The Tough Guy Hides the Villainess - Chapter 93



093 – Hating to Lower My Pride More Than Death # 3

093 – Hating to Lower My Pride More Than Death # 3

Baek Yeoul tripped and fell a lot on stray rocks or jutting edges even normally.

So with the eye patch, there was no way she could walk around properly.

But?

Rustle, rustle-.

“Left! Keongkeong is on the left! Try going left!”

Bbangdaengi, Baek Yeoul, was better at sensing things than I thought.

Of course, Seo Gaeul didn’t trust that sense of Baek Yeoul’s.

“Are you sure it’s the left? How do you know that?”

“We get power outages at my place often, so I’m used to moving around in the dark. Anyway, it’s the left! The left!”

Following Bbangdaengi’s words, Seo Gaeul felt her way with her palm and moved to the left.

Thump, thump, clatter-.

The abandoned factory was full of things to trip over but, maybe because she was well-balanced, she didn’t fall over like Baek Yeoul.

Instead, she got continuously attacked on her defenseless back.

Thwack-!

“Ah! You spider b*stard…! Aack! It bit my butt! You crazy spider b*stard!”

“It’s not a spider b*stard, it’s a *kungkung*!”

Seo Gaeul and Baek Yeoul’s teamwork was still terrible.

They should be leveraging each other’s strengths.

And yet, it’s impressive they haven’t quit training.

They both got a fire lit under them, it seems.

They desperately want that 「Hanamjin Photobook」, the reward for completing the training.

They both know damn well that at this rate, they won’t be able to finish the training today.

To get the 「Hanamjin Photobook」, they have to swallow their pride and cooperate—it’s the only way. They’ve reached that point.

Maybe that’s why, the one with relatively less stubbornness and ego, the one with the “buttocks” offered to Seo Gaeul first.

“Looks like we have to cooperate after all.”

“How?”

From noble mtl dot com

“Come here.”

In the darkness, hidden by blindfolds, the “buttocks” and Seo Gaeul came close.

After whispering something, Seo Gaeul made a bewildered sound, “Huh?” As if she’d just heard some absurd, preposterous scheme.

“Is that really going to work?”

“It will! Don’t underestimate me! I’m Baek Yeoul, who captured the 「Judge」 and apprehended the 「Devil’s」 mind! I have more practical experience than you, Seo Gaeul!”

Who knew the day would come when the “buttocks” would shout at Seo Gaeul?

Indeed, the “buttocks” has accumulated a lot of practical experience working as part of the team 「No Leftovers Day」.

A veteran, in her own right!

And the cooperative strategy that the “buttocks” came up with was—

The blind man and the cripple.

“Baek Yeoul, you’re heavy! How much do you weigh!”

“S-Shut up!”

Seo Gaeul carried the “buttocks” on her back.

The “buttocks,” accustomed to darkness due to frequent power outages, would be the eyes. Seo Gaeul, with her flexible legs, would be the feet.

Not bad?

“Go left!”

Like the rat in Ratatouille’s hat, Baek Yeoul gave Seo Gaeul instructions.

“Aack!”

Suh Gaeul bumped her belly against a jutting edge.

“Ow!”

“Wha… Wasn’t it the left? The right!”

At this rate, it’ll take days.

But, it was also true that the training progress had suddenly sped up. Suh Gaeul had her back protected thanks to Bangdaengi, and Bangdaengi had gained legs.

Thump-!

Thump thump-!

Keongkeong, running through the darkness here and there.

Suh Gaeul and Baek Yeoul were slowly closing the distance towards that Keongkeong.

“Left! Hurry!”

“Baek Yeoul, do you know how hard it is to run with your eyes closed?”

Then, finally-.

Baek Yeoul stretched out her hand and grabbed the Keongkeong that was lunging for Suh Gaeul’s face. Her expression lit up instantly, she looked incredibly pleased.

“Got it! I did it! I caught Keongkeong!”

Bangdaengi got off Suh Gaeul’s back and took off her blindfold.

Soon, Suh Gaeul also took off hers.

However, their faces, which had been happy at the thought that the training was over, instantly turned strange. To the point of twitching their eyebrows.

Suh Gaeul asked me.

“What is it.”

“What do you mean, what is it? It’s Keongkeong.”

What Baek Yeoul had actually grabbed was my palm. What had been moving around in the darkness wasn’t actually Keongkeong, but Han Namjin.

These guys had been training to catch me all this time.

“Then, the times you hit my back and bit my butt were also all….”

“I didn’t bite, I pinched. Keongkeong.”

As I made a spider-like cry, Suh Gaeul’s face turned bright red. Bangdaengi, Baek Yeoul, seemed just as angry.

“I thought it was a real Keongkeong!”

“How would beginners like you catch a demonic spider Keongkeong in the dark? Even if you cooperated, it would take a week. So, I did a difficulty patch of my own.”

In other words, it was beginner training.

Still, they passed fairly quickly at this level.

Both of them have talent, alright.

Well, see? People need rewards to get motivated, that’s the way it is.

*Flap-*

I pulled out the “Ha Nam Jin Photobook” I’d prepared.

“There’s two of us, but only one photobook, what’s gonna happen?”

Shall we watch how these two, who finished their clumsy collaboration, compromise and negotiate?

Just then, Seo Gaeul scoffed.

“You can give that crap to Baek Yeoul. Give me the ‘Favor Ticket’.”

“You’re giving up the photobook you wanted so badly to… to Bread-butt? Seo Gaeul, you truly have awakened to the understanding of respecting and being considerate to others. Today’s training worked wonders!”

I felt like crying, I was so moved.

No, I *was* already crying!

*Gush-!*

Then, Seo Gaeul, looking embarrassed, flushed and got angry.

“What are you talking about! Who even wants a photobook!”

*Snatch-*

Seo Gaeul snatched the “Favor Ticket” from my hand.

In the end, the “Ha Nam Jin Photobook” went to Baek Yeoul.

“…….”

Baek Yeoul was looking at the “Photobook” in her hand and the “Favor Ticket” in Seo Gaeul’s with a subtle expression.

“Well, that’s the end of training. Let’s catch Kungkungie.”

The Mine Extermination Force launch event is this afternoon, so we had to start preparing diligently to be there. Then, Seo Gaeul scoffed.

“You said you could catch Kungkungie by yourself in five minutes? Prove it.”

Prove it?

Easy.

I pulled out the ketchup bottle of charge from my lower regions and *squish-squish-* squeezed it onto the floor.

Then, Kungkungie, who was hiding somewhere, smelled the ketchup and *pop-* leaped out.

━Kungkung…!

“Gotcha.”

It didn’t even take me ten seconds to catch Kungkungie.

Looking at the struggling Kungkungie, Seo Gaeul *yelped-*

“Hey! That’s cheating!”

There wasn’t a rule against using ketchup, so what’s the foul?

Wanna hear a killer quote from me?

“Surviving is like that.”

# # #

In the evening, there was the “Star Mine Extermination Force Launch Ceremony.”

Apparently, some politicians were coming to take pictures and recite pledges and resolutions.

Seo Gaeul didn’t want to participate in this event.

She didn’t want to get tangled up with old geezers trying to politically exploit the young awakeners risking their lives to fight the mines.

Having shed some pretense and become a bit more honest, Seo Gaeul now considered pointless parties and social gatherings to be nothing but a waste of time.

But Ha Namjin said it would be good for Seo Gaeul and Baek Yeoul to attend this event.

He reasoned that it was good to get a look at the faces of the extermination squad members who would be participating.

─You gotta see who your comrades are gonna be.

Comrades, huh.

On the way to the venue, Seo Gaeul, on the bus, looked at Baek Yeoul sitting next to her.

Baek Yeoul was wearing a worn-out cheongsam and giggling while looking at something.

“Kungkung, look at this. Ha Namjjin’s, kindergarten pictures.”

━Hioong…!

Watching Baek Yeoul talk to the monster hidden in her bag, Seo Gaeul felt a knot in her stomach.

Monsters were things that couldn’t be tamed, after all.

Of course, Seo Gaeul had known about the existence of ‘Yingying’ and had experienced that monsters could also have goodwill towards people.

But Yingying was special in many ways, and Ha Namjin, who tamed such a Yingying, was special, too.

“Ha Namjjin had long hair like a girl when he was young! He looks so much like a girl! Right?!”

━Kungkung…!

What? Ha Namjin had long hair when he was in kindergarten?

Seo Gaeul couldn’t believe that the messy weirdo, the man who pretended to be a savage, had styled his hair like a girl when he was little.

‘Ha Namjin’s childhood, huh. Was there ever a time when that strange guy was a kid?’

So, Seo Gaeul, feeling a little curious, glanced at the photo album that Baek Yeoul was holding, but Baek Yeoul quickly hid the album beside her and growled.

“This is my reward! You got the ‘Errand Ticket’!”

“……”

Never mind.

Lost in thought, the bus pulled up beneath a darkening sky, in front of the “Emperor Hotel”—considered one of the best in D City.

Seo Gaeul and Baek Yeoul headed into the hotel’s banquet hall, where many people were already gathered in small groups, chatting.

“Isn’t that Jeon Somi, the Tier 3 Awakened over there? She’s been making a big splash lately.”

“She’s an experienced fighter who battled alongside the ‘Devil’s’ Min, right? Of course she’ll fight the ‘Star’s’ Min too.”

“Isn’t that Moon Hyunah? Didn’t she retire from exploration and become a teacher at Youngsa High?”

“Given the circumstances, she must’ve temporarily returned to active duty. Look, Ahn Yuri’s there too.”

There were politicians and celebrities she’d seen on TV, and quite a few well-known Awakened.

Seo Gaeul slowly scanned their faces, mentally registering everyone who would be joining the subjugation team.

As she calculated how they could cooperate, she began to understand why Ha Namjin had said it was good for her to attend this event.

“Gaeul, right? You were kidnapped by Namsanho. You must’ve suffered a lot?”

A woman approached Seo Gaeul. A beautiful woman with mysterious silver hair tied back and dressed in a black dress.

It was the woman known as “The Tracker – Ahn Yuri,” an Awakened who was mostly supported by younger women due to her cool personality.

Twenty-five years old. She was known to be single.

“Why didn’t you just kick the b*stard in the balls? That’s what I would’ve done.”

Ahn Yuri offered Seo Gaeul a slight sneer.

“Ms. Ahn Yuri, if you were in my situation, you absolutely couldn’t have done that.”

“No, I could. If you let people in this industry look down on women, there’s no end to it. You have to pay them back double, by any means necessary, so they don’t look down on you.”

“I’m telling you, you wouldn’t have been able to.”

“No? I’m different. I hate acting like some fragile princess. We have to be able to save ourselves. Let me tell you, sweetie, reality isn’t a fairytale where a prince shows up.”

“Huh?”

“If you want to get stronger, contact this *unni*.”

Ahn Yuri laughed, “Puhaha,” and walked away.

‘What’s up with this crazy b*tch. Even some no-name is looking down on me.’

Seo Gaeul hated that she was being treated like this because she got kidnapped.

‘So where is that guy?’

As far as Seo Gaeul knew, Ha Namjin was also supposed to be participating in the subjugation team.

He had to be here at this event too.

Scanning her surroundings, Seo Gaeul spotted a man she didn’t like.

“Jahyun-ah! You look so cool today!”

“You look so good in a suit!”

It’s Wang Ja-hyun.

You could say I’m the prince of this “Emperor Hotel.” Those empty-headed girls clinging to Wang Ja-hyun and fawning over him were a disgusting sight.

Besides him, there were a few other handsome awakeners, like Kim Chun-oh and Gu Sung-hoon, surrounded by women, but Seo Ga-eul didn’t even glance their way.

“Is that guy the vice-commander of the subjugation force?”

“He looks young.”

“Should we go talk to him?”

Then, she overheard a man being talked about by the women. Turning her head, she saw a man sitting on a chair in the corner, reading a book.

Reading a book in this noisy social gathering.

Seo Ga-eul thought it was an obvious concept, losing interest, but she understood in many ways why the women were drawn to him.

Tall, wearing a black tailcoat, his hair slicked back with wax, his features were sharp, his eyes were deep, and his expression was so confident it bordered on arrogance.

‘Well, he’s decent enough to look at.’

She thought he was okay to look at once, but he was definitely not her type.

Especially men who flaunted their looks and showed off, Seo Ga-eul hated them.

The type who post perfectly curated photos on social media, always trying to embellish themselves.

She’d already had her fill with Wang Ja-hyun and Nam San-ho.

They might look impressive on the outside, but Seo Ga-eul knew too well how they’d cower and back down when it came down to having to act responsibly as a ‘man’ at a crucial moment.

‘How can the vice-commander of the subjugation force be so flashy? I don’t recognize his face, so he must not be a famous awakener either. Is he some parachute that Nam Bada brought from the US and planted here?’

A man, by rights, should prove himself not with words or looks, but with his actions.

Seo Ga-eul momentarily pictured a male student who seemed to have sworn off trying to look good, always wearing a worn-out school uniform and his hair a messy, unkempt tangle, before shaking her head vigorously.

‘Why am I thinking about him now!’

While she was having this internal conflict, the man who was reading a book made eye contact with Seo Ga-eul.

“He’s coming this way!”

“What? Why is he coming this way?”

“Is he coming to me?”

The man closed his book with a *thud* and stood up from his chair, starting to walk towards her with steady steps, and Seo Ga-eul felt slightly annoyed.

She figured the man would come and ask for her number or make some sort of pass at her.

*Thump.* *Thump.*

The man was now standing in front of Seo Ga-eul.

‘See, he came to me.’

Seo Ga-eul was already annoyed.

“What is it?”

She thought, with a touch of aloofness, about what kind of line this man would use to flirt with her. That was when the deep-eyed man opened his mouth.

“I like your milk jugs.”

“Huh?”

She thought she’d misheard.

Because there was no way a person would say such utter nonsense.

If there was anyone who’d just randomly say such crazy things to Seo Ga-eul–.

Her brow immediately furrowed.

“Are you, by any chance, Ha Nam-jin?”