The Tough Guy Hides the Villainess

044 – Ing

044 – Ing

My abdomen and thigh, pierced by the fountain pen, throbbed with every step I took.

When I fought with the class president, adrenaline filled my body, making me forget the pain.

But now that the fight was over and everything had returned to normal, the pain clung to my body like a debt collector.

“Namjin, are you sure you can move already?”

As I left the infirmary and stepped into the hallway, Taesung was waiting for me. He examined my complexion and placed a hand on my shoulder.

“I can heal your wounds.”

Taesung was the healer of our group. I had often wondered why he took on that position, and now it seemed I would finally find out.

“How can you heal them?”

“My ability is reversible. I can reverse the state of the person I touch with my own.”

Sss-.

A faint light seemed to emanate from Taesung’s palm, and soon the pain that had been tormenting my abdomen and thigh vanished as if washed away.

“That’s amazing.”

He could transfer his own wounds to others and take on their wounds himself.

It was a perfect application of the concept of reversal.

As I marveled at this miraculous ability, Taesung broke into a cold sweat.

“Ugh, it’s more painful than I thought─.”

Thud-.

Taesung fell to his knees.

“Ugh, how did you even think of walking around with a body like this?”

“I’m used to the pain. Taesung, thanks for the amazing show. But please, return my wounds to me. I can’t let someone else bear my injuries.”

“What? But….”

“People need to know how to affirm and love themselves. Even those wounds and pains are part of the ‘me’ that I must love.”

Geum Taeseong frowned as if he didn’t understand my profound meaning, perhaps because of the pain. I grabbed his hand and helped him up, and he reluctantly reversed the wound for me.

“…I really don’t look cool.”

“Don’t be discouraged. It’s just that I’m too cool.”

My stomach and thighs ached again, but it was bearable.

Rather, the moderate pain felt like it was waking up my mind that had been asleep until just now.

“Taeseong, I have something to give you. Someone asked me to pass this on to you.”

I handed the cross necklace I received from the short-haired girl of Villainous to Geum Taeseong. He looked even paler than when he received the pain from me.

It’s the first time I’ve seen this guy so flustered.

“Who gave this to you?”

“A girl who looked like a Menhera. Taeseong, you sure are popular with strange girls. I sympathize with your troubles in many ways. I’m popular with girls too, you know.”

“……”

Geum Taeseong stood there for a long time, looking at the cross necklace in his hand. Just as I was thinking it was time to leave him, he spoke to me from behind.

“Namjin, you spoke highly of my concept, but in reality, there are many limitations. The only ones who can change states are the Awakened.”

That was the end of our conversation.

I headed to the “Special Detention Center” in the basement of Yeongsa High School.

# # #

“Han Namjin!”

“Friend! Are you alright!”

“……”

Friends from the day without leftovers were gathered in front of the “Special Detention Center” building.

They approached me, circling around and checking my condition, as if they had a lot to say to me.

Especially Bbangdaengi.

“I captured the leader! Aren’t I amazing!”

They said Bbangdaengi was the one who made the biggest contribution in this capture.

He was the one who tied the rope around the leader’s body.

Life sure is full of surprises.

As I passed by my friends and went down to the basement, I saw the detention center with one side blocked by a solid, transparent acrylic wall.

Captain and Chief Kim Jangdong, who had arrived here first, were having a conversation, but Captain was the first to speak when he noticed me.

“Han Namjin. You don’t have to push yourself.”

“He said he would only open his mouth to me.”

I was curious about what the class president wanted to say to me.

So I headed to the detention center where the class president was confined and faced the guy who was restrained like a lunatic beyond the transparent wall.

Just half a day ago, the class president, who was popular with everyone, was now being treated like a cannibalistic murderer Hannibal!

“You’ve come.”

The class president greeted me lightly.

It was a voice as if meeting an old friend.

“Press the power-saving button on the smartwatch. Then the function will be blocked for 10 minutes. If our conversation is heard by others, it could be troublesome for both you and me. Until then, there will be no conversation.”

A lot to ask for a trapped rat.

Beep-.

I turned off the smartwatch.

Then the class president smiled behind the mask.

“Good. I’ll get straight to the point since there’s no time. The school won’t announce to the public that they caught the judge.”

“What?”

“Because I’m still young and attractive, there might be people who sympathize with me. They will bury it like this. Until everyone forgets.”

I wondered if the class president was suffering from paranoia, but thinking about it, his words made sense.

The “Judge” was actually an elite from Class D of Yeongsa High School, with a face as handsome as Hanamjin and a good reputation─.

─The story of the son of a high-ranking prosecutor becoming the embodiment of private sanctions was an exciting story for people.

“They might even announce a stupid substitute as the ‘Judge’ to make everyone laugh. But that’s impossible too. I have a perfect successor.”

“Who?”

“You. Hanamjin. You will take over my role. There’s no one else. You are like me. You have enough qualifications and motives. I can trust you.”

Class president Jeong Eui-seon, the serial killer judge, seemed to feel something similar to himself in me.

We looked at each other through this thick acrylic wall.

From the handsome appearance to the eloquent speech, and the popularity of being friendly with everyone, there was nothing we didn’t resemble.

It was like looking in a mirror!

If even one choice in my life had gone wrong, it wouldn’t be strange if I were the one trapped there instead of him.

“Hanamjin, maybe now it’s something only you can do. I told you. Who benefited the most from the N-Mart department store arson incident.”

“Who?”

“The Seonam Group. The N-Mart arson incident stimulated the fear of the general public and gave strength to the anti-human rights ‘Awakener Regulation Act.’ It must have been intended by the ruling party and the Seonam Group.”

“Intended? Are you saying the company deliberately set fire to the mart?”

“I can’t tell you the details. If I do, both you and I will surely die. I’m not afraid of dying, but I still have many things to do.”

“Since you’re trapped there, it seems like you wouldn’t have anything to do except eat and… you know.”

“If you find my ‘secret base,’ you’ll learn a lot of things. Here are the coordinates.”

After giving the coordinates, the leader fell silent.

Soon, the power to the smartwatch returned.

“What did you talk about? Did he tell you why he did such a thing?”

As we emerged from the underground, Chief Kim Jang-dong was curious about the conversation between the leader and me.

Next to him, Officer Jin Ramyeon was standing like a guardian of the underworld, watching my lips.

“He was just a madman.”

I decided to make something up. If the Seonam Group and the ruling party were involved in this, I didn’t know who might be connected and how.

Officer Jin Ramyeon frowned at me.

“If you think about lying, I won’t let it slide.”

“Rihyeon, that’s enough. What are you trying to do to someone who’s injured? Just go back and rest.”

Chief Kim Jang-dong blocked Officer Jin Ramyeon and showed kindness to me.

Thanks to him, I was able to head home.

Should I head to the coordinates of the leader mentioned?

“……”

Fortunately, the coordinates of the judge’s hideout were not far from Yeomra’s abandoned factory, so I could save time.

An old container warehouse.

Inside, it was filled with all sorts of photos and documents.

They seemed to be important information.

Staggering-.

However, my legs kept losing strength, and my vision became blurry. When I touched my forehead, I had a high fever.

# # #

“Late.”

Seo Ga-eul decided not to hold back today.

The boy’s return was too late.

She was hungry and bored.

When the boy came, she would scratch him with her nails.

As she made that resolution, the iron door opened.

“Hey, do you know what time it is now?”

“No idea.”

“What? You little punk, are you defying me right now?”

Swish-. Seo Ga-eul grabbed the boy’s wrist.

She quickly let go, startled.

“What the… Your body is burning up like a furnace─.”

“Seo Ga-eul, you….”

The boy seemed like he was about to say something but then collapsed with a thud.

He seemed to have lost consciousness due to a high fever.

“What the heck.”

Seo Ga-eul laid the boy down on a mattress and placed a cool compress on his forehead to bring down the fever.

“Can a kidnapper be this careless? Why do I have to clean up your mess? I’ve been starving since last night, and I’m really hungry.”

From noble mtl dot com

Feeling truly hungry, Seo Ga-eul decided to eat her lunchbox and opened the boy’s bag.

Ziiip-.

As she rummaged through the boy’s bag, her face turned ashen like fallen leaves.

「’Awakener Information Registration Act’ and other companies’ profit forecast reports」

「Variable Control for ‘Second Awakening’ – Seedling Nursery」

For some reason, confidential documents from the Seonam Group were in Hanamjin’s bag.

‘Why does this punk have top-secret documents? Did the company approach him? No, there’s no way they would just give him these documents. Then how on earth… .’

Feeling puzzled, Seo Ga-eul manipulated the boy’s smartwatch to check the GPS locations he had visited. She realized he had stopped by a suspicious place before coming home from school.

“It’s close from here.”

Crack, clank-!

Seo Ga-eul used her strength to break the chains that bound her.

Without hesitation, she strode out of the basement.

If the Seonam Group had contacted the boy, there was no time to waste on details.

Whooosh-.

The smell and wind of the outside world felt particularly refreshing after a long time, but Seo Ga-eul didn’t get lost in sentiment and ran towards the GPS coordinates.

Soon, she discovered an abandoned junkyard and an old container warehouse.

‘So the company didn’t contact Hanamjin. Then what is this place?’

Clatter, creak-. As she opened the warehouse door and entered, she found it filled with all sorts of documents and photos. Among them, one photo caught Seo Ga-eul’s eye, looking particularly familiar.

Under the photo, someone had written:

「A mysterious woman at the N Mart parking lot, one hour before the arson.」

The photo showed a woman leaving the underground parking lot of a large mart.

The quality was poor, as if it had been printed from a CCTV screen, and although her face was covered with a hat and mask, Seo Ga-eul could immediately recognize who the woman in the photo was.

‘This kind of photo needs to be destroyed quickly!’

Had an hour passed?

Seo Ga-eul returned to her basement and restored the chains on her hands and feet with the concept of 「Restoration」.

As if nothing had happened.

As if she had never left this place.

Only the curious cloud, Ing-ing, who had been watching the entire process, made a strange crying sound as if questioning her.

━Ing-ing-ya-ing.

“Ing-ing, you didn’t see anything. You know what will happen if you tell Han Nam-jin about what just happened, right? If you understand, say ing-.”

044 – Ing

END