The Thug Hides the Villainess

---

066 – 6

“Cheer up!”

Yu Yeoreum cheered for Seoga-eul.

“Come on, put in a bit more effort!”

“Hey! Do you think awakening a new ‘concept’ is as simple as pushing your stomach like giving birth? You need to focus, so please be quiet!”

Seoga-eul was desperately trying to grasp a new concept.

The concept Seoga-eul was trying to acquire was none other than “candy.”

The reason for wanting to obtain the concept of “candy” was simple.

It was so that when the secret window high up in the ceiling opened and the mysterious fairy Inonoi came again, they could make a trade.

While Seoga-eul was making efforts to acquire the new concept, Yu Yeoreum recalled a girl from her team.

Jo Yino from Class F.

She was a very peculiar girl with the concept of “nymph.”

Her speech was odd, her behavior was strange, and she looked more like a first-year middle schooler than a senior.

She often said weird things, one of which was that she met a fairy in the Great Labyrinth.

Apparently, fairies liked candy.

And it turned out Jo Yino’s words were true.

There really were fairies living in this Great Labyrinth, and they liked candy.

“Got it! I’ve acquired the concept of candy!”

“…Already? Is it really that easy to gain a new concept?”

Yu Yeoreum looked at Seoga-eul in genuine amazement and horror at the same time.

When she thought about how much effort she had put into acquiring her new concept of “clairvoyance,” it made sense.

Awakening a new concept literally required blood, sweat, and sacrifice.

But Seoga-eul seemed to awaken the new concept as if she was shopping.

‘Seoga-eul was this amazing…?’

Among the multi-concept awakeners Yu Yeoreum knew, Seoga-eul’s potential was undoubtedly the highest.

At this point, it made one wonder why Seoga-eul hadn’t honed her abilities and talents until now.

‘Could it be that Hanam-jin saw through Seoga-eul’s talents?’

Swish—.

At that moment, Seoga-eul touched Yu Yeoreum’s shoulder.

The intention was clear.

“…Seoga-eul, you!”

Yu Yeoreum got angry, but Seoga-eul was already sticking out her tongue and making a silly face at Yu Yeoreum.

Soon, Seoga-eul burst into laughter.

“Puhaha! How about that? The concept of ‘candy’!”

The concept of “candy” settled into Yu Yeoreum.

Thus, the concepts Yu Yeoreum now had were “light,” “photosynthesis,” “clairvoyance,” “clairvoyance,” and “candy,” totaling five.

The problem was the unique characteristic of this “candy” concept.

The moment a sweet smell began to emanate from her body, Yu Yeoreum realized.

Her ‘sweat’ had become sweet.

Maybe it was just her feeling, but her mouth also felt oddly sweet.

Drip—.

At that moment, the secret window in the ceiling opened.

“I’m curious if I can now eat candy…!”

“Lick her body! She’s a human candy! And help us out a bit!”

Seoga-eul pointed her finger at Yu Yeoreum.

For someone like Yu Yeoreum, who valued her modesty, having someone lick her body was extremely embarrassing.

“This Inonoi can’t enter that room…! That room is enchanted with a special spell, so only the Fairy King or those with special artifacts can enter…!”

“What?”

Seoga-eul couldn’t hide her disappointment and irritation.

Even that bizarre fairy couldn’t get into this room.

Then, suddenly, she felt a strange suspicion arise.

“Then how did we get in here? How on earth does Hanam-jin come and go in this room? There’s definitely a secret… something…!”

A hint of how they might escape this room.

Yu Yeoreum felt she had an idea of what that ‘hint’ could be.

Ever since acquiring the concept of “clairvoyance,” she had been bothered by the ring hanging on Hanam-jin’s finger.

‘Could that “special artifact” be…?’

It was then.

A chilling shiver seemed to lick at the nape of Yu Yeoreum’s neck.

“Eek…! This Inonoi needs to hurry back home…! You shouldn’t answer anyone who talks to you or asks questions…!”

Swish—.

The fairy Inonoi quickly spat out incomprehensible words and vanished through the narrow vent in the ceiling.

Yu Yeoreum and Seoga-eul wanted to call the fairy and ask more questions, but it couldn’t be done.

The two of them abruptly stopped moving as if they were puppets.

“…Yu Yeoreum, did you feel that only I did?”

“…Shh.”

There was something on the other side of the stone door.

Something very ominous and horrifying.

—Is anyone in there?

Knock knock knock—.

‘Something’ knocked on the stone door.

—Is anyone in there?

—Is anyone in there?

—Is anyone in there?

The voice sounded strange.

It felt as if someone was awkwardly mimicking a ‘human’ voice.

It was a voice that evoked discomfort and rejection deep within her instincts.

Suddenly, Seoga-eul thought of the ‘uncanny valley’ theory.

Humans dislike things that resemble them awkwardly even more than things that don’t resemble them at all.

Then, one wonders why humans instinctively dislike ‘poor imitations’—could it be that there were predators in the evolutionary process that ‘strangely resembled humans’?

What was certain was that she could now understand why this room was extraordinarily sturdy and why there were strange ‘spells’ placed on it.

They felt an unintentional sense of relief that the room holding them was sturdier than necessary.

# # #

In the end, Seoga-eul and Yu Yeoreum couldn’t go where they were yesterday.

There just wasn’t enough time.

But it was okay.

A day of fasting wouldn’t kill them.

In fact, a reasonable fast is good for health.

So when they arrived at school early in the morning, everyone was surprised.

It was as if they had seen a dead person.

“Hanam-jin! Weren’t you arrested by the police?”

“How are you here at school!”

With the midterm exams over, the school had returned to normalcy.

I was no exception.

I didn’t know it, but it seemed someone had filmed the events from yesterday at the villa and posted them online.

The fact that I had schooled Jin Eun-byeol and rendered Wang Ja-hyeon speechless had spread everywhere.

It felt like lightning coursed through my body, and my tailbone tingled.

I was now the most famous middle school dropout in the country.

That was me, Hanam-jin!

How nice it felt to be the center of attention.

I immediately took out my phone and searched for “Hanam-jin.”

There were an incredible number of results.

This was awesome!

Even a ton of hate comments were there!

I found that enjoyable too!

This surge of attention was too intoxicating for someone who had battled years of boring loneliness.

“Hanam-jjin, are you really okay?”

Swish—.

At that moment, someone poked me in my side.

It was the fluffy Baek-Yeoul.

“Turning Jin Eun-byeol and Wang Ja-hyeon into enemies! You even dragged the president into this. Aren’t you going to get arrested for some kind of crime?”

The students’ eyes subtly turned toward me.

They were curious about how I would handle this situation.

“No one can harm me. Because the smallest truth always overcomes the largest lie. What’s important is what’s for lunch today.”

“…Lunch.”

Baek-Yeoul blinked her small eyes.

Was she not happy with the lunch menu?

Drip—.

Soon, the classroom door opened, and the captain came in.

As the chaotic atmosphere settled, the captain spoke.

“Hey, Hanam-jin! Do you know how many calls I’ve received today because of you? It’s probably just you who can act so boldly and roam around without fear in South Korea.”

“Captain, don’t underestimate yourself. Any man can do what I do.”

“I’m a public servant living off taxes. Remember, as long as I’m sitting here, you’re my students and must follow my orders. Therefore, Hanam-jin, you have an additional 20 hours of school service!”

“W-well… I think Nam-jin didn’t do anything wrong.”

At that moment, someone raised their hand.

Everyone’s eyes were on Deok-soon.

It was unusual for quiet Deok-soon to speak, so everyone naturally turned to listen.

“Is that what Deok-soon meant now?”

“I’ve never heard her voice before.”

“Isn’t it Deok-hee instead of Deok-soon?”

Deok-soon, her face turning red from all the attention, looked like she was shrinking.

“W-well… at school, we shouldn’t do bad things, and we should use our efforts to help those in need. I don’t think Nam-jin did anything wrong. The bad ones are others….”

Although Deok-soon stammered, she clearly stated what she wanted to say.

It was truly impressive for someone with her introverted and reserved personality to say such things.

“I’ve been bullied by Jin Eun-byeol… I even had hair loss from the stress… My dad lost his job, and we had to move to D City. No one believed me….”

Everyone was shocked at Deok-soon’s story.

It seemed that many didn’t realize how nasty Jin Eun-byeol was.

“People who did wrong shouldn’t live comfortably… and… I think it’s wrong for those who do the right thing to be punished. If that’s the case, then what we’re learning at school becomes meaningless….”

As Deok-soon spoke, the students began to agree with comments like “That’s right.” and “That’s true.”

Despite the many arguments, the students of Yeongsa High School generally had a sense of justice.

After all, the name of the school was “Hero Academy.”

This meant that despite their differences, everyone wanted to do what was right.

Someday, perhaps those who would be called “supernovas” as a hope for humanity might emerge because of such reasons.

And at the forefront of all of them was always Seoga-eul.

# # #

Lunchtime.

It had been a while since I gathered with the kids from “No Leftover Day” to go to the upscale restaurant Noble.

However, Geum Tae-seong wasn’t there.

“Tae-seong must be really busy. He didn’t even come to school today.”

Baek-Yeoul said, feeling disappointed.

While saying that, Baek-Yeoul was carelessly packing buffet food into her lunchbox.

Choi Chang-sik did the same.

Pack as much as you can! You have to get your money’s worth!

Soon, satisfied with the filled lunchboxes, Chang-sik said.

“Tae-seong seems to be really busy with his part-time job. But does anyone know what he’s doing? He hasn’t been in touch lately.”

Everyone knew that Geum Tae-seong was working hard at his part-time job.

But no one seemed to know exactly what job he was doing or where.

As mealtime progressed, suddenly, the fluffy Baek-Yeoul went into a fit again while eating.

“Is Jin Eun-byeol planning to harm us? I heard from Deok-soon that Jin Eun-byeol is a total bad kid. Girls like Seoga-eul who are nasty love to take revenge!”

Speaking of which, I remembered that Baek-Yeoul and Deok-soon were at Jin Eun-byeol’s villa yesterday.

I don’t know what happened, but they were also ‘imprisoned’ by Jin Eun-byeol.

“…She’s a scary kid. For real….”

Deok-soon seemed to tremble in fear.

There was a hint of suppressed anger too.

Maybe it was for the better.

“Don’t worry. I’ve figured out Jin Eun-byeol’s weakness. Before she can harm us, we’ll harm her. The first strike wins. It’s an unchanging truth.”

Swish—.

I clicked on the video titled “6” that I had saved on my phone.

Everyone’s gaze shifted from their meals to my phone screen.

They saw a girl tied up on a bed along with four men standing around her.

“Say your name!”

“Say your name!”

“What’s your name?”

“Your name!”

The men yelled while splashing some unknown liquid.

Then, the girl tied to the bed screamed furiously.

Soon after, the men inexplicably fell over, or the bed began to float in the air.

Chang-sik was astonished.

“This… is this not Jin Eun-byeol! Jin Eun-byeol tied to the bed? Is this…!”

Everyone seemed to figure it out.

“As you all saw, Jin Eun-byeol’s weakness is—.”

“Is the weakness exorcism?!”

“No, as you can tell, her weaknesses are ‘kidnapping’ and ‘imprisonment.’”

Everyone frowned at that.

Kidnapping and imprisoning aren’t easy tasks.

Fortunately, I was the authority on high school girl kidnapping and imprisonment!

Just in time, the basement next door was also empty.

And this time, I had a reliable ‘team’ too.

“Guys, I need your help. The execution is tonight!”