Chapter 82: How To Capture A Hero (3)
Approaching as a married man, forming a romantic relationship, and then seducing them into becoming a villain.
The Chief was planning to establish mental dominance by turning Baek Seol-hee, Yumir, and potentially many other women into adultresses.
The plan for my approach as Do Ji-hwan was now clear.
The remaining question was how to approach them as the Goblin.
‘There’s a reason I purposely came to Seoul.’
Do Ji-hwan was in Seoul. The Goblin was on Sejong Island.
I must put up with such inconvenience to separate Do Ji-hwan and the Goblin.
Click.
I removed the Taegeuk Watch and transformed into the Goblin while producing one item.
Meow.
“I entrust it to you.”
It was a virtual cat created by the Goblin’s baseball bat.
It was not really a cat, nor was it an intricate familiar.
Just a cat that could wander anywhere inside the room. I attached the Taegeuk Watch to the cat’s back.
“Go to the dining table, then to the bathroom, and so on. From now on, you move according to my lifestyle patterns. Understood?”
Meow.
After creating my alibi with the spirit cat, I easily changed clothes while keeping Do Ji-hwan’s face as it normally was.
Mana was being released from my body, but it was possible to wear new clothes over it after the transformation.
If I used mana again, the clothes would tear, but that wouldn’t be a big problem.
When I meet her, I would not be Do Ji-hwan but the suited gentleman, the Goblin.
Flutter.
I pulled the curtain back and opened the veranda window.
There was a safety railing to prevent falls, but as always, I jumped out while holding the railing.
The outside was full of darkness.
No matter how bustling Seoul’s night was, it felt ghostly, and the same went for the apartment where I lived.
Thud.
People didn’t realize as I lightly conjured up mana and gently touched the ground just before landing.
Seoul was ruined.
Those living in this world’s Seoul were all poor, and they were not awake at this late hour.
From morning to evening, they worked hard and returned home too exhausted even for a shower. They lay down on their beds, dazedly dozed off for an hour, and then struggled to get up to prepare for tomorrow.
They were the ones who could make a living in this world, so they were all busy surviving without any interest in their surroundings.
Even if there were passing pedestrians, they didn’t care about me.
Whether I came out of the front door or suddenly popped out of the bushes, their only concern was the hope of a new life in their daily repetitive routine.
Although the poor of any other world would be like this, the poor of this world particularly lacked such hope.
Even if they did have hope, it eventually came down to children. But to have children, one had to get married.
Even if they got married, could they give birth to an ability user?
If not an ability user, then what about the children who were born?
I climbed onto the bike I had prepared in advance.
It was not something I usually rode as a hobby, but a disposable bike prepared through a secret operation under a false name.
Vroom—
With a rough exhaust sound, the bike quickly drove off the road.
There might be some who woke up from sleep and got angry about the late-night bike ride, but I didn’t need to mobilize a car just to move by myself.
I was going to ignore traffic signals anyway, and a motorcycle could run through more comfortably than a car.
Whoosh—
As soon as I crossed the bridge, I could hear the wind sweeping over the surface of the Han River.
My original world had all kinds of hopeful phrases filled on the railings to prevent suicides, but there was nothing like that here.
Splash.
I heard something fall into the water.
I stopped the bike and approached the direction of the sound, and there was a pair of shoes left alone in front of the railing.
“A suicide pact, maybe.”
There were two pairs of shoes with a relative size difference as if a man and a woman jumped together.
By now, they were probably struggling in the water, regretting their leap, and drowning while choking.
“Tsk. Anyway… Huh?”
I could hear a faint sound of breathing from somewhere. Looking next to the shoes, I saw something that resembled a small basket.
“…Insane?”
I almost let out a curse unknowingly. I hurriedly checked the contents of the basket, and upon seeing it, I made my decision.
“Damn…!”
With the basket firmly tucked under my arm, I sped off on my bike towards the southeast.
I drove even faster than when I left the apartment, at a speed that would make one question its legality on the streets of Seoul.
If a CCTV camera were recording me, it would surely capture a man speeding at an insane speed.
But for me, preserving this basket and the life inside it was paramount.
Following the Han River and speeding along the national highway, I arrived at a large building in a countryside town even quieter than Seoul.
A temple.
A temple located alone in the tranquility of the mountain.
As soon as I stopped my bike, I rushed inside with the basket.
“Monk!!”
“… I was wondering why you would visit at this late hour.”
A monk emerged from within the temple. He was an elderly man who, if not for his shaven head and monk’s robes, wouldn’t have looked out of place as a corporate director.
“Please look after this child…!”
“… It’s alive. Thanks to the fact that there are many warming materials in the basket. Otherwise, it might have frozen to death if the weather was a bit colder.”
The monk cautiously picked up the living entity, ‘the child’, from the basket and cradled it. The child was fast asleep, almost eerily so, and the monk was soothing it with whispered words.
“You should have reported it.”
“I’m on duty as a captain. I left my Taeguk Watch that could have been used for reporting, and I’m just stopping by on my way.”
“You’re working hard, Captain. Would you like to rest a bit? The children who are awake will be happy to hear that the Captain has come.”
“… It’s difficult right now. I need to go to the East Sea right away and cross the ocean.”
“Hmm… You need to erase even the fact that you visited here. I understand. I’ll handle it later. But at least have a cup of coffee before you leave. Think of it as a rest stop.”
“… I can’t stay long.”
“I’ve entrusted the bay to the older children. They will take good care of it, so please rest easy for a while.”
The monk, whose Dharmic name was ‘Samuel’, handed me a paper cup.
“I’ll have a smoke too.”
“Monk Samuel?”
“On a day like this, even God won’t say anything about having a smoke.”
Click.
“Do you seek God in the temple?”
“I’ve changed my appearance for the sake of the children, but God knows that I have a cross in my heart. Buddha would naturally show great compassion in such matters. Well… if He says I did something wrong after I die…”
Samuel lit a cigarette with his legs crossed.
“I have no regrets about my actions, so I’ll take the punishment sweetly.”
“…How many are there today?”
“34.”
“Sigh.”
There were too many. The number of children in this small temple was just too much.
But it couldn’t be helped. This place served not only as a temple but also as an ‘orphanage’.
“Fortunately, the company is providing financial support. Since you, Captain, have come, we have become somewhat prosperous. We can easily take in about 10 more.”
“You’ll wear yourself out, monk.”
“If this body is burnt to provide shade for children abandoned by their parents, what’s the problem?”
Samuel, with a cold face, pulled out a piece of paper from his robe.
[I’m sorry. Please raise it.]
“Does it not have a name?”
“It wasn’t a child born with serious thought of naming and calling it. By any chance, do you like games? Do you know ‘Pocket Monster’?”
“I know.”
It was a game that I played a lot in elementary school. The trend continued in this world, and it was released in a completely new form after 2000.
All of the things I knew had changed since the so-called third generation, and when I was sure the world wouldn’t end, I planned to take a month off and go through everything.
“Did you, by any chance, also participate in the battles?”
“…I only completed the story.”
“Well, let me explain. When people fight against each other, the basic talent of the monster used in the battle should be outstanding. It’s something like a 6v6, but… if I explain in detail, your head might hurt. Well, then, I won’t beat around the bush.”
Samuel exhaled a large puff of smoke towards the ceiling.
“They tried to turn their lives around by having a gifted child but ended up having a normal child and abandoned it. It’s like they scratched a ten-month lottery ticket, and since they didn’t win, they discarded it.”
“…….”
“Did you say you didn’t look for the parents? You did well. Those who treat their children like that, God and Buddha will send a straight punch from both sides.”
“What are you saying?”
“Or perhaps a Goblin broke their head while they were alive.”
Samuel let out a deep sigh.
“Captain Do, I believe in the group. If the group dominates the world, they will definitely take care of… no, the abandoned children will disappear. The chairman will surely create such a world. You think so too, right, Captain Do?”
“Yes.”
I decided to trust and follow the leader because I had seen this situation firsthand.
“A world without children who are abandoned for not being born gifted. I believe it will definitely come.”
A year had passed.
Numerous children were born.
And some ceased to exist.
Because of these abilities.
Just for that one reason.
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