Chapter 17

The villain who was arrested leaked information.

All members of the National Security Agency were gathered in a large conference room, and Jung Ju-ho began the meeting.

“The League’s tentacles have finally reached here.”

He began to reveal information that had not been disclosed until then.

“Puppeteer, Black Reaper, Executioner.”

“......!”

“This is the list of villains that the League is in contact with.”

These three were the top villains currently active in South Korea.

The Puppeteer was analyzed as having low combat power for a Level 7, but he was said to be an immortal who could never die by calling upon a puppet without revealing his body.

The Black Reaper and the Executioner were also villains who have killed countless people as Level 7 Awakeners.

To me, they didn’t look so special. Were these guys really the ones we should be wary of? I was not sure.

Come to think of it, I knew the location of the League’s Korean branch that I destroyed. I should visit it if I get the chance.

“All three are known to act alone, but we cannot exclude the possibility that they are affiliated with the League.”

“This is hell.”

“It seems like a problem that Level 8 needs to respond to.”

“If they have joined forces, they would have already moved. It means there is still time. Let’s come up with countermeasures before an incident breaks out.”

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

“Director. What about the information on the Eraser?”

“The Eraser was a trap. There was nothing.”

“Then what about the trace of the Eraser?”

“No harvest. He may never have existed in the first place.”

“The Eraser is a villain that has revealed themselves.”

“I know. It’s just that it’s a question of whether they’re really a new villain. Maybe they’re a villain sent by the League to lure the three of them back.”

“...!”

Everyone was stunned. On the one hand, they were terrified of the League’s endless power. A level 8 villain for a mere appeasement? Unbelievable.

Hmm.

As the one they called ‘Eraser’, I was amazed at the endless imagination that stretched out before me.

If this is the case, then the League, which has been trying to pull me in in my previous life, has already half succeeded.

“This is just a guess. What is certain is that although the Eraser exists, he could not be found at the moment. We have to imagine freely. This information is not good news.”

“Come to think of it, Berserker is not on the list.”

“He must have been excluded because he is not in his right mind. But we can’t let our guard down, so if there are any traces, we should locate him.”

The Director’s hidden meaning came to mind. Why is Berserker chasing after Eraser?

Berserker, Lee Kwang-jin, estimated level 7 at age 44. He was a villain who showed a dignified appearance like a monk in normal times, but went crazy when he entered battle.

He was evaluated as the most dangerous of the mentioned villains because he destroyed everything visible, regardless of friend or foe.

He was even given a no-approach order by government agencies because he could go on a rampage if provoked.

But there’s something strange about the information.

Lee Kwang-jin was also someone I remembered from my previous life.

Because he was a villain I killed.

But now that I think about it, he didn’t seem to be a level 7.

The guy I faced during my time as Blood Master was one of the strongest among the villains I killed. He was almost close to level 8 if I had to classify him. Or maybe there’s a difference between now and 15 years later, so was he only level 7 at this time?

“It’s best not to provoke the Berserker.”

If people didn’t provoke him, he would stay put. That’s how people perceive the Berserker.

Therefore, various organizations, starting from the National Security Agency, kept their distance from the Berserker.

I was planning to see him once because I needed to know why he’s looking for me. It would be the last time I see him, and since I was planning to kill him anyway, I might as well see how good he was.

Now that I thought about it, there’s another weird thing.

The League didn’t approach Berserker because he was crazy, but they did approach me because I was the Blood Master.

Did I think that I could communicate with them?

Was I less crazy than the Berserker?

“...”

While lost in thought, Jung Ju-ho concluded the meeting.

“But Berserker is still a villain to be eliminated. The League can contact him whenever they think he’s under control, so stay alert.”

“Understood.”

***

After the meeting, on the way home.

I tried to organize the day’s information in my head, starting with the tracking of Eraser and ending with the League.

The secret pursuit of the Eraser came as a huge shock to me.

I thought the incident had ended with the deletion of Big Ten. But they held on to a small clue and pursued it persistently.

The problem was that neither I nor Jung Da-hyun knew about the process.

This information led me to come up with one hypothesis.

Was I being suspected?

Jung Ju-ho thought I was a Level 8 Awakened. And Eraser was also confirmed as Level 8 on their first appearance.

Then, one could think like this:

Was it more likely that two Level 8 superhumans had appeared recently, or was it more likely that they were the same person?

It’s just a guess on my part, but it’s a reasonable suspicion.

So I decided to become a black agent. As the Director’s direct subordinate, I could keep an eye on Jung Ju-ho from the side.

What if he’s convinced I was the Eraser?

“I’ll have to be careful.”

The good news was that the Eraser was a disposable villain who’s only here to end his relationship with Oh Jong-yeop.

If I didn’t reappear, wouldn’t people think I was just a fictional villain?

I worked so hard to clean up the mess without getting caught. It felt like I did it for nothing.

“I wasted my time.”

However, I couldn’t just pass it by, knowing how far the Big Ten organization was growing and what kind of evil deeds they would do to Oh Jong-yeop.

Meanwhile, I arrived at the location of the League’s Korean office.

It’s located in Bupyeong, Incheon, probably chosen because it’s close to Seoul and the ports near Incheon International Airport.

“It’s not here.”

I had some hope, but it seemed that the Korean branch of the League had not yet taken proper form at this time. The building was quite splendid at the time in my past life, but now it was a dilapidated building that would not be strange to collapse at any moment.

They’re going to build a new building here. The League must have had a lot of money.

“Hey, who are you?”

As expected, there were five villains in the abandoned building. Various junk was rolling on the floor, stolen from somewhere.

After breaking the limbs of the ants who were not even wanted and contacting the nearby response team, I handed over the villains.

I chuckled bitterly as I listened to the response team’s officials huff and puff about the seriousness of the situation.

Another case of excessive suppression had been added to my record.

Still, now that I had gotten rid of the unwanted guests, it would be good for the League’s Korean branch to come here in the future.

Was this what long-term investment was all about?

I returned home to find my sister stretched out.

   Dressed in a white short-sleeved boxer shirt and black dolphin pants, she was sprawled out on the couch, watching TV with all the ease in the world.

“Oh, you’re back?”

“You seem to be getting lazier and lazier.”

“Oh, I didn’t know working was going to be this hard. It feels like my energy is getting sucked out when I go to work.”

“Is it worth it?”

“If I can’t handle this much, I should just give up. Plus, I’m getting paid a lot. I have to pay for my meals to prove that I’m a hunter from Sacred Guild.”

“...”

I looked at Yoon-hee for a moment without saying anything.

“What, what’s wrong with your eyes?”

“Nothing.”

“I knew it! I could tell you were thinking about trying to roll me over. Am I right?”

“No, I wasn’t. I was just thinking about how much you learned from Miss Da-hyun.”

“Don’t worry. She’s got the whole villain thing down pat. She’s just a little too aggressive for her own good.”

“Dealing with villains might be fine, but it’s also important to prepare for demons.”

“Why are you scaring me like that?”

If Jung Da-hyun had prepared her for villains, the Sacred Guild would have prepared her for demons.

However, demons were a completely different kind of monster than villains.

The biggest death toll for hunters who hunted demons was during their first hunt, when new hunters lacked immunity to these creatures.

Even with the support of dependable seniors, hunting was not an easy task for rookies who were frozen with fear.

“The Divine Guild will prepare you, but I don’t think it’s enough.”

“Are you criticizing the guild with the highest preparedness level in South Korea?”

“This is a matter of life and death.”

“I don’t know. I received sufficient audio education and training on how to respond to different types of abnormal reactions. I practiced many times on how to administer emergency treatment and recovery medicine, as well as how to retreat.”

“That’s not enough.”

The best way was to take her to the site and face demons directly.

However, it was impossible to let her go alone, but if I was there, it would difficult for her to have the proper immunity as I would become the object of dependence.

Exposure is the surest way to imprint.

“We’ll have to figure something out.”

   “No, can’t you just let it go? You’re being a little overprotective.”

“That’s because I’m you older brother.”

My younger sister who couldn’t spread her wings because of me. I had no choice but to help her fly high from the starting point.

“...”

Yoon-hee stared blankly without saying anything.

She seemed to understand my concerns.

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

“......”

Oh, it wasn’t anything serious.

***

The next day, I met Lee Se-hee, whom I had made plans with the previous day. She was the epitome of dazzling beauty, as if I was seeing her for the first time.

She crossed her legs and smiled leisurely while holding a cup of coffee.

“It’s so nice to have made plans in advance like this.”

Was this the confidence that came with a full face of makeup? When I thought about it, Yoon-hee’s confidence was like night and day before and after applying makeup.

“It’s because of my younger sister.”

“Oh, Ms. Yunhee, is something wrong?”

“How is she doing in the guild?”

“She’s amazing in every way. She has great interpersonal skills and is very adaptable. She has no hesitation in accepting new things. I feel incompetent for not finding someone like her myself.”

“I heard she’s going on her first hunt soon.”

“Yes! The guild is making all the preparations.”

Lee Sehee mentioned the Sacred Guild’s preparations with a confident expression. That was great. If I had an Awakened child, I would trust her with them.

“I’m going to train Yoon-hee, but I’m worried it might not be in line with the Sacred Guild’s policy.”

“Because you’re training her separately?”

“What is the guild policy?”

“It doesn’t matter, even though we belong to the Sacred Guild, we’re all trying to get stronger individually, and I personally invite coaches to make up for our deficiencies. However, we prohibit inhumane or abnormal training... Surely not, right?”

She looked at me with narrowed eyes.

What did I do to make her so anxious?

It’s all for my younger sister.

“Tell me quickly. How will you train her?”

“Just forget about it, can’t we?”

“I was going to let it go, but after seeing Mr. Jun-ho’s attitude, I have to bring it up. Tell me. If not, I’ll tell Yoon-hee. We have to protect our guild members.”

She noticed that I hadn’t gotten Yoon-hee’s permission yet. He really was perceptive.

“The problem in demon hunting is being oppressed by the demon’s aura, so I’m going to mimic.”

“Is that even possible?”

“It’s possible, trust me.”

“...”

She folded her hands and tapped the back of her hand with her index finger, pondering.

“Then try it on me first.”

“Why?”

“Just out of personal curiosity, and as the head of the Sacred Guild’s Operations Team, I have a hunch. If we can artificially mimic the demon’s energy, we can reduce the damage much more than now.”

“Is that so?”

One didn’t need to let go of the test subject who walked in.

And from what I could tell, Lee Se-hee seemed to enjoy rough treatment to some extent.

“Okay. Then let me bring up my business now.”

“What business?”

“No, did you just hand over that expensive item and not think about it?”

Instead, she looked at me in disbelief. I finally remembered.

“Oh, that?”

“It was appraised not long ago. It took a long time because it was an item that didn’t exist before. I’m sorry for that.”

“It’s okay.”

“Once we’ve decided on the price, the next concern is how to make the payment. As you know, if a large sum of money suddenly enters your account, the tax agency will start investigating. For that reason, we decided that it’s better to make the payment in physical goods. What do you think?”

“If it’s from the Sacred Guild, they authorities will look into it further.”

“Exactly. They’re watching us closely to see when we make a mistake. That’s why we thought it would be safer to pay with physical goods. Do you agree?”

“I think that’s easier.”

“Then we’re on the same page.”

Lee Se-hee smiled.

“I thought about what Mr. Jun-ho needs the most, and did some research on what’s happening around him. I came to my own conclusion based on the fact that Mr. Jun-ho doesn’t seem to be too greedy for money.”

Lee Se-hee placed the 007 document bag, which was lying on the floor, on the table, and entered the password to open it. Inside, there were recovery pills of bright colors.

“You’ve had a lot of trouble with overpowering villains, haven’t you? If it’s severe, use this recovery pill. It will completely heal any broken bones!”

“Then won’t they come after me again?”

“I’ll show you an example.”

Lee Se-hee stood up and brought two boxes of snacks that were packaged in a box. She dropped one on the floor and stepped on it with her high heels.

“The villains that Mr. Jun-ho subdued are in a similar state to this.”

The box of snacks looked torn apart, and its contents were scattered.

“But if you use the recovery pill, it will be like this.”

Lee Se-hee pretended to sprinkle the pill in the air, and the contents were restored in a new box.

“The recovery pill only restores the appearance, not the contents. It looks like you’ve subdued them without causing any damage. Wouldn’t this be the most necessary thing for Mr. Jun-ho right now?”

“......”

I stared at the 007 bag that Lee Se-hee had presented to me.

“Usually, the heart of a demon with a Level 6 danger level was worth 1 billion, but I’ve prepared 100 of them with a premium price of 3 billion using a new processing method. If that’s not enough, you can demand more anytime because I can continuously supply them.”

With a confident expression, Lee Se-hee looked at me with anticipation.

“What do you think? Are the gifts I’ve prepared good?”

“...”

Suddenly, memories of the incidents and accidents that occurred when I became a government hunter passed through my mind.

The villains whose arms and legs were broken in my hands, and the number excessive of suppression case that filed against me after.

But if I use that potion to restore them to their original state?

It wouldn’t be a complete crime, but it would result in complete confinement.

“Lee Se-hee.”

“Yes!”

“...You’re a genius.”

 

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