Chapter 43: Villains Have No Rights (2)
The term ‘villain’ was really used in various ways in our everyday life.
While it was generally used to describe those who harmed social norms, in this world, it naturally referred to the ‘villains who need to be arrested.’
Then what was the criterion for judging someone as a villain?
Inflicting injury on someone.
Damaging someone’s property.
Committing anti-nation crimes that threatened public order and civilian safety.
Those who committed actions we could clearly call ‘crimes’ in our everyday life without hesitation could be called villains.
Then.
Could we call someone a villain for indiscriminately making a fuss in a public place like this?
[Ah. I’m warning you. Yook Gibong. If you don’t want to get arrested for noise pollution, stop it now.]
An ability user dressed in a police uniform warned Yook Gibong through the microphone.
“Yeah, what can you do about it! Can’t arrest me, can you? I’m just a regular citizen, right? Just loudly talking in the square, right?”
[Do you know that noise pollution is a crime too?!]
“So what? It’s a minor offense, isn’t it? I’m not guilty of anything, right? If you arrest me, you’re arresting an ability user, right? And right now… I’m ‘testing my ability’?”
He reached out his hands left and right, even hip-thrusting, and mocked the gathered crowd while performing an obviously angry dance.
“Too bad! This country’s judicial system, this Sejong Island’s judicial system, can’t touch me! I’m Korean, an ability user! And on top of that… a minor under 17!!”
“…Triple Crown, huh.”
The most horrific combination of three elements in the world.
Of course, among those with these three elements combined, normal children were growing up in a new country, but this ‘Juvenile Law Jam’ was an exception.
The standards of modern Juvenile Law and this world were completely different.
In the case of ordinary humans, the age criterion for a juvenile offender was no different from Korea before my possession. Still, the ability users of this world received a kind of special treatment that was not exactly special treatment.
[Ability users are very special individuals. Such special individuals go out of control because their environment fails to support them. Could it be that they go on a rampage like this because our society still has different standards for accepting ability users?]
According to such sentiments, ability users were treated relatively ‘lightly’ under the law until they became adults.
They needed to inflict a near-fatal injury on someone.
Or committed property damage on the level of wrecking someone’s car or house.
“What are you going to do, South Korea! Are you going to arrest me, a future B-grade ability user, over such a commotion? Yeah, go ahead, arrest me~! I can just emigrate!”
“Damn….”
Other students, faculty, and even those who came to arrest him couldn’t approach recklessly.
If they recklessly overpowered him, and he really caused an uproar about emigrating?
[So and so provoked an ability user, and that person sought refuge in Japan!]
[No matter what, if they’re not a violent criminal, they should be guided within Korea. What if they use excessive force to the point of making them flee the country?! Do you want to write a letter of apology?!]
In the end, the good ones bore the responsibility.
So right now, nobody could recklessly suppress that not-villain who was like a villain.
In other words…
Even if they were a villain who deserved immediate execution for their behavior or inherent nature, legally, they were not a villain.
‘If it were the Goblin, I would smash him right away with my bat.’
Just as I was preparing to do so, a group came along, making it a bit awkward to transform.
“This is bad. That guy, he’s quite crafty.”
“If he’s just showing off his suit, the basis for arrest is quite lacking.”
Yoon Iseon was biting her nails and grinding her teeth.
“Honestly, a disturbance of that level won’t even qualify for disciplinary action if you consider it closely. It’s even less than when ordinary people get drunk and cause a fuss.”
“…Because he’s an ability user?”
“Yes. Because he’s an ability user. Ability users tend to go on a rampage when they find themselves in even slightly unfavorable situations.”
I have said it many times, but ability users were as fragile as glass.
The problem was that these glass-like characters didn’t stay still and caused accidents while wandering around dangerous places. Places where they could easily break.
“I did well to come.”
“Student Iseon, what do you plan to do? Will you step forward?”
“I should step forward in such situations.”
Yoon Iseon lightly tapped her chest and pointed forward.
“Because I am the student council president.”
“……Oh.”
While the law could take measures against that underage ability user, the student council was a different story.
“Junior Yook Gibong?”
Yoon Iseon stepped forward.
“Keck, president…?!”
Yook Gibong, who was spreading laughter and striking all kinds of poses, took a step back as soon as he recognized Yoon Iseon.
“What, what?! Got any complaints?! I am currently promoting the ‘hero suit’!”
“Do you call what you’re doing now a promotion?”
“Yes!”
Yook Gibong removed his helmet.
He was a somewhat fox-like character, a bit improper to say of a person, but he had a cheeky-looking face.
“I don’t think this is a promotion?”
“Ha…! It’s a legitimate advertisement! What I’m doing now is the same as a truck dealer talking about selling suits over a loudspeaker!”
“Is that the same as this?”
“Yes! They’re the same! It’s advertising to people for me to make money in the future!”
He was unflinchingly confident.
“Is that so? But that’s unfortunate. There has been a complaint to the student council. A complaint that they can’t ‘study’ because of you.”
“Kruck…?!”
“Anyone can advertise, but if it turns into ‘noise pollution’, wouldn’t that be a different story?”
“Who studies on Sundays…!!”
“Don’t say that carelessly. Among these ability users, there are also third-year high school students.”
A sad story among many.
Ability users also had to take the college scholastic ability test.
No matter how much the world changed, the college entrance exam remained the same, so ability users had to take the test under strict supervision.
There were no shortcuts.
The only thing that worked was the study you accumulated.
“You might not know because you don’t study on Sundays, but for third-year high school students, Sunday is just a day to study without going to school.”
“I don’t know about that! And, even if it’s noise pollution, I can’t stop! Haha, you guys can’t do that anymore!”
Yook Gibong laughed and waved his stick in all directions.
“You all have to pay me money! If you don’t pay royalties for the design, I’ll file copyright claims and sue you all! Euahaha!”
The way he talked, it didn’t seem like it was something he came up with alone.
“You….”
While Yoon Iseon was directly confronting Yook Gibong, I momentarily stepped back into the crowd and surveyed the surroundings.
‘It’s clear that someone at the scene is the one egging him on.’
There were trashy adults.
Someone who had used Yook Gibong as a promotion tool, planted wild ideas about patent rights, and promised him vast sums of money.
It wouldn’t be something that could be surveilled by something like CCTV from afar.
They were definitely on the scene.
“……Hello? Ah, Assistant Joo.”
[You said you were going out for dinner? Oh my, sounds like you’re at the scene?]
“Yeah. I’m on the scene. Have you been watching the news?”
Assistant Joo grasped the situation as soon as she answered my call.
“Can you investigate what’s going on?”
[As soon as the news broke, I checked, and it seems like the actual name isn’t Gibong Rider or something. It’s called a ‘Battle Power Suit for Ability Users’. The official name is… ‘Haegneul’.]
“…Haegneul?”
I immediately turned my head.
[Haegneul24], [Haegneul Cafe], [Haegneul Chinese Restaurant], [Haegneul Telecom], [Haegneul PC Room].
All around the square, the word ‘Haegneul’ was plastered everywhere.
From convenience stores, cafes, Chinese restaurants, and telecom agencies to PC rooms, the supergiant corporation that spanned all sorts of sectors was ‘Haegneul’.
The company that made the Taeguk Watch was the same.
“No way.”
[It’s a major corporation’s excess. They’re attempting to register copyrights under the name ‘Haegneul’, and among the dozens of designs, they included your suit’s look.]
“Indeed. I didn’t think a kid would draw so much attention on such a large scale.”
If a super-large corporation was involved, then all the pieces fit together.
When that little kid was being boastful, if he said, ‘I have Haegneul behind me!’, not only me but anyone would think, ‘Well, that makes sense’.
‘This is a bit tricky.’
Haegneul was a major corporation with no connection to our organization.
Rather than being pure, they were entities that launched all sorts of businesses that targeted ability users and scraped together all sorts of money using them.
According to the rumors that were circulating, there were stories about them secretly contacting ability users who had completed compulsory education or graduated from high school, trying to create their own PMC.
They actually revealed themselves like breadcrumbs in the latter part of the original novel.
‘What should I do?’
Should I reveal my transformation?
I had made plenty of ways to handle the situation after the transformation, but in this situation, if the Goblin popped out again…
“Junior Gibong, people are being swayed. If you keep causing this ruckus in that form, do you think people will follow your lead and make suits?”
“Ugh…!”
‘I might not need to step forward.’
Fortunately, Yoon Iseon was persuading Yook Gibong with her words.
“If I were you, Junior Gibong, I think it would be better to leave a deep impression on people by showing them your good deeds or showing them you defeating villains.”
“That’s….”
“Isn’t that what companies call image-making?”
Could Yoon Iseon have realized Haegneul was behind him as soon as she saw that?
‘Or she might just be prodding him.’
Whether she knew it or not, Yook Gibong was clearly being swayed.
“Okay. Yook Gibong. Disengage your power, and let’s go to the ‘Academy’. Before the police or adults interrogate you, the student council will stand up for you.”
“What about my Gibong Rider suit…?”
“…As the student council, we’ll do our best.”
Yoon Iseon offered him her favor.
‘If he rejects the favor, the Goblin will appear right away. Please, reject it.’
No matter how much of a troublemaker he was, the student council said they would protect him.
“Then… For today, that’s it. Hehehe, the student council, indeed. Working for the rights of students… Huh?”
But…
As always, whenever things started to go well, accidents happened.
“What is this? How could…? This doesn’t make any sense. This can’t be happening.”
“… What’s wrong? What happened?”
“The patent….”
Yook Gibong’s face was twisted like a real goblin.
“The patent was canceled…?! And it’s international plagiarism?!”
By the way…
Our organization, Yi Maemangryang, was a global organization.
Beep.
A message arrived.
[Vo?]
“……As expected, Chairwoman.”
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