The Crazy Villain Regains His Sanity

“…Yes, I understand.”

After ending the call, Lee Se-hee shivered lightly and crossed her arms. A shiver ran down her spine.

Even though it was a phone call, the killing intent that emanated from the other side was intense.

“It’s scary.”

It was an honest sentiment.

At the same time, it was exhilarating.

She felt relieved knowing that someone so fearsome could be on her side that she could have someone watching over her.

So much so that she felt like holding that feeling in her hands, wanting to keep it for a lifetime.

The fact that Kim Jong-hyun had taken the data and fled wasn’t particularly important. Such incidents could happen at any time, and she was prepared for them.

Even if someone managed to take the USB with the data, they would have to bypass triple security, and if they couldn’t crack it perfectly, the data would become useless, all jumbled up.

It was rather amusing how he had made a foolish choice without realizing just how well he was being treated.

“How stupid.”

She hoped that this incident wouldn’t hurt Choi Jun-ho unnecessarily. Even if he was called an iron-blooded Transcendent, getting hurt because of personal relationships was the same as anyone else.

“Could this be an opportunity instead?”

If she could exploit the opening created by the damage to his personal relationship, it could be a golden opportunity.

At that moment, there was a knock on the door and Lee Young-tan entered.

His expression stiffened upon hearing the news of Kim Jong-hyun’s departure.

“I will prepare a pursuit team.”

“Have the pursuit team focus on the Busan direction as planned. They are the bait. Make them move noisily.”

“Really? If they’re bait…”

“The real Grim Reaper is planning to visit him.”

Choi Jun-ho’s decision to step forward meant that Kim Jong-hyun’s life was almost as good as over.

***

Lee Se-hee mentioned that the places Heartworker had contact with included the Chinese government, a former multinational corporation of American origin, and three unidentified companies that have used proxies.

She didn’t know what might be lurking behind this. According to her, there were many places seeking the processing method, and a fierce war was being waged in unseen places.

It didn’t matter which one he chose to give the data to. He had taken advantage of the favor I had extended and turned kindness into enmity.

Lee Se-hee said that even if the information was leaked, it wouldn’t have a significant impact, but that’s a separate issue.

Now, I needed to track Heartworker.

“He’s not that much of a fool.”

The Sacred Group suggested Busan as Heartwalker’s escape route, but it’s unlikely. He was quite clever. While he might have achieved something in Busan, with the disappearance of the Jagalchi who he had been cooperating with, that connection was completely severed.

He was someone who strongly disliked lengthening his escape route unless he had a surefire plan. If he left traces in Busan, there was a higher probability that he might choose the opposite direction instead.

In my last life, he had said that he wanted to escape to a foreign country through Incheon if he had the chance.

Knowing that location, I requested a helicopter after tracking Heartworker’s trail.

“There’s a villain who’s reducing the country’s taxes.”

And also reducing my earnings.

***

Kim Jong-hyun, who was rumored to have fled to Busan, was hiding on the outskirts of Seoul without making a single move.

Typically, someone on the run would try to distance themselves from the crime scene without hesitation, but Kim Jong-hyun acted in the opposite way.

Following the traces he had left behind, the Sacred Guild sent a pursuit team in the direction of Busan.

Kim Jong-hyun, who had been keeping an eye on the Sacred Guild’s movements, wore a triumphant smile.

“Hehehe, I got them hooked, just as I expected.”

Large organizations tended to be overly confident in their systems, making them inflexible. Once they veered off course, they often went off in an irreversible direction.

This time was no different.

The Sacred Guild, boasting themselves as the best in the country, still made a big mistake.

“I don’t know how much this data is worth, but I just need to get paid. If they want to treat me well, I’ll stick around for a few years and then leave.”

Kim Jong-hyun held the USB drive in his hand carefully.

Originally, the value of the data contained in this USB was not particularly important. However, merely holding it gave him the confidence of having the data.

“What really matters is what’s in my head and the skills in my hands.”

He was amazed when he first learned the processing method. It felt like it was my won from the very beginning.

Afterward, the progress was astonishing. The Sacred Group coordinated seamlessly, aligning with Choi Jun-ho’s theories, the supply of finished products, and his own enhancements.

He could see how powerful big corporations worked and how systematic their process was. That’s how the Big Bang series was born.

With high salaries and generous treatment, he initially thought he should bury himself here.

However, as time passed, his thoughts began to change little by little.

The freedom he had when he was in Busan was absent in Seoul. Even if Big Bang Series information was considered important, the control was excessive. They checked his belongings every time he arrived and left for work. Even in his personal time, if he deviated from a certain path, he would invariably receive a call.

It felt like being in a cage. There was no freedom here. He wanted to drink and meet women, but the Sacred Guild not only refused to allow it, but also controlled everything.

As he thought about quitting, he was reminded of the contract he had enthusiastically signed at the time. It was filled with restrictions like confidentiality, prohibition of employment in similar industries, and more.

“Did I do it all for nothing?”

Wasn’t the Big Bang Series not a result of his own existence?

But with minimal bonuses and no recognition, why should he obediently follow the contract?

The dissatisfaction with the company naturally led to friction with colleagues. As the intensity of it grew and eventually resulted in disciplinary action, he just exploded.

“Those bastards.”

Pretending not to know what he had done for them.

He might as well leave!

But it felt too unfair to just leave. In the end, wouldn’t he be the only one to lose out?

And then, there was a place that approached as if waiting for that moment.

They offered an astronomical reward. They promised to provide not only local settlement but also fulfill all the desired conditions if he passed on the processing method to them.

Among those who contacted him, the proposal from a multinational corporation based in the United States was the most attractive. They sent a beautiful woman to make the proposal.

She had a glamorous, model-like figure and asked to be called Bellrus. She formed a deep connection with Kim Jong-hyun, whispering in his ear every day in bed.

“You should use your talent on a bigger stage.”

Bellrus restored Kim Jong-hyun’s shattered pride. She criticized the Sacred Group and Choi Jun-ho for exploiting him, and laughed at a world that didn’t recognize his talent.

They laughed and chatted together, but when practical issues arose, Kim Jong-hyun felt suffocated.

The image of Choi Jun-ho flashed before him as he thought about leaving.

“Head Breaker…”

He couldn’t forget the moment when Jagalchi disappeared.

The memory of the villains who had laughed and chatted with him just moments ago turning into blood and chunks of flesh that day was etched deeply in his mind.

He was afraid that betraying the other would lead to the same fate.

Bellrus whispered sweetly at those times.

“Don’t be afraid. Choi Jun-ho is a state-sanctioned Transcendent. He won’t come after you just because you disappear. You just need to get away from the Sacred Guild’s Pursuit Team.”

The words gave Kim Jong-hyun confidence. It was as if he had been possessed, erasing the lingering image of Choi Jun-ho from his mind.

“Th-That’s right? How busy can a Transcendent be? Surely he won’t come after me. Things will run smoothly even without me, right? Yes, that’s how it will be. He won’t come after me.”

When he thought about it, he barely saw Choi Jun-ho during the development of the Big Bang series.

The only time he saw the other was during the showcase. Maybe he had been more scared than necessary.

Transcendent had busy schedules.

Choi Jun-ho might not even notice if he disappeared.

“That’s right, you should only care about your own happiness now. You’re someone with that ability. You need to shine in a bigger place.”

Encouraged by Bellrus’ words, Kim Jong-hyun prepared to depart as if he were entranced, and it had come to the present moment.

Of course, he didn’t plan to be tied to the said company for the rest of his life. After receiving generous treatment for about 1-2 years and when surveillance became lax, he planned to take the money he had saved and leave.

“Well then, shall we go?”

The Sacred Guild believed his destination was Busan, but he was heading to Incheon.

He planned to take a ship from there to the one the company had prepared. Fortunately, many villain organizations in Incheon had disappeared, so security was lax.

As the night grew darker, Kim Jong-hyun rode his motorcycle out of Seoul towards Incheon. When he reached the vicinity of the port, he abandoned the motorcycle near a junkyard. He did it to avoid attracting attention with unnecessary engine noise.

If he went a little further, he would reach the meeting place with Bellrus, and then it would be farewell to South Korea.

“Hehe, look at this. This is how you make an escape. No matter what they say, they won’t catch me.”

Choi Jun-ho, you bastard.

From the beginning, the other had only pretended to be friendly to use him.

He pretended that everything was for his own good, and then took all the credit.

He vowed to further refine the processing method and spit in that guy’s food bowl. Thinking about it this way, he felt pleased to give trouble to someone he wouldn’t otherwise touch.

As expected, Bellrus was right about everything.

“Let’s not see each other again, you bastard.”

It was when he spat out a thin strand of phlegm and headed towards the port…

“That bastard, is it me?”

“Huh?”

Kim Jong-hyun’s brain stopped when he saw Choi Jun-ho, who was standing in the direction of the port and looking at himself.

***

Heartworker came to the place where I had been waiting. He’s indeed as predictable as ever.

No, I didn’t expect his betrayal, so I was wrong.

Nevertheless, I didn’t feel any sense of betrayal.

I knew he was this kind of guy from the beginning.

In his previous life, he was the guy who relentlessly pursued women but ultimately abandoned them. I tried to reform him once, but it’s hard for people to change.

I just caused trouble for Lee Se-hee for no reason. Since I brought in the garbage, I should clean it up myself.

“Ha, hahaha! Meeting here is such a coincidence, right?”

“Keep cursing at me.”

“No way. It’s a different guy. Someone who has a similar sounding name, Choi Jun-woo. It’s definitely not you.”

“……”

He fidgeted as I watched him silently. I could feel the faintest Force wavelengths. I wondered if he had improved this much in the time I hadn’t seen him, but no, those changes seemed to be caused by the influence of a drug or by someone’s Gift.

He must have been biting and sucking a lot.

He was so busy making excuses that he didn’t even notice his own state.

“Look, I don’t know what the Sacred Guild told you, but they’ve been controlling me too much. Interfering in my every move, ignoring me because I’m not a regular employee, bullying me, and— I don’t even get enough recognition for what I’ve done.”

Heartworker lamented the suffering he had experienced in the Sacred Guild.

“So I had enough, and I just took a break, I swear.”

As he said this, he took out a red USB drive from his pocket. That one’s a fake.

“I heard from Lee Se-hee that it was a green USB.”

“…Haha, I got confused. This one is genuine.”

With that, he took out a green USB drive. Then he kneeled down and banged his head on the floor.

“My mother passed away, and I lost my mind for a moment. I did wrong. Please forgive me just once.”

“Get up.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you. I’ll work quietly as if I were dead from now on. Thank you for sparing me.”

“I have no intention of sparing you.”

He was under some misconception.

“What?”

When Heartorker raised his head, I was already standing in front of him.

I let him talk to his heart’s content, since it was the last time, anyway.

“Is your will finished?”

“Wait, just a moment.”

Without listening to him further, I kicked his thigh with my foot.

Crack!

“Aaaah!”

I broke his ankle and knee one after the other as he writhed on the floor.

People often think that being intelligent meant they wouldn’t face the misfortunes that befell others, but that’s a misconception.

Most people could only regret it afterward when they realized it.

Even though I threw gravel in front of that guy as a warning, this is the result. (T/N: The act of throwing gravel can be seen as a symbolic warning or deterrent, not meant to be taken literally, but rather to convey the idea that some form of caution or warning was given, but the situation still had a negative outcome.)

In the end, it’s his own will that got the better of him. Whether brainwashed by someone or drugged didn’t matter.

“Grr! Grr!”

“I thought that if I could eliminate your regret in this life, you might change like Oh Jong-yeop, but it seems not to be the case with you.”

“Li, League.”

“What?”

“The place I was going to! I’ll tell you everything about the League! So please spare me…”

Thud!

I stepped on his head because I wasn’t particularly curious about the League. When his head shattered into pieces, his struggling completely ceased.

I picked up the USB. It was covered in blood and would be hard to use in the future.

Bringing this back would undoubtedly result in being discarded.

Anyway, since Heartworker didn’t know the trial-and-error process, the copies he made would have quickly hit their limits. So, he would have faced a more miserable end than now.

“Now that I’ve got the goods, I should also see the faces of the guys who came to get them.”

The League, a name I hadn’t heard for quite a while after Berserker destroyed their attempted to plant themselves at Korea. And yet, they’re here again.

I headed for the port, which was undoubtedly the meeting place.

On the way, I came face to face with a woman standing in the middle of the road.

She had a sophisticated and elegant beauty with a slender, well-toned body.

A tear mole just below her right eye caught my attention strangely.

The woman looked at me and smiled.

“Are you the Head Breaker?”