Episode 185

Again, I can’t help but curse the author.

“Trying to do a half-hearted job of laundering ended up ruining the work.”

Ermína Sternfert.

Yuliana Feygreen.

With one original heroine becoming the devil Naberius and the other turning into a villain who steals genes, I couldn’t help but worry about the heroines in the original work.

And there’s Heavenly Demon Lee Ye-ryeong as well.

This woman was a character created through the author’s worries, contemplation, and a mix of various emotions.

-Would a Chinese heroine be too controversial?

-But it would be nice to have at least one heroine from China.

-Should I include an ethnic Korean from China as a heroine? That might be problematic too.

Following that line of thought.

-Ah, then let’s include a heroine who has fled to China!

The conclusion led to the creation of Lee Ye-ryeong, a former S-class hero from Korea.

Well, the author tried to set up a narrative of redemption with various clues.

She was harmed by Haegneul, exploited by the government like a dog, raged at seeing her parents threatened and blackmailed, and ultimately, she’s portrayed as a filial heroine who took her parents abroad to live in a house with a 1,000-pyeong garden.

She only sought asylum in China.

Although there were many cases of betraying Korea and becoming an S-class in another country, Lee Ye-ryeong was particularly despised by Koreans.

“Good thing she’s mentally strong.”

A being hated by all 50 million people in Korea.

A character disliked by readers who wondered why such a character was created.

And yet, she was also criticized for being a well-crafted character with a terrible backstory as to why she was given such a miserable setup.

I didn’t expect to see such a woman here.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

“Apparently, the traitorous Heavenly Demon has shown up.”

“Ha, that funny woman.”

In front of me, another Zenros, being pulled like a prisoner on a leash by a supervising agent, openly mocked the Heavenly Demon.

“A foolish woman indeed. She knew she couldn’t surpass Snow White, who’s above her, so she fled to China. Now she’s the top female hero in China, huh? Tsk.”

“Isn’t there more to it?”

“Yeah. She went for the money. Considering she gets the country’s annual defense budget as her salary, I’d consider doing the same.”

Excluding the budget related to ability users, the pure defense budget for South Korea amounted to about 50 trillion won.

Meaning, Lee Ye-ryeong’s annual salary is 50 trillion won.

“That 50 trillion would be a significant portion of China’s defense budget, wouldn’t it? Almost 1/7th.”

“If you think of an S-class as an annual pass for 50 trillion, it seems like a fair trade. Better to have an S-class hero than produce tanks. Tanks can’t have kids.”

“I’d switch for 10 trillion.”

“10 trillion? I’d happily do it for 1 trillion. Being born a D-class is the real crime.”

“……”

And that’s just her personal salary. Including the pension for her parents, environmental support, and various other aids, she’s likely receiving much more.

“I heard that in China, they offer tax exemptions as an incentive based on performance.”

“Isn’t that just handing out money?”

“Having an upper-tier S-class by your side, even at the cost of giving out money, is invaluable. Some places can’t find an S-class even with all their money.”

“Indeed.”

‘It seems like enough money to consider changing nationalities.’

Chasing money in a capitalist world wasn’t strange. But if it leads to being despised, that’s for the individual to bear.

“This October, she’s staking everything on the ability users’ international competition. Tsk tsk.”

“……”

I remembered there was such an event.

A mega-event hosted in Korea for 2025, inviting S-class individuals from various countries for an ability users’ World Cup-like competition.

Of course, this event was also meant to boost the original protagonist.

There, the protagonist defeated various ability users, including the Heavenly Demon, to become the true S+ class, gaining fame as the world’s number one.

Naturally, being a World Cup, there were numerous acts of patriotism.

“Sigh. No matter what happens outside, we just need to do our job. We’re almost there.”

Descending the stairs with the supervising agent, I could see Yumir and Doul’s pair, along with other Zenros and agents who had already arrived.

“This place is perfect for an incident to unfold.”

It appeared to be an unused seminar room, an indoor space without a single window to the outside.

‘Yumir is doing well. And so is Doul.’

Yumir glanced at me once with her eyes and then silently looked ahead, diligently performing her duties as an agent without acknowledging me or showing any sign of relief.

“Senior, our team has arrived.”

“Ah, yes. One team hasn’t arrived yet, so let’s move together once everyone is here.”

While the supervising agent was speaking to a higher-ranking agent, I examined the faces of the Zenros.

They all seemed in pretty bad shape.

Some were rubbing their hands inside even though they were tightly bound due to self-harm, and a woman, still unable to accept that she was a Zenros, was muttering to herself with her head down.

“Hehe, hehehe, hehe…”

The most serious case was a man laughing with madness. He was a demon I had caught, who hadn’t killed anyone but had nearly done so.

“It’s a pity.”

These were people who had been forcefully implanted with the seed of a demon by Duoexini. Most Zenros indulged in their vile desires as demons, but this man struggled on the beach, trying to suppress his demonic urges.

Now, he has lost his ability and was dragged here.

Those without powerful parents, wealth, or any close connections to power figures—just “born with abilities.”

Meaning,

‘Those who seem least problematic turn into test subjects.’

It’s obvious at a glance, and the researched data says the same.

While accidents involving high-profile individuals or their acquaintances can often be resolved with a simple phone call on a golf course, accidents involving ordinary people go unnoticed by everyone.

Gugugu.

The ship rocked violently.

On the monitor, Susanoo, Nezha, the Heavenly Demon, and the divine warrior were all fighting with all their might.

“Seeing nuclear bombs hitting each other is really terrifying.”

The person who appeared to be in charge shivered.

“Ah, you’re here. Come quickly. You’re late.”

“Sorry. It took some time to bring them here.”

An agent was dragging a chain connected to handcuffs.

Behind him, a person was being dragged like luggage, a sight that made one of the Zenros’ pupils shake violently.

“How can you treat a person like that!”

“Ah, shut it. There are no human rights for a demon.”

“I’m not a demon! We are-”

“Hey, hit him.”

Thwack!

An agent responsible for the Zenros struck the Zenros in the back of the neck.

Striking the nape with the hand’s edge doesn’t usually cause unconsciousness, but it’s different when “an ability user hits a normal person.”

“Cough.”

The Zenros collapsed with a light concussion.

The sudden act of violence solidified the Zenros’ expressions, and the supervising agent stretched and tapped his Taeguk watch.

“Ah, communication security. Communication security.”

Fizz!

Something spread from the Taeguk Watch, and suddenly the light inside the seminar room where we were gathered disappeared.

“Operation starts.”

As soon as the supervisor spoke, the agents began attacking the Zenros all at once.

“Mu-cough…!”

Their goal seemed to be to knock them out by striking the nape with water pipes, and I raised my hand towards Gunggi.

Thwack!

As the sound of magic clashing echoed, Gunggi closed her eyes and collapsed to the side.

I hadn’t actually hit her; the sound was just for effect, and Gunggi acted as if she had lost consciousness on her own, falling to the ground.

“Damn.”

Both Gunggi and I acted wisely on the spot.

As for Yumir’s side-

“Cough!”

“……”

It was a punch to the stomach.

Yumir attempted to hit Doul’s nape but failed once. When Doul turned around as if to resist, Yumir immediately punched her in the stomach, neutralizing Doul’s resistance.

“Hey, hey. Don’t hurt him too much. Why go that far?”

“Sorry, he was resisting a lot.”

“Tsk. Well, if he was B-class, he would resist somehow. Is he conscious?”

“No, he’s unconscious.”

“Then that’s fine.”

Of course, the attack wasn’t real; only the sound of magic exploding was heard.

“Hey, come out now.”

“……”

Beyond the rest area, a door that looked like it led to a storage room opened, and a group of people came out.

They all had white hair and wore the same clothes as the Zenros, their faces somewhat vacant.

“Immediately unlock the handcuffs and switch them.”

As expected.

Yumir glanced at me as if asking what to do, and I nodded lightly at her and reached out to the handcuffs.

Click.

Both Yumir and I had already verified everything, so unlocking the handcuffs was not a problem.

We had already checked the handcuffs while switching Gunggi and Doul.

“Agents, switch the Zenros and then move them to the container.”

‘So far, according to plan.’

Where Gunggi and Doul are going, and where they are being transported to, might not be verifiable right now, but having truly confirmed that something is happening to the Zenros, the answer is clear.

The place where Gunggi and Doul are sent to was likely heading to a demon’s laboratory.

If there were no further variables—

Creak.

Suddenly, the seminar room’s door opened.

Everyone turned their heads towards the door.

“……?”

Click.

A man in the same agent uniform as us appeared, leading a Zenros. Given that he took out a cigarette pack and two cigarettes, he probably brought them here at his discretion, perhaps because the Zenros wanted to smoke a cigarette.

“Uh, are you planning to smoke in a group…?”

Step, step.

The supervising agent approached the entrance immediately.

His movements were skilled, and I turned my gaze towards Yumir.

What will she do?

I knew what was going to happen next.

The supervisor had a knife in his possession and would surely stab the uninvited guest.

If only the Goblin were here.

If it were just the Secret Society, I would have overlooked it.

Even if an innocent person were stabbed to death, I would have stayed quiet here to dig out solid information.

But.

Yumir closed her eyes as if to apologize.

She mimed a stabbing motion lightly and then clenched her fist around her thumb at her heart area.

-I won’t make a fuss.

-But I’ll move if someone’s stabbed.

-Because I can’t let someone die.

I read firm determination in her eyes and discreetly gave her a thumbs up, unseen by others.

“Pity. If only you hadn’t come out to smoke, you could have lived quietly.”

“Um, senior? Why suddenly so scary-”

Puff!

“Sen…ior…?”

“Don’t worry. You’ll be sent to ‘Cocoon’ too.”

The moment the supervising agent stabbed the uninvited guest’s heart.

The moment Yumir saw the blood splatter on the floor.

From the moment I brought someone who couldn’t overlook a person’s death, my plan was already derailed.

“Tsk.”

Tricolor magic swept through the rest area.

‘Having confirmed the Secret Society’s involvement, I’ve achieved something.’

The plan set by the Secret Society’s Goblin might fail, but I was not the Goblin now.

‘Let’s play the fake hero game.’

Now.

It’s time to cause chaos.