I’m Not That Villain

7 – Abilities (1)

“The organization currently occupying Seoul’s Jung-gu is called Hundred Eye.”

“…Sounds like a foreign name?”

Cha Seo-yoon looked at me with cold eyes.

“Someone who used the nickname Viper said so…”

What’s wrong with Viper?!

It’s so cool!

“Anyway, that’s true. It’s a foreign group with few pure Koreans. More than half of them are illegal immigrants.”

“Why here, of all places?”

“Current Seoul is a lawless city where regulations don’t apply, so the pace of technological advancement is very fast. It’s a place where all kinds of human experiments and crimes are rampant. Of course, there are many similar places…”

Cha Seo-yoon cleared her throat.

“Haven’t many famous criminals come from Seoul? Some are drawn to Seoul because of that.”

“Famous criminals?”

“…For example, villains like Bad Sector.”

What is he, the Pirate King?

But well, it’s not entirely impossible. Being fascinated by someone is surprisingly easy.

Isn’t it similar to people who like idols? That’s what admiration is.

Thinking that way, it’s not hard to understand. I nodded slightly.

What I wanted to ask was beyond this.

“How is it?”

“What…?”

“I mean, a group has a personality, right? Which side are they on? The kind you shouldn’t mix words with?”

“The personality of the group… It’s a difficult part to talk about.”

Cha Seo-yoon, who had been hesitating, tilted his head.

“First of all… It’s certain that they believe in the omnipotence of violence. They have thoroughly crushed all groups associated with the Heuksahoe (Black Snake Society) that originally existed in Jung-gu. Not only the workshops involved with them, but all kinds of groups directly linked to the Heuksahoe were thoroughly destroyed. To the point where they couldn’t even dream of a comeback.”

“Isn’t that just being thorough?”

“The boss of Hundred Eyes himself is said to have a personality that resorts to fists first. He’s an ability holder… and a famous one. He’s better known as Black Mamba than by his name.”

“Black… Mamba?”

“He’s someone who handles snake-shaped abilities. Although the details have never been revealed… I’ve heard that most of the people who saw him didn’t survive.”

A famous person.

Moreover, a criminal capable of taking over one of Seoul’s autonomous districts.

From what I’ve vaguely heard, he must be really famous. Even if not as much as Bad Sector, he must be a villain playing nationwide.

Even his nickname. It reeked of danger. Judging by the number of things he’s done…

Cancel the idea of seeing him as a potential business partner.

Let’s just live in a place where we won’t be noticed!

“They don’t collect protection fees or anything, right? I heard it’s common in neighborhoods with weak security.”

“Since the order of the streets itself is not properly established… It doesn’t seem like there’s a need to worry yet. As the huge organization that was the head has changed, all the subordinate organizations under it have also been swept away. Until a new order is established, there won’t be anyone talking about protection fees. Collecting protection fees arbitrarily within the territory of Hundred Eyes would be akin to asking to be killed.”

So it’s a story from a distant land.

I nodded. In that case, let’s start by refining the workshop.

From that day on, I stayed at my house, which was being remodeled. I gave instructions while looking at the construction site.

“Please install sturdy security windows. So that electricity flows when a button is pressed.”

“…Excuse me?”

“Never mind. I’ll install that later. Let’s start with the basics.”

It’s a neighborhood with a low crime rate.

Even if there are no talks of protection fees right now, there will probably be a lot of petty thieves. Among them, there will also be robbers with weapons.

Sob. I’m not an ability holder. I’m a physically weak adult man. So inevitably…

I cover my lack of physical strength with tools!

I particularly intervened in the security facilities inside the workshop. I reinforced the walls with something stronger and requested that all the windows be filled with bulletproof glass.

Countless locks are a bonus. While staying at a nearby motel, I endlessly gazed at the workshop that was quickly taking shape.

Ah. It’s good.

Is this really my first workshop…

Isn’t it deeply moving!

The remodeling of the workshop was completed faster than expected. Contrary to the promised one month, it took only about fifteen days to complete the framework of the workshop.

Such swift workmanship. Moreover, I was pleased with the various interior decorations installed inside.

It felt like the top of the industry. But I didn’t bother to mention it.

Praise, you see. It shouldn’t be given midway. It should be given after seeing the finished product. Since I will be living on the second floor above the workshop, I should also check its completeness!

I first moved the equipment I bought from the black market into the workshop one by one. As the empty and shabby place started to fill up, an inexplicable sense of accomplishment enveloped me.

“Ha…ha…my workshop…! My workshooop…!”

“…….?”

Cha Seo-yoon asked hesitantly.

“Mr. Lee Seo-jun.”

“Yes?”

“What…is the meaning of licking the equipment?”

“It’s like an initiation ceremony. It’s a sacred task to imprint on my body that it’s now mine.”

“Do all artisans do that when new equipment arrives?”

“Usually, yes.”

“……”

I decided to stop making a fuss under the gaze that seemed to be looking at a different species.

All the equipment had arrived. But the story didn’t end there.

I meticulously inspected the equipment that had arrived. As expected, the old and worn-out ones had minor malfunction issues one by one. Some didn’t respond at all when buttons were pressed.

While the second-floor remodeling was in progress, fixing these was my main task.

Although I was almost an expert on equipment, I was honestly an amateur when it came to machines dealing with these supernatural elements.

I wasn’t completely ignorant, but I didn’t know them in detail either.

Moreover, they were old models.

In the end, I had only one method.

What would you do if you were lacking?

You have to learn and fill it in yourself.

Since I was somewhat of an analog type, I wasn’t satisfied with just looking at things on my phone. I printed various related papers and stuck them on the wall. I started to understand them one by one and began to fix the machines with my own hands.

Cha Seo-yoon, who had been quietly observing my actions, asked me with a tired face after a week had passed.

“Uh, Lee Seo-jun.”

“Yes?”

I looked back at her while changing my oil-soaked gloves for new ones.

It was an expression I had never seen on Cha Seo-yoon’s face before. It seemed somewhat tired, but it wasn’t simply an expression of disgust or dirtiness.

The wall was covered with numerous papers that I had organized myself. Literally dozens of papers were bound together, summarizing the key contents.

“Did you understand all those things… in just a week?”

“Understand… well… I don’t know.”

I twirled the wrench.

“Half of it was stuff I already knew… it felt like revisiting? I have a lot of miscellaneous knowledge.”

“…It seems like very specialized content…”

“Hey. You need to do at least this much to make a living. The basics need to be solid for the equipment to work well. Let’s see…”

I pressed the button. For the first time, the machine, which hadn’t moved an inch a week ago, lit up properly.

Well, it’s simple.

Once it’s in the hands of Lee Seo-jun, it’s all a piece of cake! You punk!

“…Lee Seo-jun. I have one more question.”

“Ask quickly, Cha-raemong. There’s a lot to fix.”

“How did you come to know Bad Sector?”

No.

That’s really something to ask from this side.

“Me? I’m a genuinely good citizen who has hardly ever touched crime?!”

“…Are you saying you didn’t make illegal weapons?”

“Well, not that, but… other than that, I lived quite honestly…?”

“…….?”

She looked like she didn’t understand.

But I was really wronged.

“I’ve actually made and sold weapons ten times? Seven of them were all kind of… prototypes? Test models, so to speak, and honestly, the quality was really poor. I felt a bit sorry to take money for them?”

“……”

“But then I got the hang of it. To be more precise… around that time, I entered the Black Chain Workshop. Thanks to that, I could secretly use high-end equipment comfortably, and… to exaggerate a bit, I even created something worth calling a masterpiece…”

“Uh, wait…”

“What is it now? You’ve been interrupting the flow since earlier.”

Cha Seo-yoon asked me again as if she really couldn’t understand.

“So, you’re saying you made about seven personal weapons… all by yourself without any facilities?”

“Hey, that’s a bit much. If that were possible, I wouldn’t have bothered buying equipment.”

“Then…?”

“These days, to become an apprentice at a workshop, you need to learn the basics at a two-year educational facility, right? Just the basics. I made them there.”

Cha Seo-yoon was shocked.

“As far as I know… that place has nothing but the most basic equipment…”

“Oh? Who told you that? No one but workshop apprentices knows about the National Artisan Training Institute.”

“It’s not that I don’t know any artisans. I maintain friendships with a few. I’ve heard all of them talk about the National Artisan Training Institute. They say you have to complete it to meet the minimum qualifications, but there’s nothing you can actually learn or make there.”

“You’ve got it right. I had a hard time at first too. It looks all fancy on the outside, but it’s a complete mess in reality. They barely evaluate practical skills and just let you graduate if you get the theory somewhat right. It’s just a money-making educational institution.”

Just thinking about it makes me grind my teeth.

I mean, some people tightened their belts and saved money for tuition for their dreams, but the content was no different from online lectures.

“Most of the equipment hadn’t been used in so long that it was all broken. I thought I was going to die trying to make things that looked fine on the outside work properly inside. That’s why I said it earlier. I knew about half of it. I learned it all back then.”

“You fixed broken equipment to make personal equipment…? In that harsh environment…?”

Cha Seo-yoon’s eyes were filled with doubt.

“Who exactly are you, Lee Seo-jun?”

“I was an apprentice at the Black Chain Workshop. Anyway, that’s not the important part…!”

I briefly recalled the past.

Everyone who bought those things also recalled.

“The seven previous works were really just made for pocket money, so I used a completely different nickname. I’ve only sold three items under the name Viper.”

“…One of them was Bad Sector?”

“Yes.”

This is where my grievance lies.

I mean, she laughed, covering her mouth, saying weapon collecting was her hobby, like a lady. She was so elegant that at first, I thought she was a rich girl with a hobby in crime.

But you know what?

The face I remembered was filled with madness in the interview. Like a different person. But I had to admit it.

They were the same person.

So…

I did sell weapons to a villain.

“No, seriously. The guy who used to joke around with me, saying he couldn’t even kill a fly… What? A billionaire criminal? And such a person only spent 500,000 won to buy a weapon?!”

“Isn’t your point of anger a bit strange?”

“Anyway, that’s how it was. That’s exactly it. I made the item, got 500,000 won, and that was the end. Our relationship was just that. We met once, and that was a year ago. And now love or whatever… Crazy woman!”

“…Hmm…”

I tried to calm my mind. Well, thanks to that, I earned a large sum at once, and even though he’s a criminal, I could have a decent workshop.

Let’s think positively. Positively. Although the situation itself is bad…

What would change by worrying?

I straightened my back and proudly looked up at the machines I had roughly repaired.

The basic process was now complete. The text message that had just arrived informed me that my business partner, Renata, had finished preparing the materials.

She said she would drive and deliver them herself tomorrow. I turned to Cha Seo-yoon.

“Let’s stop talking about that and move on to another topic.”

“Yes?”

“I told you, I’ll make you a weapon.”

Let’s quickly check while loosening up my hands.

If I put my heart and soul into this process, what quality of item will come out?

“Please explain your ability, Mr. Cha Seo-yoon. If you’re close to an artisan… You know? To make a proper dedicated weapon, a sticky and very close relationship between the workshop artisan and the ability holder is necessary.”

“Why do you have to express it like that…?”

“Tell me quickly before it gets stickier. Don’t hold back.”

Now. A woman who seems to have quite an influence even in the black market.

What do you have?

“What ability do you have, Mr. Cha Seo-yoon?”