The five-person outlaw group, Team Shakespeare.

Ghost studied their faces and introduced them one by one.

“Team leader, ‘Shylock.’”

He was a short, stout old man in a high-end suit and a fedora, with a greedy look on his face.

“A very famous crime consultant.”

“Oh, like Brain?”

“Yeah. He was far more famous than Brain in the underworld. A whole generation ahead of him, too.”

As a first-generation Villain, he was renowned for pioneering the role of the “architect” for a criminal team. There was a time, Ghost explained, when the name Shylock was synonymous with “crime consultant.”

“But he always operated in the shadows, and since he was locked up here about ten years ago, he’s had no contact with the outside. It’s no surprise you’ve never heard of him.”

“Yeah, this is the first I’m hearing of him.”

And the personal guard Shylock had handpicked from the criminal underworld to act as his hands and feet—they were the other four members of Team Shakespeare.

“The muscle, ‘Romeo’ and ‘Juliet.’”

A tall man and woman in their thirties, both in leather coats and sunglasses, stood at the head of the team, scanning their surroundings. They didn’t let their guard down, even on the relatively safe prison cruise.

“They’re human weapons, masters of guns, blades, and hand-to-hand combat—you name it. They say the two of them alone have dismantled a double-digit number of rival organizations.”

“Whoa.”

“Their Awakened abilities are specialized for anti-personnel combat, too. In every way, they’re killing machines honed to destroy people, not monsters.”

Ghost finished by introducing the two bringing up the rear.

“‘Oberon’ and ‘Titania.’ They handle movement, disruption, theft—all the miscellaneous tasks.”

In contrast to Romeo and Juliet, they were a petite, small-framed elderly couple. They looked even older than Shylock; both Oberon and Titania had stooped backs and snow-white hair.

They looked nothing like criminals, strolling along with gentle smiles as if they were out for a neighborhood walk.

“They’re a husband-and-wife thief duo who handle all the team’s dirty work. Their hands are impossibly fast, and they move as one.”

Ghost clicked her tongue.

“If most of the inmates here are just street thugs who got lucky with some Awakened ability and decided to run wild…”

Thud.

Team Shakespeare came to a halt before the commander’s office door.

Ghost finished her thought.

“These bastards are different. Think of them as underworld professionals who just happened to add Awakened powers to their arsenal.”

Hands clasped behind his back, the greedy-looking old man—Shylock—walked into the commander’s office ahead of his subordinates and stared up at Ghost.

“Ghost.” He gave a nod.

Ghost nodded back. “Shylock.”

“Good afternoon. Been well?”

“Well enough. You?”

“Heh heh heh…” Removing his fedora, Shylock gave a meaningful smile.

“Not for a single moment since the day you bitch beat the hell out of me and dragged me to this prison ten years ago.”

A long knife scar ran across the old man’s forehead.

His vicious eyes flashed as he spat out the words. “Keep your neck clean and wait. I’ll be taking that life of yours one of these days.”

“You’ve been saying that for ten years, Shylock,” Ghost replied, perfectly at ease. “If you’re going to take it, then hurry up and do it.”

“Hah!”

Shylock scoffed, put his fedora back on, and walked to one side of the office. The four Villains following him all shot Ghost venomous glares.

Once the chilling standoff ended, Jae-hee whispered, “Master, you’re the one who arrested them?”

“I am,” Ghost admitted freely. “Just before Shylock could devour the entire South Korean underworld and hold his coronation, the Black Parade raided his operation, smashed it to pieces, and dragged him here.”

“Whoaaa…”

“So yeah, he really hates my guts.”

Just as the last of the inmates for the mission had gathered, filling the commander’s office with a low buzz, Hae-eun appeared from the inner office.

“All right, is everyone here?”

She seemed to have just been on a call; Hae-eun tapped her smartphone screen to end it and clapped her hands together.

“We don’t have much time, so let’s get straight to the briefing. This is urgent!”

She pressed a button on the remote, turning on the beam projector.

On the screen appeared a monster—its size rivaling skyscrapers—motionless amid a ruined city engulfed in flames.

Jae-hee couldn’t help but stifle a gasp. “That’s… not from a movie, is it? This is real?”

“It’s real. This picture was taken just a few minutes ago,” Hae-eun said, launching into the briefing. “The operation area is Daegu. It’s become the central hub of the southeastern peninsula since Busan flew up into the sky.”

After Busan rose into a tidal storm, becoming a floating island designated as one of the Three Hellholes and rendered completely inaccessible, Daegu had naturally become the largest city in the southeast.

This was thanks to its original size and the fact that it had suffered relatively little Gate damage compared to other cities.

“One hour ago, this monster appeared on the outskirts of Daegu.”

Hae-eun tapped the photo of the monster on the wall with the tip of her cane. 

“The monster’s temporary designation is ‘Crying-X.’”

The creature generally resembled a lion, but strangely, it had no sharp angles. Its whole body was round and plump, giving it the feel of a giant mascot costume or a balloon.

Below its round eyes were white dots, making it look as if it were crying.

“They call it Crying-X, as in ‘crying something,’ because it looks like it’s weeping,” Hae-eun said with a smirk. “Cute, isn’t it?”

Jae-hee was the only one who nodded. Honestly, based on looks alone, it resembled a heavily stylized lion character.

Hae-eun’s cane traced the monster from top to bottom.

“It looks cute, but its size isn’t. It’s roughly one hundred meters tall, about the size of a thirty-story building.”

“Whoa, it’s huge.”

“A monster of this size is extremely rare. You’d usually only see them crawling out during the early days of the Gate War.”

Hae-eun glanced at Ghost with a smile. “The Demon Lord our Demon Lord Decapitator here killed thirty years ago was about this size, wasn’t it?”

Ghost just shot her a look that said, Don’t start.

Hae-eun continued the briefing.

“Moving on… A damn big monster it may be, but thankfully, it hasn’t made any moves since it appeared. The problem is that its mere presence has caused chaos—cars crashing, people tripping as they flee… the whole city’s been turned upside down.”

The sea of fire around it wasn’t caused by the monster itself, but by the accidents that occurred as terrified citizens tried to flee.

Jae-hee could certainly sympathize with them. For a populace already on the verge of a Gate-induced neurosis, a giant lion appearing in the middle of the city was the stuff of nightmares.

“It hasn’t moved yet, but there’s no telling how much damage it could cause if it does. That’s why we’ve been given this mission.”

Ghost gestured with her chin. “So we just need to eliminate this thing?”

“That’s the mission the Gate Defense Bureau gave us.”

“I’m a little concerned about collateral damage to the surrounding buildings, but with the caliber of inmates gathered here… subduing it shouldn’t be a major issue.”

Ghost glanced around the room. In fact, the firepower of the inmates initially assembled was more than enough.

Why did she call in Team Shakespeare? Ghost narrowed her eyes.

Team Shakespeare was a group of Villains from the mafia, specialists in assassination, theft, and anti-personnel combat.

There’s no reason to bring them on a monster extermination mission like this…

Just then, Hae-eun let her voice trail off meaningfully.

“Originally, it was just that simple mission…”

“But?”

“A rather awkward situation has come up.” Hae-eun scratched her head with her ring-fingerless left hand. “Should I call it a duplicate reservation? We’ve been double-booked.”

Everyone looked puzzled.

Scowling, Ghost spoke for the group. “Double-booked?”

“Meaning two different clients have hired us for a mission concerning that one monster.” Hae-eun chuckled, clearly amused by the situation. “The central government—the Gate Defense Bureau—hired us to exterminate the monster.”

Click!

She pressed the remote, changing the screen.

“And the mayor of Daegu hired us to capture it alive.”

“What?”

“Turns out this giant monster didn’t come from a Gate… it’s an experimental subject that escaped from a secret research facility in the city itself.”

A collective outcry went through the room.

“What?!”

The face of a middle-aged man in a suit appeared on the screen. Beneath it, the name “Mayor of Daegu, Man-su Oh” was displayed.

“Man-su Oh, Guild Master of the Blue Lions. He’s a veteran Hunter who organized a militia to protect Daegu from the very beginning of the Gate crisis.”

He seemed to be a famous figure, but Jae-hee didn’t recognize him.

Noticing his confusion, Hae-eun calmly explained.

“He was instrumental in keeping Daegu safe from the monsters back then, and he’s still revered as a great hero by the citizens. He’s the current mayor. He’s so popular his nickname is the King of Daegu, if that tells you anything.”

“Huh. So he’s that kind of guy.”

“But it seems this man has some ambition. He set up a research facility behind the central government’s back and has been running all sorts of experiments.”

Hae-eun switched the screen back to the picture of the giant monster.

“And that thing is the result.”

Ghost sighed, looking like she had a headache. “What in the world were they experimenting on to end up with this…?”

“In any case, it seems the city of Daegu doesn’t want to lose this monster… Crying-X. They probably wanted to handle this quietly on their own.”

Hae-eun shook her head.

“But how could they possibly keep something the size of a skyscraper quiet after it popped up in the city? Word reached the central government, and the panicked Gate Defense Bureau sent us an official request to provide support and kill the monster.”

“…”

“On the other hand, the city of Daegu wants to bury the matter quietly, so they sent us a back-channel request for our cooperation.”

“Killing it or capturing it both sound difficult, but let’s assume it’s possible,” Ghost said, staring at Hae-eun. “What’s the plan? Which of the two missions are you going to take?”

Hae-eun beamed and answered simply: “We’re doing both, of course!”

Everyone in the room was aghast.

“What?”

Hae-eun was unapologetic. “One mission, double the income for our unit. Is there any reason not to? It’s not like the objectives are mutually exclusive.”

“How are extermination and capture not mutually exclusive?!”

“We just have to pretend to kill it, then sneak it out the back alive. That way, the Gate Defense Bureau is happy, the mayor of Daegu is happy, and I’m happy! Everybody wins.”

As the others gawked in disbelief, Jae-hee asked hesitantly, “Is this okay?”

“Naturally. Is there anything in this world that isn’t?”

Hae-eun clapped her hands. “Two teams will be deployed, but they’ll operate completely independently. We can’t let them know we’ve been double-booked.”

And so, the mission roster was announced.

[B-Rank] Jail Mojik

[B-Rank] Powerbomb

[AA-Rank] Firestarter

[AA-Rank] Bookworm

[Old S] Ghost

[B-Rank] Romeo

[B-Rank] Juliet

[B-Rank] Oberon

[B-Rank] Titania

[AA-Rank] Boy

“What the…?!” Jae-hee yelped, seeing his name at the very end. “You’re sticking me… all by myself… with Team Shakespeare?!”

Hae-eun grinned wickedly, like a professor singling out a freshman to stick them in a senior group project.

“Of course!”

Jae-hee looked like he was about to cry.

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