The Tough Guy Hides the Villainess

003 – The Best of the Past!

003 – The Best of the Past!

“Ramen party!”

Bubble bubble bubble bubble-.

I threw five packs of ramen into a big pot and boiled them wildly.

Squeeze-.

I also squeezed an entire bottle of ketchup, and the savory smell pricked my nose, sending shivers of pleasure down my spine.

“Ssamjang? Do we have ssamjang? A spoonful of ssamjang in ramen? This is─.”

─This is already beyond food; it’s a work of art that will go down in history.

Khehehe, ramen, you chewy, plump thing.

Today, it’s you or me!

“Is it okay for me to eat something this delicious all by myself? Hehehe, all you ramen b*stards are dead.”

Five packs of ramen.

It would be nice to add some ham, but even back then, our fridge didn’t have anything like ham.

No money either.

Bang bang bang bang-!

Then someone knocked on our door.

When I opened the door, a bunch of ugly men with menacing faces barged into our house.

“Han Nam-jin. Today is the day to pay back the interest. Did you prepare the money?”

Ah-.

The debt collectors.

I remembered that my mom and dad had messed up a business in their later years and even resorted to loan sharks, causing me to suffer.

Today, originally, my leg was supposed to be crushed by a truck and I was supposed to be taken to the hospital, so I didn’t expect them to come.

They took all the insurance money and hospital fees I received back then.

“What, you were boiling ramen?”

“I’m starving, this is perfect. Little brother, plate it nicely and bring it to your hyung.”

“Ugh, damn it, what’s this smell? Ketchup? Who boils ramen this fucking terribly!”

*Shhhrrrrrrr-*

The loan sharks dumped the ramen I’d painstakingly made into the sink.

At that moment, something in my ears ─*snap*─ broke.

“You money-grubbing b*stards who don’t know the value of food! Attention!”

“What?”

“What the hell is this kid saying?”

“This guy’s gone crazy.”

The days of struggling to find food flashed before my eyes like a revolving lantern.

The long, long days of humiliation and degradation-.

How I felt when I beat Mr. Kim Jang-dong, the perennial section chief, with a whip!

“Do you know what it’s like to sell your pride for two potatoes? You dogs who don’t know the value of food need some punishment!”

*Thud thud!*

Shouting with all my might, I leaped into the air and kicked the loan shark’s head.

*Whack-*!

The loan shark boss, hit by my ‘Kicking’ ability, flew back and crashed into the wall.

His eyes rolled back white. I don’t know if he’s dead or just passed out.

「Name: Kim Dojun

Status: 《Faint》 – Lost consciousness due to severe shock.」

“B-Boss!”

“You, you dog!”

“Fuck off! No, I’ll fuck you off!”

I ran and kicked both men hard in the groin.

*Thwack thwack-*!

“aaack~”

“Guuaack!”

The men foamed at the mouth before they could react, and I emptied their pockets, acquiring a total of 230,000 won.

230,000 won!

How many packs of real ramen can you buy with this money?

I don’t know, damn it!

“I’m rich! Hehehe! The best in history! You guys are happy too, right? Huh?”

“Ugh… .”

“Ee… .”

「Name: Kwon Yeongmin

Condition: 《Pain》 – Excruciatingly painful.」

「Name: Kim Taeyang

Condition: 《Shock》 – Felt no sensation in his lower body, severely shocked.」

It’s ridiculous how they’re slumping over just from one hit to the groin. At this rate, there’s no way they’ll survive the world that’s coming.

‘So what now?’

Let’s think with my middle school graduate brain, the future is clear.

If I let these b*stards go like this, they’ll definitely try to hurt me.

“Humans are just like that.”

People who cause trouble for others will always try to pay back even the smallest perceived slight.

These guys, in my eyes, were exactly like that.

“You guys, I’ll just bury you in the yard. I’ll plant flowers on top of you. Nice, right? You turds are going to be reborn as flowers. “This is the ultimate recycling.”

Kwahhh-.

I tied the loan sharks’ fingers tightly with cable ties, and they thrashed around in resistance.

“Stop, stop! Hey! Hanamjin! You’re not that kind of person!”

“Hey! Bury us? You’re kidding, right? You! Murder! Murder! Help! Help!”

“Quit wasting your energy. You guys know better than anyone that no one’s around to hear your screams, right?”

It’s great that the neighborhood is so run-down because of the failed redevelopment.

No matter how much they scream, no one’s listening.

“… “This b*stard’s eyes are fucked!”

“Told you, once you paid off the principal, I said we should stop! Seriously, I’m gonna die! Hey, you fucking b*stard! Boss! Wake the hell up!”

I was getting annoyed by their continued thrashing, so I kicked their groins a few more times, and they finally calmed down.

But, to bury these assholes in the yard, I’m gonna need a shovel… .

“Huh?”

It wasn’t until later that I realized my house didn’t have a shovel.

Can’t be helped. Let’s skip the question for now.

“You guys are lucky. I’m really good at finding recyclables in the trash. So, I guess I’ll have to recycle you guys a bit.”

People would be surprised if I told them that even these trashy guys have some useful parts.

But in my incredibly brilliant mind, I could see countless ways to use these guys.

“Hey, have you guys ever kidnapped someone? “Can you do it again?”

At my question, the loan sharks, who had turned blue from being kicked in the groin, immediately frowned.

It was the face of a teacher looking at a student who had written ‘Emiya Kiritsugu’ as their future aspiration.

How do I know that expression? I didn’t want to know either.

“Who… who do you want us to kidnap?”

“The president.”

If she’s the only daughter of the Seonam Group, she’d get presidential-level security.

So, kidnapping her would be no different from kidnapping the president.

Maybe impressed by my profound plan, the loan sharks looked at each other and burst out laughing.

# # #

“A shovel and pork belly. “This is life.”

After leaving the neighborhood, I bought three servings of pork belly at a large mart and a shovel at a nearby hardware store, making my bag heavy.

Money is really nice. With money, you can get anything you want.

Even in a ruined world, money was important.

Of course, back then, “bottle caps” were called money, and there was a ridiculously funny reason for that.

I’ll tell you that reason later,

Three servings of pork belly that I bought with a big heart.

Thinking about those pieces sizzling on the iron plate made my butt twitch and my tailbone tingle.

Well-cooked fat dancing on my tongue. If that doesn’t excite you, you’re not human.

“Khehehe-.”

It was when I returned home in a good mood, thinking about grilling meat for the first time in years.

There were a bunch of people in black suits gathered at my house, and I was momentarily confused.

“Has the news that I bought meat already spread? There’s not enough to share, though.”

Could it be the gang of loan sharks?

Five people. It seems the yard of my house is too small to bury them all.

That’s why people need to live in a big house.

“If you want to become a fool, go ahead and try.”

Swoosh-.

When I pointed the shovel at the men in suits, they burst out laughing.

“Is this the guy? The one who hit our lady and ran away.”

“Yeoul, is this him?”

Sss-.

Someone appeared among the men in suits.

As I thought the figure in the school uniform with the short bob looked familiar, she screamed.

“Hey! You!”

“What the… it’s Butt!”

The high school girl from the truck accident.

The bad luck I kicked away has chased me all the way here.

Is this what it feels like when a discarded devil’s doll keeps coming back?

“Why do you keep meddling in my life! Why do you make my life miserable! Why! Whyyyyyy!”

I was honestly so frustrated that I could foam at the mouth.

“Butt? Meddling? Hey! What did you do right to act like a victim! Because of you, my phone got broken! Do you know how much this phone costs? More than 2 million won! What are you going to do about it? ?”

My face immediately frowned at the sight of the high school girl waving a strangely shaped phone in front of me. Trying to extort 2 million won just because her phone got a little broken.

There was a girl worse than a loan shark.

“But, is a mere phone more precious to you than the lives of about 40,000 people?”

“…40,000? Suddenly?”

“With 30,000 won a month, you can provide vaccines for 600 people according to UNICEF standards. With 2 million won, you can save 39,600 lives.”

Perhaps because she was caught off guard, the high school girl looked dumbfounded and started counting on her fingers, muttering, “2 million divided by 3 is…”. Soon, the men in black suits spoke softly.

“Yeoul, his calculation is correct.”

“Based on 30,000 won, it’s about 39,600 people.”

“Really?”

The high school girl trembled.

I added words as if driving a nail into the high school girl who didn’t know the value of money or math.

“If it’s broken, I can fix it perfectly. Then there’s no need for compensation, so it’s good for me, and it’s good for you because you save 40,000 lives. It’s a win-win. How about it?”

“Win-win… what nonsense! Hey, this is a specially customized smartphone for awakeners from Yeongsa High! It’s linked with a smart watch, how can you fix it? Just bring your parents. 2 million won is a lot of money , so it’s right to talk to your parents rather than a student, right?”

“Ye, Yeoul-.”

“Calm down!”

It was quite amusing to see the tall guys floundering next to the high school girl who was shouting with a flushed face. Isn’t it embarrassing to be born with balls and be swayed by a girl?

Thinking I shouldn’t be like that, I spoke confidently.

“Hey, my mom and dad aren’t people you can meet just because you want to. If you meet them, things will really get serious.”

“What are you talking about? Are your parents some kind of president? I’m Baek Yeoul from Baekdang! My family used to supply ingredients to the presidential office!”

“My mom and dad. They passed away.”

“…Pa…passed away…?”

From noble mtl dot com

The high school girl, who had been acting like a soaked raccoon, was greatly embarrassed and became quite quiet.

The men in suits were also greatly agitated.

After about 5 seconds, the high school girl, Baek Yeoul, scratched her forehead awkwardly. She looked very embarrassed.

“No family? Do you live here alone?”

“Not alone. There were definitely three brothers here who were like family.”

“The people who were tied up here? They’re over there.”

The loan sharks were tightly bound among the men in suits.

They were listening to our conversation quietly like dead rats, trying to please the men in suits and the high school girl with a servile attitude.

“You’re Miss Yeoul from Baekdang Pharmaceuticals, right? Don’t listen to that guy! He’s a total lunatic! He was raving about kidnapping the president!”

“After his parents died in an accident, we took care of him like a real brother, but his mind completely snapped. He only eats weird ramen and went crazy! Look at the ramen left in the sink!”

“The sink? Weird ramen? Ugh-. Ugh-. Oh, my… .”

Looking into the sink, the high school girl Baek Yeoul gagged a few times and her expression turned strange.

“What, you eat this kind of stuff? No money and no parents…?”

「Emotion analysis reads mental agitation.」

「Name: Baek Yeoul

Status: 《Compassion》 – She feels sorry for the boy who has to eat food waste. At the same time, she is shocked by the economic disparity and feels slightly relieved about her own life.”

“…Huh, enough. If we mess with him more, it will only damage our company’s image. But I won’t forget you, Han Namjin. Just wait and see.”

Shh-. Saying “just wait and see,” the high school girl handed me a piece of paper.

“Hero Academy”

「With the nation in your heart, the era in your embrace」

“To Han Namjin”

“You’re an awakened one, right? I saw the admission documents in your mailbox, so we’ll be seeing each other often at school.”

The school for the awakened, Yeongsa High. In sophisticated terms, 「Stage」.

In my previous life, I couldn’t enroll because my leg was shattered, and in this life, I didn’t particularly plan to enroll either. But I was always curious why Yeongsa High was called the “Stage.”

Flash-.

At that moment, a thought flashed through my wise mind like lightning.

“By any chance, does Seo Ga-eul go there too?”