to leave the wallet behind.

After stuffing the cash I collected into my pocket and standing up,

The trembling woman from earlier had vanished without a trace.

This happened often.

About half the victims thanked me, while the other half ran off while I was rummaging through their belongings.

I didn’t care either way.

Whether they ran or stayed, my mission was always just to grab the loose wallets lying around.

Alright, time to go.

As usual, I hurried to leave the scene.

Getting spotted by passersby could lead to unnecessary gossip.

Attracting attention would only make moving around a hassle.

But just then, someone suddenly rushed toward the alley I was in at incredible speed.

“Whoa! Where are you! Ghost!”

Boom! Boom! Boom-boom! Swish!

“…!”

“Found you! Finally, finally!”

From beyond the alley appeared a soaking wet blond man.

His hair, drenched and flat against his head, had suds clinging to his scalp. His wet robe clung to his body, clearly showing he had just been bathing.

‘What kind of person is this? A pervert?’

Caught off guard by the sudden situation, I blinked dumbfoundedly.

The soaked man suddenly pointed at me and shouted.

“You really exist! I’ve been looking for you, Ghost!”

“….”

Why, why me?

Confused, I instinctively took a step back.

A man wandering the back alleys in such a state on a cold night.

His eccentricity was off the charts—it was overwhelming. I wanted nothing to do with him.

‘A canon character? No… If my memory serves me right, there was no one like him.’

If someone with such eccentricity existed in the original story, I wouldn’t have missed them.

Meaning, this guy was genuinely strange.

In which case, this wasn’t a situation for conversation.

“Let’s talk for a moment… Wait, wait! Don’t run away!”

No way. Why should I?

Ignoring his desperate plea, I turned and dashed down the alley.

Of course, my pure running speed was painfully slow.

Using telekinesis to push off the ground, I accelerated quickly.

Thanks to that, I rounded the corner in just two breaths and slipped deeper into the alley.

‘Please don’t chase me.’

I hoped the man wouldn’t follow me.

I didn’t want to attack someone who hadn’t done anything wrong.

Besides, avoiding a pervert wandering the back alleys in just a robe seemed like the smart move.

A wise person avoids unnecessary fights.

Though, I’m not saying I’m particularly wise!

*

“Oops… He’s gone.”

Victor, the bounty hunter Pixie specialist, still had bubbles in his hair.

Scratching his head, he looked troubled as he stared at where the ghost had disappeared.

Why did news of the ghost have to come while he was leisurely bathing?

In his haste to rush out, he ended up in nothing but a bathrobe, without any gear.

He didn’t plan to use a gun on the ghost anyway.

But at least having his grappling hook would’ve been nice.

Could he really chase the ghost like this?

He sighed involuntarily.

“Mr. Victor. Your trademark spiky hair is gone. Because of that, you look much sleazier than usual.”

“Ahh, Assistant. Sorry. I asked you to act as the victim, and we lost them.”

“It’s fine. It wasn’t a difficult task.”

Just then, a tall woman with long limbs approached from behind him and spoke.

She was Victor’s assistant.

Her role was to act as the victim being attacked by men, luring the ghost in.

An expert in special disguise capable of altering her face and body shape,

acting as someone else was as simple for her as breathing.

“Where’s the apprentice?”

“Over there, passed out on the ground. Seems the motorcycle helmet didn’t help much.”

“That’s the apprentice? The ghost must be stronger than rumors suggest.”

Victor pinched the bridge of his nose as he looked at the subordinate sprawled on the ground, still wearing the motorcycle helmet.

Despite appearances, the apprentice was a promising prodigy poached from an elite mercenary guild.

Among rookies, he was one of the strongest, yet the ghost had knocked him out in one hit.

Victor mentally bumped up the ghost’s threat level and glanced at his assistant.

“Haa, isn’t there some way, Assistant? I’d hate to give up just like this. Somehow, I feel like they won’t show themselves again starting tomorrow.”

“There is… a method.”

“Oh, as expected from our excellent Assistant. You’ve thought of something!”

Victor and his assistant huddled in the back alley, whispering their plan.

Dozens of minutes later, they encountered the ghost again in a distant back alley.

“Found you! Ghost, let’s talk!”

“…!!”

The sudden reappearance of the blond pervert startled the ghost, who bolted into the alley.

Victor, with no intention of letting them escape, charged after them.

And thus, an unexpected nighttime chase began.