Although a Villain, My Wish is World Peace

“He fled from the scene, this is a case of serious guilt.”

The woman with Kang Yi-sin’s photo attached to the report in front of her spoke those words while wrinkling her expression.

Her flawlessly pale skin looked as white and soft as glutinous rice cakes. Her large, round eyes sparkled like an adorable puppy. Even her neatly trimmed short hair added to her bright and pure beauty.

Her name was Do Chae-hee, a member of the dedicated Awakener Crimes Team, in stark contrast to her cute appearance which had earned her several unsavory nicknames.

After finishing reading the summary report, Do Chae-hee spoke up:

“So this guy is the mastermind behind everything?”

At her words, her superior Park Cheol-wan, who fancied himself as the ‘brake’ of their team, shook his head.

“Chae-hee, what did I say? Don’t make any conclusions until all the details of the case come to light.”

“And you also said the one who gains the most benefit is likely to be the culprit in any case.”

“We don’t know if he actually benefited. He rescued the victims and even distributed the mana stones separately. It’s a bit too much to readily label him as a bad guy.”

At Park Cheol-wan’s words, Do Chae-hee slapped the desk loudly.

“No. That could have been an appeasement tactic. Take this and get lost. Take this and keep your mouth shut.”

“But killing them to silence them would have been easier, so why bother?”

“This is probably his first offense. His mind might still be a bit soft. But a criminal is a criminal. He killed five people at the scene!”

A fierce glint appeared in Do Chae-hee’s eyes. Despite her adorable appearance like a Maltese or Pomeranian, this was precisely why her nickname was ‘Mad Dog’. Once she bit down on something, she rarely let go of a case. If she so much as caught a whiff of crime, she would roll her eyes and start barking like a mad dog.

“Once blood is on his hands, he has no room for redemption and is a criminal through and through.”

Her eyes even seemed to ooze bloodlust as she spoke those words. Park Cheol-wan often pointed out that her excessive hatred towards criminals was Do Chae-hee’s biggest flaw. But as someone who had witnessed firsthand the events that made her like this, Park Cheol-wan understood her all too well.

‘She lost her entire family to criminals.’

Five years ago, the infrastructure had been utterly lacking. Park Cheol-wan, who had been newly appointed as the team leader of the newly formed Awakener Crimes Team at the time, vividly remembered that day.

A tragedy born from the complacent thoughts of ordinary people, not an accident but a man-made disaster.

The value placed on awakeners’ lives was too high, and the number of awakeners serving as public officials was limited. While awakeners were tasked with apprehending criminals, transporting the arrested criminals was the responsibility of ordinary police officers.

Of course, they had been armed with various artifacts, but they were no match for true awakeners.

The awakener who had escaped that day occupied the roads during rush hour traffic. And there, they committed a horrific hostage crisis. Only three people survived that hostage crisis. Do Chae-hee, who had been rescued from the scene, had lost her entire family in the most gruesome manner right before her eyes.

Upon discovering the bloodied Do Chae-hee, Park Cheol-wan had fallen to his knees and wept bitterly. Since taking her in that day and raising her until now, Park Cheol-wan had failed to change her mindset.

How could he dissuade her?

-If there had been at least one person as firm as me, someone who thought criminals should be treated harshly without regard for human rights, my family wouldn’t have died that day.

No matter how many times she was reprimanded for excessive force, Do Chae-hee never wavered from her convictions.

Even now, just look at her face already filled with thoughts of capturing and tearing that guy apart, completely disregarding the presumption of innocence.

Letting out an inward sigh, Park Cheol-wan spoke:

“But you need to rein it in this time.”

“Representative Seol himself visited here today. This case is that serious. The entire nation of South Korea is watching this case.”

This incident had become the most heated case in South Korea.

The estimated number of victims alone was over a hundred. Although all evidence had disappeared due to the gate closing, the fact that one of the witnesses present was none other than Kim Myeong-cheol, the master of the guild, was significant.

He had openly declared it himself.

That inhumane crimes had occurred inside there. His secretary had witnessed dozens of corpses with his own eyes. Excluding the five killed that day, all the others were estimated to have died from overexploitation during illegal gate mining operations.

With the harrowing appearances of the victims rescued from the scene being broadcast, the case grew even more severe.

With no evidence remaining, the scene had descended into chaos. Families of the missing had all rushed in, trying to find their loved ones.

Even Representative Seol Rok-jin, a prominent figure representing the anti-awakener faction, took the lead in criticizing this case, shouldering his rifle. He had expressed deep regret that despite countless laws, such crimes could still not be prevented, words that had even brought Do Chae-hee to tears.

The circumstances of Jeong Ho-san, the rookie who had been investigating his missing friend before learning of this incident, also became a topic of discussion online once more.

In any case, many eyes were focused on this case.

“So this time, could you try to calm down a bit?”

Park Cheol-wan half-pleaded with Do Chae-hee, but she simply replied with a sullen expression:

“What reason would I have to lose my temper during a victim interview?”

Park Cheol-wan let out a sigh as he looked at Do Chae-hee.

He could only hope that nothing untoward would happen.

* * *

“I’m Police Inspector Do Chae-hee from the Awakener Crimes Team. May I have a brief word with Mr. Han Jo-hee?”

Already aware of the general circumstances of the case, Do Chae-hee’s sole reason for coming here was clear.

Han Jo-hee was the only one among the victims who had any connection to Kang Yi-sin, the suspected culprit behind this incident.

She had also heard that he was the only victim undergoing life-sustaining treatment, allowing him to be interviewed.

But Do Chae-hee’s attempt to interview him was thwarted from the very start when a student wearing an academy uniform blocked her path.

“I believe my brother has already told you everything he knows.”

The boy with shaggy bangs almost completely concealing his face spoke in a gloomy, depressed tone as he obstructed Do Chae-hee.

This must be Han Seo-hyeon, Han Jo-hee’s younger brother.

Do Chae-hee recalled his personal details in her mind.

Seventeen years old this year, attending the Hunter Academy, she recalled. Just hearing his depressing voice was enough to drain one’s energy.

With the head of their household in such a state, it was understandable for him to be gloomy, but still.

“I wanted to ask some additional questions to help resolve the case.”

“My brother said he doesn’t know anything. He truly has no idea why that Kang Yi-sin person did such a thing, as stated in the reports.”

Her question was answered before she could even ask it. Do Chae-hee narrowed her eyes.

“I understand the circumstances, but I still need to confirm some things with him personally…”

“My brother’s condition isn’t good.”

Han Seo-hyeon bluntly cut off Do Chae-hee’s words. His heart-wrenching words left even Do Chae-hee speechless.

“My only remaining family member has returned on death’s door. Is it too much to ask for him to spend what may be his final moments in peace and quiet?”

Only then did Do Chae-hee realize her mistake and bite her lip.

“I’m sorry. I made a mistake.”

While she treated criminals like a bloodhound, Do Chae-hee was as gentle as a breeze towards victims.

Seeming to soften at Do Chae-hee’s sincere apology, Han Seo-hyeon also nodded his head.

No matter how urgent the situation felt, Do Chae-hee inwardly clicked her tongue at herself for making such a blunder. She wrote her questions on a memo pad and handed it to Han Seo-hyeon.

“I’ll leave these interview questions, so if you could answer them later, I would appreciate it. I really want to catch that bastard.”

That was how Do Chae-hee left the hospital empty-handed.

There was one more person who likely knew Kang Yi-sin better than anyone.

Jeong Ho-san, Kang Yi-sin’s close friend who had been present at the scene.

Until now, he had been hiding under the guild’s protection, but that would change from now on.

With her eyes wide open, Do Chae-hee headed to the guild.

* * *

After Do Chae-hee left, Han Seo-hyeon sat down next to the bed. Han Jo-hee, who had been pretending to sleep with his eyes closed, slightly opened them.

“She’s gone?”

“Yeah. She left her business card and the interview questions.”

Han Seo-hyeon clicked his tongue as he looked over the interview questions Do Chae-hee had left behind.

“Oh, asking if I knew about the crimes beforehand, if I cooperated at the scene. If I had any separate contact with him. Does she really think I’d answer such questions honestly?”

Han Seo-hyeon crumpled up the paper and tossed it into the trash can. Seeing his violent action, Han Jo-hee frowned in surprise.

“Seo-hyeon.”

“You don’t need to worry about such things. Just focus on resting and recovering.”

At Han Seo-hyeon’s words, Han Jo-hee let out a sigh. Although Han Seo-hyeon had brought him here in tears and insisted on staying by his side, leaving Han Jo-hee with no choice but to remain here, it felt like sitting on a bed of nails.

“Let’s just check out right away. Do you know how much the hospital bills are adding up to?”

“I know, but if you leave here, how long do you think you can last? One day? Two days?”

Han Jo-hee bit his lip at Han Seo-hyeon’s words. As he said, if Han Jo-hee left this place, he would immediately collapse.

Unless the mana that had seeped into his body was extracted three times a day, the mana that had infiltrated his marrow would immediately start dissolving his organs. But he couldn’t stay here indefinitely either.

All because of that damned money.

“How did you even afford the hospital bills so far?”

“The guild provided some compensation money. For now, just focus on recovering your body.”

“If you had that kind of money, you should have used it for yourself. For the academy…”

“You’re bringing that up even in this situation?”

As if his pent-up emotions had boiled over, Han Seo-hyeon’s face contorted as he shouted.

“If not for that damn academy’s ridiculous practice fees, you wouldn’t have ended up like this in the first place!”

All Han Jo-hee could see were Han Seo-hyeon’s fingers, turned bone-white from gripping them so tightly. It must have hurt.

“It’s not because of you.”

Han Jo-hee spoke those words weakly, but they didn’t reach Han Seo-hyeon.

Rising from his seat, Han Seo-hyeon told Han Jo-hee:

“Don’t worry about money. Just focus on receiving treatment and recovering.”

Han Seo-hyeon closed the door as he left. His chest felt stuffy.

He had told Han Jo-hee not to worry and just focus on recovering, but the prepaid funds would only last them 2-3 weeks at most. And that was only possible by withdrawing Han Jo-hee’s mana stones and the deposit from the place they had been living.

While the guild had provided some compensation money, it was woefully insufficient to cover the exorbitant hospital bills.

He needed to find a way to cover the massive hospital expenses moving forward.

Would he be able to gain something by following that man, Kang Yi-sin?

People called him a monstrous serial killer and criminal, but judging from how he had spared Han Jo-hee’s life, he didn’t seem like such a bad person.

Han Seo-hyeon had already made up his mind to drop out of the academy, which required an immense tuition.

When Han Jo-hee found out he had dropped out of the academy, he would probably go ballistic, but Han Seo-hyeon didn’t want to attend the academy at the cost of his brother’s life. The academy was filled with people calling his talent disgusting anyway.

Kneeling in a dark alleyway, Han Seo-hyeon unleashed black mana from his fingertips. A rat that had been lying dead in a trash can crevice was revived by absorbing Han Seo-hyeon’s mana, its eyes glowing a bloody red. Seeing the revived rat, Han Seo-hyeon spoke:

“Go find that person.”

Heeding Han Seo-hyeon’s command, the rat scurried away into the dark alley.