The Tough Guy Hides the Villainess

Slap!

I struck Seo Ga-eul’s pale, exposed thigh with a fly swatter.

The muscles of an awakened individual are more than twice as firm as those of an average person, but not many can strengthen the toughness of their skin, so wide-area impacts were unexpectedly effective.

“Ahhh! You crazy bastard, ahhh!”

Seo Ga-eul, who had been continuously hit by me, finally lost her temper and let out another loud scream.

Of course, no one but me was there to hear that hysterical shriek.

Regional imbalance.

Wealth disparity.

Low birth rates and redevelopment failures.

What once symbolized misfortune for me had now turned into a blessing in disguise.

This is why they say fortune and misfortune are just a thin line apart.

Anyway, it was my duty to protect, guard, and simultaneously help Seo Ga-eul grow.

“You crazy bastard, I’ll kill you. I’ll really kill you.”

Huff, huff—.

Seo Ga-eul glared at me while taking deep, intense breaths.

Before her, words floated eerily in the air.

「Name: Seo Ga-eul
Status: 《Fierce Hatred》 – Confused due to severe dehydration and overwhelming hatred.」

It was the first emotional vulnerability Seo Ga-eul had ever shown me.

I found this gap in her emotions far more delightful and provocative than her earlier blatant attempts to seduce me by pulling down her blanket to expose her pale skin.

It finally felt like she was opening her heart to me!

Is this love?

Is this how everyone progresses step by step in a relationship?

In any case, I had only one thing to do.

“Seo Ga-eul, I’ll save you! You have to live!”

I forced her mouth open and poured water from a PT bottle into it.

Gurgle, gurgle—.

“Mmmph, mmph!”

“You have to drink it! Drink it all! You need to survive!”

It was only natural that Seo Ga-eul was showing signs of dehydration, having not had a sip of water since last night.

The high metabolism of awakened individuals demands more hydration than ordinary people.

“Mmmph, mmph, you crazy bastard, ahhh! Mmph!”

Gurgle, gurgle—.

I forced three 1.5-liter PT bottles into Seo Ga-eul’s mouth.

Now that she has drunk so much, she should be able to go without water for at least a day.

Of course, in her struggle to reject my goodwill, she thrashed around, soaking my face, body, the blanket, and the floor, but all of that could be easily dealt with.

“Now I need to feed her.”

Since she’d had water, the next step was food.

I should also bring a few sets of clothes for her to change into.

With that in mind, I decided to head home for now.

“I’ll kill you! Ahhh! Ahhhhhh!”

# # #

“Wow, it’s really quiet.”

Seo Ga-eul was surely causing a ruckus in the basement of the neighboring house, but my house was peaceful itself.

If I listened closely, I could faintly hear her screaming “Ahhhh—,” but it was only audible to someone with the heightened senses of an awakened individual like me.

Even if someone wandered around nearby, they wouldn’t hear it, so there was no need to worry.

Ding dong—.

At that moment, someone rang my doorbell.

A chill ran down my spine.

The timing was critical; the broth for my ramen was at its perfect boiling point.

Ding dong—.

“I’m coming.”

Click, creak—.

When I opened the gate, I saw a man in a suit and several others gathered behind him.

They all stood straight and upright, not looking like ordinary people.

I could also smell a lot of metal.

Police?

No, not exactly police, but they were certainly similar.

Why would people like that come to see me?

What could they possibly want?

“Who are you?”

I asked the man wearing a fedora and large sunglasses.

Though his face was mostly covered, something about him felt vaguely familiar.

“I’m Kim Jang-dong, a team leader from the「Superhuman Management Agency」, a newly established branch under the National Intelligence Service.”

What?

Kim Jang-dong?

Why was Manager Kim, one of my regular clients, here?

I couldn’t decide whether to be pleased or confused—.

“Have you seen these people before?”

Swish—.

Kim Jang-dong entered my yard and handed me a few sheets of paper.

They read “Wanted – Kim Tae-yang,” accompanied by a photo.

It was a familiar face.

One of the loan sharks who had come to my house.

“We’re investigating the places these loan sharks visited before they were killed. You know they died, right? The news was all over the place.”

“I know.”

“Do you know who killed them? The culprit must have overwhelming physical abilities to single-handedly overpower three adult males wielding weapons and brutally murder them. In other words, an awakened individual.”

“Oh, I see.”

“Han Nam-jin. You’re a student at Yeongsa High School, right? You’d have motive against these loan sharks, and you’d fit the profile. Could it be that you’re the 「Judge」? The psycho killer who targets only criminals?”

Wow, Manager Kim was completely off the mark.

I was actually troubled by the loan sharks’ deaths.

I had been planning to ask them about their kidnapping methods.

If I’d gotten that information, I wouldn’t have had to climb all the way to the 40th floor of a corporate headquarters by sheer effort.

Manager Kim narrowed his eyes and pulled out a business card, handing it to me.

“Contact me if anything comes up.”

“Sure.”

“By the way, doesn’t your school have a student named Seo Ga-eul?”

“What?”

“Do you know anything about her?”

This was unexpected.

The conversation suddenly drifted toward Seo Ga-eul.

Was he planning to ask about her in relation to a disappearance or abduction?

As I hesitated, considering how to respond, a woman who seemed like a subordinate said, “Manager, that’s still—” and lightly tapped Kim Jang-dong on the side.

“Oh, it’s nothing. Weren’t you cooking ramen? The smell is everywhere. Enjoy your meal.”

Kim Jang-dong suddenly changed his tone, put on his shoes, and left the house.

Only after everyone had exited, and their presence was no longer felt, could I finally relax.

It felt like five years had been shaved off my lifespan.

Still, it was too early to feel completely at ease.

I carefully inspected under the table and every corner of the house.

“There it is, a bugging device.”

I remembered the trouble Kim Jang-dong caused whenever he made requests like “whip me with this”, by planting bugs all over my house.

Apparently, that habit hadn’t changed.

I found five bugging devices in total, just like back then.

The last one was in a tricky spot, so it took some extra time to retrieve.

# # #

“Ah, damn, the ramen’s all soggy now.”

The unexpected visit had delayed me by an hour.

What if Seo Ga-eul got angry from hunger?

I’d seen on MeTube that women get extremely irritable and aggressive when they’re hungry.

Hurriedly, I grabbed the pot of ramen and headed to the basement of the house next door.

Click, creak—.

When I opened the basement door, I found Seo Ga-eul sitting much more calmly than I’d expected.

But there was a strange atmosphere in the room.

Her face was flushed, her breath came in short gasps, and she squirmed slightly, twitching her thighs.

The scene had an oddly suggestive air about it.

What’s this?

Engage IQ 140 brain at full capacity!

Conclusion!

“Do you need to use the bathroom?”

“Die!”

「Name: Seo Ga-eul
Status: 《Fierce Anger》 – Truly pissed off!」

Seo Ga-eul was genuinely furious.

At that moment, it felt like a fountain burst inside my head.

Of course.

After I made her drink all that water, the law of conservation of mass dictated that a similar amount would need to leave her body.

“Ga-eul, if you hold it in, you’ll get a bladder infection.”

“Ahhh! Aaaahhhhhhh!”

Seo Ga-eul turned as red as a maple leaf and began to thrash about again, looking so genuinely insane that I felt a chill run down my spine.

She must have been really hungry.

“Okay, okay. Eat this first. It’s your meal: Ssamjang Spam Ramen.”

“Who would eat this crap? Do you enjoy tormenting me that much, you bastard? Are you mocking me with food, you perverted freak?”

I wasn’t tormenting her.

I’d even added Spam to the ramen especially for her.

But Seo Ga-eul, as if something didn’t sit right with her, kicked the pot over, spilling the ramen I’d gone to such lengths to make.

Splaasssh—.

“Serves you right!”

“……”

Throb—.

For a moment, the veins in my forehead bulged.

One of the people I despised most were those who wasted food.

But this was Seo Ga-eul.

I decided it would be best to let it slide once.

Just as Seo Ga-eul had given me a second chance, I wanted to extend the same courtesy to her.

“Ga-eul, you and I are going to be together for a long time. We’re meant to be soulmates, best friends. We’re going to get along eventually, so let’s set aside our pride.”

“Screw you!”

“I already did! In sixth grade! When my mom tricked me with promises of pork cutlets!”

“You lunatic!”

Hmm, such sweet insults.

I cleaned up the spilled ramen and stepped out of the basement.

It felt like I was gradually seeing the “bottom” of Seo Ga-eul.

But they say love grows stronger when you reveal each other’s scars, flaws, and hidden sides, don’t they?

Strangely, I found myself liking Seo Ga-eul even more.

Even so, I had to admit the truth.

When it came to training or education, I was a novice.

I had no idea how to structure a proper curriculum going forward.

If only those loan sharks were still alive, they could’ve taught me how to handle a hostage properly.

Whoever the real 「Judge」 was, they’d seriously interfered with my plans.

When I meet them someday, I’ll kick them in the balls.

Wait, what if the 「Judge」 is a woman?

Then there’d be no balls to kick.

It was a night filled with serious contemplation.

But what truly mattered was the curriculum.

So I returned home and watched all ten parts of the movie series Complete Education, which had left a strong impression on me.

In the film, the hostage ended up falling in love with the kidnapper.

That’s the ultimate outcome I desired.

“That phenomenon where the victim sympathizes with the abductor. It’s called Scorpion CD-ROM. I’m smart, right? I researched it for you.”

“You idiot, it’s Stockholm Syndrome, you moron! Aaaahhhhhhh!”

Yes, that’s how this story began.

We’d finally reached this point.

“Well then, Ga-eul, take good care of the house today.”

I couldn’t afford to be late.

With Kim Jang-dong watching me, I needed to tread carefully.

As I was closing the steel door to head to school, Seo Ga-eul shouted.

“Hey!!!!”

“What?”

I opened the door again to ask.

Did she suddenly have an urgent matter?

Did she finally need to use the bathroom?

“Do you urgently need the bathroom?”

“Thanks to you, I awakened a new concept early this morning. It’s called「Refined Lady」 So now I don’t even need to use the bathroom. I’m sure you wanted to see me humiliated, but too bad!”

A new concept awakening?

In the end, I had trained Seo Ga-eul and made her stronger.

My methods were working!

As I felt a surge of joy, Seo Ga-eul, now noticeably more composed, narrowed her eyes and spoke.

“You said you wanted to train me, right? Fine, I’ll let you. But there’s a condition. If you meet this condition, I’ll cooperate. If not, I won’t.”

“A condition?”

I was thrilled!

It felt like Seo Ga-eul and I were finally on the same page!

In the end, she liked me too, just like the heroines in Complete Education!

“What’s the condition?”

“Do you know Yoo Yeoreum?”

“Yeoreum? Of course. She’s my best friend.”

“Kidnap her too and bring her here next to me.”

……

This wasn’t in the movie I watched.