The Tough Guy Hides the Villainess - Chapter 96



096 – You Are Our Hero!

096 – You Are Our Hero!

The Awakened Kang Naro was a woman who, after cutting an apple peel with a dull kitchen knife, grasped the concept of 「Blades」 and rose to meteoric success.

「Knife Empress Kang Naro Agrees to Interview!」

「From Ice Queen to Explorer─.」

At twenty, having graduated from Youngsa High, she already enjoyed widespread popularity through numerous broadcasts. With her pretty face as her weapon, she even expanded into the beauty industry as a direct advertisement model.

‘Life is so easy, so very easy!’

Everything she touched turned to gold, the Midas touch itself.

But nothing lasts forever. By age 24, Kang Naro had been pushed aside by the rising young Awakened, and had all attention snatched away from her.

「Miss Seo Gaeul, Princess of the Southwest, Autumn Challenge Goes Viral on SNS─.」

「Makgeolli Promoted by Moon Hyunah Sells Out in 3 Hours-!」

As time wore on, the money she earned dwindled, and people’s interest faded even more.

Kang Naro was pretty, that much was true, but she wasn’t celebrity-pretty, and the concept of her “Edge” wasn’t particularly strong, not like “Light” or “Star.”

Simply put, Kang Naro lacked individuality.

So, time passed, and she turned 27.

Feeling like she’d just become one of those average Awakened if things kept going like this, Kang Naro grew impatient. She had to make a flashy comeback and etch her name into people’s minds again.

‘It’s okay. I can rise again. I can breathe that fresh air at the top again. Right now, I’m just going through a long slump. All I need is a good wind to push me!’

And then, she met Ahn Yuri.

“Ahn Yuri, Senior: How are you doing these days? If you’re not too busy, let’s meet up sometime. Hehe.”

Kang Naro was, truthfully, a little flattered by the message from the senior Awakened, who rarely contacted her. She also had a desire to confide in another woman.

“Yuri unnie, I saw the news recently. You’re receiving a Minister’s Commendation, right?”

“Well, I got lucky. How are you doing? It’s been hard to hear from you.”

“I’m…”

Kang Naro was about to stammer to a halt, when Ahn Yuri seemed to pull something from her pocket, and smoothly- slid it towards the table where Kang Naro was sitting.

It was like dried herbs in a glass bottle, and to Kang Naro, who’d had cats before, it looked exactly like catnip.

“Use it before bed.”

That was all Ahn Yuri said.

That night, Kang Naro tossed a few pinches of the dried leaves into her mouth, like catnip, and about ten seconds later, she encountered a new realm.

*Zzzzzzzzing—!*

The sensation of every nerve in her body becoming intensely sensitive. It felt like the concept of her “Edge” was shining sharply, as if it was a master craftsman’s blade, just newly sharpened.

「Blade Empress Kang Naro’s Return!」

「Discovers Secret Room in the Great Labyrinth!」

「Appearing on the National Talk Show, “Mystery Quiz,” tune into the channel at 10 PM!」

Kang Naro was, once again, riding high.

She couldn’t let this tailwind pass her by, not knowing when it would come again.

Her obsession with the leaves Ahn Yuri gave her also grew.

“Unnie! What is that? Where did you get it? What is it, anyway!”

“‘Witch’s Herb’? Looks like it worked well.”

“That’s called ‘Witch’s Herb’?”

“Yeah. It only works on women. Amazing, isn’t it?”

Why was that?

Nah, right now, reasons didn’t matter to Kang Naro.

“How the hell am I supposed to get more?! Huh!?”

“It’s not easy to get… But, after the ‘Star Mine Extermination Squad’ event ends, a seminar is being held by a teacher I re-ally respect. Wanna go with me?”

Kang Naro, who’d been navigating the social world early on, caught a whiff of something suspicious, reeking of illegal pyramid schemes from the word ‘seminar’, but she wasn’t in a position to be picky.

‘Maybe it’s a good seminar? And it’s not like Ahn Yuri would try to screw me over on purpose. The leaf actually worked.’

But then today happened.

Hanamjin, whose stock had skyrocketed in the past few days, had seemed to tie Ahn Yuri to a wall, then Ahn Yuri started going nuts, like a straight-up crazy person.

“Let me go! Let me gooo!”

Seeing the blotchy red spots popping up on her face, Kang Naro’s mind, which had been in a dreamy haze the last few days, snapped back to reality.

“You crazy b*tch! You didn’t say anything about side effects!”

*Clang-*!

That’s when Kang Naro dropped the bottle of “Witch’s Weed” on the floor.

*Fzzzt-*!

At that moment, Ahn Yuri, still bound by chains, finally snapped free, threw herself towards the leaves on the ground, and started licking them with her tongue.

Everyone just froze, their mouths agape, not even able to speak. It was obvious she wasn’t right.

About 30 seconds passed.

Ahn Yuri, seeming a bit more lucid, spoke.

“…I, I can explain. I just needed more power. These are tough times! Suho oppa, you understand what I’m saying, right? Huh?”

Jeon Suho looked at Ahn Yuri with the same gaze a father would give a daughter who’d screwed up big time. But, the warmth in his eyes vanished quickly.

“Are you absolutely sure you had nothing to do with the disappearance of your teammate, Yeongeun? I want to believe you, you’ve been a colleague for so long, but in this case, I have no choice but to consider what that junior said.”

“Oppa, don’t you know me? I’m Ahn Yuri! Why would I make Yeongeun disappear?”

Hanamjin provided the answer.

“She must have wanted the Concept Stone. The ‘Witch Cult’ attacks awakeners and steals their Concept Stones. Of course, it’s not easy to attack awakeners and steal their Concept Stones. That’s why they’re doping with ‘Witch’s Weed’.”

“Shut up! It wasn’t me! It wasn’t! I’m not at fault! The ones who looked down on me are the problem! The ones who tried to leave me out of operations just because I’m a woman, the ones who just wanted me to be a pretty face, they’re the problem!”

Kang Naro’s anger cooled at Ahn Yuri’s outburst. What would have happened if she’d gone to that ‘seminar’?

Would she have disappeared like Ahn Yeongeun? Or would she have become a disgusting addict like that?

‘What if I’m already addicted? Maybe she knows how to treat addiction? Huh?’

Just moments ago, she had hated Hanamjin for cornering Ahn Yuri, but now he seemed like a great doctor or a rabbi from the Talmud.

“This is my power that I earned!”

Sssssssss-.

That instant, red steam began to erupt from Ahn Yu-ri’s body.

“Ahn Yu-ri, you really! Be careful! Getting touched by that steam isn’t just a burn! Ahn Yu-ri has a concept of ‘heat’!”

As Jeon Su-ho pushed everyone back, Nam Ba-da quickly pulled something long out of the bundle he’d brought.

It was a golf club.

Unfazed by the way the red steam was blistering his skin, Nam Ba-da strode forward and swiftly smashed the golf club into Ahn Yu-ri’s head.

Thwack-! Thwack-! Thwack-!

Ahn Yu-ri seemed to twitch a few times before collapsing into a pool of red blood.

Everyone was overwhelmed by the sight, but Nam Ba-da just casually wiped the blood off his face with his thumb.

“What are you all staring at?”

# # #

Swish-swish-.

Nam Ba-da mechanically shook the blood off the golf club as he spoke.

“Even so, Jeon Su-ho, I think this much shows why I put this fresh-faced kid in charge of the troop instead of you or Ahn Yu-ri, right?”

“Well, uhm, hmm, honestly, there’s no excuse for that. If we’d gone into the operation like this, it would have been a disaster. An ally who can’t control themself is several times more dangerous than a dangerous enemy.”

Jeon Su-ho, looking much older than his twenty-eight years, stroked his beard a few times before approaching me.

Then, he put a hand on my shoulder.

“You’re a real man! Brazenly betting the two you have on the line. I like that! Nam Woo-joo was right to keep an eye on you! Hahaha!”

It was a chaotic atmosphere in many ways, but it seemed my evaluation had jumped up after exposing the cult’s mole. I guess this meant my command structure as the troop leader was officially recognized.

Soon, Kang Na-ro, a woman who seemed to have been brainwashed by Ahn Yu-ri, rushed toward me.

“Is there some kind of antidote? Huh? Am I going to turn into that…!?”

Her mind seemed unstable, a classic symptom of a “Witch’s Herb” addict.

“There’s no antidote. You’ll recover on your own if you just quit. Though, it’s so addictive that just quitting is harder than taking an antidote, probably?”

Anyway, problem solved!

As people cheered and praised me, I decided to act like a real man. Frankly, the credit for this incident didn’t belong to me, but to someone else.

“There’s someone who noticed the wicked b*tches before I did. It’s Baek Yeo-ul right here. If it weren’t for Yeo-ul, even I wouldn’t have noticed it.”

“Baek Yeo-ul?”

Seo Ga-eul raised an eyebrow as if surprised.

“She noticed it first?”

“She must be a big deal.”

“You’re the only one dressed differently. Looks like you’ve got a unique sense or something.”

Mutter mutter-.

I could feel the way people were re-evaluating Baek Yeoul, and she, as if terribly embarrassed by the situation, blushed crimson and didn’t know what to do.

“I, I don’t really know…”

「Name: Baek Yeoul

Possesses: 《Misfortune Lv.3》 – As unlucky as the cry of a winter raven.

State: 《Embarrassment》 – Wants to disappear into a mouse hole!」

“…But for some reason, I feel like I’ve done something amazing! I can do things too! ooop!”

Clench-.

She clenched her fist and raised it high, the little rascal.

And so, the impromptu search for a plant within the subjugation force’s launch ceremony came to a smooth end.

Now, time to head home.

Rascal Baek Yeoul kept following behind me.

Why.

“Hey, isn’t your house the other way?”

“…Ha-nam-jjin!”

“What.”

From noble mtl dot com

“I…I’ll walk you home!”

“You?”

“Yeah! Evil girls like Ahn Yu-ri who eat weird weeds could be after you! Stealing your concepts, they say! So I’ll protect you!”

“You’ll have to go home alone, though? What if you get into danger?”

“It’s okay! I have the concept of 《Misfortune》. It’s an ability that only makes the holder unhappy, so no one would want that concept. Except for weird people like me…!”

My house, finally.

The rascal shivered- looking at the darkened living room, then thumped my chest with her fist.

Wondering what that was, I saw she was holding something in her fist.

“I’m giving this to you!”

「Name: Lucky Coin」

「Description: 10th Anniversary commemorative coin depicting the face of the Fairy Princess」

「Possesses: 《Luck Lv.4》 – Luck as if a bluebird from a fairy tale resides within. It fulfills the owner’s wishes, and its power has now been fully exhausted.」

A tarnished but still shining silver coin.

Pitter-patter-!

That was the last word from the ass before it vanished into the darkness far away.

“He’s different every time I see him.”

But the gift he left had a significant meaning for me as well.

A 「Luck」 coin.

The coin, drained of all its power, might seem useless, but—

If Seo Ga-eul is there, it’s a different story.

“Seo Ga-eul, you there?”

Rustle-.

At my call, Seo Ga-eul, who had been hidden in the darkness, appeared.

It turned out he had been watching Baek Yeo-ul and me on our way home all along.

“How long have you known? If you knew, you should have said something. You pervert.”

Seo Ga-eul was probably embarrassed about being caught tailing us, so he raised his voice for no reason.

I pointed at Seo Ga-eul’s waist with my hand.

“I need to borrow your sword.”

“What for?”

Seo Ga-eul had 「Maple Leaf」, a concept imbued with the idea of plunder.

What if I could extract the luck residing in this coin with it?