Villain Hides His True Colors

ed it off.

 

The moment she tried to persuade the boy again, the blade of the sword, which was blocked by her armor, turned straight and aimed at her waist.

 

D-dangerous!

 

An unexpected attack that had caught her off guard.
She never imagined that he would attack again.

 

She instinctively used her mana and blocked the attack.

 

“Keuk!”

 

And the boy, who couldn’t overcome the backlash, flew back and rolled away.

 

“Ah, no!”

 

Realizing what she had done, she tried to run straight to the boy.

 

But fortunately, the boy suddenly jumped to his feet and pointed the tip of his sword at her.
It was a surprising amount of concentration that even ordinary heroes didn’t have.

 

The boy smiled.

 

“Ajumma, you’re really tough.”

(TN: Ajumma means middle-aged woman, madam, aunty, etc…)

 

Instead of being intimidated by the attack, the boy was smiling as if he was having a lot of fun.
Like she had thought, the child wasn’t normal.

 

And…He tried to kill me with all his heart just now.

 

It had been a really long time since she had felt such a blatant killing intent.
For some reason, her spine chilled.

 

However, it wasn’t a matter to think about now.
She hurriedly shouted at the boy who was about to charge at her.

 

“W-wait a minute! I’m Kim Taehi, a senior investigator from the Hero Association!”

 

Tuk–

 

At her words, the boy stopped and asked with a suspicious look.

 

“How can I believe that? You could be lying to me.”

 

“H-hold on.
I’ll show you my ID.”

 

She hurriedly took out her ID card and threw it at the boy.
And when he received it, he looked at the ID card and Kim Taehi alternately before speaking.

 

“This is a different person no matter how I look at it.”

 

“Th-that…”

 

“As expected, you were a terrorist.”

 

The boy lifted his sword again with a betrayed look.
She blushed and spoke in a hurry.

 

“N-no! In fact…it’s because of filters and the angle…”

 

“Hmm…how can I believe that? Then show me now.
I’ll judge based on that.”

 

“Wh-what are you talking about?”

 

“Take a selfie and show it to me.”

 

“…”

 

The boy said as he looked at her with his arms folded.
He seemed to be serious from his expression.

 

***

Reaper Scans

[ Translator – Yasi ]

[ Proofreader – Karane ]

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***

 

Why did she have to take a selfie at a bloody site like this? She felt like she was losing her mind.

 

“D-do I really have to do it? I’m really Kim Taehi! You can’t tell by how it looks? I’m obviously Kim Taehi! M-my subordinates can verify it once they come in a little while.”

 

“Like I thought, a terrorist…” 

 

“No, I’m not! H-hold on a second.”

 

Looking at the boy who had lifted up his sword again, she took out her smartphone.

 

…It’s all for the safety of the citizens.

 

Kim Taehi, who had reigned as a tyrant in the counterterrorism investigation team, gave up thinking straight.

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She puffed up her cheeks and took a selfie at an angle.

 

The boy who was covered in blood and the terrorist watched with a serious expression.

 

Click–

 

She quickly added a filter to her selfie and threw the smartphone at the boy.
He looked back at her and the picture, then showing it to the terrorist behind him and asking.

 

“What do you think? Do you think it’s right?”

 

“I-I think it’s right.
My eyes for a person aren’t great but…I think this is the same person.”

 

Kim Taehi, who was hearing all of this, couldn’t help but tremble at the feeling of being deeply humiliated.
She just felt fortunate that none of her subordinates were here.

 

After some time, the boy threw the smartphone back at her.

 

“Ah, so you were telling the truth.
I’m sorry.
I attacked you because I thought you were a terrorist.”

 

“No…it’s fine…I understand.”

 

The boy smiled brightly.

 

Somehow, she felt like she was being teased, but she recalled her purpose for coming here.

 

She was here to protect such a reckless boy from danger.

 

But that’s a relief.
He understands my words.

 

Perhaps he was a righteous boy at heart, even if he was just a little lacking in the head.

 

Considering that the boy was located at the venue where the nursery schools gathered, there must have been no opportunity for him to receive a proper education.

 

It’s important for a child to grow up in a proper environment…

 

If something went wrong, a boy with such a promising future may be corrupted and become a villain.

 

Even though the people the boy had murdered today were criminals, they were also human lives.

 

If he was to start taking the weight of life lightly, he might commit another murder at the drop of a hat.

 

On the contrary, if someone could take good care of such a gemstone, then he could become an important talent that protects the citizens in the future.

 

But who in the world would do that?

 

A child with such a personality might cause a big accident if they let their guard down for even a little.
And it was probably hard to find parents with the will and ability to control it.

 

Maybe I…

 

As soon as she fell into thought, the villain who was kneeling on the floor shouted.

 

“I-I’ll surrender!”

 

“Under the Anti-Oversuppression Act, I hope there will be no more harm that comes to me.”

 

She clicked her tongue when she heard it.

 

Awful human rights laws.

 

These people would always start bringing out human rights when their positions were at a disadvantage.

 

Did they really deserve to talk about human rights?

 

She recalled the corpses of countless civilians she had seen on her way here.
There were young children, young couples, and bodies with traces of sexual assault.

 

Did those people leave the house knowing they would die today…?

 

And every moment such as this, she would feel skeptical about what she was doing.

 

“Trash like you should really be grateful for the law.”

 

“Haha…I’m always grateful for it.”

 

She took out handcuffs and approached the terrorist.

 

At that moment,

 

Swish–

 

A red solid line formed on the terrorist’s neck, and then he fell to the side.
And next to it, she saw the boy putting his sword back in its sheath.

 

“Wh-what the fuck! What the hell are you doing?”

 

She couldn’t have imagined such an unexpected action from the boy, so she unknowingly cursed.

 

But the boy spoke in a very calm and composed tone.

 

“I have to kill all the terrorists.”

 

It sounded as if killing them was his only reason for living.

 

A blind sense of goal that didn’t waver no matter what anyone says.

 

What had happened to this young child for him to hate terrorists so much?

 

Then she realized.
The reason why she couldn’t take her eyes off the child.

 

Ah…As expected….Does he have the same pain as me?

 

It was as if all the puzzle pieces were coming together one by one.
Perhaps his family was a victim of terrorism.

 

She looked at the child who was still smiling.
The smile began to look different.

 

I see…even now…he’s crying.

 

For him to not even be able to express his feelings, how much pain was the boy carrying? She managed to hold back the tears that were about to burst.

 

At that moment, the boy suddenly turned around and began to walk toward the elevator.

 

“Wait, where are you going?”

 

The boy answered.

 

“It’s not over yet.
There’s more terrorists above.”

 

He calmly confessed that he would continue to kill.
But she couldn’t say anything about it.

 

As an adult, and as a former hero responsible for the safety of the citizens, she had to stop him right now.

 

But…At the same time, as a mother who had lost her daughter, she had no choice but to make a foolish decision.

 

She wondered if her daughter would have looked like the boy now if she had died and her daughter had survived instead.

 

If that’s what it takes to save you…I’ll protect you from the side.

 

Before the boy could do so, she pressed the button on the elevator with a confident step.

 

And then she looked straight into his eyes and spoke firmly.

 

“This is originally my job.
I won’t say anything about you following me anymore, but I won’t forgive you for spilling anymore blood on your hands.”

 

As she spoke, the look in her eyes overlapped with that of the hero ‘Black Tank’ that was active in the past.

 

* * * * * * * * * *

 

All of a sudden I was standing in front of an elevator with a woman who was trying to act cool.

 

What was wrong with this aunty?

 

Strangely, there seemed to be a lot of people trying to stick to me these days.
And regarding this, if I had to guess why…

 

< Mark of a Warrior >

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*Favorability increases easily.

 

In the end…wasn’t it because of this?

 

Gaining popularity among the public was naturally very important if I wanted to be a hero.

 

However, it could be annoying at times when people appear out of nowhere like now.

 

Nevertheless, I could say that it was rather helpful this time.

 

Considering that her defense had deflected my Red Velvet Curse a moment ago, I thought she would be perfect to use as a meat shield.

 

Well, it wouldn’t hurt to take her along like this.

 

I had heard from the terrorists earlier that their goal was Namgung Taesu.

 

And the head of the terrorist group, a crossbreed between a troll and a human, was going to attack him.

 

Apparently he was a terrifying powerhouse equivalent to a B-Rank hero.

 

On the other hand, looking at my ability, it was around E~D Rank.
Like hitting a rock with an egg, it was virtually impossible.

 

But as I had various skills that others didn’t have, it wasn’t right to simply consider the general hero level.

 

Even when I was a villain in the past and was always on the run from the Hero Association, I always fought and won against heroes of higher ranks.

 

In addition, now that I had Red Velvet Curse, I was far beyond my rank in terms of offensive power.

 

It was worth a try.

 

Ding–

 

The elevator arrived.
The door opened and bullet marks could be seen embedded in several places.

 

Looking at it, I felt as if I was about to enter the boss room of a dungeon.

 

Come to think of it, I had almost forgotten.

 

I opened my status window without getting onto the elevator.

 

It was a rule to set up your skill again before entering the boss room.

 

I had gained 3 levels from the venue earlier, and then 2 more in the lobby.
In all, I had reached level 24.

 

The lobby had a lot more monsters, so that was a given when you kill weak monsters.
Then again, it was thanks to them that my level had risen this much.

 

I invested the Fragments of Growth in Body and Mana.

 

< Level 24 (+5) >

Body: 2.15 -> 2.77 (+0.62)

Dexterity: 2.01

Mana: 1.67 -> 2.17 (+0.50)

Spirit: 2.08

*0 Fragment of Growth

 

And then…

 

[ All stats have exceeded 2 points.
] 

[ Physique has increased by one stage.
]

 

Every stat had finally exceeded 2.
Because of that, my body’s constitution had reached another level and my durability had increased.

 

I can worry less about dying now.

 

And next was skill.
I used the Skill Selection I had gained after a long time.

 

[ Used Level 20 Skill Selection.
]

[ One of the following skills can be learned.
]

 

(1) < Sancai Tempering Art >

Classification: Mortal

Grade: E

Description: Introductory martial art method that is good for laying the foundation.

 

(2) < Shield >

Classification: Magic

Grade: E

Description: Create a protective coating to defend against physical attacks.

.

.

.

 

Perhaps because it was a Level 20 Skill Selection, but it seemed that there were quite a few useful skills now.

 

But I scrolled down without paying attention to these skills.
There was another list of skills that were shining.

 

[ Special Selection.
]

 

I was wondering if it was the case, but it was there as expected.

 

The achievement I had gained this time was also a ‘feat.’

 

Looking back on the previous case, I thought it would be difficult for these new achievements to give out useless skills.

 

I carefully looked through the skill lists.

 

(a) < Giant Hunter >

Classification: General

Grade: C

Description: Additional damage against targets larger than yourself.
(*Extra additional damage against Giant type.)

 

(b) < Plant Communication >

Classification: General

Grade: C

Description: You can hear the voices of plants.

 

[ Level 25 Skill Selection will be forfeited if you select a Special Skill.
]

 

In any case…I saw a trash skill.

 

Even without that skill, I was already suffering from hearing the conversation of plant obscenities.

 

Just because it was a Special Selection didn’t necessarily mean all of them would be good.

 

I chose one of the skills without hesitation.

 

[ You’ve learned < Giant Hunter >.
]

 

In fact, it wasn’t much of a choice.

 

Considering that my body was that of a child now, I had acquired a very useful skill.

 

And…wasn’t there a saying that trolls were descendants of giants?

 

I didn’t think everything would fall into place like this.
As expected, this world was a game of luck.

 

A smile leaked out without me realizing it.

 

And I guess because I had been standing still for a while, Kim Taehi quickly began to pour out words.

 

“What’s wrong with you all of a sudden? Hmm? Are you scared? If you’re scared, you can go back now! You’ve done enough.
No, it can be said that going back now is true courage and revenge! Because…”

 

I ignored her, who was talking nonsense with a rather solemn look, and reopened the elevator door.

 

“Are you coming?”

 

“Huh? Y-yeah…L-let’s go.”

 

She had a surprised look on her face as she hurried into the elevator.
As the door slowly closed, I had a thought.

 

In the end, it seemed to always come down to catching a troll to get your beginner license.

 

After today, I’ll graduate from being a newbie.