'Inferno Pizzeria,' a restaurant located in the dark underbelly of Old Seoul's Sector B-4. The employees of the Cheong-Am Euthanasia Center were currently having a company dinner.
"Damn... that smug-faced knife-eared bastard. I really wanna shove a fist down his throat," Yi Rang muttered, cursing Lee Sang-Deok as she devoured her pizza.
Lee Sang-Deok was not a Cheong-Am employee and therefore was not present. He was officially an 'external consultant.' His reason for not joining was simple:
"If you wanna do that, you'll have to train harder than you do now. From now on, I'm gonna train you every minute you aren't doing chores," Yu-Han remarked.
Yi Rang made a face at the mention of training. "Ehh... then what about my break time...?"
"Do you really think I recruited you just to be a handyman? You have to work as a sanctioner too."
"Fine! I'll do it! I'll get stronger than that Elf and then—"
"""That's impossible."""
"I said I can do it!?" Yi Rang flared up at the cold, synchronized remarks from Yu-Han, Alice, and Kim Ga-Eun.
Watching this, Yu-Han wondered why Yi Rang, who was in her mid-twenties and older than him, acted so pathetically. Strangely, however, her physical structure and movements had already been perfected to a high level by someone.
Even more mysterious was the fact that she was the only one who remained sane while everyone at the Hwang-Ho Center was brainwashed by Kim Je-Hyeon.
'...Is that stubbornness somethin' she inherited from her father?' Yu-Han thought.
At that moment, a muscular Italian man with tattoos covering his arms walked toward the group. Seeing his massive frame, Alice initially wondered if they had done something wrong.
"Yu-Han! Was-a Ga-Eun not enough? Now you walk-a around with three women?! Bwahahaha!" Antonio laughed heartily.
Alice and Yi Rang's expressions crumpled like withered plants. Yu-Han protested desperately.
"They're just business partners. Same with Ga-Eun."
"Oh, Yu-Han, Yu-Han. I would love to know why the ratio of women among your 'partners' is so extreme, eh?"
"It's all a coincidence! A prank of fate!! ...Anyway, let me introduce you. This is the owner, Antonio C."
"Belle signore, pleasure to meet you. This bastard and I go way back—nothing but old grudges," Antonio took off his chef's hat and bowed politely.
"I'm Alice, and this is Yi Rang. But wow, this pizza is incredible!"
"Grazie, grazie! After eating those fake Korean pizzas, the real deal is bound to taste-a better, no?"
Sensing something odd, Kim Ga-Eun asked a question. "Alice C? Weren't you a robot? How... exactly are you eating that pizza right now?"
"Well...I found out recently that I have a function to consume food and break it down into energy. I can even taste it. This body has all sorts of weird features."
Kim Ga-Eun felt a flash of anxiety wondering if Alice also had that specific function she was thinking of, but dismissed it as a paranoid delusion. Just then, Yu-Han chimed in with another nonsense remark.
"Kuhuh... so do you also excrete the leftovers? A robot takin' a dump... now that's a hilarious mental image."
Upon hearing that, Alice maintained a smiling face but aimed her left fist toward Yu-Han. Her fist launched forward, struck Yu-Han's forehead with a sharp impact, and then snapped back into her arm.
As Yu-Han clutched his forehead, Alice spoke to him in a soft, gentle voice. "...I discovered this function too. What do you think, Yu-Han?"
Watching them, Kim Ga-Eun and Antonio clicked their tongues.
"Yu-Han C, you really are askin' for it."
"Indeed. Tsk tsk..."
As they sat there enjoying Margherita pizza, Carbonara with house-made guanciale, and a pizza topped with Prosciutto and Burrata cheese, a suspicious noise was heard from outside.
Antonio checked the external situation via a hologram screen and sighed. "Ah, maledizione! Those bastards again!"
"What's wrong, Antonio C?" Alice asked.
"Those damn fools are settin' up a cat feedin' station right in front of my restaurant! Yu-Han, I pay you. You go take care of it."
"Sure." Without moving an inch, Yu-Han spoke to Yi Rang beside him. "Alright, our staff Yi Rang? Go and show off your skills."
"Why are ya dumpin' this on me?! Ain't ya ever heard the old sayin' that even a dog shouldn't be bothered while eatin'?"
"100,000 won off your debt."
"Consider it done!! I'm gonna show 'em the pride of the Tiger-Beastkin!!"
Yi Rang's demeanor shifted instantly as she dashed outside. Those watching felt that the pride of a Beastkin was remarkably cheap.
"Staff Yi Rang! Scientifically speakin', tigers and cats are related species! Maybe you can try reasoning with them!" Yu-Han shouted toward the door.
"Alice C. Please launch another rocket punch. Aim for the mouth this time," Kim Ga-Eun requested.
***
When Yi Rang went outside, a cat feeding station had indeed been set up next to the building.
"I swear... installin' this in front of someone else's building is just a nuisance. They should keep 'em in their own house..."
As Yi Rang tried to remove the station, a scream erupted from somewhere. A hysterical woman approached her with eyes filled with rage.
"You!! What do you think you're doing!"
"I'm removin' an illegal structure. This ain't your buildin', is it?"
"What about the poor cats who'll starve on the street! We live in a world where we must coexist with animals, you psychopathic Beastkin!!"
Yi Rang looked at the surrounding cats and came up with a scheme.
"Listen, lady. I talked to those cats myself, and they said livin' on handouts is humiliatin'! They said they wanna be cats of pride who survive in the city on their own...!"
"What kind of dog-sound are you talking about!?"
"Well, technically it's cat-sound. I'm a feline too, ya know."
Unable to find a rebuttal to Yi Rang's logic, the woman began to tremble with rage. "You're a tiger, not a cat... what do you know!!"
The woman's body, filled with fury, began to twist and mutate, transforming into something else. It was no longer human, but a creature resembling a monstrous cat.
Yi Rang was startled by the irrational sight.
"Die! Enemy of cats!!"
The woman began to swing claws as sharp as kitchen knives at Yi Rang.
"What the hell!! What kind of crazy situation is this!?"
Yi Rang calmly parried the monster's hand and drove a punch into its abdomen. However, she suddenly found herself unable to move.
The cats that had been around began to cling to her body, hindering her. The monster muttered as it stood back up.
"Cats are the most perfect lifeforms... I will build a paradise for cats on earth!"
"No, what the hell does that even mean!?"
As Yi Rang began to be buried under enough cats to suffocate her, the owner, Antonio, burst out. He had been watching the CCTV footage from inside.
"...Signorina. It seems only right that I, the owner, handle this personally."
The massive hunk of metal in his hand was a flamethrower. He pointed the nozzle at the cat monster without hesitation.
"Incinerate!!"
The monster was burned alive, screaming, and soon nothing but a pile of ash remained. The cats that had been swarming Yi Rang returned to normal once the monster died.
"T-thanks, Antonio C."
"Prego. Mind steppin' aside for a second?"
When Yi Rang moved out of the way, Antonio incinerated all the remaining cats with his flamethrower as well.
***
After Antonio and Yi Rang returned, everyone began to have a serious conversation.
"Yu-Han, that just now... it's exactly the same as what happened with the protesters!" Alice noted.
"That's a Mana Overdrive phenomenon. When someone possesses more mana than they can handle, their body mutates through that mana to accommodate it..."
Antonio offered his opinion on Yu-Han's explanation.
"But Yu-Han, that almost never happens with mana someone generates themselves. Is someone injectin' it from the outside, eh?"
"I think it's Kim Je-Hyeon's doin'. That bastard could use mind control magic."
"Kim Je-Hyeon? You mean the opposition leader...? This is gettin' big."
"I'll pay you, Antonio C", Yu-Han said, "so why don't you fight with us? You haven't gone rusty, have you?"
Hearing Yu-Han's words, it seemed Antonio was also a former combatant. Alice had already guessed that just by looking at his physique.
"Depends on how much you pay. If the opponent is a politician, I'm gonna have to charge-a premium."
"Haa... it's always money, money, money! Is money the only thing worth lovin' in this world?" Yu-Han grumbled.
Alice squinted and pointed at Yu-Han.
"Do ya really have the right to say that, considering you're more obsessed with money than anyone?"
"Don't get me wrong. I don't love money! It's just that everyone else in the world loves money, so I'm forced to need it!"
Through her conversations with Yu-Han, Alice had acquired a new social skill: 'Ignoring useless talk.'
"Yu-Han... we need to become Grade 3 National Contributors, the bounty on our heads is a problem, and both Thanatics and that opposition leader are our enemies. What should we do?"
"Well, at least the number of people pickin' fights with us in Old Seoul has decreased, right? It seems our reputation has spread...
but that also means the next enemies will investigate us thoroughly and come prepared."
"Next enemies... you mean famous Euthanasia Centers, or the private armies of congressmen, or criminal civic groups...?"
"You know it!"
"Haa... we're doomed..."
Alice lamented why movie-like events, where the whole world became an enemy, were happening to her.
But Yu-Han encouraged Alice with the eyes of a shonen manga protagonist.
"But it's okay! As long as we have love, justice, and the bonds between friends, we can overcome any obstacle!!"
Everyone present felt an urge to sew Yu-Han's mouth shut...
***
Around that time, in his penthouse, Kim Je-Hyeon was declaring orders to his subordinates through his magic.
[Receive my command, my supporters. Breathe your last against Yu-Han and his lackeys who dare block my path.
And... you will take the lead, Lee Gwang-Cheol. Make them realize the power of the 500-year history of the Joseon Dynasty...!]
[I shall follow your command... The Great Champion of Democracy, Kim Je-Hyeon Nim...! I will surely bring you their heads!]
After finishing the communication, Kim Je-Hyeon leaned back completely in his armchair. While they were in cooperation with Thanatics, he didn't like them at all.
They didn't seem interested in actively attacking Yu-Han's group, but were instead plotting something unknown.
Still, since both sides had benefited from the deal, there was no real reason to be angry, but...
"...How dare a mere terrorist try to stand on equal footing and trade with me!!"
Kim Je-Hyeon's Democratic-Pride simply couldn't tolerate it. He swore that the moment he soared like a dragon, he would burn and annihilate Yu-Han, Thanatics, and Seong Dong-Hyeon alike.