While everyone at the Cheong-Am Center was enjoying their day off in their own way, Yi Rang was having dinner with her outdated best friend who had just returned from abroad. It was Chae Da-Seon, a bear beastkin with long brown hair and a perpetually relaxed, mature smile.
"…Yo! So I rounded up all them Cheon-Rang punks, made 'em hit the deck, and beat the ever-lovin' crap outta them! The Director was sweatin' bullets and just booked it, and that mook of a Deputy Director was bawlin' on his knees, beggin', 'Please, spare me!' By the end of it, they were so spooked they changed the center's name to 'Yong-Ho' center. I musta been one scary bitch, huh?"
"Yi Rang, you're getting excited again. Your Busan accent is coming out."
"Ah? Ahem… Standard Seoul speech still ain't rollin' off my tongue that easy."
Chae Da-Seon didn't buy Yi Rang's bluff for a second. Instead, she caught on to the fact that Yi Rang was suspiciously avoiding a specific topic.
"So what kind of place is this Cheong-Am Center you transferred to? Seeing as I've never heard of it, is it a newly established place?"
"Well… it's not bad! Especially the people there—they're all hilarious…"
Yi Rang happily chattered on about Alice, who seemed totally put-together but was secretly a total klutz; Kim Ga-Eun, who acted incredibly cute but was dangerously obsessive; and Yu-Han, who was just an insufferable jerk. Seeing how much fun Yi Rang was having, Chae Da-Seon frowned slightly.
"Yi Rang, I'm saying this as your friend… but don't you think you should just quit being a sanctioner?"
"And that Yu-Han guy acts like he's the most mature adult in the world, but he's such a picky eater… Huh?"
"Seriously, it's a dangerous job. It's not the kind of work you can just laugh and joke your way through. Plus, that Cheong-Am Center seems pretty sketchy."
At Da-Seon's advice, Yi Rang's face scrunched up in clear offense.
"…I can take care of myself, so don't worry about me."
"Still, your life could be on the line…"
"You my mom or somethin'? Why you always bustin' my balls! You and my dad… why do you guys always try to run my life!"
Yi Rang was genuinely upset, but to Chae Da-Seon it just looked like an adorable tantrum.
"Sigh… Okay, I'm sorry. Here, I'll order three more servings of premium beef belly, so stop sulking~."
"Tch. Well, I ain't sayin' no to beef belly… Just don't do it again!"
Yi Rang's anger vanished as quickly as it came as she attacked the meat. But Chae Da-Seon continued watching her with a quiet, worried gaze…
***
A few days after their time off had ended, Alice was slowly adjusting to life in Old Seoul. Most of all, being a sanctioner paid surprisingly well, so she wouldn't have to worry about money for a while.
'Since I don't have much going on right now, maybe I should decide what magic to learn next…'
While incredibly high aptitude allowed one to use certain magic without prior study, such cases were rare. Normally, learning new magic followed these steps:
1. Using magic with the help of incantations, magic circles, or rituals.
2. Repeated practice to get a feel for mana manipulation.
3. Eventually being able to cast it unaided.
Of course, without the proper aptitude, one could never reach Step 3. In some cases, they couldn't even complete Step 1.
'If I were still in a human body, just learning the theories would've taken my whole life…'
Alice thought as she downloaded various magic research papers into her memory banks. Honestly, this robot body was so convenient that she barely felt any desire to return to being human. It was sturdy, practically immortal, and equipped with every function needed to experience human pleasures and sensations.
Including, of course, the ability to route center calls directly into her head. A call was coming in now. When she accepted the video call, an unfamiliar but handsome young man appeared.
[Hello there, Director Alice!]
"I don't believe we've met. Who are you?"
[Oh dear… You really don't know who I am?]
Alice was already annoyed by his arrogant tone, but she quickly ran a search on his face.
"You're Son Min-Hyeok from the 'Red Chasers,' the globally active dungeon raiding team."
[That's right! Director Alice, I have a proposition for you.]
"For me?"
[I saw your face on the news after I returned to the country. A robot girl! Did you transplant your brain? Or are you some kind of clockwork relic?]
"…"
[Either way, you're fascinating! You're already plenty strong, so how about joining our team?]
"No thanks. Goodbye."
[Hey, playing house with trash in a dump like that is pointless! You should be swimming in bigger waters!]
Son Min-Hyeok had crossed the line. While Alice felt indignant, she was still inexperienced at handling such blatant trash talk. Just then, Yi Rang kicked open the break room door and stormed in.
"Alice! Sorry for listenin' in, but don't listen to a single word this mook says! He's famous for sleepin' around and livin' like trash!"
[What's with this tiger!? Crossing the line from the first damn sentence!]
"I ain't takin' that from some jerk who called us trash the second he opened his mouth! Alice, just hang up on this asshole!"
"Huh? Hang up?"
Caught off guard, Alice reflexively ended the call. But after a moment, she wondered if she'd acted too hastily.
"But… isn't that just a rumor? What if it's not true?"
"Ugh. Someone who knows that scene inside and out told me, so…"
"…We already hung up anyway."
Since she had no way of contacting him again, Alice waited to see if he would call back. But the phone stayed ominously silent.
***
[Goddammit!! Those Cheong-Am punks are getting way too cocky! Especially that fucking tiger!! Do they not know who we are!? Do they have a death wish!?]
On the Red Chasers' private channel, Son Min-Hyeok was throwing a fit while the other three members listened. There was the magic expert 'Shim Yun-Seol,' the elf archer and nature mage 'Eurel,' and the last member… Chae Da-Seon. She was sitting in the bedroom of her luxury officetel, participating via voice.
"Hey, why is that bastard throwing another tantrum?"
Chae Da-Seon asked the other two through a separate private channel, excluding their leader.
[Alice from Cheong-Am Center? Sounds like he got rejected.]
[And some weird tiger beastkin cursed him out too, apparently…]
Chae Da-Seon let out a deep internal sigh.
"I'll handle this myself, smoothly."
She unmuted the main channel. Son Min-Hyeok was still raging.
[So go wipe the Cheong-Am Center off the map!]
"But Leader, if we slaughter them just because we got mad in an argument, what happens to our reputation?"
[You stupid bear. Are you defying my orders…!?]
"Of course not. I'm just saying there's a better way than straight-up killing them. Leave it to me for now."
***
That evening, Yi Rang received a message from Chae Da-Seon saying she had left something behind. When Yi Rang arrived at the secluded alley, she couldn't shake a bad feeling.
'This is weird. I'm pretty sure I didn't leave anything…'
Chae Da-Seon was waiting for her with her usual calm poker face.
"Hey, Yi Rang."
"Wh-what is it…?"
Even though it was her old friend, Yi Rang felt an inexplicable tension. Then Da-Seon spoke softly.
"I need you to lie down for a bit. Just long enough to put you in the hospital for two weeks."
"!!"
A fierce punch flew at her. Yi Rang barely dodged it.
"Oh~ You dodged it?"
"What the hell are ya doin'!?"
"Turns out you pissed off my team's leader. He wanted to kill all of you. I barely talked him down by promising I'd just teach you a lesson."
"Who the hell would agree to that?!"
However, Yi Rang had grown much stronger than before. As the fight dragged on, Chae Da-Seon started looking flustered.
"You're old enough to understand the importance of taking responsibility!"
"I ain't takin' the fall for somethin' this bogus!"
Yi Rang's spinning kick grazed Da-Seon's hair, slicing a strand clean off. Da-Seon's eyes widened.
"Wait, what… Is this a bad joke? How did you get this strong…!"
"Does it look like a joke!? Even if we're friends, this is crossing a huge line!"
"This can't be… This makes no sense! How could I…!"
Da-Seon seemed genuinely shocked. Yi Rang, drunk on the thrill of victory, threw a full-powered punch straight at her friend's open solar plexus—!
But Da-Seon casually blocked it with one hand.
"Eh…?"
"Cute. You done playing around now?"
Da-Seon's gaze turned ice-cold as she began mercilessly beating Yi Rang. Even while pummeling her, she carefully controlled her strength so that Yi Rang would be hospitalized for exactly two weeks—no more, no less.
"You should've listened when I warned you! You always make things so much harder than they need to be!"
Just as Da-Seon raised her fist for the finishing blow — a pitch-black, carbon-coated blade shot out from the darkness, aimed straight at her wrist.
"!?"
Da-Seon deflected it with a mana-infused knife-hand strike and calmly created distance. From the shadows of the alley, a man slowly walked out.
It was Yu-Han.