Chapter 128
Chapter 128
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter Title: Cheerful Hill
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After simply washing up and stepping outside, Han and the villains were gathered together, drinking coffee.
They'd been making a huge fuss about the heroes storming in whenever that was, but seeing them act so relaxed now made me think these guys were still living pretty comfortably.
"You're here. Anis, have some cocoa too."
"...What are you doing?"
I asked in disbelief, and surprisingly, I got a perfectly normal answer.
"We've still got plenty of time."
It would take at least over five hours to drive from Central District to X District.
Even setting aside just the travel time, when you factored in prep for operations and such, the heroes probably wouldn't come charging in for another seven or eight hours.
Current time was 10 a.m.
By the time the heroes arrived, it would be late afternoon, when dusk was starting to fall.
No matter how much they traveled by car, a long haul like that wore down the mind and body.
Especially for rookie heroes facing a life-or-death battle.
In that situation, would the heroes really charge right in the moment they arrived?
Fighting magic beasts in the dark was nothing but a disadvantage.
Normally, they'd spend the night in W District and come storming in at dawn.
Han had started making plans assuming they had about a full day before the heroes showed up.
He set positions for the magic beasts and villains, and picked spots to lure the heroes in and start the fight.
"I was wondering where those kids on the front lines were and what the others were up to, but turns out they're all holed up in Central."
Han had sent Betty out on recon everywhere to gather intel.
Aselrika was still hanging back in Central, and the other veterans were too. All the heroes with any real skill were staying put in Central, not making a move.
What the hell, are these guys trolls?
Excluding Yoon Re-sol and Fergus, most of them were greenhorns I'd never even seen before. That said it all.
Were they that wary of Betty's magic beast drops?
No, even so, bunching all the veterans together in Central like that didn't make much sense.
Sure, numbers were one thing, but if the quality sucked, what was the point?
Were they looking down on us, thinking Yoon Re-sol and Fergus alone would be enough?
Either way, I got that Han's plan to "hold out" wasn't completely impossible.
"But Han, can you beat old man Fergus?"
I asked Han.
Assuming I could keep Han U-sol tied up, could Han—down to just one arm—really take Fergus?
Three years ago, when he had both arms fine, he'd gotten slammed into a wall.
The opponent looked so sloppy that needless worries bubbled up.
"That guy can't kill me anyway."
Pity and that flimsy thing called guilt.
Fergus owed Han a debt in his heart.
I didn't know how deep it ran, but Han said it with such conviction that I nodded for now.
"We'll act relaxed, but prep ahead of time. They might charge right in after all."
Han didn't completely rule out the heroes coming straight at us.
Sloppy as they seemed in places, the timing of their move screamed quick and decisive to anyone watching.
Han and I drank our coffee and cocoa a good distance away from the villains.
I took a sip of cocoa and glanced at the villains.
Even facing a battle where they might die,
the villains weren't showing much anxiety—instead, they were cracking jokes cheerfully.
"The fruits of hell training, huh."
I nodded in satisfaction.
My talent as an instructor was impressive.
"Who knows. They've always been somewhat indifferent to death. They fear dying like dogs, but not so much dying in a fight."
Because that's the lives they've lived.
Han added.
Lives at the rock bottom where every day was a life-or-death battle, and home was a warzone.
Don't fight, get weeded out.
Don't kill, get killed.
The neighborhoods villains lived in were way rougher than I'd thought.
No one you could trust, and letting your guard down meant betrayal.
Havoc like that.
Having clawed their way through that hell, maybe this battle would feel like just another day for them.
Hell, maybe even easier than back then.
Unlike before, now they had comrades they could trust.
"Anyway, it's thanks to me."
In the end, the one who made those trustworthy comrades was me, the one who'd trained and whipped them together.
Them staying calm before battle was basically my doing.
I'm amazing, after all.
I gazed at them proudly, and Han asked,
"You said you hated criminals, but you've grown attached already?"
"...No? Not really."
That pride deflated a bit at Han's snarky tone.
"Good, then."
Han tilted his coffee cup and continued.
"If any of them die, don't grieve. And don't get caught up in pointless emotions like revenge."
"I know."
"We brought them as expendables, so let them die as expendables. No matter what, by the world's standards, they're clear-cut villains. People who deserve death anytime, and it wouldn't be weird if they dropped dead."
"I said I know."
"Glad you get it."
Irritated by my response, Han nodded.
Why the hell did he keep harping on death?
Sure, battles meant deaths, but I wasn't planning to grieve. Revenge? Not even a speck.
No value in grieving or avenging them.
As Han said, they were just the villains my past self had suffered under and despised.
I'd never gotten attached to them in the first place.
I'd just gotten a bit too into whipping and training them because it was surprisingly fun.
So I nodded at Han's words like duh, obvious, while pretending to be annoyed.
"Same if I die. Don't grieve or avenge me."
But that expression froze at Han's next words.
"...What the hell? Don't jinx it."
"Exactly. I'm a clear-cut villain by the world's standards too, someone who deserves death anytime."
Just not to you.
That last bit felt bitterly cold, almost detached.
"So don't grieve if I die. Especially no revenge thoughts. Just think 'that guy who was gonna die someday croaked' and go your own way."
His red eyes looked at me as he said it.
The same expressionless face as always, unreadable.
He'd once ranted that this was where we belonged, but now he was drawing a line, telling me to go my way.
I'd always seen that face as just chill dummy vibes, but right now it pissed me off for real.
"...Whatever, you said this wouldn't be a tough fight. Who's dying where?"
"True, but you never know. In movies and novels, everyone says stuff like this before battle. Honestly, I've always wanted to try it."
And the ones who say that crap usually die, you twisted bastard.
I considered smacking him, but held back.
This stoic guy suddenly spouting battle clichés?
Total flag.
Anxiety surged, and I let out a big sigh.
Still, it was fine for now.
No fateful emotional line yet—the real flag-setter.
Good. No way that stoic Han would drop something that cringey.
If he did, I might cringe so hard my limbs go numb and punch him dead.
I snapped at him to shut that mouth.
"Just shut up already. You could stay quiet, why jinx it?"
"Just sorry and grateful, that's all."
"Fuck off."
-Thwack!
I smashed my fist into his jaw.
Full force, pretty serious.
-Thud.
Without even a yelp, Han crumpled unconscious.
[Hee hee.]
Someone's laugh echoed, sensing my anxiety.
"........."
I forced myself to calm down and suppress the unease.
...It'll be fine.
This isn't a novel.
-Tick.
Tock. Time ticked on, tightening around me, urging me.
Fanning the rising anxiety.
Like stripping away my feigned calm.
The more it did, the more I...
"Hey!! Bring me another cocoa!!"
"Y-Yes! Got it!"
The more...
cheerful.
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Yoon Na-rin, behind the wheel, gazed at the sky ahead.
The barrier was visible in the distance.
The one Han U-sol had personally set over X District three years ago.
"Daniel, you okay? Still scared?"
"A bit!"
Yoon Na-rin teased Daniel in the back seat now and then.
To ease his tension a little as he thought about his first battle.
"Person next to you turns into a corpse in a blink? Don't piss yourself looking at bodies~"
"That fucking gruesome joke—cut it out?"
Daniel recoiled in horror.
Joke, my ass.
Regrettably, Yoon Na-rin's words weren't a joke.
On the battlefield, people got shredded into corpses all the time.
Sadly, at some point, someone next to you dying had become no joke in this world.
Watching Daniel scratch his head and sigh via the rearview, Yoon Na-rin thought,
...Should've stopped him after all.
No matter that he'd volunteered—maybe she should've forced him back. A twinge of regret.
Leaning into the ride, sitting quietly for a bit, she felt a presence staring from afar.
A gaze piercing intensely from way out the window.
Invisible, but definitely watching them.
"........."
Glancing sideways, Han U-sol in the passenger seat had noticed too.
...Thought we wouldn't catch it, huh.
She could guess who.
Not even hiding their presence—or maybe oblivious. Blatantly spying from afar.
-Grit.
She wanted to jump out and beat them, but knew they'd escape if determined, so Yoon Na-rin clenched her teeth and floored it.
Time passed, barrier drawing nearer.
Yoon Na-rin said to everyone in the car,
"Get ready, all of you."
X District was almost here.