novelraw Chapter 282 : Chapter 282
Chapter 282 : Chapter 282
Chapter 282: Preparation (2)
After all, it was a fake identity, merely put forward as a simple formality.
Of course, completely neglecting it would look suspicious in its own way, so he had no intention of completely letting go.
In other words.
Anything was fine as long as it wasn't enough to be caught by others, but.
He let out a sigh of exhaustion.
He hadn't intended to patrol the city this diligently.
The type of patrol that circled the entire outskirts of the city and narrowed in toward the center consumed more than three hours for just one round.
Since this was said to be about 15% of the patrol area, it seemed certain that, as the S-rank No. 1, he had a vast area of responsibility.
His stamina wasn't such that he would be exhausted by simply walking for three hours, but the problem was Da-yeon and Ye-jin, who were chattering next to him.
The two, already accustomed to this three-hour patrol, led the conversation so skillfully that, without exaggeration, they never left the audio empty for more than three seconds.
Furthermore, if an exhausted Ho-cheol tried to give short replies or just listen, they would notice with uncanny accuracy and bring up a topic that forced him to speak at length.
As a result, he had no choice but to properly participate in the conversation.
Ho-cheol, whose energy was thus constantly drained in real-time, collapsed onto a park bench as if falling.
Da-yeon and Ye-jin also took their places immediately to his left and right as if they had been waiting.
“We do one round in the morning, one round in the afternoon, like this. That’s the basic patrol, and during the rest of the time, being on standby for deployment is the standard.”
“You go through a lot.”
The high arrest rate for Awakened crimes in this city was due to the Swordmaster’s ability, but the low crime rate was thanks to the hard work of the Sidekicks who always patrolled regularly like this.
Ye-jin placed her index finger over her lips and spoke as if she couldn't understand.
“Actually, the villain arrest rate in this city alone is 99%, isn’t it? Knowing that so well, why do villains still commit crimes?”
Ho-cheol scratched the back of his head with a slightly guilty expression.
“...It’s not like I can particularly empathize just because you’re asking me. Well, maybe they think they can do it in their own way.”
“Ah.”
Ye-jin belatedly recalled Ho-cheol's position and apologized with an embarrassed look.
Seeing the two of them resting blankly, a sudden question occurred to Ho-cheol, and he asked back with a puzzled expression.
“Originally, students who came for Work Experience had to stick close to their assigned Hero, right?”
“Our case is a bit different. That person, the Swordmaster, only trains in his office every day, and when a crime occurs, he deals with it right there, so there's absolutely no type of experience we could get. That's why we alone received special permission to work alongside Sidekicks as well.”
Thanks to that, they were now able to walk around with Ho-cheol alone.
No, the three of them could walk together.
“It's true that he rarely came out of the office.”
Ho-cheol nodded in agreement.
When an Awakened crime occurred, the Swordmaster was told the exact coordinates, and he swung his sword right there, launching an attack to those coordinates.
That sword strike, which pinpointed and sliced a criminal kilometers away, was more threatening than any kind of sniper attack.
“Still, for some reason, he occasionally patrols these days.”
“It's not a bad change. But aren't you two tired?”
“We're used to it. We’ve been circling like this for more than just a day or two.”
Ye-jin smiled mischievously and placed her hand on Ho-cheol’s thigh.
“Professor, are you already tired? And here you were, the person who used to nag us to train our stamina every day.”
She placed both hands on his thigh and massaged it, kneading it firmly.
“I'm not tired from walking around; I said I was tired because I feel like my ears are going to bleed because of you two. How can you talk non-stop for three hours?”
He could understand Ye-jin, but Da-yeon originally had quite a taciturn image, so he wondered how she had become like this.
Normally, he should have pushed her hands away, calling it sexual harassment, but he liked the feeling of the fatigue easing, which suggested she unexpectedly had a talent for it.
As they continued chatting about various topics, Da-yeon momentarily looked at Ho-cheol’s face—specifically, the fake face on the mask—and asked, “Professor.”
“What.”
“Well, you wore the mask because you were operating while hiding your identity, right?”
“That’s right.”
“But why did you use a face with such distinct features?”
“Ah, certainly. I didn't quite understand that either.”
Ye-jin interjected with a tone of agreement.
Even as she said that, the hands massaging Ho-cheol’s thigh did not stop.
“I thought it was rather an appearance that drew too much attention.”
Ho-cheol shrugged his shoulders indifferently and explained.
“I twisted it once.”
Of course, the two of them wouldn't understand that brief explanation.
This would all be good for their studies anyway.
Thinking so, Ho-cheol added an explanation.
“Lee Byeong-hoo, if that person is watching up to this point, he will probably check all the personal information of the Heroes and Sidekicks newly registered in the Hero Roster recently.”
Since he was certain that Lee Byeong-hoo was semi-colluding with the Hero Association, obtaining that list wouldn't be very difficult.
“This is a form of infiltration activity, you see. The basic rule of disguise is to not stand out. Naturally, if he suspects my presence, he will prioritize checking everyone who is inconspicuous and has a blurry impression.”
He tapped the burn area with his fingertip.
“Something like this is unconditionally low priority.”
“But couldn’t he anticipate that far as well?”
If Ho-cheol thought one layer deeper, his opponent could fully anticipate that far too.
“That's right. But the moment his thought reaches that point, he’s already been entangled, so it doesn't matter. Those who think one layer deeper are forced to consider two, or even three layers deeper.”
“...That’s strange. If it were me, I would unconditionally think the Professor was the most suspicious.”
“It is strange. Yes, from a Heroic mindset perspective, my judgment is abnormal. If that man Lee Byeong-hoo had remained The Sun, he would have thought the same as you, and I would have been caught immediately, but...”
Ho-cheol chuckled.
“He's a Villain now. It's not just a change of position; his way of thinking, his attitude toward objects—everything is adjusted to a Villain's perspective. When that happens, he can never think like you. Everything in the world becomes suspicious to him.”
The Villain's way of thinking and the corresponding response methods were also the kind he taught students while working as a professor at Clington.
If they had consistently received more of that education, they would probably understand this situation.
But they weren't at that level.
Da-yeon seemed to find it difficult to accept but slowly nodded her head.
It seemed like a realm she would likely find difficult to understand for life.
“And there’s a slightly trivial reason. When dealing with the press, this kind of appearance is much better.”
“Pardon?”
It might be too harsh a story for the two of them, who still held some degree of illusion about Heroes.
But it was about time they realized the reality.
“News agencies don't carelessly upload photos or images of Heroes with a bad condition, like this face. There are quite a few... no, an enormous number of cases where they nitpick and tell them not to post it because it's unappetizing.”
No matter what I did, the press would refrain from mentioning it as much as possible.
This allowed me to secure even more convenient conditions for my activities.
Even if they achieved the same feat, the evaluation would change depending on their appearance.
— At those words, Da-yeon frowned, and Ye-jin also moved her lips as if finding it very awkward.
“...That is a bit much.”
“It's awful. Truly.”
“That’s just how life is. Now, Heroes have gone beyond simply helping others and are treated half-like celebrities.”
Of course, that was a story for when he was active as a Hero; as a Sidekick now, it wasn't a major concern.
The press didn't pay much attention to Sidekicks.
“It needs some fixing, though.”
“Then, Professor. If you look at it, when do you anticipate The Sun will cause trouble?”
“Considering that, given his personality, he caused trouble so openly, he must have already prepared on his side. And considering a reasonable grace period to either draw out or make the Heroes here give up...”
Ho-cheol briefly counted the days internally.
“At most two months. At least one month, and he’ll cause trouble.”
I should be preparing as much as possible until then.
As he spoke, Ho-cheol’s gaze fell downward.
Between their shoes and pants, the pink and blue socks that were briefly visible were somehow familiar colors and textures to him.
Ho-cheol asked, in a tone of disbelief, “You two, surely not those socks...”
At that question, Da-yeon stealthily took off her shoes and gently placed her feet on the bench.
Hugging her knees, she turned her head sideways and looked at Ho-cheol.
“Yes. The ones the Professor gave us as a gift. We wear them well. They're nice and warm.”
“...No, well. Given the purpose of socks, wearing them is correct, but I didn't give them to you to absolutely wear them.”
“I wore mine too!”
Ye-jin also hastily rolled up her pant leg and showed off her sock.
Honestly, he thought they would just use them for decoration.
Since these socks were clumsily hand-knitted, they would immediately wear out if they walked around for hours like this.
And they would all unravel if put in the washing machine.
How on earth do they manage them?
“When I walk around wearing the socks the Professor gave me like this, I feel like I'm constantly with the Professor, and I can't stand not wearing them.”
Ho-cheol couldn't bring himself to laugh at that heavy affection and reacted by deliberately lifting the corners of his mouth.
These kids seem to have gone quite mad, too.
What on earth couldn't she stand?
Suddenly, he became a little scared of these two, who were clinging tightly to his side.
***
The meeting room had a desolate atmosphere.
At the head seat, Lee Byeong-hoo sat with his eyes closed, his chair tilted back, his two legs stretched out, and his feet resting on the table.
A fist-sized sphere floated above his head, radiating bright light and heat, just like The Sun.
And the subordinates, standing in two lines centered on the table, were simply frozen in tension.
They couldn't even swallow; the guy who had been annoyingly making such sounds was roasted golden-brown and dumped somewhere.
He, who had been deep in thought with his eyes closed for a long time, slowly opened his eyes.
A reddish-orange glow flashed beneath his gray pupils.
“What is the progress of the work?”
At the question, which was closer to a mumble, a man hastily flipped through documents and began his report.
He reported on the organization’s current resources, situation, and several unusual circumstances.
Byeong-hoo listened silently and nodded at the end.
“What are the trends on the Hero side?”
The man standing right next to him read the report as if he had been waiting.
Currently, Byeong-hoo was contacting not only S-rank but also A-rank and B-rank Heroes beneath the surface, demanding their defection.
He spared no method: negotiation, or threat.
“Twenty percent, huh.”
They had already recruited or extracted a number close to 20% of the active Heroes from the Hero side.
Since they would have originally been entirely hostile, this effectively meant a 40% drain of personnel from the old Hero force.
However, Byeong-hoo seemed unsatisfied.
“Only 20% of Heroes have finally understood this great cause, huh. What foolish bastards. They must see the forest, not the trees.”
“Do not stop the work. Ultimately, this fight will be decided by numbers.”
This fight was, after all, a conflict of ideology and thought.
And this type of fight has always been won by the side that receives the support of the majority.
Therefore, there was no need to cling only to S-rank Heroes.
They were, after all, an absolute minority in terms of numbers.
If he drew a large number of B-rank and A-rank Heroes to his side, public opinion would naturally favor them as well.
“Understood.”
“What about the cooperation with the Association?”
“It's going smoothly.”
“...Trashy bastards.”
Byeong-hoo clicked his tongue, revealing blatant disgust.
Right now, he had only joined hands with them temporarily for the great cause, but he hated the Association no less than the ignorance and wickedness of the citizens.
They were the kind of people who would abandon the very organization they had dedicated themselves to for the sake of their own power.
The Association was also a reason he decided to collapse the Hero system.
Even if Heroes maintained a perfect system, it was clear that it wouldn't last long if the Association was so corrupt.
Once it rotted and broke down like that, recovery would be impossible.
He merely took the operating table to cut out the rotten part before that could happen.
After that, the responsible subordinates continued their reports according to his questions.
As the meeting reached its end, Byeong-hoo, who had maintained a relaxed posture with his legs on the table, lowered his feet and corrected his posture for the first time.
With a serious attitude, quite different from before, he asked, “Jeong Ho-cheol. What is his current situation?”
This was the biggest reason for convening the meeting.
The being who would clearly be the greatest obstacle to achieving his great cause and goal.
“That, currently, in preparation for detection, monitoring is being confirmed by hacking the public CCTVs along his movement routes, but there have been no major changes in his routes before or after Christmas.”
According to the report, it was as if Ho-cheol, unable to overcome his threats, was not getting involved in the affairs between Heroes.
Tap— Tap— Tap—
Byeong-hoo tapped the table with his fingertips.
If he were the kind of person to listen so obediently, he wouldn't have considered him the worst enemy from the start.
He thought hard, racking his brain for a long time.
If their situations were reversed, what kind of trick would he use to screw with me?
And the result: The Sun floating above his head shone even brighter.
If I were Jeong Ho-cheol.
If I looked toward the same goal as the Heroes but spared no means or methods in the process, what could I do?
“The roster.”
“Pardon?”
Byeong-hoo slammed his palm down on the table.
“Bring me the entire list of Heroes recently registered on the Hero Roster.”
He immediately found the answer to his question.