5
# Villain Disguises Himself as a Hero (5)
“Have you heard about Predator?”
“Ah, this time it was an abandoned factory, wasn't it?”
“He really made a mess of the place.”
I was sitting on a rooftop bench, listening to people from another team talking. As expected, they were discussing the
hot villain of the moment, Predator.
“They caught a Grade 4 villain among them, right?”
“The Bus Driver?”
“Yeah. The Hero Management Bureau was having a headache because of that guy.”
“They were. His spatial teleportation ability made him quite troublesome.”
“Predator basically took care of him neatly.”
“A villain who hunts villains... But I heard his rank went up?”
“They say he was promoted to a Grade 3 villain this time.”
Predator had become a Grade 3 villain.
Even before my regression, when I was active as a villain, I remembered eventually reaching Grade 1 under the name
Predator.
“I heard he can absorb abilities.”
“Really? Then isn't Predator the strongest?”
“Come on~ There are still national-disaster-level villains.”
There were currently no national-disaster-level villains operating in South Korea.
However, before my regression, I'd once heard information that a national-disaster-level villain had secretly entered
South Korea.
So although South Korea could still be considered a safe zone for now, that also meant it was a country that such
villains had their eyes on.
In this life, I wanted a free and comfortable life, so I couldn't just let some villain like that run wild in South
Korea.
“Anyway, we're the ones who suffer. Have you heard about the villain who's been running rampant lately?”
“Ah. You mean that psychopath?”
“Yeah, the guy who goes around hunting only non-awakened people.”
“He's a real bastard. I heard the Hero Management Bureau even requested our cooperation.”
“Those big shots asking us for cooperation. What a joke.”
There were three major organizations among the awakened in South Korea.
The first was the Hero Management Bureau, followed by the Hunter Management Bureau, and finally the National Defense
Bureau, where I worked.
The Hero Management Bureau had the greatest influence and authority.
It was an organization filled with national-treasure-level heroes, including S-rank heroes, so nobody could casually
mess with them.
Next was the Hunter Management Bureau, which also had numerous S-rank hunters and extraordinary hunters beyond
conventional standards.
But the National Defense Bureau was, quite literally, a second-rate organization created to protect the nation's
territory.
As a result, instead of S-rank heroes and hunters, it was filled with lower-ranked heroes and hunters, to the point
where even A-rank personnel were rare.
Naturally, it was the weakest organization and the one that had to watch everyone else's mood the most.
“If the Hero Management Bureau tells us to jump, we have to jump.”
“They only come looking for us when they need something.”
“Anyway... Starting tomorrow, stakeouts and patrols... Haa~ Looks like I'm not going home.”
They had to take over work that other organizations couldn't handle and work overnight.
I really felt sorry for that team.
That's why you should find a good team and live comfortably.
If you joined some strange team for no reason, you'd only end up suffering.
*
“So our Initial Response Team has decided to provide support.”
At this point, I couldn't help but wonder.
Ever since I'd been transferred here, I had barely seen any work that suited the name Initial Response Team.
No, perhaps without me realizing it, the dictionary definition of initial response had changed into miscellaneous work
or cleaning up other people's messes.
“Commonly known as the Revolutionary. He's someone who believes awakened people are superior and considers non-awakened
people the cancer of the Earth. He's a ruthless bastard who murders non-awakened people, so everyone needs to be
especially careful.”
“If he only kills non-awakened people, isn't he nothing special?”
One of the team members said this to Team Leader Kim Hae-jin.
Considering only the villain's characteristics, it wasn't an unreasonable thing to say.
But this guy really was a vicious bastard I'd encountered before my regression as well.
You might think his ability was weak or that his threat level was low, but he was still classified as a Grade 5 villain.
That meant that among the heroes here, there was nobody who could defeat him one-on-one except the team leader, Han
Seol-a, and me.
“You might think that, but he's classified as a Grade 5 villain. So everyone, be careful.”
“Yes, understood.”
“Our Initial Response Team will divide the mission into search and stakeout units...”
For some reason, Team Leader Kim Hae-jin alternated his gaze between Han Seol-a and me, looking troubled.
“We'll have to go in pairs of two...”
“Team Leader.”
“Seol-a. No. Don't even think about it.”
Team Leader Kim rejected her before Han Seol-a could even say anything.
Apparently, he already knew what she was going to say.
But even so, Han Seol-a opened her eyes wide and stared at Team Leader Kim Hae-jin as though threatening him.
At this point, I figured that this staring habit of hers was simply part of her personality.
“Mr. Kang Do-hyeok, go out with your sidekick for now.”
“Yes. Understood.”
It seemed like he was trying to get me out of the room by any means possible, using all sorts of glances and gestures.
So I took the sidekick who had been waiting nearby, Bong Chun-sik, and went outside.
“Mr. Kang Do-hyeok, I organized the information and other details into a file.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes. If we start today... Haa~ we'll probably have to spend several nights on the streets.”
“What do you mean?”
“We're the stakeout unit, so we'll probably be staying in one area for several days.”
“That means...”
“Yes. It means you won't be able to eat the school meals you enjoy, Hero Kang Do-hyeok. There is a convenience store and
even a Chinese restaurant near the area we've been assigned, though.”
This was a disaster.
If I had to stay away for this long, it meant I wouldn't be able to eat the high-quality school meals with carefully
balanced nutrition for several days.
A convenience store and Chinese restaurant wouldn't provide enough protein, vitamins, and dietary fiber...
There was no way around it.
“When do you think the stakeout will end?”
“Probably... when we catch him.”
“Really? In that case, if we catch him, that means the stakeout mission will be completed immediately, right?”
“Huh? Ah... yes, that's true.”
*
Inside an abandoned building that nobody ever visited.
“Don't resent me too much. You shouldn't have been standing there.”
“I-I'm sorry. I'm really sorry.”
“It was your fault for standing in my way when I was on my way back. Right? I didn't do anything wrong.”
Two men stood in an old space that smelled of a damp sewer.
One was kneeling on the floor while the other looked down at him.
“Don't look at me like that. You're making me feel bad.”
“I won't do it again. Please, just forgive me this once.”
“That's how life works, isn't it? Make one mistake... and you can't undo it. That's why they have sayings like this.
Pouring water into a bottomless jar. Huh? Wait. That's not it. The water thing. What was it?”
“The water that's already... spilled?”
“Oh! That's it! You're clever.”
The standing man clapped his hands happily.
“Normally... the weak listen to the strong. That's the law of the jungle. That's how the world works. Awakened people
are superior to non-awakened people. But what is this world like? Why should we protect the weak? Those parasites that
only consume the Earth's energy resources. Isn't that right? If you were awakened, wouldn't that piss you off? Huh?”
“Please... please let me live just this once. If you spare me... I'll do anything.”
“Hmm... You seem to be mistaken about something.”
“What?”
“I brought you here to kill you. I didn't bring you here because I needed something from you.”
The man began to chuckle.
At the sound of that chilling laughter, the kneeling man began to sob.
“You should return to the earth too. Non-awakened people only need to become nourishment for awakened people.”
“Why are you doing this? Huh? What did I do wrong?”
“Think of it as part of the great plan of Lord Madness.”
“Madness...?”
“You've never even heard of him, have you? A national-disaster-level villain. The great Lord Madness.”
“Could you... tell me a little more?”
The man let out an incredulous laugh because of the victim suddenly asking such a strange question.
“You... really don't know who I am, do you?”
“Are you... the Revolutionary?”
“That's right. The Revolutionary. The man who will bring revolution to South Korea from now on.”
“You? A mere Grade 5?”
“What?”
When a person is pushed to the extreme, they sometimes lose their mind.
The Revolutionary had met all kinds of people while murdering non-awakened people.
People who laughed crazily, people who struggled desperately, people who gave up in advance, and so on.
He prided himself on having experienced practically every type of person.
But someone who mocked him?
This was the first time he'd ever encountered one.
“H-ha ha ha. Ahahaha.”
“...”
“You're an interesting guy.”
“Tell me a little more about that Madness guy.”
“That guy? That guy? You won't do. You need to die.”
The Revolutionary raised his hand and aimed it at the forehead of the man kneeling on the floor.
But then something strange happened.
The man, who had definitely been tied up perfectly, suddenly loosened the restraints and stood up.
Whenever the Revolutionary committed a crime, he always prepared the situation perfectly.
He also had a habit of tying up his victims because struggling too much made killing them troublesome.
It was like a chef preparing live fish.
If the fish thrashed around too much, it became difficult to slice it.
The Revolutionary thought the same way.
He had carefully restrained his victims because it was annoying when they struggled like live fish during a murder.
This time, however, he simply concluded that he must have been a little careless.
“It's a little early for me to die. Let's hear a little more about Madness first.”
“You little... You think you've gotten cocky just because you loosened your restraints?”
“So you really won't tell me willingly?”
“Hah!”
“Fine. From now on, you'll experience pain you've never experienced before. Try to endure it.”
*
“Team Leader Kim Hae-jin.”
“Yes, Director.”
“This.”
The director handed Team Leader Kim Hae-jin several photographs.
Among the photographs were several images of the corpse of the Revolutionary who had been discovered this time.
“This is...”
“It was Predator's work. But this time, he didn't simply absorb him. There are signs that he played with him as well. He
completely smashed the man's arms and legs.”
“Ugh.”
The photographs showed the victim's condition in horrifying detail.
It was a corpse so badly fractured that bones protruded in various directions, making it difficult to look at.
Team Leader Kim Hae-jin struggled to suppress his nausea as he looked at it.
“What do you think?”
“Are you suspecting Kang Do-hyeok?”
“That day. Kang Do-hyeok left the scene, didn't he?”
“Yes. He told his sidekick, Bong Chun-sik, to make up some excuse for him and disappeared.”
“Look at these traces left by Predator. He's cleverly concealed it, but... they're very similar to the marks left on
Secretary Jeong Myeong-seok. It's faint, but I can see traces of magic power being absorbed.”
The director rested his chin on his hand and let out a deep sigh.
He didn't know how he should interpret the situation either.
Predator was a villain the government was secretly keeping quiet about.
For now, public opinion was overwhelmingly against capturing him because he was a villain who hunted villains.
But the National Defense Bureau also had a problem with leaving this unpredictable, bomb-like villain to run wild.
There was an even bigger problem.
Kang Do-hyeok, the new hero who had recently joined them, had been identified internally as a strong suspect.
“What are you going to do now?”
“Kang Do-hyeok. Isn't this neglect of duty?”
“Pardon?”
“He left his assigned area while working as part of the stakeout team. As the director, shouldn't I make it very clear
to this rookie hero that such behavior won't be tolerated?”
“Ah. So you have something in mind? Then I'll tell Kang Do-hyeok that the director is looking for him.”