Chapter 97
Chapter 97
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 97
Chapter Title: Joining the Villain Punishment Squad
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"No reason I can't, right?"
In response to Ji Su-jeong's question about whether he saw her as a villain, Hae-jin answered.
Ji Su-jeong looked troubled.
"Um."
She had every reason to be.
Sure, she had a foundation as a boxer and abilities awakened as a Player, but who was her opponent?
As she herself had said, Hae-jin was the world's strongest Player.
No amount of brute force or villainy on her part could touch him.
So, what was she supposed to do?
After some agonizing thought, Ji Su-jeong extended both hands toward Hae-jin.
"This doesn't sound so bad."
"What's that?"
"A life bound to Hae-jin oppa? Sounds great to me!"
"......"
Hae-jin was momentarily speechless.
What on earth was she saying?
Ji Su-jeong tilted her head at his bewildered expression, hands still outstretched.
"You're not taking me in?"
"No need to drag you off, but if you're treated as a villain, you have to pick one of two options."
"Which are?"
"Either accept punishment as a criminal, or promise to reform and join the Villain Punishment Squad."
Those were the fates of the villains the squad had captured.
Ji Su-jeong asked about the options Hae-jin presented.
"Can I join the Villain Punishment Squad?"
"Sure. If it's about making a living, why not drop the pointless school bullying and join the squad to help eradicate it?"
Hae-jin thought it over.
Originally, he planned to make her pay dearly for beating up Kim So-hye, but here she was, willingly surrendering and asking him to take her in.
So, he decided to give her a chance.
Truth be told, her story wasn't entirely unconvincing.
If the Trials' Arena hadn't unfolded and she hadn't become a Player, Ji Su-jeong would have spent her life as a female boxer.
Even from Joo-hyuk's memories alone, she had star potential as a female boxer, enough to revive the sport's popularity in Korea during its slump.
She had the looks and the skills.
She had leveraged those strengths, working as a teen influencer boxer on internet streams and SNS.
But what could be done?
After the Trials' Arena opened, she could no longer pursue her profession.
Hae-jin could somewhat understand her situation, which was why he proposed she join the Villain Punishment Squad.
In fact, aside from adult crimes, school violence by minors could also be classified as villainous crime.
Thanks to Hae-jin's squad, Korea hadn't seen any school bullying escalate to murder yet.
'Overseas, Player students' bullying has turned into murders.'
With the world's strongest Player, Hae-jin, around, no foolish minor Players dared cause that much trouble.
Anyway, in that context, Ji Su-jeong asked about his proposal.
"Eradicating school bullying?"
"Yes."
"Do I get paid enough to live on?"
"Of course. The squad treats its members very well."
"Then I'm in!"
From Ji Su-jeong's perspective, there was no reason to refuse.
Her idol, Hae-jin, was the leader, and she wouldn't have to extort kids' lunch money anymore—what wasn't to like?
With Ji Su-jeong agreeing to join the squad, Hae-jin explained her future duties.
"Then from now on, you'll handle the teen Players."
"Huh? Teen Players?"
"You agreed to eradicate school bullying, so you'll go around the country's middle and high schools—not just this one—and clean out all the punks playing bully king."
"Uh......"
Ji Su-jeong feigned surprise at the sudden nationwide bully purge assigned to her.
Hae-jin asked her,
"Think you can't handle it?"
To his question, Ji Su-jeong replied,
"I could beat most of them, no problem."
She was confident she could take any Players her age.
So, what was the issue?
Hae-jin checked why she had hesitated earlier.
"Then what's wrong?"
"Catching all the bullies across the country by myself would take forever, right?"
She was fine with the physical beatdowns, but physically visiting every school nationwide to sort them out wasn't feasible.
Hae-jin addressed her concern.
"Hmm, traveling all over the country alone sounds tough?"
"Yeah."
Ji Su-jeong said sorting bullies while traveling solo nationwide wasn't easy.
But there were ways around that, so Hae-jin just chuckled.
"No need to worry about that."
"Huh?"
"I'll make travel easy for you."
"How?"
He hadn't explained the easy travel method yet.
The system wasn't fully ready.
It wouldn't be too late to tell her once it was.
"For now, give me your number, and after you clean up this school's bullies today, contact me."
"Ah! You're giving me your number, Hae-jin oppa?"
Ji Su-jeong lit up at the thought of getting his number.
Hae-jin told her she naturally needed it now.
"You're part of the squad now, so you need my number."
"Awesome! Here!"
Ji Su-jeong handed her smartphone to Hae-jin.
He entered his number.
After inputting it, Hae-jin said,
"Alright, start by cleaning up your school today, then contact me after classes."
"Yes, Leader!"
"So-hye's heard some of your situation, so why not make up? Or if you want revenge for yesterday's beating, that's fine too."
"So-hye, sorry! Like Hae-jin oppa said, if you want payback, I'll just take it the same way."
"Sigh, no. Like Hae-jin oppa said, you had your reasons, and honestly, if a Player like you went all out on me, a normal person, I wouldn't have made it home unscathed."
If Player Ji Su-jeong had seriously beaten normal-girl Kim So-hye, she really wouldn't have walked home on her own two feet, as So-hye said.
It would have been at least moderate injuries.
On reflection, Ji Su-jeong had held back when beating Kim So-hye.
She hit just hard enough to stop her meddling in the bully games.
Violence couldn't be justified, but with the victim herself saying it was fine, there was nothing more to say.
Moreover, from now on, Ji Su-jeong would be a Villain Punishment Squad member—a bully hunter, not a bully—so she could be said to have paid for yesterday's misdeeds.
With things settled, Hae-jin said to Kim So-hye,
"So-hye, oppa's heading out first."
"Okay!"
Whoosh-!
True to his word, Hae-jin used Shadow Blink to return home.
After he vanished, Ji Su-jeong called to Kim So-hye.
"So-hye."
"Yeah?"
Kim So-hye startled at Ji Su-jeong calling her after Hae-jin left.
Even if Ji Su-jeong had held back and apologized thanks to Hae-jin, yesterday's beating wasn't forgotten.
As Kim So-hye reacted, Ji Su-jeong suddenly grabbed both her hands.
Grab!
"Huh?"
Kim So-hye wondered why Ji Su-jeong was suddenly holding her hands.
Ji Su-jeong asked,
"Do you know where Hae-jin oppa lives? Nearby?"
"Huh? We live together......"
" gasp! Together?!"
Ji Su-jeong's eyes widened at Kim So-hye living with Hae-jin.
Kim So-hye nodded at her reaction.
"Yeah."
Ji Su-jeong made a request to the girl living with Hae-jin.
"Then, after I finish up school today and classes end, can I come to your place with you?"
"Uh......"
"What? Not satisfied with the apology? Want to hit me? No, you'd just hurt your hand. Should I punch my own face?"
Ji Su-jeong clenched her fist, ready to smash her own face.
She was serious, wanting Kim So-hye to let her come home with her.
Seeing this, Kim So-hye hurriedly stopped her.
"Ah...... No, you don't have to go that far."
To Ji Su-jeong, Kim So-hye didn't seem truly upset about the apology.
Surely she'd take her to see Hae-jin, then.
"So, can I come over after classes?"
"Well, technically it's not our house......"
Kim So-hye explained why she couldn't just bring or host Ji Su-jeong as she pleased.
Only then did Ji Su-jeong understand her hesitation.
"Not your house? Ah! You're staying at Hae-jin oppa's place?"
"Yeah."
Kim So-hye confirmed she was staying at Hae-jin's.
From Ji Su-jeong's view, she needed a different approach.
She thought Hae-jin lived at Kim So-hye's, but if he was the homeowner, it changed things.
"Then after classes, when I'm done with school, I'll come find you—can you ask if it's okay to come home together?"
"Yeah, I can do that much."
"Great! You head to class first."
"To class first?"
"Yeah, once I sort out these kids here, our school's bullies are done."
"Got it."
Kim So-hye returned to class as instructed.
Thanks to Hae-jin, Ji Su-jeong was now a bully hunter, not a bully.
So Kim So-hye no longer needed to interfere.
With Kim So-hye back in class as told, Ji Su-jeong addressed the school bullies she'd gathered for extortion.
"You all heard that, right? No more bullies at our school from now on. Got it?"
"Yes!"
"And return today's collections to their owners. If even one kid doesn't get theirs back and it's found out, that day..."
Ji Su-jeong drew her thumb across her throat.
"Got it?"
"......Yes!"
And so, the school's bullies were cleaned out by Ji Su-jeong.
Afterward, she impatiently awaited the end of classes.
Why?
To see Hae-jin.
Hours later, after school ended, Ji Su-jeong approached Kim So-hye.
"So-hye."
"Yeah?"
"She said yes?"
"Yeah, come on over."
"Awesome! Let's go!"
"Okay."
Ji Su-jeong followed Kim So-hye to Hae-jin's home.
When the two girls arrived, Ji Su-jeong saw Hae-jin welcoming her.
"Ah, you're here?"
"Yes! Oppa!"
"Come with me."
"Huh?"
Ji Su-jeong tilted her head as Hae-jin told her to follow right after she arrived.
He explained why.
"I solved that physical travel issue for going nationwide alone that I mentioned earlier, so I wanted to show you."
"Already solved?"
"Yeah, you'll see when we get there."
"Yes!"
Ji Su-jeong followed as directed, and they stepped out onto the terrace.
A magic circle was engraved on the terrace floor.
In front of it lay a map, which Hae-jin pointed to as he introduced it.
"It's an instant teleportation magic circle—you can go anywhere. Pick your spot on the map. Alright, work hard starting tomorrow. By the way, I've arranged it with the school so your absences count as attendance."
Hae-jin was dead set on eradicating school bullying nationwide through Ji Su-jeong.