Chapter 12
Chapter 12
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Who is the Villain?
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Who is the villain?
What the hell is this bolt from the blue? Seo Ha-gyun thought.
Just yesterday, he'd been chatting normally on the phone with Holy Knight.
He wasn't as close to him as his own sister Seo Ha-eun was, but they still had a decent relationship.
That man had died last night. The whole world was buzzing with the news.
"Cadet Seo Ha-gyun. I'm excusing you from morning classes, so head to the hospital."
"Thank you, Instructor!"
The death of S-Rank Hero Holy Knight. The culprit was none other than the Smiling Man.
And apparently, one more person had been found at the scene.
Seo Ha-gyun was rushing to check on that person—his little sister.
Korea University Hospital. Please hurry."
As he hopped in a taxi and headed to the hospital, the radio kept blaring the news.
<Continuing our coverage. After Hero Holy Knight was murdered last night, the hotel where he was staying has essentially been shut down by the Union Korea Branch. It feels like they're tightly controlling everything... Our reporter on the scene says...>
"What the hell is going on? Holy Knight dead?"
The taxi driver clicked his tongue in pity.
"My daughter was a huge fan. With villains brazenly walking around like this, how can anyone feel safe?"
"... "
It was shocking. Holy Knight taken down by a villain.
It wasn't the first time an S-Rank Hero had died.
Some fell to villains. Others to monsters.
But never like this—sudden, ambushed out of nowhere.
Especially not losing his life to a single villain. No one could have imagined it.
"Thank you."
Arriving at Korea University Hospital, Seo Ha-gyun hurried straight to the room where Seo Ha-eun was supposed to be.
But as soon as the elevator doors opened, he was greeted by a group of people in suits.
"Halt. This floor is completely restricted right now. Please leave."
"I'm Cadet Seo Ha-gyun, third-year at Hero Academy. I'm the older brother and guardian of reserve cadet Seo Ha-eun, who was admitted here last night."
"Seo Ha-eun, you say?"
The suits exchanged glances for a moment.
Soon, one of them led Seo Ha-gyun to the desk.
"Ms. Seo Ha-eun is in Room 712. However, visiting time is limited to 30 minutes, and you must sign this nondisclosure agreement before entering."
"Nondisclosure agreement...?"
A single sheet of pristine white paper was slid in front of the puzzled Seo Ha-gyun.
< Nondisclosure Agreement >
"This is..."
"As you can see, it's a nondisclosure agreement. It states that you must not disclose any information you hear in this hospital today. If any issues arise, the Union Korea Branch will have no choice but to suspect Cadet Seo Ha-gyun. Please understand."
This was weird. He was just here to visit his hospitalized sister, and now they wanted him to sign this?
A flicker of doubt crossed his mind, but right now, that wasn't important.
Seo Ha-gyun signed the agreement as requested and was finally allowed to head to the room.
"Ha-eun!"
Opening the door, he saw Seo Ha-eun sitting blankly on the bed.
Thank goodness. He'd feared the worst, but she didn't seem badly hurt.
"Ha-eun, big bro's here. You okay?"
"...Oppa."
"No injuries anywhere? What did the doctors say? What the hell happened? And what about Uncle Holy Knight...!"
Sitting beside her, Seo Ha-gyun inspected his sister's body from head to toe.
He'd never shown it, but they were each other's last remaining family.
The thought of nearly losing that one family member was terrifying.
"What exactly happened?"
"...I don't really know. We had dinner with Uncle, and he poured me a celebratory drink, so I had some alcohol. Then suddenly my body felt heavy, and I passed out."
"Passed out?"
"Yeah. And when I woke up, I was in this hospital room."
So, even during all that chaos, Seo Ha-eun had been asleep?
Seo Ha-gyun thought for a moment and spotted something that didn't add up.
"You drank alcohol."
"Yeah."
"I don't know your tolerance, but you probably didn't drink much. And Ability users like us have enhanced physiques compared to civilians—we're pretty resistant to alcohol."
"That's what I heard."
"Yet you passed out just from a little drink? In all that commotion, and you didn't wake up?"
I think that's weird too. It doesn't make sense.
At Seo Ha-eun's response, Seo Ha-gyun could only press his forehead in frustration.
"Maybe... it wasn't that. Maybe the Smiling Man did something to you."
"I thought about that too, but no. My memory cuts off at the hotel lounge. It was just me and Uncle Holy Knight there at the time."
This was even stranger. So she lost consciousness from the alcohol.
Then why did Holy Knight choose a hotel room instead of having someone take her home?
If word got out, it could lead to misunderstandings or ugly rumors.
It didn't seem like something a man who cherished Seo Ha-eun would do.
"Anyway, you're safe. You have no idea how scared I was that the Smiling Man might have gotten to you too."
"That's suspicious too. Why? Why did a villain leave me alive?"
"He probably didn't notice you. Or maybe he ran out of time."
Seo Ha-eun slowly shook her head.
"According to the police, the spot where I was found was the only place that hadn't collapsed. He deliberately moved me there."
"... "
"And the Smiling Man waited until someone came. He had plenty of time to kill me."
It didn't add up. The opponent was the Smiling Man—a monster who killed heroes.
He didn't act often, but when he did, he was more brutal than anyone.
That's why a mere aspirant surviving him had been such big news recently.
"But, Oppa. There's something weird."
"What? Are you hurt?"
"They said Uncle Holy Knight... was completely naked."
What? Seo Ha-gyun's eyes widened.
"I overheard them from outside the room. Uncle was brought in with cardiac arrest, naked. They said he was like that from the hotel."
"... "
"Probably the Smiling Man's doing. To humiliate him."
"Yeah. Probably... "
Uncle and niece, but not a drop of blood between them.
He had a clean public image, but he was oddly interested in Seo Ha-eun.
Dinner was fine, but drinking together? Same hotel room?
She falls asleep, and Holy Knight is found stripped?
Thinking about it, it didn't make sense that he went down so easily.
An S-Rank Hero boasted by the Union Korea Branch, just like that?
But if it wasn't a fair fight—if it was a surprise attack.
If he was focused on something else and caught off guard.
Knock knock!-
"Cadet Seo Ha-gyun. Visiting hours are almost over."
Voices of the suits came from beyond the door.
Yeah. This was suspicious too. What were they so guarded about?
It felt like they were worried something might leak out.
"I should head out. You skipped classes and training to come, right?"
"Discharge?"
"No major issues. Tomorrow, or latest the day after."
"...Okay. Call if anything happens. Call when you're discharged too—I'll come pick you up."
Seo Ha-gyun stood and left the room.
Click. As the door closed, Seo Ha-eun turned to look out the window.
"Ms. Seo Ha-eun. We have one thing to confirm."
She recalled the question the suits had asked before Seo Ha-gyun arrived.
"Have you ever seen the contents of Hero Holy Knight's phone?"
"You haven't? Understood."
At first they asked about the circumstances, then suddenly that.
Not "Do you know where his phone is?" but "Have you seen its contents?"
It was like they were checking if she'd seen something she shouldn't have.
"...What the."
Her fist clenched on the blanket.
"What the hell happened... "
Why had Holy Knight, whom she'd trusted and followed, met his end?
Why had she been drinking with him, lost consciousness, and ended up in that hotel room?
Why had the villain, the Smiling Man, seen her and chosen to walk away?
If he'd wanted to kill her, he could have easily.
She was a future hero—the kind the Smiling Man hated so much.
She hated villains, and that villain made no secret of his enmity toward heroes.
Yet he decided not to harm her.
There were too many incomprehensible parts.
Suspicious points everywhere, but she couldn't figure them out.
The Union Korea Branch. The police. Everyone was too busy keeping quiet.
Something was there. Something she didn't know. It had to be.
"...Smiling Man."
Maybe he knew the answers.
Even if he lied, it was fine. She just wanted to know.
So. She had to catch the Smiling Man.
"No? It can't be. It shouldn't be."
As an Academy cadet, for the sake of avenging Hero Holy Knight.
"You're a villain. So why."
Maybe the being she hated most had saved her.
"It can't be like that... "
Even to completely burn away these absurd thoughts.