#41 The Villain's Method (1)
"This is gonna be tough."
I clicked my tongue. Judging by how things were going, Congressman Kim Seongdeok looked like he'd slip away scot-free again this time.
"You still tried your best, though."
━Isn't Do Chae-hee your enemy? You're oddly complimentary.
I didn't hate Do Chae-hee all that much.
As Nam Juhyeon had put it so bluntly, her vision was narrow, her stubbornness excessive, and she was as dense as a wall, but she threw herself into the fight for justice without a second thought for her own well-being.
Do Chae-hee was incompetent. But that wasn't entirely her fault.
Why? Because this battle was one she could never win from the start.
Do Chae-hee was playing chess against an opponent who had no knights, no bishops, no queen.
Her foe could do anything to win, but Do Chae-hee couldn't break a single rule. Winning in such an unfair fight was next to impossible from the outset.
"Even Park Cheol-wan, who's spent his whole life by her side, isn't on her team."
━That Park Cheol-wan guy... is he...?
"Brainwashed by Seol Rokjin? Nah, nothing like that. He just chose his side. Live righteously and end up a corpse, or be a cowardly bystander but survive—he picked the latter."
As Nam Juhyeon said, Park Cheol-wan had risen to deputy chief because he was a coward who ran from problems instead of facing them.
"Park Cheol-wan is just a safety-first type. He won't actively suck up to those above him for his own power, but he'll gladly stay silent to protect his position."
People usually pictured villains like Seol Rokjin when they heard the word. But in reality, it was a few villains backed by a crowd of bystanders.
Evil was widespread.
Staying silent in the face of injustice was evil enough.
━You gonna take him out too?
"No."
Unfortunately, there were far worse people than bystanders. Killing Park Cheol-wan would just let an even worse one take his place.
Anyway, "Take Down Congressman Kim Seongdeok: Justice Edition" had ended in total failure.
I sought out Nam Juhyeon.
"At this rate, Congressman Kim Seongdeok will walk away without a scratch."
Nam Juhyeon looked grave at my words.
"Is there really no other way?"
"I told you, this is the only way."
This country was rotten to the core. It might look fine on the surface, but justice had been dead here for a long time.
"With all that evidence, and a pile of witnesses. You really can't do anything? It all ends with just one team leader?"
"He'll pay a fine, sure. Pocket change compared to Hyeonmu Pharma's profits."
Hyeonmu Pharma would remain intact. Congressman Kim Seongdeok wouldn't be fazed in the slightest either.
I told Nam Juhyeon,
"From here on, it's on us, as promised."
Once Nam Juhyeon was gone, thick black shadows blanketed the area around me. Out of that pitch darkness emerged the two people I'd been waiting for.
"I was bored out of my mind waiting for real."
Han Seohyun hopped down from his sand jaguar, wrinkling his nose.
"You've been riding that thing everywhere lately."
"Cool, right?"
His face was beaming with pride. While I was with Nam Juhyeon, he'd been experimenting with sand shapes and had gotten pretty good at it.
I could leave all travel to Han Seohyun from now on. At my gaze, he shivered slightly.
"W-what? What's with that look?"
"Just proud of you, that's all."
"Really? Then why do I feel chills?"
His instincts were sharpening too, huh.
━Instincts? You know what kind of look you just gave him?
'What kind?'
━The kind that says he'd be tasty raw!
'I have zero intention of harming him.'
Ray was always so stingy with me.
I asked Han Seohyun,
"Where's Jaeho?"
At my call, Jaeho popped out from my shadow.
"Ah, shit—y-you scared me."
He almost swore.
I'd told him to practice melting into shadows, but I hadn't expected this level of proficiency.
"You've both improved a ton."
Kids grow fast when you're not looking. I narrowed my eyes at Han Seohyun. Wait, not just talk—he'd actually...
"Did you get taller too?"
No joke, his eye level was almost matching mine now. He'd catch up to me soon.
━You're barely 178cm, aren't you?
'Rounds up to 180cm.'
I grumbled inwardly. He'd really catch up before long. No way I'd end up the shortest in Beltsmets, right?
"You've grown a lot."
"For real?"
His face lit up for a second, then crumpled.
"Don't talk to me like some relative we see every few months!"
"Fine, made lots of friends? Studying hard? Got a girlfriend?"
"Ugh! Hate that!"
I chuckled. Laughing ends here. I turned serious toward the two.
"You know what we're doing, right?"
Han Seohyun nodded.
"Yeah, going to catch a bad guy."
"Right. A very bad guy."
I slowly explained Kim Seongdeok's crimes to them—the human experiments at Hyeonmu Pharma and the profits they'd reaped.
Thinking of him living high off a golden tower built on innocent lives, without a shred of remorse, made my stomach churn. And that wasn't all his sins.
"That bastard also founded Bomnal Orphanage."
At my words, Han Seohyun glanced quietly at Kim Jaeho. The main victim himself looked blank, but Han Seohyun couldn't hide his concern for his teammate.
They'd grown pretty attached over time.
I told Han Seohyun,
"We can't take him down the righteous way."
"Why not?"
"Because the world's broken."
Do Chae-hee alone, or Nam Juhyeon alone, couldn't handle Kim Seongdeok.
How hard it was to uphold justice.
Enemies used every dirty trick, but justice couldn't.
"Winning righteously is incredibly tough. You have to fight people who commit wrongs without ever committing any yourself. No game's this unfair. And the ones who made the rules are the very ones who deserve judgment."
Congressman.
Kim Seongdeok sat in the seat that demanded the most righteousness.
Meant to serve the people, he used his power for personal gain instead.
"Laws to protect victims take an average of seven years to pass. Even when a real lifesaving law is proposed, it takes forever to become actual legislation. But some laws pass at the speed of light."
Laws that benefit congressmen.
"Raising their salaries, improving post-term benefits. Laws for their convenience always zip through."
Why? Because they make the laws.
Were there just one or two? No, dozens, hundreds. After awakeners appeared, congressmen passed countless laws to protect their rice bowls.
"Do Chae-hee can never beat Kim Seongdeok."
No matter what she did, the outcome was fixed.
"Justice has too many weaknesses."
People say justice is right, so it should win.
But they're the harshest on justice's victories.
One speck of dirt on pure white justice, and they decry it as fake, saying you're no different after all.
Does justice have to be flawless to count?
Why point fingers only at justice's smudges when real darkness exists?
They claim to want justice's win most, yet hold it to the strictest standard.
"That's why we step in."
"Of course no indictment! That's not because you're so great! There's no one in this country who can drag me, Kim Seongdeok, to trial! That's the problem. That someone dared target me—no, should I say bitch?"
Congressman Kim Seongdeok spewed curses into his phone. His greedy face trembled with rage.
"Fire her, get rid of her. No, too obvious. Bide time, then handle it... Doesn't matter if she's an awakener or whatever. Who am I? Kim Seongdeok! She targeted me, so she'll pay dearly. Thunder without knowing process or procedure! Gotta cut her off at the root."
I snorted at his arrogant rant. Fair enough, he had reason to be cocky. The world still felt like his playground.
I lounged in my chair, listening.
Oh, floating chair? Sand chair courtesy of Han Seohyun. Perfectly molded to the wall, total comfort.
From there, I tuned out his nonsense. Meanwhile, inside, the guards were dropping one by one to Kim Jaeho.
Breaking into Kim Seongdeok's office was easier than eating cold porridge.
Bodyguards were there, but few awakeners, all under 5-star. Snacks for Jaeho.
'No sense of danger, despite all they've done.'
Well, that might change after today.
I pressed the earpiece radio to Kim Jaeho.
"Don't kill them, Jaeho."
[……Got it.]
We'd knock out the guards. They weren't criminals—just hired muscle.
If they were tied to other crimes, I'd slit their throats myself.
━How do you know they're clean?
'Asked Nam Juhyeon. She accessed their database somehow.'
All clean security firm employees. Their company's rep might tank after this, but not my problem.
Even as his shields vanished one by one, Kim Seongdeok noticed nothing.
While I waited outside for the all-clear, he kept dialing nonstop.
No Seol Rokjin among them.
Once close—Kim Seongdeok had brought young Seol Rokjin into politics.
'Even introduced him to his wife.'
Ray sounded shocked at my mutter.
━What? That guy was married?
'Yeah, total show marriage. Even brainwashed his own wife.'
Poor woman, now that I thought about it. She seemed to genuinely love him. But the moment he sensed it, he turned her into a puppet.
Made even me, watching from the sidelines, feel sorry.
'Knew he was that kind of guy, but not to his own wife. Arranged marriage, sure.'
Still, marriage should stir some feelings, right?
Having lost my parents young to a gate accident—with no memories of family life—I had huge family fantasies.
Dreamed of marrying a sly vixen wife and raising bunny kids.
Seol Rokjin killed that dream dead.
━Yeah, I'd swear off marriage too if my wife was treated like trash by her husband.
'Not exactly. Other stuff happened.'
━What?
'Later.'
━Why always 'later'?!
'Kids are ready.'
A crow perched beside me flapped, signaling all clear.
I descended slowly. The sand chair shifted smoothly at my will.
Sand slipped through the window crack, unlocking it. Foot on the sill, I eased it open.
Kim Seongdeok was still cursing someone.
He turned at the cold draft, mouth agape at the sight of me.
Before he could speak, I hurled the dagger from my thigh. It pinned his hand to the phone like a skewer.
"Greetings."
His face drained pale at my mask.