Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Hahoe Mask (1)
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Hans slipped through the shadows, stealthily making his way toward the site of the commotion.
By the time he arrived, the Guardians were already on the scene, cleaning things up.
"Damn it, how many times has this happened now? Not a single day goes by without something blowing up."
"...Trouble keeps popping up left and right, but we're short-staffed. I can barely remember the last time I went home."
They grumbled as they talked.
A quick glance around showed that my favorite chicken joint had a shattered window and a trashed interior, but nothing too major otherwise.
'Must be fallout from that nearby terrorist attack. They'll be back open in no time.'
That said, incidents had been spiking lately—way more than usual.
The Guardians were chatting about it too.
"These organized terrorist bastards are messing up public safety, so now all the small-time thugs are jumping on the bandwagon and running wild."
"We can barely handle catching those guys as it is... If this keeps up, things are gonna get dangerous."
Hans listened in for a bit before slipping away.
'So there is a root cause. Have the Villains formed a proper syndicate?'
Sure, they'd always had their criminal networks.
But unlike overseas, Korea had been handling them pretty well up until now...
This time, though, it looked like control had slipped, and they hadn't even gotten a lead on the culprits.
Hans darted through the city, cloaked in the deepening twilight.
He activated his enhanced detection spell, grown even stealthier with his leveling, and scanned the surroundings.
'Can't just strut out there and head back empty-handed now that the main event's wrapped up.'
He needed to gauge the city's security firsthand.
Hans didn't need sleep anyway, and mana was overflowing, so patrolling all night wouldn't tire him out.
Then his sharpened senses picked up a minor disturbance.
'Hm... This is...'
He paused to assess, hesitated briefly, then turned toward it.
Why the hesitation?
Not danger. Not fear of exposure.
"Hey, you saying I'm full of shit? Huh, you little punk?"
"N-no, that's not what I—"
"Watch your mouth, or I'll beat it straight. You hear me?"
A back alley where a group of uniformed high schoolers had gathered.
A pack circling one kid, cig dangling from their lips.
Classic schoolyard bullying.
'...I came out to hunt Villains, not deal with street punks.'
That was the main reason for his pause.
You draw a sword, you gotta cut something—but using this power to scold kids felt overkill.
"Yo! I got a great idea. Strip his shirt off."
"Why? What for?"
As Hans sized up the scene, one of the punks puffing a smoke sidled up to the victim.
"Gonna carve the Big Dipper on his chest. Fucking badass, right?"
"Pfft, you psycho... That's straight fire. Let's do it."
The punks grabbed the kid in the middle and ripped his buttons open.
His exposed torso was already covered in bruises and cuts.
"S-stop! Please, no more!"
"Hilarious little bitch. You say stop, so we gotta?"
"Still haven't learned? We'll tattoo Orion on your back next."
"Ooh, you know what Orion looks like? Sick."
"Nah. Just Google it. Grab that fucker—he's still fighting."
The boy sobbed and struggled while they pummeled him into submission.
One approached with a lit cig; others cackled, filming it all.
That was enough. Hans made up his mind.
Why else are they called Villains?
Hurting innocents, committing crimes—that's the definition, right?
And these punks? Prime Villains.
Decision made, action followed in an instant.
"...Huh?"
The guy about to press the cig butt froze mid-motion.
Not just him—the resisting boy, the laughing punks—all stock-still.
The whole alley plunged into silence.
"Wh-what? My body's... suddenly...?"
"M-me too. C-can't... move..."
Invisible, Hans had merely loosed a sliver of his aura, and they froze like frogs before a snake.
💥 CRACK! 💥 Smartphone shattered
No CCTV in sight.
Made sense—that's why these idiots acted so bold here.
"Wha...? Suddenly... sleepy..."
Slump—thud!
Hans cast a sleep spell on the victim, then slowly revealed himself before the punks.
"...Eek!"
"Ah... ugh... aaah..."
Trickle—
Unleashing his full presence, they pissed themselves the instant their eyes met his.
Hans approached slowly, building the tension.
Clack-clack-clack...
Teeth chattering, bodies trembling like leaves.
Eyes locked on him, unable to blink or look away, bloodshot red.
The weak-willed ones already had dilated pupils.
'This effect is no joke.'
He'd amped it up to scare them, but this was excessive.
They thought they were untouchable hotshots, but they were just powerless kids.
Even this might break their minds.
Hans dialed back the pressure, extended a finger, and cast his spell.
'Was wondering how harsh to make the punishment...'
Even scum like these couldn't just be killed.
But a slap on the wrist wouldn't reform them—they wouldn't have started if it would.
So he chose this.
"Evil seeds. Remember this moment." "When you are fully dyed in darkness and sprout," "you will meet me again." ⟨ Curse of Trauma ⟩
Not exactly magic—a curse.
The overwhelming terror of facing him, etched deep.
He planted a trigger in their psyche, embedding the trauma.
Slump—thud!
They all convulsed, eyes rolling back, collapsing like ice sculptures.
Some foamed at the mouth, out cold.
'Maybe shouldn't just leave them like this.'
Whoosh—
A smartphone flew from one punk's pocket into Hans's hand.
He dialed 119, then tossed it back onto the guy.
That was plenty.
'No more bad deeds—live right. Yeah, as if.'
A swell of satisfaction from the good deed, and he melted back into the shadows.
The night was young, time plentiful.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 'Ugh... my head hurts.'
Choi Ho-sik cracked his eyes open with effort.
His skull throbbed; thoughts wouldn't form.
"Honey! Ho-sik's awake! Over here—hurry! Our boy's come to!"
The shrill voice right beside him spiked his headache.
He wanted to yell for quiet, but his throat was too raw.
"Sir, are you with us?"
A nurse approached, checking vitals.
After some water, strength returned, and he looked around.
"This a... hospital? Why am I here?"
His mind was foggy; context escaped him.
"Oh, Ho-sik! You scared us half to death with that call—what happened? Who did this to my precious boy?!"
He winced at his mom's hysterics.
But it pieced things together.
Anonymous 119 call. Silent report, GPS dispatch.
Teens collapsed in an alley.
Him, unconscious, rushed to the hospital, now awake.
"...We got the call you were admitted while I was watching my drama—nearly jumped out of my skin rushing over. What the hell happened? What's the police doing? Taking our taxes and..."
Ignoring her rant, Choi Ho-sik clutched his head as memories resurfaced.
'Right, back alley, smoking, gonna mess with that loser freak...'
Memory hit that point—and he froze, breath halting.
Fluttering black hem. Blue flames in curved eyes. Approaching black hand. And...
"Evil seeds. Remember this moment." "When you are fully dyed in darkness and sprout," "you will meet me again." "Aaaargh!"
"Eek! H-Ho-sik? Ho-sik!"
"Sir? Stay with us!"
The soul-deep terror, branded eternal.
Medical staff rushed in, restraining his seizing body and injecting sedatives.
"Ah... aaah..."
As consciousness faded, Choi Ho-sik wished he'd never woken up.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The punishment was fundamentally a curse implanting trauma.
Simple effect: replay the terror of facing him on loop.
Trigger: harboring evil intent.
The nasty part? It fired even for mere thoughts, no action needed.
No self-hypnosis workaround either.
He'd woven his own psyche into the curse to counter twisted mindsets.
If they didn't see it as evil, his standards triggered it anyway.
'Still, I made it mild for thoughts only—a warning. They'll train themselves to think pure.'
Repeated exposure would condition out bad impulses via survival instinct.
A full trigger could shatter the ego.
Anyway...
"Hmm, this is way too inefficient."
Fresh from sleep, I assessed the night and muttered.
About Hans's all-nighter patrolling the city, of course.
'Speed and range are great, but blind wandering wastes time.'
He'd handled plenty: bullies, thieves, thugs, rapists.
Curses baseline; drained thugs' vitality to weakness, neutered rapists, etc.
But...
'Too much downtime.'
Like volunteering to sort trash—you're premium manpower.
'Can't just scatter undead around the city.'
Staring blankly out the window in thought, I spotted birds streaking across the sky.
'Wait—don't need undead for minions.'
Familiars, summoned beasts—plenty of options.
And he knew the spell from Forbidden Knowledge.
I focused on Hans, brainstorming.
Pigeons everywhere, stray cats prowling nights.
'Can't familiar-ize them all. Need a modified spell.'
Normal by day, transmit intel on triggers.
'Simplify ritual, cherry-pick essentials. Optimize to minimize mana.'
Stealth crucial—no detection by other returnees.
'Curses for stealth. Base it there—less mana, harder to spot.'
Can't cast individually—make it contagious on contact.
'Mix plague ritual into curse.'
Hans synergized Forbidden Knowledge and Wicked Wisdom to craft anew.
I threw in the extra Avatar slot from Persona, pooling all resources on Hans.
'If this body were in Outerica, I could've used time more efficiently... What a shame.' Regret was fleeting.
A few hours, and the Otherworld Teleportation Circle would be ready.
'Heinz's trip's smooth. Use this for Hans's magic R&D.'
Cooldown up, Hans teleported to Outerica.