Chapter 111
Chapter 111
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 111
Chapter Title: The Truth Always Gets the Heart Racing, Huh?
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The truth always gets the heart racing, huh?
Just a few days ago, all of South Korea was buzzing about the Smiling Man.
From elderly folks well advanced in years to kids just starting kindergarten.
The hottest topic of the year was undoubtedly the Smiling Man.
And then, everything flipped in just one day.
They called themselves an organization that upheld justice and righteousness.
A lot of people would vividly remember the TV ads.
Something like, "Union: The one true organization for heroes."
And it was true—they'd done a great deal for heroes.
That's why most people supported the Union just as they supported heroes.
Yet that very Union had been committing utterly heinous acts.
By default, once an Ability awakens, the nation manages it.
They're citizens of that country. The government is simply exercising its rightful authority.
The Union had done the exact opposite.
They'd even taken kids who weren't adults yet and trained them?
Word had already reached not just the UN, but the International Criminal Court.
This was no small matter to brush aside.
The moment they stayed silent, everything heroes stood for would be tarnished.
Not even the money and gifts the Union had lavished everywhere could help now.
The Union was a clear dead rat at this point—anyone could see it.
Try to cover for them, and you'd die right alongside.
This wasn't something you could shrug off with a few insults or thrown stones from the public.
They'd borrowed the hero name to do things they absolutely shouldn't have.
Fake heroes acting like great paragons of virtue.
And behind the scenes? Using orphanage kids as child soldiers.
The Union had spread worldwide, wielding influence everywhere.
Now, that very reach had become their worst weakness, strangling them.
With the whole world united in tearing into them, info was leaking left and right.
The impregnable fortress was crumbling.
All made possible by one man: the Smiling Man!
Now, they were even actively seeking out the Smiling Man first.
At some point, no one called him a villain anymore.
He was just... the Smiling Man. Nothing more, nothing less.
Not a hero, but not a villain either.
Naturally, all sorts of wild tales started circulating.
"How the hell did the Smiling Man figure all this out?"
"Hold up. I got it. The Smiling Man... he's actually from one of those orphanages the Union recruited from!"
"Wait, that makes sense? He started off liking the Union but realized the truth, got furious and hateful, tried to expose them, and somehow ended up a villain. But not really a villain. Something like that?"
"Whoa, that's a whole movie right there. That's it!"
Finding the Union's secret agents so perfectly? Suspicious.
So, the Smiling Man must be an escapee from that program.
"Or maybe he was a high-ranking Union insider. But unlike the others, he had a sense of justice, opposed it, and got kicked out!"
"Then the Union tried to silence him by killing not just him, but his whole family! Losing everything, the Smiling Man turned to villainy for revenge!"
"That's it. Gotta be."
No, he must be some discarded Union insider.
How else could he know so much so precisely?
"I think the Smiling Man is..."
"Villain experts claim..."
People didn't care about hidden truths.
They just lapped up the juicy stories, hearing what they wanted.
Saying whatever would grab attention.
Ridiculous tales spread, turning into "facts."
Yushin watched it all with a satisfied smile.
"This is it. Yeah. Only like this can my romantic soul feel fulfilled, right?"
True romance thrives on ever-shifting judgments and debates.
Doubting, questioning. Raving one moment, then tsking the next.
But in the end, fondly remembering that romance.
"Well then, time for me to go dark for a while again?"
Oh, right. Before that, one last thing to wrap up!
Almost forgot—he vanishes off somewhere.
"..."
Yi Bora's private quarters. She waited anxiously for someone.
It's about time. After stirring up this much trouble, why the silence?
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
The Smiling Man, perched elegantly on the windowsill.
"Any new developments in the short time since?"
"The Union's leader finally held a press conference. Admitted all guilt and promised full cooperation with investigations. Apparently, at least 12 countries have issued lawsuits and arrest warrants."
Whether deeply involved or not didn't matter.
If the leader failed at management, they deserved punishment.
"The leader gets punished. Hahaha! So obvious tail-cutting. Can't help but laugh."
"...Agreed."
There were those lurking unseen, pulling strings from the shadows.
Exerting pressure through sheer presence.
Growing fat on sewage and filth.
"Anyway, here's what you asked for last time."
Yi Bora handed documents to her nocturnal guest.
"List of National Assembly members and officials who received 'gifts' from the Korea Branch. As much as I could access and obtain."
"...Whoa. Way more than I expected."
A thick stack of papers. Names and figures inside.
Good grief. Sure, bribes are par for politics, but...
This is too much, isn't it? Eating all this?
"For people who call our dear citizens 'pigs,' these folks devoured even more like actual swine. Wow... The Union sure is something. Fed them this much and still got betrayed!"
That's because you pushed the Union right off the cliff.
Who'd join them in death once they fall?
"I'll hold onto this and use it if any lawmakers cross the line."
"Not reporting it right away?"
"Of course not! Secretary, why blow it up now?"
That wouldn't strip the Union bare, soul and all.
No can do. Gotta scrape every last speck of dust.
These rats will smear blood around their mouths to survive.
Once it's over, show the world those bloody maws.
Hey, citizens! Next up on the menu—these guys!
Only then can the Union truly rise again.
"...Hold on."
What was that? Yi Bora stares at the Smiling Man in shock.
The Union needs to rise for real? That's what he just said...?
"The Union as it stands is utterly ruined. But its origins, its intentions—they were good. Heroes need their own solid organization, right? Of course, one incomparably cleaner than now. One where the moment it gets dirty even a little, we hang 'em high!"
"No way. You're not trying to destroy the Union—you're cleaning it out...?"
"Secretary, if I wanted it gone, I wouldn't have gone to all this trouble."
Yi Bora blankly took in this man called the Smiling Man.
She'd thought him a monster driven by rage and hate alone.
A villain—not-villain rampaging to destroy the Union.
"I'll leave the orphanage kids entirely to you, Secretary. I blew this open, so I'll donate plenty. Heck, move them to an orphanage you volunteer at? I'm already stuffing donations there too."
"You've been handling even that..."
"Oh, don't misunderstand. I just hate dealing with smelly kids directly, so money instead! Hahaha!"
Seeing him like this, he was truly armed with his own justice.
He never called himself a hero. Insisted he wasn't.
Yet this man was closer to a hero than anyone.
"Oh, right. One more thing I asked for?"
At the Smiling Man's words, Yi Bora snapped back to attention.
She promptly hands over a small prepared case.
"No issues, right?"
"Yes. Checked it multiple times. No one will notice."
"Perfect. If you need anything, just say. I'll fetch it!"
Yi Bora gazes at the Smiling Man briefly before speaking.
"Um... but why a forged passport...?"
"You think I'm planning to flee abroad or something?"
As if. That man would never run.
Running is for those who think they've done wrong.
But the Smiling Man neither did wrong nor thought he had.
Then why? Why prepare to head overseas all of a sudden?
"Thinking of spending this summer vacation in the UK."
"The UK?"
"I'll go explore just how bad British food is. Look forward to it! Hahaha!"