The Tough Guy Hides the Villainess - Chapter 142



142 – What a Man Must Do

142 – What a Man Must Do

*Swish, thud-*!

The knife I threw with all my might buried itself in the wall.

Old Man Heogi, who was watching this, smacked me on the head with his cane.

*Thwack-*!

“You punk! Missed again! How can you miss hitting a can, is it that hard?”

“Ah, Old Man, you’re making a big deal out of one miss out of a hundred. I still succeeded 99 times from 20 meters away, that’s pretty impressive, isn’t it?”

99 percent accuracy.

It was almost 100 percent.

But Old Man Heogi, with his stubborn and rigid streak, was relentless.

“You brat! Even 99 successes can be ruined by one failure! What if that can was the head of the villain holding your lifeline? Then you’d be dead. Do it again, 100 times!”

It looked like I was about to repeat the knife throwing exactly 100 more times.

This time, I hit 98 out of 100.

“Hey, you punk! Why is your skill getting worse the more you train?!”

“Because I haven’t eaten anything since last night! Old Man, you seem to have a lot of food in that secret base of yours, can’t you just share one with me? Just give me one!”

“This rascal can’t get rid of his thieving instincts! You, a so-called Awakened, being that pathetic? I should’ve just beat you and buried you in the ground that day.”

Once, while looking for food, I had approached a bunker I’d found by chance. It was Old Man Heogi’s secret base, and in the end, I was caught by him and almost died, but I lived because of the Old Man’s fickle nature.

That’s right.

I was an Awakened who couldn’t even beat an ordinary person.

Because of my injured leg.

“What good is power if my leg hurts.”

“You have strong arms, don’t you? And a brain to think with. You’re only thinking about what you’ve lost, not considering what you still have. Your problem isn’t your leg, it’s your heart. Now, 100 more times!”

That night, Old Man Heogi opened a can of tomato soup and boiled it in a pot.

It was the first proper meal I had in a long time, and it was delicious.

Instead, I had to listen to his lecture for more than 3 hours.

His lecture was always the same.

“What is a man─”

“Yes, responsibility. Responsibility. I’ve heard this story more than thirty times already.”

“Keep listening! A man’s gotta have responsibility. He’s gotta be true to the role he’s been given. We all got our roles. And a real man doesn’t turn away from what that role demands in a crucial moment.”

“Then what’s your role, old man?”

“My role is drinking like this.”

Old Man Heo, pulling a pricey-looking liquor from an icebox, swigged it straight from the bottle.

I wondered if a drunkard could even have a role to fulfill as a ‘man’.

A man is responsibility—.

Frankly, I didn’t agree with that.

I’d never been given any kind of role at all.

“I think a man is power. Power is the means to impose your will. Shouldn’t those who can impose their will on others be called men?”

“You could think that way. The world we lived in was the land of such men. But look at it now. Look at the mess the guys who worshipped power made. The great achievements are gone, leaving only sand.”

The old man then mumbled something that sounded like a song or maybe a sijo poem, before falling asleep.

I covered him with a blanket and then practiced throwing daggers alone, one hundred times.

It was a peaceful time.

How hopeful it was to be training, to be able to dream of a better future.

Even now, sometimes when I remember those times, I can’t help but smile.

“Missed. Kid. If you wanted to stop me, *cough*, you should have gone for the throat.”

Sergeant Major Ha Gi-hun, fatally wounded by the dagger embedded in his chest, collapsed, coughing up blood.

If I had hit his throat, he would have been killed instantly, but it couldn’t be helped.

“When you throw a knife a hundred times, it’s normal to miss at least once.”

“And that one mistake is gonna be what goes for your throat.”

Instead of answering, I looked around.

Beyond the rooftop railing of the closed-down base, the beautiful, majestic blue mountains of Gangwon Province met the sky.

If I hadn’t come here today, I wouldn’t even have known this view existed.

But the flames were raging like an armory had exploded.

At this rate, a huge fire would spread across the mountains of Gangwon Province, killing many animals and plants.

*Rumbling-*

That was when it happened.

Just as I thought I’d heard thunder in the clear sky, black rain started pouring down.

*Swishhh-*

The burning flames were extinguished by the black raindrops.

That black rain, so dreaded and resented, had, in the end, extinguished the great fire.

# # #

Released from the police station after a brief investigation.

「Junior Warrant Officer Ha Gi-hoon Arrested」

「His custody transferred to the ‘New Order’ of the Allied Forces─.」

「Terrorists hiding in each branch swept up!」

「Rebellion of a retired soldier, was there no government responsibility?」

「The 7th Republic, summoning its own disaster─.」

The morning papers, as if delighted, were chattering about the events of the past two days.

However, I felt rather uneasy.

‘Things went easier than I expected.’

I’d braced myself to lose an arm or a leg in the fight against Junior Warrant Officer Ha Gi-hoon.

I’d thought I’d be fighting a dragging guerrilla war, using the terrain to our advantage, repeatedly exhausting each other’s resources over several days, then vanishing.

That’s why I hadn’t dragged my friends, like Bbang-daengi, Seo Ga-eul, or Yu Yeo-reum into this plan.

Because a dangerous and messy battle was coming.

But maybe luck was on my side, since I escaped with only a through-and-through wound in my thigh.

‘Junior Warrant Officer Ha Gi-hoon, did he have too much faith in his awakened abilities?’

It was a common mistake for early awakeners.

Either underestimating or overestimating their abilities because they didn’t fully understand their own strength.

“What a surprise! Thanks to you, we’ve managed to gather a ton of information from the ‘Genesis Holy War’ terrorists!”

When I got home, a Yankee broad was sitting on the sofa, greeting me.

What was her name?

“Was it Mineral from America?”

“Minerva!”

She was a top-tier American agent with the concept of ‘bomb’.

Next to her, Section Chief Kim Jang-dong was sitting, and he simply nodded to me without a word.

Instead, the Yankee chick, Mineral, kept chattering away.

“You’ve done a great job, so the higher-ups might want to meet with Mr. Namjin soon. You know, those old geezers pulling the strings behind the scenes, playing with the lives of young people.”

I just wanted to avoid meeting old geezers now.

I was exhausted from going straight to the police investigation after the fight and just wanted to be left alone.

Whether he read my emotions or not, Section Chief Kim Jang-dong opened his mouth.

“Minerva, Namjin seems really tired. Let’s give him some space. He needs a good rest now so he can participate in the upcoming events looking bright.”

“Okay!”

With the bubbly girl and Kim Jang-dong leaving the house, the place became silent.

How much time passed?

When the room had grown dark, someone snapped the living room light on. *Click*

“Live with the light on, will ya?”

“Chief, weren’t you gone?”

“I clocked out. And I’m not a chief anymore now. I resigned, quit my job.”

Kim Jang-dong resigned?

That was something.

“The workload kept getting bigger, but the pay got smaller. More than anything, I didn’t get to see my daughters much. My wife was even complaining she’d forget my face. Plus, lots of dangerous stuff, lots of dirty work. I was ashamed to face my daughters.”

Saying that, Kim Jang-dong held out a piece of paper to me.

The paper was a letter.

The content was simple.

“Please look after Ha Namjin.”

“That’s a letter I received a few weeks ago. I didn’t know who wrote it or why they gave it to me, but now I think I kinda know. It seems it was Warrant Officer Ha Gi-hoon.”

*Tick-*

Kim Jang-dong turned on the TV.

The news blaring out was rather strange.

“President Nam Tae-geon has announced his resignation due to health deterioration and responsibility for the current situation.”

“In accordance with the revised constitution, President Nam Tae-geon has designated a successor, and that person is believed to be his grandson, Ha Namjin.”

“The citizens are reacting to this unprecedented event in the history of the republic, a presidential succession-.”

“Title: This presidential succession thing is bullshit but if it’s Ha Namjin, then fine.”

“Content: All the next candidates are just judo instructors so Ha Namjin is better.”

└Real

└Isn’t he still underage? Is he even allowed to become president?

└Can you even succeed the president in the first place lol

└It’ll probably be a vote for or against the candidate, not an actual election, right?

“Title: Honestly, who else is there other than Ha Namjin?”

“Content: Who took down the Judge incident, the zombie outbreak, and the terrorists? It was all Han Namjin.”

└Was the Judge also arrested by Han Namjin?

└Yeah, I’m an alumni from that academy too, I know.

“Senior Warrant Officer Ha Gihun, the terrorist of the century. Han Namjin, who apprehended him and became a true hero of the 21st century. Everything went according to the old men’s plan.”

“This was a plan?”

“Yes, Senior Warrant Officer Ha Gihun met with President Nam Taegon and made a deal. We don’t know the specifics of the deal, but he agreed to become a spy for the ‘Genesis Temple.’ He became a terrorist to observe their movements and relay information. It was that old soldier’s mission. A top-secret mission.”

“Mission, so everything was intentional?”

“That’s right. It was his role to become a villain and, in the end, be defeated by your hands, the key player of the next generation. He fulfilled his duty. There won’t be another man like him in this world.”

「Senior Warrant Officer Ha Gihun, a key figure in the L-Mart terrorist bombing, in critical condition」

「Side effects of ‘Baptismal Water’?」

└Why are we paying to treat a terrorist with our taxes! Pull the plug!

└If it wasn’t for Han Namjin, there would’ve been a nationwide terror attack, everyone would’ve died.

Senior Warrant Officer Ha Gihun was being vilified as a terrorist.

But it turns out it was all part of his mission.

“He was Kore’s adoptive father. He must have thought of you like a grandson. I guess he thought that the only legacy a sick old man could pass down to you was this kind of accomplishment.”

No wonder things seemed so easy.

A hot surge rises in my chest.

“…What happens if I reveal the truth? If I expose the truth and reject the presidency? What happens if I reveal Nam Taegon’s scheme?”

“Then Senior Warrant Officer Ha Gihun’s reputation will plummet even further.”

“Then why are you telling me this, Section Chief? It’s top-secret.”

“Because I don’t want to lie anymore. My life has been filled with all sorts of lies and secrets, but I don’t want that anymore. And, I felt like you needed to know.”

With those words, former Section Chief Kim Jangdong left the house.

If things continue as they are, I will inherit the presidency.

Was this President Nam Taegon’s aim?

He clearly wants to make me his successor.

I didn’t like things going according to his plan.

My life is mine.

So, what do I do?

If I expose the secrets between Senior Warrant Officer Ha Gihun and President Nam Taegon, I could stop this bizarre presidential succession, but…

After a long period of deliberation, I reached a decision.

A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.

I knew exactly what that was.

So I called Jeon Somi, the model-turned-popular-MeeTuber.

“Hanamjin, what’s got you calling? If we collab right now, my subscriber count would jump by another million in a heartbeat! The broadcast hasn’t even started and there are already 100,000 people waiting!”

Jeon Somi arrived in under an hour.

I borrowed her live stream to speak.

“Everyone, I, Hanamjin, have a confession to make.”

“A confession? Are you going to talk about the presidential succession?! Or maybe a marriage announcement…?! Everyone, this is exclusive live coverage on Somi TV, so spread the word!”

100,000, 200,000—

The viewers were steadily increasing.

I told them, “The kidnapping of Seo Gaeul and Yoo Yeoreum that shook the world this year was pinned on Namsanho, but that’s not the truth. The real culprit hasn’t been caught yet. And I know who it is.”

“Kidnapping? The real culprit? Not the president or marriage?”

Jeon Somi looked incredibly bewildered.

At the same time, she seemed to realize, with an influencer’s instinct, that what I was about to say would have a massive impact.

“Wait! Let’s pause this for a sec—.”

“Yeah, I’M the culprit!!!”