#41 The Villain's Method (4)
Having wrapped things up with Geum Doctor, I headed straight to meet Nam Juhyeon.
She arrived alone at my summons. I donned my mask and stepped out in front of her.
"Where's Lee Hyewon?"
"Eek! Could you stop popping out like that? I nearly had a heart attack."
"Sorry about that. I've got a habit of muffling my footsteps."
Nam Juhyeon brushed back her fallen hair, her face twisting in even greater exasperation at my excuse.
"I left Lee Hyewon behind for a bit. Nothing dangerous going on."
—Looks like she's completely shaken off her fear of you now.
'Well, she was the one who introduced Lee Hyewon in the first place. Doesn't make sense for her to bring her along if she's planning to deal with me.'
Besides, considering what we had to discuss today, it was actually more convenient without her.
It had only been a few days, but Nam Juhyeon already looked a little different.
Her face carried the weight of harsh lessons learned from the Kim Seongdeok incident.
She let out a sigh and turned to me.
"In the end, things turned out just like you said."
"Mm. But it's still too early to call it a total defeat. The trial hasn't even properly started yet. I just stuck my nose in midway."
"Even if the trial had wrapped up, nothing would have changed. Kim Seongdeok would've never made it to the stand anyway."
Despite all the evidence, the utter failure to even indict him left her with a bitter smile, heavy with helplessness.
I'd figured the prosecution was in their pocket from the start, but seeing firsthand just how rotten this country was to its core seemed to drain her completely.
"I feel kinda powerless. Like no matter how hard I try, I can't change a damn thing."
"If you hadn't pushed it, the whole incident would've been buried for good."
"Mm."
"I only moved because you dug up that evidence for me."
"But you already knew all that."
"If I'd killed Kim Seongdeok without you spreading the word first? His death would've meant nothing—just me looking like some psycho, end of story."
"But his crimes still aren't fully exposed. People think you're just crazy."
"Eh, my image doesn't matter."
Still, the whole affair wasn't meaningless.
It could've ended as just another sitting assemblyman murdered in his office, but thanks to Nam Juhyeon's efforts, the Hyeonmu Pharma scandal kept bubbling back to the surface.
Even the current assemblymen would be quaking in their boots now. And this was just the beginning.
"This is a warning. Do bad shit, and you might end up dead."
If we repeated this a few more times, it'd sink in for good.
'Beltsmets kills those who do evil.'
My image be damned—the public would start believing the bad guys were dropping like flies.
"They won't want to die, so for now, they'll lay low. Cut back on public moves, maybe even hesitate before pulling their usual crap."
That was enough for starters.
Nam Juhyeon tilted her head at my expression, clearly not fully grasping it yet. I hadn't expected her to, anyway.
I asked her, "What are your plans going forward?"
She blinked at the question, her eyes trembling faintly behind her glasses.
But only for a moment. She sucked in a sharp breath and fired back.
"What about you?"
Why the sudden question about my moves?
"I've realized you're not just some simple villain."
A few days ago, she'd been trembling at the sight of me. Now she was boldly pressing me again.
"What do you mean, not a simple villain?"
Ignoring my lukewarm reaction, she pressed on.
"I've figured something out from this mess. When the enemy fights dirty, I have to fight dirtier!"
"And that 'dirtier' fighting means me?"
I pointed casually at myself. Her face went pale, and she waved her hands frantically.
"No! I mean, you're not dirty! It's more like... that ultimate move! Like an ace up your sleeve!"
She'd seemed relaxed earlier, but nope. Watching her flail around in panic, it was clear I still scared her plenty.
—Even if she thought about getting comfy with you, seeing Kim Seongdeok chopped to bits would've blown that idea away.
'Tch. Couldn't just let him off easy after what he did.'
Regaining her composure, Nam Juhyeon glanced at me sidelong and continued.
"Anyway, I want to keep at this. I got your help this time, but someday I wanna nail those bastards on my own. So yeah, I'll keep pushing."
Oh, feisty as ever. No surprise—she wasn't the type to break after one flop. She eyed me cautiously.
"So... what about you? What's your next move?"
"Why do you wanna know?"
"Like I said, you feel like my ace in the hole. I was wondering if... I could keep getting your help."
To Nam Juhyeon, I—and Beltsmets—were still an enigma. Sure, we were villains, but we'd cooperated weirdly on this, helping take down even worse ones.
Separate from the media branding us as monsters to kill, we'd become something vaguely gray in her eyes.
An ace, huh.
I tilted my head at that.
"You think you can trust me?"
Her face drained of color.
"Whaaat?"
I was a criminal. It'd be trouble if she started seeing me as one of the 'good guys.'
"But you did help take down Kim Seongdeok..."
"Does that make me a good person?"
"Uh, well."
Now would be a good time for some flattery, even if insincere. But she clamped her mouth shut.
—That's right. No way she'd call you a good guy.
Eh, no big wound. If anything, her seeing me as 'good' after all my dirty deeds would creep me out more. That'd make her the nutcase.
"You might not know this, but I don't pay taxes in this country."
She tilted her head, staring like she never expected a crook to bring up taxes.
"So sometimes I clear out the bad guys to feel like I'm paying my dues."
"Th-that's your rationale?"
"Yeah, I'm a patriot in my own way."
Her jaw dropped. I chuckled and kept going.
"Got a place to crash?"
"Huh?"
"You got money?"
Her face went sheet-white as she fumbled in her pockets. What the hell was she misunderstanding? Not even mad anymore.
"I'm not trying to rob you. Just asking if you have funds for your activities ahead."
"Oh! That? Uh, zero."
Still no plan whatsoever.
"You're not thinking of slinking back to your old place and clocking in at the office like nothing happened, right?"
"Well, I've missed so much work already, they probably won't let me back anyway..."
After this blew up, Nam Juhyeon—aka N—had become public enemy number one. She'd spilled intel like crazy after Kim Seongdeok died, so anyone who mattered knew the name N by now.
If her identity leaked, she wouldn't go down easy.
I wasn't underestimating her skills, but her problem was raw physical weakness compared to her talents.
A gift like that without the power to protect yourself was a curse.
"I told Geum Doctor about you, so lean on him from now on."
No plans to recruit her into Beltsmets, but I'd keep an eye on her. Leave her out in the wild, and she'd turn up dead in days.
"Geum Doctor's your handler, but I'm the employer."
"You're... hiring me?"
She gawked at me.
"What the hell for...?"
"Your job's simple."
I laid it out for her.
"Hunt down the rotten bastards eating away at this country. Dig into their dirt and expose them to the world. Once you've marked your target..."
I tilted my head.
No point since she only saw the smiling mask, but I was grinning.
"I'll handle the rest."
"Eek!"
She recoiled in horror.
"If I could clean them up myself, I wouldn't bother. But as you saw, the villains here always slither away."
"B-but you're a v-villain."
"I promise. No harming civilians."
"What about those kids...?"
"Can't tell you exactly what happened to them, but here's one thing: I didn't hurt them."
She narrowed her eyes, weighing whether to believe me. But soon enough, she nodded.
"Got it. You don't seem like the type to hurt innocents, at least."
—What the hell is this trust?
I cleared my throat inwardly at Ray's words and asked her.
"Think you can handle it?"
All I could provide was cash. Tracking scum and unearthing solid proof? That was on her.
She nodded firmly.
"I kinda have a feel for it now."
"Oh, and if you ever write about Beltsmets..."
I told her.
"Don't bother defending us. Just print the facts."
—Why? Isn't this your chance to polish your image?
'What good's a good image for villains?'
Forcing some lame defense would tip off that I was backing her. That'd tank her credibility. Couldn't lose this precious mouthpiece so carelessly.
"Better if you trash us hard. Make it look like we're total enemies."
She balled her fists, fired up.
"Deal! I'll rip you apart—make everyone see you as double-dealing scum, total bastards!"
Whoa, no need to try that hard...
Kim Seongdeok was murdered in his own office. An unprecedented case—a sitting Korean assemblyman killed right at his desk while working. The whole country lost its mind, and Korea's one and only psychometry Awakener, Yu Chaerin, had no choice but to drag herself to the scene in tears.
The gravity was dire, sure, but she couldn't help wondering if she was really needed.
'The culprit's obvious anyway.'
Seeing the gruesome corpse had triggered her anxiety so bad her nerves were shot.
Psychometry wasn't omnipotent. Sometimes she read nothing at all.
But in a place steeped in such intense lingering thoughts, she'd inevitably glimpse events tied to them.
Kim Seongdeok had died after horrific torture, so whatever she saw would be nightmarish.
'I don't wanna see it. Really, I hate this.'
Face streaked with tears, Yu Chaerin stepped into the scene.
It was a bloodbath. Days later, the rotting stench hit like a gut punch even from a whiff.
She bit her lip, body shaking. Fear. Nausea.
Ugh, twisting her face in disgust, she pressed her palm to the floor where bloodstains still lingered.
Soon, the events flooded her mind.
"Ah... aaa..."
Eyes squeezed shut, that day's horrors replayed in her head.
The masked man sliced into Kim Seongdeok's flesh with a razor-sharp dagger. As the assemblyman writhed in agony, the man whispered.
—Even in death, it won't end. You'll feel this pain forever.
His words carried an eerie conviction.
The moment Kim Seongdeok heard them, all hope vanished.
He sobbed belated pleas for mercy, but the man didn't waver. Calmly torturing him, he said.
—You can't escape it, even in death.
When the visions finally faded, Yu Chaerin staggered to her feet.
Her eyes were soaked.
"A devil... it was a devil."
That was all she could utter.
The man in the grinning mask, tormenting Kim Seongdeok—it was the devil incarnate.