novelraw Chapter 236 : Chapter 236
Chapter 236 : Chapter 236
Chapter 236: Friend (2)
Inside the building, the Association President’s bewildered shout to stop was faintly audible, but Ho-cheol paid it no mind at all.
Did they really expect him to just smash everything like some other idiot villain and take a beating from public opinion?
Not a chance.
To Ho-cheol, war wasn't just about guns and knives flying, blood splattering, and lives ending.
He let out a small smirk.
At that moment, the cameras filming Ho-cheol instinctively zoomed in closer to his face.
He stared straight into one camera and began to speak.
“The Hero Association. It might seem like a simple non-profit organization for the rights of heroes and the safety of citizens. But the truth is…….”
He touched his forehead with one hand, let out a sigh, and shook his head.
“It’s quite hideous. More than you can imagine.”
And Ho-cheol calmly explained the shameful parts of the Association he knew, the things he had experienced.
What Ho-cheol was saying was purely the truth.
Depending on how it was processed and what form it was presented in, even the same essential truth could have a completely different impact.
The reporters, who were at first puffed up with anticipation at latching onto a bigger scoop than expected, gradually found their expressions distorting at his explanation.
Even Ho-cheol himself was startled by the insane acts that far exceeded his imagination every time he met a high-ranking official from the Association, so for ordinary citizens, the word 'shock' would hardly be enough.
“And then there was this. In the Pirat Federal Bank incident 8 years ago…….”
Ho-cheol hadn't brought his numerous subordinates simply because he predicted this situation, but it was quite effective in the current circumstances.
At the Association President's command, heroes rushed to stop Ho-cheol immediately, but they were caught and restrained by other villains before they could even enter the cameras' range.
Ho-cheol, having exposed some of the Association's shameful parts, stroked his chin.
“To summarize, it’s simple. The Hero Association and villains. While there are those who are genuinely hostile, a good number of villains are actually private soldiers secretly operated by the Association, and besides them, there are those who move covertly in mutually beneficial ways.”
“Are you claiming there’s a collusive relationship between the Association and villains?”
The easiest way to eliminate political enemies, and to ensure even the cleanup was tidy, there was no tool as useful and serviceable as a villain.
“It’s beyond a simple collusive relationship; they’re already no different from being one body.”
External heroes, untouched by the Association's influence, now arrived late as backup to stop Ho-cheol, but it was still of little use.
At least an S-rank Hero would need to be mobilized to regain some initiative, but the S-rank Hero of this city was currently engrossed in watching the broadcast from his own office.
And most of the other high-rank heroes outside the city were in a similar situation.
Even this ironic situation, where heroes suppressed the press and villains protected it, was all being broadcast live.
After that, Ho-cheol continued to expose the Association's dark side for a good while.
When he took on an attitude as if he had said everything, one reporter bravely shouted.
“D-do you have proof?”
Ho-cheol turned his head and stared fixedly at the reporter.
The reporter instinctively took a step back at his gaze, but did not retract the microphone held out toward Ho-cheol.
Looking at him, Ho-cheol answered briefly.
“I don’t. But do I have to spoon-feed you that as well?”
Of course, there was clear proof.
However, the evidence and grounds Ho-cheol could present were all information from his villain days, which would instead give the opponent room for rebuttal.
For it to have a proper effect, those who became suspicious from his declaration today had to search for it themselves.
And above all, it shouldn't be revealed this easily.
It was time for the citizens, too, to move beyond being uninvolved bystanders just watching the situation from a step back.
At least the ideal and just society that Ho-cheol envisioned was not one that left everything to the heroes.
Ho-cheol lightly looked around again.
In his gaze that seemed to ask if there were any more questions, a reporter carefully threw out a different one.
“……Then why are you publicizing this information now?”
From their perspective, it was merely a question to add a few more lines to the news story.
But at that moment, Ho-cheol was at a loss for words.
He fell silent, lost in thought.
“Why, you ask.”
Ho-cheol had clearly learned about human goodwill from Smiley.
However, he had only just become aware of its existence; even after mulling it over hundreds, thousands of times during his years in prison, he ultimately couldn't understand it.
Maybe that 'goodwill' was something only Smiley possessed.
Just as he was having such thoughts.
The Association reached out to Ho-cheol first.
He wondered if it was okay for him to come out while harboring such doubts.
He had such worries, but because he had received something so great from her.
To dutifully bestow what he had received.
That was the only reason he had come out, even enduring the humiliation of wearing shackles.
And on the first day of his release.
The Dean's revenge, stemming from their ill-fated past.
Of course, it was a revenge closer to a prank that wasn't particularly dangerous, but at least to someone unaware, it was a pretty dangerous accident.
The moment the door exploded, what Ho-cheol saw wasn't the Dean's revenge, but So-hee's goodwill.
She couldn't have had any particularly good feelings for him, yet she had clearly moved for his sake.
It was something possible only because she had placed the emotion of goodwill at the forefront, and Ho-cheol's final doubt also vanished.
Goodwill was by no means a privilege of the strong.
And only at that moment did Ho-cheol also become a person capable of reaching out a hand first to a stranger, to someone in need of help.
What stopped Ho-cheol during his villain days was Smiley's kindness, but what made him walk the right path again was clearly So-hee's goodwill.
What he had received from So-hee was that big and important, difficult to express in just a few words.
To reveal his face and turn the country into an enemy for such a precious friend…….
It was, rather, so easy that it was almost laughable.
“The reason is.”
And so, Ho-cheol smiled lightly and answered.
“Because of a friend.”
Nothing more, nothing less.
The reporters wore blank expressions at the completely unexpected answer.
However, Ho-cheol left no further explanation and turned his back to leave.
***
Smiley and So-hee, who were blankly watching the television, flinched in surprise.
That last single phrase, who 'that friend' referred to.
At least, the two of them knew clearly.
Smiley, who came to her senses first, muttered genuinely.
“……I’m jealous. Really.”
To be able to turn the world into an enemy for a friend.
If only she hadn't died from that illness, wouldn't So-hee's place have been hers?
But it was already a lingering regret that was far too late.
She turned her gaze to the side.
So-hee, the rims of her eyes moist, just kept staring at the screen where Ho-cheol had now disappeared.
She slowly raised her hand.
Slender fingers moved toward So-hee's throat.
Jealousy and greed.
A sticky, pitch-black desire slowly began to swallow Smiley.
But she belatedly shook her head, shaking off the emotion.
Was it because her body was dying?
Or was it from fighting for so long sharing one body with another personality?
Sometimes, these bad emotions would suddenly flare up, feeling as if they were her own.
Right, this is definitely because of that bad personality.
It can’t be my true feelings.
She lowered the hand that was heading for the throat and lightly tapped So-hee's shoulder.
“Snap out of it.”
“Ah, eh? Ah!”
Finally, light returned to So-hee's eyes.
Smiley smiled faintly and asked.
“So, your friend caused such a huge incident. Your thoughts?”
So-hee mumbled her lips.
“……Ho-cheol promised me. That he would protect me.”
And he had saved her from moments of crisis several times.
And for that promise, he had now taken off his mask in front of those cameras.
So.
“Now it’s my turn to protect him.”
“Hmm. Really? How?”
“……That is.”
So-hee hesitated.
She had spoken bravely, but in truth, she didn't really have a way to help him.
Of course, this kidnapping incident itself was also for Ho-cheol's sake, but at least, there was no way for her to help him right from here.
“Jeez. Still, the attitude is good.”
Smiley shook her head as if bewildered, but still maintained her smile.
She suddenly bent down and tore up a wooden floorboard.
Beneath it was a hidden safe; she entered the passcode and unlocked it.
Inside, a thick layer of dust was piled on top of a hefty bundle of papers.
Fwoo— She blew, and the dust scattered.
Thanks to that, they could finally see the words written on the cover.
Seeing the title, So-hee doubted her eyes.
“Th-that’s?”
“Well……. I was an S-rank Hero, too. Of course I knew the Association had a dirty backside.”
The karmic deeds the Hero Association had built up over time.
These were the confidential documents containing information about them.
They were contents so secret and dark that if even a single page from this thick bundle were leaked, it would be a fatal blow to the Association.
Smiley also knew the Hero Association's shameful parts in detail, and while not in such a drastic way as Ho-cheol, she too had the will to reform that rotten leadership.
It's just that she had died of illness before she could even formulate that plan.
Having already died, she had no right to arbitrarily change the present of the living.
However.
Smiley held out the bundle of papers.
“I’ll leave it entirely up to you how, when, and for whom you use this file.”
Passing it on to someone else should be acceptable.
So-hee carefully accepted the file.
So-hee considered the declaration on television just now a kind of confession.
If so, then it was her turn to give a reply.
***
Ho-cheol returned to the hideout and was in the hallway heading to his room.
Wolf Fang, standing beside him, muttered admiringly.
“Honestly. That friend must be really precious to you?”
“Well, I would’ve done the same if it were any of the other kids in that situation.”
Ho-cheol answered nonchalantly.
It wasn't just So-hee.
His students, Se-ah or Ji-an.
Even the twins.
If it had been the same situation, he would have acted the same way.
“Then me too?”
“Haha.”
Ho-cheol laughed at Wolf Fang's hopeful question.
Of course, his dry laugh and eyes were not laughing at all.
“You’re a villain.”
Where do you think you're butting in to share a table with them.
Unfortunately, to Ho-cheol, Wolf Fang's existence didn't extend beyond being a useful tool with a handy Trait and a brain that worked to some degree.
As he drew the line firmly, a hint of disappointment crossed Wolf Fang's face.
I’m working so hard like a slave, you could at least look out for me a little.
Whether Ho-cheol read that emotion or simply had a change of heart.
He added a quick remark.
“Still, if you get dragged to prison, I’ll visit you occasionally.”
“I’m grateful for just that. But…….”
Wolf Fang asked, looking a little puzzled.
“Why didn’t you mention the really important stuff?”
As Ho-cheol's subordinate, Wolf Fang also knew quite a few of the Association's dirty aspects.
And among them was information that would be fatal to the Association's image just by being mentioned.
However, Ho-cheol didn't bring up any of that kind of talk in front of the cameras today.
“That stuff would’ve completely shattered them.”
“It’d be troublesome if they shatter right away. The key right now is to buy time, after all.”
Just because it's a war, he had no intention of tearing into them from the very beginning as if to kill.
The things he said today were all merely allegations.
They were all things the Association could smooth over to some extent if they flatly denied them and did damage control.
While their attention was focused on responding to public opinion and investigations, at least they wouldn't interfere with him and Smiley.
“Clearly distinguish the enemy. We're replacing the current hero system, the leadership that has stagnated and rotted. The Association as an intermediary management body is a necessary entity.”
“……Understood. Then what about us?”
Ho-cheol suddenly stopped walking.
“I probably crossed the line first. So they’ll start picking fights without hesitation now.”
He had quit his professor gig, so he didn't have much more to lose socially, but if there was one thing that bothered him right now, something immediately came to mind.
That troublemaker.
No matter how much the Dean protected her as her guardian, this incident had gotten too big for him to cover for her.
Ho-cheol let out a faint sigh.
“Clean up one more room.”
Somehow, this seems harder than when I was a professor.