Chapter 153 : Chapter 153
Chapter 153: School Starts (3)
Villain Response Team 1 was a government-affiliated organization that ran as busily as any typical company.
Inside, a young man and a middle-aged man were sharing a conversation.
If there was one slight difference from a normal office...
"Haha! That is something for you to handle, Team Leader."
"Yu-hwan, you bastard. You are definitely going to hell when you die."
"Oho. If I end up there, I think I will see many familiar faces."
While the young man wore a smile, the middle-aged man's face was flushed bright red.
However, this scene seemed to be a daily occurrence for Team 1, as no one found it strange and everyone continued with their work.
"When you eventually become a Team Leader one day, I hope you meet a subordinate exactly like yourself. Do you hear me?"
"Then I will simply run away to another team. I would like to keep my hair, after all."
"You... You bas... Guh!"
The Team Leader eventually grabbed the back of his neck, unable to overcome his anger during the conversation with Shin Yu-hwan.
But was this also a daily routine? No one showed any sign of stepping in.
...Or perhaps they simply did not want to deal with Shin Yu-hwan themselves.
"Well, shall we stop the joking here for now?"
At those words from Shin Yu-hwan, who had been laughing joyfully while watching the Team Leader's reaction, the Team Leader grabbed the back of his neck once more.
"Ugh. So, what is it you want to say?"
The Team Leader brushed it off as if he were used to it.
It was not as if Shin Yu-hwan acting like this was a one- or two-day occurrence.
In fact, if it ended at this level, he could finish the day only losing about ten strands of hair, so it was actually welcome.
"You know that group of villains we wiped out a while ago, right?"
"Right. But did they not turn out to be nothing more than small-time thugs?"
"Yes. However, when I investigated a bit further, it turned out there was more to it."
"...Is that true?"
The atmosphere around the Team Leader changed in an instant at Shin Yu-hwan's report.
"I wondered why you suddenly barged into my office with all your subordinates."
"I am not the type of guy who would come to your office for something trivial, am I, Team Leader?"
"That is true. Though you usually run away when I actually tell you to come."
"Hahat."
"So, what else did you find in your investigation?"
It was a natural question.
As the Team Leader of a Villain Response Team, it was his basic duty to know information about villains.
However, what was not natural was that Shin Yu-hwan's expression had turned serious.
"You know what I have been digging into. I think I finally have a lead."
"...Really?"
"Yes. When I checked the ledger, there were transaction records for the Baek Family."
"This is no ordinary matter."
It was just as the Team Leader said.
If what Shin Yu-hwan just said was true, this was absolutely no ordinary matter.
A prestigious family was involved with villains? That implied only one thing.
"If we handle this wrong, we are the ones who will get hit. You know what I mean, right?"
If they dug into this incorrectly, it would be them, not the prestigious family, who ended up buried.
In terms of pure status, the President was obviously higher, but in reality, even the government could not easily touch a prestigious family.
It was a conclusion that was easy to reach when considering the prestige and power they possessed.
On top of that, the Baek Family was particularly famous for exercising their influence everywhere.
"I know. If we rush in relying on a single ledger, we will be eaten alive."
"Exactly. The power held by those prestigious families is not something to be ignored."
"So, for now, I plan to look into it a bit more based on the contents of the ledger."
"What were the transaction details written in the ledger?"
Shin Yu-hwan answered the Team Leader's question without hesitation, and the Team Leader's expression soured with every passing second.
"Starting from simple hallucination herbs, there were Evil Spirit's Grudge Fragments, Lobelia's Breath, Pauline's Heart, and so on... and the Blue Nightmare was there as well."
"If all of this is true, they are lunatics."
The items that had just come out of Shin Yu-hwan's mouth were all prohibited goods.
Hallucination herbs obviously caused hallucinations, Grudge Fragments amplified pain, and Lobelia's Breath was a poisonous herb that showed the consumer only malicious hallucinations.
They were likely planning to mix the hallucination herbs with Lobelia's Breath, which was generally difficult to obtain.
On top of that, Pauline's Heart induced symptoms of anxiety in the consumer.
And naturally, all the things just mentioned were items that also applied to players.
"Are they trying to torture someone? They are absolute lunatics."
"I agree."
"But what is that Blue Nightmare you just mentioned? I have never heard of that one before."
"When I looked into it, it is the drug that those guys we crushed during the Academy incident were mass-producing. They called it the Blue Nightmare."
"What?"
The more he heard, the more appalling it became.
Since it was a drug with such vicious effects, they had been investigating it with the utmost care, and to find traces of it here once again...
"Dammit. I would rather this not be true."
"I feel the same way. If it is true, a significant amount of blood will be spilled."
"...Right."
It was just as Shin Yu-hwan said.
Even if the previously mentioned drugs could somehow be hushed up with the power of the Baek Family, the Blue Nightmare was different.
Immediately after it was discovered, a ban had been issued to all high-level players.
If all of this was true...
'It is terrifying.'
A future filled with a bloodbath already appeared in the mind of the Team 1 Leader.
The seven families had been founded by the seven heroes who played a major role during the threat of the Gates in the past.
The Team Leader remembered exactly why three of those families had disappeared into the shadows of history.
'The horrific atrocities committed by the descendants.'
One family had crossed a line that humans should never cross, and the two families that fought at the forefront to erase that family from this land had also vanished.
So many people had died that there were still sayings that the blood spilled on this peninsula had yet to dry.
'If such a thing happens again...'
While the Team Leader's mind was racing through various interests and complications...
Shin Yu-hwan, who had been watching him intently, spoke up.
"I do not think you need to worry too much yet."
"How can I not worry about this, you punk!"
"Not everyone is involved, are they?"
"That is true, but..."
There was a reason why the Team Leader agreed.
It was because it did not mean the entire Baek Family was rotten.
In the first place, such transactions would have been carried out under strict information control, so how could they have obtained this information?
All of this was also information that had come from within the Baek Family.
"It could be false information generated by a power struggle inside, and nothing is certain yet."
"Right. You are correct. I suppose I got worked up, which is unlike me."
"You get worked up all the time. What do you mean it is unlike you?"
"That is all because of you!"
Shin Yu-hwan laughed off the Team Leader's shout and continued.
"Anyway, we will have to investigate further to know for sure."
"If things go according to our expectations, it means the Irregular could also be a victim of the Baek Family."
"...That is also something we will have to investigate to know for sure."
Shin Yu-hwan trailed off slightly.
The Team Leader looked at Shin Yu-hwan with a slightly pitying gaze.
'The reason he joined the government was all because of that.'
When Shin Yu-hwan was young, how many guilds wanted him?
Aside from the guilds that did not make a scout offer because they felt they were insufficient to hold him, every guild would have wanted him.
And yet, the reason he insisted on joining the government.
It was solely to take down the Baek Family.
'No matter how powerful a guild is, it is difficult to go against a prestigious family alone.'
If it were Cha Yu-na, she might not have cared if he did such things after joining her guild, but he probably did not want to be a nuisance.
'Has it already been seven years since he first came here?'
It had been ten years since Baek Ha-seong was branded a villain and his lover, Han Seora, whom Shin Yu-hwan followed well, went missing.
Shin Yu-hwan had become a villain hunter immediately upon graduation.
'And the information being sent from within the Baek Family started then as well.'
The person inside likely recognized his potential and sent information because Shin Yu-hwan had caused such a ruckus at the time.
He had gritted his teeth, insisting that there was no way it was just a disappearance.
At any rate, considering that, it was truly a miracle that he was still alive.
'Even as he went around catching villains whenever he had the chance because of the news that part of the Baek Family was involved with them, he acted while avoiding the Baek Family's suspicion.'
It was a reckless way to act, but it was not an incomprehensible one.
After all, Han Seora and Shin Yu-hwan had been close enough that she was the one who kept him—who was no better than a delinquent—tethered to the Academy.
'It was also Han Seora who created a point of contact between Shin Yu-hwan and others.'
It might sound like the Team Leader was Shin Yu-hwan's stalker, but even without being the Team Leader, this was a fact known to many at the time.
Although it had been forgotten to some extent by people now that quite a bit of time had passed, they were the most promising talents back then.
Hong Sera, who had a personality like magma that surpassed fire; Baek Ha-seong, whose face showed no emotion.
And Cha Yu-na, who even judged the value of a life through calculation, along with Shin Yu-hwan, who was a rebel by birth.
It was Han Seora who had brought those people, who would never have associated with each other, together into one group.
In terms of the kids now, could she be described as someone like Kim Su-hyeok?
Therefore, Shin Yu-hwan's feelings for Han Seora could not help but be special.
'Still, the fact that it is reckless does not change.'
The Team Leader thought this and sighed.
"Today is a day I miss Team Leader Im."
"All of a sudden?"
"Actually, I miss him every time I see your face."
"Haha! I do have quite a lot of charm."
The Team Leader was about to say something back to that cheeky answer, but then he stopped.
Even though he was smiling on the outside like that, the inside would be completely different.
Had he not told them himself on the day he first joined the Villain Response Team?
That he chose this path solely for the sake of getting revenge for Han Seora, who was lost to the hands of the Baek Family.
'And also against Baek Ha-seong.'
Of course, if the information received so far was true, Baek Ha-seong was also a victim.
The problem was that Shin Yu-hwan's thoughts were a bit different.
'Did he not say he would hold him accountable for the sin of failing to protect her?'
It was a somewhat forced statement, but it was not entirely wrong either.
If it was certain that Han Seora had died at the hands of the Baek Family, then that was surely a part of Baek Ha-seong's responsibility as well.
'If those two ever run into each other, it will be a disaster.'
If one person were unilaterally weak it might be different, but since both were roughly equal powerhouses, it likely would not end easily.
Therefore, the Team Leader prayed from the bottom of his heart.
Even if things went the way Shin Yu-hwan wanted, he hoped they would never cross paths.
***
It was a drowsy afternoon after lunch.
Normally, this would be a break until the next class, but by Im Seong-cheol's order, all the cadets were gathered in the classroom.
And as you might guess, the cause was...
"It is a bit strange to announce this during lunch, but anyway, a transfer student has arrived, so everyone, welcome them with applause."
The arrival of the transfer student that Im Seong-cheol had mentioned yesterday.
As soon as Im Seong-cheol finished speaking, the front door—which had almost become a second trauma for me—opened.
Step, step.
Along with the sound of orderly footsteps, two female students entered the classroom.
...Wait a minute. Why are there two? Was it not just one?
It seemed I was not the only one with this question, as everyone wore a puzzled expression.
"My goodness, I must not have mentioned that there were two transfer students. My apologies."
Im Seong-cheol delivered the message with an 'oops' expression.
'Is this also the protagonist effect or something?'
Normally, they would not push two transfer students into one class.
It seemed this dramatic effect occurred because this was Class A, where Kim Su-hyeok belonged.
Anyway, following Im Seong-cheol's words, I looked toward the podium and the two female students came into view once more.
'...They are not familiar faces.'
A girl with red hair and a tough-looking impression, and a girl with grey hair who exuded a quiet atmosphere.
Neither of them had any connection to the descriptions that appeared in the novel.
That meant they were likely new characters.
Just as I was thinking that, Im Seong-cheol spoke up again.
"Since you are transfer students, go ahead and introduce yourselves."
At Im Seong-cheol's brief and concise words, the one with red hair spoke first.
"Hi. I am Hong I-na. I look forward to working with you."
Perhaps she was not shy, as she introduced herself in a bright voice.
However, I could not pay attention to her personality.
No, it was not just me; everyone in the class was the same.
That was because the surname Hong and the red hair brought one thing to mind.
Whether she noticed those gazes, Hong I-na also scratched our itch in a bright voice.
"It seems everyone has roughly guessed, but yes, I am from the Hong Family. For your information, Hong Sera is my cousin."
The atmosphere in the class buzzed at those words.
It was no surprise.
The child of another prestigious family had arrived, following the Ryu Family.
I was also genuinely surprised.
However, at the following introduction from the grey-haired girl, I had no choice but to take back my previous surprise.
"My name is Baek Ha-ryeong. I have come from the Baek Family, so I look forward to working with you."
The Baek Family.
The girl with grey hair was a daughter of the Baek Family, of all places.
'Dammit.'
The curse slipped out of me before I could even realize it.
There was only one reason why the curse had jumped out on its own.
I had a premonition.
This might just be a meeting born of coincidence, but I had a strong feeling that the results this meeting would bring would be anything but easy to handle.