The Tough Guy Hides the Villainess - Chapter 92



092 – Hating to Lower Pride More Than Death # 2

092 – Hating to Lower Pride More Than Death # 2

Napoleon, that macho dude, once said:

It’s easier to unify the European continent than to reconcile two women!

Did he really say that?

I dunno!

But the fact that this kinda thing is common wisdom just goes to show that everyone thinks reconciling two women is insanely hard.

So then?

The relationship between Baek Yeo-ul and Seo Ga-eul wasn’t just ‘bad’, you couldn’t lump it together like that.

“Ha-nam-jjin! Wha…What the hell is going on? Why is Seo Ga-eul here!”

Ppang-daengi hid behind me with a *shwip*, pointing at Seo Ga-eul.

She’s got this crazy knack for making her pink dye-job, which has faded into patches, stand up like some animal’s fur.

“Hyaaak!”

She even made a threatening sound. Like a raccoon that just found a fox it didn’t like in its territory.

They say the ancient Chinese looked at the actions and attitudes of animals to make their own strength, right? That’s the basis of martial arts.

Right now, Ppang-daengi was a wild raccoon, plain and simple.

A master of raccoon kung-fu!

At this rate, she could match my special move, the ‘Triceratops Fist.’

And what about Seo Ga-eul?

She’d forgotten all about being sleepy from staying up all night to watch a movie, and had regained her cold and aloof demeanor.

“Ha-nam-jin, what kind of scheme are you cooking up? I know you do weird things, but this is too much. I was trying to go along with your rhythm.”

“Why would I do weird things?”

I’m always serious.

From noble mtl dot com

I’ve never played a joke in my life.

200% sincere!

That’s the path of a man, Ha-nam-jin!

Anyway, with me in the middle, Baek Yeo-ul and Seo Ga-eul were glaring at each other, locked in a battle of nerves.

At this rate, we’ll never get through today’s training.

I had no intention of being swayed by these girls, so I got straight to the point.

“Ppang-daengi, you brought it, right? We need that thing for today’s training.”

“I don’t know what you mean by needing help, but I did bring it. I did bring it, but….”

Ppang-daengi trailed off.

A whisper suddenly tickled my ear.

A soft murmur—

“What…!? s*x…!”

“When…when did I ever say that! I just asked if it was okay to show it to Seo Gaeul!”

That was it.

Her butt cheeks seemed too tense, so I was just making a joke. Like she said, what she brought in her bag today was something she shouldn’t just show off to Seo Gaeul.

“What’s so amazing that you have to be so guarded about it.”

Seo Gaeul grumbled at our conversation.

Her brazen attitude was like she’d chucked any pretense right out the window.

However, that kind of disregard seemed to have sparked her competitive spirit or perhaps her pride.

“It *is* amazing! Seriously! You’ve never seen anything like it, not even you, Seo Gaeul!”

Rustle, rustle—. Ziiiip—.

As she slowly unzipped her backpack, a small golden leg peeked out from the opening.

A palm-sized, adorable body followed, capturing our gaze with its shimmering gold.

“——Huh?”

Seo Gaeul, who had been acting so relaxed, looked slightly taken aback.

The pet monster Kungkung, making eye contact with her, hesitated for a moment at the bag’s opening, then opened its mouth and barked loudly.

—Kungkung…!

“How is it! Our Kungkung!”

She placed the golden spider, Kungkung, on her palm and held it out to Seo Gaeul. Which caused the latter to look shocked.

“That’s a spider monster! Baek Yeo-ul, you crazy b*tch! You’re raising a monster? Didn’t they teach you at school that monsters are beasts that eat people?!”

Click—.

Seo Gaeul’s hand moved towards the sword “Danpung” she wore at her hip. She was ready to draw her sword and slice Kungkung to pieces.

But instead, she hid Kungkung behind her back and argued loudly.

“Kungkung is a good monster! He even does my homework for me!”

That was surprising.

He does her homework? What does that even mean?

If a monster can actually do homework…

…then I could totally dump all my annoying homework on Yingying!

Just as I thought that, I felt Yingying growl from somewhere…like she was seriously pissed. Probably just my imagination.

Ying-ying is with Yu Yeoreum right now, after all.

I really wonder what those two are up to.

They’re probably having a good time, right?

“You’re just jealous of Kungkung’s cuteness! Admit it!”

━Woof woof…! Grrr…! Karrr-karrr…! Grrr…!

“…That’s cute?”

Seo Gaeul’s eyebrows twitched as she looked at Bbaeng-daeng’s Kungkung. The corner of her mouth, slightly upturned, was spasming, and then she grabbed my arm and whispered in my ear.

“Hey! Is that thing really okay? You knew Baek Yeo-ul was raising a monster, right?! If you knew, why didn’t you stop her? You know how dangerous monsters are! Look at it! Just look at it!”

━Arrr-grrr, grrr, grrr…!

“It’s a totally insane monster!”

It’s cute though, what’s the big deal.

Anyway, today’s training was planned to be carried out with Kungkung’s help.

No time to waste, let’s go!

# # #

There are many abandoned factories in City D. I easily hopped over the wire mesh that read “No Entry,” and soon a factory lot soaked with muddy sludge spread before me.

Excellent.

The place was filled with rusty machinery everywhere, and the ground was adorned with nails and broken glass that looked like they could give you tetanus if you stepped on them, and some kind of unidentified gunny sack—it was magnificent.

If we’re just talking about this place, it wouldn’t be bad to describe it as some sort of apocalypse zone.

“We’re going to play tag starting now. You have to catch Kungkung roaming around inside this factory. But don’t forget that you can’t use any of your concepts. Now, Kungkung. Go hide.”

━Woof woof…!

Thump, thump-.

Kungkung, with its eight legs, lightly leaped away and disappeared somewhere into the factory grounds.

Soon, Seo Gaeul asked me.

“Catching that weird monster spider—”

“It’s not a weird monster spider, it’s Kungkung!”

“……”

Seo Gaeul glared at Baek Yeo-ul for interrupting her.

She let out a *phu-huu* sigh.

“Anyway, how is this supposed to be training?”

“Good question. Monsters have the tendency to become stronger in their own nests. There’s an advantage to having a home ground, after all. It should be the same for Minds too.”

The Star Fiend is hidden within the Great Labyrinth.

To find and subdue it means, literally, stepping onto its home turf.

It’s no ordinary danger.

“Alright, and all of you, cover your eyes with these blindfolds.”

“What? How are we supposed to find it with our eyes covered!”

Seo Gaeul was openly resistant.

Soon, Bbangdaeng snatched the blindfold from my hand and quickly – whoosh – tied it on her face.

“Th-Then Seo Gaeul, you drop out! I’ll do it!”

“……”

Their relationship is pretty damn bad.

Which makes them perfect training partners for each other. This 「Star Fiend Subjugation」 team is going to be a ragtag bunch with nothing in common, after all.

Training to “work as a team with the worst possible match-up” beforehand will be a great help when the time comes.

Swish-.

In the end, Seo Gaeul also covered her eyes with both hands. Let’s see if it’s well covered.

I playfully poked Seo Gaeul’s side with my finger.

“Eek! Baek Yeoul, you really want to die?”

“What did I even do!”

Amidst the ruckus, the hidden-Kungkung-finding training began.

━Kungkung…!

“Hey! Baek Yeoul! It’s over there! Catch it!”

“Hee-yak!”

Thump-.

Bbangdaeng tripped over something.

She’s already unlucky and trips a lot; now that her eyes were covered, it was natural for her to fall over once every five steps.

“What are you even doing? We have to catch the spider to end this weird training.”

Tsk – Seo Gaeul clicked her tongue, but her ease didn’t last long.

Something hit the back of her head quickly.

Whack-!

“Ugh! I’m under attack! You crazy, you didn’t say there were monsters attacking!”

“Seo Ga-eul, you said it yourself. Mana creatures are dangerous. Is there a single mana creature in this world that you can guarantee won’t ever attack a person?”

“…Ssii!”

“Blindfolded, navigating a derelict factory filled with nail traps and broken glass, while getting attacked by a mana creature─. It’s a truly desperate situation.”

But─.

“Fighting the Star Demon is incomparably more dangerous than this. And don’t forget, this training is about teamwork.”

“Ha Nam-jin, you’re such a pain in the ass. Like you’re the only one who’s good…! Can you catch that, what was it, a ‘barker’ while blindfolded? Could you do it…!”

Pat, pat-pat-.

Seo Ga-eul, repeatedly smacked on the back of her head, grew annoyed.

To that, I answered simply.

“If it were me, I’d catch a barker alone in five minutes. Even blindfolded.”

“What? Five minutes?”

It had been an hour since Seo Ga-eul and Baek Yeo-ul began their training.

The two hadn’t even come close to seeing a barker.

Instead, they were constantly getting ambushed, tripping and falling.

Pat-!

Seo Ga-eul got hit on the back of her head again.

“Ah! Shit…really….”

By now, Seo Ga-eul was probably starting to realize it.

That in the dark, her back and the back of her head were so defenseless. That someone had to be watching her back.

That’s what a comrade was for.

Someone to watch your back.

“Hey, Baek Yeo-ul─.”

Seo Ga-eul, after thinking something over, parted her lips.

But she hesitated, as if she couldn’t easily speak.

Watch my back─.

She wasn’t saying what she needed to say, that simple thing.

She didn’t want to swallow her pride, I guessed.

The same was true for Butt.

Thud-!

“Hiyak!”

Her ass was tripping over stones every five steps, falling. Her hands and knees were covered in cuts, scratched by nails and broken glass, but Seo Gaeul didn’t ask for help.

Figures.

I hadn’t expected the two of them to cooperate overnight anyway.

I pulled out my phone and checked the time.

1 PM. Lunchtime.

I heard there was a “Subjugation Squad Launch Ceremony” at 5 PM today. So even if we take an hour for lunch, we could still train for about three more hours.

“Alright, let’s eat first.”

*Clap-*

At my clap, both Seo Gaeul and Baek Yeoul took off their blindfolds.

And so, lunchtime began.

“Eat this!”

Baek Yeoul opened her lunchbox and offered one to me. It was packed with rolled omelet, sausage, and spicy pork stir-fry, and looked delicious.

However, Seo Gaeul’s nose twitched when she saw the lunchbox.

“This lunchbox…”

“What! What is it!”

*Fssshh*!

Immediately, her hackles were raised.

Seo Gaeul spoke, ignoring her threat.

“The rolled omelet looks a little salty.”

“How do you know that! You haven’t even tasted it!”

“I can tell by looking.”

The lunchbox was delicious.

She really is good at cooking!

But, honestly, the rolled omelet was a bit salty.

“Okay, now that we’re done eating, let’s start the afternoon training. If you guys pass my training this afternoon, I’ll give you a certificate that I made myself. There’s a prize too, so do your best.”

“A prize?”

Her eyes showed interest.

As expected, people need a reward to get motivated.

That’s why communism failed.

“The prize is a choice of ‘Hanamjin Photobook’, ‘Hanamjin’s Special Steak Recipe’, or a ‘Hanamjin Errand Coupon’.”

A photobook would be the most popular, probably.

Photos of the man, Ha Namjin. Including numerous shots of precious moments not shown to just anyone!

Any girl would want one.

Seo Gaeul actually showed interest in my product idea.

“What’s a ‘errand voucher’?”

“It’s exactly what it sounds like. When you don’t want to do homework! When you gotta eat but you’re too lazy to hold a spoon! When you just got home and took off your socks but don’t wanna wash your feet, stuff like that. You use it and I do the annoying stuff for you. It’s a 2-hour voucher.”

“Ooh! I need that!”

Wham – Bbangdaengi shot her hand up.

Looks like Bbangdaengi has a lot of annoying stuff.

So, that’s why she made Keongkeong do her homework.

Seo Gaeul also made a hmm- sound, nodding her head.

“Well, it is kinda interesting.”

“You just want my ‘Ha Namjin Photobook’, don’t you?”

“No, I don’t!”