Academy’s Villain Professor

Chapter 239: S-rank (2)

Ho-cheol's warning, which was close to a provocation, no, a threat, changed the atmosphere from just a moment ago.

About half of the heroes showed a reaction that, setting aside the Association's corruption, Ho-cheol's attitude itself was unpleasant.

Of course, these were generally heroes close to the pro-Association side.

Of course, there was also the significant reason that they couldn't trust the allegations raised by Ho-cheol, a villain.

One hero, his brow narrowed, asked Ho-cheol.

“Are you threatening us?”

One hero spoke, as if shooting at Ho-cheol, clearly revealing his displeasure.

“What if I am?”

Buuk―

One hero tore the paper in half and shouted menacingly.

“We should arrest you right now! How dare you, a mere villain!”

It was true that the link between S-rank Heroes and the Association was faint, but that wasn't the case for all of them.

Among them, there were cases of being completely unrelated, but conversely, there were also cases of being close despite being S-rank.

The hero who had just shouted was the latter.

Moreover, the list of the Association's corruption that Ho-cheol presented even included the name of an executive he was close to.

In the end, the S-rank Hero, his patience at its limit, rushed at Ho-cheol.

Although he wasn't a combat-type hero and might be a bit lacking compared to other S-ranks, he was still incomparable to other A-ranks.

Judgment, movement, Trait proficiency, and experience.

All were outstanding movements, enough to give a passing mark even by Ho-cheol's standards.

However, it was only a passing mark, not a threat.

The hero closed the distance in an instant, but Ho-cheol reached out his hand before that.

Teop―

He grabbed the hero's face, swung him as he was, and smashed him into the wall.

Kwadeudeudeudeuk―!

The hero, who twitched intermittently, went limp.

An S-rank Hero, in just one blow.

A heavy silence fell over the conference room at that fact.

In truth, the S-rank Heroes here hadn't rated Ho-cheol's combat power that highly.

To ordinary citizens, Ho-cheol's faction, which had brought down the Association, was terror itself, but from an S-rank's perspective, the Association's security was, frankly, pathetic.

Even those gathered here were capable of causing such a disturbance.

However, the series of scenes where Ho-cheol subdued an S-rank Hero in an instant was too swift, intense, and perfect to be called ‘just that’.

He was an opponent one must never be careless against.

Everyone judged it as such, and this time, not a single one was left out as they gripped their weapons.

At the stinging hostility and killing intent piercing his whole body, Ho-cheol shook his head.

“I didn't intend to fight.”

But it's not like he could just let a guy who charges at him like that be, could he?

Unlike before, all the heroes, even Sword Demon, had drawn their weapons and were glaring at Ho-cheol.

It was a situation where if he so much as lifted a finger, he would have to scuffle with nearly 20 former and current S-rank Heroes.

Ho-cheol scratched the back of his head as if he were genuinely troubled.

“This is really troublesome.”

Ho-cheol, who muttered as such, let out a light sigh.

“Hoo―. What should I do about this. I can't just…… kill them all.”

That one phrase, very faint and dim, almost like a grumble, momentarily froze several heroes.

Even though it was an event from the past, over 10 years ago, it was a sensation as vivid as if it were yesterday, and a shock that struck their instincts, which surpassed the five senses.

An unforgettable ‘overwhelming terror.’

The heroes of the old generation, who had been active during the heyday of evil 10 years ago, clearly remembered, at least with their bodies, the identity of this unexplainable chill.

Their outstanding instincts and intuition screamed that the ‘villain’ from 10 years ago was the man before their eyes.

“……You!”

At their reaction, Ho-cheol felt inwardly complicated.

He hadn't wanted this to be revealed, but thanks to it being revealed, the menacing atmosphere was suppressed a little.

It was a bit of a gain for now, but it seemed like a loss in the long run.

The rookie heroes who had risen in the ranks in the last few years had puzzled expressions, but the heroes who had already recognized Ho-cheol's identity had no leeway to resolve their questions.

Ho-cheol lightly raised his hand and stroked his chin.

“Anyway, should I be satisfied that we're not shedding blood right away?”

Just a moment ago, they would have dismissed it as nonsense, but the heroes couldn't dare to declare it as such.

Nearly 20 S-rank Heroes.

Even if the worst-case scenario they had imagined unfolded, they had no thought of losing.

However, the Ho-cheol in their memories clearly possessed the capability to take at least half of them with him as traveling companions.

The initiative, which had been on the heroes' side until just a moment ago, instantly tilted toward Ho-cheol.

Meanwhile, Ho-cheol's gaze turned to one hero.

“Oh, oh?”

A middle-aged woman whose prime must have been long past.

He wouldn't have noticed from her appearance alone, but he recognized who she was from her combat stance.

A poor stance with excessive force on one knee, yet the balance of her archery stance was perfect.

That stance, he had only seen it a handful of times, but how could he forget it.

‘Dread Archer.’

In the past, apart from her strength, she had tormented him so persistently that she was among the top 3 most annoying enemies Ho-cheol acknowledged.

Her skill, perfectly executing a pinpoint snipe from several km away, was beyond annoying and close to a nightmare.

Of course, that was all in the past now.

Instead, what he recalled first upon seeing Dread Archer wasn't such a petty grudge, but.

Dayeon's favorite hero.

At the beginning of the semester, hadn't she practiced archery with that poor stance, aiming to be like her?

He had completely given up on finding her because she had completely hidden her identity after retiring and had no media exposure, but to think she'd show up at a gathering like this.

He walked past the tensed heroes and finally approached her.

Even with an arrow aimed at his brow, Ho-cheol was relaxed.

Ho-cheol slowly scanned Dread Archer up and down.

“No wonder no one knows what you've been up to lately, wearing clothes like that.”

She was wearing a light green vest over which a white-brimmed hat was pressed down.

If she were to pull a cart filled with drinks full of lactic acid bacteria, who would dare to think that was a former S-rank Hero?

She must be rolling in money, so she's probably doing it as a pastime.

“We may have fought quite a bit back in the day, but that's all in the past, isn't it? We can just laugh it off now.”

In truth, even if he had let it all go, it wasn't like he had no petty feelings left.

Nevertheless, the reason he was being so friendly was for one reason only.

Ho-cheol began, sounding a bit awkward.

“One of my students is a huge fan of yours.”

At the completely unexpected words, everyone froze, in a different sense.

“Can I get an autograph?”

Dread Archer, while glaring at Ho-cheol, lowered her bow.

Instead, she took out a random receipt from her pocket and lightly signed it.

It was a basic skill as a hero to play along to some extent to grasp the opponent's true intentions.

What kind of sinister intention did he have?

The heroes gathered here should be able to figure it out just from Ho-cheol's breathing, blinking, and hand gestures.

However, they couldn't figure out Ho-cheol's hidden intentions at all.

And that was understandable, as what he showed on the outside was all there was.

Ho-cheol received the autograph and grinned.

“Well, this gives me one thing to brag about.”

It would be perfect to give as a reward when she trains hard.

Ho-cheol, having carefully stored the autograph in his coat, turned back again.

“The atmosphere here is pretty grim, and if I stay any longer, a fight will break out, so I should get going.”

However, he quickly paused.

He looked at the wall he had just smashed by throwing a hero into it and smiled bitterly.

“If I have to pay for breaking this wall, can we split the bill? It's not a problem that happened just because of me.”

It was a joke he was quite proud of, but the atmosphere was still stiff.

What a bunch of boring folks.

Ho-cheol grumbled as such and turned around.

Fortunately, no sudden attacks flew at the back of his head.

Instead.

One of the retired heroes belatedly asked at his back.

“You, you! What in the world do you want!”

“Huh. You're asking because you don't know?”

Ho-cheol, turning only his head, smirked and raised his hand, making a peace sign.

“World peace. What else is there?”

If you all had just done half as much as Smiley, I wouldn't have to suffer like this.

He swallowed the grumbling that rose to the tip of his tongue and shook his head.

As Ho-cheol left, leaving behind only that one dumbfounding remark, it was only natural that everyone would rush at Sword Demon, who had brought Ho-cheol, and question him as if to eat him alive.

***

On the way back to the hideout.

“By the way. Those documents.”

Wolf Fang, who was holding the steering wheel, glanced at Ho-cheol and carefully brought it up.

“Was all that content real? I was also very doubtful.”

Since Wolf Fang was in charge of miscellaneous tasks like copying documents, he knew all the contents of the documents Ho-cheol had distributed to the heroes today.

However, while there were some things he knew among them, more than half were things he had never heard of.

Forget evidence, they were truly absurd pieces of information that didn't even have rumors circulating among villains.

“Of course……”

At that question, Ho-cheol smirked, took off his sunglasses, and lightly bit the end of the temple.

“They're lies.”

Wolf Fang gulped.

This wasn't just some riffraff; they were S-rank Heroes.

What gamble was he playing to handle the aftermath?

“……What will you do if you get caught?”

“I won't. Get caught that they're lies? That means the Association proved its innocence.”

Ho-cheol understood the nature of power well.

“Could they do that?”

The Association would, of course, feel wronged.

They were being slandered with made-up stories without any evidence.

For an innocent person, there was no demand more absurd than the proof of non-existence.

But the problem was, the Association was by no means innocent.

And in the current era, proving non-existence was quite an easy task.

The Association President and the executives he had raised allegations against just had to reveal their memories.

In the current Trait era, that level of Trait could be mobilized anytime.

The problem was, if they cleared up 50% of the false accusations, 50% of their hideous true face would be revealed.

“It might not be a checkmate, but it must be a pretty troublesome situation for them, too.”

Of course, they could pinpoint and prove their innocence only in the parts advantageous to them.

“They might be able to deceive the general public, who are ignorant about Traits, by processing their memories and doing some spin with the media, but heroes won't fall for that.”

Heroes were, after all, experts in all fields when it came to Traits.

Such awkward processing of memories would be caught immediately.

“The memories and evidence they bring out to prove their innocence reek of manipulation? It’ll be chaos.”

If anything, the gulf of distrust between the heroes and the Association would only deepen.

“It's impossible to pull the heroes to my side, but it's quite easy to stop them from siding with my enemy.”

“Is that why you involved the heroes?”

“That's not not a reason.”

Of course, even setting that reason aside.

Ho-cheol narrowed his brow and recalled the heroes from earlier.

Their relaxed attitude was ultimately a disaster born of ignorance.

I'm a hero. They can handle the complicated politics and power structures, and I just need to be good at saving people.

That mindset was deeply embedded.

“It's arrogant, isn't it. Because of that mindset, they pretend not to see even if the Association is rotting. Where does the Association's power come from? In the end, it's the heroes, isn't it? They have to take responsibility too.”

The Association's power and strength ultimately came from the heroes.

They already received the citizens' support just by existing, and they also possessed overwhelming military power.

“At the very least, if we can just stop the Association's executives from being chosen by internal appointment, the primary goal will be achieved.”

Currently, the Hero Association's Bureau Director and other high-ranking officials were appointed by the Association President's system.

Naturally, he was bound to have absolute power.

However, if this incident led to them being elected through hero recommendations or votes, the power structure would change completely.

Ho-cheol took one more envelope from his coat.

An ordinary-looking letter, the kind you could see anywhere.

Wolf Fang, seeing the letter for the first time, blinked.

“Then that. Is that also a document related to some corruption?”

“No, just a simple letter.”

Ho-cheol was holding it, but he wasn't the one sending or receiving it.

The recipient was Choi Da-yeon.

The sender was Sword Demon.

He had agreed to deliver it to Dayeon in return for Sword Demon arranging this meeting.

“Surprisingly, people. They say it's hard to convey your true feelings face-to-face or on the call, but it seems to be okay in writing.”

He thought about checking the contents for a moment, but quickly gave up.

It seemed right to respect this level of privacy.

“Being a parent is pretty hard. Right?”

“Well, that's a story that's far from us.”

“That's true too.”

Ho-cheol smirked and put the letter back in his coat.