The Tough Guy Hides the Villainess - Chapter 146



146 – Hiding the Booty #2

146 – Hiding the Booty # 2

“Bao Noi is showing this to you…! Flowers have bloomed in Nam-jin boy’s garden…!”

Hanamjin’s house.

Under the scorching summer sun, the small yard bloomed with flowers, creating a vibrant scene.

“Mwahaha…! It’s all because this Baonoi has cultivated the garden so wonderfully…! This Baonoi is a splendid gardener nymph…!”

“Baonoi only gave them water…! It was this Inonoi who caught the pesky bugs and sang lullabies to the flowers…!”

It had been a week since the homeowner, Hanamjin, had returned.

Nymphs like Baonoi and Inonoi spent their time managing the house in Hanamjin’s absence.

They cleaned the yard, watered the flowers, and didn’t forget to feed the very suspicious monster, Yingying.

━Gyuiiing.

“I don’t know what that monster is thinking, it’s scary…! It doesn’t even have eyes, so I don’t know where it’s looking, I swear…!”

“Stop your grumbling and quickly toss it some food…! If it gets hungry, it’ll definitely gobble up us nymphs, I tell you…!”

Yingying took the food the nymphs gave it with a gluttonous gulp.

However, today, while receiving food from the nymphs, Yingying let out a cry as if it were totally pissed off.

━Krrrrrr…!!!!

“Hieeek…! It seems this Inonoi’s homemade chocolate Oreo pizza wasn’t to its liking, I swear…! It’s common sense that combining delicious things makes them even more delicious, I swear…! I don’t know why it’s so angry, I swear…!”

“Inonoi is an idiot, I tell you…! Just mixing delicious things together doesn’t make them tasty, I tell you…! There’s no choice but to let it taste this health-boosting, ginseng-eel-honey-bitterleaf soup that I, Baonoi, made, I tell you…!”

Baonoi had combined a whole bunch of good-for-you dishes.

Yingying, witnessing the bubbling pot, made an even more pissed off noise.

━Krrrrrr…!!!

Yingying, the cotton candy cloud, was a gourmet.

It was as if Yingying finally couldn’t take it anymore, floating up from the sofa, and the nymphs were utterly panicked.

“Hieeek…! It’s definitely going to gobble up this Inonoi, I swear…!”

“Silly Inonoi wouldn’t taste good, I tell you…! Living such a comfortable and cozy life in the palace, it surely wouldn’t be tasty, I swear…! But this Baonoi only eats good herbs from the forest, a real well-being nymph…! If it’s going to eat one of us, it’ll definitely gobble up this Baonoi first, I tell you…!”

Yingying passed by the nymphs and headed for the front gate.

When the gate opened, a delivery man holding fried chicken stood there with a card reader.

“Two boneless orders of Black Alio Olio Soy Ppuradak Chicken.”

The middle-aged delivery man, Mr. Delivery, held out the chicken to the cloud-like monster.

A cloud ordering chicken.

It was certainly a suspicious and bizarre thing, but this strange cloud was a regular customer of the chicken place, so Mr. Delivery was somewhat used to this sort of thing.

This cloud even paid with a card and always made sure to get a receipt!

━Yingyingyaing.

“Smells delicious, it does…!”

“It’s chicken, for sure it is…! This Baonoi has had it a few times, it has…!”

The nymphs reacted to the delicious smell.

Watching them, the delivery guy broke into a very slight cold sweat.

‘Every time I come to this place, there are more weirdos.’

After the delivery guy left.

A strange visitor came to the nymphs and Ying-ying as they were happily sharing the chicken.

Ding-dong, ding-dong-.

“This time Inonoi definitely ordered pizza with a bottle cap, it does…!”

It was when Inonoi, who loves pizza, was overjoyed.

The front door opened and a woman wearing a black coat with bandages wrapped all over underneath stepped into the yard.

And then, she frowned at the nymphs.

“Hey, you guys, didn’t Hanamjin come by last night?”

“That mean girl is back, it is…!”

“This Baonoi has seen raccoons, foxes, and egrets, but it hasn’t seen Namjin, it hasn’t…!”

She was Gye Bok-soon, a henchman of Nambada.

A special Awakened with a unique concept, she was thoroughly monitoring and managing the house where Hanamjin used to live, as ordered by Nambada.

“Then what about the little kid with the concept of ‘life’? You guys have him, don’t you?”

“D…don’t know, we don’t…!”

“Can’t say anything, so get out of here, you must…!”

“You guys, if you’re lying, I won’t let it go.”

The Awakened Gye Bok-soon cracked her knuckles-

A tightly clenched fist.

Just as she was about to smash the nymphs’ heads with it-.

Clap-!

Someone grabbed Gye Bok-soon’s wrist.

“Violence. Stop.”

SQuuuEEZE-.

Gye Bok-soon strained with all her might, but it didn’t budge, as if it were fixed by a machine.

‘This one’s Yoo Yeo-reum!’

Gye Bok-soon tensed up at Yoo Yeo-reum’s appearance.

Before Ha Nam-jin showed up, that is, until last year, the most highly anticipated awakened prodigy was Yoo Yeo-reum.

‘The owner of “Light”, comparable to Nam Woo-joo’s “Star.” And of all times, why does this one have to show up now?’

Tch-.

Gye Bok-soon loosened the fist she had clenched.

Then Yoo Yeo-reum also released Gye Bok-soon’s wrist.

Just having her wrist grabbed was enough to make her skin turn red and swell, which was a bit of a hit to her pride.

“Yoo Yeo-reum, don’t you think you can walk around with your shoulders puffed out like that forever. Right now, you’re just a victim of Ha Nam-jin’s kidnapping, but becoming an accomplice is just a matter of time.”

“Me, an accomplice?”

“Yeah, you’re one of Ha Nam-jin’s girlfriends, aren’t you? What’s so good about a man who cycles through so many women that makes you cling to him like that? It’s absolutely disgusting! Filthy!”

Gye Bok-soon had said it with utmost sarcasm, but Yoo Yeo-reum’s reaction was peculiar.

Rather, Yoo Yeo-reum asked back in a surprised tone.

“Me, Ha Nam-jin’s girlfriend? That’s how it looks, huh. You’ve got a keener eye than I thought. What’s your name? It feels like we’re meeting for the first time.”

“My name is Gye Bok-soon!”

“A name as cute as a puppy.”

“Shut up!”

Gye Bok-soon stormed out of the yard, looking furious.

Soon, the nymphs welcomed Yoo Yeo-reum, overjoyed.

“Kore, you saved us, Yeo-reum…!”

“It was very nice timing…! That nymph-hating b*tch was about to give us a knuckle sandwich…! A knuckle sandwich may sound like it would taste as sweet as honey and chestnuts together, but it isn’t tasty at all…!”

The nymphs chattered on.

Yoo Yeo-reum took them to the hideout.

Choi Chang-shik, Jin Eun-byeol, Seo Ga-eul, and others were already gathered at the hideout.

“Wang Ja-hyeon, you’re here too.”

Yoo Yeo-reum opened her narrow eyes.

Soon, Wang Ja-hyeon flared up.

“This is my house, you know! Besides, why do you guys keep coming to my house and bothering me!”

“This Baek-yeo-ul likes Wang Ja-hyeon’s house…! Because it has super strong air conditioning…!”

Wang Ja-hyeon’s house had become the kids’ hideout.

Thanks to the influence of the Jaewang Group, they were relatively free from random inspections and the like.

It was like that, naturally, that they could bring up things they couldn’t say in front of other people.

“Hey, have you guys heard anything about Ha Namjin?”

Yoo Yeoreum asked.

Everyone shook their heads.

It had been seven days since Ha Namjin and Baek Yeoul escaped the police station and went missing.

No one knew anything about Ha Namjin.

He must have hidden himself that completely.

“We have to find him first.”

Seo Gaeul said, almost offhand.

Everyone’s gaze turned to Jin Eunbyeol.

They were trying to use the concept of Jin Eunbyeol’s “Premonition”.

Jin Eunbyeol also had a solemn expression, like she knew this was coming.

And then, she placed her hand on the round glass bead.

“Mureungiyao!”

Jin Eunbyeol recited the strange incantation.

Mibbang burst out laughing, “Puhaha, that’s a funny sound…!” but Jin Eunbyeol’s expression was dead serious.

That was only for a moment though—

“I see Ha Namjin! Ha Namjin is with the terrorists from the ‘Creation Sanctum’! And a terrifying demon is beside Ha Namjin.”

Jin Eunbyeol showed a hint of fear.

At the mention of a terrifying demon, tension tightened everyone’s faces.

“Two days from now. Ha Namjin will show himself in Seoul.”

Two days later.

Seo Gaeul and Yoo Yeoreum thought that they would go to Seoul in two days to join Ha Namjin.

# # #

“I am the demon of death!”

Bbangdaeng bared its claws like an angry raccoon, striking a threatening pose.

Having absorbed a concept akin to a god, a Rank 5, Bbangdaeng was in the process of becoming the demon of death itself, the very incarnation of death.

The wings sprouting from its back were proof of that.

Small wings with feathers as black as a crow had sprouted, each about the size of a palm, and when it wildly flapped them, it could briefly float in the air.

Flap-flap-flap-flap-!

“8 seconds! This time you were in the air for 8 whole seconds!”

Impressive, sure, but I stared at that *bbangdaeng* with a bad feeling, a fearful gaze.

Wings growing from a person’s back.

It was a straight-up mutation!

“You monster!”

“What?! I can make them go away! Haaah!”

*Bbangdaeng*, clenching a fist like someone in a desperate need of a bathroom, squeezing all the strength from their body. Soon enough, the wings growing from their back *poof*—disappeared.

Pretty incredible, I gotta say.

“So, how do you feel?”

*Bbangdaeng’s* pulse and heartbeat were back to normal.

The bullet wound was long healed too.

But, *bbangdaeng* was turning into a *ma-in*.

“I feel good? I feel very good! It’s a truly refreshing feeling! And the time I can stay in the air has increased to 8 seconds!”

Doesn’t sound like a lie.

Soon, *bbangdaeng* slumped down.

“Still, it’s already been a week locked up in this weird basement and I’m bored out of my mind. I wonder how everyone is doing outside. I wonder what mom and dad, and Mibbang, and Kung-Kung are up to.”

We had been hiding in this basement for about 7 days.

Partly to keep a close watch on *bbangdaeng*, who was turning into a “death” *ma-in*, and partly because the newly instated Nambada was searching for us way too hard.

“Being with terrorists is unsettling too!”

The place we were hiding was one of the secret hideouts of the “Genesis Sanctuary”. They had secret hideouts all over the country, places good for runaways like us to hide in.

The world is a strange place.

The day we’d receive help from unregistered Awakeners and criminals, the ones we’d fought before.

“*Bbangdaeng*, it’s a universal truth that yesterday’s enemy can become today’s friend. And if you receive help, you should express your gratitude or give something back.”

There’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world.

They are giving us shelter and food so they must want something from us.

And true to that, Gusejun who finally showed up after a week told me why he had helped us.

“In two days, the President of the United States will visit Seoul. He is a key figure of the ‘Council of Sages’ who has ruled this world for a long time. I intend to meet him, will you come with me?”

The President of the United States is practically the ruler of this world.

Gusejun seemed intent on meeting him but it was honestly ridiculous.

“I don’t think the president would meet you even if you call yourself a ‘savior’. You’re an illegal terrorist after all.”

“Yeah, I guess I would. But—”

Gu Sejun held out a faded, old photo to me.

“You’re different. Look at this.”

It was a picture of a familiar woman with some strangers.

They all held hiking sticks, like they’d been mountain climbing.

“Commemorating our climb of Gwanak Mountain”

“With Friends”

“That’s my mom?”

“Core, who came back from the Great Labyrinth, your mother was a member of the ‘Sages’ Society.’ As her son, you’d probably be willing to meet the old men who are secretly manipulating the world from behind the scenes.”

I hadn’t known that.

Suddenly, I wondered how much I’d ever tried to know about my parents.

From noble mtl dot com

They must have had their own youth, just like me.

“The old men have lived long, so they know a lot of answers. Ha Namjin, it might be worth listening to them, at least once.”

Was it two days later?

“Fine. Set up a meeting! If they’re just a bunch of power-drunk geezers, I’ll unify them with the dirt!”