That’s How They Became Villains

#18. The Villain is Good at Being Behind -3-

Someone once said.

-Life is like Sae-ong-ji-ma.

The someone here wasn’t me.

To explain Sae-ong-ji-ma, it means that the happiness and misfortunes of life, that is, happiness and unhappiness, have many variables, making them difficult to predict or assert definitively.

This was originally the only idiom I had memorized in the world.

If you go around Daehangno, there are always young kids who, though still fresh and green, already look defeated as if they’ve lived their entire lives. You go up to those kids, put your hand on their shoulder and tell them.

Life is fucking Sae-ong-ji-ma. Don’t stay stuck in your current misfortune; work for the happiness of a distant tomorrow.

If you tell them this, that’s it. The end. At least for that one day, I feel extremely proud of myself.

So I used to memorize it. Scratching up all the background too, the whole thing.

“Cool…”

It was about 30 minutes after the train had departed. Nazha had fallen soundly asleep less than 10 minutes after the train left while I was carefully writing personal notes, worried that Nazha might wake up.

Writing personal notes was something I’d been doing habitually lately. The reason for writing them, I would say, was to fill my head with as much knowledge of the original work as possible. My presence had already changed quite a lot of the original storyline. However, as in Nazha’s case, there will inevitably come situations where knowing the original settings helps.

This train journey is a case in point.

This is from the middle of Chapter 4, the episode where Last is banished to the surface.

Cheongang was trying to move Last to the elevator through this train. However, a terrorist group called the ‘Sewers of Yeongwol’ was already lurking inside the train.

The purpose of the Sewers of Yeongwol was to bring Last, who would have been greatly disappointed with the citizens of Minos, over to their side. However, the Sewers of Yeongwol could not persuade Last by any means because he was a genuine order-obsessed pushover.

-Tup.

Okay, today’s homework is done.

Writing memos for too long tends to give me a headache.

I pressed the end button and stretched wide, “Huuuh.”

-Staring…

Feeling someone staring from beside me, I looked over in that direction.

After making eye contact for about 3 seconds, I smiled brightly and made a small V sign with my fingers.

“Huk…”

The person next to me hurriedly turned their head to look at the distant city.

Yes, please keep looking elsewhere like that. Not at me.

Just then, with a ‘bang!’ someone opened and slammed the compartment door.

Dang, that startled me. Looking toward the partition door from my surprised state, I made eye contact with the culprit of the commotion.

I remember that face. His name was definitely Kim Seok-ho, the enhanced human who was supporting his sick younger sister alone.

I heard he was sentenced to brain-washing by ENIAC, so why is he here?

-Swish!

Suddenly something flew straight toward me. I clearly felt something cold brush against my cheek.

Glancing slightly, I saw a sharp blade stuck in the headrest.

Could it be that he remembers what happened that day?

“Chae Yu-ha!!”

As if answering my question, Kim Seok-ho came running while shouting my name. That was evidence that Kim Seok-ho’s memories weren’t erased by the brain-washing.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment…!!”

-BANG!!!

And suddenly fire clouds and lightning flashed before my eyes. It was as if a bomb had exploded.

The entire train body shook as passengers sitting in their seats were lifted up and then dropped back down.

And in that chaotic situation, I witnessed the sight of Kim Seok-ho, who was directly caught in the explosion, flying and crashing into the end wall of the train.

‘Thud…’ Kim Seok-ho collapsed. He seemed to have lost consciousness.

What is this? What the hell is happening?

I shook Nazha to wake her up. But this girl, despite being an enhanced human, once asleep, she wouldn’t wake up easily.

“Everyone hands up!!”

From within the explosion cloud, an armed force of about a dozen people appeared.

There’s a saying for times like this.

Well, life is like Sae-ong-ji-ma.

Who the hell came up with this saying?

“Which one of you here is Chae Yu-ha? Step out while I’m asking nicely.”

With a ‘click’, the armed forces all loaded their guns. They started pointing their guns at each seat asking, “Are you Chae Yu-ha?”

Who are these guys looking for me?

I stayed quiet as a mouse, observing the situation for now.

“Come out now!!”

-Bang!- A bullet pierced the ceiling of the train. “Kyaak!” screams rang out as if on cue.

Seeing that scene, I gulped down a dry swallow.

The train’s deck, made of chrome alloy, was pierced. That meant the bullets loaded in those guns were armor-piercing rounds made of the same chrome material.

Armor-piercing rounds are expensive, large-caliber bullets that easily penetrate even the skin of most enhanced humans.

Those guys weren’t just random thugs who suddenly appeared from somewhere. They were professionals who knew what forces might be here and had come prepared.

And the target was, for some reason, me.

“Are you Chae Yu-ha?”

The armed forces had already reached the back compartment where Nazha and I were sitting.

I inwardly swallowed. Outwardly pretending to be relaxed, smiling. If I didn’t do that, I felt like I would scream “kyaak” like the civilians earlier.

“Why aren’t you answering? Do you want a hole in your head?”

“Hey, look closely. Doesn’t she match the description the captain gave us?”

When the guy behind asked that, the one in front stared intently at my face and agreed, “Hmm, certainly.”

“Stand up now. You need to come with us.”

The word ‘no’ rose to my throat.

I stubbornly remained seated. I deliberately kept my gaze toward the window, as seeing the gun barrels continuously would likely break my composure.

“Stand up now! Do you want to die!”

“Why bother, just take her by force. The captain is waiting.”

Then the black guy at the back tried to grab me with his rough hand.

At that moment a small hand grabbed the black guy’s wrist instead.

“What? Let go of this!”

The black guy’s gaze fell downward. There was Nazha, who had just woken up and was stretching out a long yawn.

“…W-why won’t this come off?”

Nazha rolled her eyes around as if trying to assess the situation. Meanwhile, the black guy’s wrist remained in Nazha’s grasp.

“This tiny thing…Let go!!”

“Hmm?”

Nazha tilted her head once, and then, as if she had finally assessed the situation, stood up from her seat.

“Looking at you guys now, you’re the Sewers of Yeongwol, right? But why are terrorist groups that should be active in Nago city pointing guns at my sister here? Hmm?”

-Crack…

“Aaaah!! My wrist!! It’s going to break!!”

The terrorist whose wrist was grabbed screamed.

At that, the vein deeply etched on Nazha’s forehead burst with a pop.

“And why have you been making so much noise? You woke me up. I was sleeping well without nightmares for once.”

-Crunch.

“Argggh!!!”

The sound of bones crushing was clearly heard. As the black guy at the back collapsed, the guys in front all aimed their guns at Nazha.

“Fire!!”

Fire spewed from the guns loaded with armor-piercing rounds.

However, when the smoke cleared, not a single bullet had hit Nazha as a thin barrier emanating from Nazha’s body had stopped the bullets.

The bullets, which had been spinning with a fearsome sound, lost their rotational energy on the thin membrane and dropped with a ‘thud.’

The terrorists, shocked by the spectacle, forgot to even replace their magazines with new ones.

Nazha, completely ignoring such terrorists, picked up the high-grade casings that had fallen to the floor.

“W-what is this?”

“A barrier that can’t be penetrated even by armor-piercing rounds?”

“Is she an enhanced human with special abilities?”

No.

Nazha’s ability wasn’t just a mere barrier.

Her ability, if I had to say, was closer to Iron Man.

Her overwhelming technological prowess that reached the level of science fiction and numerous inventions were born from that.

That was Nazha’s ability and weapon.

“Sawol, are you hurt anywhere?”

Nazha turned slightly toward me and asked.

I managed not to break my character and replied with a bright smile.

“Nope, I trusted you, sis.”

If only she had woken up a little earlier, it would have been even better.

Kim Seok-ho was unconscious for about 5 minutes. During that time, the terrorists who had stormed the last compartment of the train were largely dealt with.

This was done by none other than Nazha. She overwhelmed the armed forces by summoning weapons and shields from nowhere.

I’m not sure if ‘summoning’ is the right term, but no one would disagree that the expression suits her. For someone who doesn’t know, the sight of invisible nanomachines instantly assembling into swords and shields would look like summoning weapons.

After moving the terrorists, who had instantly become cold corpses, to one corner, Nazha approached Kim Seok-ho.

“What should we do with him?”

She heard the story from Chae Yu-ha. That despite being brain-washed, his memory remained intact and he came targeting her. From Nazha’s perspective, it was a nonsensical story, but from Chae Yu-ha’s standpoint, there was something slightly unsettling.

“I want to save him.”

Now that he had appeared before her again, she couldn’t simply forget about him.

Nazha decided to respect Chae Yu-ha’s thoughts, adding a note that her sister was too kind for her own good.

And Kim Seok-ho, who had regained consciousness a moment ago, was listening to all this conversation.

“Hey, what’s taking so long to come!”

Additional terrorists arrived.

Nazha immediately went to deal with them, leaving only Chae Yu-ha and Kim Seok-ho at the back of the train.

“Can you hear me?”

Chae Yu-ha said. She already knew that Kim Seok-ho had regained consciousness. Nazha would have known too. Enhanced humans have senses more acute than others.

“Why did you come looking for me? If your memory remains, just continue living with your younger sister.”

At those words, Kim Seok-ho was irritated. However, he couldn’t express it outwardly.

‘I want to save him.’

Could it be because he heard those words?

Kim Seok-ho couldn’t understand his own heart.

When he saw Chae Yu-ha’s face, he momentarily boiled with murderous intent. But when he actually threw the knife, he hesitated. That’s why the trajectory went off in a strange direction.

“How’s your younger sister? Is she doing well?”

“…Don’t talk about my sister with that filthy mouth.”

“I heard she’s sick, to the point where she can only survive by becoming an enhanced human.”

“…Don’t speak. I’ll kill you.”

“You didn’t lose your memory from brain-washing, right? Does your sister know this fact?”

“……”

Kim Seok-ho remained silent at Chae Yu-ha’s persistent questioning.

Chae Yu-ha took that as a negative.

“She doesn’t know? Your sister must be very sad.”

“What do you know?”

“I know. Even someone like me had a family once.”

‘Which means now she doesn’t.’

Kim Seok-ho couldn’t ignore those words.

Kim Seok-ho, who had been looking at the ground all along, raised his head to look at Chae Yu-ha.

“Finally looking at me now.”

Chae Yu-ha smiled faintly. Not her usual smile that seemed to hide her true feelings, but a sad smile filled with melancholy.

“You are my sore spot. Thanks to you, the city no longer hates enhanced humans without reason, but it’s inappropriate to call this a sacrifice because I selfishly used you.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“I’m giving you a chance to let me help you.”

Chae Yu-ha extended her hand to Kim Seok-ho.

“Otherwise, I’ll spread it all over the internet that you just threw a knife at me.”