Chapter 29
Chapter 29
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: B-Rank Villain No Face Ganghwa-ryeon (4)
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Chapter 29
After sending off Ganghwa-ryeon, I returned home and sank into the sofa.
'Is this really okay?'
A villain called No Face doesn't matter.
What worried me was the organization that had taken her in as a subordinate—no, as an intern at the very bottom rung.
'I did the deed, but I can't help worrying anyway.'
An organization that would turn a woman infamous as a B-Rank villain into a mere intern, just there to suck up the scraps and be discarded.
It was bound to be large in scale, with tons of members and top-notch skills.
'Still, let's believe they'll focus on Ganghwa-ryeon rather than me.'
I'd hypnotized her to hide her identity and sever ties with the organization.
With her suddenly fleeing in the middle of a mission, the spotlight would shift to her, leaving me in the background.
Of course, a big organization might just hand the job off to another member, so I needed to act before that.
'Hypnosis skill for a one-man army? No, that might work against a final boss, but my current hypnosis skill isn't that impressive.'
If a crowd swarmed me, hypnosis or not, I'd be subdued.
If they pinned me down and made contact, I could escape a crisis or two with second-stage hypnosis...
'That's just pissing in the wind.'
The moment I did that, my hypnosis skill would be exposed, drawing even more attention from the villains and putting me in greater danger.
'If Noona Yu-ra were here, she could block them for sure.'
She could probably dismantle the whole organization.
But she'd messaged me recently, and she still had at least a month before returning home.
'Will the organization sit tight for a month? Or come after me? That's the fork in the road.'
Ganghwa-ryeon had said the organization warned her to watch out for clashes with the Millennium Guild, so let's use that.
"But man, this pisses me off all of a sudden."
The era I'm living in and my situation—I'm totally a male reverse harem protagonist, aren't I?
Don't male reverse harem leads get pampered by strong, rich older sisters as a baseline?
'So why am I on my second kidnapping already, about to get targeted by a villain organization when most people don't even experience one in a lifetime?'
Not like those pitiful leads who get kidnapped, tortured half to death, barely rescued with their minds shattered, leaving the heroines sobbing and clinging in despair.
Even if this blows over, won't I get kidnapped again later?
"Nah, no way."
...Right?
"...Maybe I should just try being a male reverse harem side character. At least they don't get kidnapped."
It was an evening filled with needless fears about the genre of my life.
＊＊＊
"What? Sick leave?"
At the Millennium Guild's main gate.
My grand plan to escape the organization's threat hit a wall right from the start.
"Yes. I just checked, and she's on sick leave, so she didn't come in."
They'd told her to avoid tangling with big shots like the Millennium Guild.
I'd planned to visit often, making them hesitate to touch me because of the guild.
But Lee Seo-yeon, my entry point, had gone on sick leave.
'This isn't good.'
The organization already knew I was connected to the Millennium Guild.
But there's a world of difference between a guild staffer's boyfriend...
And a guy who visits the Millennium Guild directly so often they've gotten familiar.
'Their response will depend on how deep my ties to the Millennium Guild seem.'
The problem was that damn Lee Seo-yeon suddenly taking sick leave.
'No sign of illness when we talked yesterday, and now sick leave?'
Overslept again?
I had the guild master's number too—a call might get me in—but I'd used that favor last time, so hitting it up again felt off.
'I don't want to come off as someone who uses people.'
That impression might make the guild master say something to Noona Yu-ra.
Should I just reveal my relationship with Noona Yu-ra outright? Or call her and ask for a guild tour permission?
'If push comes to shove, a little hypnosis to fool them.'
What hypnosis line would let me in without harming the guard noona?
As I slipped toward the parking lot to brainstorm, my savior appeared.
"Jun-hyuk?"
One of Noona Yu-ra's team members from the last party.
I didn't remember her name, but her words stuck with me.
"Eight-ton truck?"
"H-Haha. You heard that. It's not Eight-ton Truck—it's Choi A-rang."
"Just kidding."
"Doesn't feel like it... Anyway, what brings you to the guild?"
"I got curious about where Noona works, so I came to check it out. Thought maybe a tour..."
"Now? You know Yu-ra's not here."
"Yeah. But, well..."
I stammered, tilting my head diagonally down a bit and twisting my body slightly.
"If Noona introduced me, she'd drag me around everywhere, arms linked, hugging from behind and all... That'd be too embarrassing..."
"Ugh!"
"Th-there's no way, right?"
Overkill.
Choi A-rang clutched her chest and staggered, then grabbed my hand.
"I'll take responsibility and introduce you!"
"Thank you!"
Beauty is truly eternal.
Even without the hypnosis skill, if your face has enough plausibility, that's hypnosis in itself.
"Wow, it's huge. So this is Korea's number one guild..."
"Hehe, the best, right? No guild in our country is bigger than Millennium."
It really was massive. It looked big from outside, but inside, it's building-scale, field-scale.
Since I'm here, beyond showing off ties to the villains for effect, time to satisfy my personal curiosity.
"Is there a training area for the hunters?"
"There is. They train separately by rank. Anywhere you want to see?"
"Can I? I'm curious what kind of training they do by rank."
"Sure thing! This way!"
Under Choi A-rang's guidance, I watched hunters training by rank.
From raw F-Rank rookies the guild scouted early...
Up to A-Ranks holding the guild's core (minus S-Ranks).
Watching them answered my questions about the hypnosis skill.
'Mental strength isn't all—it's tied to overall power too.'
Every F-Rank I saw fell to first-stage hypnosis easily.
But first-stage only worked up to B-Rank.
From A-Rank up, I needed at least second-stage to hypnotize them.
"Why do monsters have mental attacks sometimes? How do you defend?"
"You train your body and skills to boost mana absorption, which raises resistance. That blocks it. Monster mental attacks top out at B-Rank level, so rookies beware, but vets like me welcome them."
Those are easy catches if mental attacks fail, and the mana stones are huge.
Choi A-rang shrugged, boasting.
'So hypnosis is affected by mental strength and resistance.'
Resistance as base defense.
Mental strength as situational extra defense.
'Higher rank means some resistance even with low mental strength.'
Conversely, low rank but high mental strength gives extra defense against hypnosis.
Even now, some B-Rank and below had mental strength blocking first-stage.
'Meeting Noona Yu-ra first was a miracle, seeing how hypnosis worked.'
She was mentally broken and physically wrecked, so resistance and mental strength both low.
Even so, second-stage on direct contact worked—S-Rank hunter toughness confirmed again.
'Doesn't apply to Noona now.'
EX-Rank boosted her resistance? Even third-stage fails on her now.
No hypnosis without internal ejaculation.
'But we're at fourth-stage intimacy anyway, so no problem if hypnosis needed!'
Tour cleared my doubts, easing my mind.
'I can handle anything short of an A-Rank hunter-level villain.'
Villain ranks are based on brutality.
Meaning they commit atrocities but escape hero nets, preserving themselves—so they're strong.
'Mental strength aside from raw power, though.'
Most villains became ones because they couldn't control greed and lust.
Unless special cases, low mental strength.
But exceptions exist—never let guard down.
'S-Rank villains often driven by ideology over money or greed—strong mental strength?'
Eh, what're the odds I'll meet ones like that?
Even A-Ranks are rare.
＊＊＊
'Something's definitely up.'
Im Hye-ryeong, team leader and executive of Korea's villain organization "Errand Center," sipped distasteful coffee while surveilling the Millennium Guild today too.
Unlike its top-guild fame, plenty of nearby shops made watching easy—but that smugness grated more.
Spy if you want.
Cross the line, and no mercy.
Korea's number one guild had the chops to turn arrogance into confidence.
'Too frequent visits for just a non-hunter staffer's boyfriend.'
A week already observing—not the guild, but Yoo Jun-hyuk, who came daily like clockwork.
'Morning: cafe for work. After: Millennium Guild. Around 10 PM, one of their hunters drives him home.'
Even as team leader, hard to buy this treatment for a staffer's boyfriend.
Tours for family? One or two days max—not a full week.
Never saw him with Lee Seo-yeon, and high hunters—guild elites—escort him home every time.
'Something's really there.'
Im Hye-ryeong truly regretted taking this job lightly.
No Face Ganghwa-ryeon vanished suddenly.
Leaving faint traces.
Failure meant more 'earnings,' so she'd half-hoped—but not like this, unforeseen.
'Drained the accounts and vanished. Like she wanted no part in this...'
Or fled in terror, hiding fast as possible.
Her gut screamed: relying solely on Shin Jeong-hwa's intel to kidnap Yoo Jun-hyuk was a massive blunder.
'Might harm the organization...'
Then, her smartphone buzzed lightly.
[Hey, whatcha doing? Bored.]
A fellow villain friend in another org.
Elite of 'Trillion,' top-dog among orgs—bigger than hers—but their friendship was real.
[Target surveillance. Took a kidnapping gig, messed up.]
[Who?]
She hesitated, sent Yoo Jun-hyuk's photo.
Maybe her Trillion insider knew something she didn't—a slim hope.
[Whoa! Fuc—... cutely handsome.]
Like calling a woman "cutely sexy"—contradictory, but his looks pulled it off.
[Hey, wait, that ring he's wearing... seen it somewhere?]
[Really?]
Doesn't compute for Im Hye-ryeong.
Just a common couple ring?
But couldn't dismiss her friend.
'She wouldn't bullshit.'
Trillion made and 'legally' sold accessory artifacts.
Hence, their execs all had killer aesthetics.
[Hold on. Looking it up.]
Soon, a message: not text, but an image juxtaposing recent overseas Choi Yu-ra pic and Yoo Jun-hyuk's.
[Identical. Couple rings?]
[Common stuff. Red mana stone ones pricey but not rare.]
[Not mass-produced. Saturation's off. This level needs 99% purity. That size? Over 3 billion. Not common at all.]
A chill shot up her spine.
Dread turned real; fingers froze, couldn't type.
[Plus same cut. Definitely couple rings.]
It all clicked.
Why he roams the guild freely.
Why intern-hopeful No Face Ganghwa-ryeon vanished with traces.
'Right before kidnapping, he flashed proof of his link to Choi Yu-ra!'
Couple rings? Bound to have couple-y phone pics.
Seeing that, terror-flee makes sense.
She wanted to bolt now, scream no involvement.
"Fuck..."
Saw with own eyes his chumminess with guild cores.
Maybe he'd spilled the near-kidnap to them; they're hunting the org undercover now.
[Smash 'em, smash 'em.]
bosom buddy's friendly nudge arrived.
[Don't mention our org if poss. Don't wanna get smashed by an EX hunter.]