Kim Je-Hyeon was confused.
Watching Yuna, a top influencer, duel with Yu-Han, he had been rejoicing that he could solve his problem without lifting a finger.
However, the result ended unexpectedly with the woman named Alice becoming the protagonist of a legend, commanding the Vermilion Bird and the Azure Dragon.
"Stupid citizens! Believing in such superstition! Anyway, what is the true identity of that bitch Alice!"
The higher the prestige of the Cheong-Am Center rose, the harder it would be for him to lay his hands on them.
If so, the method was self-evident.
He just needed to drop their image.
***
As per the usual routine, Yi Rang was forcibly participating in Yu-Han's training.
Yu-Han was personally facing Yi Rang while holding a long wooden stick clad in mana.
Yi Rang was holding a carbon-coated sword, but she didn't look threatening to Yu-Han at all.
"That won't do, Employee Yi Rang. If you respond like that from there, the opponent will come out like this!"
Yu-Han parried Yi Rang's clumsy slash. And he thrust his 'stick' deep into her stomach.
"Ughk..."
Letting out a pathetic, breathy moan, Yi Rang slumped down onto the floor.
Yu-Han checked the time, then stuck the wooden stick back into the basket.
"Oh my! It's my break time! Then I'm off.
Always memorize the standard countermeasures for common situations.
Like memorizing standard openings in chess."
"Haa... Haa... Openin'? I know anime openin's though..."
"..."
Looking like it was too bothersome to even speak further, Yu-Han tried to head upstairs.
But Alice, who was in the basement with them, stopped Yu-Han.
"Yu-Han, are you really okay with this? Forcing Yi Rang to work as a sanctioner..."
"If she doesn't want to, she can just do chores and pay off her debt for the rest of her life.
But she said she didn't want to do that herself."
"Still... will Yi Rang be able to handle it?
Battles where lives are on the line..."
At Alice's question, Yu-Han gave an unexpected answer.
"I think your standards have gotten too high; she's pretty usable at that level."
"Really?"
"Just imagine putting any random woman in her place right now.
It'd be a relief if she didn't piss her pants and run away from a fight."
Come to think of it, Yi Rang didn't seem to have ever run away from a fight so far, so maybe she was tougher than she looked?
But that punk Yu-Han, did he really have to use that kind of expression in front of her.
"And... it doesn't seem like she has absolutely no potential.
First, if she solidifies her fundamentals..."
Yu-Han cut off his words and suddenly looked toward Yi Rang.
She was sitting with her back turned, looking as if she were resting, but somehow her body was leaning toward Yu-Han and Alice, and she was pricking up her ears.
"So you! Review and train yourself! Don't just play around!"
"Alright, alright..."
Yi Rang grumbled, but her shoulders seemed to subtly rise.
"And Alice! Is this the time to worry about others!
You still haven't solved your battery and mana depletion problems!"
Yu-Han unnecessarily reprimanded Alice as well.
Alice only thought that Yu-Han was a guy who just couldn't be honest.
At that moment, the building's doorbell rang.
Checking the situation through the front door camera, an unknown crowd was gathered in front of the building.
Peculiarly, the crowd was all beastkin.
[Director! Come out this instant! Face the judgment of justice!]
"What is this? Coming without prior notice and spouting rude nonsense..."
[Do you have the right to say such things to us!?]
They seemed to be protesting, holding bizarre picket signs saying 'Save Yi Rang' and 'Beastkin Lives Matter Too'.
"What exactly are the contents of those pickets? I don't understand them at all..."
[The Deputy bastard there burdened beastkin girls with debt and habitually committed assault and sexual harassment!]
Yi Rang, who had been drinking water, spat it out massively and ran toward Alice.
"You people! What the hell are ya talkin' about!! I'm livin' perfectly fine, ya hear!?"
[...Yi Rang C! You are being deceived by those people.
You might have no choice but to say that right now, but we will definitely save you from your brainwashing.]
"What kinda fucked up bullshit is that!!"
[It seems the scars on her heart are already deep... We must hurry.]
Meeting opponents she absolutely couldn't communicate with, Yi Rang's insides boiled.
Alice also tried to persuade them.
"Despite his appearance, our Deputy is a naive virgin... There's no way he would do such indecent things!"
"Alice, you're defending me, right? And how the hell do you know if I'm a virgin or not?"
"...Woman's intuition?"
Still, this group of beastkin seemed unwilling to listen to any excuses.
[We oppose discrimination and hatred against beastkin!
We will definitely rescue the suffering Yi Rang C and Ga-Eun C from this hell!
Alright, that's the end of today's protest! Disperse!]
Saying only what they wanted to say, the protesters scattered.
Alice was dumbfounded.
"How on earth did they come to such an absurd misunderstanding?"
"That's not a misunderstanding, Alice. It's a political attack.
Kim Je-Hyeon's specialty is spreading black propaganda using various protest groups."
Yu-Han spoke calmly, then gave Yi Rang a heads-up.
"Employee Yi Rang! It's dangerous, so try not to go outside until this matter is resolved."
"If ya say so."
Nighttime, less than a day after that.
Yi Rang pulled up her hoodie and sneaked out of the building.
It was because they had just run out of beer in the fridge.
'What could possibly happen just goin' to the convenience store right around the corner?'
But that was a mistake.
A tranquilizer dart flew from somewhere and lodged itself into Yi Rang's shoulder blade.
The legend says Yi Rang collapsed right there and was carried away by unidentified assailants...
***
"...Wake up, tiger girl."
A voice like the intro of a cheap third-rate fantasy novel reached Yi Rang's ears.
Unfortunately, the owner of that voice wasn't a fairy or a goddess, but a fierce-looking middle-aged man.
That man even had wolf ears attached.
"Yaaawn~ Did I develop narcolepsy or somethin'... But who are ya, mister?"
Waking up from her sleep, Yi Rang seemed unable to grasp the situation.
"...You're a beastkin and you don't know who I am!
I am Park In-Hyeok, the Director of the Cheon-Rang Center, a social euthanasia center that opposes beastkin hatred for the sake of beastkin!"
"Cheon-Rang Center...!"
Cheon-Rang, famous as a center where only beastkin can find employment...
Yi Rang, being a beastkin herself, also knew that name.
Actually, she had even submitted an application to Cheon-Rang in the past and gotten rejected.
"So, are we finally communicating a bit?", Park In-Hyeok said.
The fact that an euthanasia center was involved meant... Yi Rang realized there was a high probability they were enemies.
Because it was an industry that involved killing people and had fierce competition, centers were generally not on good terms.
"Um, thanks. Well, I gotta head home now, so..."
"Where do you think you're going! You have to do one job for us before you go!"
"Huh?"
"It's nothing much. You just have to give a simple testimony!
Say that you suffered continuous harassment, assault, and sexual harassment at the Cheong-Am Center... I'll give you plenty of money too!"
At the part about giving testimony for money, Yi Rang realized this was a dirty demand.
"Hey! I ain't never suffered no indecent crap like that! And ya want me to sell out my pals for cash!?"
"...According to the investigation by our beastkin civic group, that guy named Yu-Han is a beastkin hater and a human supremacist!
If you're a beastkin too, you should take the lead in eliminating such a person! To protect the pride of beastkin!"
"How the hell is that protectin' our pride! Rather, it'd be draggin' it right through the mud! I'm a woman who's nothin' without loyalty! I ain't ever sellin' out my pals!"
"Hmm. If you won't cooperate, we'll have no choice but to dispose of you.
We'll either kill you or sell your ass to traffickers!?"
Hearing the words human traffickers, Yi Rang's mind went faint.
But there was a saying in Korea: 'Even if you enter a tiger's den, you'll live if you just keep your wits about you.'
Yi Rang decided to think of a way to buy as much time as possible.
First, hit them with some random aggro!
"Ha! Now I get it. You guys are actually humans with zero pride. Ain't that right?"
"What nonsense is this all of a sudden?"
"It's obvious what happens when trash with no pride gets strong!
If we fight 1 on 1, I could probably wipe the floor with all of ya! ...Like, the top 70 percent of this place, anyway."
Afraid she might end up fighting the Director or Deputy-level, Yi Rang carefully added a condition.
Anyway, this remark seemed to have succeeded in touching Park In-Hyeok's pride.
"Then I will prepare the stage... I'll let you fight every single person in this center!"
Yi Rang cheered inwardly, thinking she could buy a tremendous amount of time.
However, soon after, she also had the thought that she might have done something she couldn't handle.
***
"Our Director. It hasn't even been a day since I told Employee Yi Rang not to go out, and she disappears; care to explain."
Yu-Han and Alice were sitting on the sofa facing each other.
Alice had a wronged expression.
"Yi Rang... said, 'I think I'll go look at the night view from the roof', so I let her go, and later when I checked, she was gone!"
"This damn incompetent tiger..."
Actually, from Yu-Han's perspective, it didn't really matter much what happened to Yi Rang.
She wasn't a particularly great asset, nor did she know any massive secrets.
However, Alice spoke firmly.
"Yu-Han, you're going to save her, right?"
"Why should I..."
"Ga-Eun is being targeted too."
"She'll probably survive fine on her own?"
At Yu-Han's words, Alice glared gently into his eyes.
After having a staring contest with Alice for a few seconds, Yu-Han, perhaps feeling shy, ended up averting his gaze first.
"Well, I don't want to carry around the dirty image of a sexual harasser either. So I will handle it."
At Yu-Han's words, Alice smiled as if satisfied.
"But who are you going to handle?"
"...When I dug into the source of funds for those protesters, it connected to the 'Cheon-Rang Euthanasia Center'.
A center that self-proclaims to care about beastkin's human rights.
If Yi Rang was dragged away, she'd be there. Ga-Eun!"
"Yep! Yu-Han C!"
Wherever she had been hiding, when Yu-Han called, Kim Ga-Eun popped out like a ghost.
"Infiltrate that place. You basically understood, right?"