Chapter 96
Chapter 96
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 96
Chapter Title: USB Secrets and a Billion-Dollar Bounty
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Oh, this is something!
A suspicious item that the Smiling Man seemed to have hidden away.
Valkyrie headed straight to the location written on the Post-it note.
'Is this the place?'
She had disguised herself carefully to avoid drawing attention.
It would be trouble if anyone from the Union spotted her.
Clunk!-
Inside was a USB drive, just like last time.
Valkyrie returned to her quarters immediately.
She plugged in the USB and checked its contents.
The first thing that caught her eye was a video file.
It was even named "Must Check."
It felt like a trap, but Valkyrie was a hero.
Heroes were the type to act first when told to do something.
They were born different from villains, who always started with objections no matter what.
Clicking the video brought up a black screen that soon lit up.
< Hello! Hero Valkyrie! If you're watching this video, you've probably just seen me! >
"...".
Ah. She wanted to shut it off right from the start.
Valkyrie barely contained her boiling frustration and focused on the video.
< I've put some information in this USB that might help you. A few document files and photos... >
Okay. That's enough. No more of your face.
Valkyrie closed the video and clicked on the documents and photos.
But the moment she opened them, a strange program activated.
It felt like an incredibly old-school Flash game.
Then, a bizarre character appeared on the screen.
'...Wait a minute. No matter how I look at it, that's...'
The Smiling Man. No doubt about it. She could tell at a glance.
He had tried to make it cute as an SD character.
It wasn't. Absolutely, positively not cute.
Especially that voice waving its hand and chattering away!
< Oh. Oh. Oh! My, my! You didn't enter the password! >
This damn villain wannabe... Ah, wait, not a villain?
Whatever! This damn Smiling Man! Pranking her to the very end?!
Valkyrie pulled out her phone to call him.
Then her eyes landed on the video file she had just closed.
"...".
The Smiling Man was insane. Out of his mind. It couldn't be.
But his madness didn't mean he acted without thought.
He seemed impulsive, but he was more calculated than anyone.
He wouldn't pull a prank like this without reason.
And there was a high chance the password was hidden somewhere in that video.
'He's forcing me to watch the whole thing after all.'
She clicked the video file again and grudgingly watched it to the end.
Sure enough, amid his worthless nonsense, certain things flashed by.
Combining them and entering them into the password field finally opened the files.
< Congratulations! You figured out the password! How was it watching my awesome self from start to finish? Hahaha! >
The very first page had that message, drawing only a hollow laugh from her now.
Fine. You win. Just stop already. She might actually become the Smiling Woman at this rate!
But that lighthearted feeling didn't last long.
As Valkyrie reviewed the documents and photos, her face gradually hardened.
"This is..."
What she was seeing were clearly internal Union secrets.
Not a huge amount, but all of extremely high importance.
Donations that the Union Korea Branch had forcibly taken from certain Korean companies.
A partial list clearly marking heroes to recruit and heroes to keep in check.
Even details on incidents one particular hero had caused and how they were covered up.
'Intentional or just the limits of his intel, pulling out cases one by one... Even this alone could ignite suspicions against the Union. Spark a wave of criticism.'
Now she understood why the Smiling Man had acted playful from the start.
Once you saw this, there'd be no more laughing, so he was getting it out of the way early.
The Smiling Man. A madman, but weirdly considerate too.
Click.
Valkyrie had spent nearly an hour reviewing the data the Smiling Man had handed her.
She closed the windows, leaned back in her chair, and let out a long sigh.
How twisted and warped could the world be?
What exactly did the Smiling Man want by handing this over?
Ding!-
"...What now."
Checking her phone, it was a message sent to all heroes.
Stand by for emergencies and await further instructions.
The government had always rejected the Union's emergency declarations until now.
But this was about half-accepting it.
The attack on the Korea Branch was probably the decisive factor.
This would allow the Union to fully command the heroes.
Define enemies and issue attack orders.
Those could be villains... or enemies of the Union.
'A powerful card they can push through regardless of public opinion. But...'
The data she held could completely block that.
The moment she released it, the public and government would revolt.
The Union is no longer a force for justice; everything must stop.
Heroes might start thinking differently too.
Ding!-
< Check the TV. >
What now? Valkyrie turned on the TV.
Switching to a news channel, the screen was filled with...
< "Alright. Let's start again. What is your hero name?" >
< "L-Light Dagger." >
< "Good. Then, Hero Light Dagger, it's time to confess your crimes." >
< "Please. Spare me." >
< "Confess, and I'll spare you. So, go on." >
< Yes. This video just came into our station. The villain who attacked the Union Korea Branch, the Smiling Man, kidnapped A-Rank Hero Light Dagger in the process. It's presumed he extracted a false confession through brutal torture and then killed him... >
False confession, they say. No, it's real.
The USB contained data on Light Dagger too.
It matched exactly what they called the false confession.
Unfortunately, that hero wasn't a "hero" at all.
"...".
How you use this data is up to you.
The Smiling Man had said that. Unlike last time, no dissuasion.
From here on, it was her decision and her responsibility.
The USB she received today had info, but not a lot.
If the Union went all out on opinion manipulation, she could be refuted.
She might even end up in a tough spot from the backlash.
Yes. The Smiling Man was pointing exactly at this scenario.
If she could handle it alone, then go ahead and blow it wide open.
If she could become a madman like him, give it a shot.
"...You think I can't do it just because you tell me to?"
She had already exposed the Holy Knight scandal and given an interview criticizing the Union.
She could do more. In fact, she could go further.
Not like the Smiling Man, but in her own way.
He couldn't be a hero, but she was one.
She didn't need to kill anyone or smash things to pieces.
She had a duty to show that justice and goodness were still alive.
< A-Rank Hero Light Dagger has been found dead, shocking the hero world once more. The prime suspect is the villain Smiling Man, with eyewitness accounts of him kidnapping Hero Light Dagger during the Union Korea Branch attack. >
< With villain attacks continuing, the government is reportedly considering issuing an emergency declaration. This would partially hand hero command authority to the more specialized Union, effectively turning it into a command center. Opinions are divided on this... >
"What the hell. Isn't the Smiling Man not a villain? But his actions are like the most brutal villain out there."
"Who knows. Maybe like with Holy Knight, there's more to it."
"To me, it looks like he's getting revenge by brutally killing villains."
"What's wrong with killing villains? Those damn human rights groups stay quiet when villains murder civilians, but cry foul when senior heroes kill those villains?"
The Hero Academy students were gossiping as usual today.
What exactly was the Smiling Man? Villain or not?
Many students thought he was different from other villains.
They committed atrocities purely for their own desires.
He had proven he was on a different level.
Saving heroes, cadets, and citizens. Saving Ulleungdo from monsters.
And most crucially, the Holy Knight incident that had recently come to light.
But that didn't mean they fully endorsed him.
Even if he acted to realize justice.
If he personally committed murder, it was a crime.
Different from heroes who had state authority to dispose of criminals in emergencies.
"The Smiling Man just isn't a hero, but fundamentally, he's like us, right?"
"He's just a criminal wandering around murdering at will. Not like us, and he shouldn't be!"
Debates raged fiercely among the cadets over this very issue.
"...".
Kang Yuna glanced away from the scene.
There, Seo Ha-eun was intently watching something.
'Why's she so quiet?'
On Monday, Seo Ha-eun had openly defended the Smiling Man.
Afterward, she frowned whenever negative talk about him came up.
Kang Yuna remembered how she used to burn with hatred at the mere mention of villains.
For her to change like this... The Smiling Man was impressive.
Kang Yuna herself was uncomfortable calling him a villain.
"Ha-eun, what have you been staring at?"
"This video."
"Video? ...Ah, this one."
Seo Ha-eun showed her footage of the Smiling Man raiding the Korea Branch.
Citizens passing by had filmed it and uploaded it online.
This clip had fueled even more debate.
'He attacks the branch, kidnaps a hero, but saves people about to fall...'
The building partially collapsed, sending staff plummeting dozens of meters.
Heroes didn't save them—the Smiling Man's Mana Threads did.
"He's a really strange person."
"...He might be a little amazing."
"Huh? Ha-eun, what did you just say?"
"Nothing."
Kang Yuna asked again, but she had heard it. She definitely said "amazing."
It was shocking. She knew how furious Seo Ha-eun got at villains.
For her to speak that way about the Smiling Man, a villain.
Seo Ha-eun truly saw him as different from other villains.
Kang Yuna had thought it would be nice if he were a hero too.
"Wh-what is this?!"
The cadets nearby suddenly shouted.
Then they scattered, yelling for others to check it out.
What was going on? Had the Seven Evils appeared or something?
"...Yuna."
"Yeah?"
"Look at this."
One video on Seo Ha-eun's phone screen.
< Breaking news just in. The Union has announced a bounty on the villain Smiling Man. Since heroes are affiliated with nations and cannot engage in private activities, this is effectively an invitation to defect from hero status and join the Union... >
< The bounty the Union has placed on the Smiling Man is 100 million dollars. >