“Who’s this now? That tiny thing your boyfriend?”
Guru took a deep breath and then shouted as she exhaled.
“Move it, you piece of crap!”
“What?!”
“Let’s go!”
“Hey! Stop right there!”
Guru yanked Wooju’s arm and took off running, dodging the furious, red-faced Delinquent Toad.
“Let’s go to the teacher!”
The Delinquent Toad started chasing after them.
Just for a little while, just until they could gather proof, they planned to stay under the protection of an adult.
‘The entrance!’
Guru and Wooju slowed down as they reached the spot where the other kids had gathered.
Beyond the murmuring crowd of children, two towering adults came into view.
‘Huh?’
Guru and Wooju’s mouths dropped open at the unexpected sight.
The pickpocket, Princess Saurus, was standing there, talking to the supervising teacher. She seemed to be explaining something while pointing at the restroom and the group of gathered kids.
‘They’re in cahoots?!’
This was bad.
Wooju and Guru instinctively took a step back.
“Little friends! It’s time to gather now! You need to line up here at the back.”
Gulp.
Guru swallowed dryly.
‘Adults... really might not be trustworthy...’
The swamp of distrust slowly began creeping up again.
‘We need to buy time until we can get proof, but how?’
The plan Guru had explained to Wooju was as follows:
The pickpocket had realized they’d been caught, so once they snapped out of their panic, they’d come after them.
In the meantime, they’d seek protection from the adults and explain the situation.
But here was the problem.
According to Wooju, the adults wouldn’t believe them.
And Wooju had a point.
In Guru’s not-so-short life experience, she had learned this firsthand. Very few adults took the words of 4- ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ or 5-year-old kids seriously.
They’d probably just assume this was some sort of role-playing game about catching a thief.
But time was of the essence—there was no room to convince the adults that this wasn’t a game.
If they wasted time pleading for the adults to believe them, the pickpocket could just hide the stolen items elsewhere. Then both the thief and the stolen goods would be gone for good.
So, what was the solution?
‘Show them the proof!’
If they presented the stolen items right in front of everyone, even the most skeptical adult would have no choice but to believe them.
That was why they had rushed to the supervising teacher—to explain the situation and, in the meantime, use an item to retrieve the evidence.
But...
‘They’re on the same side?!’
They were screwed.
‘We need to find another adult, fast.’
Guru darted her eyes around and locked onto an elderly woman.
‘Should I ask that grandma for help?’
She hesitated, glancing between the woman and the supervising teacher. Meanwhile, Princess Saurus and the teacher were clearly eyeing them.
What should they say? How should they explain this? Guru anxiously tapped her feet.
“Little one, who’s the friend beside you?”
The teacher’s voice rang out. The woman with the scar on her lip turned her head toward them, slowly.
‘Ack!’
They had to run!
Just as Guru was about to dash toward the elderly woman—
Wooju suddenly took off his hat and flashed a bright grin.
“Teacher! The two of us found an amazing treasure in the bathroom!”
His voice rang out confidently, taking the lead in the conversation.
The pickpocket and the teacher both stiffened in surprise.
The teacher glanced at Wooju, then at Princess Saurus, whose eyes widened. The silent exchange between them confirmed it—Wooju really had overheard their plan in the bathroom.
The teacher stepped toward Wooju.
“Really? And what kind of treasure would that be?”
“Well, the treasure is...”
Wooju raised his voice even louder, his words deliberately carrying across the space to draw attention.
The effect was immediate.
As the kids recognized him, murmurs quickly spread.
“Huh? That’s Seo Wooju!”
“No way, really?”
“Seo Wooju from The King and the Falling Star?”
Even the spectators in the area began to shift their focus toward Wooju.
“That’s right, it’s me.”
Wooju beamed, basking in the sudden wave of attention.
The pickpocket and the teacher were visibly shaken by this unexpected turn of events.
‘The King and the Falling Star?’
For a moment, Guru was distracted by the title of the massively popular drama. Meanwhile, Wooju flashed a pretty smile at her, his narrowed eye silently asking, Not yet?
“Alright, alright, little friends! Get in line properly! Line up!”
The supervising teacher hurried to calm the kids down, eager to escape the growing commotion. If too many people were paying attention, there’d be no way to silence potential witnesses.
Guru anxiously stared at the restroom.
Hurry, hurry!
The Grabber-Grabber and the cart were still inside.
The range had already been set earlier, so all that was left was for the Grabber-Grabber to open the water tank and transfer the stolen goods into the cart.
Then, the cart would automatically roll its way back to Guru.
The only problem was that she couldn’t monitor the process in real-time.
“Hold on, everyone. Wooju has something to say to the teacher. Wooju, it’s too noisy here. Why don’t we move somewhere quieter?”
“Where to?”
“Anywhere. You have something to discuss with the teacher, don’t you?”
The supervising teacher gripped Wooju’s wrist tightly—painfully so. Wooju’s lips trembled as he bit down, his eyes turning cold.
Wooju’s being taken away!
At that moment, Guru, still focused on the restroom, sprang into action.
“Oh! Wooju’s trea. sure. is riiiight. over theeeere!”
Guru’s voice rang out stiffly, like a kid reading a textbook word by word.
Wooju, horrified by her acting, turned to stare at her. But Guru simply smirked, looking as if she had just pulled off an award-winning performance.
Then—
From the restroom, a small children’s cart rolled out on its own, wobbling along.
The supervising teacher and the pickpocket both turned their heads toward it. Inside the cart, a zipper bag filled with stolen valuables sat in plain view.
“That!”
Even the Delinquent Toad and his gang reacted at the mention of treasure, their heads snapping up.
“Treasure?”
That cart was the same one the little chickpea had been dragging around earlier. A sly grin spread across the Delinquent Toad’s face as he bolted toward it.
The pickpocket and the supervising teacher also lunged for the cart.
Their hands stretched forward, aiming for the stolen goods.
Guru and Wooju simply watched, like spectators at a show.
Then, just as all three of them touched the cart—
[‘Red Light, Green Light’ has been activated.]
[Any organism that makes contact without the user’s permission will be afflicted with ‘Paralysis’ for 30 minutes.]
R𝑒ad latest chapt𝒆rs at freewebnovёl.ƈom Only.
The moment their hands landed on the cart, Princess Saurus and the Delinquent Toad froze stiff—completely immobilized.
“It actually worked?!”
Wooju gawked in disbelief, while Guru proudly placed her hands on her hips.
This is how an S-rank crafting hunter catches a thief.
She had designed the trap to prevent the cart from being stolen, but who knew it would come in handy like this?
As the three paralyzed figures stood motionless like statues, murmurs began to spread through the crowd.
“What’s wrong with them?”
“Teacher, look! The dinosaur’s acting weird!”
The Delinquent Toad’s gang surrounded him in a panic, their voices rising in confusion.
Even the security guards, sensing something was off, began approaching while radioing in. The growing commotion drew in more and more spectators.
Guru, still holding Wooju’s hand, squeezed through the crowd and approached the cart step by step.
She planned to take out all the stolen goods and present them as evidence—exposing the truth about this dinosaur-costumed thief.
But then—
Her feet suddenly lifted off the ground.
Before she could react, someone had picked her up.
“Huh?”
****
...A second wave of magic energy?
On Jurim tapped his armrest as he gazed up at the ceiling.
The first burst of magic had belonged to Guru.
Given how seriously she took treasure hunts, it wasn’t surprising—her backpack had been stuffed with various items before she left.
But feeling another presence immediately after hers... That was concerning.
The security guards, all of whom were hunters, naturally came to mind.
Jurim glanced at his watch. No emergency alerts had come through yet.
Just then, a nearby man started shouting over the phone.
“What do you mean Gyu-han suddenly stopped moving?! What the hell are you talking about?! No, stop making excuses and explain it properly!”
Even though no call had come in for him, Jurim made a swift decision.
He shut his book and peeled off the sensory-dampening patches.