novelraw Chapter 204 : Chapter 204
Chapter 204 : Chapter 204
Chapter 204. Clean-up (2)
It was just a matter of quitting his job.
Ho-cheol had said it in a calm tone, as if it were a common occurrence, but this time, it was by no means a matter that could be passed over so lightly.
The dean momentarily forgot that he was a seriously ill patient on a hospital bed and sat up.
The mechanical devices connected to his body by electrodes made an ominous beep— beep— sound, as if in danger, but in the current situation, it was just noise.
He asked, flustered.
“What did you just say?”
“Well, what can I do? If they’re after me, it’s dangerous to stay here.”
“For the students? For you?”
“It’s dangerous for both of us.”
“That’s a very emotional choice.”
The dean said in a serious tone.
“You’re taking too much of the blame for the students and professors getting hurt.”
“So, are you saying that’s not it?”
At Ho-cheol's sharp reaction, the dean could not bring himself to open his mouth.
Ho-cheol had clearly understood the situation and had hit the nail on the head.
Because this incident was really his fault.
In fact, the emotional one was the dean.
“I’m more clear-headed than ever.”
Ho-cheol's choice was the right one.
“This choice is the safest, and also the most efficient. Of course, I’m abandoning a few lectures and running away, but the academy will be closed for a while anyway.”
With the students, professors, and facilities all in a mess, what kind of lectures could be held?
At the very least, everything would be stopped for a few months.
And during that period…
“I’ll probably be back by the time the academy normalizes.”
It was enough for him to achieve his goal and return.
“The contract. What are you going to do about the contract?”
Ho-cheol was not just a professor, but was bound by a contract with the Hero Association.
With his sentence still remaining, there was no way the Association would tolerate him acting as he pleased.
But Ho-cheol waved his hand as if he had no interest.
“The reason I signed that contract was because it would benefit everyone, and no one would be at a loss. But now, it’s obvious that people will get hurt if I’m bound by that contract. I have no reason or intention of keeping it.”
Ho-cheol was planning to break the contract itself, not to terminate it through an agreement or a deferral.
Of course, if he explained the situation, he could have adjusted and revised the contract through an agreement, but Ho-cheol had no interest in such a moderate approach.
The dean immediately understood the reason for his action.
“You believe that information will leak from within the Association.”
“To lure them out, I have to show that this side has completely split.”
Of course, since his opponent was not a foolish ordinary villain, it didn't seem likely that they would be easily baited.
But he couldn't just sit back and wait.
Even though he had understood all of Ho-cheol's purpose and intentions, it was difficult for the dean to accept his decision easily.
A plan that pursued the public good more than anyone else.
But there was one most important thing missing from it.
“Are you going to play the villain again?”
Ho-cheol's benefit or happiness.
These two were not considered in the plan at all.
In fact, it was a precarious peace built on the sacrifice of one person.
“I was originally the one to be hated. I’m just doing what I’m good at.”
“Smiley surely saved you, but…”
The dean muttered, as if genuinely regretful.
“At the same time, she is binding you.”
On a train track where a train is coming, five criminals and one good citizen.
When asked which of the two he would save, he was a man who would throw himself onto the tracks without changing the tracks.
A hero who would sacrifice himself to save everyone on the tracks.
At one time, Ho-cheol had been one of the five tied to the tracks, but now, he was throwing himself onto the tracks to save all six.
Just as he had learned.
“What do you mean, binding?”
Ho-cheol grumbled and let his words go in one ear and out the other.
Of course, he couldn't deny that there was some influence, but at the very least, this choice was his own.
“I was originally the one to be hated. I’m just doing what I’m good at.”
Ho-cheol stood up again and turned around.
“Anyway, I shared everything because I thought you should know, old man, but for now, just keep it to yourself.”
The most important secret that should not be revealed to anyone.
In fact, he shouldn't have even told the dean.
He should have carried it all by himself to the end.
If it had been the Ho-cheol of a few months ago, he probably wouldn't have even told the dean.
It also meant that Ho-cheol had softened that much.
Looking at Ho-cheol's back, he asked.
“So what are you going to do now?”
Ho-cheol answered shortly without even looking back at the dean.
“The Sword Demon.”
He had not shown up to the end even though his own child was in danger.
If he had only listened to Da-yeon's words, he might have just passed it off as a parent who was simply not interested, but the Sword Demon he had actually met, although his expressions were twisted, was thinking of Da-yeon more deeply than he had thought.
And the head of the Society.
Even though he had claimed to be a fan of Ho-cheol, he hadn't shown his face at all today.
That meant there was something else important.
Although each situation could be dismissed as a coincidence, since two of them had overlapped, he could not easily pass it over.
“I have to deal with the anxiety factor first.”
If it was just a misunderstanding on his part, a delusion, that would be for the best, but Ho-cheol was feeling it instinctively.
Since his release, the things he had misunderstood had never been a misunderstanding, and had always flowed in the worst direction.
There was a high probability that this time would be the same.
Looking at the departing Ho-cheol, the dean belatedly thought of one more question.
“But. Setting aside everything else as a secret, isn't there a blood relative of Smiley among the students?”
Ho-cheol, who had grabbed the doorknob, flinched for a moment.
The biggest problem.
In fact, Ho-cheol had also been thinking about that from the moment he had first met Smiley—Jeong Yu-hwa.
But he still couldn't find a clear answer.
“That is…”
Ho-cheol's voice trailed off.
He respected Ye-jin.
That's why he had confessed all his past to her.
But that was all in the past.
He had shared the secret, believing that she would not cling to the past.
“I’ll have to do it someday. But…”
But sharing the problem that was right in front of him was a separate matter.
To present the current problem to her, who was just a student, was just abuse.
“That’s not now.”
Ho-cheol said shortly and left the hospital room.
•••
Ho-cheol immediately arrived at the Sword Demon's hero agency in another city.
The information desk in the lobby on the first floor.
Ho-cheol went straight to the employee behind the desk.
The employee who had spotted Ho-cheol greeted him with a smile.
“What can I help you with?”
Ho-cheol placed both his arms on the desk and said.
“I’ve come to see the Sword Demon.”
He's a troublemaker.
Stalkers, fans, anti-fans.
There were several foolish and bold people who came to see the Sword Demon for whatever reason every day.
And all of them, of course, met the fate of being dragged away by the security team.
Still, the employee maintained a smile on the outside and asked.
“I see. Do you have a prior appointment or a scheduled visit?”
“No. Ah, in case you think I’m a troublemaker and call the security team or another hero, that would be a problem…”
Ho-cheol fumbled in his pocket, took out his ID, and held it out.
“I’m not a suspicious person, I’m a professor at Clington.”
“Uh, ah?”
The employee, who had been about to press the security team call button under the desk, her eyes widened.
“I-I see.”
Don’t tell me he forged that too?
“If you just tell the Sword Demon that Jeong Ho-cheol is here, he’ll understand right away.”
Even while making a dubious expression, the desk employee picked up the receiver.
And after a few short words, she was so startled that she shot up from her seat.
“I’ll guide you right away.”
Luckily, or perhaps naturally, the Sword Demon was in his office.
Since the Sword Demon's office was no different from a rough training room without any furniture for guests, the Sword Demon was waiting in another, proper office.
Before Ho-cheol, who had come in, could even sit down on the sofa, the Sword Demon asked.
“What is it?”
Ho-cheol also had no intention of sitting down and exchanging pleasantries, so he leaned against the entrance and said.
“Clington. Why didn’t you come? Considering the distance, you should have been more than able to come for support.”
He had checked on his way here, but as expected, the Sword Demon had not been unable to come because he had been dispatched to a separate disaster or accident.
“I was sure you would protect it well. Was there a need for me to go?”
“Judging by the ridiculous things you’re saying, it seems you haven’t prepared an excuse.”
Ho-cheol bent his index finger and rubbed his forehead.
Well, who would suspect and question him?
It was a crazy thing that only he could do.
And the Sword Demon would have chased him out right away if it hadn't been him.
“A dead person doesn't come back.”
The Sword Demon did not answer.
Ho-cheol did not expect his answer either.
Although his eyebrow did not twitch, his breathing had been disturbed for a very short moment.
Ho-cheol did not miss that disturbance either.
He slowly moved and stood next to the Sword Demon and said.
“A pale guy came, right? Saying he would revive your precious person?”
This time, the Sword Demon's agitation was clearly visible on his face.
In persuading an opponent, the most effective thing was not a perfect lie, nor a rhetoric that bewitched the opponent.
“Smiley has returned.”
Just the truth.
The plain truth was always the most effective.
The Sword Demon, who had been trying not to even meet Ho-cheol's eyes, this time, turned his head with a flustered expression and looked at Ho-cheol.
No matter how much the Sword Demon pursued a clear and serene mind, at the words that a dead person, and an S-rank No. 1 hero at that, had returned, he could not hide his astonishment.
After thinking about something for a long time, he muttered.
“It’s true.”
“It’s true that they can revive the dead, but…”
Ho-cheol also had a slightly gloomy expression as he recalled the recent situation.
“But that’s something else wearing a shell. Whatever that guy said, they’re planning to use you.”
The Sword Demon finally gave up and nodded his head.
“I know.”
Since Ho-cheol was so sure, there was no way to deceive him.
And most importantly, the Sword Demon's disposition was also not one to get through a situation with a lie, though he might be silent.
“But even if their purpose is to use me…”
“Well. I know.”
Ho-cheol cut him off.
Eclipse too.
In the first place, he was just presenting options so that he could make the right choice; the choice was their own.
“You’re a hero and an adult who is by no means respectable. But that’s just by my standards. At the very least, you’re known to society as the best hero, right? And there are a lot of people who actually like you.”
Ho-cheol continued to speak calmly.
“It would be better not to lose their respect as well.”
His short warning.
If the Sword Demon were to choose the worst option, the price would by no means be light.
“What if I bear all that?”
As if he had already made up his mind, the Sword Demon asked back.
“What if I have to revive my wife, no matter what?”
“You’ll meet me as an enemy. To be precise, your wife will meet me. Of course, it won't be for the purpose of a parent-teacher interview.”
The Sword Demon's expression narrowed as if genuinely displeased.
In the end, if he were to somehow revive his wife, he could not know that it meant that Ho-cheol would personally kill her.
“Smiley has already been revived. Are you saying you can’t bear to see another person come back to life?”
“I’m going to send that one back to where she should be too.”
Although the expression was moderate, it was not much different from killing her.
“I can’t understand it at all.”
The Sword Demon looked at Ho-cheol with a fed-up, displeased expression.
He was about to criticize his duplicitous attitude, but to think he would say such a thing.
No matter if it was a different person inside, it was by no means an easy decision to make when their appearance was exactly the same.
No, no matter how he thought about it, even the Sword Demon couldn't do it.
Does he have no human heart?
To the point where he had such a question.
But Ho-cheol was, in fact, looking out for Smiley more than anyone else, so he considered it his role, and no one else's.
“I promised then. That her death would be my last murder.”
Ho-cheol clenched his fists.
His nails dug into his palms, and blood dripped—tuk tuk—.
“I’m just keeping that promise.”
Ho-cheol, who had thus clearly left his will and his warning, turned around.
“Make a wise choice. It wouldn’t feel good for me either if I had to turn a parent into a pulp.”
When Ho-cheol opened the office door, a person was standing beyond it.
Da-yeon looked at Ho-cheol with wide, surprised eyes.
Ho-cheol also stood in his spot and stared at her.
It was a good thing she wasn't seriously injured, but he could see bandages and wounds under her clothes.
It seemed she had gone through quite a lot, just like the other students.
In fact, he had been feeling Da-yeon's presence outside the door for a while.
Normally, he would have chased her out in advance, but she was also the one most deeply involved in this story.
Since she was the Sword Demon's wife, and her mother.
Since she had a right to know, he had let her listen.
As a result, if she were to resent him after hearing his and the Sword Demon's conversation, he couldn't help it.
At the very least, it would be much better than being caught off guard without knowing.
Ho-cheol had naturally thought that she would show her anger and hostility towards him.
But Da-yeon did not say anything.
She just looked at Ho-cheol with a sad expression.
“If you have nothing to say, then I’ll pass.”
His tone was so cold and emotionless that Da-yeon momentarily froze and shrunk her body.
Ho-cheol passed by her.
“Ah.”
Da-yeon let out a pitiful sound for a moment.
She reached out to him as he passed by, and then retracted her hand again.
To grab Ho-cheol meant that she would be with his will.
But Da-yeon could not give up on her mother.
However, she just whispered one thing to his back.
“You said you would protect me until I become a proper hero.”
For a moment, Ho-cheol stopped walking.
“Are you a bad adult who breaks your promises like the Sword Demon?”
At those words, Ho-cheol suddenly turned around.
And he came right in front of Da-yeon.
In the close proximity where their breaths could touch, Ho-cheol's face came even closer to Da-yeon's.
Da-yeon instinctively squeezed her eyes shut.
However.
Ttak—!
“Ow!”
She opened her eyes wide at the intense pain she felt on her forehead.
In front of her, who was holding her forehead with both hands, Ho-cheol's finger was sticking out.
“Of course I remember that promise.”
The frighteningly cold expression from just a moment ago had disappeared, and Ho-cheol was now smiling lightly.
“That’s why I’m doing this.”
A path to protect not just her, but his students, and furthermore, everyone.
“Don’t worry.”
Ho-cheol promised in a resolute tone.
“I’ll take care of everything.”