Chapter 83

Chapter 83 – I am a Noble #1

[You have been promoted to Noble . ]

[Crime Skill: Bomb Manufacturing has been learnt . ]

[Crime Skill: Torture has been learnt . ]

[Crime Skill: Illegal Surgery has been learnt . ]

……

After Tae-hyuk was promoted to a Noble, notification messages constantly popped out in front of him . Most of them were notices of crime skills that he had learned . The unpleasant fact was that they were all in the temporary skills window, and quickly disappeared like the salary of a worker .

‘Indeed, I couldn’t learn it because of my rating . ’

Tae-hyuk looked down at his body and sighed . Naturally, there was no apparent change .

‘Of course . This isn’t an online game where I become more handsome due to an upgrade . ’

It had been six months since he first got the crime skills .

‘…When I think about it, many things have changed . ’

After gaining the memories of the future, the first thing he did was catch Yoo Cheol-ho . Even now, he couldn’t help smiling as he recalled it . There had been many things since then, such as being involved in the cheating incident of a politician’s son, as well as having his parents’ keepsake stolen .

He solved them using skills acquired from the other person and then he became stagnant for a while . But now things had changed .

‘Eh? One thing that I saw in the status window…’

“T-Tae-hyuk… Sorry but please take this . ”

Cho Kang-suk asked for help with the plastic bags full of food on the ground . Unfortunately, it seems like he would have to look at the Demon Revealing Mirror later .

“There is soondae, makguksu… Why did you buy so much?”

“Ohuhu… I bought food that is suitable to eat with tteokbokki . ”

Ha-ran followed after him with a big smile .

They were ready to have a tteokbokki party .

“Wah… This is a lot of food . ”

Tae-hyuk looked at the prepared food with his mouth wide open . Far from making him hungry, it was such a huge amount that his stomach hurt at the thought of eating it all . Kim Soo-bin also muttered with an embarrassed expression,

“I don’t think that even Alibaba and the 40 thieves could eat all of this . ”

“Bah . If we say Open Sesame, won’t it all go into Detective Cho Kang-suk’s mouth?”

Song Hye-mi spoke to Soo-bin like they were real sisters,

“Kukuku… If you don’t eat then there won’t be anything left for you!”

Kang-suk threatened with an open mouth, causing Kim Soo-bin to laugh . Fortunately, she seemed to have recovered to a certain extent from the Doll Play event .

“Now, everyone please sit at the dining room table . ”

Ha-ran finished setting out all of the food and beckoned towards the party . Kim Soo-bin and Song Hye-mi were hungry from the cold winter and started eating . They consciously didn’t say anything about Kim Soo-bin’s injury .

Therefore, the topic naturally turned to Phantom .

“I didn’t know that the person who saved Unni would become so famous . ”

“Yes . He felt like a dark hero active in the darkness . All of a sudden, he appeared on TV…”

Cho Kang-suk scratched his head and sighed .

Phantom was wanted for bombing T Medical Centre and aiding in murder . He was now a criminal, but Hye-mi and Soo-bin were treating Phantom like he was a superhero in a movie . It was the same with the netizens on the Internet . Fan sites for Phantom were growing like bamboo shoots in a bamboo forest .

He did all types of illegal acts, but it was true that he judged criminals that the police couldn’t catch . As a result, Kim Soo-bin and four children kept their lives . Plus…

“Omo, Kang-suk . Could you look at me for a moment?”

“Huh?”

Seo Ha-ran wiped the tteokbokki sauce from Kang-suk’s mouth . Then a cry burst out from the side .

“Both of you, are the two of you dating? There is a suspicious atmosphere . ”

“Hum hum… Anyway, Soo-bin . What do you plan to do with your donations?”

Kang-suk blushed and coughed a few times before saying uneasily,

“T-That… I don’t know . It still isn’t mine . ”

Kim Soo-bin benefited the most from Phantom appearing on TV . She became a victim of the horrible incident, losing one arm and barely surviving . In addition, she was the first person that was saved by the dark hero, ‘Phantom . ’ It was like the heroine of a movie had popped out in reality .

Thus, Kim Soo-bin instantly became famous . A considerable amount of money was collected from all over the country for her . The sum was almost more than 500 million . There were even companies that started a scholarship foundation to support her university tuition and those who offered her a job . It was evident that they wanted to piggyback on Phantom’s fame .

But to Kim Soo-bin, it was like a ray of hope had started to shine in the darkness .

Kang-suk hesitated for a moment before slowly opening his mouth,

“Did you know that your father came to the hospital?”

“Yes…”

Even though the domestic violence caused the police to issue a restraining order, he was persistent . He claimed that he should be able to manage Kim Soo-bin’s money as she was his daughter and she was underage . Legally, he was Kim Soo-bin’s father . If he filed a lawsuit then the situation would become complicated .

In the end, Cho Kang-suk proposed a solution .

“So I was thinking . I will become your guardian and take care of you until you are an adult . H-H-How about it?”

Kang-suk stuttered out the last line . Kim Soo-bin covered her mouth with her hands at the unexpected suggestion .

“D-Detective-nim? W-Why…”

Kang-suk explained his thoughts in a low, subdued voice .

“I’m a detective . It is my job to catch criminals, and also my mission to protect the citizens . But this time, I couldn’t do anything . Phantom did what I should’ve done . He is obviously a criminal that should be arrested . However, if he was in front of me right now then I would like to thank him . So, I wanted to do something that he couldn’t do . ”

“Ah…”

There were bugs after the money . After Seo Tae-hyuk got his first large amount of money, didn’t moneylenders come after him? In addition, Kim Soo-bin was a soft girl .

“Of course, the most important thing to me is Soo-bin’s thoughts . Don’t you become an adult in a few years? If you allow me then I will be your guardian until that time . ”

“T-thank you Detective-nim…”

She didn’t know about other adults, but she could believe Cho Kang-suk . He had supported the orphanage for several years already . She also knew that he was the Santa who visited every year . Such a man being her guardian…

It felt like she had acquired an army behind her .

Hye-mi, who was busy eating, spat out something .

“Didn’t Phantom calculate this when he came on TV?”

“D-Don’t tell me… Then that…”

Kim Soo-bin recalled Phantom’s last words .

‘Live . ’

Kim Soo-bin survived like he said . Furthermore, she found an unexpected guardian . Was all this Phantom’s plan?

“Hrmm? Did he say something?”

Kim Soo-bin told Kang-suk about her conversation with Phantom . His eyes reddened without realizing it .

“Damn… He is a criminal, but he is a really great guy . ”

@

Tae-hyuk listened to the conversation between Kim Soo-bin and Cho Kang-suk and realized that his plan was successful .

‘This will make Phantom a symbol . ’

He was fighting to escape the fate of being framed and imprisoned . His weapons were his crime skills . He walked alone while committing crimes . Even without being framed, there was always a possibility of going to jail for the crimes he did commit .

Thus, the existence of Phantom the God of Crime emerged . He was a distinct symbol completely separate from Seo Tae-hyuk . In the future, he would be able to do things more freely .

‘In order to do that, I have to hide my identity more completely . ’

It wasn’t enough to simply change his voice . Tae-hyuk saw new possibilities in his crime skills . Evolution into a top skill…!

It was one of the best perks that Tae-hyuk received from becoming a Noble . Tae-hyuk pressed on the details of the Voice Modulation skill . Then an explanation that he hadn’t seen before emerged .

[If you satisfy the conditions, it will evolve into the top skill ‘Disguise’ . ]

‘Disguise!’

The name evidently meant that it was a skill to change his appearance . It was a skill that Tae-hyuk needed .

‘It would be good if I could gain it for free . ’

However, it was likely that a great deal of work was needed to obtain it .

“If you allow me then I will be your guardian until that time . ”

At that moment, Tae-hyuk almost spat out the tteokbokki he was eating . How much had he struggled to get Kang-suk and Ha-ran together . What? Guardian? Of course, he had guessed based on Kang-suk’s character but he hadn’t expected this offer .

‘N-Noona! Then Kang-suk hyung will come with a family . Is this the time to be looking with such a warm expression?’

The time for dating seemed to be reduced even further .

Tae-hyuk frowned .

He should make Kim Soo-bin able to live alone as soon as possible for the sake of those two . The first thing to take care of was her arm .

‘Well, maybe it would be good to give her another arm?’

In the early days, a mannequin arm that looked awkward would be used . However, technology was evolving and a number of smart robot technology was being actively researched . The replacement wouldn’t be better than her original arm, but at least she could live a normal everyday life .

‘The problem is the price . ’

So far, the technology wasn’t commercialized . He didn’t want to invested hundreds of millions of dollars into a mechanical arm that didn’t work well .

‘Then I can steal it . ’

He also wondered if he could copy it with Forgery . If he could copy a number of robots then the utilization would increase .

‘It is worth a try . ’

Tae-hyuk looked at Kim Soo-bin like she was an experimental guinea pig .

@

“Ohh… I am also a student . ”

After a short winter vacation, Tae-hyuk went to school and languished on his desk . Despite his bad looks, the teacher’s heavy hand disappeared after he became a model student . But human nature didn’t change that easily . Every time he sat on his desk, a yawn would emerge .

“Where is Class President today?”

An Eun-young wasn’t sitting next to him . It was uncommon for her personality . Did something happen?

“Let’s send a message . ”

Dururuk!

“T-Tae-hyuk!”

An Eun-young opened the door and entered with a joyful smile . She ran to Tae-hyuk to deliver the good news first . An Eun-young approached Tae-hyuk and took deep breaths .

“Eh? You seem to be in a great mood . It was only a few weeks of holiday…”

“That’s not…I got into university . ”

“Eh?”

“I mean, I was admitted through special admissions . I did the entrance exam during the vacation because of the principal’s recommendation . I got lucky and narrowly passed . ”

Tae-hyuk laughed .

Narrowly passed? It was a clear pass .

“Congratulations . ”

“Yes . I’m sure my mother will be very happy . ”

“Then what university did you get into?”

“Uh, yes . S Uni…”

“Wait a minute . That is the best!”

“Hehehe… Yes, I was lucky . ”

A special admission to the nation’s top university . It was natural for An Eun-young, who studied so much that she got the studying skill . Her effort paid off .

Tae-hyuk’s eyes shone .

‘Didn’t S University have one of the largest robotics research laboratories in Korea? If she passed then she will be allowed on a tour . ’

Tae-hyuk started plotting . An Eun-young misunderstood his look and poked her fingers together .

“B-But don’t worry . I won’t graduate early as I plan to go next year . T-The promise to go to university together is still valid…”

“Yes . Thank you . ”

An Eun-young’s cheeks reddened at his answer .

“T-Then… I am going to meet my mother after class today . Do you want to come along?”

An Eun-young then realized what she was saying . It was almost like she was introducing a boyfriend to her parents . Of course, he had met her dad a few days ago but this was the first time meeting her mother .

An Eun-young looked away from Tae-hyuk .

Of course, Tae-hyuk instantly welcomed this offer . It wasn’t uncomfortable if they could take a tour of the university together .

“Yes . ”

“Yes!”

An Eun-young nodded vigorously .