"Senior, what are these cases for?" Jack asked Simon, putting the folder documents down the table as the translucent panels hovered over his eyes, before sinking onto his brain.
"Can we take credit for solving these cases?"
Simon leaned back on his chair, a lazy grin spreading across his face.
"Oh, those? You sure are ambitious."
"Ambitious, I just want to help." Jack smiled.
As if not believing him, Simon chuckled.
"Those are the public reports of supernatural phenomena in Division 12's jurisdiction which the company receives from the association here and then. Those cases are suspected to be awakener-related. Normally, we handle them, they're the only thing we usually do, but those are the cases that seems impossible to trace."
Jack kept a blank face and did not reveal his thoughts.
'Still, shouldn't they at least try? There's got to be a way to track them.'
He then remembered something he read.
"Why won't you ask for a collaborator in the HQ?" Jack asked.
Analysts were those employees who work behind computers telling those in the field with everything they need to make the mission a success.
But Collaborators were like employees of the company who while working for the HQ Building were more like independent contractors. They were also in the field, but instead of fighting other awakeners, they provide support such as tracing where their target awakeners actually were.
"Collaborators, huh." Simon laughed and shrugged his shoulders, "We also work with collaborators from time to time but…"
Simon pulled a piece of paper from his desk and pointed towards a certain part.
"The cheapest collaborator costs ten thousand credits. These cases?" He flicked through them, each flashing between 1,000 and 4,000 credits. "They barely pay half of that."
Yes, they were expensive.
As Simon said, Jack could see that.
The unsolved missions were all Rank F-D and if they were solved, they would only be rewarded around 1,000 to 4,000 credits.
While those 1,000 credits were already great profit for the poor people, it definitely wasn't worth it even if they hired even the cheapest collaborator. There also was the possibility that they might not even complete the mission, but since the collaborator had done their job, they have to get paid their worth.
Jack looked at the mission folders put into the archive and there were at least 50 folders. Those were just those in a single year and it wasn't even the middle of the year yet.
'If any of these really involved true awakeners, then that meant dozens of potential threats are being ignored.'
Jack couldn't help but frown.
"So we just… ignore them?" Simon, seeing his face, then interjected, to which Jack realized his slip-up and kept his composure again.
"Well," Simon gave a bitter laugh answering his own question, "Pretty much. This branch may look like a detective agency, but let's be honest—do you see any real detectives here?"
Jack almost smirked in mockery, but held it in.
Jack wanted to laugh, but tried not to.
In fact, he also had been wondering. Why use a detective agency as a cover if they don't even have the wits to do detective work? Was it just a cover up? But a cover up was useless if they don't do actual work.
No wonder this place don't seem to have any customers in years.
Simon smirked as if seeing through Jack's thoughts. "You can say it. It's true. We used to have more members. Good ones. But they were badly hurt in a case last year. One of them was—"
He froze mid-sentence.
Without warning, the sleepy team leader was suddenly behind Simon, but this time he was emanating an almost suffocating presence, catching the attention of everyone, and shutting Simon's talkative mouth.
After a brief, tense pause, the team leader's voice came.
"Do you want to solve those cases, newbie?"
Jack hesitated, then nodded. "Yes, Team Leader."
"Then you have permission. Solve it. Take as many as you want." His eyes softened for a moment. "But we don't have the funds for a collaborator right now."
He turned his gaze across the room. "David. Go with them. Make sure they're safe. They also have to experience something anyways."
David, who'd been listening straightened immediately.
"Understood, sir!" he said with a bright grin.
Jack just gave a faint, almost sarcastic smile. 'I don't mean to underestimate him. But David is still in high school. I can't believe a high schooler is my superior at work.'
Soon, Jack, Lucy, and David were standing in a quiet residential block. The air smelled faintly of detergent and fish sauce. Narrow streets lined with hanging laundry wound between stacked apartment units.
The first place they went to was the place of the owner of the cat.
The client, an old lady clutching a torn photo of her black cat, explained between tears that her pet "turned huge" and ran off two weeks ago.
"It's been two weeks! My Shadow… he just turned big like a monster and ran off!" she cried.
David crouched near a wooden fence, tracing deep claw marks along the planks. "These gouges… no ordinary cat could do this."
'Indeed, those marks looked more like that of a tiger.' Jack thought and activated his Appraisal.
[Appraising Area…]
[Claw marks.]
[Residual Energy Detected: Faint Awakener Signature.]
'Huh? This is the first time I've seen something like this. Does this mean its not a cat but some awakener did this? Or did the cat awaken if that's possible?'
Jack stayed silent and became suspicious of the grandma.
A faint blue glow shimmered across his eyes, illuminating the world in thin, glowing lines.
[Target: Non-Awakener]
[Name: Maria Roven.]
[Age: 80]
[Race: 20% Dwarven, 15% Gnome]
[Condition: Normal. Elevated heart rate due to grief.]
[No abnormalities detected.]
Unlike what Jack first assumed, the old lady was just that—an ordinary woman who lost her cat.
Listening in, he learned that this grandma also lived alone.
While David talked to the grandmother, he then turned his gaze around the area while the system lines flared faintly, forming invisible threads over objects.
He used his skill on broken flower pots, toppled bins, scratch marks, and even the gate lock as they all glowed faintly with blue outlines. He crouched, touching the ground where the old lady said she last saw her pet.
They stayed around the old lady's apartment for a while to ask, but unfortunately, they found no further hints linking who may have caused the strange incident.
While they were leaving the apartment through the hallways, Jack finally spoke. "Hey, can animals awaken too?"
David straightened, clearly thrilled to be the one answering. "Officially? No. Animals can't awaken naturally. But there are exceptions." Then he lowered his voice, as if it was some horror story.
"Some awakened clans can bond with animals. Others… experiment on them. There've been rumors of groups trying to artificially awaken animals, but there's no proof any succeeded."
Jack raised an eyebrow and remembered one of the webnovels he had read before. "So what, we've got a mad scientist turning cats into monsters?"
"Maybe!" David instantly replied, seemingly thrilled about the possibility.
'Is this guy really my superior?' Jack thought again.
Then he recalled what he'd learned these past few days.
Each human's DNA contained dormant ancestral genes from various races. Awakening simply unlocked the dominant one and if some instances, two or more, but very rarely.
For example, David's superhuman physique came from a dominant Vargan lineage. Lucy's ethereal looks and agility came from elven blood.
'Ruling out that this cat did not awaken… someone's ability must have triggered it, causing it to transform.'
"According to our client, it has been a week since her cat Shadow gone missing. Shouldn't it be time for it to return home?" David then commented.
"Well, I don't know much about cats, but maybe it can't come home or its already dead." Jack smiled.
"Older brother does say some scary things." David laughed.
But Jack was serious.
He crossed his arm and scanned the alley where the cat allegedly escaped onto. It matched the range of the quest marker in the map in his head. So, the hint of solving the mission was just in the neigborhood.
"The culprit's nearby. I can feel it." Jack declared, making the two surprised.
"How could you tell?" David asked.
"Just because. You can trust me." Jack said, trying to act like he has been like this the whole time.
Choosing to believe him, David then explained something.
"I was actually also interested in this case too when it first came in. There's a reason this case is cold. If it's caused by an awakening ability, then that means we have an awakened using his ability to turn ordinary cats to monsters in our hands."
"…"
"But that's the hard part. That's assuming we can even find an awakened hiding among civilians. Half of them aren't even registered." David said.
He wasn't wrong. Many awakened lived quietly among normal people, but others… used their powers for less noble things. That's why the Association, GH Security and other similar companies existed to deal with supernatural incidents beyond police jurisdiction.
Jack smiled faintly. "You're right. But unlike most, I have a bit of help."
He didn't elaborate. His System Appraisal allowed him to detect awakeners though it strained his eyes every time he used it.
An hour passed.
They canvassed nearby streets, questioned residents, and reviewed old sightings. And it turned out that it wasn't an isolated case. Prior to Shadow, there were actually similar cases of missing pets before. They also heard that some residents reported wild howls at night and saw deep claw marks appearing on walls.
By afternoon, they were drained but no closer to finding any answers.
The three stopped by a small canteen to eat. The scent of frying oil and garlic rice filled the air. Jack stepped up to the counter to order—when suddenly, his vision flickered.
Notifications flashed before his eyes.
[Detection Alert: Awakener Signature Found]
[Distance: 3 meters]
Jack froze. His gaze slowly lifted to the canteen owner who was a middle-aged man smiling politely as he handed over a menu.
His system glowed again.
[Target Identified: Joe Carlos]
Jack's pulse quickened.
He may have just found their first real lead.