Although a Villain, My Wish is World Peace

[The victim, Mr. Han, was a survivor dramatically rescued from the recent illegal gate mining incident, making this even more lamentable… The condition of the corpse was so gruesome that…]

[Let’s delve into the true identity of Kang Yi-sin, the suspect in this murder case. Why did this prodigy who graduated from the prestigious Babel Academy become such a monster?]

[This is why awakeners are dangerous! You never know what they might do. The awakener involved in this case was even wearing an identification tag. Stricter regulations beyond just tags are needed!]

I turned off the TV. No matter what channel I switched to, it was all about me. I was rendered speechless by the absurdity of it all. After learning that a wanted notice had been issued for me, I had holed up in this motel room, desperately searching for information.

With the whole world focused on this story, gathering information wasn’t too difficult.

The uproar was amplified because the victim of this incident had been one of the survivors from that illegal gate case that had caused a media frenzy during the 9 PM news not too long ago.

Just as the gate incident was starting to die down, a bigger fire had erupted.

Han Jo-hee’s body was covered in torture marks, with the words ‘Punishment for running your mouth’ carved into his back, as if I had taken revenge on him for cooperating with others.

As if to flaunt it, the culprit had dumped Han Jo-hee’s body back in his original hospital room before leaving.

Han Jo-hee was discovered still clinging to life by a nurse, to whom he uttered my name with his dying breath, identifying me as the one who had done this to him.

And then he passed away.

The time Han Jo-hee had gone missing was a mere half a day.

Within that span, he had been kidnapped, tortured, and then returned, an impossible feat without an inside accomplice at the hospital. Although they mentioned investigating all hospital staff, that was likely just speculation…

‘There’s no way I would have left any trails.’

It was insane – there was no way I could have committed such acts.

If they had used even a shred of common sense, they would have realized there was no reason for me to specifically go after Han Jo-hee and torment him.

The more I looked into the case details, the more absurd it became, almost comical.

‘It was Seol Rok-jin’s doing.’

At present, Seol Rok-jin was the only one who would commit such acts.

The problem was that there was no way to convince people of this.

“Damn it, this is so unfair.”

As I rolled around on the bed venting those words, Ray spoke to me.

—Didn’t you say you intended to embrace the role of a villain anyway?

“But those truly weren’t my actions.”

Han Jo-hee had been brutally killed because of his connection to me. Since he didn’t know anything about me, there was no risk of my information leaking, but it was still shocking that someone I had rescued ended up like that.

“He may not have had long to live anyway, but he didn’t deserve to suffer such torment.”

The hatred towards them boiled over once more.

“Either they wanted to obtain information about me, or they intended to send me a warning. And in the process, they ruined an innocent person’s life.”

For such trivial reasons, they had reduced someone already living on borrowed time to that state.

—Aren’t you resentful about the false accusation?

At Ray’s words, I clicked my tongue.

“There was nothing I could do. They probably threatened him by saying they would harm his younger brother or something if he didn’t corroborate their story.”

Saying that, I placed my hand on my throbbing forehead.

“That younger brother, what about him?”

The brother, whose only remaining family member had become terminally ill just to pay for his academy tuition fees, had now been brutally murdered as well. It was an excessively cruel fate for someone who was barely a high school student.

—Worry about yourself first. This isn’t the time to be concerned about others, is it? The whole world now sees you as the bad guy thanks to this.

“Hah, there’s no other choice when the evidence is so conclusive.”

With a sigh, I continued:

“Originally, I had planned to discard the Kang Yi-sin identity anyway.”

* * *

[But you didn’t intend for it to be publicized nationwide like this, did you?]

At those words accompanied by a snickering laugh from Professor Geum, I let out another sigh.

“Don’t tease me. This is a crisis for my life, you know.”

[Hmm, is it really? Ah, right! There was some good news I had for you.]

“What news?”

[Since you seem to like masks, I decided to go with a mask concept for this new project. I think I can create something fun soon.]

At Professor Geum’s words, I perked up my ears.

Although he was an eccentric nutcase, Professor Geum’s skills were genuine. If he was making gear for me, I would be grateful.

“But why the sudden decision?”

[This whole incident made me appreciate you, and that mask – it was right up my alley, you see.]

I didn’t really want to hear that my tastes aligned with someone who looked like a mad scientist, always wearing those crazy swirly glasses.

Seeing my disgusted expression, Ray burst into laughter.

—Haha! Didn’t I say it had terrible taste?

[Anyway, I’ll let you know when it’s completed. You can look forward to it.]

“Yes.”

[And let me know if the investigation starts closing in on you. I’m quite skilled at helping people disappear, you know.]

How reassuring.

So this was the importance of connections, huh?

With Professor Geum’s assistance, I completed the land purchase and transfer of ownership. Unable to use the Kang Yi-sin name, I had to utilize someone else’s identity.

Professor Geum told me with a snicker:

[Since it’s someone already deceased, you don’t have to worry about them coming to reclaim their land.]

It was quite a relief to hear that.

The land would be located at Doram Mountain in the outskirts of Gwangju Metropolitan City.

Doram Mountain was a landform created after a gate break, its rugged terrain rendering it completely off-limits to ordinary people.

The mana concentration was also higher than other areas, prompting the government to prohibit entry as well.

—If entry was prohibited, couldn’t you have just used the land without buying it?

‘It would be troublesome if someone else tried to build something here later.’

Doram Mountain was an exceptionally beautiful place. A high mana concentration meant the natural energy was also abundant.

Despite being a mountain formed only a few years ago, trees were densely overgrown as if it had existed for hundreds of years.

—It’s great that you’ve come all the way up here, but how do you plan to build a base here, and by yourself at that?

As Ray pointed out, while establishing a base in this inaccessible area had its advantages, there were also clear drawbacks.

The biggest drawback was that I would have to do everything myself.

But I had plenty of time regardless.

Thanks to someone, I would be confined to this place for the foreseeable future.

“If I take it step-by-step, anything is possible. For today, let’s start by finding a suitable spot for the base.”

—You need to pick the spot first?

“I only knew this place existed, but I’ve never actually been here before.”

In other words, I would have to do everything on foot without any regression benefits.

Hearing my words, Ray grimaced.

“Carving out the middle of the mountain would be too much, even for a superhuman awakener. I should either find a flat area or a cave.”

—You can’t even be counted among the superhumans, can you?

“Well, I’m still stronger than ordinary people.”

As I conversed with Ray, I fortunately found a large natural cave nearby. It reminded me of the Batcave from Batman.

“A cave does seem fitting for a dark hero’s base.”

The only problem was that this place already had prior residents.

Perhaps thinking of Batman when entering had been a mistake. Clinging to the upper part of the cave was a dense cluster of thousands of bats.