June 23rd, 3 a.m., somewhere in Seoul.
“Haak, haak, haak….”
A large young man, bleeding from his head, runs through the alley.
He limped up a slope, leaving drops of red blood behind as he climbed.
“S-Save me…! I don’t want to die…!!”
Buildings styled like traditional Korean houses lined both sides, but no lights flickered from any of them.
Even as the young man desperately screamed for help, no one answered.
Were they all asleep?
Perhaps.
If he were just a normal young man, maybe they would help, but when an ability user like him was injured like that, people hesitated to report it, fearing they’d get involved.
“S-Somebody, please…!”
Humans were the most selfish when their lives were in danger.
There might be some who would step forward for others, but those who had something they wished to protect would only bow their heads in silence.
Like a father holding his frightened child tightly under a blanket, trying not to make a sound.
Or an elderly mother asking if they should call the Taeguk Watch, with a middle-aged woman harshly retorting, “What if we get involved?”
Or perhaps a young man, alone in a basement apartment, trembling as he clutched a survival bag near the entrance, fearing the building might collapse.
Everyone valued their own life.
And even if there were someone who would throw their life away, no one would willingly step forward for that young man.
Aee-aee-aee-aeng.
The siren echoed throughout Bukchon Village.
The alarm, signaling the appearance of a villain, had been ringing for a while, and emergency disaster messages had already been sent to citizens’ Taegeuk Watches, notifying them of the situation.
A-rank villain ‘Nuts Crusher,’ currently moving past Anguk Station, heading towards Samcheong-dong.
Anyone could guess it.
That young man, bleeding and fleeing, was none other than the A-rank villain who had terrorized Seoul for the past few days.
“Ugh, ugh! Please, please…! I don’t want to die!!”
The young man, Nuts Crusher, knocked on door after door.
But none of the doors opened.
One might think that since he was an A-rank ability user, he could just break in with force, but he couldn’t use his magic.
“Ugh, ugh, ugh…!!”
Thud.
As soon as he heard something fall, the young man collapsed to the ground and began crawling.
Scrape, scrape, scrape.
The sound of something dragging on the ground grew closer, and the young man continued to flee from it.
“S-Save me! Please! I won’t do it again!”
What was the young man begging for his life from?
The people holding their breath couldn’t help but feel a creeping curiosity rising inside them.
“I’ll never do it again! I’ll live with remorse! Please, have mercy! Aaaaargh!!”
It seemed that whatever he was begging for was now attacking him.
“Ggghk…….”
With a sickening crack, Nuts Crusher could only let out a choking groan.
“P-Please…! O-Okay…! I-I’ll work for you! I’ll become a villain under the Secret Society!”
The Secret Society?
For a moment, people perked up their ears.
Even though the media tried to control information, it was strange not to know who the Secret Society was.
“Y-You’re a villain too! I-I’ll become your subordinate! Please, Goblin, please!!”
Ah.
The people realized.
What was happening to Nuts Crusher now.
“W-What did I do wrong—Aaaargh!!”
Splat.
The sound of something bursting.
Zap, the crackling sound of electricity, and Nuts Crusher screamed in pain more unbearable than death.
“You, ba….”
Thud.
With a dull sound, Nuts Crusher could no longer make a sound.
Aee-aee-aee-aeng.
As the siren rang out, the heroes, arriving a little late, saw it.
“Ugh…!”
A man lying in the alley, his body in a horrific state.
His head was bleeding profusely as if he had been hit with something heavy, but what looked even worse was the sticky, unknown substance seeping out from between his legs.
The thick stench of blood.
“…This is Detective Kim Yun-hwan of the Jongno Police Department’s Ability Division. Reporting from the scene. Nuts Crusher… is dead.”
The agents who arrived at the scene reported the situation via their Taegeuk Watches and covered Nuts Crusher’s body with a jacket.
“The cause of death… appears to be multiple trauma-induced shock. Yes. He was struck on the back of the head, but there’s another wound. Yes, that’s right. It seems he was killed the same way he committed his crimes.”
Nuts Crusher.
A-rank villain.
His main crime was rendering numerous men sterile.
“He got what he deserved. He’d been crushing others’ eggs, and now…”
“Goblin did it!!”
A window opened, and a child in pajamas rushed out onto the balcony and shouted.
“Goblin did it!!”
“Hey!!”
The person, who appeared to be a parent, hurriedly covered the child’s mouth and took them inside.
“…We’ll have to investigate further, but it appears to be the work of Goblin.”
Villain Nuts Crusher.
Deceased.
The killer, no, the executioner.
Goblin.
There were many villains in Korea.
More precisely, there were many individuals designated as villains in Korea.
Being an ability user didn’t automatically make someone a villain. Anyone deemed anti-government or a threat to national interest was labeled as a villain.
Among such villains, who was the most notorious?
The Red Scarf who scorched the asphalt of the Gyeongbu Expressway with fire?
Pepper Cutter, who would cut up any man in sight?
Or perhaps the demon Duoexini, who threw the whole world into terror?
There might be many infamous villains, but the most famous one is Goblin.
No matter what actions he took, Goblin was undeniably a villain, as designated by this country.
Therefore.
“Goblin isn’t a villain; he’s a dark hero! Mmph, who are you guys?!”
If anyone dared to say that, people in black suits would immediately step in to suppress them.
Starting with the Goblin-induced “Rider Syndrome,” a social atmosphere emerged, pushing the notion that vicious villains should be executed.
Because of that, the state had officially classified Goblin as a villain who disrupted societal order.
Even if.
Some might know Goblin’s true nature, understood his principles, and argued that his actions ultimately contribute to world peace.
In the end, Goblin could only be a villain.
At least in this country.
And no one had known the whereabouts of that villain since the unrest in Thailand.
If anyone had information on Goblin’s location or activities, they were urged to contact the National Ability Counter-Terror Special Forces immediately.
“Hey! Goblin has appeared in Seoul!!”
The moment they received the report, the heroes rushed out, only to find nothing but shadows.
He’s elusive.
Even today, Goblin, who executed a villain, disappeared without a trace.
“Announcement. A-rank villain ‘Nuts Crusher’ is dead. When the body was found, he had become a ‘Zenros,’ bleeding from his head, uh, and, well, his… testicles were ruptured….”
“Serves him right.”
I sipped on a beer as I sat in my Seoul apartment, reviewing the data on the villain Goblin had taken down.
“Nuts Crusher…. Judging by the cause of death, it’s obvious what kind of villain he was.”
Real name: Kim Mu-hwan (23 years old, Hero).
An A-rank ability user, who, during a battle, had his genitals crushed, resulting in the destruction of both testicles.
Although ability users didn’t undergo military physical exams, if he had, he would’ve been classified as Grade 5 and exempted due to the loss of both testicles.
He seemed to be suppressing his anger and working as an A-rank hero in Gyeonggi Province, helping maintain local peace. But in reality, he was committing villainous acts behind the scenes.
Recently, all of a sudden.
[Mr. Do? I found out the reason for the hero’s downfall.]
“That was quick. As expected of Brewer. So, what’s the reason?”
[You know that idol group Armored Taejo was involved with? He was a hardcore fan of one of them. His house was full of posters and all kinds of merch.]
“Ah, I see. He took out his NTR frustrations through villainous acts.”
The pieces quickly fell into place.
“Kim Mu-hwan was stressed due to his loss of testicles and found solace in idols. But when his favorite idol got involved in a scandal with Armored Taejo, he expressed his rage by crushing the testicles of civilians.”
[Then he got executed by Goblin. That’s the current consensus.]
“…Tch.”
He deserved to die.
Considering that a few people had already died of shock after having their testicles crushed by him.
“Ah, hold on. I’m getting a call. It’s Baek Seol-hee.”
[Got it? I’ve told you everything, so handle it well.]
“Handle what?”
After hanging up with Brewer.
“Yes, Ms. Seol-hee. This is Director Do of the Ability Counseling Center. Have you eaten?”
[There’s no one around me right now.]
“…Ah, I see.”
I answered Baek Seol-hee’s call.
[Ji-hwan, it’s really not you, right? You’re not using some cloning ability or anything like that, right?]
“Of course not.”
I tapped my fingers on the Taeguk Watch.
“You’re the one holding the video that proves my alibi, aren’t you?”
[…….]
“The nation itself is proving my innocence. Why are you still like this?”
[But….]
“I don’t know who you’re talking about, but at the time of the crime, I was in bed with you.”
At the time when Nuts Crusher was forcibly turning young men across Seoul into Grade 5 (exempt) by destroying their testicles.
“That video, it’s on your phone, isn’t it?”
[……I was just asking to be sure.]
I had been with Baek Seol-hee.
To be exact, we were discussing the situation in Jeju Island.
[That Goblin who appeared in Seoul….]
“Obviously.”
A fake.
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