The Thug Hides the Villainess

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042 – The Wolf Among the Sheep Appears #4

After the children went out on patrol, Yeongsa High School felt a bit lonely and empty. The man known as Captain Kang Cheol-min passed through the quiet hallway and entered the control room.

“Captain, I brewed some coffee. Would you like a cup?”

His junior and student, class F’s homeroom teacher, Moon Hyun-a, offered him a steaming paper cup. Kang Cheol-min could only let out a deep sigh.

“I’m not a captain, I’m an instructor. Just because the kids call me that, does that mean you have to as well?”

“Why not? It suits you well. Plus, just a few years ago, I was a kid too, you know?”

She lifted the blindfold covering her eyes with her finger to scrutinize Kang Cheol-min’s expression and chuckled softly.

She was monitoring the location information transmitted in real-time from the students’ smartwatches.

She sipped her slightly bitter Americano and became intrigued by the coordinates marked with red dots.

It was the location of the special team patrolling near the abandoned factory where “Yeomra” had appeared.

“Do you think Ji Seon-hyun’s thoughts are correct? That there’s a ‘Judgmenter’ in our Yeongsa High School?”

“How should I know? I thought things were getting quiet lately, but then more problems arise.”

It had been about ten years since the phenomenon called “Awakening” occurred.

Incidents and accidents began to gradually become part of everyday life.

One example was the illegal armed group “Billunners,” formed primarily by first-year graduates.

Captain Kang Cheol-min suddenly felt an intense fatigue as he reflected on the various issues among the students.

“In my time, I just thought about escaping study hall after school to go to the PC bang. Nowadays, kids are forming armed groups and attacking people. The generation gap is enormous.”

Kang Cheol-min came from a different era. Being an ordinary person, not an awakened one, he felt a bit of confusion and absurdity about the current world.

He was drafted as an instructor to teach the kids to be a type of “military weapon,” but as he saw the students, he always felt that they were ordinary kids.

“I’d prefer if the training for ‘Awakened beings’ was effective, but honestly, I just want students to act like students.”

“Captain, is that a sign of aging? Why are you saying such things that don’t fit? Back in our time, we called our instructor a demon.”

“Back then… it was my first time teaching kids, so I was clumsy in many ways…”

“I’m joking. I don’t think what Captain did back then was wrong. We, the Awakened, are the wolves among the sheep. So, it’s best to firmly grasp that reins when you can.”

Moon Hyun-a’s eyes were keenly observing the students’ location data.

To her, all these students were beasts that could turn at any moment, she thought.

“The ‘Judgmenter’ is definitely one of our Yeongsa High School associates, right? The information about ‘Yeomra’ and ‘Sa Ma-jun’ was only known to us, yet they were brutally killed.”

The “Judgmenter” was knowledgeable about internal information of Yeongsa High and the police, with his crimes occurring mostly after school or on weekends.

Thus, Moon Hyun-a suspected that the murderer “Judgmenter” might be one of the students at Yeongsa High School.

“Most likely from class D.”

“Is that so?”

“Captain, you know the criteria that separate class D and class F isn’t just something simple like family background, right? It’s based on ‘possibility.'”

The criteria that divide students of class D and F was, as Moon Hyun-a said, a certain possibility.

It was about whether they could become uncontrollable variables or not.

“To put it plainly, it’s about the potential to become a villain, a terrorist, or a monster. The kids in class D are above a fifty percent chance of being managed specially, so if there’s a ‘Judgmenter,’ it must be from class D.”

Moon Hyun-a’s gaze fell on a certain red dot.

“Isn’t it Hanam-jin? A lot of people have been murdered around him. Yeomra, Sa Ma-jun, and he had plenty of motives to kill those loan sharks. This time, it’s the disappearance of Seoga-eul too.”

“Do you think Hanam-jin has sufficient motive for his involvement in Seoga-eul’s disappearance?”

“Yes. Hanam-jin lost his parents in the N Mart incident, right? So, he must have plenty of reasons to harbor a grudge against Seo Nam Group. He might have killed Seoga-eul for revenge—.”

“Hyun-a, as you say, Hanam-jin is certainly the type who would do anything. He might have already committed acts in the past. But I don’t think he’s that bad of a person.”

When Kang Cheol-min was still a cold soldier, he recalled the boy soldiers he met in the impoverished third-world battlefields.

Hanam-jin reminded him of them. However, the difference between them was their eyes.

Eyes shining like stars.

Hanam-jin’s gaze had a glimmer of hope in it.

“Look at ‘No Leftover Day.’ Who would have thought they could do something like that? Even I, as an instructor, couldn’t do it, yet that brat saw that possibility. That’s the kind of person he is.”

There was no way a person who sees hope for others could be the “Judgmenter” who robs everyone of their potential.

Instructor Kang Cheol-min thought that way, hoping it to be true.

However, even he had to agree to Moon Hyun-a’s words of “but Hanam-jin is strange, isn’t he? That’s why he’s always in special management.”

# # #

“Nobody’s here. I thought some remnants of ‘Billunners’ might be lurking around.”

Class D captain Jeong-ui-seon looked around the abandoned factory where “Yeomra” and his group had been hiding, licking his lips in disappointment.

I was continuing a meticulous search operation with him in a two-person team, and I was bursting with questions I wanted to ask, it was painfully frustrating.

The question I wanted to ask the most was this:
As far as I knew, Captain Jeong-ui-seon was popular, good at studying, handsome, and had a father in a high position within the prosecution; a perfect man.

His skills as an Awakened were also impressive.

With only his father being strong and not much else in common, it wouldn’t have been surprising if people mistook me for his twin.

But why was such a guy living a double life as a serial killer known as the “Judgmenter”?

“Captain, if the ‘Judgmenter’ killed or abducted Seoga-eul, what do you think the reason would be? If you were the one, what would you speculate that it might be?”

At my words, the captain smiled, as if he had heard an interesting story.

“Well? Maybe it relates to some corruption or bad stories involving Seo Nam Group? The Judgmenter is targeting and punishing criminals, right?”

“But Seoga-eul hasn’t done anything wrong. Even if Seo Nam Group committed corruption and crimes, it isn’t related to Seoga-eul personally. Wouldn’t that make the Judgmenter’s actions contradictory?”

“No relation—. Do you really think that way? There are some who would disagree. Is a person who has lived on bread bought with dirty money truly innocent?”

“So you’re saying the captain believes that the ‘Judgmenter’ could support collective punishment. Making Seoga-eul pay for the corruption laid out by Seo Nam Group—it’s that kind of story, isn’t it?”

“Of course, it’s just my opinion. And I find it fun to talk about this. I’m an INTP, you know? I love discussing various matters, but I’ve been bored because I didn’t have the right opponent.”

Captain Jeong-ui-seon smiled. It was a smile that made it understandable why he was popular with girls. At the same time, I began to understand his behavioral principles to some extent.

“Nam-jin, I have a question too.”

“What is it?”

“You just called me ‘Judgmenter’ earlier. Why did you think that?”

“It’s simple. Rina said the Judgmenter was a ‘person affiliated’ with Yeongsa High, but never mentioned ‘student.’ It could be a teacher, a staff member, or a student, yet you asserted that he was a student.”

“Really? Did I?”

“If you were the ‘Judgmenter’ yourself, it would just snap together. More than anything, you resemble me. You might not realize it, but people have a certain ‘line.'”

“Yeomra” told me.
He said I smelled like him. The smell of those who crossed the ‘line’ without stepping on the brakes they should have while living.

I had nothing to uphold in this fallen world. So it made sense that Yeom Hoon evaluated me as similar to him.

I was receiving that same vibe from Jeong-ui-seon, who was a model student, popular with everyone, and a proud son.

This guy was like me— I felt that from our very first meeting. I was unsure why I had that feeling, but when he talked about the “Judgmenter,” that question turned into certainty.

“You’ve got the unique eyes of someone who’s crossed the line. The kind that sees humans merely as numbers or objects. Those kinds will kill without hesitation. Just like you.”

A serial killer.

The one who killed the loan sharks that interrupted my kidnapping plan.

The one who thwarted my plan of setting things aflame in the ‘fallen world’ by disposing of Yeomra and Sa Ma-jun.

That kind of person stood before me.

“Captain, are you still in favor of the death penalty?”

The smile vanished from Captain Jeong-ui-seon’s face.

He pulled out a fountain pen from his pocket.

When I realized that it was a type of “Artifact,” the serial killer spoke.

“Nam-jin, can’t we pretend we don’t know each other? I feel like we might soon find the hidden Seoga-eul. What if we teamed up? I think we could be good partners.”

“Why would finding Seoga-eul together be good for us?”

“You’re a victim of the N Mart arson case, right? Yeomra and Sa Ma-jun told me before they died. That the Seo Nam Group was involved in that arson incident. In other words, they were the masterminds behind it.”

“The Seo Nam Group was behind it?”

“Don’t you want to know why they did that? What on earth made the company commit such an act. Who benefited the most from the arson incident, and who suffered the most—.”

“I don’t care about that. Just accept my anger for now.”

“What? Anger?”

“Because of you! I’ve struggled so much because of you!”

I charged forward.

With the determination to kick him in the groin when I finally met the Judgmenter.

“Nam-jin Kick!!!”

A kick at 120 km/h.

But the leg I swung with all my might was blocked by Jeong-ui-seon’s hand.

Thud— He had blocked it low. This guy, is he a Taekwondo black belt?

“Nam-jin, an obvious attack like that—.”

“Nam-jin Punch!!!”

Bam—! My fist slammed into the face of the murderer who was caught off guard.

If the kick didn’t work, then the punch will! This is the art of adaptability!

Seeing the Judgmenter, Jeong-ui-seon fall over, I felt such exhilaration.

“Ha-ha! I’m a genius!”