The Villainous Director Is Raising a Child!

"Hold on."

When I cut him off, Lee Jinwoo flinched and clamped his mouth shut.

"Vector? What's that."

"Y-yes? A vector is... a physical quantity representing direction and force—"

"No — skip the definition. Just tell me what he can actually do with it. Three-line summary. Go."

"Yes, sir! Three-line summary! One! He can send an incoming bullet back the way it came! Two! He can freeze a falling object mid-air! Three! He can send someone flying with just a flick of the hand!"

Lee Jinwoo rattled it off, almost like a rap.

I mentally condensed everything he'd just spouted into a single word.

"So in short — telekinesis."

"Yes! Exactly! Or more precisely, direct interference with kinetic motion at the molecular level without any medium—"

I raised a hand to cut him off before he could go long again.

So this is what an occupational hazard looks like...

"Enough. Last question, newbie."

"...?"

"What's the profile on this one I'm holding?"

"Subject 01, Cha Yul! Age ten! Ability, A-rank energy absorption and release! Entered two years ago; he's been here the longest of any current subject!"

...Two years.

Those two syllables stabbed into my chest.

The child's body I'd seen earlier.

That small body, not a single patch of unmarked skin, covered in scars.

Every one of them was a horrific record of what two years here had done to him.

Six children in total, counting Cha Yul.

The strongest and most miserable children in the world — the ones who would carry the tragedy of SSS-Rank Hunter in the Ashes.

...And the children I now had to protect.

This world was a cruel place where Gates and monsters were part of daily life.

"Awakened" people were sorted by strength from F-rank up to S-rank, and they lived out their lives locked in life-or-death fights with monsters.

In the world of the novel, even a C-rank was treated as precious — and every one of these small children had the potential to reach at least B-rank.

But that wasn't a blessing. It was closer to a curse.

Their power made them the most coveted "raw material" in the world.

And on top of that, my only weapon for protecting them — my knowledge of the novel — wasn't even complete.

Cha Yul, Lee Sea-ah, and the twins I remember clearly, but names like Park Suho or Kim Sihyeok don't ring any bells. There are way too many variables I don't know.

A massive wave of helplessness swept over me.

Can I... actually do this?

Could I — nothing but an ordinary kindergarten teacher — protect all these children and rewrite the story?

But.

...This is no time for weakness.

I lifted my head and looked through the glass.

Small children who had lost all hope, curled up without a spark of life.

The bright faces of the Sunshine class kids — the ones who used to come running with a "Teacher!" and throw themselves into my arms — came to mind.

The moment those lively, bright kids overlapped with the ones behind the glass, something in my chest ached.

Children have to be loved and protected unconditionally, no matter the situation.

That was an adult's responsibility. A teacher's duty.

If I'm the only adult these kids have left, then it's on me to protect them. There's no other way.

I steadied my resolve. My gaze no longer wavered.

That's when it happened.

Beep-beep! Beep-beep!

A sharp electronic beeping rang out through the whole room — apparently a scheduled alarm.

At the sound, the children moved toward one side of the wall, faces blank, like animals long since trained to the routine.

Once they'd lined up, panels in the wall slid open silently and mechanical arms holding trays popped out one by one.

Splat—!

Onto each tray dropped something that couldn't be called human food.

Rationed portions of some unidentifiable gray sludge. Just looking at it killed the appetite — feed, nothing more, the bare minimum to keep them alive.

The children showed no change in expression at the sight of it.

Not glad, not sad. They just sank to the floor and silently picked up their spoons.

I clenched my fists.

Mealtime wasn't just about filling bellies.

It was a time to talk with friends, to enjoy good food, to share warmth — a time for connection.

But here, the children had been stripped of even the most basic pleasures, and were being kept like livestock.

I couldn't just watch from the other side of the glass any longer.

I glanced at Lee Jinwoo, then turned my gaze to the door.

At my signal, he hurriedly worked the panel, and the side door in the reinforced glass opened with a click.

The moment I stepped in with Cha Yul in my arms, every child's eyes locked onto me.

Then, as though a predator had appeared, they began moving in perfect coordination.

The girl with the deep navy hair tucked the younger ones behind her back, and the brown-haired boy hid behind her.

The silver-haired twins clung to each other and started trembling.

It was like waking up to find I'd become the villain in a picture book.

I used to open a door to kids throwing themselves at me shouting "Teacher!" — and here I was nothing but something to fear.

That's when it happened. The ash-haired boy from the darkest corner of the room — Kim Sihyeok — spotted Cha Yul, limp in my arms. His eyes flashed.

"...!"

Kim Sihyeok lunged at me at unbelievable speed. Just as his outstretched hand was about to reach me—

Krrzzt—!

With a sharp crackle of electricity, the black metal collar around his neck flashed a blinding blue.

Thud! Kim Sihyeok crumpled to the floor without so much as a scream.

My mind went white.

I set Cha Yul down as fast as I could and ran to Kim Sihyeok, dropping to my knees beside him.

"Are you okay? Come on, wake up!"

Check consciousness, check breathing, then... heartbeat.

Everything I'd learned in first-aid class flashed through my mind in an instant.

Without hesitating, I pressed my ear to the boy's small chest.

Thump... thump...

His body was trembling faintly, but thank god, he was conscious and breathing normally.

Relief hit me at the same moment I caught sight of Lee Jinwoo standing by the door, ashen-faced, a small remote in his hand.

Only then did I put it together.

"What the hell did you just do?!"

At my sudden shout, Lee Jinwoo's shoulders shook and his eyes welled up.

"P-protocol says to protect you, Director—! Those are power-suppression collars... they have a remote-subdual function for emergencies... I was just following regulations!"

Are you out of your mind?! Regulations or not, you shock a child?!

"That protocol is null and void as of today. Don't you dare shock these kids again."

I turned back to check on Kim Sihyeok—

And the other children, as if by silent agreement, all stepped in front of me at once.

Even the twins, tears brimming in their eyes, held each other's hands and stood in my way.

"D-don't come any closer!"

Their eyes were full of guarded terror. The instant I met them, I understood.

Right now, my coming any closer would only frighten them more.

I bit my lip and turned toward Lee Jinwoo.

"Newbie."

"Y-yes! Director!"

"Your first assignment. Go get food these kids can actually eat... bring— bring some back. Something like soup or porridge. And instead of those rags they call blankets, bring some fluffy proper bedding too."

"Y-yes...?"

Lee Jinwoo's eyes went round, like he was looking at some creature he'd never seen before in his life.

Too abrupt? Doesn't matter... I can't back down.

I pulled on the most delinquent expression I could manage and took a step toward him.

"What. What's with that face. Got a problem?"

"N-no! Director! It's just, all of a sudden telling me to bring food and bedding..."

"What, was I supposed to send a memo first? 'Please stand by, I'll be issuing orders shortly'?"

I raised my foot to give one of the gray porridge trays a good, dramatic kick — and ended up just nudging it away with my toe.

"This... is food? My t-toys eating this, sleeping on something this hard — does that look normal to you?"

"N-no! It's absolutely not normal!"

Lee Jinwoo was on the verge of tears.

"Then we're agreed. Thirty minutes. That should be enough time."

"R-right now! I'll get on it immediately!"

Lee Jinwoo let out something close to a shriek and scrambled out of the containment room.

The moment the door shut, I turned toward the children.

I had no choice with the researchers, but there's no reason to keep up the lunatic act with the kids. I should be as gentle as I can with them.

Just looking at them brought a smile to my face.

I spoke to them in the gentlest voice I could manage.

"Kids, it's all right no—"

But before I could finish, I watched every one of their faces go white.

"Hnn—!"

The silver-haired twins reacted first.

They sucked in a sharp breath, clung to each other, and stumbled backward.

Their small shoulders shook as though in convulsions as they desperately fought back a cry about to burst out.

The other children's reactions were even more violent.

Lee Sea-ah shoved the younger ones behind her and glared at me like a wild animal about to spring, and Park Suho covered his ears and shook his head like his life depended on it.

The room was filled with nothing but the children's ragged breathing and the sound of teeth chattering in terror.

I stared at them, dazed.

W-why are they reacting like this? What did I do wrong?

Lee Sea-ah's cry answered it almost immediately.

"Don't — smile...!"

Her voice was trembling thin with terror and rage.

"You — you smiling like that is the scariest thing! Just get angry! Yell at us instead!"

She shouted:

"You always do this! You'd promise you were done tormenting us, and the second we turned our backs you'd shove us right back into that hellhole of a lab! Who is it this time?! Who are you about to drag off with that filthy smile?!"

Her cry hit me like a bolt of lightning.

Chae Junhyeok... this piece of— this absolute lunatic.

Smiling as he shoved children into hell.

Then... what am I supposed to do? If kindness doesn't work...

Right then, I met Suho's eyes head-on — trembling with terror, fat tears hanging in them.

...Oh.

What do I mean, what do I do? The child is crying. You adjust to him. What kind of teacher would you be otherwise?

I slowly let the smile fade from my face and carefully picked Cha Yul back up from where I'd set him down.

Then, under the weight of every stare in the room, I laid him down on the cot farthest from the others.

My mind was made up.

I pulled one corner of my mouth into a sneering smile.

"Well, well. Playing nice doesn't work anymore?"

Astonishingly, those curt words made the children's panic start to subside.

The convulsive sobs died down, and in their place settled a familiar, sharp wariness.

...So this is what works.

Feeling the shift, I put on the most obnoxious face I could and said,

"Works out, actually. Watching you cry — I mean, watching you snivel — was getting old anyway."

I went on.

"So — here's the thing. I'm done with the experiments that torment you. Not doing them ever again. Instead... I thought we'd play a new game."

I clapped my hands together like a stage actor and spread my arms.

"House. We're going to play house."

Bewilderment and confusion crossed the children's faces.

I took a step toward them, bent down, and got on their level.

"You know what playing house is, right?"

I gestured to them, then to myself, and pulled up the nastiest smile I could muster.

"Rules are simple. From now on, you're my dolls, I'm your master. You eat, drink, and wear whatever your master gives you."

I lowered my voice and whispered as though sharing some illicit secret.

"But there's a condition. My dolls have to be the best in the world. So from here on out, you're getting the finest of everything."

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