This Villain is Soft - Chapter 67



Only Noblemtl

Episode 67

“……yes?”

Joo-yeol frowned as if he had heard something nonsensical.

It has long been the case that the Hero Headquarters and the bosses of the Old City have had regular meetings and exchanged information to maintain some sort of balance.

When a new boss enters the old town, the headquarters periodically dispatches heroes to monitor their movements.

When Q took over Area 1, a Finder with clairvoyant abilities and a Boulder who could harden his entire body were dispatched every week for a month.

This time, he will be leaving that role to Joo-yeol.

“Hasn’t Dr. Eunhaon been soft on you since he lost his memory? If it’s to your advantage, you should use it.”

“But I─”

“I’m not telling you to go alone. River is coming with you.”

“Yes? Oh, yes. I understand.”

River nodded in surprise. It was a logical decision to send me in, since I had some acquaintance with Ha-on and Ju-yeol.

The hunter sighed and said after seeing Joo-yeol’s strange expression.

“No matter what your purpose for returning is, you’re a hero. I don’t think it’s too much to ask you to protect the city.”

“… … I know.”

“You might be out of your mind right now, so go next week.”

Joo-yeol, who had been nodding his head in a daze throughout the meeting, left the conference room and went straight to his dorm.

He frantically searched through the materials on Halo and human experiments, and the more he did so, the more his rage grew.

Halo was an ‘order’ in the old city that absolutely did not tolerate children being used for crime or killed.

That kind of ‘order’ suddenly set fire to a house with a child left alone?

It was clear that there was some connection between the terrible experiment and the Halo.

I’ve been investigating my brother’s suspicious death in detail, but all I’ve found so far is a headache.

It is unknown when Eunhaon first joined hands with Halo, but someone using similar technology also appeared in the abandoned factory.

But, judging from the fact that they fought quite fiercely, it is clear that their relationship has deteriorated… … .

Joo-yeol, who had thought that far, nervously threw down the bundle of documents.

No matter what I think about, it always leads back to Ha-on. I just don’t know how to deal with her.

‘Maybe it’s better that Anga disappeared.’

Every time I thought of Haon, my feelings of affection and betrayal shook me like a seesaw moving rapidly.

Whenever I tried to think of something else, Halo would invade my mind.

Feeling like I would go crazy if I didn’t do something, I ended up going from gym to gym and training room until I was drenched in sweat.

The next day, and the day after that.

“Is this kid crazy? Stop it!”

“Stop! You can’t do this! I won’t spar with you anymore. I’m really going to die, so go find someone else.”

“You’re banned from the training room for the time being. Everyone who comes to the training room runs away when they see you!”

Until the other heroes glared at him with weary eyes.

Joo-yeol spent time at the shooting range disassembling the guns he was issued, cleaning each part, reassembling them.

Everyone looked at him like a monster because he was simultaneously working as a hero and investigating his brother’s death.

But that amount of hard work wasn’t enough.

As I was lying down in my quiet room trying to sleep, my chest suddenly felt heavy.

‘Someone else? Can you prove it?’

When the number 56 appeared on the small, white back of his hand, he felt ashamed of himself for wanting to believe in Ha-on even for a moment.

When I think back on that moment, it’s funny how I think like this.

Could it be that the numbers have changed because it’s a different person?

What if it wasn’t ‘Eunhaon’ who deceived me, but a serial killer or terrorist from another dimension?

‘Is that okay?’

Joo-yeol let out a hollow laugh and took out a USB from deep inside his luggage. It was the one Ha-on had given him.

Did you say that this could prove that it was ‘another galaxy’?

At this point, I was curious about what would shake me up next.

No. Maybe it’s because there’s still a glimmer of hope.

He went straight to Engineer Team B.

“This was given to me by Eunhaon, so please check to see if there are any signs of manipulation.”

At those words, the engineer, with a stern face, plugged in the USB into the laptop that had nothing installed on it and wasn’t even connected to the Internet.

“At this rate, we won’t be able to hack into the headquarters server. I’ll just take a look.”

And the two people who opened the photos among the files contained there had very strange expressions on their faces.

Surprisingly, the one standing next to Ha-on, who looked even younger than before, was Joo-yeol.

A skinny body with only enough muscle to survive. There were no anchovies.

Ha-on could immediately tell that this was ‘our Ju-yeol’, who he had been looking for without fail.

Pictures of the two of us in the mountains, pictures of us at the sea, pictures of us at school, etc.

They sang the song about being best friends and it really seemed like they were.

Juyeol turned off the photo after seeing ‘Juyeol’ looking at Haon with warm and affectionate eyes.

‘Why did you make that expression on my face?’

He never thought that these photographs could exist in any way other than as composites and manipulations.

The engineer muttered with a tired expression, as if he was thinking the same thing.

“It’s creepy.”

In addition to photos, the USB contained several audio recordings and videos.

As soon as Juyeol played the first audio recording, he flinched when he heard Haon sobbing.

[Professor Park Won-young, who was in charge of the voice recording, passed away while trying to stop the terrorists’ operation. Eun Ha-on from the Department of Magic Engineering decided to continue the voice recording in Professor Park’s stead.]

[The current location is a live pub in the basement. We plan to rescue the hostages while the terrorists go out to get food. Assistant Song may already be dead, but we decided to find his body.]

[During the hostage rescue, Ha-on was shot in the leg and is currently receiving treatment, so Woo Joo-yeol, a student in the Department of Magic Engineering, will take over this voice recording. We decided to bury Assistant Professor Song’s body with the other bodies─.]

‘… … What does all this mean?’

Joo-yeol felt goosebumps when he heard his own voice leaking out in the middle of the audio recording.

“Is it possible to make something like this?”

“There is no reason why AI cannot be used.”

There were also two videos: one of Ha-on and ‘Ju-yeol’ blowing bubbles and another of a city that seemed to be at war.

‘Isn’t it too realistic? Why does it seem so real?’

The engineer watched the video a few times and then looked puzzled.

“It’s probably CG and AI, but it all looks real when you look at it like this. I don’t know what it is, but it’ll take a long time.”

Joo-yeol nodded as if he had expected it.

“I’ll contact you as soon as the results come out.”

He barely managed to take steady steps. The gaze of ‘Universe’ looking at Eunhaon was extremely irritating.

Besides, no matter how you looked at it, the city in the video was at war.

War and 56.

‘What if. What if those files were not all fabricated but real… … .’

Joo-yeol felt ashamed of himself as his expectations, which had been slim, began to rise.

Among the materials that Eunhaon has submitted as evidence, there was not a single one that was not manipulated.

Even though I knew that, I still felt uneasy. Was it because Halo and Haon’s conversation was a bit strange?

‘You pretended that the owner of the cell phone that Eunha-on was looking for was someone else. What does ‘fake’ mean?’

He stood in the dark hallway, his head pounding, and glanced at the mechanical hamster at his feet.

‘Following along without knowing the speed is exactly what made me do this.’

I briefly considered kicking it away, but I left it alone and headed to the shooting range, whether it followed me or not.

* * *

The residents of District 1 of the Old Town were shocked by the news that Dr. Eunhaon had become the new boss.

Because Dr. Eunhaon’s memories returned and it was clear that he had killed Q in order to turn the entire District 1 into a laboratory.

The first thing Haon did after becoming the boss here was to send drones across the entire District 1 early in the morning.

People ran away screaming, assuming the drone would breathe fire or control their minds, but a voice of bewilderment came out of the drone.

[Oh, hello. Residents of District 1! I’m Eunhaon, the new manager of this district. I decided to conduct a survey to ensure a pleasant and safe life for you all!]

I was momentarily bewildered by the sudden request for a survey.

People accustomed to old-town life turned a blind eye to the survey, believing it to be a threat demanding obedience.

[Those who participate in the survey will receive a discount on next month’s protection fees!]

Until I heard that.

People, regardless of gender, stood in line to have the drone fill out a questionnaire.

And as soon as I saw the first question, I realized something strange was going on.

“Do you think the protection fee for Zone 1 set by Q is expensive?

1. Very much so.

2. Yes.

3. No.

4. Not at all.

Residents were perplexed because they had never been asked such questions despite paying monthly protection fees.

I would have liked to check everyone at once. District 1 is the area with the highest protection fee in the old city.

I had no idea why Eunhaon wanted to do this survey.

I was confused whether I should answer honestly or check number 4 to be tactful and say it wasn’t expensive at all.

The other questions that followed were also unusual.

“Do you think there is enough parking space in Zone 1?”

“Do you consent to towing all vehicles abandoned and parked on the side of the road?”

“Which of the following public facilities should be repaired first?”