I’m Not That Villain

44 – Misunderstanding (2)

“Goodbye.”

Ding.

Ju Hwarin left the convenience store. The chocolate milk in her mouth tasted pleasant.

Instant food is good. Sweet snacks like this are good too. But why?

The food that man, Heuk Gyeong, gave her was tastier. Home-cooked meals that were better than what you get at a restaurant.

The menu itself wasn’t particularly special, so why? Ju Hwarin sipped on her chocolate milk.

Let’s ask about that later…

First things first.

Ju Hwarin threw the empty chocolate milk carton into the trash. With her hood up, she leisurely walked down the alley.

Yoon Siwoo.

32 years old.

Master of the steel plate workshop.

It’s okay to be sloppy with other things. But didn’t they teach you in the ‘old school’?

If you are careless in assassination, you fail. She had learned that the hard way before.

Fancy stuff? Good.

Yes. Good. Really good. She loves it!

But if you die, it’s all useless. Besides, this time, her personal equipment is involved.

This time, let’s suppress the ego a bit. Fancy is good, but sometimes safety is better. Caprice. This time, it’s capricethat’s what she thought.

Ju Hwarin hid in the shadows and waited for the person.

When she watched from afar, it seemed like this alley was passed through at this time…

Yes. Here they come.

I am accurate!

Ju Hwarin grinned as she watched the person pass by. She remembered the face. The body shape was the same. Just one person…

…Huh?

It’s not one person, but two?

“…….?!”

Ju Hwarin stared at the person walking beside him. Black suit. A big man who clearly looked like a bodyguard.

“…….”

A cold weapon was tucked into his waistband. In these chaotic times, a cold weapon meant only one thing.

Ordinary people in Seoul preferred firearms over cold weapons, and those who carried cold weapons were mostly…

‘Ability holders.’

A guard was assigned. Suddenly, too.

Did they notice the assassination plan? But there was nothing that had been shown to them.

Did I make a mistake? But that doesn’t change what needs to be done.

Identify the target, analyze the target…

And cut off their head.

For ‘me’ and ‘sister’ alone.

Juhwa-rin, who was watching the two disappear into the shadows, shoved a chocolate bought from a convenience store into her mouth.

Bodyguards. Usually those affiliated with mercenary companies or security firms.

But most of them had no information available. They were protected at the company level, and those whose abilities were known had soaked so much in blood that they were only strong ones who spread by word of mouth.

Let’s start by looking into the mercenary company that has an exclusive contract with the Steel Slate Workshop. It might be an individual rather than a company. Whatever it is, let’s first gather detailed information.

In fights between ability holders, the side that eliminates variables is more advantageous.

Juhwa-rin turned back into the darkness. To set another date.

. . .

“I appreciate it every time, but…aren’t you spending too much money?”

“……”

“…Not a word from you today either. Well, I don’t care.”

The hacker manipulated the program. There was only one thing to find out.

To break the security of the ‘Killing Machine’ site.

“Before, you asked me to break into the black market, and now it’s the Killing Machine site used by hitmen? If they catch me hacking, I’m a hundred percent dead.”

“……”

“Your silence is piercing. Piercing. Yeah. Actually, I didn’t hack the black market security before…but the Killing Machine isn’t easy either. Their security is tight too. It’s not going to be easy.”

In the dark room, Seol Ye-won leaned against the wall. The sound of pizza packaging rustling at her feet.

Dirty. The room itself. Dirtier than the last time she was here. But it’s okay. She’s used to dirt. Her old room was worse, if not better.

She just waits. Hood and mask pulled over her face. Watching the hacker’s fingers day and night, the hacker grumbled.

“This might be too much. Just breaking through the firewall is dizzying, do you know how many programs I have to interfere with?”

“……”

“…Don’t glare at me. It’s just that the price doesn’t match. The price.”

This is how it is.

This is how this world works.

It’s common to take the deposit and then change the terms. Haven’t you learned that from dealing with several hackers?

There were those who, despite lacking skills, took the money first and then said, “Sue me.”

There were also those who extracted information from this side and used it as leverage to extort money.

And there were those who, like now, took the money first and then kept demanding additional payments.

After experiencing each of these, Seol Yewon learned how to deal with such people.

And the hacker in front of him calling him a “regular” was part of that method.

Crunch.

The aluminum can he lightly held turned to powder and spilled onto the floor. The hacker glanced sideways.

“But since you’re a regular, I should give you a discount! Haha!”

“…….”

“Let’s see… There are quite a few names to look into… What exactly do you know?”

Seol Yewon tapped on his phone and showed the screen to him.

[All I know is that someone from the Steel Slate Workshop recently commissioned several assassination jobs.]

“Several jobs, you say? Then this will be quick. Multiple assassination jobs are categorized separately. We need to move quickly before the site security manager notices.”

He typed rapidly on the keyboard. Several complex commands appeared and disappeared on the screen.

“Steel Slate Workshop… Steel Slate Workshop… If we search for related names among the publicly registered names of all clients…”

The percentage bar on the screen quickly filled up. As soon as it hit 100%, a name popped up.

“Yoon Siwoo. Is this the person? They’ve submitted several jobs recently. And additionally… they keep submitting more. What’s going on? Is the Steel Slate Workshop planning something big?”

[Yoon Siwoo, you say?]

“Yes. Yoon Siwoo. Additional information would normally require an extra fee, but… I’ll look into it for you. It’s not difficult. As long as the identity is confirmed…”

Crackle.

Suddenly, a loud noise erupted from the computer tower. The hacker stared blankly at the crashed screen and whistled softly.

“Why did the automatic tracking prevention program trigger so quickly? The black market I tried before lasted a minute, but this place is incredible. It triggered after barely two minutes of snooping.”

“…….”

“Compensate me. Huh? That will require an extra fee.”

[How much?]

“You must have earned quite a bit, huh? From killing that previous target.”

Seol Yewon stared at him silently. The hacker flinched and raised both hands.

“Enough. Just keep using me in the future. I’m too scared to even talk to you. Anyway, let me give you some additional information… Let’s see…”

The newly taken-out tablet screen flipped through like the one seen before.

“Yoon Si-woo. Here he is. Looks like he’s taken on some important role? His SNS activity has suddenly become active. Posting pictures because he made some money. Doing SNS activities with his own photos within Seoul means one of two things. Either he’s quite successful, or he’s just a fool. But judging by the fact that he’s been posting his own photos recently… Oh. Right. He’s become a successful guy.”

The man flipped the screen.

“Steel Plate Workshop. Ah. It’s a well-known place. Among the underground workshops, it’s one of the top large workshops in Seoul’s Jung-gu. But here, that person has become a middle manager? And additionally, it seems he’s hired a bodyguard. An ability holder.”

[An ability holder?]

“Yes. You know? Information about ability holders is really precious. Most of it is documented on paper, not stored as data. To them, it’s more valuable than life. So the only information you can find about that bodyguard is his identity. And this will cost extra. Whether you turn a bottle into powder or break a wall, you’ll have to pay.”

[I don’t need it.]

“You don’t need it? There could be a fight between ability holders?”

Seol Ye-won took out money from her wallet.

Fortunately, among the malicious commenters she had ‘dealt with’, there was a big shot who had a personal safe. Although the murder wasn’t for money, it helped cover the lack of cash.

All the jewels and gold in it were converted to money, and thanks to that, she could significantly reduce her working hours.

Just the amount of money was enough to not worry about money in the future.

But it wasn’t a murder for money in the first place. She was just a shadow. A shadow operating in places he didn’t know. Not for money or fame, but solely to eliminate those who harassed him.

The reason she didn’t need information about the ability holder was also related to the big shot she mentioned before.

She had already met the bodyguard with abilities once.

Contrary to the expectation that she would struggle…

It wasn’t much. Really.

. . .

A smooth road.

That’s exactly how the future feels now.

“Hehehe.”

Yoon Si-woo tilted the ordered drink. The drink was sweet today. Moreover, it was confirmed that he had taken on a big project this time.

Of course, because of that, the brokerage work related to simple production tasks increased quite a bit. But the important thing is that success is guaranteed.

Moreover, he liked the newly assigned bodyguard.

Kim Ji-ho.

A bodyguard dispatched from a mercenary company that had an exclusive contract with the Steel Plate Workshop.

Yoon Si-woo glanced to the side. Just having someone silently guarding him made him feel like a big shot.

Ah. Now all that’s left is to make a name for himself in Seoul.

He orders another drink for no reason. After gulping it down, he savors the feeling of success.

Yes! That’s right! The days of barely scraping by with a meager income are finally seeing the light of day!

Who cares if others are struggling or not!

“Life is survival of the fittest…”

The strong eat.

The weak are eaten.

That is the true essence of life!

He chuckled to himself. Then he glanced around the unusually empty store.

Is it because it’s a weekday? There’s no woman worth hitting on. The only customer besides himself is one.

Right now, he could probably take anyone home for the night, but there’s no one here.

What a shame. What a shame. Yoon Si-woo sighed and turned his head. Just as he was about to focus on his drink again, he noticed someone sitting next to him.

A woman in casual clothes that didn’t match the store. A woman with a hood pulled down low.

…A woman!

It’s a woman!

That’s the most important thing.

“Did you come alone?”

He naturally struck up a conversation. The other person responded.

“Yes. I came alone.”

“…….?”

Something…

A voice that sounds familiar from somewhere…?

In an instant, something flashed in his vision. With a loud bang, Yoon Si-woo realized too late that his body had been thrown backward.

His body fell behind the counter. He landed on his back, momentarily losing his breath, but the voice he heard from behind the counter made his already labored breathing even more difficult.

“Stay where you are! It’s an assassin!”

“……?!”