The Villainous Director Is Raising a Child!

I squirmed on instinct and lifted my head — and found a pair of cool gray eyes right there, close enough to steal my breath.

It was Han Jewoon.

At his feet, a sharp-looking man in glasses lay unconscious on the floor.

Han Jewoon gave me a shh gesture, kept the hand over my mouth right where it was, and, with a wisp of energy blooming from the fingertips of his other hand, burned a needle-thin hole through the folding screen.

Only then did I realize I'd been dragged behind the huge screen in the corner of the banquet hall.

While he peered through that small hole to check what was going on outside, I tapped a couple of times against the back of the hard hand over my mouth.

Then I signaled with my eyes, desperate.

I won't yell. Let go.

He looked deep into my eyes for a moment as though trying to read my intent, then slowly lifted his hand away.

That was the exact moment.

Craaash—!

"Where is Han Jewoon?! Search everywhere!"

"There's no sign he's left the building! He's got to be in this hall!"

Murderous shouts filled the banquet hall.

Are they insane? What kind of nerve does it take to lay a hand on Korea's Rank 1?

But before my confusion could even settle, rough shouts and people's screams mixed together and came through from beyond the screen.

The bastards had grabbed hostages the second they came in.

"If you don't want to watch this woman die, come out quietly and surrender!"

"...Tch. Annoying move."

I glanced sideways and swallowed a sharp breath.

Han Jewoon had his body dropped low, like a beast that had just locked onto its prey.

Anyone could tell — he was about to charge headlong into the enemy without a second thought.

No!

I grabbed his arm on instinct.

You don't even know what kind of ability user's over there, and you're about to just rush out?!

I shook my head frantically and shot him a look begging him to calm down, but he didn't budge.

Damn it — I couldn't even speak out loud, and at this rate—!

Right at that moment, an item flashed through my head like a bolt of lightning.

Yes — that one!

Frantically, I dug into the subspace pouch at my chest and pulled out a D-rank artifact I'd impulse-bought a few days back.

The Earphones of Shared Thought, shaped like a pair of wireless earbuds.

I flipped the case open, took one earbud out, and, without hesitation, jammed it into Han Jewoon's ear. The other one, I stuck into my own.

[—What the hell. An artifact?]

The instant it connected, his thoughts rang directly inside my head.

True to an S-rank Hunter, he didn't so much as blink at an item he'd never used before.

But I didn't have time to be impressed by his composure — I shouted my thought straight at him.

[Are you out of your mind?!]

[...What?]

For the first time, I felt a flicker of confusion in Han Jewoon's thoughts, but I didn't let up.

[They just put dozens of armed guards to sleep in one shot over there! You have no idea what kind of ability user might be with them, and you're going to just charge in blind?!]

At my sharp rebuke, a pfft of an incredulous laugh burst out inside Han Jewoon's thoughts.

[Hah! Kid. Save it and just watch. Trash like that gets cleaned up in ten seconds.]

I let out a heavy sigh at his absolute self-assurance.

There's no reasoning with him.

This man's belief in his own strength was so unshakable that he wouldn't factor in a single risk or variable.

Sure, I know he's strong... but what if a hostage gets hurt in the process of wiping those guys out?

An S-rank Hunter failing to save a single hostage — that disgrace would land squarely on his guild.

And... I don't want to see that.

My second-favorite character in the whole novel, taking the fall for garbage like this and getting torn apart by the world for it — no thanks.

Guess I've got no choice but to hit this man where he's softest.

I made a point of sending my next thought as though I'd given up.

[Suit yourself. It's not me who has to deal with the fallout. Bawi Guild's going to have a rough time, saddled with a guild master like this.]

[...The hell is that supposed to mean.]

[You know it. Even if you pull this off, you're breaking even at best.]

[...]

[But what if the rescue fails? "The Rank 1 couldn't stop a single terror attack" — it'll be a joke. And if even one hostage gets hurt, every bit of blame is coming down on you and Bawi Guild. Either way, it's the worst possible outcome for you and the guild.]

He was silent for a moment at my rebuttal, then — for the first time — his thoughts came laced with irritation.

[Hah! If you're so brilliant, what's your play then?]

How the hell should I know!

I was screaming it inside, but I forced my head to work at full speed.

First, I have to pull the attention off the hostage and redirect it somewhere else. But even if I do that... to break through this hellish encirclement, in the end I absolutely need Han Jewoon's power.

I had to make this arrogant, uncontrollable man move on my terms.

For that... I needed bait he couldn't possibly turn down.

That was when—

A line from the original I'd forgotten flashed through my head.

[There's an artifact you're looking for. Right?]

For the first time, Han Jewoon's eyes sharpened.

[...The hell are you talking about.]

His reaction confirmed it for me, and I threw out the decisive name.

[The Cycle of Life Stone.]

The instant those words came out, every bit of movement in Han Jewoon stopped cold.

Watching his pupils shake with shock, I knew I'd taken the upper hand.

[You... how do you—.]

[Make a deal with me. Two conditions. One, you keep every hostage in this room — me included — safe. Two, you make the children at the institute strong. Do that, and I'll tell you where that rock of yours is.]

Just as Han Jewoon was about to answer my proposal—

"Han Jewoon is over here!!!"

Craaash—!

At someone's shout, the huge screen we'd been hiding behind crumpled like a sheet of paper and went flying to the side.

The sudden flood of light made me squint for a moment; when I opened my eyes again, dozens of cold gun barrels were leveled at me and Han Jewoon in unison.

Through the barrels, the one who looked like the leader — a masked man — dragged out a white-haired woman.

He had a blade against the nape of her neck, and along the edge of the blade, red blood was running down.

"Surrender quietly, Han Jewoon. Or this woman's life is over."

My mouth moved before my head did.

"What do you want?!"

At my shout, the leader glanced sideways at me.

"Our demand is one thing! Liberation! Freeing every Awakened from the Awakened Management Bureau's control! Today, right here, we will kill Han Jewoon — the symbol of the strongest — and prove our will!"

At the man's fanatical shout, Han Jewoon threw back — as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing:

"The Deputy Chief of your beloved Bureau is right here in this room. Why bother killing me? Wouldn't offing that guy be way more effective for proving your grand will?"

"Trash like him is just a spare part! Any time, replaceable!"

The leader growled it.

"But you're different, Han Jewoon! You're the symbol of the strongest of this age! Killing you — that has the greatest meaning! Of course... if Chae Ganghyeon had been in this room, I'd have happily taken his head first."

For a moment, my heart plummeted.

...They were after Chae Ganghyeon?

Then his son — me — was...?

Right at that moment, the leader of the terrorists threw something down at Han Jewoon's feet.

Clink.

An ability suppression collar — identical to the ones the children wore.

"Put it on, Han Jewoon. Then we'll spare the woman."

Han Jewoon glanced from the collar to the hostage and back, then murmured, low:

"Really strange, though... every one of these guys keeps thinking I'm going to shake in my boots over one measly hostage. I don't remember living my life that gently."

He addressed the leader lazily.

"Just kill her."

"...What?"

The leader and I stared at him at the exact same moment.

Wait — you're going to provoke him now, in this situation?!

I fidgeted where I stood, cold sweat running down my back.

Han Jewoon, meeting both our stares, said it again:

"Don't bother me. Just kill her. I don't care."

While the leader stood there frozen, a cold, cruel smile curved onto the corner of Han Jewoon's mouth.

At that smile, the leader's shoulders shook with rage.

He pressed the blade against the hostage's neck harder, drawing a trickle of blood in a steady stream down her skin.

"You son of a bitch...!! You think I won't kill her?!"

But Han Jewoon just watched the whole scene with a bored look on his face.

At that arrogance, the leader's control finally snapped.

"Grrrgh...!"

Just as he raised his arm to slit the hostage's throat—

"Hold it!"

Every eye in the banquet hall snapped to me.

I shot the thought over to Han Jewoon standing beside me, urgent.

[Guild Master. My proposal — you taking it? Because if you refuse right here, that rock you've been hunting for so long... you won't so much as lay eyes on it. Ever.]

At my threat, Han Jewoon let out a small pfft, as if he found the whole thing ridiculous.

[A deal, huh. Do I really need to? Wouldn't it be simpler to just... beat you half to death and get you to spill it on your own.]

[You haven't forgotten whose son I am, I trust.]

Only then did Han Jewoon's brow furrow, just slightly.

Chae Ganghyeon.

There was no way an S-rank Hunter didn't know the weight of that name.

He glared at me for a moment as though he wanted to kill me, then, muttering a small damn it under his breath, gave a grudging nod.

Once I'd confirmed it, I didn't hesitate anymore.

I turned my body, and threw a mocking laugh at the group of masked men in black.

"Hey! You picked the wrong target."

I jabbed a thumb at my own chest.

"Not that woman — the real one's me. Bureau Chief Chae Ganghyeon, the one you hate so much. I'm his one and only son!"

For a moment, an ice-cold silence swept the hall.

The leader stammered, "Wh... what...", and while he was still off-balance, one of his men beside him shouted, aghast:

"That — that guy, I think that's Chae Ganghyeon's son, Chae Junhyeok! The blond hair, the gold eyes, and that punchable face...!"

A punchable face?

Not exactly the thing to fixate on in a life-or-death moment, but weirdly, that got under my skin.

Calling someone else's face punchable.

Having confirmed my identity, the leader's eyes glittered with greed.

He flung the woman he'd been holding to the floor like a sack of trash and shouted, veins bulging in his neck.

"Get him! Alive — no matter what!"

At that signal, dozens of terrorists rushed at me in unison.

Without looking back, I tore across the banquet hall like a madman.

Behind me, tatatatat! — gunfire poured after me like rain.

But something was odd.

Bullets were coming down in a storm, no question, but not one of them was grazing me.

Puzzled, I glanced back — and there was Han Jewoon, running along right at my back with the ease of a man taking a stroll through the neighborhood park.

And every bullet flying at me... the moment it touched the invisible space around his body, with a skin-crawling zzrrr sound, it turned into metallic dust and scattered.

The sword-energy sheathing his body wasn't just slicing the bullets — it was grinding them straight into filings.

"Hey, kid."

He called out to me easily, in the middle of the hellish hail of gunfire.

"Hold your breath. Your body's not gonna take this otherwise."

There was no time to ask what he meant. An enormous force hooked around my waist first.

"Whoa!"

My body cut through the air like a paper doll.

When I came to, I was buried in a heap of thick curtains on the far side of the hall.

And the man who'd thrown me... was standing alone in the middle of the banquet hall, face to face with the terrorists rushing in.

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