Chapter 17

Chapter 17

The captured villain had spilled information.

With every Hunter from the National Guard Bureau gathered in the large conference room, Jung Juho opened the meeting.

“The League’s reach has finally extended all the way here.”

He began pulling out intelligence he had kept hidden until now.

“Puppeteer, Black Reaper, Executioner.”

“...!”

“These are the villains the League is in contact with.”

All three were at the pinnacle of villains currently active in South Korea.

Puppeteer was analyzed as having low combat power for a Level 7, but was called an immortal who never revealed his true body and manipulated puppets, making him impossible to kill.

Black Reaper and Executioner were also Level 7 Awakened who had slaughtered countless people.

From where I stood, they didn’t seem all that special. Were they really people who warranted this level of caution? I wasn’t sure.

Come to think of it, I knew where the League’s South Korea Branch was—the one I had destroyed. I should pay it a visit when I had the time.

“All three are known to operate alone. But if they fall in with the League, we can’t rule out the possibility they’ll move together.”

“That’s a nightmare.”

“This looks like a problem that requires a Level 8 to be dispatched.”

“If they had joined forces, they would have made their move already. That means we still have time. Let’s come up with countermeasures before an incident breaks out.”

Just as the meeting was about to wrap up, Jung Dahyun raised her hand.

“Director. What about the information on Erasure?”

“Erasure was bait. There was nothing.”

“Then what about the pursuit of Erasure?”

“It amounts to zero yield. It’s possible Erasure was a villain who never existed in the first place.”

“Erasure is a villain who has shown himself.”

“I know. It’s just something to consider—whether he’s a newly emerged villain. It’s also possible that Erasure was a villain the League sent to win those three over.”

“...!”

Everyone was shocked. At the same time, they felt fear at the League’s boundless reserves of power. They would send a Level 8 villain just for a recruitment effort? It was hard to believe.

Hmm.

As the very person in question—Erasure himself—I could only admire their endlessly expanding imagination.

At this rate, the League, which had tried so hard to recruit me, had half-gotten its wish.

“This is only speculation as well. What’s certain is that Erasure’s existence couldn’t be found despite existing. We have to let our imaginations run freely. This intelligence is unusual.”

“Come to think of it, Berserker isn’t on the list.”

“He was probably excluded because he’s out of his mind. But we can’t let our guard down, so if he surfaces, track his location.”

A hidden truth I’d heard from the Boss came to mind. Berserker—why was that one chasing Erasure?

Berserker, Lee Gwangjin. Estimated Level 7, age forty-four. This villain normally carried himself with the serene dignity of a monk, but the moment he entered combat, he went completely mad.

He destroyed everything in sight, friend or foe alike, and was rated the most dangerous of the villains mentioned earlier.

Because he would rampage if provoked the wrong way, even government agencies had issued a no-approach order.

But something about the information didn’t add up.

Lee Gwangjin was also someone I remembered from my past life.

Because he was a villain I had killed.

And thinking about it now, he hadn’t seemed like a Level 7.

The one I’d faced back in my Blood Lord days was among the top five strongest of everyone I’d killed. If I had to classify him, wouldn’t he have been close to Level 8? Or was he Level 7 back then, given the fifteen-year gap?

“The best course is not to provoke Berserker.”

Don’t touch him, and he stays holed up quietly. That was the general perception of Berserker.

That was why the National Guard Bureau and various other organizations kept their distance from him.

I needed to know why he was searching for Erasure, so I’d end up seeing him at some point. That would be his last. He was someone I’d kill anyway, so I figured I might as well check how strong he really was.

Come to think of it, there was one more odd thing.

The League hadn’t approached Berserker because he was insane, yet they had approached me—Blood Lord.

Did they really think I was someone you could reason with?

Because I was less insane than Berserker?

“......”

While I was lost in thought, Jung Juho wrapped up the meeting.

“But Berserker is also a villain who must be eliminated eventually. If they judge he can be controlled, the League could approach him at any time. Always stay on your guard.”

“Understood.”

* * *

After the meeting, on the way home.

I tried to sort out in my head the flood of information that had poured in over the course of the day, from the pursuit of Erasure all the way to the League.

The fact that someone had been secretly tracking Erasure came as a great shock.

I had thought the matter was closed when I wiped out Bigteng. Yet they had latched onto a small clue and pursued it relentlessly.

The problem was that neither I nor even Jung Dahyun had known about that process.

These pieces of information gave rise to a single hypothesis.

Could it be... am I under suspicion?

Jung Juho believed I was a Level 8. And Erasure had also been identified as Level 8 upon his first appearance.

So you could think of it this way.

Which was more likely—that two Level 8 transcendents had appeared recently, or that the two were the same person?

It was only my conjecture, but it was more than enough to invite suspicion.

That was why I’d said I wanted to become a Black Agent. As someone directly under the Director, I’d be able to keep an eye on Jung Juho from up close.

If Jung Juho became convinced I was Erasure, what should I do?

“I’ll have to be careful.”

The one saving grace was that Erasure was a disposable villain who had appeared to settle things with Oh Jongyeop.

If he never showed up again, wouldn’t people just assume he was a fictional villain?

After all the effort I’d put into cleaning things up so I wouldn’t get caught. Somehow it felt like all that effort had been for nothing.

“Should I not have wiped them out?”

But I knew how far Bigteng’s organization would grow, and what atrocities they would commit against Oh Jongyeop, so I couldn’t just let it slide.

Meanwhile, the place I arrived at was the site where the League’s South Korea Branch had been.

Located in Bupyeong, Incheon—close to Seoul, and with Incheon International Airport and the nearby ports, I suspected that was why it had been chosen.

“It’s not here.”

Though I’d held out a faint hope.

It seemed the League’s South Korea Branch hadn’t yet taken proper shape at this point in time. The building back then had been quite flashy, but now there was just a derelict structure that wouldn’t have looked out of place collapsing on the spot.

To think they’d put up a new building here. The League must have had deep pockets.

“Hey, what are you?”

Inside the abandoned building, as expected, there were five villains. Assorted junk—no telling where they’d stolen it from—lay scattered across the floor.

They were small fry not even on a wanted list, so I crushed their limbs and contacted the nearby response team to hand them over.

Watching the response team officials make a fuss about how serious their condition was, I smiled bitterly to myself.

Another excessive-suppression case would be added to the pile.

Still, at least I’d cleared out the uninvited guests, so it’d be good if the League’s South Korea Branch moved in here in the future.

Was this what they called a long-term investment?

Having finished my business and returned home, I found my little sister sprawled out completely.

Wearing a white short-sleeve box tee and black dolphin pants, she had claimed the entire couch in absolute comfort, lying there watching TV.

“Oh, you’re back?”

A single flick of her foot.

“You keep getting lazier.”

“Ahh, I never knew working life would be this hard. The moment I get there, I feel my energy just draining out.”

“You managing okay?”

“If I can’t even handle this much, I should quit. Besides, I’m getting paid well. I’ve got to earn my keep if I want to claim I came from Shinseong.”

“......”

I stayed silent for a moment, looking at Yunhee.

“W-what. Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Like what.”

“I felt it! Just now! I can see you’re thinking about putting me through the wringer, aren’t you? Am I right?”

“No. I was just wondering how far you’ve learned from Dahyun.”

“Don’t worry. My villain response is perfect. Though someone must have rubbed off on me, because it’s very aggressive.”

“Villain response, sure. But how prepared you are against monsters matters just as much.”

“W-what! Why are you saying that in such a scary way?”

If Jung Dahyun had trained her in villain response, the Shinseong Guild would have prepared her for monsters as well.

But monsters were creatures of a completely different kind from villains.

The time when monster-hunting Hunters died the most was their first hunt, and this was the period when rookie Hunters lacked immunity to lifeforms of a different kind.

Even with dependable seniors backing you up, a hunt wasn’t so easy that a rookie frozen stiff would come out unscathed.

“Shinseong Guild will prepare her, but from what I can see, it’s insufficient.”

“Are you really criticizing South Korea’s top guild’s level of preparation?”

“Because it’s a matter of life and death.”

“Ugh, whatever. I’ve had plenty of audiovisual training, and I’ve been taught all about what kinds of abnormal reactions occur. First aid, how to take recovery potions, retreat procedures—I’ve practiced it all several times.”

“Still not enough.”

The best thing would be to take her to the field and have her face a monster directly.

But dropping her in alone was out of the question, and if I were beside her, she’d have someone to lean on, making it hard for her to build proper immunity.

She had to be exposed raw for it to really stick.

“I’ll have to find a way.”

“Can’t you just let it slide? This is overprotective.”

“I’m doing it because I’m your brother.”

A sister who hadn’t been able to spread her wings because of me. Now that she was standing at the starting line, I had nothing but the thought of helping her soar.

“......”

Yunhee stared at me without a word.

It seemed she understood my worry.

“Ugh, goosebumps! Ah, I almost threw up.”

“......”

It seemed not.

* * *

Having made contact the day before to set up an appointment, Lee Sehee—whom I met the next day—was the pinnacle of dazzling beauty, just as she had been when I first saw her.

She crossed her legs and leisurely held a cup of coffee, smiling.

“Isn’t it so nice to set up an appointment in advance like this?”

Was this the confidence of a full face of makeup? Yunhee’s confidence before and after makeup was also like night and day.

“It’s about my sister.”

“Ah! Yunhee? Is there a problem?”

“How is she at the guild?”

“She’s a woman of many talents. Her interpersonal relationships are good, her skills are excellent, and her adaptability is top-notch. She has no hesitation when it comes to accepting new things. To the point where I’d feel incompetent for not having found a talent like her myself. Ah! I’ve only been talking about myself.”

“I heard she’s heading out on her first hunt soon.”

“Yes! The guild is preparing thoroughly on every front.”

Lee Sehee mentioned the Shinseong Guild’s preparations with a confident expression. They were excellent. If I had an Awakened child, I’d want to entrust them to her with peace of mind.

“I’m going to train Yunhee, and I wondered if it might conflict with the Shinseong Guild’s policies.”

“Because of the separate training?”

“What are the guild’s policies?”

“It doesn’t matter. She’s affiliated with Shinseong, but everyone puts in their own effort to get stronger. Some even hire personal coaches to shore up their weak points. The only thing prohibited is inhumane or abnormal training. ...Surely not?”

At some point, her eyes had narrowed as she looked at me.

What did I even do to make her that anxious?

It was all for my sister.

“Tell me quickly. What is it?”

“Can’t we just let it slide?”

“I was going to let it slide, but seeing your attitude, Junho, now I have to hear it. Tell me. Otherwise I’ll tell Yunhee everything. I have to protect my guild member.”

She’d caught on that I hadn’t gotten Yunhee’s permission yet. As expected, she was sharp as a ghost.

“The problem is her being overwhelmed by a monster’s aura, so I’m going to imitate a monster’s presence.”

“Is that even possible?”

“I’m saying it because it is.”

“......”

Lee Sehee, who had clasped her hands and was tapping the back of her hand with her index finger as she thought, spoke.

“Then try it on me first.”

“Why?”

“Half personal curiosity, half a hunch as the Shinseong Guild’s General Operations Team Leader. If we could artificially imitate a monster’s presence, I think we could reduce casualties far more than we do now.”

“Is that so?”

No need to release a test subject that had walked in on its own, I suppose.

And, from what I could see, Lee Sehee seemed to enjoy being handled a bit roughly.

“Alright. Then let me bring up my business now.”

“What business?”

“What, you handed over something that expensive and didn’t even think about it?”

Lee Sehee looked rather dumbfounded as she chided me. Now I remembered.

“Ah, that?”

“The valuation was completed a while ago. I apologize for how long it took—it was an item that had never existed before.”

“It’s fine.”

“Once we put a price on it, we agonized over how to pay you. As you know, Junho, if a large sum suddenly comes in, the National Tax Service starts tracking it.”

“And they’d look even closer at the Shinseong Guild.”

“Exactly. They’re watching, just waiting for us to slip up. So we decided it would be safer to pay you in goods. What do you think?”

“That works better for me too.”

“Then this should be easy.”

Smiling, Lee Sehee said,

“I thought about what item would be most necessary for you, Junho. So I looked into the things going on around you, and after seeing that you aren’t particularly greedy for money, I found my own answer.”

Lee Sehee lifted the 007 briefcase from the floor onto the table, entered the code, and opened it. Inside was a case full of recovery potions in brilliant colors.

“You’ve had a lot of trouble over the excessive-suppression cases, haven’t you? If things look bad after you subdue them, use these recovery potions. Then broken limbs heal completely!”

“Think they’ll come at me again, then?”

“Let me give you an example.”

Lee Sehee rose from her seat and came back with two bags of snacks. She dropped one on the floor and crushed it under her high heel.

“The villains you subdue, Junho, are in a state like this.”

The snack box she held up was shredded, its contents crumbled.

“But if you use a recovery potion, they end up like this.”

She mimed sprinkling a recovery potion into the air, then transferred the contents into an intact box.

“Recovery potions are meant to restore only the outward appearance, not the contents. Fine on the outside, but a wreck on the inside. To those stuffy old-timers up top, it looks like you subdued them cleanly. Isn’t this the item you need most right now, Junho?”

“......”

I stared intently at the 007 briefcase Lee Sehee held out.

“Normally, the heart of a disaster tier 6 monster goes for a billion, but with a new processing method we added a premium and priced it at three billion, so we prepared a hundred of them. If this isn’t enough, you can ask for more anytime. We can keep supplying you.”

Having finished her confident pitch, Lee Sehee looked at me with eyes full of anticipation.

“What do you think? Of the gift I prepared?”

“......”

Suddenly, all the incidents and accidents that had happened since I became a public service Hunter flashed through my mind.

Villains whose arms and legs had been broken by my hands. The excessive-suppression cases that had piled up one by one behind their screams.

But if those potions could restore them to their original state?

It would be the perfect crime… no, the perfect arrest.

“Lee Sehee.”

“Yes!”

“...You're a genius.”