This Villain is Soft - Chapter 40



Only Noblemtl

Episode 40

“Drugs? I think I saw you taking something.”

“You live here too, so you know what’s going on these days? I guess it’s like a short-term stimulant.”

“All the ones I’ve seen so far have focused on strengthening the body. Becoming faster or stronger. And the side effects are severe because the level of completion is still unstable. The muscles swell excessively and you get dizzy.”

River’s comment reminded Juyeol of the fight at the restaurant. The guys he faced today were faster than the guys from District 4 he saw back then.

When I recalled the behavior of the awakened people who were continuously making news, I had an idea.

“Does ‘yet’ mean that the level of completion is gradually increasing?”

“That’s right. The ability fades over time, so it’s being suppressed quickly compared to the scale of the incident, but the duration is getting longer as time goes by. It’s estimated that it first spread to the District 4 gang.”

“It was District 2 next, and now it’s spread to District 5 where my brother is. I think we should talk to the gang bosses.”

Joo-yeol made a puzzled expression.

The two were not Awakened with abilities useful in battle, and their basic fighting power was not high among heroes.

“If that’s the case, why did you two get grouped together?”

“They all went to stop Nova from blowing up a building. So originally we were just going to patrol along the river.”

“Then I found some suspicious guys and came all the way to the old town.”

Juyeol nodded as if he understood the answer.

Chaser, who could see the afterimages of what happened a minute ago, was a hero specialized in investigation and tracking, while River, who could breathe underwater, was a hero specialized in underwater rescue and search.

Even in terms of abilities, each hero was good at different things, as they were specialized in stealth and surprise attacks.

“Still, I’m glad that you seem to be doing well.”

“what?”

He raised his head from drinking his cola at River’s unexpected remark.

River pointed at him with the french fries he was eating.

“Your face looked really bad when you were imprisoned in Gowon. But I’m glad to see that you look better than I thought.”

“… … .”

Suddenly, a face came to mind, and Juyeol glanced at the sofa and frowned.

Chaser, who had been rolling his eyes absentmindedly since earlier, was annoyed at me for just crumpling up the poor hamburger wrapper.

“Hey. Stop fussing.”

“Oh, no. I think that person might be there… … .”

River tilted his head as Chaser blinked in surprise.

“That guy? Who is that?”

“that…….”

She was quick-witted and looked back and forth between Chaser, who looked overly anxious, and Joo-yeol, who didn’t respond, before thinking of an absurd character and becoming half-believing.

“You… … live with Dr. Eun? No, you don’t?”

“Stop talking nonsense and stop worrying.”

River was shocked by Juyeol’s ferocious reaction.

“Are you crazy? I thought it was strange when Dr. Eun was clinging to you when I went to catch Gowon!”

“How can you turn off your nerves!”

Chaser also jumped up and raised his voice.

“I came here to ask you something about this matter, and Dr. Eun came back after shopping and my brother cooked for me!”

“Who would feed him what? No, but you reported to headquarters that you didn’t meet Ghost!”

“If the disciplinary period is extended, the time spent together will only increase! Dr. Eun didn’t even go home that day!”

“What? Ghost, you’re really crazy!”

“Why is this kid watching something like that so gloomily?”

“Then just leave it?”

Was that what you came for at headquarters? Joo-yeol clicked his tongue and rubbed his itchy ears.

“Why are you looking for someone who has been suspended from work? You guys figure it out yourself.”

“If I had stayed in the old town, I would have seen something.”

River added, looking him up and down as if he still couldn’t believe it.

“And no matter what, don’t come near Dr. Eun. I’d rather kill you like I did in the old days.”

“It’s close, X. What are you trying to do now? I told you not to kill, and then I told you to kill.”

“I’m not really telling you to kill me!”

“Don’t worry about it!”

Chaser said with a serious face as Joo-yeol slammed the table and shouted nervously.

“Brother. I’m not just saying this. Headquarters suspects that Dr. Eun created the short-term stimulant.”

“… … What are you talking about?”

“I saw you a few days ago observing the condition of villains who had taken short-term stimulants.”

* * *

Haon, who had been lying blankly on the floor of the Dimensional Gate Research Lab, scratched his head.

“How on earth did you make this… … !”

It’s been five days since Nova’s blood and hair were collected and locked in the lab.

By cleverly finding all the blank spaces in the forced awakening research records and substituting Nova’s genetic sequence, we came to the conclusion that it was possible to create a temporary stimulant.

The problem is that we also got the answer that not even a single inch of error is allowed in the combination of ingredients.

‘Have you perhaps learned the art of magic?’

The head of the Galaxy, the science, technology and knowledge that exist in this dimension.

Can they come together and understand mana in this place where there is no basic theory of mana?

‘Magic engineering is a science. It is essential to fully understand the microscopic structure of mana particles, and also to fully understand the structure of the material that is intended to combine with mana.’

Haon’s gaze fell on Blue. Even the appearance of that blue bird was something created by combining mana with radio waves.

The magic app is also activated using radio waves. When mana is combined, the mechanism itself changes, no matter what.

It had only been a short while since I had clumsily separated mana from the Awakening Orb, but no matter how much I thought about it, it was impossible to understand it and intentionally create a specific drug.

‘So you’re saying that they really did a random human experiment and it just happened to succeed?’

It was absurd that that was the most likely guess at the time.

I rubbed my heavy eyes and stood in front of the glass case, where a dark blue potion was bubbling away.

It was four days ago that I obtained this short-term stimulant called a ‘potion’.

In the Old Town District 2, I found some villains who had passed out from the forced awakening side effects like Checker, and I was able to find a potion containing mana in the arms of one of them.

Whether it was the stimulants themselves that were addictive, or the brief moments of pleasure they felt when they displayed superhuman strength, the villains seemed to be desperate to obtain more of them.

‘If you do that, something big will happen.’

There was a look of distaste in Haon’s eyes as he stared at the potion.

Taking it once may cause only mild side effects, but taking it multiple times can lead to death.

Some people might wonder what’s wrong with villains dying after tampering with dangerous drugs, but of course it was a problem.

Since it spread through unknown routes and ended up in the hands of villains, it was impossible to know through what route civilians might also get their hands on it.

‘It’s already spread everywhere, but it seems like even the villains don’t know exactly where to get the potion.’

Haon thought of a prominent person as the source of the stimulant.

A person who knows that ‘Eunhaon’ has been secretly conducting forced awakening research and has directly provided money for it.

‘Order’ that allowed a new drug to spread among the villains.

It was Halo.

‘And the culprit who killed ‘Eunhaon’ is probably… … .’

Given the circumstances, it appears that ‘Eunhaon’ and Halo were attempting to run a short-term stimulant business.

It is common in any field for partners to be pushed out in hopes of monopolizing the business.

But my life is threatened by the villains’ order.

That was scarier than the fact that there were so many villains who wanted to kill ‘Eunhaon’.

‘I’m glad I pretended to lose my memory. I guess Halo will leave me alone now that word has spread that I’ve gone crazy.’

Haon sighed in relief. Since I fell into this dimension, Halo has never targeted me.

I was so busy excavating the Awakening Orb, researching dimensional gates, and researching potions at the same time that I didn’t have time to breathe.

If I had to deal with Halo, I might have died from overwork first.

I couldn’t eat properly for several days and only ate energy bars.

I missed Joo-yeol’s cooking, but it wasn’t the time to leisurely visit his house.

‘The reason I can’t see the awakening orb very well is probably because I dug it up to make a potion. If I keep doing this, I might not be able to obtain all the awakening orbs needed to make the dimensional gate.’

The best solution is to join hands with Hero HQ and prevent the production of potions.

It was a way to reduce the heroes’ antipathy without having to appear in front of Halo, but it was only possible if they accepted me.

‘If I suddenly say I’ll cooperate, you won’t believe me, right? I have to come up with a way to nullify the potion’s power.’

Then Blue flew into the air and announced.

[Haon. Bunny came with Chacha. It’s urgent!]

As I hurried down to the cafe in an atmosphere that felt like something big had happened, Bunny called out to me urgently.

“Haon, unnie! Hurry up! Chacha, unnie is acting strange!”

“Ugh… … Ugh… … !”

Chacha gasped in pain and grabbed the hem of Bunny’s clothes. She looked uneasy.

“Chacha? Why are you doing that… …!”

Haon laid her down straight and then froze.

Oddly bulging arms and shoulders.

A blood vessel covering one eye.

A person holding his head as if complaining of a headache.

The corners of his mouth were red, as if he had vomited blood.

Mana that shakes Chacha’s brain and heart.

It was a side effect of overdosing on the potion.