The Tough Guy Hides the Villainess

Yoo Yeoreum is invincible.

Kidnapping her meant certain death.

In other words, Seo Ga-eul in the basement clearly intended to use Yoo Yeoreum’s hands to kill me.

But the stubbornness of a man surged within me.

Who does Yoo Yeoreum think she is?

Even humans have at least one weakness, don’t they?

So, I aimed for the moment when Yoo Yeoreum would be most off guard to confirm it.

Shooong, Pa-at-!

I launched myself like a spring wound to its limit, aiming for Yoo Yeoreum’s back.

“Nam-jin Kick!”

“Hey! What, what is this!”

“Yeoreum! Watch out! That lunatic─.”

“Hiek…!”

Everyone flinched as if in shock, but my body, like a loosed arrow, was already unstoppable.

This was the full extension of my 「Leap」, which had reached the second grade.

Even Yoo Yeoreum couldn’t possibly evade such a swift surprise attack.

As I decided to thoroughly expose her weaknesses, it happened.

Srr-rr-.

In that fleeting moment, Yoo Yeoreum’s white glowing eyes turned toward me, and she raised her arms to guard herself.

In this dark underground sewer, she reacted to my speed?

Clang-!

When I finally collided with Yoo Yeoreum, I was stunned.

It felt like kicking a steel pillar.

At the same time, Yoo Yeoreum grabbed the leg I had extended and slammed me to the ground, then drove her fist into my chest as I lay in the filthy sewer.

Bang-!

It hurt.

So much I couldn’t breathe.

“Just stay down. If you come at me again, it won’t end like this.”

“Yeoreum, are you okay?”

“What’s up with that lunatic suddenly attacking?”

“Seriously, D-Class is full of problems!”

“That monster ahead is ours!”

As Yoo Yeoreum and her teammates splashed away into the distance, I couldn’t move a single finger.

It felt less like being punched and more like being hit by a train.

The sparring just now told me everything.

Even I would need at least five lives to kidnap someone like her.

In other words, if I had five lives, kidnapping Yoo Yeoreum would be possible.

“…Seriously amazing. Is she really the leader of F-Class? I never thought our Nam-jin wouldn’t even stand a chance.”

“I’ve only heard about it, but seeing heat vision shoot from her eyes was unbelievable.”

“If you ask me… at that level, no active explorer could match her. Rumor has it one of her concepts reached the fifth grade. Ah, sorry, I’m rambling too much….”

“Whatever, the door’s open! My divination was right, wasn’t it? Huh? What do you think! My 「Misfortune」 at second grade! Hey! Han Nam-jin! What are you doing? Get up already! We need to move too!”

The voices belonged to Geum Tae-sung, Choi Chang-sik, Oh Deok-soon, and Baek Yeoul, all chiming in one after another.

With so many people, even one word echoed through the sewer.

Incidentally, there are exactly five members in our team, “No Leftovers Day,” including me.

Five.

Five lives.

I really am a genius at math!

Boing-!

Fueled by the brilliant conclusion I’d reached, my aching body rose as if by a miracle.

“Let’s go too! We can’t let them steal the monster! Hahaha!”

“Hey! What’s wrong with you? Did getting hit mess with your head?”

“Yeoul, that’s not entirely accurate. Our friend here has always been a bit odd, hasn’t he?”

# # #

“Idiot, go ahead and die.”

In the dimly lit basement, where a single lightbulb flickered on the ceiling, Seo Ga-eul lay and thought of the boy who was probably suffering.

Seo Ga-eul had given him the condition of “kidnapping Yoo Yeoreum” as if it were an assignment.

The boy didn’t seem to realize how foolish and absurd this was, but Seo Ga-eul knew it meant “death”.

In other words, Seo Ga-eul wanted to use Yoo Yeoreum’s hands to kill the boy.

Only by tearing apart the boy who had imprisoned her in such a place and humiliated her would she feel satisfied.

“Try all you want. You’ll never manage to kidnap Yoo Yeoreum.”

Pfft-.

Puhahaha-!

Thinking about the boy being punched through by Yoo Yeoreum made her laugh uncontrollably.

How long had it been since she’d laughed so freely without worrying about others?

But the laughter didn’t last long.

“Yoo Yeoreum….”

At the thought of that sunburned face, Seo Ga-eul’s expression twisted ferociously.

If anyone had seen her face then, they would have taken a few steps back in shock.

No one would have imagined that Seo Ga-eul, the princess of Seonam Group, could make such a grim expression.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Seo Ga-eul was alone in this place.

So she didn’t need to hide her inner self.

“Damn woman.”

Seo Ga-eul hated Yoo Yeoreum.

From their first meeting, she had felt that she could never get along with her.

She hated how Yoo Yeoreum stood out more than her, and how she acted so relaxed, as if she had seen through the world.

It felt like she was pretending to be humble while flaunting her superiority.

Seo Ga-eul couldn’t tolerate anyone above her, so she disliked Yoo Yeoreum.

Yet, she didn’t do anything about it and didn’t intend to.

To be precise, she couldn’t.

Seo Ga-eul recalled the “sparring” she’d had with Yoo Yeoreum during their special training.

That day, Seo Ga-eul lost for the first time and learned how hard the ground could be.

The humiliation of having all attention and focus stolen.

For the first time, she wondered if she might not be the “protagonist” of this world.

In that sense, Seo Ga-eul felt a faint sympathy for the boy, Han Nam-jin.

If he faced the “wall” of Yoo Yeoreum, he might lose heart.

For awakened youth who believed they were the “protagonists” of their lives, despair was more toxic than poison.

Thus, kidnapping Yoo Yeoreum was absolutely impossible.

Seo Ga-eul thought so and closed her eyes.

Growl-.

Her stomach growled.

Hunger makes people irritable.

In that state, Seo Ga-eul heard faint sounds.

Ding-dong-.

The sound of a doorbell.

From next door.

─Ha─jin, is─.

Voices could also be heard.

It was the voice of a man in his 40s.

Seo Ga-eul thought that the perfect opportunity to escape had finally come.

She opened her mouth wide─.

# # #

“Ah, damn it, I feel like I got hit by a train. Is my chest okay? Huh? Did it get punched through and turn into a donut?”

I took off my shirt and showed my chest to everyone.

Baek Yeoul and Oh Deok-soon quickly turned their heads, seemingly embarrassed to see a man’s bare torso.

But Tae-sung dutifully inspected my chest.

Scritch, scritch, scritch-scritch-.

He carefully examined me, taking his role as our team’s ‘healer’ very seriously.

“It doesn’t look like there’s any real damage. That’s surprising. I thought at least your bones would have cracked.”

“The ground is damp. That makes it easier to slip, so the punch didn’t carry as much force.”

Just a moment ago, walking through this damp sewer seemed like the worst, but it actually ended up helping.

Soon enough, the pink-haired girl giggled mischievously.

“Bad luck turns into good luck! So it’s thanks to me, huh? Say it is!”

Ever since she dyed her hair pink, her personality had changed.

I even seriously wondered if the dye had seeped into her brain through her scalp and caused some kind of mutation.

Anyway, the important thing was that I got to taste a fragment of Yoo Yeoreum’s skills.

The skill gap was overwhelming.

If I were just an ordinary kidnapper, I’d feel despair and shout, “The end of Yoo Yeoreum’s kidnapping! Story over!”

But I’m not the kind of guy who gives up.

For the sake of ‘Soft and Squishy’.

To deliver a satisfying blow to Seo Ga-eul, who was convinced I’d fail─.

If I actually succeeded in kidnapping Yoo Yeoreum and made her Seo Ga-eul’s roommate—

The sight of Seo Ga-eul’s twisted expression would be phenomenal.

Seeing that would make me so happy I might even feel a jolt in my tailbone—or maybe something even sturdier.

Even without that, I had this feeling of, “I think I can do this.”

Why?

Because Yoo Yeoreum’s attacks didn’t carry any killing intent.

Knowing that her punches wouldn’t kill me meant there was no reason to be afraid.

Honestly, a knife-wielding, drugged-up thug would be much scarier.

I know from experience—it’s best not to fight someone who’s lost their mind.

With that in mind─.

“Guys, let’s beat Yoo Yeoreum’s team in this exercise. She got a hit in, so we’ve got to return the favor, right?”

I figured that improving our team coordination was the first priority.

Winning first place in this group project would unite our five lives into one and make the ‘kidnapping operation’ feasible.

In a way, this group project was like a practice run for the bigger event to come.

Choi Chang-sik seemed impressed by my bold declaration.

“To not lose your fighting spirit even after facing a monster that shoots lasers from its eyes… My friend, your resilience is unmatched by anyone I know. Honestly, I thought you’d just give up on this exercise.”

Give up?

Why would I?

If I had given up on life here and there, would I have met Seo Ga-eul in that shantytown that day?

Would I have gotten a second chance?

“Life isn’t over until you see it through to the end. Until the nails are hammered into the coffin! So don’t despair just because the wall looks high.”

You really shouldn’t give up.

You all have important things to do with me.

First, I thought it would be good to help them forget their fear and dread of Yoo Yeoreum.

If we won first place in this exercise, they’d probably think, “Yoo Yeoreum’s no big deal!” and relax.

With that feeling, we followed Yeorum’s team deeper into the sewer.

After walking through several forks in the path, we encountered a strange monster instead of Yoo Yeoreum’s team.

“It’s a monster! Nam-jin! It’s a monster!”

“It doesn’t look very strong! But the points should still be the same—200,000!”

“…An amorphous monster… A concept of ‘Droplet’? Or maybe….”

“How about my spit-guided navigation skills? Impressive, right? Mind-blowing, huh?”

It really was mind-blowing.

Does something like ‘fate’ really exist in this world?

━Gyuiiing.

When I saw the blue blob of a monster, about the size of a baseball, tears welled up in my eyes.

“Ying-ying….”

It was Ying-ying.

My friend Ying-ying!

My emergency food!

My family!

To think we’d meet here of all places!

As I reached out in emotion, it happened.

Ziiiiing-!

A scorching heat ray shot from behind me and hit Ying-ying.

━Krreung…!!!

In an instant, Ying-ying was severely injured, half-melted by the intense heat.

As my hair stood on end, Yeorum’s team suddenly appeared and shouted.

“It’s a monster! Yeoreum! Another team might steal our points!”

“Ye, Yeoreum?”

“Yeoreum!”

“Yeoreum-noi!”

When I turned my head, I saw Yoo Yeoreum, her eyes glowing white, striding toward us.

Her gaze was fixed on Ying-ying, who lay writhing on the ground.

“All monsters must die. Every last one.”

Yoo Yeoreum murmured coldly, her voice icy despite her fiery name.

Her gaze was filled with killing intent, as if a death ray might burst forth at any moment.

Ziiiiing-.

Yoo Yeoreum’s heat ray targeted Ying-ying.

But before the blue slime Ying-ying could be scorched to evaporation, I came to my senses.

I was already holding Ying-ying in my arms.

“What are you doing, Han Nam-jin? Are you planning not to kill that monster?”

Yoo Yeoreum asked.

Her voice carried a sharp resolve, starkly different from her usual cynical, indifferent tone.

“Nam-jin! What are you doing! We have to kill the monster before Yoo Yeoreum does!”

“200,000 points, right?”

“Yeoreum! We’ll lose the points!”

“Hurry, we have to take it down first!”

“Let’s defeat the monster now!”

Amid the chaos, I looked at Ying-ying, nestled in my arms.

━Gyuiiing….

What if I said, “This guy’s a good monster, so we should let it live!” right now?

Everyone would look at me like I was some kind of freak, confused and incredulous.

Then they’d surely snatch Ying-ying from my arms, stomp on it, and melt it with a heat ray.

Honestly, I didn’t want to see that.

If everyone killed Ying-ying, I’d never be able to like any of them again.

Here’s the question.

When you don’t want to lose your new friends or your old friend Ying-ying—

—What’s the right thing for Freak Han Nam-jin to do?

Answer.

“I’ll show you why they call me a ‘freak’ from now on.”

I opened my mouth wide.

Geum Tae-sung seemed horrified as he realized my intent.

“W-wait! Hey! Nam-jin!”

“Stop him! What are you trying to do! My friend!”

I shoved Ying-ying’s jiggly body straight down my throat.

Gulp-.

For some reason, Ying-ying tasted like grapes.

“There, it’s done, right? The monster’s taken care of by our ‘No Leftovers Day’, by me, Han Nam-jin. If you’re upset, try shooting your fancy heat vision at my stomach.”

“You….”

「Name: Yoo Yeoreum

Status: 《Impressed》 – They are purely impressed by your extraordinary way of dealing with the monster.」

“That crazy bastard ate the monster!”

“Why are all the D-Class guys like this?”

“So, what happens to the points now? Did we lose them?”

Rumble, bulge-.

I felt something squirming inside my stomach, but it was manageable.

Ying-ying, hang in there for just two hours in my belly!