Bank Robbery

Early morning.

Kent Farm.

"Latest news from Smallville: around dawn local time, a large gasoline tanker overturned on the highway and caught fire."

"According to the local police investigation, the two deceased were the truck driver and a high school PE teacher. Reportedly, that teacher was a very good football coach."

Jonathan set down the newspaper in his hands and sighed. "Someone from town died again."

He didn't know whether it was just his imagination, but Jonathan always felt that someone in town died every so often, as if the place were under some strange curse.

At the dining table, Clark visibly froze when he heard Coach Watt's name.

Remembering that he had seen Jino last night, he had a bad feeling.

There was a good chance Coach Watt had been killed by Jino.

"I'm full."

Clark sighed, finished the peanut butter sandwich in his hand, slung on his backpack, and left the farm.

His mind was heavy with worries, for a simple reason.

Clark believed Coach Watt had been killed by Jino.

But Clark also believed Jino must have had a reason for killing Watt.

That was why Clark felt so conflicted. He wanted to tell his friend not to kill people so casually, but when he thought of what had happened with Gerry, Clark felt he had no right to demand anything of Jino.

Tossing his backpack into the passenger seat, Clark got into the driver's seat and started the SUV Jino had given him.

After that huge fight with his adoptive father, Jonathan had repaired the SUV in an attempt to ease the tension between them.

Clark could only say he had been lucky. That punch had destroyed the radiator instead of the engine.

Smallville.

Dream Bank was located in a yellow commercial building at the center of town.

Click.

The bank door opened, and Jino walked in with a red backpack on his back and a wicked grin on his face.

"Mr. Jino?"

The bank manager hurriedly hung up the phone in his office. The Luthor Family was a valued client of the local bank.

The chubby manager looked surprised at the boy's sudden arrival.

Normally, if Jino needed money, all it took was one phone call for the manager to arrange for someone to deliver it to him.

"What can I do for you?"

The manager beamed warmly, flashing his white teeth as he extended a hand in greeting.

"Mm, it's nothing much." Jino brushed back his hair and shook the manager's hand with a smile. "I want to close my account at this bank and withdraw the money."

"What?!" The manager's face filled with panic at Jino's words. "M-May I ask whether there's anything you're dissatisfied with about our bank?"

"Please, you must tell me. We'll definitely improve!"

The manager could hardly be blamed for his fear. If the bank's largest depositor left, his position as manager would be finished too.

"Do I need to explain what I do to you?" Jino frowned and stared coldly at the manager.

"O-Of course not."

The manager gave an awkward laugh, cursing his bad luck inwardly as he walked toward the counter. "How much would you like to withdraw?"

"Mm, all of it."

"All of it?"

The manager frowned as he studied Jino. "You have a full five hundred thousand dollars in your account. If you withdraw it all at once, you may not be able to carry it by yourself."

The smile on Jino's face stiffened slightly, and he stammered, "T-Then withdraw fifty thousand bucks."

The manager eyed Jino suspiciously, but his hands moved quickly as he took out the ledger. "Please sign here."

"Okay."

Jino scrawled his name crookedly.

The manager picked up the check, then glanced again at the handwriting Jino had left in the file thirteen years ago.

The former was crooked and messy; the latter flowed with bold, vigorous strokes.

Those two handwriting samples did not look like they had been written by the same person at all!

The manager narrowed his eyes slightly, his suspicions deepening.

He raised an eyebrow and fixed his gaze on Jino's face. "Mr. Jino, may I see your driver's license?"

Jino's expression stiffened at the manager's words, but then he smiled. "Of course."

His hand reached into his backpack, and the next second—

Whoosh!

Jino gripped a pitch-black American Iaido in his hand, his handsome face twisted with brutality. "Give me the money now! Immediately!"

"Bzzzz!"

Clark drove his SUV along the town roads. He had no idea how many times he had taken this road to school.

"Ring-ring-ring!"

A piercing alarm blared from the bank by the roadside.

"What happened?" Clark frowned and looked over.

He saw his friend Jino sprinting down the street with a red backpack in hand.

"Jino?"

Clark stopped his vehicle, blocking Jino's path. "What are you doing?"

Clark knew Jino well. Even if he were running, Jino would never be this slow.

"Get out of my way!" Jino glared at Clark, who was blocking the road, and shoved him hard with both hands.

Bang! Before Clark could even react, he was sent flying, smashing through the glass along the roadside. He landed rather awkwardly amid a cluster of mannequin models, staring blankly at Jino's retreating back.

Clark rubbed his eyes. The world around him turned black and white, and he saw a running skeleton. What astonished him most was that the bones had been soaked into a terrifying ink-green color, carrying the backpack farther and farther away.

Clark scratched his head, brushed the glass shards from his body, and muttered in confusion beneath the shop owner's murderous glare, "What was that?"

Smallville High School.

During the first indoor PE class.

The substitute teacher clapped his hands and urged them on. "Hurry up, climb!"

"Today's task is to climb up and then climb back down. Do that, and you've completed the assignment."

Several thick hemp ropes hung from above as the students followed the teacher's instructions, climbing to the highest point before coming back down.

The boys and girls were divided into two groups. Standing in line, Clark said worriedly to Jino, "Something strange happened this morning. I saw you rob a bank."

"Me?" Clark's words made Jino laugh. He pointed at his own face, then rubbed his temples. "I'm pretty sure today isn't April Fools' Day. That joke isn't funny."

He was the heir of the great Ziben Family, a second-generation rich kid in America. If he were in Korea, he could have been a chaebol. Why would he rob a bank?

Jino teased in a joking tone, "Maybe someone was impersonating me."

Yet after hearing that, Clark looked thoughtful. "Maybe someone really was impersonating you."

Clark moved closer to Jino and said mysteriously, "Jino, have you recently... had that happen?"

"What do you mean, 'that'?" Jino frowned and silently put some distance between himself and Clark.

"Uh, like discovering that you've awakened some new ability."

Clark moved close to Jino again and lowered his voice as he told him everything that had happened that morning.

"After I realized I'd gained an ability, I saw that person's skeleton was green, and it was much smaller than an adult man's. That impostor had disguised himself as you."

Interest appeared on Jino's face as he listened to Clark. "Green bones? That's kind of interesting."