Chapter 6
<Episode 6>
Late twenties. Matches the Thieving Crow.
A light build. Matches the Thieving Crow.
Her height reaches my Adam's apple. This also matches the Thieving Crow.
The cat hair, at least to the naked eye, also matches.
The lower line of cat hair, laid out in two rows, was collected from Claire Kent's sweater.
However, it would be excessive to suspect Claire Kent of being the Thieving Crow based on this alone.
How many young women in this city care for cats? There was no way to confirm if these hairs came from the same cat.
‘It was a ridiculous suspicion from the start.’
That clumsy, inept Claire Kent, the phantom thief who had been playing atop the heads of the Eden City Police Bureau for ten years.
Kent made frequent mistakes.
She would lose evidence or investigation records, or forget instructions.
Because of that, she was not a desirable subordinate, but she was a decent person. She got along well with her colleagues and had a good reputation.
‘In many ways, she doesn't resemble that shrewd woman…….’
……but I couldn't say that with confidence.
I had seen her face countless times, yet every time I tried to recall it, it blurred.
‘I definitely saw her face-to-face.’
I couldn't remember her face at all. It was as if I were under a spell.
It wasn't just Raven, but everyone who had seen the Thieving Crow. That's why there wasn't a single composite sketch of a criminal who openly showed their face.
Only the impression that she was beautiful remained.
‘Kent is beautiful too.’
Her face was half-hidden by glasses, and she didn't wear makeup, so she didn't immediately stand out, but the more you looked, the prettier she was.
She didn't seem to realize it at all, but there were five officers who had a crush on Kent.
Raven stood up and approached the window leading to the office. Parting the blinds, she saw Kent sitting at her desk.
Kent was staring blankly into space while working. She scowled, then pouted, then muttered to herself and shook her head for a long time, even though no one was there.
‘What is she doing?’
Wesson approached and spoke to her, but Kent only noticed after he called her two or three times. Realizing what she was doing, she started typing on the typewriter again.
‘She's so airheaded, there's no way she could be that woman.’
I felt bad for having been so harsh while harboring such a baseless suspicion. When I deliberately brushed my arm against her to offer to remove the cat hair, I thought she was trying to destroy evidence.
Recalling the dejected look on Kent's face when I had pushed her arm away, my mouth felt bitter.
‘Did I go too far?’
[4,377,827 Points (+1,250) Remaining.]
Wow, this is insane. I earned 1,250 points for free just this morning?
As a celebration, I treated myself to steak at the expensive restaurant in front of the Police Bureau for lunch. I even gave the waiter a generous tip, but it was worth it.
Returning to the Police Bureau with a full, happy smile…
“Huh? What’s this?”
A large box was sitting on my desk.
It was something I hadn't seen before. All mail for the Special Investigation Unit passes through me, but I didn't think I was expecting any packages…
‘Is it a gift from a fan of Hunt?’
It was natural for Hunt, a handsome young man and a capable investigator, to have fans.
So, Hunt's fans often sent gifts to the Police Bureau, and when they did, they always wrote ‘To Raven Hunt ♥’ in large, clear letters to make sure it didn't fall into the wrong hands.
‘This is suspicious.’
The box had no sender or recipient listed.
‘It's not a bomb… is it?’
It was entirely possible in a police station.
This was, after all, a notorious criminal city. Last year, a mafia family sent a bomb to the Chief's office in retaliation for their boss's arrest.
If this were a bomb, it would surely be sent to Hunt. How many villains were there who swore to kill that man?
‘What if I open this and it goes boom! and I die unjustly instead of Hunt?’
That couldn't happen. I should take it to Hunt.
So, I tried to lift it, just a tiny bit, and it was incredibly heavy. The moment I put it back down…
Click. Clatter.
A metallic sound came from inside.
“Gasp! It’s a bomb!”
“Miss Kent, what’s wrong? A bomb?”
“Smith, there’s a bomb on my desk!”
I immediately ordered everyone to evacuate and called the bomb disposal unit, causing a huge commotion, but what came out of the box was…
“36 cans of cat food.”
“……”
“……”
Hunt, who had been watching me with his hands in his pockets, gave me a look of pity.
I felt ashamed and bowed my head to everyone, apologizing.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s not Claire’s fault. It’s the fault of the person who gave it without a word. They must be someone who lacks the manners to even leave a note.”
Hearing that, it seems Wesson didn't give it.
“Besides, how is Claire supposed to carry this heavy thing with her delicate arms?”
I'm currently carrying 10kg of jewels in my Inventory.
“Who gives a gift so ignorantly?”
Hunt’s brow furrowed slightly as he turned and headed for the captain’s office. At that moment, a suspicion flashed.
‘Could it be… Hunt?’
Nah, that's impossible. That man doesn't like Claire because she's incompetent, so why would he buy her something like this?
“By the way, this is incredibly expensive.”
It was a high-end cat food brand sold only in department stores, fed only to the wealthy.
“I don’t know which angel you are, but thank you!”
I shouted my thanks to the anonymous cat mom sponsor so loudly that it echoed throughout the entire office, but no one replied.
Bang!
Only the sound of the captain’s office door closing echoed.
I immediately wrote a large thank-you note to my anonymous cat mom sponsor and posted it on the bulletin board in the Police Bureau lobby.
‘I have to deceive these good people.’
How betrayed they must feel when they find out their colleague, whom they thought was a good person, is actually a heinous criminal.
I sighed, feeling guilty.
‘It’s because I have to survive. There’s no save point in this game.’
There was one in the PC version, so there should be one in the mobile version, right?
But there isn't. It's like real life.
That's why Gemma's life feels as real as my own.
Just wait until I quit this life. I'll become someone who lives by the law, even without laws, and lessen your burdens.
‘…But in a way, aren’t I already living without laws?’
I only steal to survive; I don't want to live as a thief.
The hundreds of jewels I've stolen so far lay peacefully in the Thieving Inventory's jewel box, along with yesterday's stolen 'Cat's Eye'.
‘Someday, I must return all these jewels to their owners.’
I can't return them right away. I was severely penalized and almost lost a lot of Notoriety Points when I tried to return stolen items in the past.
‘The system wasn't stupid. It's impossible before clearing the final mission.’
This game has three types of missions.
General missions, given with a deadline, which the player can accept or reject, like the one yesterday.
Sudden missions, which appear unexpectedly and cannot be refused.
And the final mission, designated at the start of the game, clearing which leads to a good ending.
So, I'll try returning the jewels after clearing the final mission and seeing the good ending. At that point, Notoriety Points won't matter.
Therefore, there was only one way to quit this life.
That is to clear the final mission.
The final mission changes randomly each time you start a new game, but once set, it cannot be changed within that playthrough.
However, the mission I received was…
??? ??of ??Steal it.
It really appeared like that. And it still looks like that.
I thought the question marks would disappear, revealing the hidden text, as I leveled up or completed missions.
But I'm on the verge of reaching the final level, Level 10…
‘If 4,377,791 points is ‘on the verge,’ that’s quite a stretch.’
Anyway, it doesn't reveal it even when I'm right there.
Given that question marks sometimes appear in odd places in system messages, it must be a bug.
‘A bug in the most important mission. Developers, a single overlooked bug can kill a person.’
If you reach the final level but fail to achieve the final mission, you could end up grinding missions until old age, while others retire.
‘Ten years is enough!’
Based on my observations of the bug over the years, the number of question marks equals the number of letters in the missing text.
