Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Jung Juho revealed that he had been quietly tracking Erasure all this while.

The emergence of a Level 8 villain whose identity remained unknown.

It was a crisis big enough to bring about the downfall of a nation.

After the mass disappearance of the villain organization Bigteng, Jung Juho said he had cooperated with the National Intelligence Service to chase the trail, but had failed to find any trace.

Still, it wasn't as though there had been no results.

"We've received intelligence that organizations in Siheung and Gunpo have recently held a meeting. And we've caught circumstances where Erasure was mentioned. The League came up as well."

"......!"

Everyone's expression turned to shock.

Even Jung Dahyun's.

Was it because of Erasure? Or because of the word League?

Before I had a chance to resolve my questions, Jung Juho continued.

"Putting together what came out of the two organizations, they claim to know Erasure. To verify whether that's true and how much contact they have with the League, the villain response teams of both cities will move first. And we will—"

Jung Juho paused, looked around, and then spoke.

"Capture Erasure when he comes out, drawn by the information."

"Director, a Level 8 villain can't be captured."

"I'm not telling you to capture him. The odds of Erasure showing up in the first place are low. We're preparing for a contingency. If by any chance Erasure appears, a Level 8 Hunter will move as well."

At those words, everyone's faces brightened.

I felt the absolute trust the others had in Level 8 Hunters.

Is a Level 8 really that amazing?

I grew curious just how strong one was.

"Everyone, get ready."

With their answers, the National Guard Bureau Hunters began to move.

* * *

Starting with Jung Juho's declaration, I learned in what form they had been tracking Erasure.

The National Intelligence Service's ultimate goal in chasing Erasure's trail was "recruitment."

A Level 8 villain is a walking catastrophe who can annihilate an entire city if mishandled in the early stages.

Though Erasure had committed a massacre, those he killed were villains. The Ansan Deputy Mayor was among them, but the value of a Level 8 Awakened was high enough that even that was overlooked.

Yet as time passed, no trace could be found. The last report said it was as if he had literally evaporated.

Then, at a villain gathering, the words "League" and "Erasure" had come up.

Jung Juho and the National Intelligence Service judged that the combination of those two words could shake the order of South Korea.

"If Erasure hears his own name being traded around, he might show up."

The odds weren't high.

So the villain organization cleanup was left to the villain response teams of Siheung and Gunpo, while Jung Dahyun and I were dispatched as reserve forces and liaisons.

"If Erasure appears, never engage him head-on. Contact us first and get as far away as possible."

That was the entirety of our mission.

The villains lurking inside the city were mostly small-time criminals, but clearing villains in the city outskirts—areas beyond the state's control—was closer to war.

In particular, they made money as big players in the black market, distributing not only firearms but monster hearts and all kinds of byproducts.

The way to weaken a villain organization is to eliminate the black market. But the black market, formed by evading the law, is tangled up with all sorts of interests, making it hard to touch.

Couldn't you just brute-force crush it? When I said that, Jung Dahyun shook her head.

"Since they're united by their interests, there's no telling how much force is stationed there. Villains who are hostile to each other still buy things through the black market, so if you try to destroy it, they'll join forces. That goes against the National Guard Bureau's grand strategy."

Split them apart so they can't band together, make them distrust each other, and subdue them without losses.

That is the villain suppression method the National Guard Bureau advocates.

From that perspective, raiding the black market does make them join forces rather than divide.

But I think it's the surest way to weaken villains.

"If I'm granted independent operation authority, I'd like to try it. I'll do my best."

"And I can't?"

"To do that you'd need a promotion, but you have too many excessive force incidents, Junho, so a promotion is a bit......"

I understood perfectly well why I couldn't.

Setting that aside, two villain organizations were currently holding a meeting at the border between Siheung and Ansan.

Erasure and the League had been mentioned, but the reason for the meeting was the destruction of the Ansan organization, Bigteng.

The villains had begun to move to seize the vacuum of interests it left behind.

Jung Dahyun and I waited on the outskirts of Siheung.

"......"

I was watching how things unfolded.

It bothered me that they had mentioned Erasure at a meeting in Ansan.

If it was a simple impersonation, it didn't matter. There had been plenty of bastards who committed crimes in my name when I was the Blood Lord. They all ended up arrested or dead by my hand.

But the problem was the evidence that could remain in places my hands hadn't reached.

I'd cleaned up pretty thoroughly, though.

Honestly, I'll admit it.

In the past, I was insane, so I never thought about hiding or erasing my traces. Occasionally, when I came to my senses, I did erase some, but it was only enough to delay pursuit slightly—hardly at the level of an expert. There was no telling where traces might remain.

In the end, what I had to do was decided. Confirm the information about Erasure that would come out of the villain meeting.

"You think Erasure will show up?"

"I don't think he will."

"I think the same."

I recalled that Jung Dahyun had been in charge of the on-site command back then. Why would she think Erasure wouldn't appear?

"Erasure wants his identity to stay hidden. That's why he chose to 'evaporate' despite the hassle."

"......"

"He probably killed them all. And their bodies still haven't been found. He's a chillingly cruel and dangerous villain. He must be caught."

Seeing Jung Dahyun speak with a rigid expression brought back memories of my past life.

What would happen if it came out that I was Erasure? Would she think I was a villain? I didn't want to reveal it just to find out.

One thing had become clear.

Nothing good would come of Erasure's evidence being exposed.

"We haven't been getting any radio contact for a while now."

"I know. Something must have happened."

"I'll go check."

"Why don't we wait a little longer?"

I shook my head.

"Time is gold in a cleanup operation. I'll go look around nearby, and if something unusual comes up, I'll contact you."

"All right."

With Jung Dahyun's agreement, I opened the door and went outside.

Cold air clawed at my skin. It felt like a rebuke for the price of building a false identity. I checked the radio as I headed toward the meeting site.

Long past the agreed time, no contact had come, and there was no response to our calls either.

Then, when I arrived near the factory, the radio came in.

As expected, something had gone wrong. The other side, saying they couldn't reach anyone, asked for help in a frantic voice. Seeing that the radio had gone dead, I moved.

When I arrived near the meeting point, a man covered in blood, his armaments torn and shredded all over, approached me.

"Are you the support? I'm Kwak Youngsik, Gunpo's villain response team leader."

"Choi Junho, Villain Task Force."

"Did you come alone?"

"Yes. I couldn't reach the liaison team by radio, so I came ahead."

"Ah!"

As if he felt the forces were insufficient, Kwak Youngsik's expression turned bleak.

"How are things unfolding?"

"We were ambushed. There were twice as many villains hidden as our intel suggested. We fought hard, but over twenty are dead and thirty taken prisoner."

"Was Erasure there?"

"I didn't see Erasure."

"So it was a meeting of large organizations. We took their bait and were wiped out."

"Yes."

Kwak Youngsik bowed his head.

I watched him for a moment, then spoke.

"Can you guide me?"

"You're not going back?"

"I'll check how many villains there are first and report. Please guide me."

"...All right."

Following the reluctant Kwak Youngsik's lead, I arrived near the abandoned factory where the two villain organizations were stationed.

As if a fierce battle had just taken place, blood that hadn't yet dried clung to the cement floor. Outside the factory, over ten people stood on guard.

"The rest are in there. The number should be over fifty."

"I see."

"Won't you go back now?"

My eyes and Kwak Youngsik's collided in the air.

Knowing the "unease" that had been sitting behind his eyes all along, I struck first.

"What are you doing......!"

Kwak Youngsik, alarmed, tried to dodge, but my hand reached his stomach first. A fierce Arc Mine pierced through his skin and turned his ribs, organs, and spine to mush.

Unable to withstand the aftermath, Kwak Youngsik's eyes quivered as he looked at his blown-open stomach.

"You betrayed them and sold out your colleagues."

"......!"

"Get betrayed more than ten times, and you start seeing everything."

Without hearing my words to the end, Kwak Youngsik's breath stopped and he collapsed to the floor.

I'd learned that the most common way public service Hunters die at the hands of villains is when a traitor appears from within. Kwak Youngsik had put up a convincing front, but he couldn't control the emotion that existed beyond his eyes.

Now the conditions to move alone were in place.

"That won't do."

I'd radioed Jung Dahyun to buy time, but it was dead.

If even I went out of contact, she would suspect signal jamming and take action.

That meant I didn't have much time left.

The number of villains was about fifty.

The only public service Hunter was me.

It was a situation ripe for unexpected accidents.

"I need to finish this quickly."

* * *

The thing that surprised me most after becoming a public service Hunter was that they cared about villains' lives far more than I'd thought.

To be precise, they hated state-affiliated Awakened being dragged through the press for excessive force.

So the best outcome was capturing them intact, the next was capturing them without threatening their lives, the lesser evil was capturing them even with injuries, and the worst was death during capture or letting them escape.

But exceptions exist everywhere.

During a covert operation, if you judge your own life to be in danger, you won't be reprimanded for killing villains on site.

Since becoming a public service Hunter, I still hadn't officially killed a villain.

So even if I killed every villain here, wouldn't it be acknowledged as unavoidable self-defense?

I did struggle quite a bit to capture villains alive, after all.

Or maybe not.

Either way, I hadn't planned to let them live from the start.

After dealing with the villains at the entrance, I went inside without hesitation in my hands.

"M-monster!"

At first they charged in boldly, and once more than ten died, the process of being seized by fear was the same. But they couldn't get past me, who held the entrance.

I believe in the word repentance. But I think almost no one can repent.

A miracle happened to me and I returned to the past, before I committed my sins, but that chance isn't given to others.

A villain is just a villain.

Leaving them alive to benefit society is far less efficient than killing them to prevent incidents in advance. This is the conclusion I reached.

"No time. Let's end this."

Leaving only the bosses of the two organizations, I approached. As I walked over, brushing off the sticky blood clinging to me, the two, ashen-faced, backed away.

"D-don't come closer! Do you know who's behind us?"

"Erasure is behind us."

Erasure is right in front of you right now.

"Tell me what you know about Erasure. If it's useful, I'll let you live."

"Like I'd tell you......"

Crunch!

I crushed the heart of the one who could only run his mouth.

Kicking aside the collapsing corpse, I habitually licked the blood on my hand and spat. Gift: force amplification? I've never seen such a trash gift before.

I looked at the remaining boss.

"Honestly, I'm not that curious. You don't have to tell me."

"I'll tell you everything! So please, spare me!"

"Go on."

"B-Berserker is chasing after Erasure!"

A name I hadn't expected at all popped out.

"Berserker?"

"Berserker said he has a way to obtain information on Erasure, and told us to spread the rumor. He said if Erasure appeared, he'd handle him personally. He said he wanted to see Erasure."

"......"

This was a development even I hadn't anticipated at all.

Berserker and I don't meet for the first time until fifteen years later in my past life.

So it was Berserker's intention that Erasure's name came up.

With every puzzle solved, I had nothing more to be curious about.

"Thanks for telling me. Then let's end this."

"I-I know more information! So please spare me!"

"I don't want to."

"Aaaagh!"

It was when my hand reached above the head of the man crawling on the floor.

"Stop, Choi Junho!"

With a heavy voice, Jung Juho's new form split me from the boss. And with a sword sheath imbued with fierce force, he blocked my hand, which still hadn't shed the aftermath of its power.

Kwaaaaang!

Arc Mines tangled and intense explosions erupted in succession. Clumps of blue Force burst apart, turning the sprawled corpses to mush.

Seeing Jung Juho's face, I withdrew without using my hands any further. My grip stung quite a bit.

I'd thought he was a slippery opportunist, but his skill was impressive too.

"This one knows information about the League and Erasure. From now on, I'll handle him myself. Is that acceptable?"

"Yes, Director."

I had no intention of using my hands any further, so I raised both arms.

"You've made quite a mess."

Jung Juho sighed as he looked at the factory filled with corpses whose heads had been smashed.

He'd lent a hand himself, though.

Perhaps he thought it was a relief to have saved even one.

What a shame it turned out to be.

Thud!

"......"

Jung Juho, turning his head back, hardened his expression. The boss he'd tried to save was dead, half his head smashed in.