Second skill.
It’s been a week since they moved into the new house.
When they moved without really paying attention, they naturally moved towards their old house, but that would soon come to pass.
Two things changed since they moved in.
The first thing was that Haran’s resting time had increased.
She had changed from a double shift schedule to an 8 hour shift one.
As the family didn’t need to pay the rent for the house, they were able to make such a decision.
Of course, Haran rejected the idea. The difference in wages were significant, after all.
She was saying that she could send Taemin to an academy with that money.
But when Taemin rejected the idea, even she had to give up.
What can she do, when the boy said he was too smart to go?
Of course, he did have to suffer from a headlock as punishment.
Now, Haran was able to get some free time.
Maybe it was because she got more free time, or maybe it was because of their new house, but her coughing fits completely stopped.
Taehyuk smiled proudly.
And now for the second change.
He now had a family who greets him back home.
Taehyuk moved quickly.
His sister must be preparing dinner for him.
‘That’s that, but to think that Kang Suk hyung would actually give away all of his money…’
An investigator isn’t supposed to get bounties. Getting it would give them a chance to become corrupt.
Out of the 200 million won he received, he gave Kang Suk 100 million of it.
But Kang Suk actually donated all that money to an orphanage.
When Taehyuk asked him why Kang Suk didn’t use it for marriage, the man just laughed.
Kang Suk spoke as he watched kids play in a playground.
“The only people who’re even thinking of marrying me are them, you see. Well, I’d have to wait about 10 years till that happens, though.”
“Woah, an investigator is trying to commit a crime.”
Kang Suk began to gain more popularity from the children.
Kang Suk said that this was enough, and smiled.
For some reason, it seemed that there were only idiots around him.
‘Come to think of it, I haven’t gotten a new skill for the entirety of last week, huh?’
There was quite a gap of time before the next event in the blacklist happened. He would use that time to try and find out more about the demonic mirror.
‘Ah, right, I decided to call it the Demon-reflecting mirror.’
He had gotten the name from a mythical item that reflected the true face of a demon.
The only thing he managed to learn in the time was that the Robbery Skill only succeeded with a 10% chance.
But the strange thing was, it actually worked extremely well.
For example, it stole stuff like wigs, handcuffs, panties…
You know what, never mind.
He still didn’t know how to get skills or points, and didn’t know anything about the mirror.
‘Shit, that psycho bastard.’
He actually brought the mirror to a famous exorcist to get it appraised. This was what the exorcist told him:
–It is made out of bronze, which is a mix between copper and tin. It reflects about 80% of the light it absorbs. This was probably made not as a normal mirror, but as a ceremonial tool. I believe it’s worth about…
Conclusion was, it was just a normal mirror.
Taehyuk glared at the mirror. It still had weird words on it.
[Suh Taehyuk]
???
‘Eh?’
There was something he hadn’t seen before.
There was some kind of hazy word in the skills section.
‘Could it be, a new skill?’
Taehyuk tapped on the ‘???’.
But he didn’t get anything.
‘Is it an error…?’
Taehyuk walked even faster.
He decided to investigate this further when he arrived home.
‘Huh, isn’t that big sis?’
Taehyuk stopped walking. He could see Haran standing on the street with a face that was about to cry.
She was sniffling, as if something big had just happened.
“T-Taehyuk! What do I do…!”
‘What, did a burglar come in or something?’
He would’ve come earlier if he knew what had happened.
Thankfully, Haran herself seemed alright.
“What happened?”
“It, It’s bad. He’s hurt. It’s an accident.”
“Wait. Breath for a moment, and tell me again. What happened to who?”
Haran slowly breathed, following Taehyuk’s suggestion. She finally seemed a little relaxed.
Taehyuk reassuringly stroked Haran’s back. He could then hear a more understandable story from her.
“…I just got a call. They said Taehyuk was hurt. He stole some kind of a car, then got in an accident. He’s going to die if he doesn’t get a surgery. And because the car’s completely destroyed, he’s going to go to jail if we don’t pay up…”
This Taehyuk, he’s completely crazy, huh?
‘Wait, Isn’t that me?!?’
“Noona. Wait. Who am I?”
“T, Taehyuk.”
“Think about what you said just a moment ago.”
“T, Taehyuk got hurt!”
“I’m not hurt, see?”
“…….?”
Haran still seemed confused.
Taehyuk was able to see that she fell for a crime.
‘Voice phishing!’
It was a type of fraud that was done with a phone.
In Japan, it was known as “It’s me swindling”.
A call comes in with someone saying “It’s me.” The person would then say that he was very hurt, and needed money. Like this, the person would be able to steal money from someone.
As this method of swindling became too popular and no one fell for it anymore, swindlers began to imitate different things instead.
Your bank account number has been exposed. You need to transfer your money here now.
With methods like this, one would swindle others.
Haran was just fooled by a method from about 10 years back.
“Noona, it’s fine. Did you think I’d actually steal a car?”
Taehyuk hugged Haran gently, and stroked her back.
She finally calmed down, and stopped crying.
“I’m fine, and always will be. I won’t steal cars either. And…”
I won’t be blamed for murder either.
Taehyuk slowly began to explain things to Haran.
“So I’ve been swindled?”
“Not yet, no. The guy’s still laying down his trap.”
“It’s good that you’re safe.”
Taehyuk smiled.
The reason why the ‘It’s me swindling’ succeeded was because one had love for the victim. That made Taehyuk feel thankful.
‘But seriously, how long has it been since that thing’s went out of style?’
Haran graduated from a boarding school for middle and high school, and began working as soon as she graduated.
She knew nothing about the real world.
She was stupidly kind, and trusted others too much.
‘I can’t just end it like this, can I?’
They made Haran cry. His anger wouldn’t be quelled if he didn’t do something.
“Didn’t you say that the person would call you again?”
“Nn, he told me to prepare my bank account and stamp.”
Taehyuk grinned. It didn’t end yet.
“Noona, give me your phone for a second. And go into your room and watch some popular drama or something. Call me if something like this happens again.”
“Nn… okay.”
He would get a call as long as he waited.
Taehyuk began thinking of just what he would do to them, and went with it.
@
He decided to act like he was being fooled, then turn the tables on them.
After deciding that, he began to think.
‘They’d notice something was wrong if the person changed.’
The best way to do this was to instruct her from the side while she got the call.
But he didn’t want her to even talk to these swindlers anymore.
‘Is there a good way to do this?’
Tiriring!
He was thinking of what he was going to do, but then he got a call from those guys.
‘It’s them!’
Vrr!
A vibration came not from his phone, but from a weird place instead.
It was the mirror.
[Crime Skill: You have learned Voice Change.]
— You are able to imitate voices of others.
–As you have not met all the requirements, you have not fully attained this skill.
–The skill has been set into the temporary skills window.
‘A new skill…!’
Taehyuk eyes opened with a flash.
Glossary
Noona – “Big Sister” in Korean, from a male’s perspective. Doesn’t have to be related by blood, can just express familiarity.
Unni – “Big Sister” in Korean, from a female’s perspective. Doesn’t have to be related by blood, can just express familiarity.
Proofreader’s note
Ay, unlocked a new crime skill. How convenient. Though, it seems like not all the requirements have been met. I wonder what those requirements are…
Publisher’s note
By the way, if you guys haven’t noticed, the translator for the last few chapters (and the next ones) is ensj from .
Translator : Ensj
Translation Check: Kirito0017
Proofreader : Kuhaku