The Villainous Director Is Raising a Child!

While I stood there reeling, blank, from the venom he'd just unloaded, Han Jewoon let out a small snort of a laugh and said:

"What you just said would startle someone more than any of that."

He looked at me and shrugged.

"Sorry about this, kid. Showing up without warning. This is my Deputy Guild Master, Seo Jihyeok. As you can see, he's kind of a stickler."

Seo Jihyeok scoffed hmph! through his nose, then gave me a slight bow.

"Nice to meet you, Director. We'll cover the cost of that mana pistol on our end."

Only then could I get a proper look at his face.

Cool black hair, cold eyes behind wire-rimmed glasses. ...I'd seen that face somewhere before.

Ah.

The unconscious man Han Jewoon had slung over his shoulder as he left the banquet hall.

It was that same fussy-looking man in glasses.

A moment ago he'd been leaking pure killing intent; now he'd swapped masks in the blink of an eye.

The sheer shamelessness of the pivot had me admiring him despite myself.

So this is what they mean by professional survival, huh.

I cleared my throat to reset my expression and slipped back into delinquent Chae Junhyeok.

"Cover the cost? Ha!"

I burst out laughing, as if I couldn't believe my ears.

"What, do I look like some beggar to you? I don't need your pocket change."

Without a second thought, I chucked the frozen mana pistol into the trash.

Thunk—

The dull thud of the trash can taking the hit.

On the outside, I'd played it cool. On the inside, I was weeping tears of blood.

Boo hoo, my two hundred million...!

That was when Han Jewoon's eyes skimmed past the trash can and drifted to the corner.

"You a shopping addict or something?"

Where his gaze had landed, delivery boxes were piled up into a mountain.

Playing it off like nothing, I shrugged and glanced back over my shoulder.

Boxes with the packing tape still intact, stacked up into a precarious tower.

Hmm... I mean, if you've got a little money, doesn't everyone buy about this much?

"There's more in my room, actually."

At my shameless answer, Han Jewoon shot me a disgusted look, then just shook his head.

"...Never mind. Let's sit down."

"Hold on."

I fished a piece of candy out of the subspace pouch at my chest, peeled off the wrapper, and popped it into my mouth.

Then I walked to the sofa across from him, crossed my legs, and settled in deep.

"You're a little late. Guess the Cycle of Life Stone isn't so urgent after all?"

At my provocation, Han Jewoon's eyebrow twitched.

"...I just finished a two-week A-rank Gate clear and came here the moment I got back."

Beside him, Seo Jihyeok let out a deep sigh, like a man carrying every burden in the world.

"To be precise, we spent two weeks rolling around in dungeon mud, and came straight here without so much as a shower."

In his hollowed-out eyes, behind those glasses, sat the deep, worn-in weariness every salaryman on the planet shares.

"So if the Director could cooperate a little faster... I might just get to taste the miracle of clocking out. How about we keep this civil?"

Only then did I really take in the state of the two of them.

Clothes caked in dust and dirt, and dark circles under their eyes so heavy they looked ready to slide down to their chins.

Even granting I was playing the villain, picking fights with two guys who'd just spent two weeks fighting monsters felt a little bad on a human level.

But what can you do.

In the dictionary of Chae Junhyeok, the mad dog of this corner of town — the delinquent — words like sorry or thoughtful didn't exist. I shifted my weight onto one leg and scoffed.

"Not really my problem, is it?"

At my snotty response, a thick vein popped out on Seo Jihyeok's forehead, plain as day.

But right before he could blow, Han Jewoon raised one arm and held him back.

"I don't expect you to understand. Never mind that — just tell me where the Cycle of Life Stone is."

"Hold on."

I cut him off.

"Guess you forgot our deal. You strengthen my dolls first."

At my words, Han Jewoon's expression turned cold and hard.

"And why should I trust you?"

"That's my line. How would I know whether you'll hold up your end or not?"

We were glaring each other down when—

"What is this I'm hearing... Guild Master?"

Seo Jihyeok's voice dropped low and ominous.

"Strengthen who now? Don't tell me you're planning to hole up in this piddling little institute and play teacher?"

He paused, glaring at his own boss with eyes that said I don't believe this.

"You're not, right? Do you have any idea how many Gates our guild has to clear, how much backlogged paperwork is piled up — you're not planning to waste time on a game of house, are you? Please tell me I misheard."

Faced with Seo Jihyeok's murderous question, even the great Han Jewoon must have felt guilty about something — he averted his eyes and scratched his head sheepishly.

"No... I mean, it's not like I was going to make some big production of playing teacher..."

My heart dropped.

"What? Hey! You're going to play dumb now? That's not what we agreed on!"

"Director, if you could stay out of this for a moment. This is a conversation between me and the Guild Master."

"Excuse me?! This is a deal between the Guild Master and me!"

"Deal, my ass! Every second of an S-rank Hunter's time is worth more than gold — you think we're going to spend it on something like this?!"

Seo Jihyeok and I faced off, neither of us giving an inch.

Under fire from both sides, Han Jewoon's patience finally snapped.

"Both of you — enough!"

Krooosh—!

An S-rank Hunter's heavy pressure bore down on the room, and Seo Jihyeok and I clamped our mouths shut in perfect sync, as though we'd rehearsed it.

The air in the Director's office went cold in an instant.

"Kid. Take another look at the terms of our contract. What I agreed to was to make your dolls strong — not to be their teacher. Am I wrong?"

He wasn't wrong, and I had no choice but to nod.

But if not by teaching them directly, then how...?

My question must have shown on my face, because Han Jewoon clicked his tongue and said:

"Your premise is off from the start. Being good at math doesn't mean you're good at teaching math. Right?"

He looked at me and smirked, mouth slanted.

"I'm strong, sure, but I'm not the guy who makes people strong. Something like that, you leave to a real expert."

"...And who exactly is this expert?"

At my question, Han Jewoon dropped his voice as though he were about to share the secret of the century.

"I'll tell you where Teacher Kim Sunja is."

The instant that name left his mouth—

"Hup!"

Seo Jihyeok, standing beside him, sucked in a sharp breath and staggered back.

His eyes were shaking so violently it was as if an earthquake had struck.

"G-Guild Master! Did you just say... Teacher Kim Sunja?!"

Baffled, I looked back and forth between a stunned Seo Jihyeok and a smug Han Jewoon.

The name sounded so folksy — I couldn't get a read on her at all.

"Kim Sunja? Who's that. What, some grandma running a soup joint down the street?"

At my careless question, Seo Jihyeok's face froze up as though I'd insulted him personally.

"How can the Director of an institute dealing with Awakened not know her name?!"

Unable to contain himself, he rattled it off in rapid-fire:

"Former advisor to Bawi Guild, and personally the teacher of most of the country's S-rank Hunters! Retired for over eight years now and still called a legend — the Soul Blacksmith, Teacher Kim Sunja — you're saying you don't know her?!"

Seo Jihyeok immediately turned to Han Jewoon.

"No — hold on! When I asked before if you knew where she was, you clearly said you didn't!"

"Hmmm~ Did I? I don't really remember."

"Guild Master!!"

Watching a fuming Seo Jihyeok and a blithely evasive Han Jewoon, I ran through the database in my head fast.

The Soul Blacksmith, Kim Sunja...

But no matter how hard I wrung out the contents of the original novel, the name Kim Sunja didn't come back to me.

He said she's been retired for over eight years. Guess that's why she never showed up in the original.

Two options in front of me, I sank into thought.

Take the safe road of the original, or take on a new variable.

What do I do...?

The best option, obviously, would be for Han Jewoon to teach them directly, like in the original.

But unlike the original, the Han Jewoon in front of me didn't seem to have the drive or the time to teach kids.

Maybe, like he said, it really would be better to leave it to a real expert.

While I was still deliberating, Han Jewoon pushed me.

"So what'll it be, kid."

I made up my mind and answered.

"Fine. I'll leave it to her. Tell me where she is."

A satisfied smile settled at the corner of Han Jewoon's mouth.

"Deal, then."

He showed his true colors immediately.

"So it's your turn now. The Cycle of Life Stone. Where is it?"

Instead of answering, I shot a glance at Seo Jihyeok, still simmering.

"That information... I'd rather share only with you."

Han Jewoon looked at me for a beat, then gave Seo Jihyeok a look.

Seo Jihyeok let out a hah! of disbelieving laughter, as though he couldn't believe it.

"Understood. I'll take a look around this magnificent institute in the meantime, then. Give me a call when you're done."

Seo Jihyeok slammed the door pointedly on his way out, leaving me, Han Jewoon, and a knife-edge silence in the office.

"The rumors about the Cycle of Life Stone. Where did you hear them?"

Han Jewoon looked at me, puzzled.

"...From an informant. Ours."

Just like the original after all.

Inwardly, I whooped, and tossed him a piece of advice.

"Fire that informant. Now. He's a spy."

Kraaack—!

Han Jewoon slammed his fist down on the table.

The heavy solid-wood table couldn't withstand his rage; it split clean in half with a hideous sound.

He shot up out of his seat and growled at me.

"You dare... claim there's a spy among our own?"

Cold sweat was running down my back, but I acted as if I wasn't fazed at all and crossed my legs instead.

Then I sucked on the candy in my mouth harder and jerked my chin at the sofa.

"Sit. And listen."

At my arrogant command, his killing intent flared even hotter.

I laughed off his rage and threw down the decisive line.

"Guess saving Choi Juran isn't on your list, then?"

In that instant, every movement in him stopped.

The S-rank Hunter's boiling killing intent vanished as if it had never been there, and his pupils shook violently.

"...How do you... know that...!"

"Don't underestimate my information network. I'm going to be a better bet than that spy you trust."

Han Jewoon glared at me like he wanted to kill me, then slowly sat back down.

"...Talk. Give me proof he's a spy."

Pleased with his declaration of surrender, I smiled and drew the moment out.

"Because..."

"..."

"The Cycle of Life Stone doesn't exist in this world."

That was the moment.

Kra-ka-ka-krooooom—!!

With a roar like a death-rattle, the very space of the Director's office screamed.

The air, unable to withstand the S-rank Hunter's rage, warped as though about to tear itself apart, and the crushing pressure made it hard even to breathe.

Woooong— wooooooong—!

Behind Han Jewoon. His ordinary shadow began churning violently, like boiling water, and then — with a rrrip—! — it tore open.

From the crack in the opened space, out of that deep darkness, hundreds of black blades erupted upward.

Pitch-black swords that swallowed light. Their shapes were all different, but the tips of every last one of those hundreds of blades pointed at only one thing.

The base of my throat and my heart, dead-on.

In the middle of that suffocating storm of swords. Han Jewoon slowly, very slowly, brought his hand to his hip.

Shhhing—

Even through the thunderous roar, a chillingly clear, cold ringing note drove into my eardrums.

The sword he'd drawn. Its razor-blue tip stopped precisely at the dead center of my heart.

"All those little tricks you pulled... and in the end, the price you wanted was death, huh."

The killing intent pouring off the tip of the blade stung sharp enough to tear skin. Han Jewoon's eyes had already gone cold, every trace of emotion wiped clean.

"Weak, for a last will."

...Yeah. It plays out like this after all.

Looking at the hundreds of black blades pressed right up to my Adam's apple, I let out a small inward sigh.

Back when I was nothing but a kindergarten teacher, my heart might've stopped from a sight this terrifying.

But right now, I was calm. Or more precisely, I had to be.

Thank god I bought it in advance.

I rolled the candy in my mouth carefully with my tongue, so it wouldn't dissolve.

A C-rank artifact I'd shelled out serious money for at auction a few days back — the Candy of Calm.

A strange item that force-kept your heart calm in any situation, for as long as you had it in your mouth.

Thanks to it, in a voice that didn't tremble, feigning ease, I could laugh off his rage.

"Ha! If you don't hear my last will to the end... it's Choi Juran who's going to die without a word of her own to leave behind. That still fine with you?"

Ms. Choi Juran, we've never met, but I'm sorry...

An apology slipped out at the low blow I'd just pulled... but the effect was undeniable.

Woong—!

The moment that name came out, the hundreds of blades aimed at me wavered — faintly, but unmistakably.

Beyond the tip of that blade, I could feel — right through my skin — Han Jewoon suppressing his killing intent.

...Push him any further and my head really is coming off.

Ignoring the cold sweat running down my spine, I laid down my next card without delay.

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