The Tough Guy Hides the Villainess - Chapter 112



112 – Not a Witch, but a Crazy Woman #3

112 – Not a Witch, but a Crazy Woman #3

The “Witch’s Herb” users, Kang Naro and Ahn Yuri, whom I met at the inauguration event of the subjugation squad.

Baek Yeoul met them at the special ward of the Superhuman Management Agency and received a “Seminar Invitation.”

“Aeona Apraxas – Beyond the 21st Century to a Distant Future”

“Aeona Apraxas? Not the ‘Witch’s Church’? That’s a strange name.”

When Baek Yeoul tilted her head at the unfamiliar name, Seo Gaul threw a sharp remark as if to say, “Don’t you even know that?”

“If the religion’s name was openly ‘Witch’s Church,’ everyone would be suspicious, right? It’s common for cults to use plausible names on the surface.”

“Ugh, I know that much too!”

“Really?”

From noble mtl dot com

Seo Gaul narrowed her eyes.

Soon, Baek Yeoul shivered and averted her gaze.

“Actually, I don’t know!”

What Baek Yeoul knew was that she had to attend this seminar and listen to the lecture to join the “Witch’s Church.”

It seemed like a lecture for spiritual training, but in reality, it was a covert act of proselytizing the religion known as the “Witch’s Church.”

On the other hand, Hanamjin was impressive.

Where on earth did he pick up such information?

‘He even escaped the Great Labyrinth on his own and didn’t contact me!’

Baek Yeoul felt a slight resentment towards Hanamjin.

At the same time, she became curious about why Hanamjin was going to such lengths.

The ‘such lengths’ here referred to recklessly diving into danger like a moth to a flame.

If he had miraculously returned from the Great Labyrinth, it would have been fine to rest for a few days.

Seeing him unable to stay still, as if being chased by something, made Baek Yeoul slightly worried.

Reading Baek Yeoul’s expression, Seo Gaul turned her gaze from the bus stop timetable and asked subtly.

“You’re thinking about Hanamjin, aren’t you?”

“Did you awaken some concept of telepathy? Don’t read my thoughts! That’s an invasion of privacy!”

Seo Gaul chuckled as Baek Yeoul covered her head with both palms.

“There’s no need for telepathy. Everyone knows you like him. Let me tell you something, don’t like him. You don’t know what kind of person he is.”

“What are you talking about! I know Hanamjin better than you do!”

Baek Yeoul disliked how Seo Gaul, who had been kidnapped for a long time, pretended to know Hanamjin well. So, when Yoo Yeoreum, who had been yawning as if bored, spoke up, her face turned red.

“Hanamjin is a strange but cool guy. He’s foolish but also smart. I don’t know why he became such an extreme person, but he’s different from men who are all talk.”

A man who dives into danger, prepared to face death, is quite impressive.

Yoo Yeoreum also gave high marks to such a Hanamjin.

Normally, Yoo Yeoreum would never say anything complimentary about a man.

‘This girl, something’s off.’

Seo Ga-eul looked at Yoo Yeoreum with a suspicious gaze.

Having been kidnapped together, Seo Ga-eul knew Yoo Yeoreum in some ways better than she knew herself.

In Seo Ga-eul’s mind, Yoo Yeoreum was someone who would never talk about relationships between men and women.

They arrived at the gymnasium in City D.

There were many young women wearing masks.

Baek Yeoul, Seo Ga-eul, and Yoo Yeoreum also covered their faces with masks.

‘It feels like a suspicious masquerade ball. Since we’re here to do something suspicious in a suspicious place, they must have made us wear masks on purpose. It’s good because it helps us hide our identities.’

Seo Ga-eul, feeling a slight romantic sentiment, handed over the “Seminar Invitation” and was able to enter the gymnasium without any special inspection.

Young women filled the nearly hundred chairs lined up in rows.

As the empty seats gradually filled up and the chaotic atmosphere began to settle, a lecturer who had studied at a famous foreign university appeared and spoke.

“In the busy 21st century, your brains feel fatigued from the dopamine of smartphones from the moment you wake up until you close your eyes at night. Is there anyone here who doesn’t use MeTube or Stargram?”

Nooo-.

Enthusiastic responses erupted from all around.

Quick-witted and cunning, Seo Ga-eul realized that more than half of these nearly 100 women were hired to play the role of shills.

“The book jointly published by the German Society and our ‘Aeona Apraxas’ is this ‘Dopamine Intermittent Fasting.’ If you look at page 15 of this book, you’ll see the Zwingli effect according to dopamine─.”

“Where can I buy that book?”

Baek Yeoul showed interest in the dopamine diet.

Recently, with so many stimulating events, it was human nature to seek peace. Seo Ga-eul jabbed Baek Yeoul in the side with her elbow.

“Hey, did we come here to buy a book?”

“Ugh! I didn’t even realize! But still, you didn’t have to jab me with your elbow!”

Grrr-.

At that moment, a strange sound was heard, and Baek Yeoul turned her head to the side to see Yoo Yeoreum half-closed her eyes and dozing off.

It seemed that she had lost interest rapidly due to the difficult stories and words being listed.

In Seo Gaeul’s thoughts, this seminar was about reciting plausible words to assert ‘authority,’ whether it was real or fake.

In other words, it was all a sham and fake.

The lecture itself could be seen as pretentious, and Seo Gaeul, being skilled in lies and pretenses, could quickly recognize it.

After a tedious hour, the lecturer got to the main point.

“So, the herb variety we developed is this ‘Apraxas.’ It’s very red and pretty like a rose, right? You can keep it for ornamental purposes, but if you dry the leaves and drink them as tea, the effects are─.”

“It’s ‘Witch’s Herb’!”

Baek Yeoul recognized the flower the lecturer had brought out.

It was the leaf that Kang Naro and Ahn Yuri had been addicted to.

“The effects are countless, such as beauty enhancement, fatigue recovery, and concentration improvement. For female awakeners, the effects are more than doubled! Here, we are distributing samples.”

The event staff, who had been waiting in advance, handed out small leaves to each person. They were made into souvenirs by putting them in scented pouches.

Of course, Seo Gaeul, knowing how dangerous this plant was, didn’t even smell it. But Baek Yeoul was different.

“Sniff, gasp! Eek! Eee! I’m going crazy…!”

As soon as she smelled it, Baek Yeoul twitched violently as if having a seizure.

Her pupils dilated sideways, making her look like a madwoman.

‘What’s wrong with her!’

Seo Gaeul was genuinely flustered, but the lecturer laughed while watching the scene.

“It seems the effects are good, so you must be an awakener. Among awakeners, there are few who respond so well to the effects. You are truly blessed.”

It was when the lecture ended.

Seo Ga-eul pinched Baek Yeoul’s side hard.

“Are you crazy? What if you actually sniff it? You know what it is!”

“I didn’t sniff it!”

“What?”

“I just pretended to be someone who took drugs! Just wait and see! My plan! They’ll definitely take the bait.”

“Plan? Bait?”

Seo Ga-eul was at a loss for words.

A plan made by the unfortunate Baek Yeoul.

It seemed to smell bad.

“What, it’s already over? I had a really good nap.”

Swoosh-.

At that moment, Yoo Yeoreum woke up from her sleep, shivering and stretching.

Neither Baek Yeoul nor Yoo Yeoreum could be trusted.

So Seo Ga-eul decided to be more alert herself.

“We are specially distributing seedlings to the awakened ones. Would you like to come to our office? If you go to the outskirts of D city, there’s a place called ‘Eden Farm,’ you might have heard of it.”

The instructor approached and spoke.

The bait thrown by Baek Yeoul was bitten by a member of the Witch Cult, like a winter yellowtail showing interest in a fishing hook.

# # #

“I think the ‘Witch Cult’ might have approached those guys by now.”

Baek Yeoul, Seo Gaul, and Yoo Yeoreum.

It wouldn’t be strange if these three women were invited to the depths of the “Witch Church.”

Because female awakeners have always been remarkable talents in any era.

I hope they can figure out what the entrance to the Great Labyrinth is.

Of course, it won’t be easy.

All sorts of unimaginable things will happen.

Because that’s what a forbidden male space is like.

But?

I believed in Baek Yeoul.

I wasn’t sure about Seo Gaul and Yoo Yeoreum, but if it was Baek Yeoul, she would surely do well.

That girl, surprisingly, has a bit of evil and guts.

To the extent that she could even call herself a ‘man.’

‘That’s also a problem, though…’

But that wasn’t the important thing right now.

“Jjangsik, are you alive?”

Choi Changsik.

I headed towards the container to meet him, but as soon as the door burst open, Changsik was startled and fell over, flailing.

“Hey, this, this is not a strange behavior at all…! Don’t misunderstand…!”

I already knew that Jin Eunbyul, who was tied up and confined in the container, was alive.

A male student tying up and raising a high school girl.

But Old Man Heogi kept scratching his forehead like he was hearing my name for the first time.

“Bread, what about bread? Huh, damn, where did I see… I feel like I’ve seen this face somewhere recently. Huh, if I had some booze, it might come back to me. Booze… do you happen to have any booze?”

Asking high schoolers if they have booze.

“Jja-hyun, you look so old that they’re treating me like an adult too.”

“What! And don’t go changing my name however you like!”

Actually, Old Man Heogi had been a bit out of it even back when I knew him.

He had something similar to Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and so on, it must’ve started around this time.

He was an old man who’d forgotten his own name.

But? Survival, the desire to survive – that was burning inside this man like a faint ember, not faded at all.

I asked like a person trying to start up an old, worn-out car.

“I’d like to see the bunker you built underground, old man.”

“……”

The old man’s face, hazy like someone who’d had a day drink, snapped back with a rush – like a car key turning in the ignition, roaring to life with a surprisingly loud engine.

“Don’t play coy, old man. I already know about the bunker down there, it’s as wide as a playground. Let’s skip the formalities and talk, man to man.”

“Man? You talk like you’re worthy to use that word. More importantly, I don’t know how you know about my bunker, but if you know me well, you’ll know what’s about to happen, right?”

“Of course. Nothing will be able to stop it. This runaway age—“

I pulled a dagger from my waist.

If I’d hesitated even a little, that sharply honed military knife would have pierced my throat.

Click-clack-.

In this junkyard where everything was rusted over, the only thing perfectly sharpened and oiled was that military knife.

It came crashing down to pierce my throat, but I blocked it, causing it to misfire.

That’s all.

“Dude, friend!”

“Eeeek…! The crazy old man is swinging a knife…!”

“This… this fella has no idea what’s going on…! To be honest, this fella hasn’t had a single thought since coming out into the world…!”

“What? What’s happening?”

While everyone was panicking, Old Man Heogi and I exchanged blows a few times.

Shwish, shwish-. Clack-! Clack-clack-!

Our daggers either cut through the air or sparked as the blades collided.

In about ten exchanges, neither of us drew blood.

“Kid, you’re an Awakened, huh? You’ve got good stamina and fast legs, but your sword work is sloppy. You keep aiming for the same obvious vitals, no wonder your trajectory gets read. Doesn’t matter who taught you, your master’s a hack.”

The one who told me to always aim for the vitals was Old Man Heo. Back then, I was a cripple, so if my attack missed even once, my life was in serious danger.

One-hit kill!

That was the motto of my technique.

After a drawn-out, back-and-forth exchange, the old man was gasping, huffing and puffing.

He seemed to have conceded.

“For a kid, you’ve got enough guts to call yourself a man. I tried to keep the bunker a secret, completely and utterly secret! But…”

I know. How vital the location of the bunker, the shelter, is as classified information.

After the fall, people swarmed like packs of thieves, pillaging and destroying, and Old Man Heo’s bunker was a gold mine in itself.

He knew that well, which is why he lunged at me with his blade, ready to eliminate us if necessary, for finding out the bunker’s location.

But he failed.

And so, he seemed to have decided to compromise.

“There’s no free lunch in this world. If you’re asking something of me, that means you’ve got something I want, right? Some expensive booze would be nice.”

Just like Section Chief Kim, Old Man Heo sure loved his liquor.

I’d pretended to drink myself, trying to become a cool man, a real man, like them, but I’ve never once tasted alcohol and thought it was good.

Was I the only one who couldn’t grow up?

“There’s no liquor, but we’ve got something even better. Let me introduce to you, my friend, Jjang-sik. He’s worth more than a hundred bottles of whiskey, so you can look forward to it.”

“This pale weirdo is worth more than a hundred bottles of whiskey? He looks like a schoolgirl kidnapper. The face of a pervert.”

“Uhh…”

Jjang-sik looked flustered.

His eyes darted back and forth between me and the old man, as if completely lost, not knowing what we were planning.

I patted Jjang-sik on the shoulder.

“This Jjang-sik here can make candy out of stones. And he can even make chocolate with bottle caps. Isn’t that amazing?”

“What? You’ve got skills that outrageous!”

Old Man Heo seemed extremely interested.

Just as I expected!

“Show me! Show me now! Whoa! A real stone turned into candy! Grape flavor! Can it be other flavors too? How about energy bars instead of candy!”

Old Man Heo was breathing hard, clearly excited, like a kid meeting Santa.

Then, the old man turned his gaze to Wang Ja-hyun.

“And this one! This one must be a big deal too!”

In a place full of rusty and dented cars, no one would know that there is an amazing underground bunker. The meticulous old man kept it a secret from everyone while building it.

I, with my knowledge of the future, know about it.

Learning how to build a shelter that can survive even the apocalypse is best learned from him.

However, that old man is as stingy as the god of war, so he never taught anything for free.

A ‘bribe’ would be good.

Chang-sik would be enough to serve as that bribe.

“Then let’s get going…! Let’s do it…!”

“Friend, where are we going? And who are these girls…!”