Surviving a Shounen Manga

The Bank Job (2)

"Oof…"

The bank was not only noisy and crowded inside, but also quite chaotic.

There were so many people wandering around, it was a chore and a half just avoiding them all. It was to the point that I ended up thinking I would rather release the invisibility.

Fortunately, a while after passing through the entrance, I barely had enough leisure to look around.

People hurriedly rummaging through their bags and checking to see if they still had their money, people looking around to find out what was going on, people gathered in small groups to gossip, and the staff shouting out loud trying to calm them all down…

In a word, it was all a mess.

‘What the hell did the kid do?'

Even though I knew I had to rush to the target immediately, it was difficult to suppress my curiosity.

I eventually moved to the place where it was the most crowded.

And then,

‘Wow…'

I could barely understand the situation.

To my surprise, the spare vault in the back room behind the staff's workspace had been blown up.

It didn't look like there were any casualties, but nonetheless, it was one shocking scene.

Around a hole so large that one could climb through it, dust and stone debris were scattered in all directions, and even bills burned to ash from the fire fluttered around…

I didn't know exactly how she'd done it, but what the little kid did wasn't just getting some attention.

It was literally terrorism.

‘She really went big on this.'

Anyway, that little act of seeking attention seemed to have made things easier for me.

I moved quickly.

The target was the secret vault in the basement.

The first obstacle would be the guards at the stairs leading to the basement.

As I had confirmed the other day, they were quite huge. My strength was ‘a bit strong', but I won't be able to subdue them all at once. It seemed like I had to figure out a way to sneak past them by taking advantage of the distraction.

But once I arrived in front of the stairs, I was a little perplexed.

‘… Nobody?'

No one was there.

I looked down the stairs, and I couldn't see anyone. As if everyone had vacated their positions, there was only a barricade in front of the stairs that read ‘Staff Only'.

Did everyone really go after the little kid?

It was an absurd situation, but from my point of view, it couldn't have been better.

‘Sweet.'

I jumped right over the barricade and went down the stairs.

As soon as I arrived in the basement, a sturdy-looking metal gate caught my eye.

I didn't know how the security would be in a real-world bank, but there was nothing else here.

Only the metal gate was in my way. Once you pass that, the money is as good as yours.

I walked in front of it.

To the right was a device for entering the password.

It was far from some high-tech biometric device that would recognize fingerprints or an iris scan. It was just a normal lock you would find in some normal real-world apartment.

‘Set up?'

Before entering the password, I thought for a moment.

What if the kid had lied? The situation would become quite difficult.

Hmmm.

But soon I shook my head.

There was no motive. There was no personal resentment between us, and she had no reason to want to put me into a corner. Besides, this was too late for that since she'd already taken her share of the risk by catching the guards' attention.

‘Okay, let's go.'

I immediately entered the password.

– 1234.

And then,

Beep.

Clang –

The gate opened.

‘Wow.'

The whole process was far too simple compared to what I'd imagined.

Of course, I would not suddenly become optimistic just because of that. Because things might be a little more difficult from now on.

Behind the gate, there were two bankers looking at me, or more precisely, the gate that had opened by itself.

"What, what?"

"Did the door just open by itself?"

I quickly closed the door and whispered softly.

"I am an intruder who sneaked in here. If you don't want to die, don't open your mouth and just nod your head. Do you understand?"

"Hah, hey, what…"

"Uh-huh, you wanna die?"

Quickly, the two understood the situation and nodded in terror.

I threw the sacks I had brought at them.

"Hey!"

"Ugh!"

Suddenly, something flew at them out of thin air, so they seemed surprised.

"If you make a fuss, I will kill you right away. You don't stand a chance. So don't talk and put everything here in a sack. Start from the expensive stuff. I'm watching."

The two looked at each other for a moment, then quickly nodded and began their work.

It was so quick as if they had been waiting for this day.

"Hmm…"

Then, seeing the sacks being filled one by one, I felt a sense of relief.

To be honest, I was a little baffled. No matter what, this is far too lax.

Of course, this must be due to the settings of the author.

In fact, banks in this world do not exist for money to be saved. Rather, it is the opposite. They exist so money can be taken out.

If you think about it, it's simple. In this manga, there is no mention of how much profit the bank has made or how much money it keeps. It just comes down to how much money was robbed by a certain villain, or how much was offered as a bounty.

In other words, the money provides an excuse for the villain or adventurer to cause an incident, and by setting a bounty on them, their strength can be easily quantified to the readers by a number. That is the reason behind the existence of this bank.

So, I figured it would be a little easier.

Because I had never seen a scene where thieves were arrested in a bank in any chapter or episode. Usually, there are scenes where the thieves have fun with the money, or scenes where the angry bank executives apply for a bounty adjustment to the Adventurers' Association and the International Council.

But honestly, I didn't expect it to be this easy. Even though they weren't getting a cut, the bank clerks were eagerly shovelling all the money in.

I turned my attention to the two who were cooperating with me as if they were my accomplices.

Now, they were debating which jewels were more valuable than the precious metals.

"Just stop with the precious metals, and start with gold. They're hard to handle."

Then they cast at me a questioning glance.

"Don’t worry, carrying it won't be a problem."

Then they nodded their heads as if relieved, and started to concentrate on their work again.

Of course, it wasn't quite the time to relax yet.

In fact, because I had to cooperate with that little kid, it was a bit problematic to use the last resort, the ‘chapter movement ticket'.

I'd made a promise to meet at a tavern called ‘Dumb Idiots' by midnight after the operation.

If I used the ticket and moved to the next chapter location, it would become difficult to achieve.

The area I was originally thinking of moving was to a place called ‘Goldam City', where Chapter 6 was going to take place. I don't know exactly how far from here it was, but one day probably wasn't enough to get back. In fact, the main character's party had to cross more than five distractions before they could reach it.

Fortunately, the area where Chapter 4 would take place was close enough to return by midnight even if I used the ticket, but going there was more dangerous.

Chapters 4 and 5 are very small in volume and focus on Leo and Kiriko fighting beside each other and recognizing each other as colleagues. Even if I got included in the chapter cast, there was a high possibility that I would be deleted without being able to do anything.

So, using the ticket was forbidden.

"…"

I just decided to take it easy.

Well, there was nothing to write home about.

Yet,

Tick-tock.

The two pounded on the ground to signal me.

Seemingly to indicate that it was all in there.

When I turned around, I saw five sacks full of bundles of money, jewels and gold, dazzlingly shining.

"Great job."

After enjoying their proud reaction for a while, I pulled out another vial from my sleeves.

Weight loss potion.

Now was the last moment that made me nervous.

I checked the sentence at the bottom of the manual again.

※ If taken together with other special potions, the ability may not take effect.

Special abilities have many similarities to unique abilities in many ways, but it is difficult to compare them side by side. Basically, there is a huge gap between these two abilities that cannot be filled.

Type, variety, scalability, power, evolution, etc.

Just as a crow-tit can't keep up with a stork no matter how hard it tries[1], it's widely believed in the fan community that even the most well-received special ability is not as good as the most garbage unique ability.

However, there is only one aspect where special abilities are better than unique abilities, and that is the fact that cross-acquisition is possible between compatible abilities.

A very small number of special abilities are even compatible with unique abilities, which later became the background for the appearance of ‘Great Monster Kiriko'.

Anyway, this ‘compatible special ability combination' was a hidden setting that had never even been commented on by the author, so I also knew very little about it. By the way, didn't I remember reading somewhere that for up to two, rejection doesn't happen at all, and that from three onwards, you get a little bit of a combination?

So,

‘Will this be okay?'

It was bound to be a bit tense.

Anyway, what if the invisibility potion and the weight loss potion were incompatible? Two sacks full of gold would have to be abandoned.

‘Please!'

I drank the weight loss potion with a silent prayer.

A familiar tart taste spread all over my tongue.

"Kgh…"

Immediately, apart from the invisibility, another, foreign power filled my whole body.

"Is this…?"

Considering that the invisibility had not ended yet, seemed that there was no problem.

I didn't want to wait around for a negative reaction and miss my chance, so I quickly put a ‘weight reduction' on the three heavy sacks.

This method was also simple. Just hold the sack and say, ‘Be light!' As I thought about it and gave it strength, the weight suddenly decreased.

"This is great."

One didn't lose much weight, but the other two became quite a bit lighter. To about a third of the original weight, maybe?

It was amazing. All that dazzling gold, weighing like some pieces of wood.

‘Wait, the material hasn't changed, right?'

I was alarmed at the possibility of a sudden side effect, but I quickly calmed down. If it did, the colour would probably change too.

Anyway, it was something to go back and observe later.

I carried the five sacks one by one and pulled them up as far as I could. Due to their bulk, seemed I'd have to be careful during the exit.

Then,

"Hey… well."

I could see the two people in front of me raising their eyebrows. They seemed surprised at the sight of the sacks of money and gold becoming transparent in an instant.

Shouldn't you have gotten used to this by now?

Anyway, it was time to leave.

I kindly informed my helpers that their work was finished.

"You both did a good job. Here."

Then I threw a couple of gold nuggets.

"Your reward. Say I stole them."

They were hesitant at first, so I even told them not to worry because they wouldn't appear on the CCTV.

Then, the two of them took a peek at each other's eyes, and put the gold nuggets into their sleeves.

Taking all the loot with me –

I opened the metal gates and walked out, calling back to them as I left.

"Oh, and you can start screaming now."

Then, with the shouts coming from behind, I ran like the wind.

"Thief! Thief!!!"

Midnight, that night.

In the distance, under the signboard labelled ‘Dumb Idiots', I could see the dark silhouette of a kid.

"Welcome."

It was a strange greeting.

She as if meant she knew I was coming, and even welcomed me. That calm tone for some reason gave an impression of indifference.

An unexpected reaction.

To be honest, I thought the little Pierrot mask would at least be a little anxious if I went like this.

The reason was simple. Because I had nothing in my hands.

"Not going to ask why I’m empty-handed?"

"Not really. You couldn't have brought all that heavy stuff all the way here."

Of course, that's normal. But, is it natural for this little kid to react so calmly?

"Take the lead."

The kid walked out first, saying that.

Looking at the kid, I thought.

No. This little kid is weird.

I led the kid to the place where the money sacks were hidden.

Even though we had to go quite deep into the forest, the kid didn't say anything. There was no sign of distress, nor any particular fear or wariness.

After a while,

"Here."

We arrived at the place where the sacks were hidden.

I took out the loot I had buried in the ground and showed it to her.

I thought she'd exclaim in amazement or something, but –

"Is this all? Six sacks?"

The reaction was staggering.

"What, are you saying it’s not enough?"

In fact, originally there were just five. I added one more to distribute the contents evenly.

The little kid started examining the contents without saying another word.

It all looked very serious, and somehow, I felt like I was seeing a professional forensics agent.

"Three sacks is my half?"

"Yeah, take your pick."

It was a bit of a pity, but I had to admit that this little kid did her part. Strictly speaking, I think it was easier for me than her.

"Then I'll have three of these."

"Don’t be an idiot, take a sack of gold and precious metals and two sacks of paper notes."

I wasn't surprised that she's try and take both gold sacks for herself.

"Cheapskate."

The little kid muttered some brazen words, and then nodded her head as if she was a doing me a favour.

What the.

Then I asked what I had been curious about.

"But can you carry it all?"

"Yeah."

The little kid then took out a small leather pouch.

"What is that?"

"Watch."

Then an amazing scene unfolded.

The little kid picked up a sack of money and began to stuff it into the pouch.

"Wow, is that a special ability?"

"You don't need to know."

It was hard to tell whether it was more surprising that she lifted the sack easily, or that the sack of money slipped into that tiny leather pouch.

Then after the little kid put all three sacks into the pouch –

"No. I'll take the other three."

Said in a muffled voice.

Then all the sacks that had been stuffed in were taken out again.

"What, why?"

"Because. They look bigger."

"Huh… I split them equally."

"Just how I feel."

Then she started stuffing in the other sacks into the pocket.

I took a peek to see if she was doing anything, but there was nothing particularly strange.

"…"

She probably couldn't do anything stupid because of the curse contract anyway.

It just seemed to be the whim of an annoying little kid.

Yet,

"I'm done."

She put the leather pouch that had swallowed those three man-sized sacks back into her bosom.

It was an extraordinary sight that my brain, accustomed to ordinary physical phenomena, could not accept.

"Yeah, well… it was a good collaboration, kid."

"Goodbye, Mr. Squatjaw."

I looked at the back of the little kid who left without any regrets.

What a strange little kid.

In terms of actions and special abilities, she seemed to be a noteworthy character, but it was strange that there was no matching character in my memory.

Hmmm.

Well, anyway, it was time to leave.

"Should I move soon?"

Then, I grabbed the three remaining sacks and rushed out of the woods.

How long did I walk like that?

A strange… a very strange sense of incongruity came up from my fingertips.

It was an intuition that came to mind for a moment, but it quickly spread into a shock impacting my whole brain.

I hurriedly opened one of the sacks I'd been carrying, and found there, instead of gold and precious stones, stones of similar weight.

The same went for the sacks with bundles of banknotes. What was there was not the common currency of the continent with the markings of the Adventurers' Association, but newspaper scraps worth nothing more than garbage.

"What is this?"

At this point, I instinctively noticed. This was not something like a material transformation side effect of some special ability. It was something completely different.

‘But there was definitely a curse…'

I immediately shook my head. This was not the time to be confused.

I didn't know how. But what was clear –

The kid was the culprit.

That kid stole what was mine.

As soon as I understood that, I turned around and ran back at full speed.

But,

"Haaah…"

The kid had already disappeared.

Somehow, she did something strange.

Judging from the fact that she did not seem clumsy or awkward in her actions, this probably wasn't her first or second time doing this. Maybe her purpose had been me from the beginning.

Soon after, the anger that had been pushed back by the sense of absurdity began to rise up again.

By now, you must be counting ‘my money' happily. You completely deceived me and ran away, confident that you will never be caught.

"Run away, sure. How far can you go?"

But I'm different from the others you've worked with so far. Out of all the characters in this world, no one is as good at ‘how to find hidden things' as I am. Even if you somehow get out of this Westland, you can't avoid my eyes.

I murmured, brooding in my burning anger.

You messed with the wrong guy.

Editor's Notes:

[1] Korean proverb, see this article on the Korean Crow Tit.