Chapter 21
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Scorpion's Debt
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After parting from the cafe, it was only around afternoon that I finally met up with Min-ji.
Maybe worn out from her hero duties, Min-ji leaned her head gently on my shoulder the moment she saw me.
"You worked hard. Here's a gift."
I offered my shoulder to the exhausted Min-ji and handed her the luxury wallet as if it were the most natural thing.
To be honest, calling it a gift felt like a stretch. The price wasn't all that different from the luxury wallet I'd gotten from Min-ji for free.
I'd even stuffed it with a decent wad of cash.
Much more than what I'd gotten back then.
Min-ji slowly inspected the wallet before handing it back to me.
"No thanks, you beggar."
"What're you talking about? I've got money now."
"Says the guy who couldn't even cover a motel bill."
"I can pay for a hotel now, you know. Wanna head there right this second?"
"...You horny bastard."
By now, Min-ji's cursing was starting to feel kinda good.
A dangerous fetish seemed to be forming.
Min-ji kept insisting I take it back, but eventually, she had no choice but to accept the wallet.
She stared at it for a moment before quietly murmuring to me.
"...Hey. You're really gonna take the hero exam?"
"Yeah."
At my firm reply, Min-ji let out a sigh so deep it seemed to cave the ground beneath her.
Worried someone might overhear, she glanced around before beckoning me closer.
"You're a villain, aren't you?"
That question threw me off guard.
Between hero and villain, I was definitely closer to the latter.
I had no idea what exact criteria defined a villain, but after taking and completing a job at the villains' black market, the label fit me like a glove.
But how the hell did Min-ji know?
"How did you..."
"The creep who groped me and dragged me to a motel—doesn't that scream villain more than hero?"
"..."
Well, fair point.
Because Min-ji's fetish was molestation, she remembered our first meeting almost fondly.
Even though it had started with the request: Forcibly rape the hero named Min-ji. A criminal and his victim's first encounter.
Still, I felt just a little bit hard done by.
"...I didn't drag you to the motel—we went together consensually—"
"...Shh."
With a flick of her finger, our lips suddenly smashed together.
It was the first time I'd witnessed her telekinesis in action.
I couldn't fight it with just my lips.
I wondered: if she used this telekinesis to pin down my whole body, could I resist?
Curiosity piqued.
"...So what're you gonna do? Get caught in the villain scan, and you're arrested on the spot—you know that, right?"
My villain status might as well have been confirmed, but Min-ji's attitude didn't shift.
If anything, she seemed worried for me.
It felt incredibly reassuring.
"Maybe I can dodge it somehow?"
"You can't."
She shot back seriously at my cheeky response.
When I asked why, Min-ji showed me a photo.
"It's because of this person's ability."
"...What kind?"
"I heard it lets her see the number of evil deeds you've committed."
I peered intently at the photo Min-ji held out and activated my own ability.
And I realized.
"I won't get caught."
That I could probably join this hero exam without my villain side being exposed.
Because the female hero in the photo didn't have an ability to see evil deeds as numbers.
She wasn't some hero who caught every single villain with 100% accuracy, either.
Min-ji gazed at me with worry, but I wasn't afraid at all.
Why? Because my eyes could see everything.
I knew the person with these fetishes.
A villain who liked liars, despite her ability.
Violet.
That was the true identity of the hero in the photo Min-ji had shown me.
She'd hidden her tattoos well, but she couldn't hide from me.
Fetishes don't change easily, after all.
"...Sigh. If you get exposed and caught, you're really dead by my hand."
Hearing her curse laced with concern, the two of us headed to the hotel.
This time, I footed the bill.
I swung by the black market early in the morning.
Most shops were shuttered, but the inns and my target bar were open.
"What can I do for you?"
"Could I see the owner, by any chance?"
"Me?"
Whether she'd overheard or not, Violet emerged slowly from behind the counter.
"Coming at me this early in the morning—what're you planning to do?"
Violet clutched her chest like she was scared, flashing a sly grin as she crossed her legs.
Her short dress-like outfit bared her snow-white thighs. Intentional, no doubt.
"I want to take the hero exam."
"Hero exam? Hmmm... Looks like you already know it all."
Without any explanation from me, Violet glanced my way and smirked.
"I thought I'd fooled you pretty good."
It was different, for sure.
Unlike her current heavy makeup, tattoos, and bold getup, Violet as a hero went for fresh-faced makeup and prim outfits.
That alone transformed her whole vibe.
If she had any skill beyond her ability, it was probably makeup.
Without my fetish-seeing skill, I might not have recognized her.
"You want me to let you slide without turning you in, right?"
"Yes."
"Hmmm, that's not out of the question."
She circled back around the counter, pressing in close like she was nestling into my arms.
I felt her full breasts squash flat against me.
"You haven't told anyone about this, have you?"
"No."
"...Hmm. That's the truth."
It wasn't just aggressive tit-teasing to seduce me.
She'd closed in to check if I was lying.
...Or maybe it was both.
Scary woman.
"Fine. Do one little job for me, and we're good."
She grinned ear-to-ear and slid a request form my way.
The contents were straightforward.
Just collect money from one guy.
Violet launched into the explanation with a weary look.
Cases like this weren't all that special, apparently.
For a bunch of reasons. First off, anyone hiring villains was usually desperate and flat broke.
Or they were heroes—or agency folks—not scared of villain payback.
Then there was the verification process itself.
Villain finishes the job; another villain like Violet checks with her ability if it's legit.
Even if she was thorough, outsiders saw it as villains colluding.
These days, the black market was bigger, so fewer issues from retaliation fears. But exceptions always cropped up.
And this was one.
"This client's an ex-villain. And he can scrap a bit."
Violet playfully threw some fake punches.
"Even as a villain, he doesn't trust your ability?"
"It's not my power he doubts—it's whether the job actually gets done."
As she spoke, Violet muttered under her breath.
"That first request of yours? Basically impossible to complete."
"..."
"Sorry. I lied. That card only had 20 million won."
Violet straight-up apologized for the fib.
Violet, with her fetish for liars, was one herself.
She seemed so diligent, yet she was fooling heroes—and had perfectly played me too.
Maybe the client chick knew Violet's game, which was why she wouldn't pay up.
"Collect your own 50 million directly, and I'll get you into the hero exam."
I had no choice but to take the job.
My first real fight was on the horizon.
Before gearing up properly, I decided to dig into this villain I'd be facing.
Wasn't hard to investigate.
Violet tossed me some basics, and the black market had every shop imaginable for villain convenience—including info brokers on people.
My target was infamous enough that when I casually inquired, the broker boss shoved a thick file at me like no research needed.
"200,000 won."
"...."
"Okay! 100,000. Deal?"
"Yes."
"Sweet, take it."
I'd just been caught off guard by the sudden price haggling and paused—bam, half off.
The guy's name: Scorpion.
At first, I figured it was his villain alias, but nope—both his villain name and real name.
Scorpion had once built a thug crew called the Scorpion Gang off his moniker.
They strictly targeted powerless civilians, dodged pursuing heroes like pros, and earned a rep as Incheon's biggest headache.
Until a Scorpion Gang punk and Scorpion himself tried jumping a female student who hadn't taken her hero exam yet.
That's when the whole gang got wiped out.
And the heroine of that tale? Min-ji.
Suddenly made sense why the request targeted her for assault.
Scorpion's idea of payback.
Payback by getting her "done" by a man.
On the flip side, I was relieved she hadn't actually gotten jumped by those guys.
Thankfully, Min-ji's fetish was molestation, not rape.
They might sound similar, but context mattered—location and setup.
Forced, secretive, in public, all at once. That's what hit the spot, she'd said.
Straight from Min-ji herself.
I'd asked if our cafe kiss creeped her out; head down, she'd admitted it turned her on.
Anyway.
The file had way more than just his Scorpion Gang backstory.
Where he lived now, his recent gigs, latest whereabouts.
Even his ability.
I nodded along, absorbing every detail in the file.
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