After killing off all the gang members who tried to raid this place,
I then took care of the ones who were trying to protect the money.
Of course, “protecting the money” was just a nice way of putting it.
In reality, it was more accurate to say I hunted down each and every one of those who were just trying to run away with the cash.
“Phew… Got them all.”
Even while I was running around, hunting down every gang member in this place…
“I won.”
“The last card was red, so that means I won.”
“No? The dealer died before he could declare the winner, so obviously I win since I had more money left at that point.”
“Ha, what kind of nonsense is that?”
“Sorry, kid, but that’s how the world works.”
“It’s sad how you’ve lost your innocence.”
Those two women were still arguing over who had won.
“How about you two stop talking nonsense and actually help out?”
“Who do you think won?”
“Oppa, who do you think won?”
“How much do you both have right now?”
“2.59 million won!”
“I had 2.13 million left, but I just won the last round, so it’s exactly 2.45 million!”
“I gave you both 5 million won. Care to explain why you’re both in the negatives?”
“Uh…”
“Well… that’s…”
I turned my head away from the two women who, instead of making 20 million won, had managed to end up with less than 5 million combined.
“Babe…!”
“Oppa, that’s not what happened…!”
…
The money I got from this gambling den was definitely less than what I’d taken from the loan shark company.
That made sense. After all, a place that stockpiles cash to lend it out and a place that scrapes money off people trying to win big would naturally hold different amounts.
It’s like hitting up three illegal gambling dens just to match what you’d get from hitting one loan company.
Hmm…
Since hitting a gambling den was more complicated than raiding a loan shark’s company but didn’t pay as well, I couldn’t help feeling a little dissatisfied.
Guess I’ll just start raiding every shady place that might have cash.
Illegal gambling dens.
Underage entertainment clubs.
Counterfeit luxury goods distribution hubs.
Prostitution rings, and so on.
I decided I’d clean them all out whenever I came across them.
That aside…
“……”
“……”
I looked in the rearview mirror at the two women sitting silently in the back seat.
They knew they were in the wrong, so they weren’t saying anything. But they still hadn’t stopped the cold war between them.
Watching them like that… a question suddenly popped into my head.
“I’ve got a question, Pyro Bomber.”
“What is it, babe?”
“Why do you hate Mobia so much, even though she saved your life?”
“Because she’s a Hero.”
“She quit being a Hero, though.”
“Well…”
“Seo-yoon.”
“Yes, Oppa?”
“Why do you hate Pyro Bomber so much?”
“…Because she’s a Villain?”
“I’m a Villain too.”
“Uh… I mean, that’s… well…”
I was seriously starting to wonder why these two were even fighting.
“Oh, I figured it out. She’s after my man. You’re my man, and she’s trying to take you.”
“I… I met Oppa first, you know??”
While the person in question hadn’t even given it a thought, the two of them were wrapped up in their own delusions.
“Babe? You begged me to date you, saying you loved me.”
“O-Oppa, you said you wanted to sleep with me! That you wanted to spend your first night with me…!”
“..Please stop exaggerating what I said, both of you.”
If there was one thing for sure, it was that these two were completely incompatible.
It was at that moment I decided….I’d make sure they never met again.
…
There were all kinds of superpowers in the world.
Super strength, telekinesis, command-type abilities. Powers well-suited for combat.
Others were more practical in everyday life. Like crafting, summoning, immunity to all kinds of explosions and fire, and so on.
And in addition to those…
“As I mentioned before, I’d like to sell it for 3 million won.”
“…What exactly is your superpower?”
“Even without a ruler… I can draw perfectly straight lines!”
“…Can I see it?”
“Yes!”
There existed even completely useless superpowers. Like the ability to draw a perfect straight line without a ruler.
Ssshh—
“How is it?”
“…It’s flawless, like it was done with a ruler.”
“Exactly!”
“…Could you tell me how this ability might be useful?”
“When there’s no ruler nearby, you can easily draw a straight line!”
…I need to tell Hye-won never to buy powers like this.
I’d already told him I’d make the purchase, so I would.
But from now on, I’d make sure to tell Hye-won to always check with me before buying any more superpowers.
“Here, 3 million won.”
I handed over the 3 million won, just as the man had requested.
Sleep.
I immediately put the man to sleep, then pricked his finger with a needle and drank a single drop of his blood.
Then…
Ssshh—
I tried drawing a line on the notebook the man had used with his pen.
I could see a perfectly straight line appear.
What on earth am I supposed to do with this?
Ssshh…
Ssshh…
Ssshh…
“The most angular star in the world…complete.”
Not knowing what else to do, I drew a star, the kind I used to sketch sometimes as a child.
Then I turned my head to check if the bleeding on the man’s finger had stopped.
Once I confirmed it had—
“If you sleep here, your face will get paralyzed.”
“Huh…? Oh… Did I fall asleep?”
“Yes.”
I woke him up from the sleep I’d induced, making sure he wouldn’t realize the method villain hunter use to steal powers.
After waking him up and finishing my business, I was about to head straight back to the vehicle where Pyro Bomber and Seo-yoon were locked in a standoff—
“Excuse me…!”
“Yes?”
“V-Villain Hunter…!”
“Go ahead.”
“Could you tell me… how you took my power?”
He suddenly asked how I had taken his ability.
“You just have to hold the other person’s head for one minute.”
I figured if I tried to hide the method here for no reason, he might start trying to figure out why his finger had been bleeding.
So I gave him a random, believable lie to satisfy his curiosity.
“Ahh… I see. Thank you.”
With his curiosity satisfied, the man….maybe he was on a diet or something—
He took out an injection and stuck it into his belly.
He’s really trying his best to live.
From my perspective, I really had no interest in hearing about the man’s diet plans.
Just as I turned to leave the scene—
Thwip—
“?”
Suddenly, I felt the sharp sting of a needle in my back.
Did he mess up giving himself the injection or something?
I thought maybe the guy had fumbled with the injection and it had accidentally bounced into me instead.
“Hey, is it okay if I take your weight loss injection instead?”
When I asked if it was fine for me to get someone else’s weight-loss shot—
“Hmm…?”
I could feel the liquid from the syringe entering my body.
I heard weight loss shots are expensive… He’s not going to make me pay for it, right?
If he tried to pin the blame on me and demanded compensation for his own mistake, I was just going to knock him out and walk away.
But when I turned to look at his face, he looked extremely nervous.
Guess that’s not gonna happen.
“Would you mind pulling it out?”
“I-I’m really sorry…!”
“It’s fine, just take it out.”
I simply asked him to remove the syringe stuck in my back.
The moment it was out, I immediately started walking out of the alley.
Honestly, killing them and taking the ability seems easier. But then again, it’d take forever to figure out how to use it.
Today felt like one of those exhausting days full of difficult people.
Seo-yoon,
Pyro Bomber,
the ability seller,
and now—
“Getting a look at your face is harder than I thought, Villain Hunter.”
Even the Vice President of the Hero Association was now standing right in front of me.
“…Does weight loss shots have side effects that kick in this fast?”
“…What the hell are you talking about now?”
Click—
The cold touch of metal pressed against my head made it clear—
This wasn’t some side effect of weight loss shots.
And the liquid I’d just been injected with wasn’t any kind of diet supplement.
“Anyway, I paid good money for that stuff. Hope your body’s holding up okay.”
So it turned out to be a superpower treatment drug disguised as a weight loss shot…
“You really didn’t think we’d track you down if you openly posted about buying powers online?”
…I was way too careless.
Looking back, the plan had been full of holes.
After all, I’m the only person in the world right now with the ability to forcibly take powers.
And yet, I went and blatantly posted on Telegraph that I was looking to buy powers.
Unless the Hero Association was completely incompetent, they would’ve seen it and started setting a trap.
I trusted V too much.
I’d already made a deal with V, an informant inside the Hero Association.
I figured V would tip me off before anything like this happened, and that complacency was my biggest mistake this time.
In the end…
Seo-yoon… this is one of those times where I wouldn’t have minded you spying on me. Did she not come because she’s still caught up in that standoff with Pyro Bomber?
A part of me had still been hoping… but as expected, because we’ve become each other’s leash—
I came to realize that neither Seo-yoon nor Pyro Bomber would be able to back me up.
So I could do nothing but calmly raise both hands and surrender.
“You’re giving up this easily?”
“……”
“Guess the Villain Hunter’s not all that. Makes you wonder why the heroes couldn’t catch someone like you until now.”
Injected with the superpower treatment, I had very few options left.
“You just got lucky. If I hadn’t let my guard down, you’d be the one torn to shreds right now.”
“Why does a worthless bug like you keep meddling in other people’s lives and making a mess? Let’s finally see your face. I need to know who you are. Who’s been such a damn nuisance to me.”
I could either wait helplessly, hoping someone would come to save me…
“Choi Won-il…”
“Say one more word. I swear I’ll order them to pull the trigger pointed at your head.”
Or I could die here with him.
“We’ll definitely meet again… in hell.”
Bang—
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