Chapter 4 – General Store Raid Incident

The summoned Observation Probe, made primarily of transparent plastic, was transparent overall. Even the gears turning inside its spherical shell were the same.

It was about 30cm in size—larger than the current Worker Bugs, which were only 20cm—but since it was made of plastic, it was much lighter. After all, it had to be lightweight to fly through the air.

Since they were semi-transparent, these little guys flying high in the sky would surely be invisible from a distance.

Of course, because it was made of plastic, its durability was abysmal, but that wasn’t a big problem. Plastic was common, and as long as it wasn’t spotted, it wouldn’t be attacked anyway.

It would be great if I could give it a Transparency Upgrade later, but for now, this was sufficient.

“Alright. Now, go outside.”

At my command, the Observation Probe flew off briskly.

Tiririri—

It passed through a wide, empty shaft leading down to the first floor, located next to the escalators in the center of the abandoned shopping mall, and headed toward the first-floor exit.

Watching the Observation Probe fly away, I focused my mind for a moment.

It was to link my senses with the Observation Probe.

Soon, an image appeared in my mind, as if I were flying in the sky from the height of a four-story building.

I had successfully borrowed the eyes of the Observation Probe.

Since my abilities hadn’t grown enough yet, the resolution wasn’t very high, but the mere fact that I could scout the surroundings without taking any risks was a huge advantage.

“Hmm… Is there anywhere useful around here?”

I controlled the Observation Probe, looking around the vicinity of the shopping mall.

Many houses had been abandoned after the area was designated as a Redevelopment Zone, and it had been a slum where only poor people lived to begin with, but that didn’t mean there were no shops at all.

Soon, I found a small-scale General Store.

“Hmm… This one looks like it closed down not too long ago.”

In the middle of a bustling city, it might be different, but this area, where few people remained, was scheduled to be abandoned soon.

That meant no one would notice even if I started looting the nearby shops earlier than others.

“Alright. Let’s go with this one.”

I instructed all thirteen Worker Bugs to head toward that General Store. It was time for some joyful shopping.

* * *

After waiting for a while, scouting the surroundings while floating in the air with the Observation Probe.

My Worker Bugs, moving squirmingly, came into view.

They were moving as discreetly as possible according to my instructions, traveling through sewers, gaps in building walls, and between roofs.

Meanwhile, I had also instructed them to wash off dust and other filth before entering the shopping mall. Since machines from the Magitech Civilization all deploy a faint mana field to maintain cleanliness, that wasn’t an issue.

Once all thirteen Worker Bugs gathered at the General Store, I ordered them to start working on the lock of the back door.

Squirm, squirm—

Krik— Clunk! Click!

The lock was sturdy, but it couldn’t withstand the aluminum teeth of the Worker Bugs coated in mana.

Unfortunately, because the Worker Bugs were slow and the angle of their teeth was limited, they were difficult to use for combat.

Thump—!

Soon, the lock fell to the ground with a heavy sound. As if it were natural, the Worker Bugs grabbed the doorknob, opened it, and began heading inside.

‘Good. Well done, kids.’

It was just as I was watching them with a satisfied expression. Four grim-looking men began approaching the front door of the General Store.

“No, Hyung, are you really going to do this?”

“I told you so. No one will know anyway.”

It seemed like a suspicious situation.

* * *

I observed them for a moment. Judging by their attire, behavior, and conversation, they seemed to be local thugs.

And given the current poor situation, they had undoubtedly approached to loot the General Store they had been eyeing.

‘I didn’t think Looters would be roaming already.’

It was only the second day.

It was far too early for Looters to be active.

However, this was a Redevelopment Zone.

The people here weren’t well-off to begin with, and it wasn’t a place with good public security in the first place. In other words, it wasn’t strange for cunning people like them to start acting early.

“It seems like those monsters are about to be cleared out soon…”

“Hey, the Police Officers are so preoccupied with that that they won’t be able to look here. I heard the owner lady went down to her son’s place in the countryside.”

“Even so, wouldn’t it be a bit difficult in broad daylight…?”

“Hey. You’ve been talking back for a while now, haven’t you?”

“No, Gwangjin-hyung! There’s no way I’d do that…”

The subordinate smiled awkwardly.

It seemed that man was the leader. I pondered for a moment, noting the long scar between the man’s lip and cheek.

‘Hmm… What should I do about this?’

I thought for a bit. The first method that came to mind was the Worker Bug Alarm Trick I had used to shake off the police yesterday.

‘I could shake them off for now, but…’

There was a problem. Considering the size of the General Store, it wasn’t an amount that a Worker Bug could move all at once.

In other words, they would need to go back and forth several times to pull out the items.

But what if the alarm went off and they fled, only to realize later that the police didn’t come?

‘It might actually backfire.’

If the thugs realized the police didn’t react to the alarm, they might get even more excited and start looting the surroundings…

There might be nothing left for me to loot.

‘I can’t let that happen.’

I pondered for a moment.

‘Should I go out and fight them myself?’

That wasn’t an impossible option.

Although I had returned to the body of an ordinary person, it wasn’t as if my experience had vanished.

Before Regression, when I was disappointed in my abilities and went through a period of wandering, I had practiced swordplay.

However, the problem was their abilities.

‘But if they have an ability to escape… it’ll be a pain.’

No matter how strong I was, my body was still that of an ordinary person. If someone with an ability advantageous for escaping decided to run, I certainly wouldn’t be able to catch them.

Furthermore, society hadn’t completely collapsed yet.

If they were just petty thieves looting a secluded place, it would be one thing, but murder would likely attract the attention of the police. However, if I fought, my principle was to clean things up neatly.

‘There’s no need to leave any embers.’

If I didn’t kill them and only earned their resentment, they might hinder me for a long time. But if I killed them, the police were the problem.

I didn’t have a means to counter guns yet, and I would inevitably be caught. Of course, breaking out of prison would be a piece of cake, but I had no intention of wasting time during this critical period.

Another method was to summon a combat machine to kill them.

But that was also a problem.

‘If rumors spread that a new monster has appeared, the police will be drawn here again…’

Moreover, it was too early for combat machines.

Right now, it was far more efficient to establish a base, increase the number of Worker Bugs, and lay the groundwork. If necessary, I could handle most monsters myself.

‘No matter what I do, the police are the problem.’

Attracting too much attention from the police was a problem, but above all, this was happening because the police weren’t coming.

And… if that’s the case.

Beep— Beep— Beep—

“This is the police, right?”

I just had to call the police.

* * *

After finishing the call, I placed the cellphone on the table.

I gave the exact road-name address of the criminals caught in the act. I even provided detailed descriptions of their appearances and the means of the crime.

Meanwhile, the thugs, knowing nothing, were focusing only on looting the General Store.

“Hey, you try it.”

A thug put strength into a large bolt cutter.

“Gggghhh!”

Clank—

With that, the lock on the front door of the General Store fell to the floor.

“Alright. Let’s go in.”

Slam!

The thugs immediately opened the door and entered.

I didn’t need to worry about my Worker Bugs.

They had already gathered in the corners of the building, taking a spherical defensive posture, so they certainly wouldn’t attract much attention.

Meanwhile, there was one man keeping watch outside. He was puffing on a cigarette, casually watching the street.

“Oh, this pot looks useful!”

“Take it.”

‘That’s my pot!’

It was just as they began slowly bringing out the items.

Wooo-ooo-ooo— Woooo-ooo-ooo—

The sound of a police car could be heard from afar.

“Uh, Hyung?!”

“Stay calm. It’s probably going somewhere else, not here.”

Of course, the police car was indeed coming here.

As the siren of the police car grew closer, the man standing guard outside whispered to the man inside.

“Hyung… it seems like they’re coming this way?”

“D-Damn! Hey, get inside. Let’s hide for a bit.”

For the first time, Gwangjin showed a look of panic.

“If we stay quiet, they’ll pass by without knowing anything.”

They held their breath and peered outside.

Screech— Clunk.

They could only stare in horror as the police car stopped exactly in front of the General Store where they were hiding.

“Why, why? How on earth did they know?”

“Shh! Lower your voice!”

Meanwhile, police officers were stepping out of the car.

That wasn’t all.

There were two more cars behind them.

The two police officers who had guided me yesterday were also there.

“Hyunsu, is this the place?”

“Yes, Senior Officer. It looks like the door is open?”

The thugs had already cleared away the traces of the cut lock, but the fact that the store door was open looked far too unnatural.

The police noticed it.

“Hey, go block the exit.”

With two people per car, a total of six police officers perfectly blocked the exit and began to enter.

“D-Damn!”

“Gwangjin-hyung?!”

“Run, get out of here!”

But it was already too late.

“Oh? They really are here!”

“What ‘oh’, catch them!”

The police had already blocked the exit, and the thugs were rendered helpless. One by one, they were linked like vines with handcuffs and roughly led into the police car.

“Alright, well done!”

Watching everything through the Observation Probe, I shouted in joy.

“Who do they think they are, trying to steal!”

That was mine.

* * *

The next day.

The local thugs, who had spent a night in the holding cell, were eventually released with a warning. It seemed that because the situation was so urgent, there was no other choice.

“Damn it. Which bastard snitched?”

Gwangjin was absolutely furious.

“If I find that bastard, I’ll kill him.”

In front of Gwangjin, his subordinate stood hesitantly and cautiously spoke to him.

“G-Gwangjin-hyung?”

“What, speak up.”

“I went to check on that General Store this morning…”

“And?”

“Well… that.”

“Don’t be so frustrating, just say it!”

“The General Store was… completely empty…”

“What, what?”

Gwangjin’s eyes widened.

He abruptly left his residence and headed for the General Store.

“H-Hyung?”

“Shut up and follow me.”

Just as his subordinate had reported, the General Store had been looted clean, without a single thing left. It was an amount that was unimaginable to have happened overnight.

“This… it seems some bastard looted it using an ability.”

“What?”

“You must have gained an ability too, right?”

“Yes… that’s true, but…”

“It was a shop that the guy had his eye on, and he probably got pissed that we were looting it. That’s why he reported us. And he used that gap to loot the shop.”

“W-With an ability?”

“Yeah. Of course, the guy also made a mistake.”

“What is that?”

“He messed with me, Seo Gwangjin. Hey. Stop spacing out and gather the kids.”

“Yes, Hyung.”

…Of course.

I was watching their actions through the Observation Probe.

“I knew it would turn out like this.”

I chuckled.

All of it was behavior within my expectations.

Anyway, the guy had barely grasped my existence, and even then, only vaguely. No matter how much he jumped around or struggled, it meant he was ultimately in the palm of my hand.

“For now, I should attach an Observation Probe to this guy.”

I instructed my Observation Probe to follow Seo Gwangjin and picked up ramen contained in a warm pot with chopsticks.

Slurp—

As expected, ramen tastes best when eaten hot.