The Crazy Villain Regains His Sanity - Chapter 8

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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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Chapter 8

While Wang Ju-yeol was speaking with Choi Jun-ho, Jeong Da-hyeon was summoned by Jeong Ju-ho and stepped into the Director’s Office.

“Excessive Force, Act First Report Later, bypassing your direct superior—you really went all out.”
……

A heavy sigh threaded through Jeong Ju-ho’s voice.

“Still, I managed to smooth it over somehow.”
“What’s Director Wang’s reaction?”
“He’s furious. Demanding an explanation for why you proceeded without consulting him first. The irony is, he’s only a team leader himself, yet he’s complaining to me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Choi Jun-ho—fine, he’s a live grenade waiting to explode. But I never expected this from you.”
……

Jeong Da-hyeon clamped her mouth shut. Jeong Ju-ho’s gaze pressed into her relentlessly, but she refused to speak.

“You were the one who said you’d handle Choi Jun-ho properly, Da-hyeon. Tell me why.”
“Jun-ho is twisted, that’s true. But at the same time, he’s also right.”
“Do you understand what you’re saying right now?”
“If we hadn’t proceeded with Act First Report Later, would we have been able to dismantle the entire drug organization?”
……
“You saw the Ledger yourself. Starting with people connected to Guilds all the way up to high-ranking Civil Servant Hunters and conglomerate heirs. If you hadn’t passed it to me, we never could have brought it into the public eye like this.”
“What I’m talking about is a matter of procedure.”

It was the same issue that had Wang Ju-yeol in an uproar.
But both Jeong Ju-ho and Jeong Da-hyeon understood.
If the Ledger had gone to Wang Ju-yeol first, it might never have reached Jeong Ju-ho at all.
He was the leader of the Special Team facing Villains on the front lines, but everyone knew he was a corrupt Civil Servant Hunter.

“Someone I know once said something.”
“What?”
“That Civil Servant Hunters never get fired.”

Jeong Da-hyeon offered a dizzying smile.

* * *

Having managed to give the Director himself a headache, Jeong Da-hyeon had never felt more refreshed.
Wang Ju-yeol was sending her a murderous look from a distance, but since they’d been clashing from the start, it barely registered.
If anything, she was flush with the satisfaction of having completed the mission from beginning to end.
The feeling carried all the way home. The drug organization sweep she’d conducted with Choi Jun-ho left an aftertaste so vivid it lingered in her thoughts.
True, it had been a string of actions beyond authority—Excessive Force, Act First Report Later.
But Choi Jun-ho’s single remark had solved everything like magic.

“Civil Servant Hunters don’t get fired.”

Right. A Civil Servant Hunter was, by definition, a civil servant. Unless it was a serious transgression, most infractions ended in light disciplinary action.
Take Wang Ju-yeol himself—he was openly fraternizing with major corporations and accepting bribes, yet he went around making threats. So the odds of her being dismissed for a minor reporting lapse during mission execution were zero.
Patrolling the streets, spotting a Villain, and having that blossom into a drug organization dismantling. It had been preemptive, bold, swift. Since becoming a Civil Servant Hunter, the frustration she’d felt with the rigid system had evaporated in an instant.
It was all thanks to Choi Jun-ho.
True, there would be a record that she’d disregarded procedure. But what did it matter?
She’d left the Holy Guild—a place of wealth and prestige—for the National Defense Agency. Without the conviction to catch Villains, she would have been content staying at the Holy Guild, taking her place in the machinery.
In the end, the reason people obey the system is to stay in the superior’s good graces.
But what if she gave up on promotion?
You can act freely according to your own beliefs.
I already gave up hundreds of billions in future earnings when I left the Holy Guild. Giving up anything else is remarkably easy.
Why did it take until now to understand something so simple? I feel like a fool.

“To catch a monster, you have to become a monster.”

Now it made sense.

* * *

I want to be a brother that Yoon Hee can be proud of.
The sins from my past life were grave enough that I felt a desperate need to atone. That’s why I became a Civil Servant Hunter for image building and even bragged about my first achievements in the role.
An older brother who stays out of trouble and faithfully performs his civil servant duties.
What a fine thing to say.
That is, until Yoon Hee brought out the tablet.

“This is about you, right?”

The screen thrust before me displayed article headlines somewhat different from what I’d described yesterday.
<Civil Servant Hunter Accused of Excessive Force?>, <Drug Organization Dismantled—Hidden Violence Behind the Scenes>, <All Perpetrators Disabled—Where Are the Villains’ Human Rights?>, <National Defense Agency Silent on Excessive Force Controversy> and more, all of them manufacturing outrage out of thin air.
The standout piece was <National Defense Agency Protects Ethically Deficient Awakener—A Case of Covering for Their Own!>

“Go Ye-jin? I’ll have to remember that.”

Yoon Hee’s gaze turned toward me, her voice low and unsettling.

“See? Exactly as I thought.”
…….

I started to say I was wronged, but seeing Yoon Hee’s expression, I gave up defending myself. She clearly had no intention of believing me.

“Jeong Da-hyeon was involved too.”
“You didn’t drag Da-hyeon into this too, did you?”
“Why are you saying it like that?”
“Well, if it wasn’t you, Da-hyeon would never do something like that. This is obviously all because of you.”
“Stop it. Just stop.”
“Look, it doesn’t matter what the reporters say. I don’t care.”
“Huh?”

It was an unexpected response.

“The media is clearly the problem. When a Civil Servant Hunter apprehends a villain, there’s bound to be some excessive force—that’s just how it works. But they keep harping on it anyway.”
“I didn’t think you’d take my side.”
“I mean, it’s obvious you beat up a villain. What’s the big crime in that? The way I see it, the media is the real problem.”

This wasn’t a problem unique to Civil Servant Hunters—major corporations and large guilds dealt with it constantly.

“I thought about what you said, really considered it. And I realized hunters from big guilds face the same thing. The media’s always attacking them for not considering collateral damage during monster hunts. But think about it—hunting as fast as possible is what minimizes damage, right? Any harm that occurs in the process is unavoidable. You and Da-hyeon were alone, so you made sure to subdue them decisively. The media didn’t account for that. Am I wrong?”
“You’re right.”
“If you’re branded as a perpetrator while doing your job, how can anyone do proper work next time? Tsk.”
…….

Yoon Hee was angrier than I was.
Still, I gained one certainty from this.

“Thank you.”
“Why suddenly? You’re making me uneasy.”
“Just. And I’m curious about something.”
“What is it?”
“In the Civil Servant Hunter system, can a junior report the misconduct of a senior without repercussions?”

Of course, I was referring to Wang Ju-yeol.
Yoon Hee’s face drained of color as she caught the implication.

“…What are you thinking right now? Please tell me it’s not what I think it is. Right?”

Denying it wouldn’t convince her anyway.
I offered only a smile instead of an answer.

* * *

After dismantling the drug organization, Jeong Da-hyeon and I posted several successes.
That experience seemed to have loosened some constraint within her—Jeong Da-hyeon had changed.
Where before she would have simply overlooked suspicious behavior, now she actively pursued those who moved strangely, whose dress was odd, conducting thorough searches.
A few innocent civilians apologized to us in the process, but we secured arrests of Villains with attempted crimes and minor priors to their names.
It was a positive shift.
But the enemy was within our ranks—Wang Ju-yeol himself. Despite the Special Team we belonged to being responsible for Villain apprehensions, he was checking us excessively, me and Jeong Da-hyeon, who were climbing the arrest count. I had no intention of tolerating that passively.
I observed Jeong Da-hyeon quietly.
She possessed the Gift of Intuition, a sharp sensory talent. When I was a Blood Species, that Intuition—the very Gift I had obtained by killing Jeong Da-hyeon—had been among the most useful abilities I could deploy, and it responds acutely to the inherent senses of its wielder.
This Intuition especially reveals its greatest power in crisis situations.
I had escaped dangerous circumstances countless times through that ability.
Upon realizing I had obtained Intuition, she moved to eliminate me, constructing an encirclement from which there would be no escape.
Intuition cannot evade unavoidable danger, but if one’s abilities are sufficient, its applications are boundless.
I recalled Jeong Da-hyeon’s final moments in my previous life.
She must have known through her Intuition that it was dangerous, yet she stepped forward to capture me. The way she willingly burned herself away to the very end left a deep impression.
My Blood Species personality dismissed it as a pointless death, but in this moment, striving for an ordinary life, I came to understand that her sacrifice bore a sublime meaning.
Truthfully, I don’t extend that understanding to empathy.
I came to the National Defense Agency accepting her proposal because I held respect for her, nothing more.
I believed that if my effort combined with her upright sense of justice, I could carry forward the life of a son my parents could be proud of, a brother Yoon Hee could respect.
A peaceful existence—that was the goal. Stability in my surroundings was essential for it. Wang Ju-yeol was an obstacle to that, and obstacles must be removed.
But Jeong Da-hyeon and I disagreed on this matter.
She thought it better to leave Wang Ju-yeol alone unless there was decisive evidence against him.
Watching her stance, I decided to act first.
I’d seen something online about it—catch first, settle accounts later. Since Wang Ju-yeol was a corrupt civil servant, I could apprehend him and gather evidence afterward.
Jeong Da-hyeon’s body tensed, as if she’d sensed the shift in my intent.

“Of course not.”
“Mm-hm.”

This gap in our thinking wouldn’t close quickly.
I slipped past her persistent gaze, returned to headquarters, and clocked out. But my destination wasn’t home.
For several days I’d left work later than Wang Ju-yeol, and when I noticed him moving in an unusual pattern, I followed him.

She’d refused full backing from the Holy Guild, the largest organization in South Korea, capable of earning tens of billions annually.
More than anything, the fact that Jeong Da-hyeon was also a fifth-cousin once-removed of Jeong Ju-ho made her doubly troublesome.
With her skills, her looks, and her connections all intact, she was an untouchable thorn, even as a subordinate.
Still, Jeong Da-hyeon was manageable—a green girl shouting about justice, ignorant of how the world truly worked.
The real problem was the new assistant who’d joined her. That bastard was the source of all trouble.
A prospective Civil Servant Hunter who’d crippled ten Villains when he was still a candidate. He’d even crippled an examiner from the practical test, claiming his hand movements were excessive.
It hadn’t improved after becoming a Civil Servant Hunter. On his first patrol, he’d crippled twenty-four Villains from a drug organization, and he’d completely ignored the reporting system.

A typical rookie, however rough around the edges, can be polished through organizational discipline. But this one surpassed all imagination.
From day one, he let his killing intent show. And it was unmistakably directed at him.

“They haven’t been keeping a ledger?”

Any organization worth its salt maintained records for leverage—a fallback for negotiation in tight spots. Yet Jeong Da-hyeon and Choi Jun-ho had filed nothing. Even Jeong Ju-ho, his direct subordinate, showed no hint of awareness.
That gnawed at Wang Ju-yeol.
Human imagination breeds fear, and the saying existed for good reason: doubt spawns demons.
Tormented by invisible truths, Wang Ju-yeol reached one inescapable conclusion.

“Jeong Da-hyeon and Choi Jun-ho.”

The two of them were concealing evidence in some form and acting independently.
Particularly Choi Jun-ho. That one had to be dealt with.
The people he was meeting today were part of that plan.
Small Guild masters who ran illegal operations behind the scenes—useful pawns he could dispose of anytime, yet leverage he could wield from the shadows.
They mainly controlled the black market, illegal gambling dens, and drug distribution. With one drug organization taken down, the fire had landed at their feet.

‘The troubling part is that bastard’s capability…….’

For some reason, even he couldn’t retrieve that man’s Level data.
Officially announced as Level 5, but it refused to confirm in the system.

“Jeong Da-hyeon is running wild.”
“We can’t operate like this. Everyone’s just watching and waiting.”
“We need you to step in, sir.”

The Guild masters they’d met at the high-end Korean restaurant voiced their grievances. Their revenue ran deep into the underworld, making the Special Team leader’s cooperation absolutely essential.
Wang Ju-yeol listened in silence, then made his choice. He’d eliminate the troublesome Choi Jun-ho. As for Jeong Da-hyeon—caught between obedience and justice—he was confident he could control her.

“Of course I’ll step in. But in exchange, one of you needs to remove someone.”
“You don’t mean Jeong Da-hyeon?”
“Even so, taking out Jeong Da-hyeon is…….”

Wang Ju-yeol shook his head at their reluctance.

“Not Jeong Da-hyeon. The rookie who’s always with her. That one’s the problem—egging her on from beside her, making her run wild.”

The three Guild masters’ faces brightened. If it was the rookie instead of Jeong Da-hyeon, things were different.
They had experience drowning hot-headed Civil Servant Hunters fueled by half-baked justice before.

“A mere rookie? We can eliminate them without a trace.”
“We’ll make it look like they charged recklessly into our base and died.”
“But you have to keep your word about covering our backs. We trust only you, sir.”
“Of course.”

Click.

The door to their room swung open. A young man in his mid-twenties entered, moving with the casual confidence of someone entering his own home.

“Who the hell are you!”
“Do you have any idea where you are!”
“Get out!”

The Guild masters erupted at the sudden intrusion. But while their shouts were meant for the unexpected visitor, Wang Ju-yeol, seeing the young man’s face directly, went rigid.

“C-Choi Jun-ho! What are you doing here…….”
“Didn’t I mention my special skills before? Pursuit, Survival, Escape, Subjugation—I’m confident in all of them. And recently, I’ve grown confident in one more.”

Choi Jun-ho had already closed the distance to Wang Ju-yeol. Everyone froze at his ghostly speed.

“Criminal Apprehension. And Evidence Collection.”
“You bastard!”

Wang Ju-yeol lunged forward without hesitation, his massive frame belying the speed with which he aimed for Choi Jun-ho’s throat.
But his opponent, a Level 6 powerhouse, moved with equal swiftness and ferocity.

Crack!

A sickening sound of impact echoed through the space as Wang Ju-yeol’s shoulder caved inward.

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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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