The Yuria Introduction Plan #2
The current state of Mapo-gu in Seoul was utter chaos. Marcela had used Amon to hypnotize the entire criminal syndicate, and they had swarmed up to Seoul, inflicting massive damage on the citizens. Not long after they appeared, Leona had burst onto the scene and begun suppressing them, but she was deliberately holding back—stunning or incapacitating the syndicate members instead of killing them—so it was taking some time.
Boom!
“Guhk!”
One of the syndicate members slammed face-first into a wall and let out a dying gasp. Blood streamed from his head as he collapsed. Leona stared down at the twitching man with an indifferent expression.
In the laboratory, I watched Leona alongside The Doctor and gave my orders.
“Head two hundred meters straight ahead, then take the alley on the left. Two targets. Once you deal with them, Sangam-dong is clear.”
-Got it.
Leona answered briefly and moved at incredible speed. Then…
Crunch! Crack!
With those brutal sounds, the two criminals who had been attempting to rape a civilian fell silent. She wiped the blood from her glove once, her face clouding with a complicated expression. But she quickly clenched her teeth and headed to another area to continue eradicating the criminals.
The Doctor, who had been watching the screen, chewed her lip anxiously.
“This won’t do… This absolutely won’t do… Leona! Stop—”
Click.
The moment The Doctor tried to issue an order to Leona, I pressed a button and cut the communication link. She shot me a look that could kill.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Protecting the citizens. Don’t interfere.”
“Song Jihyeok! Leona’s sense of justice is—”
“Doctor, aren’t you misunderstanding something? Leona’s justice is ‘protecting people from monsters.’ Monsters are evil. If those criminals tormenting citizens right now aren’t evil, then what are they? If she hesitates because she’s thinking about people like them and more innocent citizens die, how do you think that would make Leona feel?”
“You…”
“I’m going to make her choose the better path. In this situation, I believe this is the right choice. Since I gave the orders, I’ll take responsibility.”
“……”
The Doctor looked at my distorted face and let out a deep sigh. Yeah, I’m struggling too. Not because giving Leona these orders is hard, but because acting like this face is exhausted is tiring.
“From now on, it would be best to leave criminal suppression to the state. There’s a saying about trying to catch two rabbits and catching neither. Let’s just focus on hunting monsters. Do you really think we can wipe out every criminal organization in the world? Crimes are happening in real time all over the globe—will we stop those too?”
“Damn it…”
Don’t get greedy. Just deal with the monsters. Criminal scum… No, all humans will be handled by me and the corrupted Beast Slayers.
Before long, the summoned police and military forces arrived in Mapo-gu. They assisted Leona in dealing with the criminals, and because they opened fire without mercy, every last syndicate member was slaughtered and the situation ended quickly. No matter how large the organization or how many smuggled weapons they had, resisting state authority and the military was impossible.
Mapo-gu fell silent once more. The Doctor squeezed her eyes shut tightly, then opened them.
“It’s over.”
“Yes.”
I gritted my teeth, planted my elbows on either side of the keyboard, and clutched my head. This was all an act—pretending to be tormented by the orders I had given Leona. The Doctor placed a hand on my shoulder.
“I’m sorry. Like you said, let’s leave the criminal organizations to the state. Dealing with monsters alone is already overwhelming… I got too greedy, obsessing over peace.”
“Yes…”
“Do you want to head out first? When Leona arrives, I’ll send her back myself.”
I nodded and stood up. Then I pulled her into a crushing embrace.
“Ah…!”
She looked startled, but soon patted my back. Her chest feels nice and full. I'll enjoy sucking on them later.
After sharing a vigorous hug with her, I returned straight home.
Watching the news, I let out a small snort. I don’t understand why humans love it when heroes belong to their own country. I get wanting to get drunk on nationalism, but you’re all going to die by that hero’s hand anyway. Well, since you don’t know that fact yet, I’ll forgive you. Go ahead and praise her to your hearts’ content.
Beep!Clack!
The front door opened and Sehwa walked in. I turned off the TV and greeted her with a bright smile.
“You’re back?”
Sehwa tilted her head. She must have heard from The Doctor that I was struggling.
“Why do you look completely fine?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“The Doctor said you were having a hard time…”
“Not at all. If you’re here, shouldn’t you come up? What are you standing there for?”
I shrugged and patted my knee. Sehwa smiled brightly and came over, sitting on my lap. I gently pinched her cheek and asked,
“What about you? Are you struggling?”
“They deserved what they got. They were evil people.”
Her answer came immediately. Very good.
“That’s right. They had it coming.”
“But… no matter how evil they were, they were still people…”
She quickly lowered her gaze. I needed to help her.
“I was the one who ordered you to do that. Don’t feel bad about it.”
“I’m not struggling… My heart just feels a little complicated. But why did you act like you were struggling in front of The Doctor when you’re not? Are you forcing yourself to hide your emotions?”
“No. I did it to create some distance… and to act like it was a little hard for me.”
“Why?”
“The Doctor has been getting too greedy lately. Asking us to take down criminal organizations like this was too much. It feels like she’s trying to overwork us. You feel it too, don’t you?”
Sehwa nodded vigorously in agreement.
“You’re right. Honestly, I don’t understand it.”
“I don’t know if my acting worked, but from now on we only need to focus on fighting monsters. And… absolutely do not watch the news today.”
By adding just a little fuel to the fire, the spark of Malice sealed inside her flared back to life. Her eyes darkened.
“I already saw the articles on my way here. There were comments criticizing me. Why are they doing that? We’re helping them without asking for anything in return…”
Those criticisms? Marcela fabricated them.
“That’s just how humans are. The World Coalition only bows and scrapes because the country would be in danger without us. Deep down, they’re probably scheming something else. Last time, one of the board members even offered The Doctor money to prioritize their own country.”
“….Really?”
“IT’s true. I was so angry back then… I wanted to pull back the probes, just like you told The Doctor last time.”
The Doctor had warned me never to tell Sehwa things like this. But why should I listen? This was the perfect way to cultivate the Malice in her heart even further.
“That was just a slip of the tongue… The Doctor said before that there are more good people in the world than people like that.”
“I disagree. Most of them are just pretending to be good. Hypocritical, opportunistic bastards… Those kinds of people are even more dangerous. If you ever saw their true colors, the ones who openly criticized you would seem like saints in comparison.”
“You think so…?”
“There are tons of comments online that sexually harass you. Those same people act perfectly normal when they’re out in society.”
Sehwa unconsciously ground her teeth. Her eyes sharpened and she let out a harsh breath through her nose.
Get angrier. Harbor murderous intent. Humans are all untrustworthy bastards.
“Even The Doctor, who’s supposed to be close to you, takes your transformations for granted. It’s not something you can do with ordinary sense of duty… She doesn’t appreciate it, so it makes me furious. Has The Doctor thanked you properly lately? All she does is scold you.”
“….Yeah.”
“If even The Doctor, who’s the closest to you, acts like that, what about the rest of the world? The number of people who truly appreciate you is tiny.”
Sehwa’s face grew sad. She looked like she might burst into tears at any moment. I leaned in and kissed her lips once, then spoke.
“It pisses me off that you don’t even get the praise you deserve.”
“Jihyeok… You… You tell me. That you’re grateful, that you love me… That’s enough for me… It gives me so much strength.”
“I can tell you anytime.”
“Then tell me now… I’m struggling right now…”
“Thank you, and I love you.”
At those words, Sehwa kissed me passionately. As I accepted her kiss, I couldn’t help but burst into laughter inside.
The next day, after successfully shaking Sehwa’s heart to its core, I left her at home to rest and visited the laboratory.
“Doctor.”
“Why are you here? I told you to rest properly… What’s that in your hand?”
“I bought some good tonic since I saw it on the way.”
The Doctor gave a benevolent smile in place of thanks and opened the box I had set down. She downed one of the tonics in a single gulp and let out a long “Khh…” sound.
“It’s bitter.”
“Good medicine always tastes bitter, right?”
“Thank you. But… you didn’t come here to quit, did you?”
“Of course not. I just… came to apologize for getting serious with you yesterday.”
“You only spoke the truth. If anyone should apologize, it’s me.”
“Hearing you say that makes it a little awkward. You suit being aloof and elegant, Doctor. Ah, there’s something I wanted to show you.”
I sat down in front of the situation board, plugged in a USB, and played the video from the portable drive. It showed me—rather, Kim Taegon—guiding Yuria to a car.
The Doctor asked with curious eyes.
“Who is that?”
“That’s Mr. Kim Taegon. My business partner. While hacking the surveillance cameras and tracking his movements, I discovered the person next to him. I looked into her background—she’s an immigrant named Yuria Elenar. She’s twenty-one years old, unemployed, and lives off money from Mr. Kim Taegon.”
“Really? She’s incredibly beautiful.”
“She seems to be the acquaintance Mr. Kim Taegon mentioned. At first I thought she might be his hidden daughter, but she was suddenly registered as an immigrant about a year ago. There was no information on her before that. The documents say she’s from Sweden… but when I searched their databases, there was nothing.”
“Hmm… That is definitely suspicious.”
“Right? I don’t know if she’s on the good side or the bad side. But if she were bad…”
“If she were bad, she would have tried to use Kim Taegon for something by now. Or… she might be working on him right now. What do you think?”
“I don’t know either. Should we approach her carefully and find out?”
“Can you do it?”
Of course I can. I’ll handle everything—drumming and playing the flute—so you just keep developing the Device.
I stood up and spoke with enthusiasm.
“I’ll casually bring it up with Mr. Kim Taegon.”
“Don’t move too hastily. I think it’s better to cool your head a little before approaching. We must be extremely cautious.”
“I’ll do as you say, Doctor. Um… how is the Device development going?”
“I think we’ll have good news soon.”
Then Marcela will probably bring me good news as well. I nodded and smiled brightly.
After that, I changed my attitude, acting a little hesitant as I expressed my gratitude to The Doctor.
“Um… thank you. For everything.”
“I should be the one thanking you. Without you, I would have had an incredibly hard time alone. I trust you.”
“I trust you too, Doctor.”
With those words, I walked over to The Doctor and hugged her tightly, just like yesterday. Patting her upper back, I said,
“Let’s keep doing well together.”
The Doctor cleared her throat, seemingly uncomfortable with this version of me. But she soon adjusted and patted my lower back. That’s right. Since I’m supposedly struggling, she can at least do this much for me, can’t she?
After hugging The Doctor for a long time, I finally let her go.
“I’ll head back now.”
“Alright… Get home safely.”
“Yes.”
Once I left the laboratory, I whistled. The plan was going so smoothly it was almost suspicious. The weather today was annoyingly nice. Sehwa said she wanted black bean noodles… I should pick some up on the way home.