Chapter 62
Chapter 62
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: A Few Loaches
-----------------------------------------------------------------
What to do. After pondering for a moment, Yushin set down his phone.
He wanted nothing more than to flip the place upside down, but he knew he couldn't.
The Black Woman looked at him, wondering what was wrong.
"What are you doing? Hurry up and take the picture."
"The owner said not to."
"So what? Take it and send it. If I'm curious, I need to know the answer."
"Boss."
"They say no? Then make them say yes."
Tsking her tongue, the Black Woman wiggled her finger.
To ordinary people, it would look like a meaningless gesture.
But Yushin gazed at the distant scenery instead of her hand.
A massive rock, invisible to the human eye, crumbled into dust.
It was utterly pulverized by an indescribable, overwhelming force.
"I know you're playing at being ordinary. This trip is part of that game. I don't like it, but you strong-armed me into coming anyway."
But. The Black Woman twirled her index finger as she continued.
"We are villains. Rules are chains that bind us, worthless echoes we don't need to respect. If I want to do something, I do it. Anyone who gets in the way gets removed. Am I wrong?"
"No, Boss. You're completely right. Absolutely right."
There was only one reason the Black Woman, a villain, never targeted ordinary citizens.
She didn't see them as enemies. They simply weren't worth the effort.
A villain's enemies were heroes. The ones villains had to crush were heroes.
That's why she never used her power on civilians. That was it.
But? If a civilian displeased her? Then they became enemies.
And the Black Woman showed no mercy to enemies.
That was why the villains couldn't so much as twitch in her presence.
'This is getting a bit tricky.'
He had dragged her here against her will because of his plans.
At this rate, things might blow up here before the real plan even started.
But it was fine. Yushin parted his lips calmly.
"Boss. Still, we should follow their rules here."
"Still caught up in your ordinary people game?"
"Oh, come on. It's not that. Starting trouble here would just benefit the heroes!"
"...Benefit the heroes? What do you mean?"
As far as Yushin knew, the Black Woman hated heroes too.
The difference was that she found them utterly laughable.
She was certain their flimsy justice games could shatter at any moment.
People didn't follow goodness or justice. They followed overwhelming power, nothing more.
If villains demonstrated that power. If they crushed heroes with it.
People would praise villains just as they did heroes now.
'If Boss were in her prime, the Union never would have grown this big.'
Her power remained the same, but the body wielding it had weakened greatly.
So she had formed the Clan. To step in at the crucial moment.
Have villains expose the heroes' powerlessness to the public.
Then emerge at the end to shatter the false glory they had built.
"Didn't you say it yourself? Heroes must fall due to their own arrogance and hubris. That the moment people, disillusioned by those heroes, bow to us is what matters."
"Right. That's what I said. So what?"
"Think about it. This is the heroes' holy ground. If villains attack and heroes repel us, people's trust in them will only solidify!"
The Black Woman frowned in displeasure at the Smiling Man's words.
But he was right. It would just give them more reason to shine.
"...No. That's not it."
Shaking her head, the Black Woman raised another possibility.
"You and I are here. Who would dare face us?"
"Hmm."
"At best, Hero Academy cadets. Their instructors? Washed-up heroes at that. A-rank at most."
This was an isolated island over 100 km from the mainland.
Heroes came and went, but no S-rank heroes resided here.
Ulleungdo couldn't possibly handle the two of them.
As the Black Woman pointed that out, Yushin smiled inwardly. 'Got her.'
"See? Am I right?"
"Yes. You're right, Boss."
"Exactly. So..."
"Which makes it even more of a problem."
People were easily persuaded when their own thoughts were challenged.
"A problem how?"
"They'll know they're outmatched but resist desperately to the bitter end. And they'll all die by our hands. Now, here's a question. What will the people watching that think?"
"..."
She got it now. The Black Woman finally understood what the Smiling Man was driving at.
Heroes had to die powerless. They had to collapse fighting among themselves.
No noble deaths. No heroic final stands after fierce battles.
More pathetically. More disgustingly. Until people stopped calling them heroes.
From that perspective, if the cadets died by their hands here.
If worthless opponents fought to the last and annihilated...
"Hah."
The Black Woman waved her hand a few times.
She understood. Put the phone away.
"Unbelievable. At this rate, it's nothing but your ridiculous tourist—or whatever—ordinary people game."
"What are you saying?"
Was she trying to comfort him? The Black Woman waited for his next words.
But once again today, she forgot who she was dealing with: the Smiling Man.
The master of words and actions that always defied prediction.
"It's not a game. We really came to travel."
"Huh?"
"Whether we got the invite or not, we'd have come with you, Boss. Sitting in that yard every day does you no good!"
"Does wandering around do any good?"
Of course it does! The Smiling Man rummaged in his pocket.
Surprisingly, what emerged was a black Go stone.
"New moves don't come from just staring at the board. Sometimes you need to clear your mind and keep it sharp."
"Heh. So you thought that far ahead."
What an inscrutable man. The Black Woman thought.
He used to avoid even playing Go, dodging games slyly.
Now he seemed to enjoy it subtly.
And he was looking out for her, subtly or not...
"Of course! You need to improve a bit so I can play for real, right?!"
"...Grind."
He really was remarkable in every way.
"Well then, shall we get going?"
"I hope the next stop feels more like a real trip."
"I'll do my best. Now, the bill..."
A vein bulged on the Smiling Man's forehead as he took the receipt.
He laughed "Hahaha," but it clearly wasn't genuine.
Wondering why, she glanced over—and sure enough, she could guess.
It barely qualified as a meal, yet the bill was double what it should be.
"Your haggling skills rival any villain."
"...Haha."
"You're the one who said no flipping the place."
The Black Woman felt a small surge of satisfaction at the jab.
Japan. Niigata City.
"Welcome, S-Rank Hero, Valkyrie."
A group of Japanese heroes greeted Valkyrie as she arrived by car.
After exchanging light greetings with them, Valkyrie went straight to meet the one waiting for her.
It was routine, but dealing with politicians was always burdensome.
"Welcome. Good to see you again."
Yamada Kiyoto, Deputy Minister of Japan's Hero Management Agency.
After shaking hands with Valkyrie, he got straight to the point.
"...So. According to you, Deputy Minister, the number of monsters appearing in the East Sea—what you call the Japan Sea—has surged recently."
"Pacific defense is already precarious. Our heroes are overwhelmed and at their limit. We requested aid from the Korean government, even if just a little. But I didn't expect an S-Rank Hero."
The deputy minister smiled in relief, as if saved.
Unfortunately, Korea wasn't exactly flush with resources either.
They had world-class heroes, that was true.
But proportionally, their infamous villains outnumbered those elsewhere.
And lately, monster appearances had doubled in frequency.
"I'm here as a consultant to objectively assess Japan's situation and help our administration make the right calls. Unless it's a worst-case crisis, we'll send other heroes."
"Ah... I see. A bit disappointing, but we're grateful even for this. Japan can't afford to be picky right now."
Relations between Korea and Japan were hard to call good, even politely.
But in a multinational disaster, they had to join forces.
They were each other's lips; without lips, teeth would shiver in the cold.
Japan was blocking all monsters crossing the Pacific.
If they fell, Korea's South Sea would be next.
"Could you give me more details on the current situation?"
"Of course. To be precise, it started a month and a half ago. Monsters emerging via the Japan Sea—er, East Sea—exploded in numbers."
This was odd. No similar reports had come from East Sea coastal cities yet.
The East Sea issue should be a shared problem for both nations.
Why was it quiet here but chaotic there?
"What's peculiar is the extreme violence shown by monsters landing or occupying sea areas. It looks like they've been fighting among themselves—wounds all over their bodies. Even bite marks torn off here and there..."