The Spoon Villain Is Obsessed with the Hero Again Today

Tomb Raider (5)

Apparently, a fire broke out in the academic exhibition hall in the wee hours of the morning.

Luckily, the damage wasn’t too extensive. Since it happened so late, no one was hurt, and the items in the exhibit hall were said to be undamaged.

Just some tidying up inside, that was all.

“You exchanged messages with Sohn Iseo early yesterday morning, yes?”

But no matter how small the incident, they had to find the cause.

I was currently being questioned at the police station, a prime suspect in the academic exhibition hall incident.

—Oh, really! I’m telling you, I don’t know anything! I’m curious too! Who stole my box of explosives!

And from the booth next to mine, I could hear Yoo Jiwoo’s voice.

For the record, Yoo Jiwoo was named the number one suspect in this case, seeing as he was the owner of the box of explosives that caused the incident.

—Why would I set fire to the exhibition hall! I’m not interested in anything like that! I’m busy enough with my research!

Yoo Jiwoo didn’t have to worry too much. The real culprit was someone else. He’d be cleared soon enough.

“You sent a message asking him to move a box to the exhibition hall early in the morning. Do you recall?”

“Yes, I recall.”

I told the truth. Couldn’t exactly deny it, not with everything on record.

“That box contained explosives. Were you aware of this, Shin Yoonseong?”

This investigator suspected me, thought I conspired with Yoo Jiwoo to commit the crime.

But…

“Explosives? I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”

“Huh?”

“The box I asked Sohn Iseo to move wasn’t that. It was a box containing the tools I’d use for the evaluation match.”

It was true that I asked Sohn Iseo to move a box.

But he didn’t breathe a single word about it being a gunpowder box.

“So you’re saying there was another box in the field besides the gunpowder box?”

“I don’t know what happened, but the box I prepared didn’t have any gunpowder inside it.”

The boxes I’d prepared were two.

One was the gunpowder box used for this whole mess.

The other was a box filled with random junk I’d prepared in advance to slip out of suspicion. I’d hidden it where Investigator Son could easily find it.

*Clack*—!

That’s when it happened. The investigation room door swung open. A police officer walked in.

“Investigator! We found another box at the scene!”

Just in time, news arrived that they’d found the second box.

Hearing that, the investigator let out a hollow laugh.

“Heh heh. How peculiar. Two boxes in the same place, on the same day, by sheer coincidence.”

I can probably dodge suspicion with this. Besides, it doesn’t seem like they’re planning a deep investigation anyway. No one was hurt, after all, and there wasn’t any significant damage.

Looks like this case will probably be closed out around here.

Meanwhile, in the next investigation room…

– Shouldn’t we catch the thief who broke into the research lab first? There were other thefts at other labs besides mine! That person could be the real culprit!

Come to think of it, who could the thief be who stole things from other labs?

I only swiped Yoo Jiwoo’s things.

It’s a moment where I wonder about their identity.

*

“Heh, hehehehe… A-Arna-nim….”

A shopping district located near the school. Behind Arna, who had come out for some shopping after a long time, trailed a pursuer.

“Even if you hide your face with a hat… you can’t escape my eyes… ehehehe….”

The pursuer’s appearance was truly wretched. Hair matted down with grease, undoubtedly unwashed for far too long; black grime embedded under her fingernails; a bare face utterly devoid of makeup.

She wouldn’t seem out of place described as a walking disease, a woman who appeared utterly removed from the concept of self-care.

“Ah… Arna-nim… how could she be so beautiful….”

This woman’s name was Oh Jua. An Awakened One who had entered Hanyul Academy through the educational training program.

For the record, she was also a tomb raider, just like Baek Seonwoo.

“I am honored to be born in the same era as you… my goddess, Arna-nim….”

Currently, Oh Jua was completely lost in her infatuation with Arna.

Oojoo-ah, being a rather fervent admirer of Arna, was, even now, consumed with chasing after her, fulfilling her own desires.

The original mission was long forgotten.

“If only I could see Arna-nim from up close…”

Oojoo-ah rummaged through her bag. She would use the equipment she’d pilfered from the research lab last night.

An optical instrument that allowed one to clearly observe a subject from afar.

“Where is she going all alone…? Seeing her here on a weekday afternoon, she must need something urgently…”

At that moment, Arna stopped walking. Oojoo-ah quickly hid behind a nearby utility pole.

“That’s…”

Arna’s gaze was fixed on a certain shop.

It was an eel grill restaurant with large aquariums lined up in front of the entrance. Countless eels wriggled inside.

“C-could she be… here to eat?”

Come all this way just to eat eel? Arna-nim usually frequents the student cafeteria…

“Ah…! She’s leaving…!”

But her time in front of the shop didn’t last long. Arna moved on to the next location.

“Huh?”

The place Arna arrived at was a women’s lingerie store. A rather large one.

Arna looked around, checking her surroundings, then quickly slipped inside.

“A-A-A-Arna-nim…!?”

Oojoo-ah was stunned. Arna, out buying underwear. Who could have predicted that?

“Hee, heehee…”

The corners of her mouth twitched involuntarily. Just what kind of underwear will she purchase? A chance to discover Arna-nim’s preferences.

“Ugh… I can’t see anything from here…”

She adjusted the zoom on the optical instrument, but she still couldn’t see inside the store. It seems she couldn’t even penetrate the opaque glass.

“What kind of cheap junk is this…!”

Oojoo-ah threw the optical instrument to the ground in a huff. Just because it was made at Hanyul Academy didn’t mean it was anything special.

It was merely the work of some amateur club.

“I-I-If that’s the case… I-I-I have no choice but to go in myself…”

Oojoo-ah put on the mask and hat she had prepared. Even if her clothes were shabby, she wouldn’t be turned away.

After all, Oojoo-ah was a woman who had the right to buy lingerie, too.

“Hee, heehee… Arna-nim…”

Oju-a, as if possessed, stumbled into the shop, her mind reeling.

—Welcome!

“Ugh…!”

But already, a headache was blooming.

This invigorating fragrance of air freshener, the impeccably arranged interior, the staff radiating beaming smiles.

Everywhere she looked, it was a place where Oju-a simply didn’t belong.

—Are you looking for anything in particular?

“Ah, n-no… just… just browsing… for a bit…!”

Oju-a hastily retreated to a corner. It was, as ever, a trial to speak with strangers.

It felt as though her life force was being drained.

“Where could Arna-nim be…?”

She scanned the entire store, but Arna’s figure was nowhere to be seen.

Strange. She was certain she’d entered this shop.

—There’s plenty downstairs as well, so please, take your time!

“Eep…!”

The employee, noticing Oju-a’s hesitation, offered further guidance. Oju-a almost fled down the stairs to the basement.

“Hah… hah… just leave me be already….”

Excessive kindness only makes a person uncomfortable. Especially someone like Oju-a.

“More importantly… what is this place….”

The basement held an entirely different atmosphere from the ground floor. For starters, the lighting was dim.

Furthermore, the lingerie on display possessed an unusual aura. One couldn’t exactly call it ordinary underwear.

Just looking at them made her face flush crimson – a plethora of scandalously provocative undergarments.

“A-Arna-nim…?”

And there, in the basement, was Arna, the one Oju-a sought. Arna was staring intently at a mannequin.

The mannequin was wearing an outrageously bold set of lingerie.

“No, n-no, surely…!”

No. It couldn’t be.

Her goddess wouldn’t possibly be interested in such vulgar rags.

That isn’t even underwear. Look at those completely transparent panties. And, as if that weren’t enough, the center part is ripped open.

It was not only obscene but sacrilegious. The kind of lingerie a man-crazed b*tch would choose.

Just curious, probably only having a peek, one would think.

“E-eh, EEEEEH…!?”

But it didn’t end with just a peek. Arna picked up the undergarment herself.

“A-a-a- Arna-nim…!?”

Arna’s expression as she looked at the lingerie was anything but ordinary. A faint smile played on her lips, her cheeks flushed slightly.

She looked utterly… infatuated.

“KkaaaK…! N-no…! It can’t be…! It just can’t be…!”

Ojuah, witnessing this, began to tear at her own hair.

My Goddess!

My Idol!

My Arna-nim!

Smiling goofily over such… rags!

Why!

Why!

“H-ho, ho, ho, perhaps…!”

There was only one reason that readily sprang to mind.

A man….

Arna-nim had a man in her life!

Crack!

In an instant, Ojuah gritted her teeth. At the same time, her hands trembled violently.

“Just who might this…person be…”

Blood seeped from her clenched fist. Her fingernails were digging into her flesh.

“What sort of beastly cur… dares to… capture Arna-nim’s heart… Ugh, ugh…!”

It was the moment a spark, hidden deep within Ojuah’s heart, burst into furious flame.

The name of that flame was rage.

“I won’t let it stand…”

I can’t allow my Goddess to be sullied like this.

In this situation, the only person who can save Arna-nim is me.

I must save Arna-nim.