—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Xrecker
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The long-awaited day of the trip arrived, and the Hunter Killer members gathered early in the morning and boarded the bus. It was a two-night, three-day trip, and perhaps because some of them lacked travel experience, they’d all packed their suitcases full.
“It takes about an hour, right?”
“Yes, the pension is a short walk from the bus stop.”
Red, answering Blue’s question, checked the pension’s location and estimated arrival time on her smartphone one last time.
After loading their suitcases onto the bus, the five women sat in a row at the very back, a mix of excitement and nervousness bubbling within them.
“Yellow, want some candy?”
Blue offered Yellow, who was sitting by the window, a piece of candy from her bag, and Yellow took it, unwrapped it, and popped it into her mouth.
“We’re in public. Shouldn’t we avoid using our codenames?”
Everyone looked at Yellow at her sudden remark. Yellow, flustered by the sudden attention, looked away, and the others understood. For the five of them, who’d mostly experienced negative reactions to their superhuman status, using codenames openly wouldn’t be wise.
“Then what should we call each other?”
“Our names, obviously,” Pink said matter-of-factly, but using their real names was surprisingly difficult. They’d been together for at least three years, some even five, and they hadn’t used each other’s names since they first met.
It wasn’t just that it felt awkward; they were simply too used to using codenames.
“Okay, let’s use our names.”
Red’s suggestion was met with nods of agreement, but then they all fell silent. Someone had to break the ice, but the awkwardness of using their real names made it difficult.
“Ha-yeong unni, can I have some candy, too?”
Red, taking a deep breath, spoke stiffly, her words sounding forced, and the others froze, as if their power had been cut off. Red, having made the first move, blushed, her face as red as her hair.
“You don’t have to call me ‘unni’.”
Blue, the oldest, handed Red a piece of candy as she spoke. They’d been working together as equals for so long that being called “unni,” despite the eight-year age gap between Red and Blue, felt far more awkward than using their names.
They’d all frozen because they’d been thinking the same thing. Red, the team leader but also the youngest, using the honorific “unni,” meant she was addressing them all as older sisters, a formality they weren’t comfortable with.
Thankfully, Blue’s dismissal of the honorific prompted the others to echo her sentiment, saying “You don’t have to call us ‘unni’ either.” It was an awkward situation, but Red’s initiative had broken the ice, and the conversation flowed more easily.
And then, after an hour-long bus ride, they arrived at the pension and,
“Um… there’s no reservation under the name Hong Yu-bin…”
They were told there was no reservation under Red’s name, despite having arrived at the correct destination. Red was flustered, having booked a room for five people.
“No reservation? That’s impossible… I made the reservation myself.”
She frantically took out her phone, showing the pension owner the booking confirmation and payment details, while Blue and Yellow looked around the entrance.
“This isn’t it, right?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
They confirmed that the surroundings didn’t match the pictures from the website.
“What happened?”
They’d clearly made a mistake. Yellow and Blue waited for Red to figure it out.
“Ah, you booked the pension on the inner island.”
“Huh?”
“There’s another pension with the same name further inland. People sometimes get confused and come to the wrong place.”
“Really?”
They’d arrived at a pension with the same name as the one Red had booked, and the actual pension was another hour away by bus.
Red, having confirmed the mistake, rejoined the others, who were waiting outside, and they waited for her explanation.
“I’m sorry. The pension is further inland.”
They exchanged glances, realizing they’d come to the wrong place.
“Really? Then let’s go to the bus stop.”
Blue tried to comfort Red, who looked dejected, and Yellow checked the bus schedule.
“The next bus is in 30 minutes, so let’s wait.”
They headed back to the bus stop, having assumed finding the correct pension would be straightforward, and as they walked away, they saw the bus they’d just gotten off drive away.
“Looks like they came to the wrong place, too.”
“It would have been nice if we had a car.”
Pink lamented their lack of transportation, echoing Blue’s earlier comment, but there was nothing they could do, so they headed to the bus stop.
There’s a saying that if you make a mistake, you have to face the consequences. I strongly agreed. Deceiving the Hunter Killer members and intentionally maintaining these relationships would eventually come back to bite me, and I’d accept the consequences when the time came.
But that time wasn’t now.
“What are Spacetroe doing here?!”
The Hunter Killer members, unarmed, clenched their fists and glared at Ruche and me at the supermarket entrance. Or rather, they were glaring at me, and I quickly buttoned up my Hawaiian shirt.
“And they’re even with a civilian. Are you resorting to petty crimes now?”
Yu-bin’s words, her eyes narrowed, made me look at Ruche, confused.
Ruche always wore heavy makeup during duels, claiming she didn’t want to appear weak to superhumans, and her makeup was so heavy, the thick eyeliner and eyeshadow so dramatic, that she looked like a different person.
“A civilian? Are you blind?!”
Ruche’s voice made the Hunter Killer members flinch. While her appearance was slightly different from how they remembered her, they couldn’t mistake her voice. They recognized the familiar voice from their duels and looked at her.
“A Team 3 executive?”
“Yes. What are you doing here?”
Ruche was just as surprised. She’d come to this remote island for training and had stopped by the supermarket to buy some drinks, and here she was, face to face with Hunter Killer. It would be strange not to be surprised.
“That’s none of your business.”
“Our being here is none of your business either.”
They glared at each other, the tension crackling in the air.
“A… ahem! Let’s go.”
I stared at Ruche, who’d almost said my name. She must have felt my gaze, even though my face was hidden by the mask, and she coughed and tugged at my sleeve, pulling me out of the supermarket.
The identities of ordinary Spacetroe soldiers were kept confidential. The masks were part of the organization’s protocol, required for various missions.
That’s why, even during duels, we only followed the team leader’s orders and never spoke loud enough for Hunter Killer to hear, and we wore masks or helmets whenever we were in public, like now, to protect our identities.
“Are they following us?”
Ruche asked after we left the supermarket, and I looked back. The five members were staring at us, but they weren’t following us.
“They seem to be on vacation.”
They were all carrying suitcases, which suggested a trip, and I relayed this information to Ruche. But why were they here, when the pension was on a different island?
“A vacation? How leisurely.”
I didn’t think it was Ruche’s place to say, holding bags filled with drinks, her windbreaker over her swimsuit, but I didn’t want to argue.
“We should be careful. Even if we’re not supposed to fight, it’s not good to run into Hunter Killer.”
“Right. Just stay alert until the training tomorrow.”
We arrived back at the beach with the drinks and reported our encounter with Hunter Killer. I’d thought it might be a cause for concern, but Esmeralda’s reaction was surprisingly nonchalant.
“Just ignore them. They’re probably here for vacation.”
“Are you sure? What if they’re trying to gather intel?”
“A, you said they had suitcases?”
“Yes.”
Esmeralda, after confirming they had suitcases, shrugged.
“We’re here for training, they’re here for vacation. It’s just a coincidence. We can’t engage them outside of designated duels anyway, so it’s best to just ignore them.”
She had a point. And knowing their situation, I figured this unexpected encounter with Spacetroe on their first team trip must be incredibly frustrating for Hunter Killer.
“So, we should just ignore them?”
“Yes. We can’t attack each other anyway.”
I had to follow orders, so I agreed.
One of the reasons I’d initially thought Spacetroe ran a lodging business here was its location, slightly set back from the other pensions lining the beach. It blended in with the surroundings, its appearance not particularly distinctive.
With so many pensions in this area, I’d assumed we wouldn’t run into anyone we knew.
I was about to dismiss the thought when I suddenly remembered a conversation I’d had with Yu-bin before the trip and felt a pang of unease.
“Angelica.”
“Yes? What is it?”
Angelica, who’d been lying down, pushed her sunglasses up.
“What was the name of the pension closest to ours?”
“Sky Sea Pension, I think.”
I sighed deeply.
The night before the trip. While having dinner with Yu-bin at my place, after she’d finished packing, I’d asked her about the pension to confirm the details.
“Yu-bin, what was the name of the pension again?”
“Sky Sea Pension.”
I hadn’t imagined there would be another pension with the same name.
I sighed again and looked up, feeling a gaze on me, and the other team leaders also turned their heads. The Hunter Killer members, walking along the road towards the pensions, were staring at us.
“This is awkward.”
Just then, my phone vibrated. It was a message from Yu-ra.
[You won’t believe this. We’re on our trip, and Spacetroe is here.]
I sighed again, feeling a mixture of exasperation and amusement, and looked up. I could see Yu-ra in the distance, frowning at me. While her text message had been about the situation itself, her expression, as she looked at me, was clearly directed at me, personally.
It was a complicated feeling, but I knew one thing for sure: I couldn’t be discovered. I reminded myself to keep my mask on and replied to Yu-ra.
[Why are they here? Just ignore them unless they do something.]
And as I sent the message, I suddenly realized something I hadn’t considered, caught up in the excitement of meeting the Hunter Killer members outside of our usual context.
I’d given each member slightly different information about myself to protect my identity. Ha-yeong thought I had a regular 9-to-5 job, while Yu-bin thought I was a freelancer with a flexible schedule.
Even now, on this trip, each member had a different understanding of what I was doing here. I thought I’d created separate, airtight narratives, but they all knew the same basic information about me.
My name, my age, and my unchanging appearance. Thankfully, I hadn’t shared any pictures online or anywhere else, so there was no risk of them seeing a picture of me, but a single slip-up could reveal my connections to all of them, even before my true identity was exposed.
I realized the precariousness of my situation and resolved to be more careful.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
🤣🤣🤣He’s screwed on both counts…