novelraw Chapter 253 : Chapter 253
Chapter 253 : Chapter 253
Chapter 253: Cleanup (2)
The single word, "I surrender," made the atmosphere turn bizarre.
It was not heavy, as Ho-cheol's attitude was too casual, and it wasn't casual, as everyone was well aware of how serious the situation itself was.
"Surrender, sir!"
"Mister!"
On the contrary, the two people who were with me were even more flustered and jumped up from their seats.
As if he had anticipated what they would say, Ho-cheol waved his hands up and down, telling them to calm down.
"Don't be like that. It's called 'surrender,' but I was planning to visit the Association eventually anyway. Since this way, I can skip the troublesome intermediate process, why wouldn't I go with them?"
If Ho-cheol had tried to go himself, the future was clear: countless heroes and other riff-raff would constantly block his way, making him annoyed.
Ho-cheol stepped toward the heroes who were narrowing the encirclement.
They flinched and further solidified their combat stance, but Ho-cheol was relaxed.
No, he even held out his hands together, as if telling them to hurry up and arrest him.
Handcuffs were meaningless anyway, but at least they might reassure the ones taking him in.
Click—
The handcuffs were fastened, and Ho-cheol turned his head to ask So-hee and Ji-an.
"…It's probably better for you two to stay together, right?"
Although Ji-an had been sent away with Da-yeon and Ye-jin immediately, she returned to the organization's hideout as soon as Ho-cheol sent a short text saying, 'I rescued So-hee.'
Normally, he would have scolded her until tears streamed down her face for moving without permission, but it also meant she was worried about So-hee, and it seemed So-hee had become an important person to her, so he didn't criticize her heavily.
It was a welcome change to think that increasing the number of important people was an important part of the socialization process.
And the current Ji-an was surprisingly standing guard, as if to protect So-hee.
So-hee also wore an expression that suggested the protection wasn't so bad.
She forced a smile.
She knew well that being stubborn now, when Ho-cheol had gone this far, would only be a hindrance to him.
"Yes. What else can I do? I'll be sure to keep her pacified."
"Then go home."
She obviously knew that the home Ho-cheol was referring to was not the organization's hideout.
"I'll be back soon. Lunch is a bit iffy, but let's have dinner together."
Both of them nodded simultaneously.
***
Inside the escort vehicle heading to the Hero Association, Ho-cheol clenched his fist tightly.
Space shimmered around his clenched hand like a mirage.
The handcuffs on his wrist were emitting a special wavelength that suppressed Traits.
Of course, with Ho-cheol's capacity, he could easily ignore such interference and use his Trait, but he couldn't completely disregard it.
It definitely got in the way of activating the Trait.
Normally that would have been the case, but something was strange.
Traits are broadly categorized into Activation, Passive, and Conceptual forms.
Ho-cheol's Trait was, of course, the Activation type.
Swordmaster's was Passive, and Smiley's belonged to the Conceptual type.
And the handcuffs were barely capable of suppressing only the Activation type Traits.
However, these handcuffs weren't suppressing Ho-cheol's Trait at all.
It couldn't even be called Activation anymore.
For Ho-cheol, the Trait was a weapon.
A tool to harm others, activated and wielded according to the situation.
Throwing a punch.
Swinging a sword.
Activating the Trait was merely an extension of the sword and the fist.
However, in the fight with Smiley, his Trait moved in a completely different direction.
Even in a state of mortal injury, unable to throw a punch or swing a sword—barely clinging to life—his Trait still moved.
A Trait that moves before his will.
This change was strange to Ho-cheol.
What if the three classified forms of Traits were merely processes heading toward a single destination?
What if he had reached a different domain beyond those three forms?
While he was clenching and unclenching his fist, contemplating his Trait.
Thud—
The transport vehicle stopped.
The back door immediately opened, and bright light streamed in.
However, it wasn't just light that entered.
The Bureau Director of the Legal Department.
He stepped onto the stairs and entered the trailer where Ho-cheol was confined.
"Oh."
Ho-cheol's eyes widened in surprise when he saw him, but then he gave a small laugh.
"Long time no see. And you actually came."
Ho-cheol had anticipated about three possible scenarios for when this door opened.
They would kill him, suppress him, or talk to him.
And the third case had a low probability.
It was a reversal, if you could call it that.
Understanding the meaning of the laugh, the Director frowned, openly showing his discomfort.
"It wasn't easy."
As Ho-cheol had expected, the majority opinion within the Association was that Ho-cheol must be killed or at least completely neutralized.
In fact, there was a near deployment of special teams and heroes.
Nevertheless, the fact that the Legal Department Director stood before Ho-cheol in the end was, ironically, due to Ho-cheol himself.
Because he had exposed the corruption of several high-ranking officials within the Association recently, their authority and influence had significantly decreased.
The Legal Department Director also had his name on the list, but they were trivial matters, less than a quarter of a quarter compared to other Director-level officials.
He unexpectedly became the Director with the strongest authority without doing anything.
"Thanks to you, I even received quite a bit of suspicion."
Because the Legal Department Director had personally authorized Ho-cheol's release, some quarters suspected collusion between him and Ho-cheol.
"Perhaps my consideration was too much."
Ho-cheol, however, merely shrugged it off indifferently.
A surge of indignation briefly rose at that brazen attitude, but the Legal Department Director quickly regained his composure and sat across from Ho-cheol.
He was one of the few people in the Hero Association who was on friendly terms with Ho-cheol.
However, that was only until Ho-cheol declared war on the Association.
The look in his eyes as he glared at Ho-cheol was quite fierce.
"Where is the Association President?"
"Ah, don't worry about that guy, I'll send him back appropriately."
The Association President was still trapped in the basement of the Unhappy hideout.
The Association President, whose Traits had already been completely drained, had returned to his original old man state, and Ho-cheol had no intention of torturing an old man who was practically dying anyway.
He just intended to torment him a little for the crimes he had committed so far.
Ho-cheol started to wave his hand but realized he was wearing handcuffs and merely shook his head vaguely.
"You had no loyalty, let alone respect or integrity for him. Why bother pretending to care now?"
"Even so, being kidnapped by a villain…"
"Villain? Looking at what they've done, I don't know who the villain is anymore."
Saying that, Ho-cheol reached into his pocket.
The Director flinched, tensing up for a moment at the movement, but the hand that emerged from his pocket held a few photographs.
He tossed the photographs onto the floor.
The Director's brow furrowed intensely at the blatant provocation, but he first suppressed his annoyance, bent down, and picked up the photos.
Looking at the middle-aged man in the photos, he asked.
"Who the hell is this?"
"The Association President."
"…What?"
Ho-cheol explained, starting with the Association President's summons, the circumstances of his secret alliance with the Society, the Rejuvenation, and finally, how he suppressed him and took back his youth.
The Director blinked his eyes stupidly.
Coming to his senses belatedly, he harshly denied it.
No, he tried to deny it.
"I can't believe…"
"Considering the corruption and bad deeds he's committed so far. Wouldn't it be weirder if he didn't do something like that?"
Ho-cheol cut him off, glaring at the Director.
The Legal Department Director subtly avoided eye contact at the sarcastic remark, which was laced with truth.
In the end, it was impossible to distinguish whether Ho-cheol's words were true or false in this situation.
A staring contest was ultimately unproductive for both of them.
The Director relaxed his eyes first and sighed.
"So. Why did you do such a thing?"
Listening to Ho-cheol's explanation, the trouble he caused was completely separate from the Director's issue in the first place.
And the righteous demeanor Ho-cheol had shown so far was certainly genuine—too genuine to believe he was trying to genuinely destroy the Association.
Although there were occasional hiccups between them, there was absolutely no reason to be openly hostile like this.
Since the opponent had broken the momentum first, Ho-cheol also stopped resisting and softened the hostile atmosphere.
"Because this wasn't the time to weaken ourselves by fighting. This was the best option."
"The things you did went beyond weakening the Association—they nearly destroyed it!"
"I'm leaving the intact power alone and cutting out only the rotten parts. It was a necessary process to solve the truly big disaster that's coming."
"Disaster?"
The Director's brow furrowed.
It was unexpected for such a drastic expression to come from Ho-cheol's mouth.
"Since the Smiley matter is over, I guess I should tell you now."
Ho-cheol crossed his legs and explained the events that had occurred so far, the events that would happen in the future, and the enemy they had to face.
The Director's expression gradually distorted as he listened carefully to Ho-cheol's explanation.
The matters concerning Smiley and the Society were something he had already heard some information about and were stories he could fully accept.
Thanks to that, he was able to maintain his composure.
However, he was utterly astonished by the Society's true objective behind it and the Giant monster that could become active at any moment.
A Gate environment where even an average S-rank couldn't set foot, and a powerful monster that even Ho-cheol couldn't see hope against?
"That's, what nonsense…"
The Director's voice trembled pitifully.
Contrary to his constant repetitions of "I can't believe it," his brain, ironically, had already half-accepted Ho-cheol's explanation as fact.
The peculiar actions of Ho-cheol and the Society up until now—when applying the existence of that monster—made the sparsely filled puzzle pieces suddenly fit together.
Seeing the Director still looking half-lost, Ho-cheol leaned back and rested his back against the wall.
"Do you understand why I think your strength must remain intact and why the rotten parts had to be cut out?"
This incident was a situation where, the moment one person faltered, it would not just collapse but threaten the very existence of the nation.
It was only natural that Ho-cheol wanted to eliminate all negative variables.
The Director did not answer.
Instead, he simply rested his hand on his forehead, deep in thought.
If that monster was on a similar level to the one that was only subdued by a nuclear shower on the Africa continent, the term "disaster" was simply insufficient for this country.
This wasn't something he should just discuss with Ho-cheol; wasn't it a matter that required intervention at the national level?
"So, what is the probability of defeating that monster right now?"
"Well, no one knows that. What that monster showed then was certainly not its full power."
"Right. Anyway, that's not what's important. So, you think the monster can be defeated if the Hero Association cooperates, and that's why you're talking to me like this, isn't it?"
"Even if not, we have to figure something out."
"Then what is the plan?"
Ho-cheol shrugged his shoulders.
"I've got it all planned out. Well, I don't intend to use heroes as bullet shields or simple sacrifices. I just need a minor helping hand."
The Director shot up from his seat.
The biggest reason he came here was, of course, the Association President's well-being.
But now, he was confronted with a problem so severe that the Association President was utterly insignificant.
"This is not a matter for me alone. I need to call a meeting."
A meeting of Director-level executives, and naturally, Ho-cheol was included.
After all, sharing his plan was the utmost priority.
However, Ho-cheol remained seated, merely staring blankly at the Director.
The Director smiled awkwardly and shook his head.
"Not today."
What, a crisis that could destroy the world?
Of course, it was important.
But right now, Ho-cheol had something slightly more important than that.
Hadn't he regretted not cherishing the people around him just a few hours ago?
"I promised to have dinner with my kids."
For him, a promise was a serious matter.