Chapter 10
Chapter 10
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: It Felt Familiar Somewhere
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Just thinking about the moment that real terrorist swung thorny vines at Stephanie still made his blood boil.
The rage bubbling up inside him wasn't just aimed at the terrorist—it extended to the strategy room chief who had boldly guaranteed that Stephanie wouldn't get hurt in this operation, and even to the Hero Association itself.
He wanted nothing more than to cut off all support to the Hero Association, but he couldn't afford to make real enemies of them.
The information he got through them was invaluable, and most critically, it would throw a massive wrench into their secret operations (thievery) that no one else knew about.
The reason master thief villains like High Fog and Hazel Vixen had never been caught by the Hero Association all these years was because of the straws they'd planted there, feeding them real-time intel on capture operations.
Still, he couldn't just let it slide, so he planned to vent some steam by reducing their funding.
"Those damn bastards. They come in with some half-assed operation and put my wife in danger? Who the hell recommended those guys?"
"Gizman Director."
"Cut that bastard's funding too. Looks like he won't last long anyway."
"Yes, sir."
No one was unaware of Bal Ji-un's love for his wife.
Just like a smoker suffering withdrawal after quitting, Bal Ji-un went through the same pangs whenever his wife was away even for a moment.
Because of his excessive devotion, he had nicknames like "henpecked husband" and "wife idiot."
Already in the throes of withdrawal, Bal Ji-un had witnessed the moment his wife was in danger from that terrorist.
It was only natural that the wife idiot's fury would extend beyond the terrorist to the Hero Association that planned the operation.
'Henpecked... wife idiot...'
"Miles."
"Yes, Chairman."
Miles quickly shoved the words floating in his head aside at the chairman's call.
"That villain."
"The one who broke into the lab?"
"Yeah. Is that guy really a villain?"
"Pardon?"
Bal Ji-un, the chairman, voiced his doubts about the villain in the black spandex.
"Were there any deaths among the people he went after?"
"Some were injured or knocked out, but no deaths."
"He stuck to the no-kill principle?"
"That's true, but it's hard to conclude based on that alone."
Miles cautiously offered his opinion.
The no-kill principle.
It was the rule that heroes weren't allowed to kill criminals or villains unless in the absolute worst unavoidable circumstances.
In the past, a hero pursuing a villain had killed him in the process. But it later turned out that the "villain" the hero killed was actually an innocent civilian with no connection whatsoever.
Just a poor civilian who happened to resemble the villain and was passing by at the wrong time.
Once this came to light, public backlash against the Hero Association exploded. Newspapers ran denunciations daily, and opinion soured rapidly.
In the end, the Hero Association hastily disciplined the hero in question and established the association law known as the no-kill principle.
Thanks to that, heroes were forced to adhere to it almost compulsorily.
Even if they killed a villain and claimed it was unavoidable, it didn't matter. The Hero Association had an S-rank hero called Memory Hunter who could read memories.
Some said Memory Hunter, being a hero himself, would side with fellow heroes, but that just showed they didn't know him.
Memory Hunter had so little camaraderie with other heroes that he could be called an anti-hero. If someone committed a crime—even if it was a hero—he punished them.
In any case, the spandex villain had followed the no-kill principle that even heroes might uphold.
That was exactly why Ice Queen, who had unleashed her ultimate technique Ice Rage on Bal Jeong-nam, had worried if he might have died.
Heroes who violated the no-kill principle lost their hero status and were thrown into special prisons.
"A villain who follows the no-kill principle..."
"There are plenty of villains who do. High Fog and Hazel Vixen are prime examples. They injure people in the process of stealing treasures but have never committed murder."
"Ahem."
"???"
Bal Ji-un suddenly cleared his throat, and Miles looked at him quizzically.
Miles was Bal Ji-un's closest confidant, but even he didn't know that the chairman was the villain High Fog.
"Cold? Should I turn off the AC?"
"No, it's fine. More importantly, did you do the investigation?"
"Yes, here."
Miles handed the tablet PC he was holding to Chairman Bal Ji-un. The screen showed a photo of a fierce-looking man along with his information.
As Bal Ji-un swiped through them one by one, Miles added explanations.
"The mask made facial recognition impossible, but we analyzed build, gait, and so on to narrow it down to the six most likely villains."
Bal Ji-un donated massive sums to the Hero Association and, in return, had access to their accumulated villain database.
Normally, unauthorized access to Hero Association data was illegal. But before money, even illegal became legal.
Miles had cross-referenced the CCTV footage of the spandex villain against the database and selected the prime suspects.
"[Mr. Buffalo]... Nah, not this guy."
"Pardon?"
Bal Ji-un dismissed one villain immediately while skimming the files, startling Miles. What basis did he have for instantly ruling out Mr. Buffalo as the spandex villain?
"This bastard has dozens of rape charges. You think a guy who can't control himself around women would see my wife and just stand there?"
"....."
For a split second, "henpecked" and "wife idiot" flashed through Miles's mind. He quickly erased the impure words from his thoughts.
Bal Ji-un's judgment was highly subjective, but the reasoning was solid.
"Then we'll exclude Mr. Buffalo from the suspect list."
"Yeah. And this guy—can we eliminate him from this world?"
Eliminate from this world. Kill him.
"I hate that a rapist like this is breathing the same air as my wife in the same city. Who knows when he might spot her and do something horrific?"
"....."
In other words, kill Mr. Buffalo before he could do anything to wife Stephanie.
"We'll take care of Mr. Buffalo promptly."
It was an absurd request, but Miles nodded without hesitation. Truth be told, it wasn't the first or second time Bal Ji-un had ordered the death of rapist villains like this.
"Exclude all B-rank and below too."
Next, Bal Ji-un eliminated more villains from suspicion.
"That villain went toe-to-toe with Ice Queen. We couldn't see how the fight went, but she ended up fleeing. And she's an A-rank hero. That means the villain has superpowers at least on par with an A-rank hero."
"Then there's only one left... Ah."
Miles trailed off as realization dawned, his eyes widening.
Based on the chairman's deductions, excluding the others left just one.
[The Butcher].
His ability was A-rank, but due to his brutal methods and history of killing multiple heroes, he was listed as an S-rank villain.
"Right. The Butcher wouldn't leave anyone alive, would he? So none of these are the villain from today. He's a rookie who debuted today."
"Hmm... That's bad news, then. A villain debuting to the world today chose this place for his stage."
"Exactly. Whoever he is, he's bold and arrogant. But that means he's confident in his skills—and he proved it by routing Ice Queen."
"We'll keep investigating."
"Yeah. You can go now."
"Yes, sir."
Miles bowed and left the chairman's office.
"....."
Alone now, Chairman Bal Ji-un tapped his fingers on the desk, lost in thought.
'Why is that?'
He recalled the first time he saw the spandex villain on CCTV.
'Why did he feel so familiar?'
The instant he saw the spandex villain's build and gait, Bal Ji-un felt a sense of familiarity. Familiarity meant someone he met often...
'Someone I know? Or just someone who passed by?'
If it was just someone passing by, he wouldn't feel familiar. So it had to be someone he knew.
'Who?'
He mentally sifted through acquaintances with builds as massive as the spandex villain's. But none felt certain.
'The guy wasn't targeting the terrorists.'
When he entered the lab, the first person the spandex villain looked at was Cruemora Doctor. That meant the doctor was the target.
But suddenly, he veered toward his wife and neutralized the terrorist about to attack her in one go.
He was grateful for saving his wife, but the actions didn't make sense.
'No idea.'
-Chairman, Vice President and young master have arrived.
"Send them in."
Bal Ji-un snapped out of his reverie at his secretary's voice over the intercom. Hearing his wife had arrived, he stood from his seat.
Figuring out the spandex villain was Miles's job now; his task was to comfort his startled wife.
"Oh, right..."
As he rose to greet his wife, Bal Ji-un belatedly realized his son had come too.
He'd planned to hand the company to him, but his eldest son had suddenly gone AWOL, refusing to work there. Now he showed up on his own.
'He wouldn't be scared off, would he?'
Having finally come to his senses and taken interest in the company, Bal Ji-un worried the incident might make him declare he never wanted to work there after all.
"Honey."
"Darling! You're not hurt? Are you okay? Let me see. No wounds? You must have been so scared! Damn it! I knew I shouldn't have let you go!"
Spotting his wife entering, Bal Ji-un practically flew to her side, fussing dramatically. He checked her over for injuries everywhere.
All his attention was on his wife; his son behind her didn't register at all. Even though it wasn't like he was invisible.
"Let's get you checked out right now. I'll call Dr. Helen immediately..."
"Honey, I'm fine. Not a scratch. Don't worry."
"Still..."
"I said I'm okay. Were you worried?"
"...Yeah. I was on pins and needles thinking you might get hurt."
"Aww~ My husband was so scared."
Instead, Stephanie soothed her husband. They looked like a couple in their thirties, but they were actually in their fifties. Their behavior didn't scream "fifty-year-old couple," though.
"Ugh, Dad, enough with the PDA in front of me already?"
Their son finally piped up, unable to stomach the lovey-dovey display.
"Quiet. If you're jealous, get married soon your... Huh?"
Mid-sentence, Bal Ji-un stared at his son with bulging eyes.
Come to think of it, there was one more person.
Someone with a build as massive as the spandex villain's, who'd lived in the same house for the past thirty years.
His own son, Bal Jeong-nam.
'No way...'
The day his son showed up at the company of his own accord, a villain not in the Hero Association database appeared.
Was this really coincidence?
"Why are you staring like that? I'm fine, no need to worry."
"....."
Chairman Bal Ji-un stared blankly at his son.