The Rogue, Genius, Chaebol's Daughter is a Baby Master Detective! - Chapter 2

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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A delinquent, a genius, and a tycoon’s daughter walk into a job—as a child detective!
Episode 2
Following Choco’s lead, they arrived at a dumpling tasting booth.
“Choco, you!”
So this was where you wanted to be all along?
She was about to puff out her cheeks in mock outrage when she spotted a woman with long hair in a beige skirt chatting on her phone in the distance—unmistakably Choco’s Owner.
Haru toddled over and tugged at the hem of the woman’s skirt with her small hand.
“Miss, did you lose Choco?”
Woof, woof!
Choco thrashed and squirmed free from Haru’s arms. The woman spun around so fast she dropped her phone from her hand.
“Choco!”
Choco bolted from Haru’s embrace and hurled herself at the woman, who scooped her up tight and sank to the ground.
“I thought I’d lost you forever….”
Choco’s Owner suddenly lifted her head to look at Haru. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying.
“How did you find our Choco?”
Haru thrust out her small chest proudly.
“Because Haru’s a Child Detective! And Choco helped too!”
The woman’s eyes went wide.
“…A Child Detective?”
Bark!
Choco wagged her tail and licked the woman’s cheek.
Haru’s Case Notebook
First Case Solved!
★You Did Wonderfully★
Good Little Detective Stamp [1/10]
Bang—a stamp imprinted itself in the notebook, and Haru’s mouth fell open in amazement.
“Oh my goodness, this little girl found the doggy?”
“How old are you? So smart!”
People began to gather around Haru.
Haru’s mind snapped to attention.
“Oh no!”
Mom had said she couldn’t let anyone find out she was a genius. But now she’d gone and forgotten all about Mom! Her heart began to pound for an entirely different reason. And then.
Drip.
Something warm trickled from her nose. She wiped it away with the back of her hand—it was bright red.
“My nose…a nosebleed?!”
“The child’s bleeding!”
“Does anyone have a tissue?”
The commotion swelled. Someone pushed through the crowd and swept Haru into their arms.
“Haru!”
“Mom!”
Jangmi hastily pulled out a handkerchief, pressed it to Haru’s nose, and shoved the little hat back down over her head. She held her wriggling daughter close and looked around. Quite a crowd had gathered.
“I’d love to thank you properly….”
“But the child has severe nosebleeds. I’m so sorry—we need to get going.”
“Of course, of course! Thank you so much….”
Before another word could be spoken, Jangmi cut through the throng and hurried out of A Mart.
And all the way home, she didn’t say a word, her face grim.
“Mom…”
Haru, sensing the tension, spoke quietly through the handkerchief pressed to her nose.
“I really, really was trying not to touch anything. But Choco just fell, so I had to catch her.”
Jangmi double-locked the front door and, without a word, led Haru to the bathroom to wash her face. As Haru sputtered and splashed, she kept chattering away.
“But something weird happened—I saw strange letters appear. And I could see Choco’s memories too.”
Jangmi froze, mid-wipe, the towel suspended in her hands.
“Do you know why you had a nosebleed today?”
Haru shook her head.
“Every time you use your Power, your body gets hurt. Do you want that to hurt again?”
Haru shook her head firmly.
“What did Mom tell you?”
“That if people find out about the Power, the bad guys will come and take me….”
Haru’s round eyes drooped. It was what Mom always said whenever she insisted on those gloves.
Was she a bad child now for not listening, destined to be caught by the bad guys?
Small fingers clenched tightly at the hem of Jangmi’s clothes. Her large eyes trembled with unease, tears beginning to well up and glisten.
“Haru did something wrong.”
Jangmi, gazing down at the round crown of the child’s head, exhaled softly and bent her knees.
“Are you going to use your power again?”
Haru shook her head vigorously from side to side.
“Will you take off your gloves?”
“No…”
“Promise Mommy with a pinky swear.”
Haru extended her hand and linked her pinky with Jangmi’s. Only then did Jangmi pull her daughter close. Reassured by the familiar scent, Haru nestled deeper into her mother’s embrace, moving slowly and contentedly.
***
That afternoon, a modest post appeared on an Internet Community.

So this woman lost her dog and was just crying, and everyone was staring at her, but then this tiny kid came tottering over carrying the dog and was like, “Is this Choco’s Owner’s dog?”
And the woman said yes, and asked how the kid knew, and was so grateful, but then the kid said she’s a child detective (ㅠㅠ) and that Choco told her where the owner was……
Isn’t that adorable though? But then suddenly the kid got a nosebleed and everyone freaked out
It seemed like something was wrong with her ㅠ
The kid’s mom’s face went pale and she ran off carrying the kid, and while it was sad, the kid was so impressive and kind, you know?
Being sick but still kind enough to find the dog’s owner, and still having that innocent faith that the dog spoke to her…ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
It was so cute that I only took a pic from behind so her face wouldn’t show
(Photo of a child from behind, holding a dog)

-The dog told her directly lol so cute… hope the kid feels better ㅠㅠ
-kids nosebleed a lot anyway so it’s prob no big deal
-dang look at those chubby cheeks so adorable
The otherwise ordinary post began to shift in tone after one particular comment.
-Isn’t this the episode from the Detective Dodo movie? lol there a dog loses its owner at a mart and asks the main character to find them
└wut so it’s fake?
-nah who would bother making something like this up lol
-the diagonal right side looks kinda blurry isn’t this AI generated?
-so someone really did have nothing better to do?ㄷㄷㄷ
Because the controversy over AI-generated images was then raging hot online, a post that would normally have died quickly began to blow up.
-Original poster: No it’s not fake why would I make something like this ㅠㅠ
└Even if it’s just a back view, you shouldn’t just take someone else’s photo and post it online like that
-The shadow here looks off no matter how I look at it I’m pretty sure it’s AI
-Wait, I think I saw this kid at the mart too. She looked like she was collapsed so I was staring, and there really was a kid who looked like that with a dog. When the kid touched the dog, there was this light coming from her hand, so I thought they were filming something and I left….
└I’d rather believe it was AI what
└light from her handㄷㄷㄷ
The uproarious post was eventually deleted not long after.
But there were people who watched the deleted page with grave attention.
Jangmi and a man.
***
Two small hands clad in gloves, cheeks soft and plump as glutinous rice cakes. Jangmi gazed intently down at Haru, whose slightly parted lips moved in sleepy mumbling, then turned off the light and carefully drew back the curtains.
Outside the window, all was still—not a soul passing by.
Jangmi picked up her phone and checked the screen she’d been refreshing repeatedly since earlier.
The eyewitness comment had vanished without a trace in less than a day. Jangmi hadn’t deleted the post herself. The odds were low, but they might have caught on.
This place was no longer safe.
“So there’s no other way after all.”
Jangmi bit her lip and pulled a box out from under the bed.
***
“You were at the mart yesterday. The child who found the dog—do you remember her?”
The Mart Employee recalled the adorable little girl holding the dog, puffing out her belly as she declared herself a child detective. His lips curled up naturally.
“Oh, that little one? She was so cute! But who are you?”
The man in the suit held out his phone instead of answering. The screen displayed a screenshot of the comment the employee had written the day before.
-Wait, I think I saw this kid at the mart too. …when the kid touched the dog, there was this light from her hand…
“Did you write this comment directly?”
“Yes. But it got deleted all of a sudden…. This tiny kid’s hand was literally glowing, I’m telling you? You don’t believe me, right?”
“I do.”
“Huh?”
The Mart Employee blinked. The man in the suit drew a photograph from his jacket pocket and handed it over.
“The woman who was with the child—is this the person?”
“Wait, that’s definitely her! The one who disappeared in a flash when the kid’s nose started bleeding. But then why…?”
“Here, please accept this.”
The man handed over a thick envelope.
“It’s a reward.”
“What? This… this much?”
“As of today, you’ve seen nothing. No strange light, no woman, no child.”
“Oh, yes! Don’t worry! Nobody believed me anyway. Haha!”
The man stepped out of the mart and raised his phone to his ear.
“Target confirmed. As expected, Jangmi is protecting her.”
A low voice flowed from the other end of the line.
“Prepare for retrieval.”
***
“Haru.”
Someone gently shook Haru’s shoulder. She rubbed her eyes and sat up.
“…Nngh?”
Still rubbing her eyes with her small hands, Haru suddenly went rigid. Something felt wrong. The glow-in-the-dark star stickers she’d so carefully plastered everywhere were gone, and the window had thick curtains instead of the flowing gauze ones she remembered.
This wasn’t Haru’s room.
“W-where is this? Did Haru get kidnapped!”
Haru bolted upright and threw her arms tightly around Gomi.
Soft laughter rippled down from above her head.
“That’s right, I’m the kidnapper!”
Suddenly wrapped in an embrace, she caught a familiar scent.
“…Mom?”
“While you were sleeping soundly, we did a secret move.”
“A secret move?”
“Mm-hmm. A child detective needs a secret base, doesn’t she?”
At the words “secret base,” Haru’s eyes flew open. Clutching Gomi, she trotted through the apartment like a detective.
“Wow!”
Her toothbrush was here, the picture book she read every night before bed was here, even her beloved Detective Dodo Magnifying Glass was here!
When had Mom moved all this? Haru thought back to the Ultra Woman show she’d seen on TV. Was Mom perhaps…?
In that moment, Jangmi’s voice grew serious.
“Haru, listen to what Mom says.”
The sudden shift in tone made Haru tense.
“From now on, your father will raise you. Mom has to go away for a while.”
Haru’s eyes widened.
“But Haru’s father is dead.”
“No, he’s alive. Mom was mistaken.”
“Huh?”
Jangmi cupped Haru’s cheeks in her hands.
“Dad will come for you. You wanted to have a dad, didn’t you?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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