Chapter 63: |
-I apologize if that was a bit excessive.
Was this guy overly confident?
In the meantime, he continued speaking.
-But I’m sure you realize yourself that you’re far more of a villain than a hunter.
“I don’t think so?”
Surprisingly, I liked being a hunter.
-That’s your own opinion. Do you think those who have suffered at your hands would think the same way?
“Even if they don’t have the same opinion, what could they do?”
-You’ll clash with them.
The light in the blue eye became intense.
-The more that happens, the fewer enemies you will have. If the enemies can’t defeat you, they will start to interfere with your surroundings instead.
“Then I should also monitor my surroundings carefully.”
But there was something more tangible than words. This was part of the chain of the things I had done up to now.
It’s about increasing my allies just as rapidly as my enemies increased.
-Mr. Choi Jun-ho, don’t you find it strange? You moved for justice, but why does the world want to portray Mr. Choi Jun-ho as evil?
“…”
Whether my silence was interpreted as agreement, Argos’ voice gained strength.
-It’s because the world is wrong. The arrogance of those in power, who insist on fitting everything into their mold, has created the current imbalance! This world must be turned upside down once and for all! We are the only ones who can set it right!
“The League’s ideology, I see.”
-Right now, Mr. Choi Jun-ho is trying to force himself to fit into the world. You’re satisfied with that because you think it’s the best way. However, the world won’t try to understand someone like Mr. Choi Jun-ho and will demand even more from you. There should be a give-and-take in everything. Constricting, suppressing, and crushing, the world’s authorities are suppressing the awakened ones to maintain their power. Mr. Choi Jun-ho is also one of the victims of this.
I hadn’t really been suppressed.
I had killed everyone I needed to kill, and I had spared those I needed to spare.
“Was it your ploy to lead the Black Hound to attack me?”
-I apologize for that part. Heinz was just curious about Mr. Choi Jun-ho’s abilities.
Usually, at this point, one would begin to show the limits of patience.
I could see that Argos was pretty sincere.
-The League adheres to a horizontal structure. If Mr. Choi Jun-ho desires, he can take the leadership position in the League. You can participate in the power struggles and bloody battles. With the strength Mr. Choi Jun-ho possesses, he can take everything he wants because he has the power to do so. Strength is, after all, a qualification.
“It’s a shame. A few words from you, and all villains would have fallen in line.”
Argos was now a legendary villain. And to villains, the League was an object of admiration. A few words from him and they would have fallen in line.
But I was tougher than that.
-Mr. Choi Jun-ho seems to think of us as evil.
“Why wouldn’t I?”
-Evil isn’t confined to just villains. The true evil lies in the oppressive authorities who exploit to maintain their positions. Mr. Choi Jun-ho, join us.
“Never mind. If the Black Hound guy is not coming out of the sea, you must have pulled something.”
I thought he would appear on the sea after some time had passed, but there was no sign of him.
Whether it was spatial teleportation or hiding in the sea, he must have pulled off something.
There’s no reason to listen to Argos’ nonsense any longer.
-Mr. Choi Jun-ho, please, let’s change the world together…
“Did you think you’re safe from me because you’re far away?”
I grabbed the eyeball with my hand. This eyeball must work on a similar principle to how the Puppeteer controlled his puppets.
I remembered the wavelengths emanating from the eyeball and began to backtrack. I remembered the shape of the waves and extended my senses to trace their direction.
And then, I sensed that one eyeball was connected to another eyeball, and that eyeball led to yet another one. How could there be so many eyeballs? This way, Argos surpassed the limits of distance. If it extended to Russia and crossed the Pacific, then…
“It’s not even a bridge.”
It was a faint, undetectable presence, but I could tell Argos was in the United States.
I planted a Land Mine towards the eyeball. The eyeball that couldn’t withstand the Force began to burst, and the connected eyeballs exploded one after another.
Boom! Pop! Boom! Boom!
More than ten eyeballs exploded, and then the flow of power suddenly cut off. Argos had intentionally severed the connection.
Unlike with the Puppeteer, it was difficult to inflict damage on the main body because he was too far away.
Instead, he wouldn’t be able to play tricks on me as well.
No one was born to be a villain. With effort, anyone could assimilate into society.
“Consider yourself dead if you appear in front of me again.”
***
In a spacious room with only a few pieces of furniture, there were two men. One man was sitting in a chair, while the other stood by his side as if guarding him.
The blond white man sitting in the chair had mysterious eyes and was smiling faintly, illuminating his noble, beautiful, and divine appearance as if he had come out of a myth.
He was none other than Argos, the founder of the League and known for his ability to see the world.
Pop!
As a dull thud echoed, blood began to flow from Argos’s two eyes. After a moment, blood trickled down from the corners of his mouth and then started gushing out from within him.
“Ugh!”
The Black Hound that had been watching from the side rushed forward in surprise to support Argos.
“Are you alright, Ar?”
“No, I’m not. It seems this body won’t last. Heinz, could you do me a favor?”
“Alright.”
With a stern expression, the Black Hound extended his hand over Argos’ chest, and Argos closed his eyes.
A moment later, a bright white light enveloped Argos’ entire body, and his vitality disappeared completely, leaving him limp like a corpse.
A white aura formed over the rapidly cooling body and then moved out of the room. Soon after, the door opened, and a man with an appearance identical to the fallen Argos entered.
“I heard he was quite impressive, but Head Breaker really is no joke.”
“I’m sorry. I caused trouble for no good reason.”
“I was also curious how good he was, so you did well.”
“Even though I introduced myself as a messenger, that bastard.”
“Haha, to get curses from the likes of Heinz, Head Breaker must be truly remarkable. Ugh!”
At that moment, blood trickled from Argos’ eyes.
“Ar!”
“It’s okay, it’s an after-effect of switching bodies. It’s similar to Franz’s, but much stronger.”
Argos wiped the blood from his eyes.
“So, how was Head Breaker?”
“He was incredibly powerful.”
“That powerful?”
“Don’t summon me out of worry and then nag me.”
“Well, I did it in case things got worse. Did you think I expected our Heinz would lose? The one and only Black Hound?”
Once the fight started, Black Hound Roy Heinz wouldn’t let go until the end.
As a result, many hunters lost their lives. But his unyielding pursuit of martial prowess was not acknowledged but rather treated as villainous.
Argos disconnected before things escalated further.
Black Hound clicked his tongue.
“Nothing good would come out confronting him directly.”
“Yeah, I think so too. He’s truly born to be a villain, but he’s the only one who doesn’t know it.”
Argos seemed to harbor some regret, but Black Hound firmly stated.
“Even if I go all out, it’s difficult to guarantee victory. Besides, his Gift is more likely to create more casualties. South Korea poses greater challenges than the potential rewards we would gain. It’s better to delay the plan until he changes his mind.”
“……”
Argos was lost in thought. His pale, gaunt appearance resembled not a human but a wax doll.
“What about the Twelve Zodiacs?”
“It would be tough.”
“That’s true.”
“What are you thinking?”
Argos, who was smiling palely, looked extremely sinister.
“Just thinking that maybe it’s time for the Twelve Zodiacs to have a change of leadership.”
“If you’re going to meddle haphazardly, it’s better to leave him be.”
“Do you have any good ideas?”
“If, as you said, Cho Jun-ho is a troublemaker, then he will naturally cause chaos even with us just watching him from afar. If you leave him alone, the world will brand him as a villain on its own.”
The world would never leave Cho Jun-ho as a hunter.
His abilities, his mentality, and his existence.
Everything was prone to being misunderstood as a villain.
Having experienced a world that would label pure ambition as villainous, Black Hound thought he knew Choi Jun-ho better than anyone.
‘The world will make him a villain.’
As he recalled the past that suddenly came to mind, Argos asked with a playful expression.
“You don’t want to fight him?”
“I can fight him after he joined us.”
“Alright. Since it’s not easy for us to establish roots in Korea, as Heinz says, let’s do it your way. But let’s add a little seasoning.”
“Sure. Take a break now. I’ll support you.”
“It’s okay. Don’t worry too much.”
“It’s not for you, but for the League.”
“Then, alright.”
Argos moved with the support of the Black Hound.
‘He’s an interesting one, hitting me from Korea while I’m in the United States.’
***
I set out to chase Heartworker, but ultimately, the League appeared, so I contacted the National Security Agency. Before long, a villain response team was dispatched.
Led by Jung Da-hyun, the villain response team closed their eyes tightly after seeing the scattered body parts, then began searching the surroundings. They had set out to search for any potential League remnants.
“……”
While commanding the scene and giving orders, Jung Da-hyun couldn’t take her eyes off the completely devastated area.
It was the place where Black Hound and I clashed. Reading the traces and flow of the surroundings, was it Jung Da-hyun’s Intuition that was gradually developing?
“Haah!”
By now, she was probably imagining the confrontation between me and the Black Hound in her own way.
It’s important to draw inspiration from here and let her imagination run free. Embracing imagination as the foundation, the utilization of Force gained greater versatility and served as a gateway to attain higher levels.
For a while, Jung Da-hyun, who had been standing still, finally came to her senses and looked at me.
“Who was it?”
“Black Hound.”
“The League’s Three Evils.”
It’s a term used to refer to the world’s worst villains who created the League.
Jung Da-hyun had a shocked expression.
“Why is he here?”
“It’s because he considered the Big Bang Series to be that important.”
I didn’t feel the need to reveal all the truth. Although I rejected Argos’ proposal, his words lingered in my mind. He said that I could only become a villain. But I had struggled desperately to defy that destiny, to restrain myself from succumbing to the madness that could come at any moment.
If fate tried to swallow me up.
I would just kill that destiny.
I would never go insane.
“…Yes.”
She probably instinctively sensed that I hadn’t said everything. Even though there might be questions, Jung Da-hyun didn’t press further.
Maybe thinking it was a heavy topic, she changed the subject.
“By the way, that guy received a favor from Oppa, but he still betrayed you.”
“He couldn’t resist his own greed.”
“Don’t concern yourself with that guy anymore.”
I was fine, though.
Heartworker could be called an acquaintance in my past life, but that’s it. I extended kindness in an attempt to give him a chance, as the processing method was originally his, but he betrayed that kindness, so I removed him. That’s the end of it.
I think she’s under some sort of misunderstanding, but I didn’t try to clear it up.
“Um, I have a question.”
“Go ahead.”
“While reading your battle with Black Hound, I noticed that the flow is interrupted in a few places.”
“It’s a bit tricky to explain right now.”
“Is that so?”
I couldn’t just ignore Jung Da-hyun’s disappointed expression.
“For now, yes. I have to go straight to the Blue House. Let’s arrange a meeting soon.
“Yes!”
Jung Da-hyun responded with a bright smile.
***
“……”
Returning to the Blue House, I repeated the same explanation to Cheon Myeong-guk, who had been waiting and working since dawn.
“So, there’s no chance of the League returning?”
“We’ll have to keep an eye on it.”
“I see. I asked a foolish question. By the way, Black Hound, facing the worst villain, how was it?”
“He was strong.”
“Can you be more specific about how strong?”
I recalled all the Level 8 I fought so far and said.
“He’s stronger than Zhang Zedong and Berserker. And overwhelmingly stronger than Kim Yong-hwan.”
The funny thing was that of the three, only Berserker, the villain, was still alive. He’s a tough guy who survived having his heart smashed out by me twice.
I wished he would unlock Complete Immunity faster.
“Ah, you experienced a big thing. I’m glad you’re safe.”
“Thank you for your concern.”
After finishing the report on the League, Cheon Myeong-guk changed the topic.
“Oh, you’re planning to donate the Big Bang series to the National Security Agency, right?”
“That’s correct.”
While the Big Bang series continued to sell out, Lee Se-hee allocated my share to me.
I donated the first batch to the Awakened Security Office and received thanks from Cheon Myeong-guk. I intended to donate the remaining ones to the National Security Agency.
I should compensate him for making his head go bald.
“Did you talk to Director Jung Ju-ho?”
“I would do that soon.”
“Then why don’t you call him over to the Blue House and tell him here?”
Why suddenly suggest calling Jung Ju-ho to the Blue House? Was there a reason to do that?
“Wouldn’t it be simpler to do it over the phone?”
“After all, it’s a donation from Transcendent Choi Jun-ho, so wouldn’t it make a good picture if it was packaged well?”
“That makes sense.”
It might be unusual, but spreading good deeds could help improve my image. I tend to forget about such things, so it’s a good reminder.
Cheon Myeong-guk’s words didn’t end there.
“And I have one more request. We’re planning to promote Director Jung Ju-ho as the head of a new government department. It’s a high-ranking position like a commissioner.”
“That’s something to celebrate.”
“But Director Jung Ju-ho is currently declining the offer.”
Well, Jung Ju-ho didn’t seem to be too ambitious. He’s also cautious.
Cheon Myeong-guk said with a careful expression, “So, would you assist with persuasion when he comes to the Blue House later?”
“Me?”
Did he want me to convince the other?
“Yes.”
“Would I be of any help?”
“Of course. If it’s coming from Transcendent Choi Jun-ho, Director Jung Ju-ho’s thoughts will change.”
“I understand.”
Cheon Myeong-guk’s expression brightened. Was he that happy about it?
If Jung Ju-ho got promoted, I would be seeing him often in the future.
He would like that too, right?