Chapter 44: Villains Have No Rights (3)
At that moment, on the top floor of a building in Busan, in Haegneul’s chairman’s office.
“How could the Goblin’s patent application fail?! What does that mean!!”
A short old man with a bald head raised his voice.
At his outcry, all the men in suits—the company’s directors—lowered their heads, each looking at someone else.
“Executive Kim! You explain! You’re in charge of this!”
“… I’ve checked all the domestic patents. We reviewed records from year 00 to 25, 24 hours a day, and we also checked all the previous data.”
“Then why did the patent office reject it for plagiarism!!”
“…There was Goblin-related material in the US.”
Executive Kim, sweating coldly, manipulated his Taeguk Watch, and soon an English report appeared on the screen hanging in the chairman’s office.
“As you can see, a company in the United States made the following submission about the hero costume design. This was in late 2024, about 4 months ago, just before Christmas.”
“So, the US uploaded that design first?”
“Yes. Our branch in the US is checking, but we’re also looking into whether the company that posted this patent has a close relationship with the Goblin. However, the likelihood is low… they’ve patented about 30 designs that look somewhat similar to the Goblin’s second form, ‘Dodjirider’.”
“So, one of those was identical to Goblin’s?”
“It’s not exactly the same, but it’s quite similar. My personal opinion is that it seems like they looked at Goblin’s appearance and made a similar one…”
“Damn it!”
The chairman of Haegneul spat out an expletive and sank into his chair.
“Cancel everything related to the Goblin merchandise! Everything from figures, stickers to moving toys!”
“Well, the plastic model is already molded…”
“Get rid of it! What’s the point of selling it if the patent doesn’t come out! Even we can’t sell something that isn’t officially licensed!!”
You couldn’t make and sell something based on a villain’s data.
If you did, you would get criticized for having some kind of relationship with the villain’s organization.
Or if the villain committed a huge crime—like murder—all the products that were marketed using that villain as a concept would become trash.
So they tried to secure the patent rights first as Haegneul, in the same way as through Haegneul Rider, but it fell apart from the first step.
“Damn it, how are Hwansung, Cellgy, and Daeyu doing?!”
“They were slower than us, but they were also collecting relevant data and preparing for patent applications. Hwansung filed for a patent review the day before yesterday.”
“They should get rejected too. If we didn’t pass, they naturally won’t either. Damn, there aren’t any Goblin fanatics holding high positions in this country; how are they checking patent data, even from overseas? Damn it.”
The chairman tore at his hair and ground his teeth.
“Find out the names of the patent reviewers. We need to know why they rejected the patent. The guys who were letting other foreign heroes and villains get patents freely, I need to find out why they’re so sensitive about the Goblin! Executive Kim, you’re responsible for finding out!!”
“Yes, yes! I will secure the list of the responsible persons and find out why they rejected the patent! Whether it’s simply because it’s similar to the foreign patent or if there’s some connection with the Goblin!”
“That’s it! You must find out!”
“Chairman, what will you do with the kid?”
“Kid? Ahh, you mean that reckless boy who only trusts his ability?”
The chairman manipulated his Taeguk Watch and played a video.
In the center of a video that was filming someplace in real-time was a boy hesitating, Yook Gibong.
“He needs to learn the harsh reality. Fire him.”
There was not a shred of mercy in the chairman’s eyes.
“Talking about being the Gibong Rider. Tsk.”
“Chairman, if he goes on a rampage…”
“Isn’t that Sejong Island over there? And this is Busan. Ah, it would be great for us if he goes on a rampage and becomes a ‘real’ villain. The heroes will take care of it.”
A moment later.
“Or it would be nice if the real Goblin came out to handle it.”
In the video, Yook Gibong began to ‘rampage.’
They had already anticipated the appearance of a Goblin knock-off.
Why did they anticipate this? Because ever since I first appeared and gained popularity, my default look, as one might call it, was already plagiarized.
A black suit.
A goblin’s mask.
A hat that makes me look like a British gentleman.
Gold eyes glowing from under a mask.
It was simply the figure of a weirdo wearing a regular suit. Still, they plagiarized it as they wished, taking the design and dubbing it ‘Hero Goblin’ or ‘Wild Goblin.’
Even a famous men’s suit brand overseas parodied me as their advertising concept.
Of course, not a penny came my way in advertising fees, licenses, or modeling costs.
After my transformation into Dodjirider.
I had a consultation with the Chairwoman about this matter. After reviewing various aspects of my design, she filed it for international patents.
[One day is more than enough. No, even a day is too much. I’ll handle it in an hour.]
[Is that possible?]
[It’s me, after all.]
Are you saying that this should be legally impossible because Gyeolsa was a villain organization?
Just like Haegneul, we brought in a symbol that no one could casually dismiss and filed for a patent.
[Thank you, chairman. Our Fahrenheit family will not forget your support.]
Just as Haegneul had inserted a Goblin design among various designs, we teamed up with a powerful American family and presented our design as villains.
Those in Korea probably didn’t know.
People wouldn’t know that the design they called ‘Dodjirider’ had already been filed for a patent in the United States.
Haegneul must have also been blindsided.
Upon discovering that the reason for the patent application rejection was because a Goblin design was already registered in America, all these villains in Korea, including Haegneul, couldn’t help but think,
[Could it be, is the Goblin an American?]
In reality, I was a native Korean who couldn’t even speak English, but those trying to steal my design were caught in the Chairwoman’s trap and failed to achieve their desires.
In other words.
“Unfortunately, a knock-off like the Gibong Rider cannot exist in this world.”
The patent failed.
The delusion of Yook Gibong to suck money using the Goblin’s design, and Haegneul’s ambition to use an immature high school student using the lure of fame and money and likewise hoard wealth, all came to an end.
The problem was.
“Th-this can’t be…! I’ve been rejected? Ugh, these wretched people…!! No, I am the Rider! I have to become the ‘first’ Rider…!!”
They were clearly the ones who committed the mistake, but they refused to acknowledge their wrongs. They were now running amok at their own discretion.
“Kaaaaah!!”
A massive amount of mana started bursting out from Yook Gibong’s body.
The mana created a wind that blew away the people around him.
Crash!
“Aaaahh!!”
The pressure caused by the mana broke the windows, and people fell through them.
“There are casualties! We now designate Yook Gibong as the villain ‘Doppelg?nger’!”
As the police shouted into the radio, a villain alert began ringing on everyone’s Taeguk Watch.
It was amusing to designate Yook Gibong as a villain only after clear casualties occurred, but the policeman’s words were not incorrect.
Click.
I covered my Taeguk Watch with my hand and turned off the villain alert.
In the meantime, Yook Gibong, or rather Doppelg?nger’s appearance began to slowly change.
[I must, I must be the first Rider…! I must become the first Rider…!]
He began to run amok.
He began to be tainted with madness.
He tried to vent his rage over what he could not obtain into a desire for destruction. He was not forced to fall by the alien mana located under the ground of this Sejong Island.
“Everyone, take cover!!”
I issued instructions to the people according to the manual.
Yoon Iseon momentarily turned her head towards me, and I nodded at her strongly as I ran away with the people.
The clear rampage of a superhuman.
Until a moment ago, even the non-superhuman staff and ordinary people had to step forward to support the scene, but in a situation where a superhuman was clearly running amok, even the staff would be powerless.
“Get a hold of yourself, Junior Yook Gibong!!”
“Chairman! It’s too late! He’s already a villain! He’s the one who had the sprout to become a villain from the start!”
“We have to persuade him somehow! It’s not too late yet! If we can persuade the villain, the devil, before he becomes one…!”
[Kahahahaha!!]
It was too late.
Before the hero could persuade him, Yook Gibong had already become not Gibong Rider but ‘Gibong Monster’.
[The world oppresses me! I am the real Rider! I am the first! Given this, I will attack the Patent Office!!]
Or, the devil Yook Gibong.
‘He’s gone crazy to the point where words can’t reach him. Or maybe. He’s lost in his own world where the common sense of the world doesn’t apply.’
Sadly enough, he was just seized by madness.
‘The surrounding situation is sufficient.’
I was.
A foreigner.
Not a person of this world.
No one knew me.
At the moment I thought this, it felt as if the world had stopped.
In this quieted world, neither the fleeing ones nor the confused ones could recognize me.
As if there was no such existence as me in this place.
I went straight into an alley where there were no people, a place without any CCTV cameras.
A place where no one would see.
After quickly taking off my clothes, if I transformed and then took care of them-
[Kaaaaaaa!!]
The monstrous scream of a rampaging Yook Gibong.
He sent out sound waves in all directions, and due to the sound waves, a utility pole started to crack at the waist and fall down.
“It’s dangerous!!”
I could see.
Yoon Iseon was rushing towards a child who was under the utility pole, spewing out a tail-like mana trail from her back.
[I am, I am the true Rider!!!]
Suddenly.
She tried to take the child and evacuate, but a big splash of red blood appeared around her ankle due to the mana wave that flew from behind her.
“!!”
Yoon Iseon stopped in her tracks.
Pushing away the child she was holding, she fell forward.
The utility pole was heading toward Yoon Iseon’s head-
Kwa——ang!!
Before I knew it.
My body had jumped over Yoon Iseon.
Kicking away the utility pole that was falling towards Yoon Iseon, I appeared in the square in my usual black suit and a mask.
“Who are you…?”
[I am.]
After lightly tapping the mask with my finger, I pulled out a bat.
[A passing Scholar Goblin.]
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