Even Today, the Ranker Dreams of Retirement

Hyun Habin had known everything from the moment the thieves started putting potions in their pockets.

It was because of Ahezar, who was chattering incessantly beside her.

[Look, look, look at those fellows! They must be the thieves that boy Park Wondu warned about! They’re cherry-picking only those expensive potions or whatever!]

From the moment the thieves started putting potions in their pockets, Ahezar had been shouting at the top of his lungs so that only Habin could hear, making it impossible for her not to know.

His voice was urgent and anxious, as if he were pacing back and forth in agitation.

[We must catch them immediately! Aren’t those petty thieves trying to escape? Why do you keep watching that drama?!]

Habin frowned at the grating nagging that couldn’t be drowned out even by her Bluetooth earphones.

‘Ah, Kim Jaljal. Wait a bit.’

[What are you waiting for! At this rate, this general store will be ruined! They’re clearly thieves! Don’t you trust my intuition?!]

‘Sigh. It’s really an important scene right now.’

Unlike the frantic Ahezar, Habin was calmly watching her phone screen. Ahezar, bursting with indignation, shouted:

[You’re going to focus on that tiny square screen even in this situation? How can that drama be so important! I can’t stand it anymore!]

Panting heavily, Ahezar finally shouted directly at the thieves.

[You thieves! How dare you commit theft right in front of me, thinking it’s safe!]

The unnecessarily grand voice of a constellation resounded throughout the small convenience store.

The thieves, who were about to push open the store’s door, turned back towards the counter in surprise. Habin subtly activated her skill with a hand gesture.

Even without overt threats, the strong can intimidate others by their mere presence.

Temporarily restricts the movement of targets with an extreme difference in ability from yourself.

It was one of the many skills brought forth by the Revival of the War God trait. It seemed to have worked properly, as the thieves’ movements came to a halt.

“W-what? Where’s that voice coming from?”

‘Our Kim Jaljal, you ended up shouting after all.’

Habin inwardly sighed. Ahezar had finally lost patience and fully revealed his presence.

‘I was planning to confront them just as they were about to leave. He couldn’t wait that long.’

Despite appearances, Habin was a max-level part-timer. She had been working part-time jobs for survival since her first year of high school.

Having seen countless troublemakers, she knew their patterns.

‘There are many types of troublemakers, but with guys like these, it’s ambiguous if you catch them too early.’

If you catch them while they’re still selecting potions from the shelf, they might retort with, “Are you accusing an innocent person of being a thief?” or “I was going to pay, but now I won’t because it’s disgusting!” and turn the tables on you.

There’s also a slight chance you might actually accuse an innocent person.

So she had been watching to see what they would do, but-

‘Since Kim Jaljal intervened, I’ll have to approach this differently.’

“…….”

Habin quietly picked up Ahezar.

‘Kim Jaljal, I have my own plans, you know?’

[What plans, when you’re only stepping in now!]

‘From now on, shush.’

She smiled brightly as she opened her mouth. With the attitude of an innocent part-timer who knew nothing:

“Ah, customers. You were surprised, right? It’s nothing much…… My sword seems to be malfunctioning. It’s doing this again.”

“……Your sword is malfunctioning?”

“Can’t be helped. Could you show me your pockets for a moment?”

“What? A-are you suspecting us right now?”

“I’m not the one suspecting you. My sword is saying you’re suspicious.”

When the lead thief reacted with an expression that said ‘What nonsense is this?’, Habin shrugged and replied:

“I’m the youngest in my family, so my parents were really worried. They got me this item for self-defense.”

Swish.

Habin swung Ahezar through the air. It looked like a casual swing, but the movement was clean.

“…….”

The thieves watched this scene with tense faces.

Habin, who had naturally approached them, added:

“As I said, since it’s for self-defense, it has a function that shouts loudly when it detects danger nearby.”

The thieves exchanged awkward glances.

‘Is there really such an item?’

‘There are so many different kinds of items these days…….’

‘Could it be real?’

They had heard that occasionally, people with a lot of money would splurge on items used by hunters, even if they were ordinary citizens.

‘Or is this part-timer a hunter?’

‘Why would a hunter work part-time here?’

‘But considering we can’t move right now…… If she’s really a hunter……!’

They tried to rack their brains, but no answer came. Habin didn’t give them time to think either. She asked them in a bright, business-like voice:

“But it must be malfunctioning, right? Because you’re not thieves. Right?”

“…….”

‘Is she testing us, or really asking?’

Her expression was unreadable and indifferent. It was hard to tell if she was being sincere or not.

‘W-what should we do?’

The other thieves exchanged glances with their leader. He was the oldest among them and acted as their de facto leader.

After a moment’s consideration, the lead thief came to a conclusion.

‘No matter how skilled she is, she’s still just a part-timer. Let’s just bluff our way through.’

Although she had momentarily restricted their movements, that was likely the extent of her abilities.

‘Even if she’s a hunter, she’s probably F-rank? A high-ranking hunter wouldn’t be working part-time in a place like this.’

Their feet were bound now, but most stun-type skills usually have a set time limit.

So this skill should wear off soon too.

‘Besides, that’s not all. We have potions too.’

The thief glanced at the potions stuffed in his clothes and pockets. They had recovery potions, but if they used paralysis or poison potions, they could take care of a part-timer like her in one go.

Using such items on ordinary people was a serious crime in itself, but having already committed theft, it wouldn’t matter if they didn’t get caught.

Having finished his calculations, the thief finally spoke:

“Yeah. We’re just customers! What do you think you’re doing? Release us right now!”

“So you are customers after all?”

Habin nodded with a smile, as if she had expected this. The thief angrily retorted, as if to prove a point:

“That’s right! So right now……!”

“Yes, then let me help you finish your purchase!”

As Habin gestured, the thieves’ outer clothes fluttered.

Whoosh-

“Huh, what?”

The potions peeked out from underneath.

Confirming this, Habin perched on the counter and said:

“Yes, as you can see, you’ve selected various types of mini potions for Awakened, which comes to about 74 million won. For details, scan the barcode here, and would you like to pay in cash or by card?”

“What? What are you saying now?”

“Do you have a membership or any carrier discounts?”

“What is this……!”

“I asked if you have any carrier discounts.”

“…….”

At that moment, the thief felt a chill run down his spine.

‘Is it just my imagination?’

When he looked up at the part-timer again, her face was more indifferent and nonchalant than anyone else’s.

Her gaze was already on her phone, her posture leaning on the counter with one hand, looking utterly bored.

“……I asked if you have any discounts, customer. Or will you be using gift certificates or gift cards?”

“…….”

“If you’re using a gift card, please show me the barcode on your phone.”

“…….”

The thief’s mouth clamped shut.

Originally, he had planned to act like a difficult customer to intimidate the part-timer, drag out time until the paralysis skill wore off, and then escape.

‘But why do I feel like something is going wrong?’

Why was the paralysis taking so long to wear off, and why was this part-timer so calm!

‘Does she really not think we’re thieves at this point?’

‘Seeing how she’s still asking us to pay, is she just naive or crazy?’

One of the thieves finally spoke up, as if in disbelief:

“……Are you stupid or just oblivious?”

At this point, they decided to try to escape the situation by intimidating and threatening her.

“Would you pay such a ridiculous amount if you were in our shoes? Would you?”

“Do you know who we are to be so fearless? Huh?”

“Aren’t you customers?”

Habin asked in the same calm tone, seemingly unconcerned. One thief answered in an exasperated voice:

“Ha, we’re not customers. You must not know much about this world, but we’re not just petty thieves, we belong to ‘Minor Patch’.”

‘Minor Patch……?’

It sounded like a strange name at first, but even Habin had heard it occasionally on the news.

A large, stateless criminal organization.

She had heard it was a large-scale criminal organization formed by criminal hunters after the Gate Crisis.

‘I thought Fides had worked hard to wipe them out and caught most of them. Were there still remnants left?’

“Well? Do you understand the situation now?”

Interpreting Habin’s silence as fear, the thief asked triumphantly. Habin slowly nodded.

“Yes. I understand the situation.”

‘That’s more like it. It wasn’t anything special after all.’

Just as the thieves were starting to show relieved expressions with slight smirks,

“Then since you’re not customers, the police station is that way! You thieves.”

Ding-a-ling-!

With Habin’s last words, the convenience store door swung open wide and a group of people rushed in.

“Everyone put your hands up! We’re from the Hunter Management Bureau!”

“We’re from the police station!”

Management Bureau agents with red spheres floating around them, seemingly loaded with suppression skills, and police officers aiming guns at them.

They rushed in instantly, subduing the thieves and putting handcuffs on them one by one.

Click, click, click!

“Are you alright? You’re the one who pressed the emergency alert button, correct?”

The emergency alert button.

Park Wondu had clearly explained it during the handover.

‘I’ve heard that crimes happen occasionally these days…… It probably won’t happen, but just in case of an emergency, press this bell and……’

‘I’m a diligent power-hider. I don’t ignore my friend’s pro tips.’

Habin had already pressed the button before confronting the thieves. All that talk about discounts and gift cards was just to buy time.

“L-let go! What are you doing?!”

The thieves, caught by the police and agents, struggled. They angrily protested, sounding wronged:

“Thieves?! This is unfair! We really came as customers! We just haven’t paid yet!”

“That’s right! That part-timer, she’s an Awakened! She threatened us with a sword! Check the CCTV, check it!”

“We could have just paid! How can you arrest innocent people like this? You’ll all be in big trouble!”

The thieves poured out excuses as if they had been waiting for this moment.

‘Ah, there’s still a way out!’

They hadn’t even left the convenience store yet. Fortunately, there was still room to insist they were customers.

Moreover, the part-timer was an Awakened.

Even if she was a weak Awakened, using force against people, not monsters, was a serious crime.

Even simple threats were treated as special threats under the Awakened Special Law, making it a severe offense.

‘How about that? This puts you at a bigger disadvantage!’

The lead thief glared at Habin with a scheming smile.

At those words, even the police officer who was putting on the handcuffs stopped and looked at Habin. She asked with a troubled expression:

“……Student, are you really an Awakened? Did you threaten these people?”

“…….”

Habin slowly took a step back. She lowered her eyebrows pitifully and spoke:

“What? What are you all suddenly saying…….”

A trembling voice that hadn’t appeared even when the thieves were intimidating her.

Her expression and attitude clearly showed she was an ordinary citizen to anyone who saw.

Yet, Habin took out the phone she had been holding all this time.

The phone she had been looking at with a bored expression no matter what the thieves said.

Tap tap.

She lightly touched the recording file there.

Then, the conversation they had just had started playing from the phone.

-……Would you pay such a ridiculous amount if you were in our shoes? Would you?

-Do you know who we are to be so fearless? Huh?

-Aren’t you customers?

“……!”

Watching the flustered thieves, Habin turned her head so only they could see and grinned.

The most important part was about to come. Habin turned the volume up to maximum so everyone could hear clearly.

-Ha, you must not know much about this world, but we belong to ‘Minor Patch’.

The thieves’ faces turned pale as they listened to the recording.

“N-no!”

“When did you record this!”

“Who are you?! What kind of person are you?!”

‘Hmm.’

What kind of person I am, that’s very important in this situation.

Ignoring the thieves’ cries, Habin turned to the police and Management Bureau agents.

She covered her mouth with both hands and added innocently:

“Sob, I’m just a kind and powerless part-timer……. These people threatened me…… Hic, boo hoo.”

“……!”