How to Live as an Immortal Chapter 005

Be Careful, I Say

*

That's why Gerald was obsessed with becoming a public security officer. Even though he was still a student, he had no trouble silencing Binter's protests in an instant.

He couldn't even imagine how many more rights he would enjoy once he became an official investigator.

"Damn, life is easy. So easy."

"It's only easy for you. What are you going to do about the midterms? We completely bombed them."

As if encouraged by the whining, complaints erupted from here and there. Of course, knowing it was all in jest, Gerald snorted and replied.

"If I can't be first, I'll just settle for second place."

No sooner had this clear conclusion been reached than one of the bullies from below dragged up a female student. With pigtails and an appearance that suggested she had never experienced any kind of rebellion.

If Binter was the top student in the school, this girl was the prodigy right behind him.

Michelle, was it?

"I brought her."

"Leave her there."

Gerald stood in front of Michelle, who was shrinking back as if unable to grasp the situation, and met her eyes. At the same time, the patrol drone also came to a stop.

Michelle couldn't move an inch at this abnormal sight. It felt as if her classmate had transformed into something indescribable.

"I've made a once-in-a-lifetime decision, you know. No, I should say I've decided on my future. But my grades are a bit lacking."

Gerald lowered his posture and growled in a low voice.

"So let me ask you a favor. Pass around the answer sheet during the midterms."

"Why should I...?"

"So you can take the test too, right?"

Michelle swallowed hard as she belatedly noticed the outlines of the gang. It was a situation she simply couldn't refuse. But that didn't mean she wanted to participate in Gerald's crime.

What she wanted was a stable life, not this kind of precarious crisis.

"What's there to think about? Just turn a blind eye and help me until graduation. Who knows? Maybe I'll return the favor once I'm in public security."

"I..."

Her feet involuntarily took a step back.

She had to run away.

That single thought dominated her mind.

But—

"Unlike Binter, you're a girl, so you could be useful in many ways."

With that quietly added remark, she couldn't help but crumble.

"Of course, if you pay with your brain, I'll spare your body."

Michelle's face instantly turned ashen. Only then did she understand why Binter had been hospitalized.

Gerald smiled with great satisfaction at her appearance, which anyone could see showed a broken will, but that smile didn't last long.

He had thought that with Binter as a cautionary tale, she wouldn't even dream of resisting, but what was this?

Michelle's eyes had been searching the empty air for a while now.

It wasn't a spasm caused by shock.

That was the telltale sign of someone operating a device.

"Why do these goody-two-shoes always act so unpredictably?"

Click.

As the communication cut off with a message saying "Out of call range," Michelle turned to Gerald in shock.

In his hand was a security officer's exclusive control device. It could not only control patrol drones but also regulate the transmission of devices.

This was also the crucial reason why Binter couldn't call for public security that day.

Although it functioned within extremely limited parameters, it was enough to control the immediate area.

It was clearly illegal, but to Gerald, this level of transgression was nothing now.

"Ah..."

Michelle slumped down, letting out meaningless exclamations. Like a broken radio, continuously and endlessly.

Gerald, leisurely appreciating her dumbfounded expression, put the final touch.

"There's no one to help you. So shut up and cooperate."

"Isn't it too early to jump to conclusions?"

A voice suddenly rang out.

As Gerald turned his head, he saw a figure that hadn't been there a moment ago. He was clearly young, but it was difficult to guess his exact age.

His eyes.

Yes, those eyes, cold and sunken to an eerie degree, confused that judgment.

Feeling inexplicably irritated, Gerald tilted his body askew.

"What?"

"Me? Someone who has a lot of regrets about you."

The man, Shin, grinned as he confirmed Gerald's face.

*

The process of finding Gerald and his gang was ridiculously easy. After all, they weren't ex-special forces criminals, just a group of ordinary students.

Simply tailing them after school hours was enough to achieve the objective. I didn't expect them to be impatient enough to cultivate another victim in the meantime, though.

In the past and even now, school violence tends to be treated more lightly compared to other crimes. The arguments defending this stance were always the same.

The rashness of youth.

The notion that we should consider their future and give them a reduced sentence followed like a thread.

The idea was that since it's a mistake committed by an immature individual, they should be given a chance to correct themselves. But I still questioned why these flesh-and-blood creatures, grown enough to inflict harm on others, fall into this category.

Submitting to injustice, obeying power, exploiting legal loopholes.

The group formed by these kids who have lost their innocence is no less than a gang of thugs.

This wasn't just a personal judgment.

Gerald's actions, ideology, and revealed history proved everything.

"Don't tell me he's someone hired by Binter?"

It wasn't an absurd inference. The causal relationship was clear. There were no other variables to speak of.

Gerald was putting on airs as if he'd caught a big fish, but—

"I don't know who Binter is. I came here because I heard that child's scream."

Shin wasn't the type to explain things straightforwardly. Instead, he pointed at Michelle.

Only then did the bullies grasp the situation and click their tongues.

"Ah, we ran into an old fogy."

"You're telling me he came all the way to the factory to pull this shit? In broad daylight? Is he homeless?"

"Now that you mention it..."

Everyone's gaze turned to Shin.

An outdated coat and gloves that were starting to fade in color. Though showing signs of use, one couldn't deny it was a stylish outfit.

However, no matter how you looked at him, he didn't seem like the type thriving in society.

Above all—

"He doesn't even have a device."

"Wow, what kind of confidence made him come out like this?"

Non-citizens couldn't use various dome facilities, including protection from the police. Of course, it wasn't inconvenient enough to affect daily life, but in this situation, it could only act as a disadvantage.

Because—

"It means we can bury him without consequences."

The moment one of the gang members approached boldly, Shin grabbed him by the collar and pulled him close. Then he crushed his nose with his knee.

So quickly that the continuous motion was invisible.

"Ugh."

Without even time to scream, the unconscious bully was thrown backwards as Shin called out dryly.

"Next."

"This guy's a lunatic."

Though one had fallen, the gang's momentum didn't diminish. They had been exposed to dozens, if not hundreds, of instances of violence by now. Moreover, the opponent was just one person.

"You seem to have learned how to fight somewhere, but you're way over your head."

The bullies rushed in without hesitation. They were used to hunting prey in groups. No matter how strong someone was, what could they do when their arms and legs were grabbed and pulled?

"Don't beg after getting beaten up, we won't let you go."

It didn't take long for those who had launched their offensive with disdain to change their minds.

Only after watching their friend's clenched fist shatter did the bullies realize something was terribly wrong.

"What the—"

"Is this all it took for you to play tiger?"

Shin, who had narrowly avoided a steel pipe aimed at his temple, folded the attacker's arm. At an angle that could never be bent naturally.

A sound of something rupturing, followed by an indescribable scream that echoed through the place. Only a handful of people were left standing. Even they soon rolled onto the ground.

Gerald hadn't just been standing by watching his gang get beaten.

Knowing that his joining wouldn't solve the problem, he pulled out his trump card.

Michelle, sensing the impending danger, shouted.

"Watch out! Mister!"

"Come on, I'm not that old."

At that moment, a patrol drone flying at maximum speed rammed into Shin.

Hearing a sound like a drum bursting, Michelle instinctively closed her eyes.

He had collided with a piece of metal accelerated to its limit.

Even without looking, she could imagine what had happened. But the situation unfolded differently from her expectations.

"Kids these days carry patrol drones around, huh."

Shin hadn't budged an inch.

Instead, he was blocking the patrol drone using his elbow and knee as pincers. Yet his center of gravity remained surprisingly stable. It looked so natural that standing on one foot seemed more unusual.

What followed was even more shocking.

He crushed the patrol drone's core with his bare hands.

"Holy shit."

Gerald, surprised in a different way from Michelle, bit his lip.

There were two main possibilities to consider.

Either he had a high-performance slot installed, or he possessed extraordinary genes.

Either way, there were hardly any visible external characteristics.

He had planned to play along for a while and then let him go, but that changed.

"Don't think you'll walk out of here."

"Are there people who even think about such obvious things?"

"Yeah, keep running your mouth."

As Gerald manipulated the hologram floating above the control device, patrol drones that had been wandering nearby joined in.

There were four of them, but Shin smiled happily as if he had received a gift.

"How touching that you're easing my worries like this."

"Cut the crap and die."

In an instant, taser needles were fired from the patrol drones occupying the surroundings. Though it was a speed that couldn't even be detected by normal human vision, Shin made a leap. Then he used the patrol drones as stepping stones to rush towards Gerald.

As a patrol drone hurriedly flew in to block his path, Shin spun in place like a top, as if he had been waiting for this.

Finally, when the centrifugal force reached its limit, Shin kicked the patrol drone.

Aiming for Gerald's legs.

Boom!

The patrol drone shot straight as an arrow, belying its heavy weight.

Gerald only realized what had happened after the chillingly clear boom reached his ears.

"Aaaaargh!!"

The pain couldn't be relieved no matter how much he screamed his throat raw.

Looking down at his blood-soaked lower body, Gerald convulsed.

"You fucking bastard!"

"The bastard is you. You, who got injured while controlling the patrol drone."

Only then did Gerald understand what Shin meant by 'worries'. That crazy bastard was planning to shift all responsibility to the patrol drone.

A ploy that couldn't help but grind his teeth.

"I just reported to the police, so let's see who dies. You son of a bitch."

"Did you really report?"

"I'll put a bullet in your he—"

Gerald stopped mid-sentence, sensing something ominous. The control device he had dropped from the earlier shock had somehow ended up in his opponent's hands.

"No way."

"You should use devices in moderation. Using them all day makes you stupid, you know?"

Shin smiled brightly as he manipulated the hologram.

As his repeated attempts to make a call proved futile, Gerald's eyes widened.

"Give it back."

"It's not even yours."

As the corners of Shin's mouth rose endlessly, Gerald's arms trembled.

"Are you really going to end up killing someone like that?"

"Yeaaaah, might really end up killing someone like thaaaat. Better be carefuuul."