novelraw Chapter 272 : Chapter 272
Chapter 272 : Chapter 272
Chapter 272: Student (3)
Ho-cheol's organization, the number of Villains belonging to it, easily exceeded several hundred.
Adding the number of those who could be hired on subcontract, even the word "organization" was insufficient.
Therefore, it was not difficult to specifically target and kidnap one ordinary person.
Ho-cheol looked up at the building.
From the outside, it looked like a normal office building that could exist anywhere.
Since he couldn't possibly reveal the organization's headquarters to a civilian or a student, he used a different location.
Ho-cheol stood in front of the entrance and looked around for a moment, then spotted a café and spoke to Seong-woo.
“He’s said to be on the fourth floor of this building.”
He pulled out a card and handed it over.
“There are people inside, so go buy 15 cups of coffee.”
“Ah, yes. All Americano?”
“Yes. No, wait.”
Ho-cheol mixed and matched the menu items.
In truth, he didn't even know how many people were in there.
He didn't know if 15 cups were necessary, or what they wanted to drink.
It was merely an errand to go up earlier than Seong-woo and sort out the situation.
It seemed unlikely that today would end purely with just a conversation.
Seong-woo, unaware of his inner thoughts, simply took the card and nodded.
“Understood.”
“Right. And buy something for yourself too. Maybe a slice of cake?”
After confirming Seong-woo went to the café, Ho-cheol climbed the stairs and arrived at the fourth floor of the target building.
He opened the door.
The interior was not significantly different from a typical office.
In fact, there were even some office workers inside who seemed to be working normally.
A burly man standing at the entrance spotted Ho-cheol and immediately bowed at the waist.
“Hello, sir.”
They had been told that a guest was coming from a vastly higher level, one entirely different from them.
Since they had been told his physical description to some extent, they managed to avoid the fatal mistake of acting disrespectfully towards Ho-cheol.
Ho-cheol asked the bowing hulk.
“What kind of work do you guys do?”
“Just something small. We’re in the loan business.”
“So you’re loan sharks, then.”
“Ah, but we’re not malicious enough for Heroes to raid us. We report our activities and pay our taxes diligently.”
“Well, that doesn’t matter.”
Ho-cheol dismissed it lightly.
They weren't part of his organization; they were just a small business that received subcontracting work.
He wouldn't have to see their faces again after today anyway.
And seeing that they had a proper office like this, they probably hadn't completely crossed the line either.
Most importantly, the reason he came here was for something else.
“Where is he?”
“We have him secured inside. Please come this way.”
Following the hulk's guidance, he entered further into the office, into the room marked CEO’s Office.
A completely different atmosphere was felt inside.
The hulk from a moment ago was just a typical visible errand runner, impressive only in his outer physique.
The guys inside this CEO's Office were the genuine article of this organization.
Dangerous individuals.
Villains.
Criminals.
It was the dangerous scent that only those who had truly gotten their hands dirty could exude.
Conversely, the Villains waiting inside the CEO's Office were experiencing the exact same feeling.
No, Ho-cheol merely felt a sensation, but they were so tense that they instantly entered a state of combat readiness, even though they knew Ho-cheol was not their enemy.
The one who opened the door and entered was no ordinary Villain.
A true Villain whose level—no, whose status—was different from theirs.
A monster beyond that.
The air naturally became heavy, and goosebumps ran down their spines.
Even the establishment’s CEO, who had been sitting relaxed on the sofa, naturally stood up and stiffened his body.
“So, where is he?”
A few bodyguards who were standing with their hands clasped behind their backs stepped aside.
Behind them, a middle-aged man was kneeling, his mouth and eyes covered with blue duct tape.
It wasn't visible from here, but judging by his posture, his ankles and wrists were probably firmly bound too.
Ho-cheol clicked his tongue at the sight.
I get the mouth, but why cover the eyes with tape?
His eyebrows are going to be ripped out.
That must sting.
Thinking so, Ho-cheol gestured with his hand.
A man nearby immediately tore off the tape covering the civilian's mouth and eyes.
Riiip—
The civilian, having barely regained freedom for his mouth and eyes, slowly opened his eyes.
Completely terrified, he shouted.
“W-who are you! What did I do wrong!”
His body was trembling, making him look exactly like an innocent civilian.
However, Ho-cheol found that reaction even more unpleasant.
It had been only a few hours ago that he had acted like a complete psycho, even throwing a stone at his student.
He was so sadistic and aggressive toward the weak, but was he acting this powerless toward someone he considered stronger than himself?
I wish he had at least some backbone.
Well, if he did, he would probably already be a Villain.
Ho-cheol squatted down and met the civilian's eyes.
“Well, you're not a welcome sight, but I guess I should introduce myself. I'm the professor in charge of that kid Hero you abused earlier today.”
“What? Professor?”
Bewilderment and embarrassment flashed across the eyes that had just been filled with terror.
And his lips trembled slightly.
It was close to anger, not mere fear.
“You're a Clington professor. So you're half-Hero!”
“To some extent, yes.”
“This is insane!”
The civilian twisted and turned his body in fury.
If his wrists and ankles hadn't been bound, he probably would have grabbed Ho-cheol's collar immediately.
“A professor kidnaps and threatens a person like this! Are you crazy?”
Forgetting his own situation, his voice instantly became brimming with confidence.
And he quickly revealed the reason for that confidence.
“You, you! Do you know who I am! I have a high-ranking official in the Association as a relative! I'll get you stripped of your clothes right now!”
“You lack the humility needed for conversation.”
“You bastard! Your name! What's your name!”
Ho-cheol sighed instead of answering the question and casually tilted his head sideways.
The hulks hiding behind the civilian rushed over and grabbed him.
“Agh! What!”
Then, someone brought a bucket full of water from somewhere.
They grabbed the back of the civilian’s head, and just like that.
Splash— Gurgle, gurgle! Gurgle, gurgle—
“You're getting a diving experience for free that others pay for.”
Of course, Ho-cheol’s sarcasm did not reach the man’s ears.
After his head was held underwater for over a minute, the amount of air bubbles visibly decreased.
The loan sharks barely pulled his head out of the bucket.
Cough— Gasp— Hark— Hark—
Even as he gasped for breath, the man's glare at Ho-cheol was quite savage.
“This is absolutely craz—!”
Ho-cheol frowned and signaled to the man beside him.
“Don't take him out until he learns humility.”
“Ah, yes.”
This time, they repeatedly dipped and pulled him out until no more bubbles came up at all.
After doing that about three times.
“...I, I'm sorry.”
“Now, it looks like we can finally have a conversation.”
Indeed, water always knows the answer.
Ho-cheol rested his elbows on his knees and propped up his chin.
“You know, I seem to value my students incredibly highly, much more than I thought.”
Right now, he felt no kind of guilt even as he laid hands on a civilian.
Rather, he was barely restraining himself to mere waterboarding, fighting the urge to rip off his fingers immediately.
“You asked for my name earlier, didn't you? Alright. I'll tell you. Jeong Ho-cheol.”
Ho-cheol answered briefly.
“Now that you know my name, quietly give up any thought of stripping me of my clothes.”
Ho-cheol sighed at the man, whose face was still deathly pale.
“I'm barely letting this end with this much because I'm half-wearing that 'Hero' label. If I take off the professor tag, do you think it would really end like this?”
Ho-cheol reached out his hand to the side, and someone immediately handed him a paper bag as if they had been waiting.
“Let’s see.”
Ho-cheol opened the bag and turned it upside down.
Photos and documents poured out—woosh—.
The man’s complexion became even paler, incomparably worse than before, upon seeing the contents.
They were faces that were all too familiar.
Photos of himself and his family.
And detailed personal information was listed.
Ho-cheol lightly read one document and gasped in admiration.
“Wow. Two sons and one daughter. A true patriot. Your kids are around the same age as mine. But you're a man with children, and you treat other people's kids like that?”
Shouldn’t he want to take care of someone the same age as his own children, even when outside?
He continued to check the personal information and records in the documents.
“Judging by the address, you live in a decent neighborhood. Bragging about connections in the Association, was it really just this relative, a Class 2 Agent? I thought you had a connection with some great executive.”
If his connection truly were a Bureau Director-level line, he could brag, but honestly, the man's connections were barely enough to cut in line at the Association’s Civil Complaint Office.
And he was talking about getting someone stripped of their clothes with that.
Ho-cheol sighed, genuinely unable to understand.
“Oh, my. His past record is quite colorful, too.”
They weren't major felonies, but he had caused various minor incidents.
Well, with such a low moral threshold, he would naturally spout shameless insults at the Hero who saved him.
In fact, it would be stranger for an ordinary person to stone someone who saved their life because they failed to rescue the car.
He must think of Heroes as the nation's official emotional dumping ground, which is why he acts like that.
He confirmed not only the man's personal details but also the details of his children and wife.
It was quite amusing how the man became terrified in real-time every time Ho-cheol brought up his family.
It was a reaction that clearly said, Don't touch my family.
“Now, what are you going to do?”
“Y-yes, yes?”
Ho-cheol tapped the man's cheek with the document as he foolishly asked the question, looking confused.
“You were jumping all over the place, saying you were going to sue my student because he hit you a few times, weren't you? First, cancel the report to the Association, apologize for provoking him first, and settle this nicely. Otherwise...”
The document pointed to the photos lying on the floor.
Specifically, the man's children in the photos.
“Next time, your whole family will meet here.”
There was not even a hint of playfulness in his low voice.
If Ho-cheol didn't get the answer he wanted, it was all too obvious who the fear and pain would be directed at next.
Before the man could answer, Ho-cheol added a chilling remark.
“If we meet here again next time, I won't end it with this kind of friendly water game. Do you like Korean Spas?”
The man shook his head violently.
***
Seong-woo, having finished his errand for Ho-cheol, came up with an armful of coffee.
He distributed the coffee throughout the office and then entered the CEO's Office.
Seong-woo paused for a moment when he saw the man, whose hands and feet had been unbound and whose wet hair was completely dried.
Not only had the man hit his forehead with a stone, but the insults he had uttered before that were unpleasant and vulgar, beyond description.
Just as he was about to recall the situation and feel anger again.
Thump—
Before he could, the man knelt on the floor.
“I-I’m sorry!”
And then, he immediately slammed his forehead onto the floor.
Thump—
The sound of his forehead hitting the stone floor was clear.
Thump— Thump—!
“I’m sorry! I’m truly sorry!”
He continued to hit the stone floor repeatedly as he apologized.
“W-wait a minute!”
At the sight, Seong-woo was instead flustered and forcibly held him back, preventing him from hitting his forehead on the floor.
He had been so filled with anger just moments ago, but seeing the man apologize by slamming his head on the floor, he couldn't bring himself to be angry anymore.
“I-I'm sorry for hitting you too. Even if I was angry, you're a civilian.”
While they exchanged apologies appropriately, Ho-cheol intervened again.
Placing his hands on both their shoulders, he smiled.
“Now, since neither of you is completely without fault, and you’ve apologized like this, we're settling this nicely, right?”
Ho-cheol applied pressure to the man's shoulder as he encouraged reconciliation.
“Yes, yes! Of course. I was definitely in the wrong, so why would I bring up anything else!”
The man nodded violently, as if the little hair he had left would fall out, and Seong-woo also looked relieved with a much brighter expression.
Ultimately, having reached an agreement with the victim, he wouldn't be able to completely avoid some level of punishment.
But at least he avoided being designated as a Villain or having his path to Hero employment completely blocked.
“Since this has been resolved well, let’s wrap things up here.”