After the Battle Ends (1)
The fight was over. The villain Yuk Gibong had died turning into a devil, and the devil's seed forcibly planted in his body had successfully germinated but ultimately withered away completely. He'd bulked up into a giant, only to get captured by Baek Seolhui, and when he tried to escape that body, I smashed his head to pieces. That thing was no longer human. It might ape a human shape, born from humans no less, but it was spawned carrying only humanity's malice—treating people as prey, slaughtering everything in its path. If there was such a thing as pure evil, beyond heroes or villains, it had to be these devils.
Alright, cleanup's done... time to go.
Dragging this out would just make things awkward. I shifted back into my suited gentleman Dokkaebi form and prepared to vanish.
If I just spirit body phased out like always, it'd be the same old scene. But today, something about those eyes staring at me from over there rubbed me the wrong way.
"Halt, Dokkaebi!!"
The faces charging through the crowd were all too familiar.
"You're under arrest!"
Cops, huh. They mobilize special forces and only show up now? Always late to the party.
"Urk...!"
Sejong Island's security and guards. Some I'd seen when I first arrived on the island, others I'd brushed past during weekend strolls, and a few total strangers. Not just Korean soldiers either—foreign troops in their uniforms mixed in. Hundreds of them, all guns trained on me, threats locked and loaded.
"Surrender peacefully! And heroes, we kindly ask for your cooperation!"
Cooperation? Asking to help catch Dokkaebi? Oh, right. You always need ability users to catch ability users. And if they fail, you pin the blame on them.
"Shut your mouth, villain! Whatever your intentions, you're still a people-killing villain!"
...Yeah, can't deny that. To you, the devil-ified, the ones turning devil, even the devil's vanguard—they're all just innocent citizens, poor patients.
I had no interest in bickering, but there was one reason I was facing off against these cops and soldiers right here.
One thing I want to make clear.
With everyone watching, to make a proper declaration.
From now on, don't interfere when I kill devils. Anyone who does, I'll smash to bits.
I pointed the tip of my bat at the unconscious Obang Red.
If there's anyone forcing death as a devil on someone who could've died human, they'll face judgment too.
I knew it. This would get Obang Red flamed online to hell and back.
I'm the punisher of the guilty. The executioner of those fully turned devil, devils incarnate. The blade of the organization that executes villains.
-I was trying to stop him from becoming a devil, but you made Yuk Gibong turn!
-If Obang Red hadn't interfered, Yuk Gibong wouldn't have become one!
-It's her fault!
...She couldn't say that outright, so mix in some cool-sounding lines, state it clearly, and bail.
Where there are villains, I'll be there. And... there.
I jabbed my bat toward the public broadcast camera with its logo, raising my voice.
You who turned a rampaging human fully into a devil. I'll catch you and execute you for sure.
A public warning to Du Eok Sini.
...Fucking oni bastard.
With that, I lightly tapped the ground with my foot.
"Ah!"
Baek Seolhui caught my move instantly, mouth agape in surprise, but she just clenched her fist and shut her eyes.
Shhh.
I walked slowly away in the direction opposite her, fading out. That's how it'd look, at least. My body dissolving from the bottom up like a summer goblin into mist.
Once spirit body made my flesh invisible to all, I spun around and bolted for what I'd ditched.
Gotta retrieve the Taeguk Watch, stat!
Clothes were fine. But the Taeguk Watch? Different story.
GPS logs would show me hiding in a nearby alley right before Dokkaebi appeared. So I went to grab it and...
"...Huh?"
The moment I brushed past Baek Seolhui's side, she tilted her head.
"What...?"
Oh shit. Had she spotted my spirit body? Did Baek Seolhui sense it?
"Just my imagination...?"
Phew. She just rubbed her back, oblivious to me. Yoon Isun, even less spiritually attuned, same deal. No one clocked me. I dashed quietly ahead, slipping into the alley undetected.
I'm an outsider. I'm an outsider. I'm an outsider.
Clinging to thoughts of total detachment from this world, I released the spirit body—not the transformation—and re-transformed.
"...Hm."
I picked up the Taeguk Watch from the alley floor, strapped it back on, powered it up, and double-checked my outfit. Same as when I'd stepped out for lunch.
These clothes weren't real fabric—they were woven from mana. I'd perfected the skill so even S-ranks couldn't tell, but no need to stir trouble.
For now—
"Section Chief. Where are you?"
I jumped at the incoming call, checked it—familiar name.
"...Jumo?"
"Called right on cue with your vanish. Where you at? Got something you might need."
"...Clothes, by any chance?"
"Bingo."
Score. Is this why heroes drag sidekicks everywhere?
Jumo wasn't my sidekick, but this kind of backup? I'd take it a million times over.
"Jumo, next time I see the boss, I'll put in a word for a raise."
"Skip the raise—how about three extra vacation days instead, Chief?"
Done. Gung-gi would love that I used a move cribbed from her schtick. Probably.
* * *
"Tch. Damn Dokkaebi. 'Villain' suits you to a T."
In a traditional hanok a short distance from the plaza, a young man in brown casual hanbok scratched his head furiously, face twisted in irritation.
"Even 'villain' in our language is too good for you. Dokkaebi, you're just a villain."
Others might not care, but for him to consciously use that English word he avoided—it was no small thing. To him, "villain" hit harder than "bastard" or "total scumbag"—the king of curses.
"Not content with popping three freshly sprouted devils, he doesn't even leave scraps for the heroes. Arrogant prick."
The young man headed to the hanok kitchen, pulling a yakgwa from the fridge.
"Heroes need hero-worthy trials. Doesn't he get 'pain makes youth'? Heroes have to break and shatter to awaken as true heroes... tch tch tch."
Chewing the yakgwa, he flicked on the TV.
"Damn it. Did those Haegnul bastards already clamp down on media control?"
As someone who'd been watching from the start—out for lunch, caught a fun show—the anchor's words were absurd.
"Plagiarism angle's vanished."
He grabbed his smartphone from the table, checking online communities.
"Tch. Now he looks like some hero. Damn it, don't cheer. Don't celebrate. He's a villain. Not some shadow hero...!!"
His thumb flew, posting walls of text faster than the screen could keep up, venting rage.
"Korea's heroes need to grow fighting devils...! Heroes must strengthen themselves. Like war advances humanity, heroes need those trials...!"
Ding.
Alert. A reply to his news comment.
"Kraaaaaagh!!"
The young man let out an inhuman screech. Short reply, but packed with blood-pressure spikes.
"This, this little shit...!"
"You fucking little—gack!!"
The young man clutched his neck and collapsed.