Chapter 50: After The Battle (1)
The fight was over.
The villain Yook Gibong had died after becoming a demon, and the demon seed forcibly planted in Yook Gibong’s body had succeeded in sprouting but eventually died out.
It had grown larger but was captured by Baek Seol-hee; it tried to escape from her grasp but ended up dying with all its heads blown up by me.
It was no longer human.
It tried to resemble a human, and although it was born from a human, it only had the evil of a human. It was a monster that was born to use humans as ‘food’ and slaughter everything.
If there was such a thing as ‘pure evil’ that was neither hero nor villain, it would definitely be these demons.
[That’s the end of that… I’m done.]
Dragging it out would only make things awkward.
I transformed back into my Gentleman Goblin form and prepared to disappear smoothly.
The same scene would unfold if I disappeared as an apparition like always.
However, today, something felt off seeing them looking at me.
“Halt, Goblin!!”
Among the crowd rushing towards me were familiar faces.
“We’re arresting you!”
[Police, huh. They’ve even mobilized special forces, and they show up now. They’re always late.]
“Heh…!”
They were the ones in charge of the security and protection of Sejong Island.
Among them were those I had seen when I first entered the island, those I had passed by when I was strolling around during the weekend and those I was seeing for the first time.
There were not only Korean soldiers but also foreign soldiers in foreign uniforms.
There were hundreds of them, all pointing their guns at me, threatening me.
“Surrender peacefully! And to all the Heroes! Please cooperate!”
[What cooperation? Are they asking for help to capture the Goblin? Ah, right. When they want to capture a superhuman, they have to ask another superhuman. And when that superhuman fails, they blame them.]
“Shut up, Villain! No matter what your intentions were for causing this chaos, the fact that you’re a villain who kills people doesn’t change!”
[…Well, I won’t deny that. Whether they were demons, becoming demons, or were the vanguard of the demons, to you all, they’re just innocent citizens and unfortunate patients.]
I was not interested in a verbal joust, but there was only one reason why I was confronting the police and soldiers here.
[I want to make one thing clear.]
Right here, where everyone would be able to see, to make a distinct ‘declaration’.
[Do not interfere in my killing of demons. If you interfere, I will crush you without exception.]
I pointed the end of my bat towards Red, who had fainted.
[If there is someone who makes a person face death as a demon, that person will also be a subject for punishment.]
I understood.
Doing this would get Red a lot of hate online.
[I am the one who punishes the guilty. The one who executes those who have turned into demons, those who are demons themselves. I am the weapon of commitment that executes villains.]
[The Goblin tried to prevent him from becoming a demon, but because of you, Yook Gibong became a demon!]
[If Red hadn’t intervened, Yook Gibong wouldn’t have become a demon!]
[He’s the one who made a mistake!]
…I couldn’t say this outright, so I had to mix in plausible-sounding words and clearly state my point before leaving.
[Wherever there’s a villain, I’ll be there. And…there.]
I pointed my bat towards the camera bearing the logo of the public broadcasting company that was filming me and raised my voice.
[To the one who made a rampaging human turn into a complete demon. I will definitely catch you and execute you.]
It was a public warning to Duoexini.
[…You demon-like bastard.]
With those final words, I lightly tapped my foot on the ground.
“Ah!”
Baek Seol-hee immediately caught on to what I was about to do and opened her mouth in surprise, but she only squinted her eyes and clenched her fists.
Shwhish.
I slowly walked away in the opposite direction of Baek Seol-hee and disappeared.
That was probably how it seemed.
The body that disappeared from the bottom turned into fog, just like a summer illusion.
After making my physical form invisible with a spirit form, I quickly turned around and ran towards what I had left behind.
‘I must retrieve the Taegeuk Watch right away!’
The clothes were fine.
But it was a different story with the Taegeuk Watch.
According to the GPS record of the Taegeuk Watch, I should appear as someone hiding in the nearby alley right before the Goblin appeared.
So, just as I was heading to retrieve the Taegeuk Watch…
“…Huh?”
As I was about to pass Baek Seol-hee, she slightly turned her head.
“What’s…?”
This was bad.
Did she spot me even though I was in spirit form?
Did Baek Seol-hee perceive my spirit form?
“Is it just my feeling….”
Thank goodness.
Baek Seol-hee just rubbed her back and didn’t notice me.
Yoon Iseon, who seems to have lower spiritual sensitivity than Baek Seol-hee, was the same.
No one noticed me, and I quietly ran forward and successfully arrived in the alley without being detected by anyone.
‘I am a stranger. I am a stranger. I am a stranger.’
By telling myself that I existed in a separate plane from this world as much as possible, I deactivated my ‘spirit form’, but not my transformation, and then proceeded with a different transformation.
“…Hmm.”
I picked up the Taegeuk Watch that had fallen on the alley floor, wore it again, turned it on, and once again checked the state of my clothes, which were the same as when I had gone out to eat.
The clothes I wore now were not real but made of ‘mana’.
This was made of mana; even an S-class wouldn’t notice it because I’d perfected the function. However, I still had no intention of causing unnecessary confusion.
First of all-
Beep beep.
The Taegeuk Watch rang with a phone call.
I was surprised and immediately checked the call; it was a familiar name.
[Manager. Where are you?]
“…Assistant Manager Brewer?”
[The timing of your disappearance and my call matched perfectly. Where are you now? I brought something that you might need.]
“…Is it clothes by any chance?”
[Correct.]
Hooray.
‘Is this why heroes have sidekicks?’
Although Brewer wasn’t my sidekick, I could use this kind of support a million times, and it still wouldn’t be enough.
“Assistant Manager Brewer. Later, when I meet the Director, I’ll ask her to raise your salary.”
[Could you ask for three more annual leaves instead of a raise, Manager?]
Absolutely.
I used a technique modeled after Gunggi’s concept, so she should definitely be pleased.
Definitely.
“Damn. Damned Goblin. You… The word ‘villain’ suits you all too well.”
In a traditional Hanok a little away from the square, a young man wearing a brown hanbok scratched his head with a frustrated face.
“You don’t even deserve to be called a villain in our language. Goblin, you’re just a villain.”
It was unusual for this man to pour out invectives using even ‘English’, which he consciously tries not to use. It wouldn’t be a big deal for others.
To him, the ‘English’ term villain was essentially the ultimate insult, even more, derogatory than calling someone a bastard or the worst scumbag in the world.
“As if it wasn’t enough to defeat three sprouting demons all by himself, he didn’t even give the heroes a chance and took them down himself. Ugh, arrogant jerk.”
The young man walked to the kitchen of the hanok and took a medicinal cookie from the fridge.
“A hero needs a heroic trial. Doesn’t he know the saying ‘It’s youth because it hurts’? A true hero must be broken and ruined to awaken… Tsk tsk tsk.”
Chewing on the medicinal cookie, the young man turned on the TV.
[At around 12:30 this afternoon, the Goblin appeared on Sejong Island. The Goblin brutally attacked the student who had become a demon….]
“Damn it. Did those damn Haegnul guys manipulate the media in the meantime?”
The outline of the incident clearly began with a student who had become a demon causing a disturbance in the area.
Having come out to eat and incidentally watched the spectacle from the beginning, the anchor’s words felt absurd to the young man.
“The plagiarism story is completely gone.”
The young man picked up his smartphone that had been placed on the table and checked the internet community.
“Tsk. Isn’t this making him look like a hero? Damn it, don’t cheer for him. Don’t be happy. He’s a villain. He’s not some kind of shadow hero…!!”
The young man, at a speed where his thumb was hardly visible, vented his anger by posting long comments one after another, so much so that the smartphone’s input response couldn’t keep up with his thumb.
[[Blazing Teeth]: The Goblin is just a villain. If he keeps stepping up, when will our heroes get experience confronting demons?]
“Korean heroes need to get stronger by confronting demons…! Heroes have to become stronger themselves. Just like war promotes human progress, heroes need their trials…!”
Ding.
A notification arrived.
Another comment was posted on his news comment.
[[Moonlight Mallet Storage]: Then you should’ve caught it faster than the Goblin, right? You were watching from behind; aren’t you admitting that? You were just watching from the side without helping, just like a buzzard and an earthworm, right?]
“Kraaaaaaaa!!”
The young man let out an unspeakable scream.
It was a comment of only a few lines, but more than a couple of things in that comment raised the young man’s blood pressure.
“This, this damn brat…!”
[This is the final statement left by the Goblin.]
Inside the news footage.
Aiming precisely at the camera with his bat, the Goblin, his golden irises sparkling, was staring at the young man.
[To the one who made a rampaging human turn into a complete demon. I will definitely catch you and execute you.]
[…You demon-like bastard.]
“This bloody bastard! Cough!!”
The young man grabbed the back of his neck and collapsed.
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