The Crazy Villain Regains His Sanity - Chapter 17

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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 17

The Villain they’d brought into custody had leaked information.
Jung Ju-ho called the meeting to order as all the Hunters of the National Protection Agency gathered in the large conference room.

“The League’s reach has finally extended to us.”

He began to draw out information that had not been revealed until now.

“The Puppeteer, the Black Reaper, the Executioner.”
……!
“This is the list of Villains the League is currently in contact with.”

These three represented the apex of Villains currently operating in South Korea.
The Puppeteer, despite being Level 7, was analyzed as having lower combat capability than expected, but because the true form never revealed itself and instead commanded puppets, it was called an immortal that could never be killed.
The Black Reaper and the Executioner were likewise Level 7 Awakeners and Villains who had massacred countless people.
From what I could see, there was nothing particularly special about them. Were they worth such caution? I wasn’t entirely sure.
Now that I thought about it, I knew the location of the League’s Korean branch that I had annihilated. I ought to visit it sometime when I had the chance.

“All three are known to operate alone. However, if they belong to the League, we cannot rule out the possibility that they will move together.”
“That’s hell.”
“It seems like a problem that would require a Level 8 dispatch.”
“If they had combined their strength, they would have already made a move. The fact that they haven’t means we still have time. Let’s formulate countermeasures before an incident occurs.”

Just as the meeting was about to conclude, Jung Da-hyun raised her hand.

“Director, what about the information on Mal-soja?”
“Mal-soja was bait. There was nothing there.”
“Then what about the pursuit of Mal-soja?”
“It amounts to nothing. Mal-soja may have been a Villain that never existed from the beginning.”
“Mal-soja is a Villain that has revealed their form.”
“I know. The question is whether this is a newly emerged Villain. Perhaps Mal-soja is a Villain sent by the League to sway those three.”
……!

Everyone was astonished. On one hand, they felt fear at the League’s seemingly endless depth of resources. A Level 8 Villain sent merely for recruitment work? It was almost unbelievable.
Hmm.
As the subject in question listening to this, Mal-soja could only marvel at the boundless flights of imagination.
At this rate, had the League, which had tried so hard to draw me in, achieved half their objective anyway?

“This is merely speculation. What is certain is that Mal-soja’s existence exists and yet we could not find them. We must allow our imaginations to run freely. This intelligence is no trivial matter.”
“Come to think of it, the Berserker isn’t on the list.”
“They would be excluded for being out of their right mind. But we can’t let our guard down, so if their whereabouts surface, make sure to track their location.”

The hidden details I’d heard from my boss came back to mind. The Berserker—why was that one chasing Mal-soja?
Berserker, Yi Gwang-jin. Estimated forty-four years old, presumed Level 7. This Villain normally displays the noble bearing of an ascetic, but once combat begins, loses all reason.
Because they destroy everything in sight indiscriminately, friend and foe alike, they were rated as the highest danger level among the Villains mentioned thus far.
The government agencies had issued a no-contact order because careless provocation could trigger a rampage.
But there’s something strange about the information.
Yi Gwang-jin is also a person I remember from my previous life.
Because this is a Villain I killed.
But thinking about it now, that one doesn’t seem to be Level 7.
The one I faced during my Bloodline days was among the five strongest I ever killed. If I had to classify them, wouldn’t they have been close to Level 8? Or perhaps the difference between now and fifteen years later explains why they were Level 7 back then.

“The best approach with the Berserker is not to provoke them.”

Don’t touch them and they stay locked away. This is the perception of the Berserker.
That’s why the National Protection Agency and other organizations have been keeping their distance from Berserker.
I need to find out why he’s looking for Mal-soja, so I’ll see him eventually. That’ll be his last moment. Since he’s someone I’m going to kill anyway, it might be good to check out how skilled he is.
Now that I think about it, there’s one more strange thing.
The League didn’t approach Berserker as someone insane, but they approached me—a bloodline user.
Did they really think I’d be reasonable to talk to?
Because I’m less insane than Berserker?

“…….”

While I was lost in thought, Jung Ju-ho wrapped up the meeting.

“Still, Berserker is a villain who must be eliminated eventually. If we judge that we can control him, the League can approach him anytime. Stay vigilant.”
“Understood.”

* * *

After the meeting ended, on my way home.
I mentally organized all the information that had poured down like a torrential flood throughout the day—from tracking Mal-soja to the League’s involvement.
The fact that someone had been secretly pursuing Mal-soja struck me like a thunderbolt.
I’d thought the case was closed once I’d eliminated Bigten. But someone had grasped a small thread and pursued it with persistent determination.
The problem was that neither I nor Jung Da-hyun knew about this process.
These pieces of information triggered a single hypothesis in my mind.
Could I be under suspicion?
Jung Ju-ho believes I’m a Level 8 master. And Mal-soja was also identified as Level 8 upon first appearance.
Then it’s possible to reason like this.
What’s more likely—that two Level 8 Awakeners appeared recently, or that they’re the same person?
It’s only my speculation, but it’s certainly suspicious.
That’s why I said I’d become a black agent. Being directly under the Director, I’d be able to keep an eye on Jung Ju-ho from his side.
If Jung Ju-ho becomes convinced I’m Mal-soja, what would I do?

“I need to be careful.”

The saving grace was that Mal-soja was a disposable villain who appeared only to close the connection with Oh Jong-yeop.
If he doesn’t appear again, won’t people start to think of him as a hypothetical villain?
I’d been so thorough in cleaning up after myself, but somehow it all feels pointless.

“Maybe I was too hasty.”

But I couldn’t just overlook it—not after learning how far Bigten’s organization had spread and what atrocities he was committing against Oh Jong-yeop.
In the meantime, I’d arrived at the location of the League’s South Korea branch.
Positioned in Incheon Bupyeong, I guessed it was chosen for its proximity to Seoul and its proximity to the ports near Incheon International Airport.

“It’s not here.”

I’d held out hope just in case.
The League’s South Korea branch clearly hadn’t taken proper form in this period. The building back then had been quite impressive, but now what stood before me was a dilapidated structure that wouldn’t be surprising to collapse at any moment.
So they were building a new structure here. The League must have had plenty of money.

“Hey, who are you?”

Inside the abandoned building, as expected, there were five villains. Various junk scattered across the floor—stolen from who knows where.
They weren’t even on any wanted list. I crushed their limbs and called the nearby response team to hand over the villains.
Watching the response team official make a fuss about how critical their condition was, I smirked inwardly.
Another Excessive Suppression Case would be added to my record.
Still, now that I’d cleaned out the trespassers, I hoped the League’s South Korea branch would move in here someday.
Is this what they call long-term investment?
After finishing my business and returning home, I found my younger sister sprawled across the couch.
She was draped across the entire sofa in complete comfort, wearing a white short-sleeved box tee and black dolphin shorts, watching TV.

“Oh, you’re back?”

One flick of the foot.

“You’re getting lazier by the day.”
“Ugh, I had no idea office work would drain me like this. I can feel my energy just bleeding away the moment I walk in.”
“Can you handle it?”
“If I can’t manage even this, I should quit. Besides, they’re paying me well. I need to earn my keep if I’m going to claim Holy Origin credentials.”
……

I watched Yun-hee in silence for a moment.

“What, what is it? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Like what?”
“Exactly! I could feel it. Right now you’re wondering whether to try and manipulate me, aren’t you? Aren’t you?”
“No, I wasn’t. I was just thinking about how far Da-hyun trained you.”
“Don’t worry. My Villain response protocol is flawless. Whoever taught me was pretty intense about it.”
“Villain response, sure. But how prepared you are for Beasts is just as important.”
“What, what! Why are you saying something so scary?”

If Da-hyun had trained her against Villains, then the Seongsong Guild would have made preparations for Beasts as well.
But Beasts are an entirely different breed of monster than Villains.
Hunters die most often on their first hunt, when new recruits lack immunity to alien life forms.
Even with solid seniors backing them up, a new Hunter frozen with fear won’t survive a hunt that brutal.

“The Seongsong Guild will prepare something, but in my judgment it won’t be enough.”
“You’re critiquing the preparation standards of South Korea’s top Guild?”
“Lives are on the line.”
“Look, I’ve had plenty of visual and audio training, received lectures on every type of abnormal reaction that can occur, practiced emergency protocols and Recovery Potion administration multiple times, learned retreat procedures over and over—”
“It’s still not enough.”

The best approach would be to take her into the field directly and have her face a Beast.
But I can’t throw her in alone, and if I’m beside her, she’ll have someone to lean on instead of building real immunity. Raw exposure is what drives the deepest imprinting.
She needs to confront it naked and unguarded.

“I need to find a way.”
“No, can’t you just let it go a little? This is borderline overprotection.”
“Because I’m your brother.”

My sister, who never got to spread her wings because of me. Now that she’s standing at the starting line, I had no thought but to help her soar.

……

Yun-hee stared at me without a word.
She seemed to understand my worry.

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

I was wrong.

* * *

I’d called ahead the day before to set up a meeting, and when Yi Se-hee appeared the next day, she was the picture of radiant beauty—just as she’d been the first time I saw her.
She crossed her legs and sipped her coffee with an air of ease, smiling.

“It’s wonderful having a set appointment like this in advance.”

Was this the confidence that full makeup brought? Even Yun-hee’s confidence had shifted from night to day after putting her face on.

“It’s about my sister.”
“Ah, it’s Yun-hee. Is something the matter?”
“How is she doing at the guild?”
“She’s a jack of all trades. Excellent interpersonal skills, outstanding abilities, and top-tier adaptability. She embraces new things without hesitation. I’d say I’m incompetent for not having found talent like this myself. Oh, I’ve been talking about her the whole time.”
“I heard she’s going on her first hunt soon.”
“Yes! The guild is making thorough preparations.”

Yi Se-hee mentioned it with a confident expression—what Seongsong Guild was preparing. It was impressive. If I had an Awakener child, I’d trust and entrust them to this place.

“I want to train Yun-hee myself, but I was worried it might conflict with the guild’s policies.”
“Because of separate training?”
“What’s the guild’s stance?”
“There’s no issue. We’re affiliated with Seongsong, but everyone is working hard to grow stronger individually. Some even hire private coaches to shore up their weaknesses. However, we do prohibit inhumane or abnormal training methods. …Surely that’s not what you’re planning?”

Her eyes had narrowed, fixed on me.
‘What did I do to make her this worried?’
It’s all for my sister’s sake.

“Tell me quickly. What is it?”
“Can’t we just move past this?”
“I was going to let it go, but judging by your attitude, I need to hear it. Tell me. Otherwise, I’m telling Yun-hee everything. I have to look out for our guild members.”

She’d noticed that I hadn’t asked Yun-hee’s permission yet. A mind reader, through and through.

“The problem is getting overwhelmed by a beast’s aura, so I’m mimicking that aura myself.”
“Is that even possible?”
“It’s possible, or I wouldn’t be doing it.”
…….

Yi Se-hee folded her hands and tapped her knuckles thoughtfully before speaking.

“Then try it on me first.”
“Why?”
“Half curiosity as an individual, half professional instinct as head of Seongsong’s operations team. If you can artificially mimic a beast’s aura like that, we could reduce casualties far more than we do now.”
“Is that so?”

‘No point in releasing a test subject I’ve already brought in.’
And from what I could tell, Yi Se-hee seemed to prefer being handled a bit roughly.

“Good. Then let me bring up my business now.”
“What business?”
“You’ve already handed over that expensive item and haven’t even thought about it?”

Yi Se-hee looked exasperated, reproaching me. Only now did I remember.

“Oh, that?”
“The valuation was completed not long ago. Since it’s an object that didn’t exist before, I apologize for how long it took.”
“It’s fine.”
“Once I put a price on it, the next problem was how to pay you. As you know, a sudden large sum triggers investigation from the National Tax Service.”
“And if Seongsong pays it, they’d dig even deeper.”
“Exactly. They’re watching our every move, waiting for us to slip up. So I decided that payment in kind would be safer. What do you think?”
“That works better for me too.”
“Then we’re on the same page.”

Yi Se-hee smiled and continued.

“I thought about what you’d need most. So I looked into what’s been happening around you, and seeing that you’re not particularly motivated by money, I came to my own conclusion.”

Yi Se-hee lifted a black briefcase that had been sitting on the floor onto the table, entered the code, and opened it. Inside, Recovery Potions glowed with an opalescent sheen.

“You’ve been stressed about the Excessive Suppression Case, haven’t you? Use these potions if things look serious after an apprehension. Broken bones and limbs—completely healed!”
“So they won’t come at me again.”
“I should show you an example.”

Yi Se-hee rose from her seat and brought over two boxed pastries. She dropped one onto the floor and crushed it beneath her heel.

“The villain that Jung Ju-ho suppressed is in a state like this.”

The pastry box she held up was torn to shreds, its contents crumbled to dust.

“But if you use a Recovery Potion, it becomes like this.”

She made a motion of spraying the potion into the air, then transferred the contents into an intact box.

“Recovery Potions restore only the exterior, not the contents. It looks pristine on the outside while rotting on the inside—to those stuffy superiors, it appears as though the suspect was properly subdued. Isn’t this exactly what Jung Ju-ho needs most right now?”
“…….”

I stared at the briefcase Yi Se-hee extended toward me.

“A Hazard Level 6 Beast Heart normally goes for a billion won, but with our new processing method, we’ve marked it as premium at three billion each. I’ve prepared a hundred of them. If that’s not enough, you can ask for more anytime. We can keep supplying you.”

Yi Se-hee finished her pitch with unwavering confidence, her eyes gleaming with anticipation as she watched me.

“What do you think? Of the gift I’ve prepared?”
“…….”

Memories flashed through my mind—the incidents that had erupted since I’d become a civil servant Hunter.
Villains with shattered limbs at my hands. Each case added to my tally of Excessive Suppression incidents.
But if I used those potions to restore them?
It wouldn’t be the perfect crime—it would be the perfect arrest.

“Yi Se-hee.”
“Yes!”
“…You’re a genius.”

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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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