n

n

nWoojin lowered himself into the hot springs and looked up into the night sky. He was here to protect Amaterasu, but he wasn’t sure when she would be attacked. He had prepared what he needed in Japan and asked Hwang to find someone he needed to meet, but he had not gotten a reply yet. Bihyung, who was already soaking in the hot springs, asked, “What are you thinking about?”

n“We’ll be staying here for a while, so I was wondering what I should do while we’re here.”

nBihyung placed his sake bottle down and turned to Woojin.

n“Hey, relax. You act like you bear all the burdens of the world. Take a rest while you can. You need to be rested so that you can run again when the time comes.”

nWoojin felt what Bihyung said was true. He felt like he was shouldering all the burdens of the world. He knew that what Mago said was the fall of the future that he knew. He had to be prepared for everything in order to stop it from happening. Bihyung continued, “For now, we’ll focus on protecting Amaterasu.”

n“Yeah.”

nSaving Amaterasu was one of the crucial pointsin order to change the future. Woojin got up and Bihyung looked up at him.

n“Are you going out?”

n“Yeah. I’ll be in my room.”

nHe returned to his room and called Hwang.

nYou’re in such a hurry! It’s not been that long.

n“How did it go?”

nWhere are you right now?

n“I’m in Japan.”

nLet me see… it’s a hacker you were searching for? Code name… Raccoon Man?

n“Yeah.”

nI have his location — he’s in Tokyo. I’ll send you the address by text.

n“Thank you.”

nHe read the address that arrived through text message and smiled.

n“He’s still there.”

nWhen Omikami returned with Miho from the hot springs, they found Woojin standing in front of her room. Woojin was taken aback by the beauty of the two ladies.

n“What brings you here?”

n“Do you know where Tsukuyomi and Susanoo are right now?”

n“They are not in Tokyo. I am looking for them right now.”

n“Then I’m going to Tokyo.”

n“You are going to Tokyo?”

n“I have a friend there.”

nMiho was surprised and asked, “You have friends?”

nWoojin eyed Miho coldly as she laughed awkwardly.

n“I’m going there alone.”

n“Alone? Why don’t you take Miho with you? Bihyung will be enough to help me get away if anything happens.”

nWoojin hesitated a bit, but he then nodded.

n“I’ll do that.”

n“Yay!”

nOmikamo went into her room and came out with a car key.

n“Take my car.”

n“Thank you.”

nMiho got changed and met Woojin at the parking lot, next to a Lamborghini Uracan that was parked there. Miho jumped into the driver seat excitedly as Woojin got into the passenger seat.

n“Where are we going?”

nWoojin typed an address into the navigation.

n“Go there.”

nMiho then started the car and as she began to drive, she asked, “Who are you going to meet?”

n“He’s a hacker.”

n“Hacker?”

n“Or maybe, an Avatar who wants to be a hacker?”

nMiho became confused. There were a lot of Avatars and Japan especially had a lot. So it wasn’t weird for there to be some unique Avatars, but it was quite unbelievable that an Avatar would be a hacker.

n“That’s interesting. An Avatar hacker?”

nWoojin laughed. Avatars usually hired professionals to hide their information, but the hacker they were going to meet was the one who had hacked all that in the past. He used a nickname, Raccoon Man. He was very helpful in the past so Woojin figured he should seek his help again.

nMiho smiled as she began to speed up.

n“I guess she won’t mind some tickets, right?”

n“Yeah. It’s Omikami, she’ll take care of it.”

n“Yay!”

nMiho then stepped on the gas. Woojin knew that such speed wouldn’t kill him but still felt his hair rise as Miho drove recklessly through the streets.

nIn Akihabara, they stopped at the Washington Hotel and Woojin turned to Miho.

n“Let’s pretend we’re visiting. Take care of anyone who recognizes us.”

n“What were you going to do if you didn’t come with me?”

n“Charge in?”

nMiho shook her head and grabbed Woojin’s arm. Woojin was slightly surprised, but he calmed himself and began to move. Miho smiled.

n“It’s been a long time since I’ve visited a hotel with a man.”

n“Stop joking.”

nWoojin snapped as he saw an employee looking at them in confusion. Miho grinned.

n“He got us. I guess he remembers every guests’ face?”

nThe employee tried to walk up to greet them, but Miho shook her head slowly and the man flinched and returned to his position.

n“Did you hypnotize him?”

n“I think you know me better than I do.”

nWoojin laughed and they got on the elevator. They took it to the 9th floor and Woojin went to the room at the far corner. Miho looked at him and Woojin nodded before knocking.

n“Who is it?

nA calm voice came from the inside. Woojin felt extremely happy to hear that voice again.

n“Room service.”

n“I didn’t ask for anything.”

nIt was a cold answer. Woojin smiled as he grabbed the door handle and pushed. The door latch broke, and Woojin barged in. A man wearing large glasses ran straight toward the window, but Woojin was much faster. He quickly blocked him with his arms open wide. The man stopped and swiveled his head around. Miho aimed her Desert Eagle from behind.

n“You better stay still.”

nThe man glanced behind him, sighed, and asked Woojin, “Why are you doing this? Who are you?”

n“Raccoon Man, right?”

nThe man flinched. It seemed that he hadn’t changed from the past.

n“What do you mean? My name is Ryota.”

n“Or, should I say… Ryota, the Avatar of Bake-danuki. Code name, Raccoon Man?”

nRyota frowned. If the man knew that much, there was no use in denying it. He walked to the chair and sat down. He pretended to be calm but Woojin was able to see that his hands were trembling.

n“I’ll hear you out then.”

nWoojin brought a chair for himself and sat in front of Ryota.

n“I need your help.”

n“My fee is expensive.”

n“I know.”

nRaccoon Man was a top hacker. He didn’t actually work for money as he only took jobs to fill his curiosity.

n“I need to find some people.”

n“Then you’ve got the wrong guy. Why don’t you use the police? I see that you two are powerful Avatars.”

n“I wouldn’t have come here if I could find them with the police.”

n“Are you looking for Avatars?”

nWoojin nodded. Ryota became slightly interested.

n“I’m not sure if you know this, but Avatars are not good with computers.”

n“Yeah.”

n“So they don’t leave that many traces on the internet, simply because they don’t use it.”

n“I came to you because you are the only one who can find them.”

nRyota seemed to regain some confidence in Woojin’s words.

n“As I said, my fee is expensive.”

n“I’ll pay whatever the price you say if you can find them.”

n“What information do you need?”

n“First, I need the location of Tsukuyomi and Susanoo.”

nRyota’s eyes bulged out in shock.

n“You want who?”

n“Tsukuyomi and Susanoo.”

n“W-why are you looking for them?”

n“Because I need them.”

n“Hmm…”

nHe became hesitant as those two were very powerful beings. Woojin smiled and put his arm around Ryota’s shoulder.

n“Grab your laptop. We have to meet someone.”

n“Who?”

n“Someone who will watch your back.”

nRyota gulped loudly. It seemed like he had no way to escape from Woojin. Yet, he was also interested. It was surprising that he wanted to look for Tsukuyomi and Susanoo, but he would provide a person who could watch his back while he looked for them?

n“Okay, I’ll go. Can you release me?”

nWoojin took back his hand and Ryota quickly packed up his stuff.

n“Let’s go.”

nWoojin then got out and frowned. Their car was a two-seater. Miho smiled, “I don’t plan on having him sit on my lap.”

n“You drive.”

nWoojin then got on the car and made Ryota sit on his lap. Miho laughed and started the car.

n“Let’s go as fast as you can.”

n“Don’t worry.”

nMiho began to drive and they headed back to Hakone. Soon, they were at the ryokan.

n“Where did you go off to?” Bihyung asked as Woojin and Miho got out from the car. Woojin smiled.

n“Anything happen?”

n“Nah. Who is that guy?”

n“He will be our eyes.”

nRyota flinched when he saw Bihyung.

n“B-Bihyung?!”

nBihyung’s eyebrows narrowed.

n“You know me?”

n“N-no. I saw you in some articles…”

n“Articles? I don’t think there are a lot.”

nBihyung was confused and Omikami appeared from behind.

n“You’re here? Who’s that?”

nRyota froze and stuttered, “A-amaterasu-s-sama?”

n“Huh? You know me?”

nRyota quickly ran up to her, grabbed her hand, and rubbed it on his cheek. Woojin and Bihyung were all shocked. He was really fast, but there was no sense of hostility which made Woojin and Bihyung forget to react.

n“It’s an honor! I am Ryota, Avatar of Bake-danuki!”

nOmikami laughed awkwardly and looked at Woojin. He answered with a smile.

n“He’s our new teammate.”

n