Cops & Robbers.
A game where thieves must steal a jewel and escape, while the cops must capture every last one of them.
The six-member thief team, including Nael, had to first locate the jewel’s whereabouts.
And since Diah was still pretending to be on the thieves' side, that meant she had to do the same.
[ Let’s split up and find hints. Meet back at the park in 20 minutes! ]
[ Got it! ]
[ Yes, senpai! ]
"20 minutes at the park~."
With that, the thief team scattered across the map, searching for hidden hints.
They still had about ten minutes before the cops began their patrol.
So Diah made sure to move around in plain sight, making it very obvious that she was actively looking for clues.
She needed to convince the other thieves that she was genuinely searching.
After all, there wasn’t much else she could do until the cops started moving.
"Diamonds~. Emeralds~. Pearls~. Where are my beautiful jewels hiding~?"
But in reality, she wasn’t looking for jewel hints—she was looking for a contact item to meet up with the police.
Creeeak...
“...Ugh, another dud.”
None of the cops knew that Diah was the undercover officer.
All they had been told was that a mole existed somewhere among the thieves.
That meant Diah had to find the contact item, meet up with the cops, show her undercover badge, and start leaking information.
But since she had been monologuing loudly this whole time, she hadn’t exactly been subtle.
[ Oh! Diah-senpai! ]
And, as expected, Nael’s avatar immediately sprinted toward her.
[ Did you find anything, senpai? ]
"Oh, not yet. Nothing so far."
[ Me neither! ]
"?"
No matter where she went—to a three-story building, a fire station, even a hospital basement—Nael followed.
[ Diah-senpai, what’s in there? ]
"There’s a chest here, but it only has bread."
[ Bread? Oh, can I have some? My hunger bar is down to three hearts. ]
"Oh, really? Sure~!"
Wherever Diah’s avatar went, Nael was always within 20 blocks.
After handing Nael some bread, she suddenly heard an oddly emotional response.
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[ D-Diah-senpai’s bread...! I don’t want to eat it, it’s too precious! What do I do?! ]
"...I literally gave her 64 pieces."
Nael was now unintentionally keeping constant surveillance on everything Diah did.
Even when Diah tried to lose her with difficult parkour, Nael somehow kept up.
Dash!
Leap!
...Land!
"Nael! I’ll check this building, so why don’t you go—"
Dash!
Leap!
...Land!
[ Huh? What did you say? ]
"Uh... I was gonna tell you to check the red building, but...."
[ Haven’t we already searched most places? ]
"R-Right...?"
[ Yep! ]
And then, as if fate itself was toying with her—
[ Oh! Senpai! ]
"Hm? What?"
[ I found a Walkie-Talkie! But... what do we use this for? ]
The contact item Diah desperately needed to meet with the cops...
Had landed directly in Nael’s hands.
To put it bluntly, this was really bad.
"...What do I do?"
Nael’s avatar was bouncing excitedly in front of her,
clutching the one item she needed.
That meant Diah couldn’t just arrest Nael.
In other words, the only way for her to get the Walkie-Talkie...
Was if Nael gave it to her willingly.
Thinking quickly, Diah went through every possible excuse she could use.
"Na-Nael!"
[ Yes? ]
"Can you give that to me? I wanna play with it!"
In the end, she fully leaned into her one-year-old sprite roleplay.
It was common for little kids to play with toy Walkie-Talkies, after all.
Sure, she had met Nael twice in real life before.
And sure, Nael probably knew exactly what kind of person she really was.
But...
Slide.
[ Here you go! ]
"Thanks! Over-over, Nael, can you hear me? Over."
[ Over-over, I can hear you~. ]
There was no other way.
A little embarrassment was worth ensuring the game went smoothly.
Ding!
A bright red message flashed across the screen.
<BEEP BEEP! THE COPS ARE NOW ON PATROL!>
"Ah! Already?!"
[ W-We need to hide, senpai! ]
At the same time, Yuna’s voice, playing the role of a cop, echoed across the area as she passed by.
[ DIAH, COME OUT RIGHT NOW—!! IF YOU DON’T, I’LL SENTENCE YOU TO DEATH IMMEDIATELY—!! JUST TURN YOURSELF IN ALREADY—!! ]
“...Why is she only after me?”
[ G-Good question? ]
Making their way toward the designated meeting spot in the park, Diah casually tapped on her keyboard.
Then, without a hint of suspicion, she whispered to Nael as they ran.
"This feels like a horror game... since we don’t know when the cops might pop out."
[ Don’t worry! I’ll protect you, senpai! ]
"U-Um! Thanks~."
[ Oh, you two made it! ]
[ That means none of us got caught yet? Amazing~. ]
"The cops must suck at this game~."
Diah and Nael also shared their findings—though Diah, of course, only gave meaningless details.
[ I didn’t find a clue about the jewel, but I found something else. ]
"A different clue?"
Ocean, one of the second-gen members, spoke up, causing Diah’s virtual avatar’s pupils to shake violently.
[ There’s a spy among the cops working for us. The codeword is "pigeon" and "coo coo coo." ]
[ The codeword is pigeon? AHAHAHA! ]
"We have an ally among the cops, huh~?"
She couldn’t exactly join in—her job wasn’t to find the jewel, after all.
All she had to do was wait.
Wait for the police to read her message and ambush the park.
And so, she sat there nervously as time passed.
WEE-WOO WEE-WOO—!!
[ ARREST THEM ALL!! ]
[ FREEZE, EVERYONE—!! ]
[ AAHHH!! COPS!! RUN—!! ]
"...I thought they didn’t get my message for a second there."
As the police swarmed the park, Diah let out a small sigh of relief before running away with Nael, pretending to be a fugitive.
The ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) only problem was that Yuna, one of the cops, had completely ignored everyone else—
And was sprinting directly at her.
[ HEY!! DIAH!! STOP RIGHT THERE!! IF YOU KEEP RUNNING, I’LL OPEN FIRE!! ]
"Wh-Why is she always after me?!"
And so, Yuna's relentless chase began.
Diah once again used high-level parkour to leap between buildings, just like she had when trying to shake off Nael earlier.
Dash!
Leap!
...Land!
[ HEY, DIAH, GET BACK HERE!! ]
"Why should I~?"
From across the rooftop, Yuna hesitated, unable to make the jump Diah had just cleared.
Diah smirked and stuck out her tongue at her, rapidly crouching up and down to taunt her further.
With Yuna thoroughly distracted, Diah turned her attention to the other side of the rooftop—where Nael had been waiting.
"Shook her off!"
[ Really? Phew, that’s a relief~. ]
After regrouping, they decided to (pretend to) search for clues in a library-shaped building.
Impressed by its sheer size and design, Diah momentarily admired it before sending Nael to check the second floor.
At the same time, she discreetly tapped her keyboard.
Moments later, the sound of police sirens echoed through the area.
"W-Wow, they’re here...!"
But—
Whack!
[ GOTCHA, YOU’RE UNDER ARREST! ]
[ AAHHH!! ]
A cop tackled Nael, slapping handcuffs on her before dragging her out.
As Nael was shoved into a police car, Diah was about to slip away to stay undercover.
But then—
Ding!
[ Kawatori has donated 50,000 won! ]
: "Teabag Nael for 100,000 won."
"...100,000 won?!"
Without hesitation, Diah sprinted toward the police car.
Nael and the cop who had arrested her, Cream, both turned in shock at her sudden appearance.
"Look, look! See this? I’m police too!"
[ Ah, so you were the one who sent Nael’s location. ]
As Diah flashed her Undercover Cop Badge, Cream immediately understood the situation.
Nael, however, did not.
Which was why—
Aha-ha-ha.
"It was fun playing thief with you, Nael."
[ S-Senpai...? ]
"Now, take her away, Officer Cream."
[ W-Wait, no! No way! I gave you my walkie-talkie!! How could you do this?! ]
Only when she heard the slight shift in Diah’s voice did Nael finally realize—
She had been betrayed.
Not just for a moment—
But for the entire 30 minutes they had spent together.
But there was nothing Nael could do now.
All she could do was scream as she was locked inside the police car.
[ SENPAI, HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO MEEE—!! ]
"Life is war, thief!!!"
[ Kawatori has donated 100,000 won! ]
: "DIAH, YOU’RE TRASH LOL."
"Ah! 100,000 won donation! Thanks~~!"