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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Xrecker
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Beep!
A few days had passed since our defeat against Team Hunter Killer. Today, as usual, I was at the convenience store, having Red ring up my purchases. The woman with red hair silently scanned the barcodes.
Suddenly, the scene struck me as strange. Red, a member of Team Hunter Killer—who opposed Spacetroe, the group that had come to invade Earth on behalf of Seoul—was working part-time at a convenience store. Meanwhile, I, a member of Spacetroe, was buying food and having her ring me up.
Lost in thought while watching her, she stumbled for a moment and dropped the onigiri she’d been scanning onto the counter.
“Ah.”
She let out a small sound and resumed scanning. Faint dark circles were visible under her eyes, and it was clear at a glance that she was exhausted. I had no reason to worry about her, nor any relationship that warranted it, but I was a little concerned.
“You seem very tired today.”
“Yes, a little.”
I hadn’t expected her to reply. She had to find it suspicious that I kept coming at the same time for over a month.
I wasn’t doing anything strange, so from her perspective, I was just a regular customer who came at the same time, and she might have thought I was just making a harmless observation. However, I was sure I appeared suspicious to her.
“You seem like a student.”
“Yes, I’m a university student. I have a lot of assignments these days.”
The June sunlight was intense, and it seemed to be the busiest exam period for university students. I hadn’t seen any other university students besides her, so I didn’t know if everyone was like this, but according to my preliminary research, university students experienced extreme fatigue during exam periods.
“That sounds tough.”
“I have to do it. It’s my responsibility.”
The card I handed her processed the 10,700 won payment. I took back my card and the bag containing my purchases.
“Have a good day.”
“You too.”
I replied to her farewell and left the convenience store. After walking a short distance away, I observed her through the glass window.
“Nothing unusual today…”
There was nothing strange about her behavior. However, the fact that she was fatigued at this time meant that we might have a chance of winning when the next duel opportunity arose.
I entertained that thought briefly, but it was pointless. There were a few times when one or two members of Team Hunter Killer were absent during our fights, but even then, the only difference was that the fight lasted a little longer; the outcome of our defeat remained unchanged.
“What’s the problem?”
I thought back to the time before we came to Earth, when we invaded other planets. Back then, we sometimes finished invasions in as little as a month, and it never took longer than four or five years. The current situation, dragging on for 20 years, was unprecedented.
Anyway, thinking back to those previous invasions that took four or five years at most, I hadn’t really done much. I was just a minion who got knocked out in one hit, and I never played a particularly active role.
In fact, there were many cases where things were resolved immediately once the higher-ups stepped in, so the only thing a minion like me did was work inside the ship. If losing was the norm even when I was on the field, I felt it would be better to just work on the ship.
-♬~
My smartphone rang. I took it out of my pocket and checked the caller ID. The screen displayed ‘Boss Ruche,’ so I answered.
“Yes, what is it?”
“How’s Red doing?”
“No significant difference from usual, but I’m suddenly curious about something.”
“Oh?”
A complaint suddenly arose. Excluding the executives, there were about 40 subordinates of my rank in our team stationed at the Seoul branch. Of those, about 20, including me, usually participated in operations.
“Why do I have to do both surveillance and participate in operations?”
Frankly, we weren’t short-staffed. It would be more efficient to have someone dedicated to surveillance while I focused on operations, or vice versa.
“…Because your place is close.”
Her words left me speechless for a moment. As Ruche said, my single room and the convenience store where Red worked were significantly closer than everyone else’s. How close? A one-minute walk from my room to the convenience store.
“Is that the reason?”
“I can’t send other people all the way there for surveillance when their homes are far away.”
We lived far apart to avoid exposing our identities. If we lived close together and moved around in a group, we would definitely stand out, which could lead to various interferences or obstructions. Of course, the rules set by Earth included ‘no killing,’ and we were only allowed to fight on designated days, so there was no chance of surprise attacks or unfortunate incidents. Still, having our location discovered was unpleasant.
“Then what about having me focus on surveillance while someone else participates in operations?”
“…Can’t you just do it?”
A voice on the verge of tears came from the phone. I couldn’t figure out if she wanted to appear charismatic or vulnerable to us.
“Fine! I’ll do it, so stop crying.”
“Okay.”
“So, is that all?”
“Yeah. It’s almost time for you to go and watch her, so I wanted to check in.”
There was nothing else to report. While Red was tired due to exams, I doubted that alone would give us enough of an advantage to defeat Team Hunter Killer, so I omitted it from my report.
Since there was no operation today, I decided to watch the convenience store from a distance. The sun was hot, so I kept moving to stay in the shade while I watched. Passersby didn’t seem to find me suspicious.
To them, I probably just looked like someone standing on the street, using their phone.
The summer days were long, and as the sun began to set, painting the sky in hues of dusk, Red finished her shift, handed things over to the next clerk, and headed home.
I debated whether to follow her, but it seemed too suspicious. If her sharp senses picked up on it, she would become more vigilant, making future surveillance difficult. So, I decided against it.
“I should go home too.”
Watching her walk away, I returned to my cramped single room.
The next day, I went to the convenience store at the same time.
The chime of the door announced my arrival, and I heard Red’s voice, “Welcome.”
Pretending not to pay attention to her, I browsed the store as usual. She put down the book she was reading and stood up.
“…”
I glanced at her, and our eyes met. I quickly looked away and resumed selecting my lunchbox and drink. I then went to the counter and placed my chosen items.
-Beep!
The sound of the barcode scanner had become familiar. As I listened to the accustomed sound, my gaze drifted down and landed on the book Red had been reading.
It was titled ‘Deep Space Technology Theory.’ From that, I learned her major was science, specifically space-related science. However, this information wouldn’t be of any help in confronting her.
“That looks like a difficult title.”
I thought I was going crazy.
Having worked on the ship during previous planetary invasions, I had some knowledge of deep space navigation technology. I’d studied it deeply enough that it could be considered my major if I had attended university.
Since many people were needed to operate the ship, and they were essential personnel, I felt it would be beneficial to learn, so I studied it.
And my thirst for knowledge bloomed as soon as I saw her book. By the time I came to my senses, I was already talking to her.
Sensing I was talking about her book, she stopped scanning, glanced at the book, then looked up at me with her red eyes. I looked away, but I could feel her gaze on me, and like I was hypnotized, I slowly met her eyes.
“It is difficult. My older classmates said it’s the hardest among the freshman courses.”
In South Korea, the youngest age for a university freshman was 20. Those who didn’t go to university straight away might be 21 or 22, or even older, but generally, freshman = 20 years old.
In other words, we had been consistently losing to a girl barely over 20. She was even a minor last year.
“Deep space technology is difficult. The initial theories are tough.”
My excitement about the knowledge I possessed made me speak. Without considering that what a South Korean freshman learned might be different from what I learned, I got carried away.
“You seem to know a lot about it.”
At that moment, I came back to my senses and averted my gaze, realizing my mistake. However, she was already looking at me with a slightly intrigued expression.
“Yes, a little…”
I thought I should make an excuse and leave the store. As soon as the scanning was finished, I handed her my card.
“You come at the same time every day.”
I’d already anticipated that she would have noticed me coming at the same time every day. It would be abnormal for her not to notice.
“Yes, well…”
As soon as the card payment was processed, I grabbed the bag and rushed out of the convenience store without hearing her farewell. It was only after I had walked some distance away that I realized I still had to watch her. Moreover, I hadn’t even properly checked her condition today because I was too busy avoiding her gaze.
I decided to at least check on her through the window. As I did, our eyes met again.
“!”
Unable to hide my surprise, I quickly ran towards my single room, but the entrance to my building, only about a minute away, was clearly visible from the convenience store. I couldn’t be sure, but judging by the feeling of her gaze, I think she watched me until I entered the building.
As soon as I was inside, I leaned against the wall and sighed.
My job was to monitor her condition from a distance, but I got excited at the sight of a book about something I knew and ended up talking to her first.
I had spoken to her yesterday as well, but that was solely to check on her condition.
I hadn’t expected her to reply, but my initial goal was to observe her reaction and assess her condition, regardless of whether she answered. Her reply was merely an additional step in gathering information, depending on the content.
However, today was different. I had inadvertently provided information that could potentially identify me. Furthermore, she already knew that I came to the convenience store every day at the same time, on the days she worked.
“I need to be careful.”
-♬
As usual, my smartphone rang. And as usual, it was Ruche.
For my report… I told her there was nothing unusual to report.
Another day passed. Red’s working days were Friday, Saturday, and Sunday afternoons. After today, she wouldn’t be at the convenience store from Monday to Thursday, making today the last day of surveillance for this week.
Despite yesterday’s embarrassing incident, I couldn’t stop watching her. And to make up for yesterday’s mistake, I needed to observe her carefully today.
I entered the convenience store as usual, and Red, noticing me, greeted me with, “Hello.”
“Hello.”
I responded to her greeting and walked into the store. A strange sense of awkwardness prevented me from looking at her as I selected my lunchbox and drink.
As I placed my items on the counter, she began scanning, her gaze fixed on me.
“…”
Slightly intimidated, I lowered my gaze and noticed the same textbook from yesterday lying on the chair where she usually sat.
“Do you know the asteroid trajectory calculation formula used in deep space exploration?”
“The distance between stars and the planet the asteroid is orbiting…!”
While I was looking at the textbook, flustered, I reflexively answered her question. Languages differed by country and planet, but the laws of physics remained constant throughout the universe. Thus, the physics knowledge on Earth and in space was the same. There was no way I wouldn’t know the formula she mentioned, having studied it extensively during my time on duty. Realizing my mouth had moved before my brain, I stopped mid-sentence.
When I looked up at her, she was staring at me with sparkling eyes.
“You know it?!”
“Uh, yes… a little.”
I wasn’t used to attractive women looking at me like that. I couldn’t meet her gaze and looked away.
“Do you work from home, by any chance?”
“Huh? Uh, yes. Why…?”
I didn’t work from home, and I belonged to an organization, but I couldn’t tell her that, so I just agreed.
“I thought so. I saw you entering the single-room building in front yesterday.”
So, she had seen me running away in a panic yesterday. This would make future surveillance difficult…
“Then, I’m really sorry to ask, but if you have the time, could you help me with my major?”
“Huh?”
Unable to hide my surprise, I replayed her words in my head.
In interpersonal relationships, there was something called perceived closeness. Until yesterday, I was just a customer who came to the convenience store, and we had no real acquaintance. But my words yesterday had created a small connection. If there were no perceived closeness, she might have just let it go. But having seen me come to the store for over a month, both she and I had developed a strange sense of familiarity.
Even though I was watching her, I couldn’t help but develop this feeling of closeness. Was it Stockholm Syndrome? The syndrome where a kidnapped hostage develops sympathy and emotional closeness with the captor, eventually identifying with them. Was this a similar situation? No, it was different. Definitely different, but regardless of the reason, the bottom line was that I felt incredibly awkward refusing her request.
“Sure. Well, if it’s just for a bit…”
I ended up agreeing to her request.
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dating in progress