Convict Unit: Black Parade

Thump. Hae-eun planted her cane on the photo of Brain and continued the briefing.

“He was already a high-priority Villain giving the cops a massive headache, but what he did this time crossed a line. He stole a Gate Core.”

The bank heist on the outskirts of Seoul.

The very same incident Jae-hee had been involved in.

Key-maker and Jae-hee had stolen the Gate Core from the heavily guarded underground vault; Brain had been the one to make off with it.

After eliminating all his accomplices, he alone had escaped.

“And it wasn’t just any Gate Core he stole. It was a Lord Core. The kind of priceless artifact you can only obtain by taking down a Lord-class monster.”

Jae-hee’s face went pale at the memory. He clamped his mouth shut.

“The higher-ups were in an uproar,” Hae-eun continued, “but I hear things have calmed down a bit now that we’ve taken down the Foghowler and replenished our stock of Lord Cores. Good job, Boy.”

“Oh!” Jae-hee’s face brightened at the praise. “Does that mean I’ll be released…?”

“Of course not. That doesn’t mean your crimes are forgiven.”

Jae-hee’s face fell instantly.

Hae-eun chuckled. “But you never know. What if you manage to capture Brain and recover the Lord Core he stole?”

“Huh?”

“Who knows? You might get a massive sentence reduction.”

“Whoa…!” Jae-hee’s face lit up again.

The other prisoners watched the boy with pitying eyes.

As if that would ever happen.

“Anyway, we’ve been tracking him ever since the incident, and we’ve finally pinpointed his location.”

Hae-eun displayed a map on the screen and pointed to a city bordering Gyeonggi Province, situated on the western edge of Gangwon.

“Here.”

Recognizing the city, Ghost narrowed her eyes. “Chuncheon?”

“Correct. It looks like he’s hiding somewhere underground in the Chuncheon area.”

Jae-hee leaned toward Ghost and whispered urgently, “Master!”

“What?”

“What’s Chuncheon famous for? What’s good to eat there?”

Ghost shot him an icy look. Jae-hee flinched, quickly turning his head away and feigning indifference.

Meanwhile, Hae-eun had moved on to the next slide.

“A new organization has recently seized control of Chuncheon’s underworld.”

A barrage of photos filled the screen, showing menacing brutes covered in tattoos and scars.

Hae-eun announced the organization’s name. “They call themselves Chuncheon Prime Poultry Co.”

Jae-hee leaned in to whisper to Ghost again. “What kinda group is that supposed to be?”

“Use your imagination.”

“Uh… so it’s a chicken cover… I guess?”

“Very good,” Hae-eun said, a faint smile playing on her lips. She had heard their entire exchange.

“That’s right. A criminal organization disguised as a poultry distributor.”

A poultry distributor. The name was so ridiculous that Jae-hee could only stare, mouth agape.

“I’m sure they have some other fancy name for themselves. This is just the official one they use as a smokescreen.”

“Aha…”

“The police who were tailing them tried to make a move, but these crooks are no ordinary syndicate. They’re crawling with the Awakened.”

CCTV footage flickered across the screen, showing gang members manifesting their abilities.

“They used that Awakened muscle to crush all the other gangs, and now they’re the sole power effectively ruling Chuncheon.”

Next came a series of photos showing evidence of the organization’s crimes.

“Drug trafficking, human trafficking, kidnapping, contract killing… if it’s nasty business, they’re into it. There are even whispers of illegal firearms smuggling. Looks like they’re having a grand old time playing gangster. Real budding crime lords.”

“…”

“We don’t particularly care how flashy their little games get. What matters is that their power exploded the moment Brain joined them.”

The next photo showed the man with the lightbulb head being escorted by the burly thugs.

“We don’t know the exact nature of the connection—whether he’s their leader or just an advisor—but it’s certain that Brain is involved with this group. There’s a very high probability that he is currently in Chuncheon.”

Hae-eun picked up the coffee cup from her desk.

“Still… At the end of the day, they’re just a criminal organization, not monsters or a rebel army. We can’t deploy the military, and we can’t ask those prim-and-proper Hunters to dirty their hands slicing up a few crooks. Sending in regular police, on the other hand, would result in far too many casualties.”

“…”

“So, the job fell to us.” Hae-eun’s gaze swept over the prisoners as she smiled. “Takes a Villain to catch a Villain.”

Ghost muttered slowly under her breath, “So this is why you gathered a bunch of anti-personnel specialists.”

“Exactly. See? I knew you’d appreciate my efforts eventually. You have no idea what a headache it is for your commander to select the optimal personnel for every mission.”

Taking a sip of coffee, Hae-eun met the eyes of each prisoner.

“Punch Queen is good at beating people to a pulp, Cowboy is good at shooting them down, and Robbin’ Hood is good at… dicing them up.”

She grinned at Ghost. “And you… Well, you need no introduction.”

“…”

“And as for you, Boy, we need to test you in a few different situations to see where your aptitude lies.”

Jae-hee’s eyes widened. “My aptitude?”

“Killing monsters and killing people. Those are two very different things.”

One is a beast, a giant predator. The other is a human being, riddled with weaknesses yet possessing intelligence and emotion.

The methods for hunting each were, both technically and psychologically, distinct.

“Who knows? You might have a tremendous talent for it. It’s a commander’s duty to help her subordinates find their true calling,” Hae-eun chirped, her tone as gentle as a teacher advising a student on their future career.

She clapped her hands before a speechless Jae-hee then continued speaking.

“All right, this mission. The plan is simple.”

She tapped a photo of a dilapidated building on the screen.

“This is the headquarters of Chuncheon Prime Poultry Co., located on the outskirts of the city. Three floors above ground, two below. Offices on top, warehouses underneath. A predictable layout, isn’t it?”

Pointing to the building’s blueprints one by one, Hae-eun smiled sweetly. “Infiltrate the building, wipe them all out, and bring me Brain alive.”

Cowboy broke his silence, raising a hand. “So we can’t kill Brain, I take it?”

“We need to recover the Lord Core. Killing him before we get that information would be a problem. Bring him back alive.”

Then Punch Queen raised her hand, her voice a chatty lilt. “Commander, does that mean we can kill everyone else~?”

“Oh, Aunt Punch! I’ve told you not to ask questions like that. You make it so hard for me to answer.”

Punch Queen adjusted her hiking hat, letting out a cascade of giggles at Hae-eun’s playful reply.

“In that case, Commander, will we be granted immunity for any… ‘incidental losses’ that might occur?”

Only then did Hae-eun’s smile widen. “That, I can guarantee.”

“Ohoho! Our commander is such a tease~”

After a round of disturbingly friendly laughter, Hae-eun set down her coffee cup. 

“The name for this operation will be… yes.” She glanced at the syndicate’s name on the screen. “Since we’re going after such a delicious objective, let’s call it ‘Mission: Chuncheon’s Finest Chicken.’”

It finally clicked for Jae-hee. He knew what Chuncheon was famous for.

Chicken.

And so, the five members for Mission: Chuncheon’s Finest Chicken were confirmed.

[B-Rank] Punch Queen
[B-Rank] Cowboy
[A-Rank] Robbin’ Hood
[AA-Rank] Boy
[■■■■] Ghost

“Aunt Punch. You’ll be the team leader for this one.”

Punch Queen looked around and giggled.

“Well now~ this auntie here never gets sent on Gate missions, you see. I only eeeever get assigned these little hunting trips, so I haven’t had a chance to rank up. That’s why I’m still just a B-Rank.”

She gave Jae-hee a wink. “But I’ve done so many of these hunts I’m sick of them. Cowboy and I are practically a matched set. So don’t you worry your pretty little head about the leadership, you hear?”

They were professional killers, deployed not on Gate missions against monsters but on extermination missions targeting humans.

“Ah, but of course,” Punch Queen added, bowing obsequiously to Ghost, “no matter how good I am, I could never compare to our esteemed elder here, now could I? Ohohoho!”

Ghost wordlessly turned her head and closed her eyes.

Meanwhile, Hae-eun switched on her tablet and, at last, mentioned the rewards.

“The base reward is two hundred thousand Paradise Credits per person. Additionally, there will be bonuses for completing the secondary objectives: capturing Brain and recovering the Lord Core.”

“How much, exactly?”

“An extra three hundred thousand for capturing Brain alive. One million for recovering the core.”

“Well now~!”

Punch Queen and Cowboy’s eyes met, and they high-fived. Smack!

Jae-hee held out a hand to Ghost, but she coolly ignored him.

Feeling awkward, he offered it to Robbin’ Hood on his other side.

After a beat, the masked man grunted, “Hm?” Then, realizing it was a handshake, he grabbed Jae-hee’s hand and pumped it vigorously.

“Let’s go get ‘em, Boy! We’ll fleece this world together!” Robbin’ Hood’s voice was a low growl.

“…Ah, yes, sir.”

Jae-hee felt an urgent need to wash his hands. The world just kept dragging him deeper into the mire.

He managed a weak laugh.

“Good. I believe that covers everything. No reason to delay, is there?”

Hae-eun pointed outside and shouted, “All right, Black Parade, deploy!”

Outside, a transport plane was waiting to take the prisoners.

***

Thwump-thwump-thwump-thwump—

The transport plane lifted off from the cruise ship’s rooftop deck. The prisoners sat in the cargo hold, a converted passenger bay, their bodies rattling with the fuselage.

Soon, the flight stabilized. Agents in black suits appeared, setting down equipment containers.

“Everyone, get your gear. You too, Boy.”

“Yes, sir!”

“A delivery from Grease Gal. New equipment.”

“Aw yeah!”

Jae-hee scrambled over and excitedly picked up the packages. One was a plastic-wrapped bundle of clothing; the other, a long wooden box.

Jae-hee tore open the plastic first, revealing a sleek, gray leather windbreaker with the faint pattern of tiger stripes on its surface.

Ghost watched him, muttering, “Foghowler leather. Should be bulletproof.”

Foghowler leather would also grant him some camouflage in the fog, allowing him to blend into his surroundings.

“This is… the first time in my life I’ve ever worn new clothes! Let alone clothes custom-fit just for me!”

His face alight with emotion, Jae-hee threw the windbreaker over his shoulders. He spun around, then strutted back and forth across the cargo hold in a clumsy imitation of a runway model.

Ghost snorted, watching her disciple’s pathetic little fashion show. “You’re really that happy?”

“Of course I am! It’s just like the saying—fine clothes, fine food! Prison rocks!”

Jae-hee grinned sheepishly after spouting that nonsense, took off the windbreaker, and offered it to Ghost.

“Oh, right, they say you should offer food and clothing to your master first…”

“What is this, the age of Confucius?”

“Hehe, would you like to try it on, Master?”

“I’m good.”

While Ghost was tall and lanky, and Jae-hee was fairly thin, there was still a noticeable difference in their builds. A jacket tailored for him would hang loosely off her frame.

Ghost jutted her chin toward the wooden box. “Just check your weapon already.”

“Yessir.”

Jae-hee put the windbreaker back on. He carefully placed the box on his lap and opened the lid.

Inside, a single, pure-white longsword awaited him.