novelraw Chapter 49
Chapter 49
Chapter 49: There Is No Absolute in the World (7)
“It looks like it has started.”
I was in a quiet generator room where no one else was present.
While I was waiting for the right moment, a thunderous roar erupted, sounding as if a carpet bombing had been dropped on a battlefield.
The moment I heard it, I knew the protagonist of that sound was Shin Yu-hwan.
Among the people here at Glory, those who could make such a noise single-handedly could be counted on one hand.
“Then I should slowly start doing my part as well.”
I was not worried about Shin Yu-hwan.
In the first place, it was clear that those villains out there would not be able to leave even a scratch on him.
Even if Shin Yu-hwan fought with his bare hands instead of the Black Spear, he would surely win.
So, rather than worrying needlessly, I just had to trust him and do my job well.
“The timing... is about right.”
It was currently 8:00 PM, the time when Glory would be most crowded.
Considering it was the last day of the practical exam and the final duels were coming to an end, it was only natural that people would be gathered in large numbers.
And that crazy bitch was planning to use this time to trigger a major incident.
‘But I cannot let that happen.’
In the original novel, this midterm exam incident caused massive casualties, but the story was going to be different from now on.
Normally, a villain would have stopped the operation of this generator room and run rampant, but unlike the original work, an intervention called 'me' had occurred.
Even so, I could not help the lingering sense of unease.
‘I cannot truly be at ease because her personality is so unpredictable...’
I would act as much as possible according to the personality revealed in the novel, but I was not confident enough to be certain.
If things went wrong, I could truly die here today.
It was at that moment, while I was praying to a god who might exist somewhere that today's work would end well with a trembling heart.
CREEEAK—
The door of the generator room began to open slowly with a chilling sound.
At that noise, I stopped my thoughts, immediately shut my mouth, and hid to check the situation.
There was a chance that a staff member, not a villain, had entered.
But where was this? This was none other than the prestigious villain's den, Hero Academy "Glory."
As expected, it was not a staff member who opened the door and entered the generator room.
“Hmm-hmm-hmm~.”
What I saw was a female cadet wearing a cadet uniform and a first-year name tag.
She began to slowly look around the generator room while humming.
At the same time, cold sweat began to pour down my back.
‘Damn it. The moment has finally come.’
From appearances alone, she looked like an innocent cadet, but the reality was nothing of the sort.
That was just a shell; in truth, she was an S-Rank villain who boasted immense infamy.
She was an existence that, if I were to attack with my current skills, I would not be able to last even three seconds against.
‘Should I observe a little longer for now?’
Under normal circumstances, I would have been caught long ago. In the first place, she probably would not have even thought about hiding.
For someone who reached the prestige of S-Rank, detecting nearby presences using mana would be child's play, unless they were facing someone in the same realm.
However, that villain was not in a normal state right now.
‘Since that is just a clone, I think I will be fine.’
I did not know if the concept of a clone was exactly right, but it was likely similar.
That was an existence created by that villain using her talent to weave mana.
That was why she could not detect my presence even though I was hiding and showed such a demeanor.
Well... that did not mean the clone was weak, though.
I suspected it was likely similar to me when I was squeezing out every ounce of my strength.
Just as I was thinking that, the villain suddenly stopped her footsteps and stood still.
I wondered if she had discovered me despite my expectations, but fortunately, that was not the case.
“What? All my toys are broken... how annoying.”
She was a person who got angry because her toys were broken.
Perhaps some people might find the term 'toys' cute.
However, if they knew what those 'toys' actually were, they would never utter such a thing.
Because the toys that bitch just mentioned was a term referring to the villains I had entrusted to Shin Yu-hwan.
‘It looks like everything is finished on Shin Yu-hwan's side.’
The fact that she said they were all broken likely meant that all the villains on Shin Yu-hwan's side were dead.
I had expected it to be so, but hearing it from her mouth made me feel even more relieved.
“Ah! This is annoying. I thought I could have some fun for the first time in a while, but what is this? I should just leave today and play later...”
The villain kicked the ground a few times, and as if her interest had cooled, she prepared to head back.
But I could not let that happen.
How could I throw away this opportunity after preparing so hard for today?
I absolutely could not miss this chance, so I stopped hiding and immediately blocked her path.
Then, she widened her eyes and threw a question at me.
“Huh? Who are you? Where did you suddenly pop out from? No one was supposed to be here at this time today??”
“…….”
“I am curious, so tell me quickly! Why were you here?”
She asked questions with an air of familiarity, as if she were a curious child who truly knew nothing.
However, I already knew that I must not fall for her pace.
Therefore, I did not pay much attention to her questions and slowly spoke the words I had prepared.
I spoke the sentence I had chosen after careful deliberation, the one she would have no choice but to react to.
“Please give me a moment of your time, ‘Mad Puppeteer.’”
At my words, her expression changed instantly. Fortunately, it seemed the sentence I had agonized over was effective.
‘It starts now.’
This was a deal that I had to make happen no matter what.
Furthermore, it was a deal where failure meant death, so there must be no mistakes.
The deal upon which my fate rested had finally begun.
***
...The place that had once been a dark forest was now crowded with a large number of people, looking more like a battlefield than a forest.
There were instructors in charge of Glory's safety, cadets studying at Glory, and scouts who had visited to find talent at the practical exam. Every single one of them was there.
Among the massive crowd, there was one person receiving the most attention.
Even without saying it, everyone knew it was the person responsible for this situation, Shin Yu-hwan.
Shin Yu-hwan clicked his tongue inaudibly as he looked at the incredibly large crowd.
“I knew it would turn out like this, but actually experiencing it is not very pleasant.”
He had expected this to happen from the moment he produced that spectacular roar.
All of these were predicted actions.
So, he had even prepared himself mentally to accept it as calmly as possible, but it was still difficult to maintain a good mood.
To put his current feelings into words, he felt like a monkey in a zoo.
“Still, well, since it was the boy's request and it was not as bad as I thought, I should bear with it.”
They were weak and felt somewhat alien, so there was not much of a physical sensation to the fight, but a villain was still a villain.
Does one not feel a sense of gratification even from catching a trivial mosquito?
Catching these villains followed a similar logic.
They were worthless scum with no particular value, but catching them allowed for a bit of a change of pace.
It was at that moment, as Shin Yu-hwan comforted himself with those thoughts and unsummoned the Black Spear he had called forth with his talent.
“...What are you doing here right now?”
A voice colder than a Siberian winter echoed from behind Shin Yu-hwan.
At that chilling and eerie voice, Shin Yu-hwan had no choice but to stop what he was doing and turn his head.
Even though he was currently in an unpleasant mood, he had to maintain the most pleasant smile possible.
“Haha, well. Big Sister came too...”
“...I will ask again. What are you doing here right now?”
“…….”
Shin Yu-hwan had no choice but to fall silent at Cha Yu-na’s subsequent question.
He could tell from her voice that a subtle anger was simmering within her, making it impossible to just laugh it off.
At that sight, Shin Yu-hwan finally had to answer with a voice stripped of its laughter.
“I just happened to discover some villains while I was walking. This was not a planned event.”
“…….”
“Well, you remember my promise to Big Sister to tell someone before I go villain hunting. But I would like you to understand that this was a sudden event, and I had no choice.”
In truth, it was an action he had taken while knowing everything, but how could he say that?
To tell the truth, he would have to mention Choi Yu-seong's name as well, and as Shin Yu-hwan, that was not something he wanted to do.
Therefore, Shin Yu-hwan looked at Cha Yu-na while reminding himself that this was an unavoidable lie.
“Big Sister, why don't you relax your expression? It looks like you brought the kids along too.”
“...Sigh. I will deal with you later.”
“Hahaha! Right, right. Do not get so angry on such a fine day.”
Cha Yu-na felt a surge of anger rising again at Shin Yu-hwan’s words, but she barely managed to suppress it.
She had an image to maintain, so she could not cause a scene in a place with so many people.
Still, she could not help the resentment she felt inside.
‘This jerk. No matter how unavoidable it was, how can he just grin after breaking a promise?’
After he had caused a major accident in the past, they had promised that he would always tell someone before hunting villains.
But instead of feeling sorry for breaking that promise, he was acting so brazenly; she was absolutely flabbergasted.
Furthermore, to be honest, she did not really believe those words.
‘They clearly look like low-level villains, so there is no way he would fight loud enough to make that kind of noise.’
She decided she must talk to him about this later.
Of course, unlike in the past, his skill at lying was now top-notch, so it would be hard to figure out what he was hiding, but for now, it was important to give him a hard time.
While thinking that, Cha Yu-na did not forget to take care of the cadets who came with her.
Were they not children who might come to her guild someday? Even if it was not utmost devotion, taking care of them like this whenever she had the chance was an action she naturally had to take.
Therefore, Cha Yu-na wiped away the angry expression she had been wearing and addressed the cadets with a refreshing smile.
“Unlike what I thought, it was not a big deal. I am glad there was no major trouble.”
“Ah...”
“Oh, you do not necessarily have to watch and learn what that fellow is doing to the villains. He is just strange, after all.”
“Big Sister, I am hurt by those words.”
Kim Su-hyeok was watching the conversation between the two while hesitating, his mouth twitching as if he wanted to say something to Shin Yu-hwan.
Noticing this, Cha Yu-na stopped her idle chatter with Shin Yu-hwan and asked Kim Su-hyeok with a smiling face.
“Do you have something to say to him?”
“Ah, well...”
“You can speak comfortably. He is only like that toward villains; he will not treat you like that.”
“Ah! It is not that. I was wondering if... you have seen Yu-seong, as he is nowhere to be found.”
Only after hearing those words did Cha Yu-na notice.
Now that she thought about it, had that boy Yu-seong not been missing this whole time? Even though such an incident had occurred.
Wondering if something had happened, Cha Yu-na also looked at Shin Yu-hwan, who spoke as if it were no big deal.
“Ah, you do not have to worry about the boy. He said he was tired and went back early.”
“Ah! Thank you. I was worried because I had not seen him all day.”
“Haha! The boy has good friends. He is probably working hard on his own tasks right about now.”
“Now that you mention it, that is true. Yu-seong is always busy. Thank you once again.”
Shin Yu-hwan did not bother to respond to Kim Su-hyeok’s thanks.
He felt too guilty to accept a greeting after lying to such an innocent fellow.
He simply smiled at Kim Su-hyeok and the other cadets.
‘Well then, it looks like my role ends here. I suppose the rest is the boy's business.’
The fact that he was not showing up here meant he was doing something else, did it not?
He was curious about what he was doing, but he had no intention of interfering.
His role in the scenario the boy had drawn must have ended here.
So, was it not time for him to make his exit?
‘Do your best, Boy.’
With that, Shin Yu-hwan turned around with a pleasant smile, looking like a master supporting actor.
Of course, it is said that he was caught by Cha Yu-na shortly after and could not make a cool exit.