The Villainous Director Is Raising a Child!

Surprisingly, the kids were open to the offer.

Or more precisely...

"That ajusshi? No way! He sucks!"

The moment Han Jewoon's name came up, the kids recoiled and made big X's with their arms.

Phew. Thank god.

Honestly, I was relieved.

Even with Han Jewoon in the mix, taking the kids into an A-rank Gate had been sitting badly with me. If they were going to refuse, I was grateful.

I nodded, faking disappointment.

"Yeah? If you really don't want to, can't be helped. You lot stay and train, then. I'll go by myself."

I was just about to turn around, thinking I could go with peace of mind — when.

"...Director's going too?"

Suho grabbed at my sleeve, panicked.

"Huh? Yeah. I have to go. It's a promise."

At my answer, the light in the kids' eyes shifted in an instant.

They put their heads together and started whispering seriously among themselves.

"But if the Director goes alone, it's dangerous...."

"What if that ajusshi picks on him again?"

"Nooo! We have to protect him!"

A moment later, Cha Yul, elected as the mouthpiece, made the declaration with a grim look.

"Then we're going too."

"What? You just said no."

"W — well, we need to check the results of our training... and get some fresh air."

Cha Yul feigned indifference, and Sea-ah backed him up.

"That's right. You said yourself, one look is worth a hundred theory lessons. We're going to be Hunters ourselves later. It's about time we saw what a Gate actually looks like."

"You lot aren't even ten yet, remember? No need to start doing hands-on already."

Trying to stop them was useless.

The look in their eyes was already harder than rock.

In the end...

I sank down into a conference-room chair at Bawi Guild HQ with a deep sigh.

"Wooow — hyung, hyung! Look over there! The cars are the size of ants!"

"Isn't that building even taller than our institute?"

The little ones were stuck to the windows like cicadas, lost in sightseeing over Seoul.

Looking at those innocent little backs, a sigh came out on its own.

"Haah..."

Was this really the right call?

Han Jewoon or no Han Jewoon, this was a razor-edged operation — deliberately inducing an A-rank Gate breach.

The heavy weight of guilt pressed down on my chest, wondering whether I'd dragged the kids into a death trap with my own hands.

That was when—

"You're here early."

The conference room door opened, and Seo Jihyeok walked in, pushing his glasses up.

Behind him, a line of unfamiliar faces filed in.

The first to catch my eye was the man standing next to Han Jewoon.

He was short, but his style was in a league of its own.

A neon oversized hoodie bright enough to burn your eyes, kitsch accessories dangling off him everywhere, and a big pair of headphones hung around his neck.

A young, free-spirited hipster who looked like he'd just stepped out of a magazine.

Beside him, and the opposite in every way, stood a woman in pure white priest's robes.

Golden hair like silk thread down to her waist, clear blue eyes.

A petite woman who looked as noble as a saint who'd walked straight out of a holy painting.

The instant her eyes met ours, she smiled — a bright, beaming smile so radiant the room seemed to light up around her.

And last...

A tall, muscular middle-aged woman with an enormous greatsword slung across her back came in.

She looked, by any measure, the hearty, big-hearted-warrior type — but deep dark circles sat under her eyes, along with a bone-deep exhaustion she couldn't hide.

Han Jewoon smirked and introduced them.

"Let me introduce them. The elite of the elite within Bawi Guild — the Diamond Team — who'll be pulling this crazy stunt with us."

Han Jewoon jerked his chin toward the hipster with the headphones first.

"This one's Kang San. Close-range dealer."

"Whoa! Hi there! I've heard so much about you!"

Before I could even introduce myself, Kang San sprang forward like a jack-in-the-box, grabbed my hand, and shook it up and down.

"I mean, what kind of guy has the boss and the deputy boss under his thumb, I was wondering! Whoa, even the aura's no joke! I can tell just looking at you, you're no ordinary guy! Kyah!"

The kid poured words out at machine-gun speed without waiting for a reply.

......

He clearly wasn't a bad guy, but...

This is draining.

Just being around him felt like my mental HP was ticking down in real time.

I forced the corner of my mouth up and slipped my hand loose.

"Ah, come on. Got it, so calm down a little."

I waved a hand like the fuss was a bother, and — to stay in character — snapped, deliberately arrogant.

"The whole world knows I'm impressive, what's with the fresh theatrics? You're ringing my eardrums, dial the volume down. Give a guy some peace."

Even at the jab, Kang San took zero damage.

"Kek! That fiery personality, as expected! Refreshing, love it!"

There was no talking to this kid.

Han Jewoon pointed to the next member, like he was used to this.

"Next up, Cheon Sarang. As the name says, our guild's angel of a healer. The only S-rank healer in Korea."

At the introduction, the woman in the pure-white robe stepped forward with eyes that seemed slightly out of focus.

"Your hair... is really pretty..."

"...Excuse me?"

"So yellow... and shimmery... just like a freshly bloomed dandelion... looks like it'd float away if you blew on it..."

"...What?"

"...Could I pluck one?"

Her hand came reaching, and I was about to step back, thrown, when—

"No!"

Suho and the twins scampered up in front of me, blocking her.

"The Director is ours! Don't touch him!"

...I mean, I'm not yours, either.

I lodged a silent objection, but the opponent was a formidable one.

"Oh my — I think they're fairies. Their hair shimmers too... just like cotton candy. If I nibble one, would it be sweet?"

She smacked her lips and reached out, and Hayun recoiled in horror. Right then—

"Sarang! Enough! You're scaring them!"

From behind, a heavy hand caught Cheon Sarang by the scruff of the neck and pulled her back.

The strapping middle-aged woman who'd come in earlier.

"Ha! Sorry about that, Director. Our crew's all got some pretty strong personalities. Overwhelming, isn't it?"

"Ah... no..."

Off-balance, I took the hand she offered.

Her hand was rough and blocky.

Countless calluses and small scars.

It was the hand of a warrior who'd lived her whole life swinging a blade on the front line — every mark a medal.

"I've heard a lot about you. You're going to fix me up?"

Her eyes crinkled deep.

"Honestly, when it was just rumors from the Guild Master, I was half-skeptical... but seeing you in person, meeting your eyes — I've got a good feeling! Mm!"

This was her.

The real hero who'd taken her own core being broken as the price of saving a teammate.

Beside her, the hipster Kang San chimed in, voice wobbling.

"If I hadn't just charged straight ahead like an idiot back then... noona wouldn't have had her core broken shielding me... it's all on me..."

But Choi Juran let out a hearty "Ha!" and slapped Kang San's back cheerfully.

"Ugh, you fool. How long are you going to keep saying that?"

"But...!"

"Enough. One core for your life — that's a hell of a trade for me."

Choi Juran clapped Kang San's shoulder and laughed, hearty.

"Noona...!"

Right as the mood was about to tip into a full teary reunion, cold water splashed over it.

"Ahem. Save the war-buddy moment for later, please."

It was Seo Jihyeok.

He extended a polite hand toward the podium.

"Director. If you would. Please explain — exactly how... you plan to fix Hunter Choi Juran's core."

At Jihyeok's polite cue, I cleared my throat — "ahem, ahem" — and stepped up to the podium.

"All right, eyes up here, everyone. This is the operation as I've planned it."

With a grave expression, I worked the hologram panel and floated the operational diagram I'd spent all night carefully preparing up into the air.

Pat—.

Something filled the screen.

One crooked circle drawn in the middle. A big fluffy blob inside it.

Surrounding it, a bunch of spindly stick figures — as many as there were people.

And last, a few squiggly lines connecting them, wriggling like a worm dance.

"...?"

"Director... what is that? A potato?"

"No, Hayun. That's an earthworm. See, it's wriggling."

"Is that supposed to be a puppy...?"

After the kids' brutal honesty, Han Jewoon snickered and delivered the finishing blow.

"I could draw better with my foot."

"..."

Damn it.

A memory from my previous life I'd been forgetting flashed through my mind, painful.

Back in my kindergarten teacher days — every time we did the classroom bulletin board or the seasonal decor, I drew so badly I'd have to buy coffee for the teacher next door and beg her to draw for me. Those humiliating days.

Transmigrating hadn't fixed the terrible hands.

I ignored the incoming ridicule with a face like steel and pointed the pointer at the mangled circle in the drawing.

"This is the Gate. Not a potato."

Then at the fluffy blob and the earthworm.

"This is the boss monster inside the Gate. And this is the flow of mana."

I kept the explanation going, shameless.

"All right, quiz time. To fuse Hunter Choi Juran's shattered core back into one piece — what would we need most?"

At my question, question marks bobbed around the conference room.

By any conventional understanding, a broken core couldn't be repaired.

"Overwhelming mana."

"...!"

"Not simple mana injection. To perfectly restore shards of broken glass, you don't need glue — you need a fire hot enough to melt the glass. Same with a core."

I sliced the air with the pointer, sharp.

"Massive, explosive energy on a scale a human body couldn't withstand. That's the only key."

I threw the answer to the hushed room.

"The mana storm generated during a Gate breach."

"...!!"

"A — a Gate breach?! You mean we're waiting for one to blow?"

At Kang San's alarm, I shook my head.

"No. We're deliberately causing one."

"Whaaaat?!"

Kang San's jaw dropped like it had come unhinged.

"Isn't that just terrorism?! We're Hunters — we protect civilians, we're not villains!"

Even Cheon Sarang, who'd looked dazed, couldn't shut her mouth, and Choi Juran's own face was set hard.

Total pandemonium.

Only Han Jewoon and Seo Jihyeok, who'd already known, kept calm in the chaos.

"Easy, easy. Come on. You think I'd bring it up if I couldn't control it, and just say let's die together?"

"You can... control a Gate breach?"

I glanced, subtle, at Cha Yul.

"Yes. There's an actual case where it succeeded."

Of course, that case was well down the line, in the original novel — not now.

At my declaration, the room stirred.

"But, Director."

Seo Jihyeok cut in, sharp.

"Suppose it is possible. The mana released during a breach is a storm blowing in every direction. How do you concentrate that into a single human body?"

"Good point. That's why I have this."

I grinned, like I'd been waiting for it, and pulled something out of the subspace pouch inside my coat.

Clack.

What I set down on the table was a pointed metal rod, about thirty centimeters long.

"That's...?"

"The [C-rank Artifact: Mana Lightning Rod]... or, well, what it used to be."

I shrugged.

"Base function is mana induction and storage. In stock form, though — no chance. So I did some tuning. Widened the intake capacity from a soy-sauce dish to about the size of the Pacific."

"That's... possible?"

"Made it possible. So it can pull in a mana storm, down to the last drop."

The faces of the researchers who'd turned into zombies pulling weeks of all-nighters to build this flashed through my mind, but I set it aside for now.

Real stroke of luck, honestly. Among the new hires we'd just brought on, there were quite a few with artifact-analysis backgrounds. And having the head of the energy-engineering team on top of that was a divine move.

That was the product of, quite literally, grinding those capable talents into paste.

I pointed at Choi Juran.

"The instant the Gate blows — through this rod, every last drop of that mana... goes straight into Choi Juran's core."

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