4
# Villain Disguises Himself as a Hero (4)
“That place over there is Tsushima.”
“Wow~ But does Tsushima normally move?”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
A father and son were looking at Tsushima through a telescope at the observatory. The son told his father that Tsushima
was moving.
“Give it to me.”
The father took another look at Tsushima through the telescope, but Tsushima remained exactly where it was.
“You must have seen it wrong. It's still right there.”
“No... When I looked beside it, I saw something that looked like an island moving...”
“Really?”
Since his son normally didn't say strange things, the father became suspicious and slightly turned the telescope to
observe the surrounding area.
Then he actually saw something that looked like an island moving in the distance, although it was smaller than Tsushima.
“Huh? What is that?”
“See, Dad?”
“It really is there.”
Wheeeee—
At that moment, the monster alarm went off.
The alarm, which had spread from Haeundae in Busan, quickly rang throughout the entire city of Busan.
Because Busan was a coastal city, it was always a dangerous area that was vulnerable to monster invasions.
Therefore, the citizens calmly prepared to evacuate according to the emergency guidelines.
“Dad! Is that... a monster?”
“I think so. Stay calm. We just need to follow the usual procedures. Let's go home first and evacuate to the shelter
with your mother.”
“Yes, Dad.”
*
“This is a photograph of the giant monster species, commonly known as the Sea Turtle, discovered at around 3 p.m. on
August 21, 2022.”
The light from the projector formed the shape of the giant monster known as the Sea Turtle.
Most of its body was submerged in the ocean, so its entire form couldn't be seen, but the monster was so enormous that
it created the illusion that an entire island was moving.
“This creature was observed off Haeundae in Busan. It is slowly moving toward land, and we expect it to arrive at
Haeundae, Busan, exactly two days from now.”
“Our Monster Response Team 3 has a Queen Bee raid in Gyeonggi Province.”
“Our Team 2 has a Cherry Blossom Tree Elk raid in Yeosu tomorrow.”
“Team 1 is off~”
One by one, the response teams made excuses to pass the Sea Turtle operation onto someone else.
Eventually, after being passed around enough, the assignment finally reached the Villain Response Team.
“The Initial Response Team doesn't have any particular schedule, right?”
“Huh?”
“Team Leader Kim. You can handle this, right?”
“Us?”
“You handled it last time too. Since you're doing it anyway, it'd be better to send veterans. Don't you think?”
“Well... yes.”
Team Leader Kim Hae-jin felt uncomfortable, but he couldn't simply refuse.
Recently, he'd been reprimanded for excessively suppressing villains and going overboard with initial responses, so this
was a time when he had to be especially careful.
“Good. Then we'll adjust the schedule so you can be deployed tomorrow afternoon, August 22, 2022.”
“Tomorrow?”
“It'll land in two days. Are you planning to carry out the initial response two days later?”
“Yes... I understand.”
“Then this meeting is adjourned.”
The other team leaders snickered among themselves.
But even though he knew exactly what they were doing, the team leader didn't have the energy to say a single word.
Because of the nature of the Initial Response Team, it was difficult for them to accumulate achievements, and accidents
and incidents happened frequently, so the Initial Response Team was always the target of office politics.
“Haa... Looks like we're going to get chewed out again.”
And the giant monster was an incident far beyond what a single team could handle, making an initial response practically
meaningless.
Their mission this time was to prevent it from reaching land by even a single second through direct combat until the
hunters arrived for a large-scale offensive.
Since every other response team knew this, nobody wanted to take responsibility for the operation.
Team Leader Kim Hae-jin returned to the team with heavy shoulders.
He especially felt sorry that the first assignment for the new hero who had just joined them was going to be something
like this.
“Team Leader, you're back?”
“Yes... Um... Shall we gather for a moment?”
There were five heroes in total, excluding those currently out on missions.
Once the newly arrived Kang Do-hyeok was excluded, there were only four available members.
To even attempt to stop a giant monster like this, they needed at least five B-rank heroes.
“How are you adjusting, Mr. Do-hyeok?”
“I'm adjusting well thanks to everyone.”
“That's good to hear.”
The thought of taking a rookie who had barely adjusted to the team on an overseas assignment to stop a monster
immediately made Team Leader Kim Hae-jin sigh.
But he was the team leader of the Initial Response Team of the National Defense Bureau.
Regardless of how uncomfortable he felt, he had a duty to protect the nation.
“Um... At 3 p.m. on August 21, 2022, a giant monster species was observed in Haeundae, Busan.”
“Ah...”
“Haa...”
“Damn it.”
Some of them already knew what the team leader was about to say.
They had been eating at the same table for several years, after all. They understood each other without needing much
explanation.
Especially because their soft-hearted team leader always ended up accepting the jobs other teams didn't want, everyone
had become exceptionally good at reading the situation.
“The expected time of arrival on the mainland is August 23, 2022. That's two days from now.”
“Then we'll have to leave early tomorrow morning, right?”
“That's right... So...”
“August 23...”
Just as he was about to assign roles and adjust the schedule, Team Leader Kim Hae-jin noticed Kang Do-hyeok's unusual
expression.
The fact that Kang Do-hyeok kept repeating August 23 made him increasingly concerned.
“Um... Mr. Do-hyeok? Is there something important happening that day?”
“Huh? Ah... It's not exactly that, but August 23 is a very important day for me. If... we go on the assignment, when
would we be able to return?”
“You should assume we'll be there all day on the 23rd.”
“Ah...”
Team Leader Kim Hae-jin thought the rookie Kang Do-hyeok was keeping quiet about something important because he was
worried about what the team would think.
But with the current shortage of available personnel, it was difficult to accommodate his personal plans.
“I'm sorry, Mr. Do-hyeok. We don't have much room to spare either... so I think you'll have to go with us that day.”
“No. It's not that I don't want to go. It's an important day... so I need to find a solution.”
“A solution?”
“No. Then what should I do until we leave on the assignment tomorrow?”
“You'll have to pack and prepare before leaving, so we usually leave work early.”
“Oh, perfect. Then I'll head home first.”
“Huh? Ah. Sure...”
Kang Do-hyeok immediately left work.
The senior heroes watching him whispered among themselves, looking utterly dumbfounded.
“All right, all right~ He's still young and inexperienced, so everyone try to understand.”
*
“It should be around here...”
This area, filled with rows of abandoned factories, was an ideal place for a villain alliance to hide.
Small-scale villain alliances in particular often made use of abandoned factories like these.
I'd even formed a villain alliance myself once and occasionally lived in abandoned factories like this.
“Ah. There's the X.”
According to the information I'd received from the black market this time, a villain with the ability I wanted was
hiding in this abandoned factory.
It was urgent, so I had to take care of things quickly and get to Haeundae in Busan.
If something went wrong, I might end up spending August 23 in Haeundae.
Crash!
I broke through an old window and jumped inside.
A musty smell and damp air welcomed me.
From the outside, it didn't look like anyone was there, but after searching carefully, I found a door leading
underground.
“This is it.”
Just like in the past, the methods villains used hadn't changed.
Once I found the door leading underground, I immediately opened it and went down.
“Who are you?”
Thud!
I knocked out one of the villains guarding the place.
Then I went deeper inside and began searching for the villain I wanted.
“How did you get in?”
Crack!
“Y-you bastard!”
Crack!
There wasn't enough time to absorb all these guys' magic power.
It would be a waste of time.
I only needed to absorb the magic power and ability of the person I was looking for.
He had to be somewhere around here.
“Wh-what?”
“Damn it. Hurry and run. Someone must have tipped them off.”
Found him.
The guy with the teardrop tattoo beneath his eye.
That guy was the hottest villain among villains these days, commonly known as the “Bus Driver.”
A teleportation ability user.
“I'll take care of the rear!”
“Yeah!”
“You're not going anywhere.”
After all the trouble I'd gone through to find him, there was no way I was letting him escape.
Tzzzt—
“Huh? Why isn't my ability...?”
“Hurry up. What are you doing?”
“No.”
“What? What are you talking about? Hurry up and go!”
“My ability isn't activating.”
The teleporter stared blankly at his own hands, apparently bewildered.
The bodyguard protecting him cursed and charged toward me.
Crack!
“Aaaagh!”
Even if I gave him the benefit of the doubt, he wasn't even a proper Grade 5 villain.
If someone like that challenged me alone, he'd end up kissing the floor.
“W-wait! What... what do you want?! I'll give you anything you want. I have lots of money. I even rob banks with my
ability.”
“Yeah. That ability. I need that ability.”
“Ah. Right, the ability. Haa~ You scared me for nothing. You came here to place a request too, didn't you?”
“No. I said I need your ability.”
“What? So you want to make a request using my ability, right?”
“Did you stick an iron rod in your ear? Didn't you understand what I just said?”
Even after I told him I needed his ability, he kept talking about something else.
I was racing against time. This wasn't the moment to argue with him.
I quickly approached him and grabbed his arm.
Crackle—
“Aaaagh! Eek! Wh-what is this?!”
“I'll take good care of it.”
*
“Is that really true?”
“Yes. The situation has been resolved.”
Team Leader Kim Hae-jin looked at his team members with an expression of disbelief.
Today was supposed to be the day they traveled to Haeundae in Busan, yet they hadn't even left.
The reason was the morning briefing.
The giant monster species known as the Sea Turtle, which had been moving inland toward Haeundae, Busan, had suddenly
disappeared without a trace.
Because of this, the entire assignment had been canceled.
“Anyway, that's good, I guess.”
Team Leader Kim Hae-jin was delighted that the assignment in which they were destined to get blamed for everything had
been canceled.
Whatever had happened to the Sea Turtle, he was simply thrilled that he wouldn't have to be summoned by the director.
“Oh! Come to think of it, Mr. Do-hyeok, should I give you a day off on the 23rd?”
“Huh? Why?”
Kang Do-hyeok was startled.
Team Leader Kim Hae-jin had offered him the day off out of consideration.
But judging by his reaction, he didn't seem particularly interested in taking it.
“Didn't you say you had something important to do on the 23rd?”
“Ah~ That? I don't need to take a day off.”
“What?”
Team Leader Kim Hae-jin continued looking at Kang Do-hyeok with an expression of confusion.
He had clearly been reluctant to go on the assignment because he had something important to do on the 23rd.
But now that he no longer had to go anywhere on the 23rd, Kim Hae-jin had offered him the day off for his convenience.
Instead, Kang Do-hyeok was refusing.
“On the 23rd...”
“On the 23rd?”
“Jeyuk-bokkeum.”
“Huh?”
Kim Hae-jin was so dumbfounded that even his voice came out hoarse.
“Jeyuk-bokkeum is being served on the 23rd. With lettuce wraps.”
“What... are you talking about?”
“The cafeteria menu. Jeyuk-bokkeum and lettuce wraps are being served on the 23rd. It's the only day this month they're
serving jeyuk-bokkeum.”
“H-ha ha.”
The important day he'd been talking about wasn't important because of some personal matter or special occasion.
It was simply because the cafeteria was serving jeyuk-bokkeum and lettuce wraps that day.
Kim Hae-jin let out a hollow laugh.
But at the same time, he found it both strange and impressive that Kang Do-hyeok was so determined to follow his own
convictions without caring about what others thought.
And this wasn't even the first time he'd encountered a new recruit like that.
Han Seol-a, who was now the team's ace, had also been an unusual hero when she first joined the team, keeping to herself
while firmly sticking to her own convictions.
“In that case, shall we go eat? Do you know today's menu?”
He had only said it as a joke, but Kang Do-hyeok seriously recited today's menu.
“Today we have rice, seaweed, kimchi, radish salad, stir-fried fish cake, and beef radish soup.”
“Whew~ I'll have to skip today.”
“Me too. What's with today's menu?”
The team members who didn't like today's menu shook their heads and left.
But Kang Do-hyeok headed to the cafeteria as usual.
Beside him, Team Leader Kim Hae-jin and Han Seol-a, who had joined them somewhere along the way, quietly ate their meal.
Just then, someone approached them.
“Team Leader Kim Hae-jin?”
“Yes? You're the director's secretary. What brings you here...?”
“The director is asking for you.”
“Me?”
Kim Hae-jin couldn't shake his uneasy feeling.
Whenever he was summoned to the director's office, it usually meant something bad had happened.
“Everyone, continue eating.”
Kim Hae-jin headed toward the director's office with an uneasy feeling.
As he approached the office, his anxiety reached its peak.
Could Han Seol-a have caused another incident?
Or perhaps a lawsuit had been filed regarding the villain suppression from last time?
All sorts of thoughts raced through his mind.
“Team Leader Kim Hae-jin.”
“Yes, Director.”
“You have someone named Kang Do-hyeok on your team, don't you?”
“Yes, that's right.”
“Hmm. Take a look at this.”