The Crazy Villain Regains His Sanity - Chapter 10

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 10

The beautiful woman smiling before me draws my full attention. Her overwhelming beauty effaces even the imposing presence of the bodyguard standing behind her.
Dizzyingly high heels, a black H-line miniskirt that emphasizes her curves, a white chiffon blouse that teases the imagination—everything about her is calculated to captivate.
When expressionless, she radiates an aloof dignity that discourages approach; when she smiles, her lips curve softly as she gently disarms a man’s defenses.
I know exactly who this woman is.
Lee Se-hui, the younger daughter of the Seongsong Group.
She is the second daughter of the Seongsong Group chairman and destined to inherit both the Group and the Seongsong Guild—a woman of formidable power.
A charismatic owner and accomplished Awakener alike, she stands as South Korea’s preeminent celebrity, and has leveraged her influence to drive the market share of equipment manufactured by the Seongsong Guild to astonishing heights.
The equipment from the Seongsong Guild performs well enough, but what they say about it is something else—it has aesthetics, they claim.
I never imagined that marketing terminology from smartphones would be applied to Awakener equipment.
Her current Level is six.
She ranks among the top ten among the younger generation in terms of skill. Yet beneath her brilliant beauty and fluid eloquence, her actual competence goes largely unmentioned.

“You are Choi Junho, aren’t you? Would you have a moment to talk?”

Eyes converge on us—charged with multiple meanings. The attention feels subtly coercive, but it is entirely a current that Lee Se-hui has orchestrated.

“Is there something you need from me?”
“I wanted to speak with someone whose name’s been making rounds lately.”
“Please, sit.”
“Thank you, then.”

Lee Se-hui pulls a chair across from me and sits, crossing her legs. I feel the weight of surrounding gazes again, but I pay them no mind—merely watching her.
She’s the type of woman who, if you’re careless, will become a persistent annoyance.

“We owe you an apology for the recent incident. We should have managed our affiliated guilds more carefully, but I’m afraid we were negligent in that regard.”
“If it’s been resolved, it’s not a concern.”
“Still, I’m sorry that we put you in such an awkward position.”

The situation arose because I exposed a cartel that had been operating in the shadows.
If I hadn’t poked my nose into it, none of this would have happened.

“Wang Ju-yeol was your superior, after all. It must have been difficult for you.”

Lee Se-hui seems to think that taking down my superior would weigh on me.
But was it truly a burden?
I’ve never recognized hierarchy in such terms—I had no qualms about going after Wang Ju-yeol.
If the ledger had shown a director above him, I would have gone after the director instead.
As I say nothing, Lee Se-hui continues.

“Since what happened was our responsibility, we’ve apologized to the director and promised to provide equipment manufactured by the Seongsong Guild for use by the National Guard Bureau.”
“That’s welcome news.”
“We’re able to hunt monsters only because of the efforts of your Villain Response Team, who maintain the city’s security. This is the least we can do.”

Even the way she brushes her hair behind her ear is natural, rehearsed.
She is a woman who knows precisely how to conduct herself, exactly how to project appeal, what it takes to command attention and move men. The National Guard Bureau officers present cannot tear their eyes away from her.

“And I’d like to repay you as well, Junho.”
“Repay me how?”
“You removed something that could have become a problem for us. That’s what this is for. Would you be willing to visit the Seongsong Guild sometime?”

She holds my gaze steadily, her voice layered with subtle suggestion. If anyone thought to accept her words at face value, they would be mistaken.

“I can roughly guess what you’re after.”

I curved my lips into a smile.

“I’m getting tired of you using your Gift.”
“……!”

Without hesitation, I reached out my hand, and alarm spread across Lee Se-hui’s face.
Before my hand could touch her, the bodyguard standing behind her stepped forward to block me. Muscles swelled with explosive force as a powerful fist, laden with strength, brushed aside the Mine crackling in my palm.
So they’d already investigated my Gift. Though the first attempt failed, I twisted the trajectory of my withdrawn hand and wrapped it around the man’s arm like a serpent.
He couldn’t shake off even the dazzling shift in angle before I caught him. Yet the Mine failed to shatter his arm.

“Hnngh!”

Against the Mine burrowing inward, he widened his eyes and swung his opposite fist to push me back. I seized that arm too, planted another Mine, surrendered to the recoil as I stepped back, and quietly observed him.
Once a Mine bores inward, it’s like a virus. To neutralize it, you either need overwhelmingly greater force to crush it, or delicate control to disarm it.
The bodyguard, matching neither condition, chose instead to gather the rampaging Mine within into a single point and detonate it.

Crack! Crackle!

The Mine, concentrated and detonated at one spot, cleanly fractured both his arm bones.

“Haaaagh!”

A fracture instead of complete destruction—an optimal judgment in that split second.
But a bodyguard with both arms broken was useless. As I stepped forward, Lee Se-hui moved to intercede.

“I’m sorry. Let me apologize. I was trying to make a good impression on Junho.”

Seeing her bow her head, I lowered my hand. My guess was that Lee Se-hui’s Gift was likely mental-type, something like Charm or Allure.
It was true that she’d probably tried to win my favor and draw me into the Seongsong Guild, so I didn’t sharpen my edge further. If it had been hypnosis or brainwashing, I would have struck harder.

“I accept.”
“Thank you. Jin Hyung, use this.”

The bodyguard sprayed Recovery Potion on his fractured arms and swallowed a pill-type Recovery Potion. As the wounds visibly mended, he quietly took his place behind Lee Se-hui. But his eyes, fixed on me, held a faint tremor of fear.
It was a look I’d seen often back when I was a villain. In my past life, I would’ve been bothered enough to snap his neck, but in this life, I’m of sound mind, so I let it pass without comment.
Lee Se-hui’s expression, too, had lost its earlier ease.

“You’re much tougher than expected.”
“Don’t pull stupid tricks and this won’t happen.”
“That’s my fault. I should’ve just said thank you.”
“Reading the situation quickly and correcting course—that’s skill too. The fact that you didn’t escalate to worst-case is worth praising alone.”
“…I’m not sure if I should be happy about that.”

Lee Se-hui’s voice, as she shook her head, had lost some of its edge.

“So what’s left on your agenda?”
“Nothing, really. I wanted to sweet-talk you into joining our guild, but now I’m worried my head might get smashed in the process.”
“A head’s a head regardless of social rank.”
“You’re attractive to me, Junho, but I can’t afford to rush in unprepared. Anyway, thank you for refreshing my subordinate guilds. I’ll pay my respects next time I visit.”
“…….”

With my opponent apologizing and reflecting, I felt oddly uncomfortable. If she’d kept scheming and struggled to the bitter end, resolving things would’ve been simpler.
I deliberated on how to close this out, reached a conclusion of sorts, and asked:

“Should I cover the cost of that Recovery Potion?”
“With two years of your salary combined, you still couldn’t.”
“Expensive stuff.”
“What, do you think our premium Recovery Potion is some bargain? People might think it’s damaged goods if they heard that.”

I must have touched a nerve, because Lee Se-hui’s face flushed red. Recovery Potions were valued for their speed of treatment, so I understood their worth well.

“It certainly seemed effective.”
“Of course! At this level, it’s world-class. It’s a masterpiece among masterpieces, researched and developed over years by Korea’s finest doctors and from the byproducts of the highest-difficulty monsters… ah, but that wasn’t what I came here to say.”

Lee Se-hui, having completely lost her composure, raked a hand roughly through her hair and exhaled.

“I should have contacted Hyun first before coming here.”
“Are you close with her?”

Now that he mentioned it, I recalled that Jeong Da-hyun had transferred from the Seongsong Guild to the National Guard Bureau.

“I’d say we’re close. Though she finds me exhausting. Honestly, I ate nothing but soybean paste stew for a whole month just to get closer to her, and then she goes off to the National Guard Bureau to catch Villains, and… ugh!”

My impression of Lee Se-hui suddenly improved.
She rose from her seat—this woman who’d been wryly keeping time with herself—and stood.

“Next time we meet, I’d hope it would be a better encounter than this.”
“Just don’t use your Gift so recklessly.”
“I won’t!”

With those words, Lee Se-hui bowed slightly and left. Based on my memories of my past life, I’d taken her for a cold corporate executive, but she turned out to have more humanity than I’d expected.

* * *

Lee Se-hui’s footsteps remained steady all the way to the Underground Parking Lot. But the moment she reached her car, her legs gave out from under her.

“Miss!”
“I’m fine.”

Raising a hand to stop the bodyguard, Lee Se-hui caught her breath in short gasps.
She’d maintained composure on the surface, but her heart was pounding so violently it felt as though it might burst through her ribs.

‘He was willing to kill me without a moment’s hesitation.’

It wasn’t fear—it was shock. Her Gift, Allure, was one that won the favor of everyone around her. With the backing of the Seongsong Group’s royal family and natural beauty she’d carefully cultivated, Lee Se-hui had obtained everything she desired throughout her life.
As a result, the Seongsong Guild had prospered not only throughout South Korea but across the world.
Jeong Da-hyun, whom she’d taken an interest in, had left midway, but that was merely a minor variable.
Yet Choi Junho was different.
A Level 5 Awakener who appeared like a comet. With unhesitating technique and unstoppable momentum, he’d shaken the National Guard Bureau. Even his superior, Special Team Leader Wang Ju-yeol, had fallen to him.
Lee Se-hui didn’t believe he was merely Level 5. That’s why she’d wanted to confirm, why she’d brought him to the Seongsong Guild.
And today’s meeting had given her certainty.

“…At least Level 7.”

Perhaps even beyond that. She’d never encountered such a high-level Awakener at such a young age.
If that were true, she had to draw him in by any means necessary.
Lee Se-hui picked up her smartphone from inside the car.

“Increase the number of equipment we’re supplying to the National Guard Bureau. Gift Choi Junho a Recovery Potion as an apology. And… investigate everything about him.”

* * *

Yun Hee’s training was progressing smoothly. By my assessment, she’d reached a level nearly equivalent to Level 3, and had developed enough skill to comfortably pass the entrance exam for the Seongsong Guild, Korea’s top choice.
But as always, carelessness is the greatest enemy. I made sure she never let her guard down by staging different crisis scenarios every day to push her forward.
Yun Hee protested that this wouldn’t actually help her pass, but I dismissed the notion—it was a reliable method to build real skill.
After each training session, she’d ask if I had emotions, but I absolutely did not.

Surely not.

After the fulfilling training session ended, Yun Hee emerged from the shower and spoke to me.

“Lee Se-hui went to the National Guard Bureau?”
“How’d you find out about that?”
“Obviously I saw the news.”

Lee Se-hui, the overall operations director of Seongsong Guild, was not only an exceptional Awakener but also a celebrated figure whose every move generated headlines—or so Yun Hee explained it.

“Did you talk about her too?”
“Yeah.”
“Really? With Lee Se-hui?”
“What’s so surprising about that?”
“Of course it’s surprising! We’re talking about Lee Se-hui! Every woman’s role model! How was she in person? Pretty?”

Pretty, sure—her face was beautiful. But that alone seemed insufficient to capture what Lee Se-hui truly was.
She knew how to leverage her beauty strategically, moved aggressively when the moment called for it, yet could retreat and bend when things turned sour.

“Cunning.”
“That’s quite an assessment.”
“Just how it seemed.”
“So you didn’t get ignored or anything like that, right?”

In fact, there’d been friction between us, but I saw no point in mentioning it.
Yun Hee either lost interest or decided to move on, pulling up another article in front of me.

“This one was pretty harsh though.”

The headline read:

“Isn’t this targeting you?”
“Looks like it.”
“It’s the same writer again. This is also reporter Go Ye-jin. I mean, so what if a government Hunter from the Villain Enforcement Division is doing her job diligently? What’s the point of making a fuss about it?”

At that, I looked through the articles written by Go Ye-jin. It wasn’t without reason that Yun Hee was getting worked up—her headlines were practically an art form.

“I’ll have a word with her if I come across her.”
“Yeah, sure. But don’t kill her, okay?”
“Why would I kill her?”
“Because you’re clenching your fist right now.”
…….

I really was clenching my fist without realizing it.

* * *

A government Hunter is a state employee. Belonging to the nation, they protect citizens from Villains and Monsters while keeping large guilds in check—thus maintaining the balance of power.
Indeed, several Third World nations that failed at such checks had fallen under the exclusive control of a handful of guilds.
Precisely because of this, the central government desperately maintains its roster of state Hunters, and since they can’t offer financial compensation rivaling the major guilds, what they grant instead is Public Authority.
A government Hunter’s Public Authority is strong when deployed, though it goes unused more often than not. With just a few suspicious elements, on-site arrest is possible, and self-defense rights are broadly recognized.
There was a general trend toward restraint, given the stiff penalties for missteps.
I was the opposite.
Public Authority was excellent. So long as I had legitimate justification, anything could be rationalized under its umbrella: “To prepare for Villain attacks,” “To prevent Villain movements,” “To study Villain patterns,” and so on.
I’d found Oh Jong-yeop through the power of Public Authority.
That I could locate him with nothing but a name, age, and family details was remarkable.

“Public Authority really is convenient.”

I’d finally found him. Slash, Oh Jong-yeop.
The friend who’d believed in me to the end.
Yet I’d failed to honor that trust, tearing out his heart in that final moment.
My connection to Oh Jong-yeop had never been pure. When he first became a Villain, we joined forces to scatter his pursuers, and that’s how our acquaintance began.
We were the same age, and since I hadn’t fallen into crime from the start, we could be friends.
Half-mad as I was, I managed to evade pursuit with Oh Jong-yeop’s help.

“You’re sane! Get a grip on yourself!”

It was the thing Oh Jong-yeop said to me most often.
I wasn’t a madman from the beginning, either.
To be precise, it was the difference between being somewhat mad and being completely mad. I struggled desperately to suppress the instinct that craved blood for greater power.
To stop it, I tried all manner of drugs—hallucinogens, stimulants, narcotics—and later even chewed raw byproducts of monsters notorious for their toxicity.
Oh Jong-yeop helped me earnestly through all of it. I did my best to live up to my first friend’s faith in me, but.
It was all for nothing.
In the end, I no longer recognized my friend’s face, and I killed Oh Jong-yeop with my own hands.
Yet even in that moment when my hands pierced his heart, he did not resent me.

“See you in hell, friend.”

Mad as I was, I still remember that face clearly.
I’ve returned not to hell but to the past, remembering those words and seeking him out.
The place I arrived at was Ansan.
Oh Jong-yeop lived not in the heart of the city, but on its outskirts.
At that time, he was preparing to become a corporate Hunter. But his Gift hadn’t awakened yet, and his younger sibling was battling a rare disease—circumstances that held Oh Jong-yeop back.
The astronomical hospital bills forced him to accept an offer from a Villain organization, and he became a Villain.
In this life, I’ll help ensure such a thing doesn’t happen.
The place where Oh Jong-yeop lived was a dilapidated shack on the verge of collapse.

…….

I arrived at the front of the house but couldn’t step forward.
Was it the debt of my past life holding me back? Or was it the guilt of having killed a friend who believed in me?
I was surprised I could feel such emotions at all. These strange feelings made me realize I was sane.
A familiar yet youthful voice reached my ears as I hesitated.

“Hey.”

I turned to see Oh Jong-yeop, far younger than the last time I’d seen him, standing before me.

“Who are you? What are you doing in front of my house?”
“I have business.”
“Business? What kind of business?”
“I came to see you.”

His eyes grew fiercer at my words.

“I don’t know any parasites like you.”

Now that I thought about it, I remembered him calling himself quite the rebellious type before he became a Villain.
It made sense—he must have borne considerable wounds from the world.
Apart from constantly rubbing him the wrong way.
In any case, Oh Jong-yeop was the one and only friend who believed in me until the end.
So even that appearance felt endearing to me. Or rather, I chose to receive it that way.

“Aren’t you going to back off?”
…….

My gaze dropped for a moment, and I saw his fists clenched tight.
Yes, friends often scuffle like this.
I need to set the mood for conversation first.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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