Chapter 33 - So It's You

* * *

He could hardly believe his ears. A singer or an actor?

Hyeonyul glared at them, wondering whether they were trying to pull some bullshit. Before killing intent could creep into his gaze, Sinu hastily put on a startled expression and smoothly spoke up.

"What exactly do you mean? A singer...?"

"We happened to see you at the movie theater..."

"... The movie theater? Are you saying you've been watching us this whole time?"

As Sinu began to look horrified, the best-dressed of the three, a woman, smiled kindly.

"I'm sorry if we made you uncomfortable. But we're certainly not some shady people. Our agency has launched several famous artists recently. You'll find us with a quick search."

Despite her explanation, Sinu took out his phone, still eyeing them suspiciously.

S.T.D Entertainment.

Quite curious himself, Hyeonyul looked up the company too.

'... It really exists?'

It was new, but bigger than he had expected.

'So villains are running this place?'

They might not actually be from S.T.D Entertainment, but they carried a faint smell of blood. Where would ordinary people pick up that smell? Judging by its freshness, they seemed to have killed someone mere hours ago.

'So this is another way to get close to villains.'

Hyeonyul found the situation fascinating. Had they really failed to recognize them as Black Eagles? Or had they approached knowing who they were?

He kept his guard up.

"I'm very sorry, but honestly, this is hard to believe. There are so many scams these days, aren't there?"

Looking troubled, Sinu scratched between his eyebrows. Even if they weren't villains, he couldn't simply jump at an offer like this.

"Of course. If you have time, may we show you around S.T.D Entertainment? Come whenever it's convenient. We'll come out to meet you right away."

The woman smiled brightly, visibly confident.

"... Well, I'll give it some thought."

At Sinu's awkward reply, the woman continued smiling.

"Yes, please do contact us. Please."

She repeated the request several times before leaving.

Perhaps because of what had just happened, quite a few people were looking their way. It wasn't every day you saw someone being scouted on the street.

"Shall we go somewhere else?"

Sinu spoke with a stiff expression. Getting scouted? He felt positively dazed.

* * *

"So, this is..."

Haeryeon broke off and laughed briefly. It was both absurd and amusing. She wasn't sure what to make of the situation.

Scouted on the street?

Sinu had contacted her on her way home from work, and she had headed to a café secretly operated by the Black Eagles. Its private-room layout made it a suitable place for discussions.

Feeling Sinu's gaze on her, Haeryeon suppressed her laughter and looked at Hyeonyul. He was calmly sipping the café drink in his hand.

'Hyeonyul really is catnip for villains...'

Ever since becoming a Black Eagle, she had never heard of anyone being scouted on the street by villains. They would be talking about this for years.

"Team Leader, it seems my disguise face is pretty good-looking."

Sinu spoke confidently, and Haeryeon frowned.

"This isn't the time for that, is it?"

"That's harsh. You were laughing along with me a moment ago."

Sinu smacked his lips.

"That was that, and this is this. You know I'm off the clock, right?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Sinu shut his mouth.

"So, the owner of S.T.D Entertainment is a villain?"

"That's right."

Sinu nodded, his amusement slowly fading.

"Unbelievable."

Haeryeon fiddled with her cup after speaking. The media could sway the public any way it pleased. What would happen if a villain acquired that power? What people grew up watching could have frightening influence; it could subtly plant hostility toward the Empire.

"... Truly unbelievable."

Haeryeon let out a long breath.

"It's fine. It hasn't been established for long. Something this small can simply be uprooted."

Hyeonyul spoke lightly. S.T.D Entertainment was a new company. It had merely grown rapidly by recruiting famous entertainers, perhaps because it had plenty of money. It hadn't accomplished anything yet.

"Isn't it fortunate we found out now?"

Hyeonyul continued. Villains were already deeply involved in plenty of other businesses. What was the problem with one that had only just begun?

Despite the information he had provided about Shin Daeho, the Black Eagles still hadn't found the major corporation run by villains. How deeply had they hidden it? Discovering it could come close to shaking the entire nation.

Compared with that, this was insignificant.

"When you put it that way, it is fortunate."

Haeryeon looked on the bright side. Villains were scattered throughout the Empire. It was a little ridiculous, but at least they'd caught wind of these ones this way.

"The investigation into S.T.D Entertainment has started. We'll have to wait for now. I can't promise how long it'll take. We have several situations on our hands."

Cleaning up the collaborator problem. Arranging the Poison King's transfer. There were quite a few problems, large and small.

"Then do we have to sit idle until the investigation is over?"

Hyeonyul asked. If all he knew was a name, with no idea where someone was or what they were doing—as with Asan or the Night Rat—he had no choice but to stay put. The Empire was vast. How could he find them without information?

But this time was different. He knew the exact location.

"... I'm afraid so."

Haeryeon answered somewhat awkwardly. Investigation was an extremely important process. Nothing was more dangerous than going in without knowing your opponent. Time and again, a single piece of information had meant life or death for countless Black Eagles.

With nothing known yet, staying put was the right choice.

"Then, Team Leader, may I go deal with them myself?"

Hyeonyul felt that waiting through the investigation was a waste of time. The enemy would have its guard down right now. He couldn't let that opening slip away.

Once it lost its head, the rest would collapse on its own anyway.

Of course, another villain waiting for that chance would absorb the faction, but that was harder than building a new organization. Even if they managed it well, internal problems inevitably cropped up.

Wouldn't it be over if the Black Eagles caught them while they exhausted themselves fighting each other?

"... Deal with them yourself?"

Haeryeon struggled to continue. Surely he didn't mean...

"I'll go and eliminate them one by one."

After speaking, Hyeonyul tapped his head lightly. His gaze grew cold.

"Their heads. Whether they're middlemen or the bastards at the top."

Normally, he would have to think of a way to get at the enemy's throat. Now he had a ticket that would take him straight there.

What should he do, then?

'... Go inside and tear out their throats.'

"So you're saying you want to walk right into the enemy's mouth, Hyeonyul?"

"Yes. I did the same with the Poison King. I don't see a problem."

At Hyeonyul's words, Haeryeon's face twisted as though her stomach hurt.

"That was an emergency. This isn't. It's dangerous."

Hyeonyul found that remark strange.

"It's fine. This is what I've always done."

He had completed every mission he was given. Nothing was more miserable than failing to prove his usefulness.

Failure meant only death.

"Are you going to let this opportunity go?"

Hyeonyul set down the business card and tapped it with a finger. The street-scouting offer they had handed him at just the right moment was an excellent opportunity.

"An opportunity. Yes, perhaps you could call it that. But Hyeonyul, what team leader would send a team member into a death trap? As long as I hold this position, I have to stop you."

Efficiency or whatever else didn't matter to Haeryeon. All she had to do was weigh Hyeonyul's life against the current situation.

He wasn't just one person. He was a member of her team.

"Eliminate one bastard, and countless people live. Eliminate one bastard, and countless villains scatter."

Hyeonyul pointed to the facts. The Black Eagles, after all, had been founded to annihilate villains. Their interests aligned perfectly.

"I can enter the enemy's maw, kill him, and escape."

Hyeonyul smiled confidently. Neither Haeryeon nor Sinu could be unaware of his strength. He couldn't understand what was so dangerous.

Hadn't he shown them by now? Whom he had brought in? What places he had smashed to fucking pieces?

'Even that isn't enough? They're the Black Eagles for a reason.'

Given their stringent requirements, he had expected their standards to be high, but not this high. Reality felt rather heavy.

"What if there were two of us instead of one?"

Sinu pointed to himself.

"Sinu! Baek Sinu!"

"... Yes, ma'am!"

"You can't join in on this too!"

Under Haeryeon's sudden barrage, Sinu became a turtle retreating into its shell. He had known he was stirring up a hornet's nest, but it still stung.

"But if we stop Hyeonyul here, won't it look as though we don't trust him?"

"I don't...?"

Haeryeon asked, holding back her rising anger. He really might take it that way.

"Hyeonyul is very capable. As you know, he even captured the Poison King."

"That's true. Hyeonyul is very capable."

Hyeonyul's eyes widened slightly at Sinu's and Haeryeon's words.

'... So they do recognize me?'

Something tickled inside him.

"But that's because Hyeonyul was the Poison King's natural counter. He had a favorable matchup from the outset."

Someone poison couldn't affect. That simply happened to be Hyeonyul. Otherwise, she could have lost another team member.

"There's the Red Witch incident too."

Sinu brought up another occasion, and Haeryeon pressed her lips together.

"If we stop him when he's capable of doing it, won't that undermine his confidence?"

'His confidence...?'

Haeryeon immediately looked at Hyeonyul. A lack of confidence wasn't something she associated with him. But she realized it was possible.

Hyeonyul was human too. A person with feelings.

Haeryeon gripped her hair with both hands, its soft texture filling her palms.

"I know you're incredibly capable, Hyeonyul. But making you do even something like this would weigh too heavily on my conscience. I wanted to show you we're different from the place you escaped."

How hard must they have worked him? How much must he have suffered to ask her not to make him work overtime every time he saw her?

In truth, Haeryeon was afraid. It was human nature to want a capable person to handle all sorts of things. If she kept handing Hyeonyul one more responsibility because he did so well, how would they be any different from the villains' company?

"You've already been put through something enormous, Hyeonyul. You can tell this is another major situation, can't you? You won't hold up if you keep getting put through all this."

"I'm fi—"

"You're not fine, Hyeonyul. Everyone reaches their limit eventually. Even your day off has been ruined by villains. What's fine about that?"

Haeryeon's words sounded almost like a rebuke, leaving Hyeonyul unable to answer readily. Strangely, he didn't feel bad.

"That's why I'm offering to go with him."

Sinu smiled gently. His eyes looked mild, but there was no intention of backing down in them.

"Couldn't you trust Hyeonyul for now and scold him later?"

Sinu's added plea tormented Haeryeon. A wrong decision could cost a team member's life. She weighed it over and over.

"... All right."

Haeryeon swallowed the many words circling in her mind. As Sinu said, it was right to show trust first.

"Hyeonyul. Tell me exactly what you're planning."

"Understood."

Hyeonyul nodded. In truth, there was nothing he could call a plan. It didn't matter which villain was involved in this incident, either.

Capture villains or kill them. That fundamental principle never changed.

* * *

"... The Night Rat? You met the information broker, the Night Rat? You saw them? You know what they look like?"

When he asked Haeryeon about the Night Rat, her reaction was far more intense than expected. Perhaps it was because the Night Rat dealt in information.

"They didn't come looking for you, did they?"

Haeryeon sounded worried. With no particular excuse to offer, Hyeonyul confirmed that they had. When he caught the Night Rat later, it would be enough to say that this was the bastard who had ordered the collaborator's assassination.

He had actually wanted to ask who the villain with the power to create portals and eyes in midair was, but that seemed impossible.

TAP

Hyeonyul closed his book.

How to Have Fun at a Festival.

Sitting beside him, Sinu glanced at the title, then looked straight ahead.

'... How much does he like festivals?'

He hadn't known there were specialized books about festivals. Swallowing the affectionate comment on his tongue, Sinu followed Hyeonyul out of the taxi.

S.T.D Entertainment.

The two looked up at the sign.