Although a Villain, My Wish is World Peace

Park Cheol-wan held his head at the news that followed.

“Crazy bastards.”

This time, Weltschmerz made a move. Those who rushed to the scene couldn’t easily speak due to the horrific sight.

This was a one-sided massacre.

“But you know, looking at the scene, there were a lot of strange things.”

Until the first news came in, Park Cheol-wan thought that once again, innocent people had died because of this incident. Well, that’s because the place reported as the crime scene was a small guild office.

When people think of guilds, they tend to imagine only successful ones, but there are far more modest ones operating like a kind of employment agency. Places that mediate necessary manpower as needed and take introduction fees, that kind of place.

When he heard that Weltschmerz had raided such a place, he thought those guys were just insignificant villains.

But here, when they investigated, there were many suspicious things.

Do Chae-hee, who had skimmed through the scattered materials, said with a hardened face:

“This was a villain’s den.”

Although it was operated under the guise of an ordinary guild, the materials and documents, and even the existence of an underground warehouse hidden from others.

Moreover, Weltschmerz had kindly informed the Awakener Crimes Department by opening up all the hidden spaces and laying out the spoils these people had hidden away.

Furthermore, upon closer inspection of the dead, they were all villains that the government had been chasing.

In an instant, this place became another crime scene.

Apart from the murder case committed by Weltschmerz, they had to find the crimes these people had been committing.

Park Cheol-wan, examining the names of the victims, unconsciously muttered:

“Still, these guys are better than the Butcher.”

Hearing Park Cheol-wan’s mutter, Do Chae-hee jumped up on the spot.

“This is worse. Because they’re acting like they’re something. It’s the same murder.”

“To say it’s the same murder, there’s still a difference in the target, isn’t there?”

“Besides, you saw the message left at the scene.”

At Do Chae-hee’s continued words, even Park Cheol-wan closed his mouth.

Like the Butcher who left a message for Weltschmerz at the scene, Weltschmerz also left a message for the Butcher.

[Ten wolves are better than a hundred rabbits.]

Unlike the Butcher, they didn’t specifically mention names, but everyone knew who had left this message.

As if that wasn’t enough, Weltschmerz even left their name on the chest of the guy who was the guild master of this place.

“These are guys who take human lives so lightly. You understand? There’s no better or worse here.”

Do Chae-hee’s words certainly had a point. There wasn’t even a hint of respect for life here.

But Park Cheol-wan didn’t read the situation as negatively as Do Chae-hee.

“If I were the Butcher, I’d be furious. And I’d think, no matter how many civilians I kill, I can’t match these guys.”

“Yes, and that’s the problem, because we can’t guess what that angry guy will do. What if he goes crazy and says, ‘Alright! I’ll offer even more valuable heads!’ and attacks the National Assembly or something?”

“Oh, that would be really troublesome.”

Do Chae-hee sighed at Park Cheol-wan’s expression, which seemed to finally grasp the seriousness.

“I just wish they’d meet and fight it out among themselves.”

“That would be best. Instead of killing innocent people like this.”

Worry settled on the faces of Do Chae-hee and Park Cheol-wan.

“How much the media will make a fuss about this again.”

* * *

As the two had predicted, or rather, far more than they had predicted, this incident became a hot topic.

It was a murder case that came to light before the shock of the small village that had disappeared in a day could even fade. And a murder case that occurred as if playing a ‘game’.

The government came out strongly condemning this incident. It was natural. Because these villains were running wild like this.

The Awakener Crimes Department was also being cursed along with it.

They were asking what on earth the Awakener Crimes Department was doing for villains to be able to run wild so freely.

Just barely a month since its establishment, before a proper system could even be set up, criticism was pouring in.

As the head of the Awakener Crimes Department, Park Cheol-wan had to be dragged to press conferences at every turn.

It was called a press conference, but it was more like becoming a punching bag for the media. All he could say was ‘We’re sorry,’ ‘We’re doing our best,’ ‘We’ll look into it.’

“I’m dying here.”

Park Cheol-wan’s face, after suffering through such sessions for hours, looked quite battered even to Do Chae-hee.

“The Butcher is one thing, but I’m going crazy wondering what’s going on with those Weltschmerz bastards. They say there’s no information from Australia either.”

At those words, Do Chae-hee unconsciously clenched her fist. In fact, it was her doing to hide the entry records received from Australia. As long as Han Seo-hyeon’s photo was included in that, she had no intention of releasing those photos yet.

Do Chae-hee knew too.

That Han Seo-hyeon had crossed the line.

Traces of dark magic were found in this murder case. All the information was neatly coming together to help paint a picture of the villain called Weltschmerz.

As the government said, the Awakener Crimes Department wasn’t really incompetent. Dozens of villains are caught by the Awakener Crimes Department every day, and hundreds of cases are handled.

The problem is that there are too many awakeners who become villains with the thought that it’s better to be a ‘villain’ if they can’t become a proper ‘hunter’.

The more they clamored about awakeners being bad, the more villains increased. The more villains increased, the more the perception that awakeners are bad spread in society, and then awakeners who had nowhere to go eventually became villains.

Could this vicious cycle be broken?

There was too much work piled up to even think about such future-oriented thoughts.

This incident was a disaster that was beyond the Awakener Crimes Department’s control from the start.

The highest-ranked awakeners in the Awakener Crimes Department are Do Chae-hee and Park Cheol-wan. Even Do Chae-hee has been half-banned from working in the field since becoming a ‘team leader’. The reason was a lack of responsible persons.

So it was impossible from the start for the Awakener Crimes Department, which only had mediocre B-rank awakeners gathered, to prevent crimes by villains estimated to be A-rank or higher.

All they could do was…

Just hope that incidents would occur within a manageable range.

At that moment, one of the team members ran to Do Chae-hee and Park Cheol-wan.

“T-team leader!”

“What is it, if you’ve run like that without any decent news, I’ll kick your butt.”

At Park Cheol-wan’s sharp words, the young-faced team member swallowed his breath.

“Don’t scare our poor team member. Yes, Yong-won, what’s the matter?”

At Do Chae-hee’s words, Kim Yong-won stuttered and opened his mouth.

“Uh, that! It seems Weltschmerz has sent a challenge to the Butcher’s side.”

Do Chae-hee’s eyes widened at the team member’s words.

“What did you say?”

“A challenge? It’s not the Middle Ages, why would they send such a thing?”

“An article appeared on the dark web.”

Of course, the Awakener Crimes Department was aware of the existence of the dark web.

They couldn’t break through places that required a certain level of authentication, but they could see all the places that ordinary villains could see.

It appeared on that dark web. What? A challenge.

Weltschmerz’s message was simple:

[There’s no need for us to dirty our hands.

If you want to challenge us, we’ll accept it.]

The moment they saw the place and time written below, they were dumbfounded.

The first thing that came to mind was the suspicion, ‘Is this real?’ It was natural. No one expected them to simply say ‘Let’s fight’ like this.

“Is this really Weltschmerz?”

At Park Cheol-wan’s question, Kim Yong-won stuttered and continued:

“Well… opinions are divided. It’s a post that came up on an account that hasn’t been officially verified yet.”

There were two types of accounts on the dark web.

The ‘basic’ account that anyone can sign up for and use (which is what the Awakener Crimes Department was using), and the ‘verified’ account that can only be used after receiving specific identity verification.

Needless to say, the verification process isn’t easy.

And this post was written with a basic account.

“Ah, what is this. Then there’s a high chance it’s fake.”

Park Cheol-wan said as if deflated.

“But it’s hard to see it as completely fake.”

“Why?”

“You know the crime scene yesterday? They posted photos from before the incident and right after the incident. Only the perpetrator could take such photos, right?”

It meant that although it wasn’t a verified account, it was as good as verified with photos.

“Then it’s real!”

Do Chae-hee wasn’t shaken by Park Cheol-wan’s voice. She had to keep her mind straight.

“Let’s dispatch to that location too.”

“What if it’s a trap?”

“It doesn’t matter if it’s a trap or not. Won’t all the villains, even the small fry, gather there?”

Even if they failed to catch Weltschmerz and the Butcher, if they could at least catch the other criminals gathered there, it would be a profitable venture.

Understanding what Do Chae-hee was saying, the new recruit Kim Yong-won immediately nodded and said:

“Yes!”

Unfortunately, Do Chae-hee wouldn’t be arresting any criminals there.

Because the Butcher had no intention of entering a stage set up by others.

* * *

“Things are turning out interestingly.”

Seol Rok-jin rolled his eyes while looking at the dark web.

Thanks to the two villains running wild, the situation was turning out better than ever. The crackdown on awakeners was being prepared step by step. The terrible things they were doing were very helpful.

It was also effective to make a fuss about not being able to trust the Awakener Crimes Department. This was the reason for turning the team that was a subordinate organization of the police into a department.

Awakeners are beings that cannot self-purify.

Thorough suppression is the only answer.

In the end, the Awakener Crimes Department is a failure.

It’s to give such a message.

The incidents that broke out now were very satisfactory for that purpose as well.

One thing that bothered him was these guys called Weltschmerz. No matter how much he searched, there was no information about them.

This couldn’t normally be the case.

Villains usually have a clumsy first attempt.

Weltschmerz wasn’t like that. They appeared suddenly as if they had fallen from the sky.

And what they committed was none other than the auction raid.

You can’t start as a master thief from the beginning. Just as the saying goes that a needle thief becomes a cow thief, villains are not only born but also made.

But Weltschmerz showed no starting point that villains usually have. As if someone had created them.

That’s what Seol Rok-jin is suspicious of.

Could someone have created this organization called Weltschmerz out of necessity?

If so, who’s behind it? It wasn’t too difficult to find the answer to that.

Only the top 5 guilds in Korea would have the capacity to create Weltschmerz.

The problem isn’t ‘who’, it’s ‘with what intention’ they created Weltschmerz.

If it had ended at the auction, the answer would be simple.

Just like Jin Yeon-hwa of Sirius tried to form her own team to divert mana stones, you could think that other guilds had plotted the same thing.

But it’s clearly strange that they went out of their way to destroy the human experimentation lab and divert the children there, and then go to Australia to contact Taika Cooper.

There must have been some kind of deal with Taika Cooper.

‘They made a deal with Taika Cooper while evading everyone’s eyes. The mana stone must be an expression of goodwill. I don’t know if the US government is involved, but the deal is certain.’

If all of this was a stage planned by someone, Seol Rok-jin needed to find out who set up this stage.

One experience of the chessboard being overturned is enough.

“If even the Top doesn’t know them, then the answer will be clear.”

Seol Rok-jin’s lines reached even the Top.

The individuals in the Top were far from the pure evil that the public thinks.

To live is to desire.

And villains are those who desire more than anyone.

And those who desire can never shake off Seol Rok-jin’s temptation.