The Crazy Villain Regains His Sanity - Chapter 61

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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 61

“…Yes, I understand.”

After hanging up, Lee Se-hee’s body trembled slightly, twisting with a shiver. A chill ran through her.
Though only through the phone, the killing intent bleeding through the receiver was intense.

“Terrifying.”

It was an honest assessment.
At the same time, it thrilled her.
The fact that someone this frightening could be on her side, that she could watch over him from nearby—it gave her a strange peace of mind.
If she could, she would hold him in her hands and treasure him for a lifetime.
Kim Jong-hyeon’s escape with the files wasn’t particularly important. Such incidents could happen at any time, and she was already prepared for them.
Even if he took the USB drive containing the data, he’d have to crack triple-layered security, and if he couldn’t decrypt it properly, the files would become scrambled and useless.
What amused her was his foolish choice, made without understanding how much he was valued here.

“Pathetic, really.”

She hoped this incident hadn’t wounded Choi Jun-ho. Even an iron-blooded Superhuman could be hurt in matters of human connection just like anyone else.

“Or could this be an opportunity?”

If she could exploit the wound he’d received in this relationship? It might actually be a perfect opening.
Then, with a knock, Lee Young-tan entered the room.
His expression had hardened upon hearing of Kim Jong-hyeon’s defection.

“I’ll prepare a pursuit team.”
“Have the pursuit team watch the Busan direction as planned. They’re bait. Make a lot of noise.”
“Pardon? If they’re bait, then…….”
“The real Grim Reaper is going to find him.”

Now that Choi Jun-ho had decided to move personally, Kim Jong-hyeon was a dead man walking.

* * *

Lee Se-hee said that the contacts made with the Heart Walker were three parties: the Chinese Government, an American multinational corporation from the past, and a company with an undisclosed identity operating through an intermediary.
Even she hadn’t grasped what else might be lurking behind all this. She said there were countless organizations seeking the Processing Method, and a fierce war was raging in places no one could see.
It didn’t matter which one it was. That bastard had exploited my kindness and repaid goodwill with betrayal.
Lee Se-hee said there wouldn’t be major damage even if the files were leaked, but that was a separate issue.
Now I had to track down the Heart Walker.

“He’s not foolish enough for that.”

Shinseong Group had fingered Busan as where the Heart Walker would run, but it wouldn’t be there. The bastard was cunning. Unless he’d built something solid in Busan beforehand, but with Jagalchi gone, that connection had been completely severed.
He hated routes that became longer without a solid lifeline to count on. If he’d left traces in Busan, the odds were high it would be the opposite direction.
In my previous life, whenever the opportunity came up, he’d always said he wanted to flee the country through Incheon.
Since I knew that place, I checked for traces of the Heart Walker and then requested a helicopter.

“There’s a Villain who reduces the nation’s tax revenue.”

And reduces my own earnings too.

* * *

Kim Jong-hyeon, reported to have fled toward Busan, was huddled without moving an inch in a hideout on the outskirts of Seoul.
Most fugitives flee a crime scene without hesitation, but Kim Jong-hyeon did the opposite.
Following the traces he’d deliberately left behind, the Shinseong Guild sent their pursuit team in the direction of Busan.
Kim Jong-hyeon, who had been watching the Shinseong Guild’s movements closely, smiled with satisfaction.

“Heh heh heh, they took the bait perfectly.”

Large organizations grew so confident in their own systems that they lost flexibility, and once they went wrong, they spiraled in directions from which there was no turning back.
This was the same.
The Shinseong Guild, for all their pride in being the nation’s finest, had demonstrated their error with admirable style.

“I don’t know how much this data is worth, but all I need to do is take the money and move on. If they treat me well enough, I’ll bleed them dry for a few years and disappear.”

Kim Jong-hyeon clutched the USB drive in his hand protectively.
The actual value of the data on this drive hardly mattered. But simply possessing it was enough to convince others that he had what they wanted.

“What really matters is what’s up here, and what these can do.” He flexed his fingers.

When he first received instruction in the Processing Method, he was stunned. It had adhered to his hands as naturally as if he’d known it from the beginning.
After that, progress accelerated. Choi Jun-ho’s theoretical guidance and finished products, combined with his own refinements, made the Shinseong Group move like a single organism.
He saw how vast the power of a conglomerate could be, how systematic and methodical their processes were. And thus the Big Bang Series was born.
The high salary and generous treatment made him think at first that he should dedicate himself entirely to this place.
But as time passed, his feelings began to shift.
The freedom he’d had in Busan didn’t exist in Seoul. No matter how important the Big Bang Series information was, the controls were excessive. They searched his belongings every time he clocked in and out, and if he deviated from an approved route during his free time, they’d inevitably call to check on him.
It felt like being in a cage. There was no freedom here. He wanted to drink, wanted to see women, but the Shinseong Guild wouldn’t allow it—they were too busy controlling everything.
When he considered quitting, the contract he’d enthusiastically signed at the beginning came back to haunt him. Confidentiality clauses, non-compete agreements for the same industry—everything was laden with restrictions.

“Didn’t I do it all?”

Wasn’t the Big Bang Series a finished product that existed because of him?
And yet the performance bonuses were meager, with no recognition to speak of—so why should he follow the contract blindly?
His discontent with the company naturally translated into friction with those around him. The tension grew steadily worse, and when he finally received an internal disciplinary action, something inside him snapped.

“Bastards.”

They ignored everything he’d done for them.
I’m just going to leave.
But leaving felt too unjust. In the end, hadn’t he just been squeezed dry?
Yet at precisely that moment, someone approached him.
They offered him an astronomical sum. If he would teach them the Processing Method directly, they promised not only to settle him overseas but to grant any requests he made.
The most tempting offer came from a multinational corporation based in America. To make their pitch, they sent a strikingly beautiful woman.
She was urbane, with a figure like a model. She asked him to call her Belus, and as they grew intimate, she whispered to him every night in bed.

“You should be using your talents somewhere greater.”

Belus rebuilt his shattered pride and condemned the Shinseong Group and Choi Jun-ho for exploiting him. She mocked a world that couldn’t recognize his genius.
They laughed and carried on together, but when practical reality began to approach, Kim Jong-hyeon’s breath caught in his throat.
Because the image of Choi Jun-ho flickered in his mind.

“The Head Breaker…….”

He still couldn’t forget that moment when Jagalchi vanished.
The Villains he’d been laughing and joking with mere moments before became blood and scraps of flesh, erased that day—the memory was branded into him as profound terror.
He was terrified that if he betrayed, the same would happen to him.
Each time, Belus would whisper in her honeyed voice.

“Don’t be afraid. Choi Jun-ho is too busy as a Superhuman. He won’t come after you just because you disappear. You only need to shake off the Shinseong Guild’s pursuit team.”

Those words gave Kim Jong-hyeon confidence. As if bewitched, he erased the phantom image of Choi Jun-ho from his mind.

“Right, right? How busy is a Superhuman? He wouldn’t actually chase after me. Things run fine without me, don’t they? Right, that has to be it. He won’t come after me.”

Now that he thought about it, Choi Jun-ho had barely shown his face during the Big Bang Series development either.
All he’d seen was that showcase. Maybe he’d been more afraid than he needed to be.
How busy could a Superhuman’s schedule possibly be?
He might not even notice if he disappeared.

“That’s right. Now just focus on your own happiness. You’re the kind of person who has the ability to do it. You need to use your talents somewhere bigger.”

Encouraged by Belus, Kim Jong-hyeon had made his preparations to leave, and now he was here.
Of course, he’d never planned to be shackled to the company forever. His scheme was simple: enjoy lavish treatment for a year or two, wait until the surveillance loosened, then disappear with the money he’d stashed away.

“Well then, let’s go.”

Shinseong Guild believed his destination was Busan, but he was actually headed for Incheon.
From here he’d board a boat—one that the company had arranged—and smuggle himself out.
Most of Incheon’s Villain organizations had recently vanished, so security was lax.
When night fell thick and dark, Kim Jong-hyeon rode his motorcycle out of Seoul toward Incheon. When he reached the Harbor vicinity near his rendezvous point, he ditched the bike near an Abandoned House to avoid drawing attention with the engine noise.
Just a little further and he’d meet Belus, and then came his farewell to South Korea.

“Hehe, see? This is how you run. Head Breaker or whatever, he can’t catch me.”

That bastard Choi Jun-ho.
All his kindness from the beginning had been just to use him.
And then he’d put on airs like he was doing it for him, while pocketing all the credit himself.
He vowed to refine the Processing Method further and spit in that bastard’s rice bowl. The thought of getting one over on someone he could never touch filled him with grim satisfaction.
Belus had been right about everything.

“Never see you again, you bastard.”

He spat a thick glob of phlegm and was turning toward the Harbor when—

“That bastard—is that me?”
“Huh?”

Kim Jong-hyeon’s mind went blank when he saw Choi Jun-ho standing in the direction of the Harbor, looking straight at him.

* * *

Heart Breaker came to the place I’d been waiting. As expected, he’s predictable.
No—I didn’t foresee his betrayal, so I was wrong on that count.
Yet I felt no sense of betrayal.
I already knew what kind of person he was.
In my previous life too, he was the kind to chase after women and eventually abandon everything. I thought I’d try to reshape someone whose abilities outpaced his character, but people don’t change.
All I did was burden Lee Se-hee with my trash. Since I brought garbage in, I need to clean it up myself.

“Ha, haha! Running into you here—quite a coincidence?”
“Keep cursing me out.”
“No, sir. It was someone else. Definitely someone else. There’s a Choi Jun-woo at the Research Institute, and it just sounded similar. Absolutely not me.”
…….

As I watched in silence, he grew increasingly agitated. A faint Force Wave emanated from him. I’d wondered if his power had improved since then, but no—that’s the mark of a Gift or drugs.
He must have been binging hard.
Not realizing his own condition, he kept scrambling for excuses.

“Sir, I don’t know what Shinseong Guild told you, but the control has been suffocating. Whatever I do, they meddle. They look down on me for not being a public hire, I’m ostracized at work—despite everything I’ve contributed, the recognition has been far too little.”

Heart Breaker poured out the anguish he’d endured in Shinseong Guild.

“So I couldn’t take it anymore and made a brief lapse in judgment. That’s the truth.”

He pulled out a red USB drive from his pocket. That one’s fake.

“Lee Se-hee told me it was green.”
“…Ha ha, I got confused. This is the real one.”

He produced the green USB drive, then dropped to his knees and pressed his forehead to the floor.

“After my mother passed, I lost myself for a moment. I was wrong. Please forgive me just this once.”
“Get up.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you. From now on I’ll stay quiet as a mouse and work. Thank you for sparing my life.”
“I wasn’t planning to spare you.”

He was laboring under a misunderstanding.

“What?”

By the time Kim Jong-hyeon lifted his head, I was already standing over him.
Since this was the end anyway, I’d let him ramble as much as he wanted.

“Are you finished with your last words?”
“Wait, just—”

I didn’t bother listening further. I brought my foot down on his thigh.

Crack!

“Aaaahhh!”

I shattered his ankle and knee in succession as he writhed on the ground. People convince themselves they’re too clever for misfortune to find them, but that’s delusion. Most only regret it after it happens. Even when I’d thrown Jagalchi in front of him as a warning, this was the result. His own will had led him down that path—whether brainwashing or poison, he’d chosen to swallow it.

“Guk! Ugh!”
“I thought if I erased regret from this life, he might change like O Jong-yeop did. Guess not.”
“It’s the League.”
“What?”
“Where they were going to take me! I’ll tell you everything about the League! Please, just let me live—”

Crunch!

I had no interest in hearing about the League, so I crushed his skull. The writhing stopped completely once his head caved in. I picked up the USB drive, now soaked in blood and barely usable.

There was no point taking it with me—I’d only be used and discarded anyway. A wasted opportunity, really. Since he never understood the trial-and-error process himself, whoever copied him must have hit the same wall quickly. They probably met an even more miserable end.

“Since I’ve got the goods, I should see the faces of whoever came to collect them.”

The League. It was a name I hadn’t heard since Berserker annihilated them, and now it was tangled up in my path again.
I headed toward the Harbor, the obvious meeting point for them.
On the way, I encountered a woman standing in the middle of the road.
She had sophisticated urban beauty and a lean, well-defined figure.
A mole beneath her right eye caught my attention with an odd magnetism.
She smiled at me, her eyes crinkling.

“Are you the Head Breaker?”

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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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