040 – Wolf Among the Sheep #2
The basement of the orphanage, which the short-haired girl had entered, wasn’t much different from the collapsed debris above ground.
Thud, thud, clank.
There was so much debris that every step raised clouds of dust, making me want to sneeze.
“Doesn’t seem like you’re scared? Most first-timers are usually pretty tense. It’s the kind of place where you’d expect a ghost to pop out. In fact, some people say they’ve actually seen ghosts here.”
“I’m a man, so I’m not afraid of ghosts. If anything, I find people scarier, especially the creepy and evil types, who are most likely lurking around like wolves.”
Truthfully, I wasn’t scared of those creepy and evil types either, because I was usually the one doing the creepy and evil things.
“Man or woman, what’s the difference? Are you into that patriarchal style?”
“Are you?”
“Absolutely hate it. My dad was that kind of man. Everyday at home, he’d just drink even though my mom worked hard outside to earn money. He criticized her for ignoring him, accused her of having affairs, and even hit her─.”
The short-haired girl, contrary to her rough and silent appearance, spoke without hesitation about things she wasn’t even asked about. She mentioned how she and her sister would hide in the wardrobe whenever their parents fought.
“So I like kind and considerate men.”
“In that case, we wouldn’t match. I’m a bad man through and through. I prefer slapping a girl’s b*tt rather than petting her head. Don’t fall for me. I already have a crush on someone.”
I am a handsome popular guy.
How popular? It’s a well-known secret that my nickname almost became “Brad Pitt.” Setting up a preemptive blockade to prevent this mentally unstable girl from falling for me.
Does being rejected by me annoy her?
The short-haired girl stopped and growled like a wolf.
“You’re misunderstanding something, so I’ll say it upfront. I have eyes, too, you know? My preference is not just someone who is nice, but someone who’s intelligent and smart, yet decisive and manly.”
“That’s why I’m saying.”
“Are you even that person? Ugh, you’re making me vomit.”
In this way, exchanging trivial chit-chat, we arrived at a wide space resembling a gym.
Looking at the various equipment under the fluorescent lights reminded me of the dreaded rehabilitation center I used to frequent. It must be similar.
Whoosh.
In the center of the room, a bonfire was lit.
There were two, no, three shadows near it.
Are they about the same age as me?
“Hey, there’s a kid who wants to join Villainous.”
The boy and girl turned to look at me when the short-haired girl spoke.
Sure enough, their hair was messy and their clothes were so dirty it was impossible to know when they were last washed. Maybe we look alike.
That’s why the short-haired girl mistook me for a Villainous recruit. In the gazes of everyone, there hovered a sense of caution and curiosity.
They are probably evaluating whether I fit with them.
“Looks pretty frail.”
The extremely chubby boy evaluated me this way.
Anyone who judges others must be ready to be judged themselves.
“You look like you’d burst if poked.”
“What? What did you say?”
“Wow, did you hear that? He has a unique character. Hey, what’s your name? How old are you? Oh, have you reached secondary awakening?”
Another female approached me and inspected me, showing interest. She was a student in a school uniform, which wasn’t from my school but looked like a cheap costume one might wear for cosplay.
Her long straight Hime-cut hairstyle reminded me of a Japanese manga character.
“Ah, this outfit? Boys like these kinds of outfits, don’t they?”
Swish-swish. She revealed the hem of her skirt to me, showing off her flirtatious side. It was then that the silent male spoke.
“So─.”
He was wearing a rather thick down jacket for this late spring weather, and his hair was frizzy, resembling sheep’s wool.
He wore glasses, and his eyes were gentle, making me wonder if this was the “kind, affectionate, smart, and decisive man” the short-haired girl had mentioned earlier.
The lamb-like man said,
“I am the Level 3 ability user ‘Pinocchio’. In other words, the interviewer for ‘Villainous’. How about you give a bit of self-promotion? Explain why we should accept you as a companion.”
“You guys won’t be my companions?”
“What?”
Truthfully, I had no intention of joining Villainous.
I had come here solely to gather information about the “orphanage” and “Yoo Yeoreum”. Ultimately, it was for Seo Ga-eul.
“I have a few questions about the orphanage first. Why are you here? Isn’t this private property? Let me tell you something. If you keep wasting time, you’ll all be stuck here forever.”
“What are you saying? Are you just babbling out of fear like that guy last time? Oh, we’re scaring you?”
The sailor suit girl who was examining me around suddenly grabbed my b*tt.
Modern kids have no boundaries with physical contact.
I did the same, gripping the sailor suit girl’s b*tt.
Screaming!
Surprisingly, grabbing a woman’s b*tt is quite pleasurable!
“Yik! What, what the hell is this pervert! Hey, where did he touch me! Psychotic j*rk!”
Whack!
The problem was that the sailor suit girl who touched me first slapped my cheek.
So I slapped her back.
Screaming!
“Kyaa!”
Thud. The sailor suit girl collapsed.
Then the chubby guy roared in rage,
“Sera! You, son of a b*tch! You b*stard! I’ll k*ll you!”
Zzzt. The t-shirt hugging his chubby body tore as his muscles suddenly expanded. Revealing the numerous tattoos from his arm to his chest, my mood soured.
“Seriously, how many tattoos did you draw on your body? Even if you’re runaway teens, couldn’t you afford a sketchbook?”
“Aaaah!”
Thud-thud-thud! The heavyset guy charged towards me.
I, who found it tedious to wait, also ran towards the pig.
“Eh─!?”
The moment he reacted, it was too late.
My knee had already accurately struck between his legs.
Kjuuuk.
“HHHEEEEEEEE!”
It was an absolutely beautiful soprano sound.
If it weren’t for the street punk act, perhaps he could have been a good opera singer.
“The speed runner who hits the groin without hesitation- I heard this somewhere. Aren’t you Hanamjin who caught and beat up Yeomra Yeomhun and got written up in the papers?”
Finally, the frizzy-haired guy with glasses, ‘Pinocchio,’ recognized me.
Do celebrities feel this way when people recognize them on the street? Honestly, the thrill of someone recognizing me gave me goosebumps.
“Am I famous? Then I imagine you know what’s coming for you too. You’re not a combat-type power user, right? That ‘Yeomra’ got wiped out by me. What about you?”
“Sharp eyes. As for me, I’m not into fighting. Mariya, can you handle this guy for me? After all, you brought him here.”
The short-haired girl flinched when the man spoke.
But only for a moment.
“Big brother, run away. I’ll handle it here.”
The short-haired girl, with an expression resembling a demon, lunged at me.
By the time I dodged the attack, the frizzy-haired guy had disappeared.
“What a guy who can’t fight but runs away fast.”
“YAAAAH!”
I smashed a punch into the face of the short-haired girl who kept bothering me. The surprised short-haired girl, who received my punch, opened her eyes wide as if deeply shocked.
「Name: Kim Mari
Condition: 《Surprise and Fear》 – She was greatly astonished thinking that she’d never seriously be hit, and is currently scared of you.」
So she didn’t expect to get hit by me?
I am a universalist who detests discrimination.
It means I enjoy giving equal punishment to men and women, young or old.
“You probably thought you were the wolf lurking among the sheep, didn’t you? Thought you were something special and were boasting about being a ‘New Type,’ weren’t you? But you’re wrong.”
# # #
The chubby boy, the short-haired girl, and the sailor suit girl were all First Awakening users.
In layman’s terms, they’re useless to me.
They were no match for me who possessed the combat-fit concept of ‘Leaping.’
By the time the situation was resolved, I decided to ask the short-haired girl some things while the chubby boy and the sailor suit girl were knocked out.
“Hey, Kim Mally, answer my earlier question. Why are you all in this orphanage? Is it just because it’s a good place to hide?”
“T-This orphanage is our home, the place we lived in. We’re all from this orphanage. After it closed, we scattered but eventually regathered here…”
She answered surprisingly straightforward.
She must have known that resisting would only increase her own suffering.
“You’re all from this orphanage? Then I guess you know why it closed down?”
“Yeah, I know. Technically, it wasn’t really an orphanage but more like a lab. They were experimenting on making awakening individuals… And then ‘that incident’ happened, and it had to close down.”
“That incident?”
“Monsters…”
The short-haired girl Kim Mari seemed like she wanted to say something but was overwhelmed by fear.
What’s this about monsters?
Her breathing became rough, and her hands and feet trembled. It seemed her trauma-induced mental disorder had flared up.
I waited for her symptoms to subside.
When she had regulated her breathing, Kim Mari made a proposition-like statement to me.
“Frankly, I don’t even want to recall that event. But I’ll tell you. In exchange, there’s a condition. You, being a third-year at Yongsago High School, must know about Geum Tae-sung, right?”
“Yeah.”
“He’s a terrible criminal. It’s infuriating how he pretends like he knows nothing and attends school. Because of him, my sister’s life was completely ruined.”
Kim Mari clenched her fists so tightly that her fingernails drew bl**d from her palms.
“It’s a message for that guy. Give this back to him and tell him I’ll never forgive him. And here’s my contact information so you can pass it on to that Geum Tae-sung b*stard.”
Charruckk.
The short-haired girl Kim Mari pulled out a small silver cross necklace from her pocket and handed it to me.
The request was surprisingly simple. If she had said something like “k*ll Geum Tae-sung” it would have been inconvenient for me in many ways.
When I placed the silver cross necklace in my pocket after accepting it, the short-haired girl began speaking again.
“…A monster raised in the orphanage went berserk, injuring and killing many people. That’s why the orphanage was shut down. We all scattered…”
The orphanage was shut down because a monster ran rampant and hurt people? If such an event had occurred, the world should have been in an uproar. Yet, it was the first time I had ever heard of it.
“When the older kids reported it to the police and tried tipping off the newspapers, everything was covered up. Nobody listened to us. It was impossible with proper methods…”
Now, I had a sense of why these people had joined the group called “Villainous.” If they couldn’t solve the injustice through proper means, they’d use improper methods to make their voices heard.
I didn’t feel the need to lecture them on morality regarding their methods and actions either.
After all, I’m the same kind of person who wouldn’t hesitate to use any means necessary to achieve my goals.
“Alright, let me ask one more thing. Do you know Yu Yeorum?”
“Sister Summer?”
Bingo. That’s the right answer.
“Do you know Summer? If you happen to meet Summer, please tell her it’s not her fault and not to stress too much.”
The short-haired girl Kim Mari told me about the orphanage incident involving Yu Yeorum and the monster.
