The Villainous Director Is Raising a Child!

The night before, when I'd laid the plan out, Sihyeok had been dead set against it.

The kid had clung to me insisting he'd rather die than see me get hurt, and in the end I'd been forced to pull out the last card in my hand.

The true nature of that item — the one that only appeared when the boss of a Gate breach was killed.

And exactly why I needed it. Only after I'd spelled all of it out, down to the last detail, did the kid finally, reluctantly, come around.

But now that we were actually at the moment, his resolve seemed to be wavering all over again.

Sihyeok toed the dirt with the tip of his shoe, kicking at nothing, chewing on his lower lip.

"Don't worry. Look at this."

I made a point of pulling out the artifacts I had tucked away inside my coat, one after another, showing them off deliberately.

"Defensive gear, top-tier potions. You have any idea how much I blew on this? I'm not fighting a thing — I'll keep my head down, quiet as a mouse. I swear."

"..."

"You know how obsessively I look after my own neck. So... just this once, help me out. Yeah?"

At my pitch, Sihyeok gave me a look that said he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Naked disbelief.

Yeah... not gonna lie, saying it out loud stings a little.

I preached safety first every time I opened my mouth, but the second the kids were in danger, I had a long, colorful track record of throwing myself in and coming out bleeding. Not much I could say to that.

But in the end, he couldn't turn away from how much I meant it.

"Haah..."

Sihyeok wrestled with it for a long moment, then finally let out a sigh deep enough to sink the ground and nodded.

"Thanks."

Only then did I let out the breath that had been jammed in my chest, and I ran a hand down it in relief.

If he'd said no, I'd have been well and truly out of options.

"Sihyeok! Where are you?"

Right then, from the other side, Cha Yul's voice called out for him.

"Go on. Don't forget — come back for me in a bit and get me out."

Sihyeok clearly didn't want to go — he kept turning back to look at me, hesitating — but at my nudging he trudged off.

Once I'd confirmed nobody was around, I quickly opened the subspace pouch inside my coat.

And carefully, I pulled out that doll.

A human-sized mannequin with an unmarked, blank face — no distinguishing features at all.

I plucked a few strands of my own blond hair and pushed them past its split-open lips.

Krunch. Sqwelch.

Along with the grotesque sound, the skin of the doll's face started to churn and ripple.

And a moment later.

The doll's face had shifted into the exact face I saw in the mirror every day — down to the last detail, no difference at all.

"Uh... this feels weird."

I set my hand over the doll's left chest — where the heart should be.

"Sync."

Pat—!

The doll's eyes snapped open.

Golden eyes identical to mine, so vivid it was skin-crawling, staring back into mine.

"......"

Even knowing it was an artifact, a chill went down my spine.

[A-rank Artifact: Doppelgänger Doll]

An insane price tag that could burn through a few apartments in Gangnam.

My hand had trembled when I hit pay, but I hadn't regretted a single won.

Because while this thing stood in as my body double, the real me could slip inside the Gate.

I dressed it in the outfit I'd prepared and whispered near its ear.

"Listen up. You call out that you're heading off, then stay as far from people as you can."

"..."

"Get too close and you'll be found out, so just stay in view — nothing more. Pace around a bit, throw a hand up now and then. Got it?"

The doll nodded without a word.

"All right, go. Partner."

At my order, the doll walked out from behind the helicopter.

Just as I'd instructed, it kept a decent distance from the others, threw a hand up high, and waved.

"Hey! You lot, no getting hurt — get in and get out clean! I'll be back here watching!"

"......!"

Chills.

Tone, cadence, even the speech pattern.

Not a syllable off from mine.

Damn... it earns its price tag.

Across the field, I could see the kids waving back at the doll.

"You be careful too, Director!"

Flawless.

The doll gave a single wave in response to the kids' farewells and strolled, natural as anything, back toward the rearmost line of the field.

Perfect.

I smirked, satisfied, and pushed myself deeper into the shadow of the helicopter.

All that was left was to wait for Sihyeok.

Pat—!

The instant we crossed into the Gate, Kang San was a fish in water — practically dancing.

"Whoo! The air's different, boss! A man's gotta have his dungeon meals!"

Headphones around his neck, he was hopping in place.

"Boss! I'm in peak condition! I feel light as a feather! In a party with the boss I respect, and a way to fix noona on top of it! Isn't this the jackpot day!"

Cha Yul screwed up his face at the noise, but Kang San's energy showed no sign of letting up.

"Grrrrr—!"

Right then, a pack of wolf-form monsters came tearing out through the tall grass of the plain, charging in a mass.

"Ooh, the audience is entering!"

Kang San's eyes lit up.

"Then let me lay down the beat first!"

He pulled the big headphones from around his neck up over his ears.

A custom artifact made just for him — perfect protection for his eardrums from the murderous roar and pressure that came with breaking the sound barrier.

Music made just for him was, of course, already playing.

The beat kicked in, and he kicked off the ground.

Kwaang—!

[A-rank Ability: Sonic Sprint]

Along with a boom like a cannon going off, Kang San blinked out of sight.

Shwuuuuk—!

And the destruction was, in a word, brutal.

"Coming through~!"

Kang San zigzagged through the pack of monsters, punching straight through them.

He didn't need to throw a punch or a kick.

The massive shockwave he generated moving at sonic speed was more than enough.

Kpokpokpok—!

Along with a series of sharp, air-splitting cracks, the wolves went flying, one after another, like they'd been smashed by an invisible giant hammer.

"Kahaha! You see that? That's my speed!"

Kang San didn't stop.

He bounced through the monsters like a pinball, tearing across the battlefield.

Kwaang! Kwang!

Overwhelming, one-sided.

The pack scoured to nothing in an instant, Kang San popped up beside Han Jewoon and threw up a V.

"How was that, boss! Instincts still sharp, right?"

Han Jewoon snorted and rapped his knuckles on the top of Kang San's head.

"Yeah. Flawless."

At the boss's praise, Kang San got even more amped and threw a thumbs-up at the kids behind him.

"Don't be scared, little ones — just stay glued to hyung's back! Our babies just get to sightsee like it's a field trip!"

But the reaction came back at twenty below.

"...Babies?"

Cha Yul's head tilted, crooked.

The look sitting in those red eyes was too vicious to pass off as a ten-year-old's sulking.

Sihyeok didn't even pretend to acknowledge him — just glared at the shadow at his own feet.

"Uhh...?"

Kang San scratched the back of his head, awkward.

"Wh — what, do all kids these days come this scary?"

He was clicking his tongue, gathering himself to reset — when.

Kuguguguung—!

Along with a boom that rattled the earth, a cloud of dust rose up on the far side of the plain.

A herd of [Steel Bulls] — huge horned beasts — was charging straight at them, wild-eyed.

"Oho! Round two! Big bro's gonna show you again—!"

Pat—!

Before Kang San could even step out, a red streak shot past him.

Cha Yul wasn't dodging — he was rushing, reckless, head-on at a house-sized bull.

"Uh — kid! That's dangerous! You'll get run over!"

Kang San yelped, panicked, but too late.

The bull's massive horns were about to slam into Cha Yul's small body—

But at the moment of impact.

Tak!

Cha Yul caught both horns of the bull with his bare hands.

By any sensible reckoning, his arms should have snapped and sent him flying. Instead, the bull came to a full dead stop, like it had hit an invisible wall.

[Kinetic Energy Absorption 100%]

Every last drop of that monstrous charging energy siphoned down through the horns and into Cha Yul's body, like magic.

Cha Yul's red eyes flashed.

"Who's a baby?"

Kwaaang—!

Cha Yul layered his own mana on top of the absorbed force and slammed the bull's head into the ground.

Not just a body slam.

Centered on the point where the bull's head struck, the earth in every direction — a radius of tens of meters — flipped and detonated.

"Muooeeek—!"

The huge bulls crumpled like paper along with the scream, and went flying through the air.

"......Damn."

Kang San's jaw came unhinged.

"Is that... really a baby?"

This wasn't a question of rank alone.

He'd heard the kid was an A-rank Awakened, sure — but pulling that off flawlessly in a live fight was a different conversation.

Redirecting an incoming enemy's force to zero it out, then layering your own force on top to counter?

You don't get that from a textbook. That kind of instinct only comes from thousands of live reps.

A hot thrill ran down his spine. And at the same time...

"Krkrk..."

The hot blood of a Hunter came to a boil in him.

"Ahahat! Can't just stand here and watch, can I?"

Kang San adjusted his headphones and grinned wide.

However much of a genius the kid was, being one-upped by a junior still wet behind the ears wasn't something a senior's pride could stomach.

"All right! Tempo up! Speed up!"

Kwaang—!

Like a jet punching through the sound barrier, Kang San's body tore into the air and ripped forward.

If a moment ago had been a light jog, this — with the playfulness stripped out — was real speed.

Shwushushuk—! Pang! Pang!

Speed the eye couldn't follow.

Wherever Kang San passed, monster heads burst empty as watermelons.

Before the blood and gore had time to fall like rain, he was already tearing another target apart, well ahead.

Cha Yul's red brow twitched, watching that overwhelming speed contest unfold.

Kukwang!

Not to be outdone, Cha Yul snatched up a wolf and drove it into the ground.

The crash was practically a demonstration — I hit harder, you know?

"Oho? Keeping up, huh?"

Kang San's eyes lit up and he accelerated further.

"Then how about this?!"

Papapak!

Cha Yul detonated red mana in turn and dove into the middle of the monster pack.

Two typhoons cutting across the plain.

One as invisible sound, one as red disaster.

Aware of each other, they started tearing through the monsters, competing.

"Aigo~ the hot-blooded years."

Han Jewoon clicked his tongue and shook his head, slow.

"Sure, I was the same at that age. Having strength meant you flaunted it."

He smirked and looked down at Sihyeok, who was walking quietly beside him.

"Let's leave the whole thing to those two idiots and take it easy? Hm?"

Sihyeok didn't answer — just nodded, expression blank.

Han Jewoon stroked his chin, watching the kid.

Fascinating, honestly...

And not just Sihyeok.

Every one of those little ones at the institute was the same.

With that Director around versus without him. The kids' faces split, stark as if they were different people.

At the Director's side, they made every expression in the book, tails wagging like puppies going look at me, please, love me best.

The moment he was out of sight, though, the kids went blank, like they'd put on a mask, no exceptions.

Like real dolls — the kind that never let another soul in.

Talent I already wanted, too.

Han Jewoon's eyes narrowed.

He'd already earmarked these kids as the next-generation core of Bawi Guild.

But watching how they moved, it was clear — money or fame weren't going to reel them in.

Only one answer.

Han Jewoon smirked and thought of someone waiting outside the Gate.

I'll have to reel in the Director first.

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