The Villainous Director Is Raising a Child!

At Park Wonjin's raving, the hall stirred in an instant.

"The gall on that guy, honestly."

"It's all already been dragged into the open — what could he possibly have left to say…"

"Shameless. Truly shameless."

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The chair rapped his gavel and called out sternly.

"Order! Everyone, order!"

Once the noise died down, the chair looked coldly down at Park Wonjin and asked.

"Park Wonjin. You are, of course, one of today's summoned witnesses. So what more is it you intend to testify to?"

"I'll testify to the 'A-rank Gate assault' matter that was just raised."

The chair thought a moment, then nodded.

Park Wonjin limped up to the witness stand, favoring one leg as if he'd been hurt somewhere, and swept his bloodshot eyes over the crowd.

"Fine! I admit it! The early experiments of Project R… every one of them, I led! I'm garbage!"

He must have sensed there was no way out any longer — instead of scrambling for excuses, he owned up to his crimes brazenly, right out in the open.

"Th-the nerve of that…!"

"Bastard ought to die!"

Jeers broke out from the spectator seats, but Park Wonjin paid them no mind and raised his voice.

"But! I swear it to heaven! Once Director Chae took his post, I had no authority at all! And, everyone — think about this coolly for a moment. Which is more dangerous? A laboratory? Or an A-rank Gate crawling with monsters?"

He jabbed a finger at me, veins standing out on his neck.

"Let's grant, a hundred times over, that it was education! Even then, shouldn't there have been the bare minimum of safety measures in case of an emergency?! The Director isn't even Awakened, and Kim Sunja herself is a non-combat type — nowhere near the front line!"

At that plausible sophistry, the hall began to stir.

"An A-rank Gate! A place where even a veteran hunter loses his head the moment he lets his guard down! To shove children into that death trap without bringing along a single high-ranked hunter — does that make any sense?!"

"Hmm… training or not, an A-rank Gate is a bit much…."

"For a diamond spoon that loaded to go in without a single bodyguard hunter — that is a little strange."

Seizing the moment public opinion wavered, Park Wonjin pressed his advantage, slamming the desk and launching into an impassioned tirade.

"That man made a show of calling it training for the children! But in truth he shoved them out front as 'human shields' and pocketed the mana stones! It's no better than working them like street beggars! If that's not abuse, what is?!"

The spectators' eyes on me took on a subtle glint of suspicion.

A triumphant smile spread across Park Wonjin's lips, as though he'd landed a decisive blow.

He'd put together a passable case.

But.

You think I'd have taken this stand without expecting even this much of a counter?

I calmly gripped the microphone and stared Park Wonjin dead in the eye.

"So, to sum up Deputy Director Park's argument — this wasn't training. Because… if it had been, a veteran hunter should have gone along, and none did. Correct?"

My question struck home; Park Wonjin flinched for an instant.

But he shot back at once, nodding furiously.

"That's right! Of course! If you'd truly cared about the children with any pure feeling, you could never have pulled a stunt like that!"

Park Wonjin jabbed his finger at me, veins bulging.

"You, an educator? Don't make me laugh! You just used those kids to line your own pockets!"

Park Wonjin's shout rang through the hearing chamber.

That was when it happened.

"Hahahahaha—!"

Laughter came out of nowhere and cut through the air.

A booming, arrogant laugh, hearty enough to swallow Park Wonjin's spiteful shouting whole in a single stroke.

"……?!"

Every eye in the hall roamed, hunting for the source of the sound.

It wasn't coming through the speakers — it was a live voice from just beyond the chamber doors.

"Fun and all, but how long am I supposed to just sit and listen? Getting kind of stale, you know."

A voice grumbling and yet utterly at ease.

While the crowd murmured, unable to make sense of what was happening, I broke into a smile and spoke.

"You can come out now. Thank you for putting up with all that nonsense on my behalf."

My words were the starting signal.

BANG—!!

The doors flew open fit to break.

Under the pouring white light, a man walked in with a bold, unhurried stride.

Blazing red hair, a handsome face, tall and striking.

The very face no citizen of the Republic of Korea could fail to recognize.

"Th-th-the Sword Emperor, Han Jewoon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Someone's shrill, tearing shout was the fuse.

"Kyaaaaaaa—!!"

"Oppa!! Jewoon-oppa!!!"

"Insane! No way! It's really Han Jewoon?!"

Tatatatatatatak—!

Screams of a whole different order from before filled the hall.

At the same time a barrage of flashes, fierce enough to make it impossible to keep your eyes open, burst forth and swallowed the hearing chamber whole in white light.

This frenzied reaction was, in a way, only to be expected.

If Kim Sunja — who had dropped off the radar for eight years and was known only to reporters and industry insiders — was a 'living legend,' Han Jewoon was the reigning 'Republic of Korea Rank One,' the one and only idol of the hunter world.

Amid the pandemonium that had gone completely out of control, Committee Chair Number One tapped his gavel weakly, his worn face wearing the look of a man who'd given up on everything.

"…Order… everyone, please, come to order…."

But there was no way that pitiful gavel would carry through cheers that overwhelming.

Han Jewoon answered the pouring cheers with perfect composure — he even blew a few kisses off his hand — and only then took his seat at the witness bench beside me.

And he didn't forget to throw me a wink for good measure.

…In a situation like this… is he actually out of his mind?

Up on the platform, the chair too already looked like a man whose soul was halfway out the door.

His deep sigh — like a man who'd aged ten years in the space of ten — carried mournfully through the microphone.

"Haah… witness… take the oath."

In his sharp suit, Han Jewoon straightened his posture and raised his right hand high.

"I swear."

His resonant voice hushed the noise of the hall in a single stroke.

The moment the oath was done, Number Three, making no effort to hide his displeasure, sneered.

"What could possibly bring the busy Guild Master to a place like this to testify?"

Plain hostility. But Han Jewoon only tipped up one corner of his mouth, lazy.

"For my 'partner,' obviously."

"P-partner…?"

When Number Three stammered, thrown, Han Jewoon went on, courteous but with a bone underneath.

"Ahem. First off, I think we should clear up a little misunderstanding. That 'A-rank Gate assault' Deputy Director Park brought up."

He paused, looked around the room, and dropped a bombshell.

"That was in fact a joint operation with our Bawi Guild."

The silence lasted exactly one second.

"Wh-what?!"

"Wh-what did you say? With Bawi Guild?!"

Shouts loud enough to bring the hearing chamber down erupted from all directions at once.

But as if he couldn't hear the shock around him at all, Han Jewoon calmly stroked his chin and put on an air of grave seriousness.

"Hmm… to explain this properly, I suppose I'd have to start with the fateful first meeting between my partner and me."

Stroking his chin, Han Jewoon began his performance, making a show of thoughtfully searching his memory.

"Do you all remember? A few months back, when those 'Awakened Liberation Front' bastards attacked the hotel banquet hall — that terror incident."

Number Two nodded and spoke up.

"Of course I remember. That was the heroic incident where you, Guild Master Han Jewoon, single-handedly subdued the terrorists and rescued the civilians."

At the compliment, Han Jewoon said "That's right," and smiled easily.

"But… there was one more hero there that day."

"One more…?"

Without a word, Han Jewoon extended a hand and pointed directly at me.

"Director Chae Junhyeok, right there."

"……!!"

The room stirred with astonishment.

"The unsung hero who helped me subdue the terrorists at the banquet that day was none other than Director Chae. What's more…"

He paused a beat, then spoke clearly, so that everyone in the hearing chamber could hear.

"Director Chae isn't even an Awakened, is he? With no mana at all, in the body of an ordinary civilian, to save the terrified people… he walked into the terrorists himself and volunteered to be a hostage."

"My god…."

"Not even Awakened, and he volunteered as a hostage?"

At a story no one could have imagined, the spectator seats erupted.

An Awakened with superhuman power stepping forward, and an ordinary, powerless person putting their life on the line to do the same — the weight of the two was on entirely different scales.

Awe crept into the people's eyes.

I hadn't dreamed Han Jewoon would start spinning it from all the way back there, and I looked at him, thrown.

But he paid no mind to my desperate look — if anything, he seemed to have possessed himself of some tragic drama lead, playing every emotion to the hilt as he went on.

"After that incident was settled, I asked Director Chae — in return for helping me at the risk of his life, what did he want? Money? Fame? An exclusive contract with the guild? Anything at all, I said, and I'd grant it."

He paused, gave a rueful smile, and stared off into space.

"But what Director Chae asked for… was one thing, and one thing only."

Gulp.

Everyone swallowed hard and waited for what came next.

Han Jewoon let the pause draw out, slowly swept his eyes across the crowd, then spoke in a low voice.

"'Train and educate the children properly.' And… 'Let Bawi Guild be a firm guardian to the children.' That was all."

"…!"

In that moment, the air filling the hall shifted.

It wasn't simple surprise. It was a kind of solemn hush.

"At the time, I was puzzled. Why he wouldn't take a single thing for himself and instead fixated on becoming guardian to children who, to him, should have been nothing but test subjects… but only now do I feel I understand what he was really getting at."

As if he couldn't go on for a moment, Han Jewoon reddened at the eyes and stared into space.

"Director Chae… needed the sturdy roof of Bawi Guild to save the children from that hell of a place — Project R."

"Ah…!"

Cries broke out here and there.

Not simple admiration — cries closer to weeping, welling up from deep inside.

Han Jewoon's voice rose, growing steadily surer and more impassioned.

"If Project R were shut down or dragged into the open, wouldn't those powerless children be scattered every which way — or sold off as test subjects somewhere else? But…"

Han Jewoon's eyes shone with certainty.

"With us — the Republic of Korea's top guild — standing over them as guardian, then even if the institute collapsed, no one would dare so much as lay a finger on those children. He… alone… saw all the way to that distant future and prepared for it."

The moment his flawless interpretation ended.

"Sob…."

Someone's sob broke the silence. It became the fuse.

"How… how could such a person exist…."

"And we, none the wiser, only cursed him…."

"The Director… he'd planned all of it. Taking all that cruel condemnation on himself…"

People pressed hands to their mouths, eyes welling, and even the reporters forgot to write their pieces, staring at me blankly.

Awe and apology, all mixed together, rolled in over me like a tide.

Wow… this guy really…

I marveled inwardly.

Con-artist grade — no, jaw-dropping — talent for spinning tall tales — no, for acting.

If Han Jewoon hadn't become a hunter, Best Actor at the Academy Awards would have been in the bag.

But this was no time to sit around marveling.

This board he'd laid out for me so perfectly — it was mine to put the period on.

"A-ahem. It's just as Witness Han Jewoon says. The A-rank Gate operation was in no way reckless. Bawi Guild's elite members were always right behind the children, and their safety was fully assured."

Between Han Jewoon's testimony and my steady manner, the crowd nodded, the mood turning toward acceptance.

Once the suspicious looks had lifted entirely, I slowly turned my head and gazed at Park Wonjin.

Whatever it was that had him so worked up, his face was flushed fit to burst as he huffed and puffed for breath.

Go on. Seethe all you like.

The misunderstanding was cleared up. Now it was time to choke the life out of him for good.

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