Chapter 7: Living As A Villain (2)
At that moment, at the Hero Headquarters of Busan District, South Korea.
“Miss Baek Seol-hee. Is there something wrong with the report?”
“Yes.”
S-class Hero, ‘Snow White’ Baek Seol-hee, confronted the people before her with a tense face.
It was a space devoid of light.
The only light source came from the electronic devices and the reflections on the screen hanging on the wall.
This place, which created an atmosphere even more intense than an interrogation room, was meant to extract information from Baek Seol-hee and ‘inject’ information into her.
“I see. Then I will tell you again for sure.”
Beep.
A video started playing as the man in a suit manipulated the remote control.
[I tried to stop the villain Cheohyeon, the Goblin. But he used a time-delayed attack to make Red Scarf’s head explode… Ah. It’s my fault for not stopping him. I apologize.]
“You will be known for saying this.”
“……”
Baek Seol-hee never said those words.
But then, who was the one speaking those words with Baek Seol-hee’s face?
It was a deep fake.
“You can say it yourself, or we can use that video. We’ll handle everything else for you, so don’t worry.”
“What about Red Scarf’s family?”
At Baek Seol-hee’s words, the agents looked at each other.
“Just this morning, they staged a one-person protest saying, ‘Snow White couldn’t stop the Goblin. It wasn’t the Goblin who killed my son, but Snow White.’”
“That… we’ll handle it properly.”
“Are you going to kill them?”
“Kill them? What an inappropriate thing to say. We will show you smart and just actions. Persuading them over and over again. Hehe.”
Despite a rush of thoughts in her head upon hearing the agent’s words, Baek Seol-hee simply closed her eyes in response.
It was unreasonable and unfair, but she had no choice as long as she was a hero of this country.
Unless she left this country or turned against it.
“Thank you for your hard work, Miss Baek Seol-hee. We really appreciate your dedication to the country despite being on vacation. Your actions moved not only our director but many patriots.”
“Are you telling me to leave?”
“… We’ve said everything we had to. From here on, the conversation will get ‘deeper’, but you’re welcome to stay and listen. However.”
The agent fiddled with his sunglasses and smirked.
“Once you step in, you will have to cooperate ‘more fully’ from that point onwards. Miss Baek Seol-hee.”
“…I understand.”
“I will escort you.”
Trying to keep her composure, Baek Seol-hee stepped outside.
Following the agent’s guidance, she walked a long way out and arrived at an ordinary hotel lobby in Busan.
“Let’s get to your room first. There’s a crowd near your home right now, so clearing them out will take some time.”
“Those people are…”
“Journalists. They’re just gossipmongers who want to know what you talked about with the Goblin. They’re bothersome, trying to connect a special-class hero of South Korea with a murderous villain. Tsk.”
“…….”
Connect.
Was it under the frame of good and evil or the frame of a man and a woman?
“You don’t need to listen to the nonsense of those who only care about view counts. What’s important is that you, Miss Baek Seol-hee, are a patriot for this country. That’s it.”
“…I want to rest a bit.”
Baek Seol-hee pressed her throbbing forehead with her hand.
“We’ll get you to your room right away.”
“No, not that kind of rest. I mean, I want to take a longer break.”
“……What do you mean?”
Ding Dong.
The elevator stopped.
With a stiff face, Baek Seol-hee stepped out of the elevator and pulled out her smartphone.
“The offer you made three months ago, I’ll consider it positively.”
“Three months ago… could it be?”
“Yes.”
Baek Seol-hee pulled up an email with a tired face.
“Sejong Academy, combat instructor for the special abilities division. …I don’t know if I should be called a professor, but anyway, I accept.”
“Thank you, Miss Baek Seol-hee! Your participation will greatly help the peace of our country!”
The agent, clearly delighted, closed the elevator door and went down.
The fact that an S-class super-powered individual was becoming a combat instructor at Sejong Academy.
That didn’t only mean that they would be able to better nurture students studying at the academy.
It meant the number of S-class super-powered individuals capable of protecting the academy had also increased.
That place was the most important place in South Korea and the world.
It had more strategic value than a nuclear power plant or the president’s office.
That was why it was named after no one else but Sejong.
Originally it wasn’t even a piece of land, but when a meteor fell from the sky into the East Sea, it created an island.
South Korea immediately designated that island as a national territory and defended it against all kinds of pressure.
Even now, as it was a strategic point coveted by numerous foreign entities, Korea hoped that as many super-powered individuals as possible would be stationed on Sejong Island.
“…Ha.”
Baek Seol-hee entered her hotel room, buried her face in the bed, and lay down.
Although she had described it as going on a break, in reality, she was returning to a more intense battlefield.
Battling villains on the mainland wasn’t such a case, but you never knew when or where a strange villain might appear on Sejong Island.
Above all, it was a hero training ground that nurtured ‘students addicted to abilities’.
Being S-class, there wouldn’t be any major problems, but surely excessive attention towards her could cause some disturbance.
Even so.
At least she wouldn’t have to see things like people’s heads breaking, as in the case of Red Scarf.
“Goblin….”
Baek Seol-hee covered her face with her hand.
There were no remaining videos, and even the remaining ones were either being erased or tampered with, except for the top-secret videos held by the state. But in her mind, they remained as clear memories.
The moment the sound of the gun echoed.
Goblin immediately turned her body and reached out to the side.
It might be a clear misconception of Baek Seol-hee that it was an instinctive act to ‘protect’ her.
But…
What if, somehow, Goblin had truly tried to protect Baek Seol-hee?
“Humph.”
Baek Seol-hee scowled, clutching the pillow tightly.
“I’ll definitely ask later. What you were thinking when you did that. …Ah.”
Baek Seol-hee remembered.
“The motorcycle.”
She had to ask.
The problem was that Baek Seol-hee was currently in a similar situation herself.
“… I’m in debt.”
“New motorcycle!”
I sprinkled soju around the motorcycle that had just arrived.
“Please let me ride safely without accidents this time.”
Carrying out a ritual might be considered superstitious, but it was still much better than not doing it.
‘I won’t lend it to others anymore.’
Snow White scammed me off my bike.
Of course, Snow White must be making her own efforts to compensate for the bike.
Snow White wasn’t the kind of woman who completely shut her mouth and played dumb.
It was just that she couldn’t come to Seoul right now due to the people around her.
She didn’t get my contact information and had to come to Seoul to find me.
But…
If I happened to be around where she was, there was a possibility she might recognize me and make amends.
‘Since she won’t come to Seoul, I came to Busan.’
Caw, caw.
Busan, Haeundae, where flocks of white seagulls flew through the sky.
As it was a neighborhood right next to the sea, the smell of the sea was strong, but the city’s atmosphere was grand enough to overshadow Seoul.
The real Seoul was in Busan.
The real Busan was in Seoul.
In this world, the development of Seoul stopped after the 2000s, and Busan, after becoming the new capital in the 2000s, had rapidly developed.
Just the 123-story skyscraper in front of me was proof of it.
‘It’s a world where the Hode Tower is in Busan.’
It feels strange that the place known as the skyscraper of Seoul was confidently standing in Haeundae, Busan.
Furthermore.
‘It doesn’t even suck when driving.’
Receiving the motorcycle in Busan and moving around directly by driving, it was far more organized than the actual Busan.
[Do you know how terrible the roads in Busan are?! It will take years to redevelop these roads!]
[Even if it takes years, proceed! How can a city grow into the world’s best with roads like these!]
[But!]
[If it’s too troublesome, I’ll go to Gyeongju!!]
[Isn’t redevelopment prohibited there!]
[Even if cultural heritage sites get destroyed, if the Republic of Korea becomes the strongest in the world surpassing the United States, our ancestors will understand! Choose! Do you want to redevelop Busan, or should I go to Gyeongju!]
[I will complete all projects related to urban redevelopment within a month!]
Busan underwent a year-long redevelopment project to become a global city, and this world’s Busan was able to grow to the level of a new city by the 2020s.
And the cost of living, too, also increased.
“Excuse me. I came to find a studio apartment.”
“Hello?”
There was no Busan dialect here.
This was the capital, and a lot of people moved down from Seoul.
“Did you come from Seoul? Wow, you came a long way. Where are you trying to find a room?”
“The safest place around here. A… about a 10-pyeong studio? A mini two-room is fine, too.”
“Ah, if that’s the case, this place is good.”
The realtor pointed at the wall poster with a bright smile.
“Deposit of 200 million won and 1.3 million won per month.”
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