Chapter 2: No One Was Harmed
This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation
The sun had begun its slow descent, painting the city’s skyline with pale gold light that stretched between the soaring buildings. Yet deep inside the Old City, where tall structures pressed in close and the light grew thin, the narrow alleys had already fallen into an early gloom.
Here, the air was damp and slightly chilly, quite unlike the dry warmth that lingered outside the alley’s walls. Small bits of ice, not long melted, lay wedged in the cracks of the old brick pavement, odd little clues hinting that something peculiar had happened not so long ago.
Within these tight spaces, a group of shadows slipped between the buildings. They moved without a sound, sailing over ledges and landing in corners as if they weighed nothing at all. Soon they began to take shape, trembling as they gathered together, forming into wolves made of shifting darkness. These wolf-shadows sniffed the ground, prowling and circling the spot as if tracking a scent. At last, the one at the front lifted its head and released a long, eerie howl that rose into the dusky air.
“Awooo—”
“Bang!”
A stone arced out of the darkness and struck the wolf square on the head. The howl broke off in mid-note. From the shadows of a nearby building, a sharp voice scolded, “Oh, be quiet! No howling in the city—and don’t you dare try barking like a dog either! Humans aren’t stupid, you know. They’d never mistake you for a dog.”
The wolf-shadows whimpered faintly, lowering themselves in obedience. Out of that same darkness stepped a young girl who looked no older than sixteen or seventeen. She wore a black skirt and a jacket of deep red. Although her face held a calm, grown-up expression, a single stubborn strand of hair stood straight up from her forehead, giving her a slightly mischievous appearance. Without a second glance at the wolves, she walked past them and knelt beside the motionless body of a man lying near the alley’s edge.
For a moment, her face clouded over as she examined the corpse. One of the wolf-shadows edged closer and let out a soft growl, as though passing some secret information to her.
“…The smell of rain?” the girl murmured quietly. She frowned, tilting her head toward the sliver of sky above. It had been clear for days, and even now, with evening creeping in, not a single cloud drifted overhead. The pale light between the tall buildings gave no hint of any storm. After a pause, she lowered her gaze to the gruesome wound in the man’s chest and whispered to herself, “Rain… heart… a frog’s stench…”
Just then, the cheerful ring of a phone cut through the silence—an old TV show’s opening theme. The short-haired girl reached into the small pouch at her waist and answered before the catchy tune’s monkey character could jump for the fourth time.
“Hello, who is this…? Oh, yes, it’s me,” she said briskly, pressing the phone closer to her ear. She waved a hand, signaling the wolf-shadows to stay on guard. Sighing softly, she stepped away from the body. “I’ve arrived. My wolves picked up something strange around here, but we were too late. Whoever caused this is long gone.”
She looked back at the corpse and sighed again. “It was ‘the Rain,’ I’m sure of it. A manifestation of the ‘Rain Frog,’ but it only affected a single person. Very unlucky—a personal rainstorm just for him. By the time I got here, it had ended. The depth here is back at Level L. ‘The Rain’ has broken away from the Boundary.”
She paused, listening carefully to the voice on the other end of the line, her eyes drifting thoughtfully over the scene. Then, after hearing whatever instructions came next, she spoke again, her voice matter-of-fact. “Yes, you’d better send medical personnel to collect the body. No one could survive ‘the Rain Frog’ on their own—his heart’s missing, after all… Mm-hmm, I’m staying here for now. Don’t forget to count this as overtime.”
The voice on the phone grumbled at that, but the girl had no patience left. She cut the call short with a few curt replies. With another heavy sigh, she returned to the corpse, beckoned one of the wolves to lie down, and settled onto its broad, shadowy back. Propping her chin in her palms, she watched the body in silence.
“Poor fellow,” she murmured softly. “I wonder if you had family. It must have been lonely to die here, like this. I’ll keep you company a while. It must have been cold, dying under that strange ‘Rain.’ Too bad I’m not that girl with the matches—maybe I could warm you up for the journey.”
She fell silent, and time slipped by. Soon, she caught the distant growl of an engine from around the street corner. It was a rumbling, rattling noise, as if a heavy truck were dragging a metal container over bumpy ground with logs crackling in a fire beneath it. Even the wolf beneath her stirred nervously, though it didn’t manage to jump up with her sitting there.
The girl turned her head, watching as a battered, worn-out van rolled over the speed bumps at the alley’s entrance. It shuddered along, looking like some relic from an old era, and finally came to a wheezing halt. A group of men dressed from head to toe in black tactical gear—armed with shiny, state-of-the-art weapons—piled out. Without a word, they immediately began pushing the clanking vehicle from behind, trying to coax it a bit farther.
A middle-aged man in a brown coat stepped out next. He had tanned skin and a strong, sturdy build. Following him came a young woman in a white dress, her long brown hair falling neatly down her back. Both of them threw annoyed glances at the men straining to push the van, then made their way toward the girl and her wolves.
The short-haired girl tilted her head and muttered, “Really, can’t you lot get a better vehicle? The Special Ops Bureau can’t be that poor. Just one of your agents’ fancy gadgets must cost more than a new van.”
“Shh!” The sturdy man in the brown coat raised a hand quickly, looking around as if afraid someone might overhear. He lowered his voice. “Don’t say that out loud. You don’t understand. The Special Ops Bureau is… complicated. We’re stuck with this old thing. Today it’s just… having a bad day. Replacing it isn’t an option.”
The girl shrugged, clearly uninterested in the Bureau’s inner troubles. She turned to the woman in the white dress. “Good evening, Dr. Lin. Been a while.”
“Good evening indeed, though I suppose it’s more like ‘good night’ by now,” Dr. Lin replied gently, a quiet smile on her lips. Her lips were thin, giving her a controlled, measured sort of look. “How’s that injury from last time, Little Red Riding Hood?”
“Pretty much healed,” answered the short-haired girl, who was apparently called Little Red Riding Hood. She flexed her right wrist a bit and added, “Wolves heal quickly, you know.”
“Humans heal even faster, though they usually try not to get injured in the first place,” Dr. Lin said, sounding faintly amused.
“…Oh,” said Little Red Riding Hood, a bit absently. Deciding to move on, she pointed to the corpse on the ground. “Anyway, have a look at him. A man, probably in his twenties. The Rain Frog took his heart. Time of death is about two hours ago. I haven’t touched anything, so the scene’s as it was.”
She narrowed her eyes at Dr. Lin, curious. “Did you really come all the way here because you think you can save him? Not even you can bring back the dead, right?”
Dr. Lin shook her head, kneeling down beside the body. “I’m no god. I just wanted to take a look. I live nearby, that’s all.”
Dr. Lin examined the corpse carefully, not just the wound but the man’s clothes and pockets. Eventually, she pulled out an ID card. “His name was Yu Sheng,” she announced quietly. “Twenty-four years old, address listed as Old City District, Wutong Road.”
She held up the ID, comparing the photograph to the pale face before her. Then she looked back at the sturdy man, who seemed to be some sort of captain. “Captain Song, you’ll need to contact his family through the Bureau,” she said.
Captain Song nodded, glancing at the ID. He scowled. “Why’s the photo so blurry?”
Curious, Little Red Riding Hood leaned closer. The ID photo was indeed smeared with a grimy, grayish-black smudge that made the face impossible to see. The name and number were also difficult to read under the odd stain.
Dr. Lin tried wiping the card clean with her fingertip, but the dirt refused to budge. It was as if it had merged with the plastic surface, blotting out the information entirely. “Can’t even make out his face,” said Little Red Riding Hood. “We’ll have to scan the chip when we get back.”
Captain Song shook his head, disappointed. “What a pity. If we had a clear ID, it’d be a good start. We’re short on clues as is.”
Dr. Lin glanced at the bloodstains on the ground. Most had been washed away by the peculiar “Rain,” leaving little evidence behind. “…No body to identify properly, and the trail is washed clean. It won’t be easy to figure out what happened here.”
Little Red Riding Hood listened quietly, lost in thought. Suddenly, as if remembering her manners, she looked up again at Dr. Lin and said, “Good evening, Dr. Lin.”
Dr. Lin smiled politely. “Good evening, Little Red Riding Hood. How’s the patrol going?”
Little Red Riding Hood reached out and patted one of the shadow wolves by her side, smoothing its dark, trembling fur. “There was ‘Rain’ here, possibly a Rain Frog manifestation, but it doesn’t look like anyone else was harmed.”
Dr. Lin seemed relieved at that. “That’s good news.”
Nearby, the van’s engine coughed and finally roared back to life. The sound grumbled through the alley, and the black-clad men circled back toward Captain Song and Dr. Lin, breathing heavily from their efforts.
One of the men stepped forward, looking worn out. “Captain Song, the van’s started up again. Should we…?”
Captain Song nodded and turned toward his team. “Yes, let’s head back to the Bureau. And don’t forget, we’re taking Dr. Lin with us.”
Ohhh? Cognitive change?