Convict Unit: Black Parade

“Look… I wasn’t born a thief.”

In a dim interrogation room, a young man in handcuffs did his best to look pathetic. With his wide, youthful eyes, he wore an expression that screamed he was the most wronged person in the world.

“Life’s a real grind these days, isn’t it? Prices are through the roof, Gates are popping up everywhere, and the monster raid sirens never stop.”

“…”

“For a poor soul living in the slums, it’s hard enough just to make it to the next day. And for an orphan like me, with no parents? It’s even harder.”

“…”

“Abandoned by society, I was just trying to survive, clawing my way through the dirt, when… when I got my hands dirty with a little petty thievery. Sniffle.”

Across the table, a woman in a crisp white uniform scoffed. “What you did yesterday was a little more than ‘petty thievery,’ wasn’t it?”

“Honorable Investigator, ma’am, please believe me. I swear, I had no idea it would turn into something this big.”

Tears welled in the young man’s round eyes.

“I was just trying to get a little something for my next meal, and I got swept up in this whole mess. I’m just a poor, powerless petty thief…”

But the woman was a professional who dealt with criminals of every stripe, day in and day out. The young man’s tears didn’t move her in the slightest.

She opened the file in front of her and read from his profile.

“Name: Jae-hee Han. Age: eighteen. Occupation: Thief. Correct?”

“Err… that is how I make a living, but is that really what it says under ‘Occupation’?”

“Tsk.”

“My apologies. I’ll shut up.”

The woman clicked her tongue, and Jae-hee clammed up instantly.

Flipping through the file, she stopped at a document titled “Provisional Awakening Confirmation.”

“The assessment confirms you’re an Awakened. Your ability is… what, exactly?”

“Uh…” The young man, Jae-hee Han, hesitated before answering sheepishly. “‘Running fast’?”

Attached to the confirmation were several CCTV stills. A blurry afterimage of Jae-hee was barely visible in the frames.

He had been too fast for the camera to capture properly.

“The video records show you dodging bullets.”

“Oh, uh, yeah. For a very short time, I can move faster than a bullet.”

“A Speedster, then.”

A Speedster. An individual with superhuman speed.

Having provisionally classified Jae-hee’s ability, the woman slapped the file shut.

“All right, Petty Thief. Let’s talk about yesterday’s incident.”

Jae-hee swallowed hard.

The woman spoke slowly, enunciating every syllable. “Diligently. Conscientiously. And nothing but the truth. Tell me.”

Jae-hee had lived a life far removed from concepts like diligence, conscience, and truth. But he knew this wasn’t the time for games.

After licking his dry lips, Jae-hee slowly began his statement.

“It all started yesterday morning…”

***

As you know, Investigator, ma’am, Korea is five minutes from going completely to shit these days.

It’s been thirty years since the Gate War. Sure, we’ve gotten good at fighting off monsters, Seoul has been rebuilt, and the internet more or less works. People say life is manageable now. But that’s only for the folks in the big city!

Most of the smaller, provincial cities that the army, police, and Hunter Guilds don’t give a damn about are completely wrecked. People who couldn’t get into the major cities form slums in the abandoned towns.

I’m from one of those slums. The weather was getting colder, and I was sick with worry about how I’d survive the winter…

Ah, you don’t like the sob stories, do you?

Just the highlights?

But you need the background to fully understand my—all right, all right. Don’t get mad! I’ll get straight to the point.

Ahem. So, it was yesterday morning.

I’d just savored my last packet of ramen, brewed my last stick of instant coffee, and was rinsing my mouth with the warm drink, lost in thought.

No more food, no more money. What do I do? Is there a good score anywhere?

That’s when it happened.

Bang bang bang!

Somebody started pounding on my door and called out, “Mr. Jae-hee Han? Are you in there?”

I knew right away this was someone dangerous.

See, the only people who come looking for me are fellow thieves, and those assholes never knock. They sneak in so they can swipe something.

This guy? He knocked, which already made him a different breed from the lowlives I usually ran with.

Then there was the second thing. He called me Mr. Jae-hee Han.

Slapping a “Mr.” onto a thief’s name is weird enough. But hey, I guess there is that old story about a gentleman who robbed houses from the rafters or whatever. So I’ll let that slide.

The real problem was that he knew my real name. I’ve never once used my real name in this line of work, but this guy just casually dropped it.

And third, there was something weird about his voice.

It was a middle-aged man’s voice, for sure, but it felt like a young woman was trapped inside. It just felt… off.

Who the hell is this guy?

Anyway, a complete stranger shows up calling me by my real name. No way this was gonna be good news, right?

Feeling a sense of dread, I started to creep toward the window opposite the door to make my escape.

But just then, the man said, “I hear you’re quite skilled. How would you like to work with me?”

Ah~ so you’re here to offer me a partnership?

I get guys like this all the time. Since I’m something of a rising star in the petty theft world, there’s a whole damn swarm of nasty adults trying to use me for their own gain.

But I’ve spent eighteen years rolling around in this dog-eat-dog world, y’know? I’m not naive enough to fall for that.

I was about to blow him off and make a run for it, but then he said it.

“Join this operation, and you’ll live the rest of your life in comfort, never having to do this kind of dirty work again.”

“…”

“This one job, Mr. Jae-hee Han, and you can retire from thieving for good. I promise.”

Honorable Investigator, ma’am.

I swear, in my entire life, no one had ever approached me like that.

I’d heard it all—how much I’d make, that I could buy a house, a car, all that jazz. I was sick of hearing it. But this? Retire from being a thief after one job?

Those words were sweeter than anything I’d ever heard.

Yes, I wanted to leave this miserable life of thievery behind. I was sick and tired of stealing, being chased, always on the run.

You think I didn’t want to go to school? You think I didn’t want to eat meals cooked by my parents? It’s not like I enjoyed living this messy—

Ah, sorry. You hate the sob stories, right.

Don’t get mad. Okay, okay. The point, just the point. No more detours. Okay.

Anyway, I figured I’d at least hear him out, so I opened the door, and you won’t believe it!

Standing there was the weirdest guy I’d ever seen.

He was bald, with a perfectly smooth head… and there was a huge lightbulb sticking right out of the top of it!

He grinned at me, and the lightbulb on his head flashed. Ding!

What kinda lunatic is this?

While I was still trying to process it, the man offered me his hand. “A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Jae-hee Han!”

I shook his hand, dazed… and it finally clicked.

“Don’t tell me… you’re ‘Brain’? The famous crime consultant?”

“Haha. I’m flattered you recognize me. Indeed, I am Brain.”

This line of work is crawling with Awakened criminals—Villains, as they’re called.

But crime consultants… architects who plan major operations… there aren’t many of them. You gotta be smart, for one.

And Brain was a big name even among them.

I may be an insignificant petty thief, but I wasn’t blind enough to miss a giant like him.

I mean, you don’t see many people walking around with a lightbulb sticking out of their head.

“So, Mr. Jae-hee Han, I’ve heard you’re the fastest man around these parts.”

After we shook hands, Brain said with a gentle smile, “What do you say? Care to join an operation I planned myself?”

“…”

“If all goes well, you’ll be free from a life of petty theft forever.”

Was there any reason to hesitate?

My entire net worth consisted of one packet of ramen and one stick of instant coffee, both of which I’d just consumed.

I had nothing to lose. I grabbed Brain’s hand again and shouted, “Count me in, sir! I’ll give it my all!”

And then, Brain…

***

“Hey.”

The woman cut him off coldly.

“Yes ma’am?” Jae-hee, who had been rambling on excitedly, quickly shut his mouth and snapped to attention.

The woman tapped the table with the pen she’d been using for notes.

“I’m a busy person. I don’t want or need the whole story, from beginning to end.”

“Right, right. Cut the fluff. Executive summary. Just the highlights. You like the short version.”

“Spinning your sad tale here isn’t going to reduce your sentence. What you need to do is give me an accurate account of what happened at the scene of the crime.”

At her demand that he skip ahead, Jae-hee fidgeted and shot her a nervous glance.

“Ah, but, see… the part where the team assembles, and the power struggles, and getting our gear, and planning the operation… that’s where all the fun stuff is…”

“Tsk.”

“Sorry. I get it. The scene of the crime, right?”

Jae-hee grumbled about skipping the best part but obediently began to recount the events of the incident.

***

Brain had assembled a team of ten for this operation.

It was an all-star dream team composed entirely of Awakened… no, scratch that. It was composed entirely of Awakened criminals—Villains!

The ten of us were split into three teams: six for combat, two for entry and exit, and the last two for opening the vault and retrieving the contents.

That’s right, a vault.

The job was to hit a vault in a bank on the outskirts of Seoul.

The combat and transport teams were already set, but someone from the vault team had dropped out, and I was brought in as a last-minute replacement.

“You the new ‘Runner’?”

My partner on the vault team was an old man with sunglasses and a magnificent beard. His Villain name was ‘Key-maker.’ He was a legend in this business, someone who could pick any lock!

“The last guy took a bullet to the back of the head and died. I suggest you be careful.”

“Um, if you don’t mind me asking… why did he take a bullet to the back of the head and meet his fate…?”

“He tried to run after hearing the mission briefing.”

“Ooh…”

I was starting to get that “I’m so fucked” feeling, but what could I do? I’d come this far, might as well see it through.

“The others will handle the small stuff like breaching the bank, suppressing security, and securing the escape route. All we have to do is crack the vault and grab the goods.”

“Um, excuse me, but I’m just a petty thief with fast feet… I have no idea how to open a vault.”

“What have you been doing all your life without learning a single skill?”

If I’d had the chance to learn a skill, I would’ve learned something productive, not how to be a better thief!

…is what I almost said.

“Hmph. I’ll open the vault. You won’t have to lift a finger.”

“Then my role in this operation would be…?”

“You’ll find out when I open it.”

“Could you be a little more specific?”

“If I told you, you’d try to run, and then we’d have to clean up another body.”

Key-maker chuckled and slapped my back.

“You’re fast, right? Then just tense up your ass and get ready to run. Let’s get rich.”

Yes ma’am! Yeah, I know! Just the crime scene. But I really had to tell you this part. It’s all foreshadowing.

Anyway, the operation began. Hour was three thirty p.m., just before the bank closed.

Our team of ten went in!

BOOM! KABOOM!

A blistering explosion tore through the bank wall. The work of our demolitions expert on the entry team.

The combat team poured through the opening, and for a while, the air was filled with terrifying explosions and gunfire.

Of course, not being on the combat team, Key-maker and I just crouched outside, covering our ears and waiting patiently.

“Holy shit, this is terrifying…”

“We’ve gotta go in someplace worse, so don’t start pissing your pants already.”

Like a veteran who’d seen it all, Key-maker was humming along to some trot music on his earphones.

But I’m just a tender eighteen-year-old, you know? I couldn’t help but tremble.

Key-maker chided me. “You’re a young fella, no? Where are your guts? Tense up your ass cheeks and hold on.”

“Easy for you to say! This is my first time on a job this big… Were you always so gutsy?”

“My guts just swelled up from a lifetime of drinking… Hmm. Come to think of it, I guess I was a coward like you on my first job.”

Key-maker pulled one of his wired earbuds out and offered it to me. “Here. Listen to this. Nothing calms the nerves like trot music.”

So I took one side and listened along with him, but the cheesy beat just made me more anxious. It didn’t calm me down at all.

Should I make a run for it? Can we just call this whole thing off?

Just as those thoughts were bubbling up, the gunfire suddenly stopped.

“You two, inside.”

Brain appeared, covered in blood and soot.

By the way, Brain was on the combat team too. I heard his powers mainly involved mental interference.

He really lived up to his name.

We entered through the hole in the wall to find the bank’s interior neatly secured.

The security guards were all down, and the customers and staff were lying face down on the floor in neat rows, hands on their heads, trembling.

“More security will be here soon. You guys hold the line until we’re out with the goods.”

“Okay!”

The combat team replied enthusiastically, but they were too busy stuffing cash from the teller drawers into their pockets. I guess our kind has a thing for side hustles. When else are you going to grow your portfolio?

Anyway, me, Key-maker, Brain, and the bank manager he’d captured—the four of us headed to the basement.

“Do you have any idea what’s in here?!” the bank manager shrieked, standing before a thick steel door covered in all sorts of high-tech security devices. “You people are doing something you can’t handle! And you’ll never open this door—”

Just then, Brain reached out and placed his hand on the manager’s forehead.

At the same time: Ding! Ding! Ding!

The lightbulb on Brain’s head flashed red, and the same light began to blink in the manager’s eyes. Ding, ding, ding.

“Ugh, ughhh…”

“Open it.”

Brain’s mental interference had worked perfectly.

The manager began to disable the security devices with his own hands—retinal scan, fingerprint scan, voice recognition, all that stuff.

The steel door swung open, revealing a spacious basement with a massive vault waiting for us in the center.

“Woah.”

I may be young, but I’ve been in the game for a while, and I swear I’d never seen a vault that big in my life.

If the first door was locked with high-tech gadgets, this vault was the complete opposite—an analog masterpiece. It was a complex tangle of gears, wires, glass plates, and all sorts of cylinders.

Brain shoved the manager aside and asked, “Key-maker. How long?”

Key-maker shrugged off his leather jacket, adjusted his earphones, and slapped the play button on the cassette player at his hip.

“Three minutes,” he said.

Wow.

Honestly, it was cool as hell.

But the result sucked. Three minutes, my ass. Ten minutes went by, and he still couldn’t open it.

The clock was ticking, but the vault door wouldn’t budge, and the explosions from outside grew louder. Gunfire rained down like thunder, and we could hear the screams of our combat team from upstairs.

“Goddammit, Brain! It’s not just cops, there are Hunters out there!”

“Shit, it’s the Gate Defense Bureau’s special ops team!”

“We can’t hold them! We’re all gonna die!”

But Key-maker just kept humming along to his trot music, completely unfazed, as he worked on the vault.

Brain and I held our breath and watched. Brain seemed to trust him. And me? I was just scared shitless.

And then, at exactly the ten-minute mark…

“Bingo.”

As Key-maker made his final turn of the dial and stepped back with his arms spread wide, the vault door unlocked with a series of clicks and whirs.

Clank! Clank! Krrrr!

It opened with a geometric flourish.

And as the interior of the vault came into view… I finally understood.

I understood why I’d been called for this job. Why they called me the “Runner.” Why the last guy had tried to flee.

“No way…”

Inside the vault was an open Gate.

The source of all our damn problems, the portals to another world that spewed monsters into ours. The kind that opened up in the skies over Korea an average of three times a week.

So it was a double vault. A Gate inside a vault, with the important item hidden inside the Gate.

What the hell was so important that it required all this?

As I stood there, jaw agape, Brain placed a hand on my shoulder.

“Ready to seize your future, Mr. Jae-hee Han?”

“!”

“It’s simple. Go into that Gate, grab that glowing stone, and bring it back. That’s it.”

Beyond the Gate, a corridor stretched into the other world. The structure was simple.

The corridor, shimmering with a ghastly, blood-red light, was a straight line. At the very end, a glowing stone was embedded in the wall.

I estimated the distance to be about fifty meters. A hundred meters round trip.

“For you, it’ll be instantaneous. Am I wrong?”

Brain smiled at me, and my hesitation was brief.

The other side was terrifying, and so was the hell I’d fall into if I died.

But this shitty reality was far, far worse.

If I can escape this hellhole, a little job like this is nothing…!

Without a word, I crouched into a sprinter’s starting position. Brain and Key-maker stepped aside, clearing a path.

I took a deep breath.

“Going in.”

I kicked off the ground with all my might.

Fwoosh—!

The moment I launched forward, I felt a familiar wind stir inside me, and the world slowed down.

It’s what happens when I activate my ability. From my perspective, it’s not that I get faster; it’s that the rest of the world slows to a crawl.

I sprinted through a world in slow motion. I vaulted over the vault door, through the Gate, and into the other world.

And, shit.

It was a field of traps.

From every direction—left, right, up, down—crimson curses of magic rained down on me like blades. A normal person would have been sliced to ribbons in the blink of an eye.

But who am I?

Bullet-Time Jae-hee Han.

I dodged every last curse and spell by a paper-thin margin. I reached the end of the corridor in an instant, grabbed the glittering stone, and yanked it out. Then I spun around and sprinted back.

Rumble!

The moment I pulled the stone out, the whole dimension began to collapse.

The hell with it, fuck if I know!

I just ran. I pushed off the crumbling floor and flew back, exiting the vault just as it imploded.

BOOM!

The Gate behind me vanished.

“Haah, haah, haah!”

I collapsed onto the floor, gasping for breath. A cold sweat I hadn’t noticed before soaked my entire body.

Wow, holy shit!

I’d dodged bullets plenty of times, but I swear, the curses inside that vault were far more threatening. I felt like I’d just paid a visit to the underworld.

“Excellent.”

Brain snatched the unidentified stone from my hand and gazed at it with an ecstatic expression before carefully placing it in his coat.

Meanwhile, Key-maker offered me a hand and helped me up. “Can you stand?”

“I was too tense… and I pushed myself too hard… I’m exhausted…”

“You still have to get up. We need to get out of here, now.”

With the vault cleared, the three of us immediately headed back upstairs. But what we found… good god.

The combat team that had been holding the line had been completely wiped out.

Some were in pieces, others lay in pools of their own blood. The last one was slumped behind a pillar, coughing up blood.

“What took… so long, fuuuck…” he rasped.

The next moment, a bullet whistled through the air and blew his head apart.

At the same time, special forces operatives in black combat gear rushed in from all sides, pointing their guns at us and shouting.

“Hands up!”

“Don’t move!”

“Move and we’ll shoot!”

Color me unsurprised. I was fucked. My life was always going to end up like this.

I immediately threw my hands up and tried to figure a way out.

Should I play dumb? Pretend I was a hostage?

Just as I was thinking that, Key-maker started his own performance.

“Oh, my, officers! There must be some misunderstanding… I was just a customer here…”

The old veteran was fast as hell!

Key-maker trembled as he shuffled forward. One of the surprised operatives took a step toward him and shouted, “Sir, stay right where you—”

In that instant, Key-maker drew a pistol from his coat with lightning speed and fired without hesitation.

Thwip—!

Zzzt!

“Aaargh?!”

It was an electro-shock round.

A bullet designed to take down the Awakened. It had almost no lethal force, but one hit anywhere on the body would send a current through the target, paralyzing them for a short time. A very expensive piece of equipment.

After planting the round in the closest operative’s chest, Key-maker fluidly sprayed bullets in every direction.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Holy hell.

I had never in my life seen such a badass old man.

He held the pistol tight against his chest, pivoting on his central axis as he fired. 

Bang, bang, bang! The operatives who had closed in fell like autumn leaves.

“Hmph.”

Having suppressed the entire area in the blink of an eye, Key-maker coolly blew on the muzzle of his gun.

“These fellas will come to their senses soon. Let’s go before they do.”

We ran out through the hole in the wall and into the bank’s parking lot, where our getaway vehicle was waiting.

It was an armored SUV, already riddled with bullet holes. The two members of our transport team—the driver and his escort—were using the car as a barricade, firing their rifles in all directions.

“You’re here!”

“We’ve been waiting, Brain!”

As we approached, the driver quickly opened the SUV’s doors.

Brain glanced inside and asked, “Everything clear?”

“Yes, sir! We can leave right now!”

“Good. Well done.”

I couldn’t immediately process what happened next.

Brain pulled a vintage-style revolver from his coat and shot both members of the transport team squarely in the back of the head.

Bang! Bang!

Betrayed by their own ally, the two men died instantly, without a chance to react.

I stared blankly at their falling bodies.

“Huh?”

What just happened? Why did Brain shoot our own team?

“You son of a—”

Unlike me, the veteran Key-maker immediately raised his own pistol at Brain.

But he couldn’t fire.

Ding, ding, ding.

Brain’s hand had been on Key-maker’s shoulder the entire time, and the lightbulb on his head was glowing red.

“Ha,” Key-maker muttered, voice hollow. “This is why you don’t work with fucking villains.”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Brain mercilessly fired three rounds into Key-maker’s stomach.

As Key-maker collapsed, spitting blood, Brain aimed the last remaining bullet at me.

And just before he pulled the trigger, Key-maker cried out, his voice choked with blood.

“Kid…! Tense up your ass—!”

“…!”

I squeezed out the last of my strength and activated my ability.

Baaang—

In my slowed world, the revolver aimed at me spat fire and lead.

I was already exhausted and could barely move. But I desperately twisted my body, scraping the very bottom of my power to somehow dodge the bullet.

Slowly, but surely, the bullet closed in. It grazed my cheek, carving a shallow wound.

“Gah!”

As time returned to normal, I hit the ground, a spray of blood flying from my cheek.

Brain sounded faintly impressed. “Oh. Not bad, Mr. Jae-hee Han. I suppose beginner’s luck is real.”

“Haah, haah…!”

“Hmm, I’m out of bullets. I should have only used two on Key-maker.”

“Why, Brain?! We were on the same team! Why… why did you betray us…?!”

“Hmm? Why, you ask?”

Brain offered a placid smile. The same kind, friendly smile he’d had when we first met.

“Isn’t this just how it is in our line of work?”

He turned, got into the driver’s seat, and waved casually.

“Just as I promised, you can now retire from thieving.”

“…”

“Well then, see you around~”

And without a backward glance, he drove off.

The SUV disappeared into the distance, pursued by police cars. More police and operatives surrounded us, their guns trained on me.

I lay on the ground, staring blankly at the scene, when I heard a voice beside me.

“Shit…”

It was Key-maker.

He was lying on his back on the parking lot pavement, his magnificent leather jacket soaked in his own blood.

“Knew I’d end up like this one day, living without a shred of pride.”

I hesitated, but couldn’t stop myself.

“Well... three bullets in your gut and you’re still talking. That’s kinda badass.”

“You little shit. That’s what you say to a dying man?” Key-maker spat. Then he turned his head toward me. “Hey. Kid.”

He uttered his last words.

“Live a straight life. And always clench your goddamn ass cheeks.”

And then, thud.

His head lolled to the side, lifeless.

The police and operatives who now surrounded me yelled at me not to move, their guns pointed at my head. But I didn’t care.

I grabbed old Key-maker’s body and let out a despairing cry.

“Graaaamps—!”

***

“Seriously? You knew him for less than a day. Why’d you act like he was your actual grandfather?” the woman muttered, dumbfounded.

Jae-hee shot back, his voice rising with indignation. “But! Gramps Key-maker saved my life! And besides, he was cool!” He sobbed. “Gramps…!”

“Enough. What happened after that?”

“After that? Well…” Jae-hee rattled the handcuffs on his wrists. “They dragged me straight here.”

“I see.”

The woman, who had been recording and taking notes on Jae-hee’s statement, slapped the file shut.

“So you don’t know the whereabouts of the ‘Gate Core’ you stole.”

“Huh? Core?”

“The stone. That’s what it’s called.”

The woman pressed the end of her pen against her temple.

“It’s a top-level hazardous object related to national security. It was in the process of being transferred from a private Hunter Guild to the state when security was lax… and this incident occurred.”

“I-I see…” Jae-hee watched her nervously before asking, “So… is my crime… a pretty big deal?”

“Big? It’s huge.”

“Oh, hell. So how long will I have to be in prison?”

“According to the relevant laws… let’s see. About 300 years? That should be enough.”

“Ah. I see. 300 years… What?! 300 years?!”

Horrified, Jae-hee shot up from his seat.

“I’ll die of old age before I get out! What the hell is that! Are you just screwing with me because I don’t know the law?! Don’t bullshit me! Get me a public defender, now!”

“Public defender? Please. Kid, there are no judges, prosecutors, or lawyers in this day and age.”

The woman jerked a thumb at herself.

“All you need is the approval of an authorized law enforcement official, and we can hand down a summary sentence based on the formula. And I’m that official.”

After the Gates opened and the world half-ended, the judicial system collapsed. With crime rates exploding, it was a drastic measure that had been introduced.

To maintain order, Korea had adopted a system of punitive sentencing, and for extremely dangerous Awakened criminals, sentences of hundreds or even thousands of years were not uncommon.

“You threatened national security, so the death penalty is a very real possibility. I was being generous with 300 years, considering you were just the muscle.”

“No way…” Jae-hee sank back into his chair and buried his head in his hands, utterly defeated. “I just turned eighteen… and I have to spend the rest of my life in prison…”

“Shouldn’t have committed the crime, then. You knew it was dangerous.”

The woman’s tone softened slightly as she chided him.

“You should be grateful you’re not dead. Brain planned to eliminate the entire team from the start. You just got lucky.”

“But, still! Please… isn’t there anything you can do?”

Jae-hee put on his most pathetic face, his eyes welling with tears.

“Isn’t there some other way? I don’t want to rot in prison for the rest of my life, please…? I gave you a really good statement! Diligently! Conscientiously! Nothing but the truth!”

“Hmm.”

The woman considered this for a moment, then reached under the desk and picked up her bag. She rummaged through a stack of papers.

“You committed a serious crime. There’s no getting out of prison.”

“No…”

“But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a way to get out early.”

“What?”

“The talent you showed today… I think you could be useful. Especially how you moved so fast inside that Gate. That’s almost unprecedented.”

“…”

“It was impressive, boy.”

As Jae-hee processed the unexpected compliment, the woman slid a document across the table to him.

“Read it.”

Jae-hee picked it up and hesitantly read the title.

“What’s this? ‘1004th Probationary Unit’?”

“That’s the official name, but no one calls it that. The higher-ups gave it the cute nickname ‘Angel Unit,’ but no one calls it that, either.”

She let out a short, sharp laugh.

“The people in this business call it the ‘Convict Unit,’ or… the ‘Black Parade.’”

“Black Parade…?” Muttering the strange name, Jae-hee read on.

The woman continued to explain.

“It’s been thirty years since the world went to hell. Do you have any idea how many Awakened criminals there are? And with sentences of hundreds or thousands of years, the prisons are bursting at the seams. The criminals have no hope of getting out, so they have no intention of being rehabilitated. We couldn’t handle it, so the number of unofficial executions just kept rising.”

“…”

“So, I came up with an idea.” The woman’s voice became theatrically grand. “Let’s give these Awakened convicts a chance to earn their freedom!”

The document was long, but the gist was simple.

Incarcerated Awakened criminals would be conscripted as soldiers. They would participate in operations and missions, and if successful, they would be rewarded. 

Ultimately, they would be given the chance to reduce their sentences and get out early.

“The convicts get to atone for their crimes by working for the world and regain their freedom. And the state gets powerful soldiers to fight for the country in the face of an unprecedented disaster like the Gates and monsters. It’s a win-win, isn’t it?”

It was then that Jae-hee realized something was off. He asked hesitantly, “Excuse me.”

“Hmm?”

“Are you… not an investigator?”

“Did I ever say I was?”

The woman’s hands clasped on the table, and her face slowly rose into the light.

For the first time, her face, which had been hidden in the shadows, was illuminated by the table lamp. Jae-hee flinched.

Her face was a ruin of jagged scars.

“I am Hae-eun Seo. Warden of Paradise Lost, the prison for Awakened criminals, and Commander of the Convict Unit, the Black Parade.”

Hae-eun smiled sweetly.

It was a smile that would have been charming on another face, but on hers, contorted by countless scars, it was terrifying.

“What do you say, boy? Care to work for me to win back your freedom?”

“…”

“You don’t have to answer right away. I’ll give you an hour to think about it.”

Jae-hee fell silent, his eyes darting between Hae-eun and the document.

He swallowed hard. “Um, can I ask just one more thing…?”

“By all means.” Hae-eun gestured magnanimously with her chin.

Jae-hee asked cautiously, “So, uh… just wondering… if I agree right now, are there any, you know… perks? A signing bonus, maybe?”