The Crazy Villain Regains His Sanity - Chapter 9

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

Chapter 9

“…….”

Jung Da-hyun arrived at the entrance of the upscale Korean restaurant and nodded quietly to herself.
Her instinct about Choi Jun-ho had been right. She’d followed him here, seized by the thought that things might spiral out of control.
She’d known since his first day that he regarded Wang Ju-yeol with suspicion. Wang Ju-yeol’s name had surfaced in connection with the Drug Syndicate, and though it hadn’t escalated into major trouble, there had been several confrontations between them.
Beyond that, Wang Ju-yeol had been picking fights with him at every turn, so it would’ve been strange if their feelings toward each other were positive.

“Still, this was reckless.”

Wang Ju-yeol was a public servant Hunter stained by corruption, but he was a man who knew how to cultivate connections. He’d built substantial relationships among civil servant Hunters and maintained tight ties with major corporations and large guilds.
The names recorded in the Ledger, the scattered petty misconduct—none of it was enough to take him down.
That was why Jung Ju-ho had also been reluctant, unable to move hastily.
She herself had thought that Wang Ju-yeol would need to be brought in eventually, but not now. Not like this.

“Should we go in?”

Jung Da-hyun hesitated, awkwardly concealed. She hadn’t needed to concern herself with having followed him on her own initiative, but the one who’d actually taken action was none other than Choi Jun-ho.
She held her new partner in high regard. To look at him, he was a handsome twenty-five-year-old, but his interior—his true Level—was a staggering Level 7.
How he’d reached Level 7 at such a young age remained a mystery to her, but independent of that, he tackled the work of a public servant Hunter with seriousness and dedication.
And if she claimed not to feel a certain regard for the way he recognized villains as social evils that must be eliminated and threw himself fully into their capture, she’d be lying.
Though his methods were so brutal that even villains would flinch, she’d begun to wonder lately if that cruelty might actually help suppress criminal activity among the villainous underworld.
Without Choi Jun-ho’s swift judgment and bold action, it was hard to fathom how much suffering countless people might have endured.
Just as she was turning the question of intervention over and over in her mind, her phone vibrated.
It was a message from Choi Jun-ho.

—I’ve apprehended Wang Ju-yeol.
“……Yes.”
—I’d be grateful if you’d contact the Director. After that, I’d appreciate it if you came inside.

The call ended there.

“Sigh!”

He’d clearly known she was following him. No—it had been presumptuous of her to think that someone at Level 7 wouldn’t notice her surveillance in the first place.
She immediately contacted Jung Ju-ho, then stepped into the Korean restaurant. Finding which room Choi Jun-ho was in would be no difficult task.

“…….”

Along the corridor lay men in business suits, their limbs broken. Following the trail deeper inside, she found four people total—including Wang Ju-yeol—with shattered limbs.

“Back-alley Guild Masters,” Choi Jun-ho said.
“Are you hurt?” Jung Da-hyun asked.
“No.”
“Still, this was dangerous this time.”
“When the opportunity came, I seized it. If not now, it would’ve been hard to catch them.”

Choi Jun-ho’s expressionless words were difficult to empathize with.
It seemed like he’d just burst in whenever he felt like it and took them down anyway.

“Before people arrive, would you use the Recovery Potions for them? Otherwise they might die.”
“For you too?”
“I distributed them among these three here.”
“Ah, you’ve already used them.”

Yet his condition looked as though he could drop dead at any moment without anyone batting an eye.
How roughly had he been handled?
Jung Da-hyun forced a Recovery Potion bottle between Wang Ju-yeol’s lips.
Even if he was a Level 6 hunter corrupted by bureaucratic misconduct, reducing him to this state was brutal.

“Thank you.”
“Did you know I would follow?”
“I thought your instincts couldn’t be deceived.”
“What if I hadn’t come?”
“I believed you would.”
“You really are difficult to read.”

Part of her wanted to believe he was praising her Gift, but another part felt manipulated.
The problem was, she didn’t mind it. This wasn’t how it should be. She wanted to project authority as his superior, but somewhere along the way she realized she was being pulled along.

“Wang isn’t someone to be trifled with.”
“I’ve heard as much several times.”
“We need solid evidence to pin him down. You have that, don’t you? Don’t tell me you don’t?”

Jung Da-hyun’s expression shifted sharply as she studied Choi Jun-ho’s ambiguous face.

“Jun-ho, you didn’t act on suspicion alone, did you?”

It was the bystanders who worried more than anyone.
The man himself remained composed.

“What I showed you before was everything.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“…Ah!”

Jung Da-hyun squeezed her eyes shut as vertigo crashed over her without warning.
Shortly after, Jung Ju-ho arrived at the Korean Restaurant with his direct subordinates in tow.
The moment he saw the state of the room, his expression darkened.

“…Quite the spectacle he’s made.”

Jung Ju-ho clicked his tongue and turned toward Choi Jun-ho.

“If you can’t pin this down cleanly, you’ll be the one pinned instead. Take them all in.”

He issued the command without waiting for a response.

* * *

Wang Ju-yeol, arrested and brought to the National Guardian Bureau, began making a scene the moment he woke the next day.
Political shrewdness meant keen instincts. Recognizing his precarious situation, he denied all charges and invoked his Miranda rights.

“Release me immediately! Do you think you’ll walk away from this? Director! You understand full well what it means to lock up an innocent man like this!”
“…A headache.”

Jung Ju-ho, who had anticipated this turn, shook his head. The seasoned Wang would guard himself meticulously, showing no weakness as he fought for his exoneration.

…….

Jung Da-hyun, standing nearby, pressed her temples with her fingertips. After a sleepless night of worry, her complexion had grown somewhat pale.
Had Choi Jun-ho been even slightly distracted by her beauty, this mess could have been avoided.
Jung Ju-ho clicked his tongue, thinking it was a problem that men were susceptible to women, but more of a problem that he took it in stride.

“What does Choi Jun-ho have to say about this?”
“Wang Ju-yeol’s guilt is certain…….”
“Certainty of guilt means nothing without evidence. If it’s not a confirmed case, it has no bearing whatsoever. Actually, given the current situation, it’ll be tough unless he confesses himself, won’t it?”

Jung Ju-ho assumed Choi Jun-ho was displaying the kind of reckless bravado typical of a newcomer. He’d intended to handle it within his purview, but the problem was he had no suitable means at his disposal in the current circumstances.

“I’ll give it a try.”
“You have a method?”
“I’m thinking of pressuring him with the ledger.”
“It won’t be easy.”

Jung Da-hyun stepped into the interrogation room with grim determination.

* * *

Two days after Wang Ju-yeol’s arrest.
It was the moment I realized that the world of Awakened Ones, though scattered like grains of sand, was far narrower than it appeared.
The arrest of Wang Ju-yeol, the second-in-command at the National Guardian Bureau and head of the Special Team, had become major news. The fact that he’d been apprehended by someone of lower rank seemed to be the real shock.
Yun Hee in particular gnashed her teeth at reporter Go Ye-jin while sharing an article link titled .
In any case, different people found shock in different things, but the National Guardian Bureau itself seemed most shaken by the fact that I’d overpowered and brought in Wang Ju-yeol.
Officially, my Level was 5 and Wang Ju-yeol’s was 6. Cases of a lower Level subduing a higher one weren’t common, and especially at Level 5 and above—which could be considered high-tier—combat ability was directly proportional to Level, so such occurrences were almost unprecedented.
Because of this, calls came pouring in from various guilds. People who’d never met me before called me “Master” and showered me with honeyed words.
The volume of contact was so relentless it disrupted my daily life.
But how did they even get my contact information? I’d never posted it anywhere. For reference, my smartphone contacts were limited to my parents, Yun Hee, and Jung Da-hyun.
It seemed my personal information had no protection at all.
Unlike me, burdened with this annoyance, Jung Da-hyun’s face had turned ashen and drawn.
When I asked the reason, she answered in a hollow voice.

“Interrogating Wang isn’t going well. Once tomorrow passes, he’ll have to be released.”

Since Wang Ju-yeol’s arrest hadn’t followed normal procedure, Jung Ju-ho, as the director of the National Guardian Bureau, could hold him for seventy-two hours, but if they produced no results within that window, he’d be released.

“Have you attempted interrogation?”
“We’ve tried, but he’s denying everything stubbornly. I mentioned the ledger’s existence, but he claims he’s not involved in any of it—that it’s all fabricated…….”
“You haven’t been able to search his surroundings either.”
“Right now we only have suspicion. If we can’t prove it, it’s impossible.”

As she said this, she looked at me with eyes full of reproach. The expression resembled how Yun Hee pouted when petulant.

“That’s why I said we should be careful.”
“Since time is running short, would it be acceptable if I stepped in?”
“The Director said there’s nothing more he can do, so he’s approved it.”

Incidentally, until just moments ago, Jung Ju-ho had been blocking the interrogation of Wang Ju-yeol.

“You can’t use violence during interrogation. You might face counterattack instead.”
“If he speaks voluntarily, isn’t that sufficient? I have a method.”
“Yes, but coercive measures are prohibited.”
“It’s nothing like that. There are just minor side effects.”
“Then I’ll report this to the Director.”
“Understood.”

After a brief moment, Jung Ju-ho’s approval came through, and I headed toward the interrogation room.
Jung Ju-ho and Jung Da-hyun stood outside, and Jung Da-hyun in particular gave me earnest warnings not to do anything she could hold against me.
No violence, no drug use, no coercive methods whatsoever—and so on. In the end, it meant I had to either extract a confession through conclusive evidence or secure an admission through persuasion.
To be honest, I found it hard to accept. If Wang Ju-yeol was definitely a corrupt bastard, we should just nail him for it. In this regard, the organization was frustratingly inefficient.

“Still refusing to confess, I hear?”
“You bastard! I’ll kill you!”

The moment I entered, Wang Ju-yeol, bound in restraints, went berserk. I simply sat across from him and watched his display quietly.
Wang Ju-yeol had been glowing for about ten minutes, and now he was breathing hard as if the effort was wearing him down. But his eyes blazed with murderous intent, as if he wanted to tear me to shreds.

“Huff! Huff! When I get out of here tomorrow, you’d better watch yourself. I’ll kill you by any means necessary.”
“Suit yourself.”

There was no chance of him leaving this place anyway.
I’d confirmed he had zero intention of confessing, so I rose from my seat. The moment I stepped closer, he flinched and screamed.

“Don’t come near me! Director Jung! This bastard’s about to use violence! Don’t let him come near me!”
“Not violence. Just about to help you forget your worries and find happiness.”

I reached out toward him as he thrashed his head frantically. My hand found his skull, and the moment I activated my Gift, his eyes went glassy and his struggling stopped.
Just then, Jung Ju-ho and Jung Da-hyun, who’d been watching from outside, entered the room.

“Choi Jun-ho! What are you doing?”
“Preparing him to give a statement.”
“What in the world are you—”

I let Jung Ju-ho’s words go in one ear and out the other, firing a question at Wang Ju-yeol instead.

“Tell me about yourself.”
“Wang Ju-yeol. Age fifty-four. Currently living in Daechi 2-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul…”

He began rattling off personal information in meticulous detail, even the unnecessary parts.
While Jung Ju-ho and Jung Da-hyun stared in shock, I pressed on with the next question.

“Why did you meet with the Guild Masters two days ago?”
“They handle drug distribution. I wanted to gentle them along and have them eliminate that reckless bastard Choi Jun-ho. Then Da-hyun would settle down too, and I could rebuild the organization. That was the plan.”
“Tell me about every corrupt act you’ve committed.”

From then on, Wang Ju-yeol began confessing to decades of corruption. He had meticulously created accomplices, shared profits with them, secured evidence, and built what amounted to a coalition of mutual destruction. Then he had ruthlessly exploited those he had leverage over, always careful to keep his own involvement hidden.
From drug trafficking to human trafficking, illegal distribution of Demon Beast materials, collusion with criminal organizations—Wang Ju-yeol’s crimes seemed endless.

“…Da-hyun, go find evidence at the locations he mentioned.”

After Jung Da-hyun left the room, Wang Ju-yeol’s confession continued. An hour later, when she returned with the evidence, defeat settled visibly over Jung Ju-ho’s face.

“What are the side effects?”
“There aren’t any significant side effects. He’ll simply think like a five-year-old from now on.”
“A five-year-old? That young?”
“About five years old, yes.”
“What’s the name of this Gift?”
“Brainwashing.”
……

I never had the same command over this Gift that the previous wielder did. They had built devoted followers through eloquent rhetoric and careful cultivation of group dynamics over many years, but I lacked that finesse.
Come to think of it, a few years down the line I’d be ready to seriously build my power base. I’d have to pay them a visit when I had the chance.

“Pandora’s box is open. Well then, Da-hyun, contact the Shinseong Guild.”

Jung Ju-ho let out a long sigh.

* * *

After that, everything moved forward with stunning speed.
Based on Wang Ju-yeol’s testimony, evidence was secured, and the implicated criminal Guilds were dismantled.
The biggest problem was the connection to the Shinseong Guild that Wang Ju-yeol had mentioned.
Although the crimes had been committed by subcontractors of affiliated companies that received investment from subsidiaries, the mere mention of the Shinseong Guild name created intense media attention.
The Shinseong Guild was the Guild created by the Shinseong Group, ranked first in South Korea’s business hierarchy, and the largest Guild in the nation. The National Guardian Bureau’s actions risked unnecessarily antagonizing them.
But crime had no exceptions in the eyes of the law.
Jung Ju-ho took the situation with utmost seriousness and demanded the attendance of those responsible. Shinseong Guild apologized for negligence in managing its affiliated guilds and accepted the attendance request.
A few days later, representatives from Shinseong Guild visited the National Guardian Bureau. After meeting with Jung Ju-ho for an extended period, news of the outcome began circulating before the meeting had even concluded.
Whether it was genuine negligence or a convenient scapegoat, the main thrust was an apology, accountability for the parties involved, and assurance of stricter oversight going forward.
As a final gesture of goodwill, they agreed to provide support to the National Guardian Bureau. This was likely Jung Ju-ho’s real objective all along.
Moments later, the Director’s Office door opened, and the person who had been meeting with Jung Ju-ho approached me.
Walking directly across the Special Team without any attempt at discretion, she was impossible to ignore.

“Hello, you’re Choi Jun-ho, correct?”

Before me stood a woman of breathtaking beauty.
Her elaborate appearance and confident smile carried a lethal allure and noble bearing.
When our eyes met, her cool gaze softened into a gentle arc.

“I’m Lee Se-hee from Shinseong Guild.”

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