Chapter 4
Chapter 4
"Everything that glitters is mine."
And a jewel thief who resembles Ruby...
"I'm crazier than you think!"
...because a 'crazy cat lady' character like me is among the followers of evil.
I hesitated, my fingers hovering over the bust of a grandmother with a black cat perched on her disheveled gray hair instead of a hat.
'If I clear the first mission, they said they'd give me jewels?'
I'd watched plenty of gameplay videos of the jewel thief, but never of the crazy cat lady. Which meant I wasn't confident I could clear the mission.
"Everything that glitters is mine."
In the end, I chose the jewel thief, Gemma Steel. The screen shifted to a full-body shot of Gemma.
Gemma Steel has three bad endings.
She goes mad and is confined to a mental hospital.
She goes to prison.
She dies.
Come to think of it, I never saw a good ending. The fact that the channel owner I watched still hadn't uploaded a guide video for the good ending told me all I needed to know.
'It should be a bit difficult.'
It didn't matter, though, since I wasn't planning on going that far anyway.
'The first mission will be a piece of cake.'
"I won't let you regret choosing me."
Mwah.
Gemma blew a kiss, but her overall vibe didn't resemble Ruby's at all.
Only her cheese-colored blonde hair and emerald eyes were similar.
Gemma wore a form-fitting black dress, much like the one a heroine in some old movie might have worn while having breakfast in front of a jewelry store.
With a wide-brimmed black hat and a long cigarette holder in her silk-gloved hand, she looked elegant and sensual.
Though one could guess from her appearance and dialogue, this character was proud, confident, and intelligent, making her very popular.
She was the complete opposite of me, who was timid, always intimidated, and unpopular everywhere.
"I wish I could be like Gemma."
As I muttered that, something strange happened. A green light flashed below my neck, and my vision went black.
"Huh? What was that? A blackout?"
Then, large white letters appeared in the pitch-black void.
Steal the treasure forbidden to villains!
When my vision cleared again, I had become Gemma Steel.
But there was something odd.
My appearance and the clothes I was wearing had completely changed, so why was the ruby necklace around my neck still the same?
Come to think of it, that necklace had glowed the moment I was possessed.
'Could this be Ruby's gift?'
I chose to believe that Ruby had granted my wish to become someone like Gemma. It was an absurd thought, but then, being possessed in the first place was absurd.
'But where is our Ruby's necklace now?'
Tonight, too, I touched my bare neck and gazed out at the city, wondering where Ruby, and perhaps Ruby's necklace, might be.
It was the tenth night of living as Gemma Steel.
The next morning, I went to work.
'What kind of thief goes to work?' you might ask, but thieves have to pay rent and taxes too.
And no, I wasn't working at a pizza restaurant that was actually a money-laundering front for the mafia. It was a perfectly normal, ordinary job.
'A job that's too extraordinary and abnormal for a phantom thief to work at.'
As I entered the dull-looking gray building, my colleagues, who had already arrived, greeted me with sleepy faces.
"Hi, Claire."
"Hello."
"Hello, Ms. Kent."
"Hi."
Here, my name was Claire Kent.
A pseudonym was essential for a double life. The name just popped into my head, and it felt strangely familiar.
Where had I seen it before?
Anyway.
Round glasses. A sweater with a tacky pattern. Curly hair that stuck out in all directions because I hadn't brushed it.
No one would guess that this person was a phantom thief adorned with hundreds of valuable jewels.
So, I confidently walked into the office, but a deep voice I'd heard last night called out to me.
"Ms. Kent."
I turned around to see the same face from last night. Or rather, a neater face than last night, with not a single strand of hair out of place.
It was the face of my arch-nemesis, Raven Hunt.
I smiled casually at my adversary.
"Captain."
My other job as a phantom thief was as an office assistant.
My workplace was the Eden City Police Department Special Investigation Unit.
I worked in the very unit that was hunting me.
The man hunting me was my superior.
"Good morning."
I greeted him with a bright smile, but Hunt's expression was chilling. His characteristic gaze, which could drain the life out of a person, made me feel like I was rapidly drying out and about to be ground into powder.
'Surely he hasn't found out?'
If I had my original personality, I might not have been able to withstand that gaze...
'Yes! I'm the woman who kicked you yesterday, Captain. Please show me leniency.'
I might have confessed.
In moments like these, Gemma's personality was a godsend.
Taking a job in the unit whose main objective was to catch me was a bold move I wouldn't have dared to attempt without Gemma's personality.
Thanks to that, I found myself lost in a strange thought during this nerve-wracking moment.
A white shirt and a black necktie.
The rank of Superintendent flashing on his epaulets and the golden police badge on his chest.
A navy blue jacket and trousers, perfectly pressed and free of dust or wrinkles.
Unlike yesterday, when Raven Hunt wore a three-piece suit, he was now in a police uniform.
'Is it the same uniform?'
The other Superintendents in this police department were all pot-bellied, so they couldn't pull off the same uniform like that.
The leather belt worn over the jacket was clearly meant for carrying weapons like a holster, but on him, it looked like a fashion item that stylishly cinched his waistline.
It further emphasized his already remarkable chest and shoulders, making them look even more prominent. The solid muscles hidden beneath the uniform asserted themselves forcefully.
And his height, which required me to crane my neck to meet his eye level even while wearing high heels.
'Perfect.'
It was a moment where I resented the designers who made my arch-nemesis such a perfectly handsome man.
'Would I resent him less if he were only perfect in body?'
I was tired of the phrase "stunningly handsome face," yet every time I saw him, I let out a sigh.
'He's my enemy, but his looks are truly...'
It was another moment of sighing.
"Perhaps..."
The man, whose eyes narrowed sharply as he stared at me for a long time, began his question.
Or perhaps, his inquiry.
"Do you own a cat?"
What? I was tense for nothing.
"No. I don't, Captain."
"Hmm."
His deep blue eyes tilted downwards, landing on my sweater covered in colorful fur.
"Ah, this is from feeding the neighborhood cats this morning."
But why would he ask something like that?
I had been working here for nearly two years. Hunt had never asked me anything personal.
"Thieving Crow."
"Hic!"
He had never called me that before, either.
"Why are you surprised?"
"No, suddenly..."
If someone called a good-natured subordinate a thief, wouldn't even the great Gemma be surprised?
Thieving Crow. That was Gemma Steel's nickname.
Since he didn't know my name, the media and the police called me that. Crows have a habit of stealing shiny things, just like Gemma.
"I swallowed it by mistake while swallowing my saliva, it went down my windpipe, cough."
As I coughed violently, Hunt scowled and took a step back.
'It worked, hehehe.'
Having narrowly escaped, I calmly asked,
"What were you saying just now?"
"Thieving Crow. I heard that Sergeant Smith asked you to type up the notes from witness testimonies on the day that woman left a warning letter at the museum."
He wasn't calling me. Phew, I got nervous for nothing again.
"Yes, I put the typed copy and the original notes into a file on Sergeant Smith's desk before I left yesterday."
Hunt's left hand appeared from behind his back. In his hand was the file I mentioned.
"Three pages were missing from the original."
"But I put in all seven pages without fail."
"There were ten pages in total."
"Gasp, were there?"
I opened my mouth wide, trying to look as foolish as possible.
"But Sergeant Smith left it on my desk while I was away..."
I let my eyebrows droop. Tears welled up in my eyes, making them glisten. I tried to look as wronged as possible.
"When I counted, it was definitely..."
Ten pages.
