OMH Chapter 39

Oh My Hero – Episode 39

39. Hooligan (3)

The mission we are undertaking is to observe the life of the hooligan Park Geonhyung.

Park Geonhyung, who became an Esper two years ago when his ability awakened, is a C-grade Nature-Type Esper with the power to ignite fires when he focuses his gaze.

When Park Geonhyung’s ability awakened, he was caught in the EGA Association’s radar and became a member as soon as he awakened. However, Park Geonhyung ran away after only a year and became a hooligan.

Of course, Park Geonhyung was able to escape because the Association loosely managed lower-grade Espers like him.

The EGA Association doesn’t put much effort into researching low-grade abilities below C-grade.

It’s much more efficient to research the same abilities in higher grades.

However, that doesn’t mean the Association just sits back and does nothing whether low-grade Espers run away or not.

The Association knows. They know how humans survive when they are dropped into a world teeming with monsters and devoid of civilization.

In particular, they know very well what choices Espers with the power of abilities make and what kind of reputation they gain.

That’s why we sometimes pretend not to intend it and let Espers go outside, so we can see and feel it directly.

Espers like Park Geonhyung live as hooligans outside the Association for that reason.

We headed to Park Geonhyung’s hideout to do the job the Association ordered.

The hooligan’s hideout is located several kilometers away from the Association.

Surprisingly, it’s common for hooligans to build their hideouts near the Association.

The monsters near the Association have been almost completely eradicated, making it relatively safe, and the hooligans survive by plundering supplies from the Association.

So, the hooligans also keep an eye on the Association’s movements, so leaving traces of people near the hideout only increases the hooligans’ vigilance.

For that reason, our team walked to Park Geonhyung’s hideout.

Of course, the team members didn’t like my decision.

“Ah, seriously. What a pain in the ass on such a cold day~ There are cars and Helicopters to ride when we are deployed, why do we have to walk.”

“That’s right. What is this? I was expecting something cool for my first deployment, but there’s nothing like that.”

The youths, not understanding my deep intentions, chattered and grumbled among themselves.

Usually, they use vehicles when they are deployed, so it’s understandable that the kids are complaining.

Understanding the kids’ feelings, I listened to their complaints.

Of course, I’ll just listen with my ears, but I’ll do as I decided.

As I took the lead and walked silently, the kids began to change their tune from complaining.

The gist was that they were tired, so they wanted to take a break.

“Senior~ How long do we have to walk? Can’t we take a break? The Guide looks very tired too~ His expression is really bad.”

They brought up Cha Woojin in this way.

I know very well that Cha Woojin is not in a good mood.

Cha Woojin was not in a good mood even before we left.

That’s because when he left the room, entrusting Cha Wooreen to Kim Sanghyuk, Cha Wooreen cried a lot and threw a tantrum.

But since he couldn’t take a young child on a field mission, Cha Woojin resolutely cut off his sister’s tantrum and came.

They don’t know the circumstances, so they want to use Cha Woojin to get a break.

But, as the kids said, Cha Woojin seemed to be struggling physically.

It would be good to take a break around here.

Cha Woojin can’t collapse already when the mission hasn’t even started yet.

I decided to immediately find a place where Cha Woojin could rest, a place where he could avoid the wind to some extent, and prepare a shelter.

Fortunately, there were quite a few ruins of buildings right next to us.

I don’t know if it was a shopping district or a house because it was all broken down, but I could see a building with some roof and walls remaining, so it would be good to rest there for a while.

I went inside the building, which was full of dead ivy and only had a cement frame left.

It was cold and quiet, and it didn’t seem like monsters were using it as a nest.

It didn’t seem like there were any civilians hiding around, so it was perfect for resting.

It’s best not to meet any civilians who are not related to the Association, because it will only interfere with the mission.

I roughly cleared away the shards of glass and building debris scattered on the floor and made a place for Cha Woojin to sit.

Cha Woojin was very tired, so he plopped down in the seat with my support.

Cha Woojin’s nose and ears were red because of the cold weather.

Cha Woojin looked very cold, so I wrapped my scarf around Cha Woojin and put on his hat.

I took out a water bottle because he must be thirsty and even took out a hand warmer and handed it to Cha Woojin when Jang Hana spoke to me.

“Senior, aren’t you being too devoted? The Guide is the oldest here, you know.”

“That’s right, we are still minors. We need adult protection.”

The strong and energetic S-grade Espers envied the weak Guide.

These are the kids who can even beat up monsters right away.

It’s a big problem that the big guys don’t even know how to care for the weak.

Isn’t it natural to take care of Cha Woojin, who can’t even carry his own luggage?

I was about to give a lecture to the inconsiderate kids when Cha Woojin pulled on my clothes.

Cha Woojin, with his head bowed and his ears turning red, said to me.

“Please, stop it…”

Cha Woojin, who has a kind heart, doesn’t like conflicts within the team. By the way, his face is so red, is he having a fever?

I was about to check Cha Woojin’s condition when Jang Hana spoke again.

“But Senior. You said you had something to give us earlier. The thing you said you’d give us after we left because the explanation would be long. Can’t you just give it to us now?”

This time it wasn’t useless chatter.

That’s right, there was equipment that I was going to hand out after we left so that we wouldn’t waste it unnecessarily because it’s precious equipment.

I took out five palm-sized pads from the equipment bag.

“Okay, as you said, I can give it to you now. First, listen to the explanation before you receive it. You all have never been out in the field, so you probably don’t know what this is. This is an item called ‘Teleport Pad’, and each pad has a unique number. If you turn it over like this, you can see the number written on it, right?”

“Yes.”

“Turn on the screen by pressing the button on the side, and enter the other person’s pad number, you can move to the other person with that number.”

“Ooh…”

“Everyone, memorize your team members’ numbers. Only use it in emergencies because it’s disposable. Once you use it, it’s over, so if you use it because you’re curious, it just becomes junk.”

I handed out the Teleport Pads to the team members.

This is an item created by researching teleportation abilities at the Research Center, and it’s equipment that is sometimes handed out only on dangerous missions.

It’s not cost-effective because it’s disposable, and it costs a lot to make.

It’s an item that would never be distributed in our hooligan mission.

Nevertheless, the reason I’m handing this out to the team members is to prepare for any possible situation, so I bought it from the Association with my own money.

Because Cha Woojin might meet a monster or be kidnapped by a hooligan in a place away from me.

I hope we don’t have to use it.

We shared the pads, took a short break, and then moved again.

And before long, we were able to see the hideout of the hooligan Park Geonhyung with our own eyes.

According to the information received from the EGA Association, the hideout of the hooligan Park Geonhyung is said to be a scale where about a hundred people are gathered.

However, the place where they stay was smaller than I thought.

The hideout, made by gathering about 10 dirty container boxes in a collapsed building, seemed difficult to accommodate all the hundred people.

Perhaps the people living in that place think so too, there were dozens of tents made by adding several old cloths around the building.

Several bonfires were lit near the tents, and people were huddled together around each bonfire to warm themselves.

The only means to protect them was a low barricade made by piling up junk.

There were also a few people watching from the top of the container boxes, but it seemed insufficient to protect all the more than 50 people.

Perhaps they are hooligans, and it seemed to be a composition arranged for the purpose of watching and guarding rather than protecting them doing outdoor activities.

‘Park Geonhyung’s hideout is no different from other hooligan hideouts.’

Usually, the people in the hooligans’ hideout consist of Espers, Guides, and ordinary people, and there is a hierarchy within it.

The leaders are, of course, the Espers who are the hooligans themselves, and the Guides and ordinary people are used as ‘production manpower’ who produce the necessary supplies and manage the household.

And the EGA Association decides whether to suppress them or not depending on how the hooligans treat the production manpower.

This is because we shouldn’t intervene in people who are living well for no reason, and we have to save people who are being abused.

Therefore, when the Association discovers a hooligan group, it dispatches a team on a ‘hooligan observation’ mission to judge them.

How they live, whether they oppress and suppress people.

Creating a picture of ‘the EGA Association rescuing people from hooligans who harass people outside’. This is the main purpose of the hooligan mission.

So, we just need to observe how much the hooligans are harassing the production manpower and write a report.

For now, leaving the production manpower to live outdoors in this cold weather is the picture we want.

Now we just need to collect detailed cases of how much they are being harassed.

Just then, the guy who was watching went down and hit the back of one person’s head sitting by the fire.

Now that I see it, the people sitting by the fire were each cooking, making tools, or making clothes.

But if there are any signs of doing anything else, they seem to hit them like that.

I recorded the scene of the hooligans harassing the people as it is on my Smartwatch.

Jang Hana, who was watching my appearance, spoke again.

“Is this all we have to do? Hiding in a place far away like this and filming videos?”

Ha, Jang Hana’s voice was even recorded in the video because Jang Hana spoke.

‘I’ll have to edit it separately.’

I was about to glare at Jang Hana, who had increased my annoying work, but I held back and turned my head to look at Jang Hana.

We are hiding in ruins 700 meters away from Park Geonhyung’s hideout.

The ceiling was less than half left, but the walls were still intact on all four sides, making it suitable for hiding.

We left our luggage in the corner of the building so that it wouldn’t get damaged, and we hid between the collapsed walls.

I instructed each of them to monitor the hideout with the binoculars they had been given and to record any special matters, but Jang Hana came to me and was interfering.

Jang Hana’s complaints were not incomprehensible.

Until now, we have been doing combat training to prepare for dangerous situations for today, but the work we have to do is completely unrelated to combat ability.

But this is what a novice who doesn’t know the field thinks, and how can we go on a mission with a high chance of combat with people who have only been trained for 2 weeks.

This kind of mission is perfect for them.

I chose this mission just to let them get used to the outside atmosphere, but they don’t even know my deep intentions.

I was telling Jang Hana about the importance of a mission that suits her level when Jo Yong suddenly shouted.

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