Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Days passed as he set up repellent devices—sprinkling fresh boar blood here and there and hanging up bones—and leached the poison from the meat.

“Make sure you eat the meat.”

“Can I even eat that?”

“If you eat it as is, you’ll get sick, but I’ve drawn out the poison. The meat alone is a potent tonic for restoring stamina. You can grill it or boil it, whichever you like.”

“How did you know that?”

“Just from doing this and that.”

It was survival knowledge he’d picked up while being hunted, but that was how he answered. Back then, whenever he had spare time between being chased, he used to make jerky and carry it around. There was even a time he survived a fortnight of winter on nothing but jerky.

And when he didn’t even have that, he ate raw meat outright. The tingle of a monster’s poison on his tongue was a delicacy in its own right.

“And when the effect wears off, give me a call. I’ll just go catch another one.”

“Alright. Go to Seoul and do well on your exam.”

“And get along with Yoon-hee.”

“You think she’d get along with me?”

“Of course not.”

“Mom, that’s a bit harsh.”

“The wounds from a son who was jobless for two years were worse.”

“That, I’ll admit.”

It was a point he had no choice but to concede, so he endured the scolding.

Anyway—Yoon-hee. The existence of his younger sister weighed heavy on his heart.

She was a child who would have shone brilliantly if only he hadn’t become a villain. But because of him, she’d had to give up her dreams and was locked in a prison of surveillance under the name of protective measures.

He owed his family a debt of the heart. He didn’t know why he’d been sent back to his younger years, but he would be a dependable son to his parents and give his sister the help she needed to succeed.

That, he believed, was the reason he’d returned to the past.

After finishing his preparations to head up to Seoul, he got in the car.

The road from Cheongju to Seoul took far longer than it used to.

With monsters appearing all along the roads and villains who rejected the state’s control multiplying, the journey consumed far more time than before.

Monsters were hunted on a regular cycle, but villains were, quite literally, variables.

Speaking as a former villain, villains were evil. Monsters wearing human skin. Back when he’d gone mad, the one thing he’d ever felt sympathy for in them was that they never hesitated to deal with villains.

If he became a public service Hunter, he’d end up dealing with villains—and at the very least, he wouldn’t hesitate to act.

The more villains were wiped out, the lower the chances of his peaceful life being disturbed.

“The problem is my ability, though.”

What churned through his mind while driving was the ability he’d awakened in his past life.

His ability, called Blood Devour, was a unique-attribute gift that extracted the abilities contained in a target’s blood.

To gain an ability, he had to ingest the freshest blood wrung from the target’s heart. Even though he’d awakened at a late age in his last life, the reason he was called the Blood Lord lay in this ability.

In the end, though, he couldn’t control the power and caused a rampage.

No matter how he thought about it, it was a gift far too easily mistaken for vampirism, so he intended never to reveal Blood Devour to the world.

Instead, he could just reveal a different gift.

He didn’t know why, but the gifts he’d stolen in his past life existed intact.

Ten of them, no less.

The power that had earned him the name Blood Lord in his past life flowed through his veins unchanged.

Was it a blessing or a curse?

It was like a butterfly dreaming it was a man, but he decided not to think too deeply on that point.

Unexplainable good fortune was best accepted quietly.

If he became a villain again, it would be a catastrophe for the world—but having tasted regret once, he wouldn’t repeat the same mistake.

Hmm.

Probably?

Even before he went mad, he’d been an utterly harmless, ordinary person. As long as the other party didn’t pick a fight, didn’t get on his nerves, and didn’t do anything bad, he would have left them alone.

Meanwhile, he entered Seoul.

Going home empty-handed felt awkward, so he stopped by a nearby mart and bought a mountain of meat. He was jobless with not a penny to his name, but his parents had given him plenty of spending money, telling him to make sure he and Yoon-hee ate well.

He arrived home carrying the bags. It was the house this body had lived in just two years ago, but counting his past life, it was a place he was visiting after thirty years.

A two-bedroom villa—spacious enough for two people to live comfortably.

Stepping inside, he took in the sight of the cluttered, disorganized mess.

At least there was plenty of room to walk, he thought, as he put the ingredients he’d bought at the mart into the fridge and started cleaning the house.

He gathered the visible trash and threw it out, separated the laundry and put it in the washing machine, and an hour had passed.

For Yoon-hee, this period of her life was a hectic one. This year she’d narrowly failed, but next year she was a strong bet to pass. Even now, if she lowered her sights just a little, she had the skill to join a major guild.

Just then, the sound of the door lock being punched in came from outside, and Yoon-hee walked in.

His younger sister Choi Yoon-hee, twenty-one this year, was a talented girl who had graduated high school with excellent grades and steadily developed her own talent.

A child who would have blossomed brilliantly if only her own brother hadn’t been the worst villain in history.

But for the crime of having a villain for a brother, Yoon-hee hadn’t been able to get a job, had her freedom restricted, and grew old in loneliness.

It was all his fault.

At the sight of his sister—too young, almost childlike—whom he’d thought he’d never see again, he let out a bitter smile. And he resolved: never again would he be drunk on blood and become a villain.

“What, you’re here already?”

Yoon-hee’s eyes, landing on him, were cool.

“I told you I was coming, but you didn’t reply.”

For the record, he’d been left on read.

“Well, I figured I’d see you when I saw you. I thought you’d be lounging around playing games like usual and mosey on over whenever.”

“Is that how you see me?”

“What, like it wasn’t true?”

“I was just surprised your assessment was more generous than I expected.”

Human trash, a good-for-nothing, a parasite draining their parents dry, a cockroach, a maggot—he’d imagined all sorts of bad evaluations.

Yoon-hee’s expression turned odd at the assessment he’d given himself.

“…Just being around you for a bit, it feels like I’m turning strange too.”

“I’m glad I’m not being treated as a bug.”

“It’s not that bad, okay? No, seriously, what do you take me for?”

Yoon-hee let out a deep sigh.

“Anyway, setting that aside—I heard from Mom that you want to become a public service Hunter. You’re really going to do it?”

“I have to.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean, why?”

“No, I mean, you never used to give anything the time of day unless it was a major corporation. Even when I told you to get a part-time job for field experience, you said it was a hassle and just holed up killing time. That’s why I don’t get it. What are you thinking?”

“So I stop making my family worry.”

“Really? The shut-in loser who made Mom and Dad sick with worry is saying this?”

He’d been thinking parasite, cockroach, maggot—then he heard shut-in loser, and his heart warmed.

“Being a public official doesn’t seem like a bad deal either. And I get to beat down villains, the scourge of society.”

Major-corporation Hunters went after monsters rich in byproducts and dungeon raids; public service Hunters more often dealt with villains disturbing public order.

“Since when did you find meaning in catching villains?”

“The more I clean them up, the more meaningful it feels. That thought just came to me.”

“I guess. They say the talent for dealing with people and the talent for dealing with monsters are different. But how are you going to take the exam? Have you prepared?”

“Prepared what?”

“You said you’re preparing to be a public service Hunter! You have to at least buy the relevant books! You haven’t done anything?”

“Ah, right.”

“……”

Honestly, he’d thought he just had to say he wanted to do it. What was there to study? Would catching a villain get him accepted?

When he sent her a questioning look, Yoon-hee whipped her head away.

“I don’t know, do it yourself.”

“Don’t be like that, help me out. Let me lean on my smart little sister.”

“Why should I?”

She glared sharply, but it made no difference.

“I’ll give you an allowance.”

“…Really?”

“How much do you need?”

“You name it.”

When he boldly called out fifty, her head bobbed up and down at the speed of light.

“Let’s go right now!”

If a brother and sister were on bad terms—

That just meant the allowance was too small.

* * *

The next day, they went out into the city to buy books.

Seoul, now that Awakened and monsters had appeared, carried a more subdued energy than before.

Shelters for evacuation had been installed throughout the city, and on the faces of citizens walking the streets, calm and wariness coexisted.

At least large monsters were being thoroughly blocked at the city outskirts, but the problem was villains.

When security tightened, they hid; when it weakened, they squeezed through the gap to plunder and kill.

A world where one wrong move could get you killed for nothing. That was why people who came out onto the streets tended to finish their errands quickly rather than enjoy this and that.

Even so, he liked this energy. Before the regression, he’d thought he would never return to the city for the rest of his life.

“Honestly, once you’ve awakened, becoming a public service Hunter isn’t that hard.”

Yoon-hee’s voice was brimming with energy, saying it had been a while since she’d gone shopping.

It was the era of ten million aspiring Hunters. Those with the potential to awaken, and those who had awakened, dreamed of becoming Hunters who could seize a fortune in one stroke.

Naturally, public service Hunters—who dealt mainly with villains—weren’t popular. The trend these days was major corporations or freelance Hunters, who guaranteed high salaries and came with incentives galore if you succeeded.

So the requirements to become a public service Hunter were simple. First, awaken and receive a Level assessment. Then pass the minimum-required ethics and personality tests, and the interview.

“The exam is what you need to pass. And have you awakened?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, that’s more than half the battle. Do you have a gift?”

“I do.”

“Really? Wow! You must’ve really worked hard at home, huh? Then you’re 99% accepted. As long as you’re not an A-rank or higher villain or have a criminal record.”

Both apply, actually.

“Guess I can take it easy preparing, then.”

“No. Whether you pass or not, you need to do well on the rest to get placed in a good department.”

“There are good departments?”

“Of course there are! What are you even saying, Oppa?”

Yoon-hee, scrunching up her face at him, explained the departments you’d go to if you became a public service Hunter.

There was the National Guard Bureau, directly under central power and responsible for security within Seoul; the Foreign Cooperation Management Bureau, serving as a bridge between the government and major corporations; and the Anti-Monster Defense Front Bureau, handling monster-hunting permits and countermeasures.

“You need to get into one of these to actually do the work of a public service Hunter. The rest are literally volunteer positions. Volunteer positions.”

It was obvious at a glance that she’d looked into it for his sake. He stared at Yoon-hee’s face and expressed his gratitude.

“Thanks for looking out for me.”

“I-I’m not! I just did it for the allowance!”

“Still, thank you.”

“I said don’t thank me! It’s all work I’m getting paid for!”

Face flushed, she marched ahead. She was embarrassed. With no intention of teasing her further, he followed behind and changed the subject.

“How about you? Isn’t preparing difficult?”

“Me? My prep’s easy. The written exam is smooth sailing. The problem is the practical exam.”

“Isn’t it easy if you have a gift?”

“Yeah. But that’s easier said than done.”

A gift is a kind of authority formed from Force. If his Blood Devour could steal a gift etched into a target’s blood, other gifts were transcendent abilities—manifesting lightning from Force, causing anomalies with a sword, teleporting, and so on.

But the proportion of Awakened who have gifts is around 3%. That’s how rare gifts are.

Not that it applied to him.

“All I need is a bit of blood.”

Blood Devour didn’t just steal abilities—it could also identify the abilities a target possessed.

He’d bring it up when he saw the right moment.

Since he’d come back anyway, it mattered that he not become a villain, but he also intended to look out for Yoon-hee so she could fully wield her own ability.

That was the path by which he could reduce, even a little, the sins he’d committed.

To wield her ability to her heart’s content and live happily.

That was all he wanted for Yoon-hee.

That said, not everyone with talent succeeds, so grueling training would have to follow.

“What did you just say?”

“Nothing.”

“You definitely muttered something suspicious.”

They bought the books needed for the exam, picked up a few simple clothes, finished lunch, and arrived at the bank.

“I’m telling you, it’s really fine.”

“How much could the utility bills even be?”

Above all, reducing the number of things Yoon-hee had to worry about in her daily life as much as possible was the first measure he’d take.

* * *

Choi Yoon-hee watched her brother’s back as he walked ahead.

‘He really has changed.’

Even when he’d been at the family home, her brother had been seething with something.

A lost anger drifting, not knowing where to vent itself. That was exactly how he’d looked to Choi Yoon-hee.

It would be a lie to say she hadn’t found it pitiful. But at the same time, she hadn’t wanted to be near him.

The sense of defeat that spread like a plague—she loathed it. She’d believed that if she succeeded, the shock would set him straight.

But the brother she saw again had changed in many ways.

The impatience was gone, and a sense of composure clung to him.

Could this be called composure? It seemed like a kind of detachment. A world-weary air, as if he’d been through everything—coming from a five-year veteran of unemployment.

When she contacted their parents, they said he’d changed for no particular reason.

At meals, he insisted on having spoons and chopsticks brought to him—though she had no idea why.

Anyway, before coming up to Seoul, she’d heard he’d personally built a Corrupted Monster repellent device.

And he’d hunted a monster equivalent to a Grade 3 Corrupted Monster, no less.

What on earth had happened to her brother?

Hunting monsters was astonishing enough—he had a gift too?

A gift alone practically guaranteed entry into any mid-sized guild. But her brother seemed set on being a public service Hunter over a guild, so she said no more.

Choi Yoon-hee suppressed the curiosity that kept rising. He’d improved, and that was enough.

‘Now I just need to do well myself.’

He was an aspiring public service Hunter who kept looking after her, muttering strange things about only needing blood—but she didn’t care.

It wasn’t because of the allowance.

No—honestly, where her heart was concerned, 500,000 won was a bit too big a sum for it to stay frozen.

Just then, the outside of the bank grew noisy, and a group of people poured in.

“Nobody move!”

Bank robbers. Villains.

* * *

“Oppa!”

“They’re robbers.”

He looked at Yoon-hee, who had pressed herself close behind him. Perhaps because of the sudden situation, he could feel her trembling.

Ignoring it, he looked toward the entrance and gauged the number of robbers.

Ten of them. Judging by how they moved in two teams, in perfect coordination, they were professionals.

“This is a bank. How can robbers just……”

“To a villain with a lockdown ability, a bank is a prime target.”

Especially with banks out on the edges of Seoul like this one, once they clean it out, they can slip into the outskirts of Gyeonggi Province where monsters are swarming, and there’s no way to catch them.

Back when I was a villain and my mind was still hazy, I’d gotten a few bank heist offers, so I knew exactly how they operated.

They’d use a lockdown ability to cut off all communication with the outside, then ruthlessly deal with anyone who resisted.

After banks got hit this way a few times, the government concentrated bank branches in central Seoul and eliminated the threat at the remaining outer branches by stationing branches of major corporate guilds there.

This was a time before those improvements had been made, and the villains had seized the opening. A well-timed raid.

“Everyone, hands up and get on your knees!”

“Try anything funny and you die!”

“You people—!”

Bang!

The moment one man tried to protest, the muzzle of the gun in the villain’s hand spat fire.

The man’s face contorted in shock as he bled out and collapsed where he stood.

“Get on your knees, now!”

At the villains’ shouts, the employees and customers knelt, trembling.

The ten villains were swift. Five secured the entrance and kept the customers incapacitated, while the other five grabbed the branch manager and headed for the vault.

I looked at Yoon-hee behind me.

Perhaps because she’d just witnessed a death right in front of her.

Fear and rage mixed together, and I could feel her trembling violently. Yoon-hee was a Hunter hopeful. Her body twitched as if she were about to jump in at any moment. But with no real combat experience and no proper equipment, taking on gun-toting villains was beyond her.

I reached out and gave Yoon-hee a light tap.

“Stay still. These villains don’t discriminate. You move when you’re sure.”

“But still……”

“And remember this. There are exactly two kinds of villains. The ones you kill, and the ones you ought to kill.”

“What?”

“Watch.”

I moved toward the villains.

* * *

Honestly, my feelings about villains aren’t good.

Going mad after becoming the Blood Lord is 99% my fault, and 1% the villains’.

Before I completely lost my mind, I was abusing Blood Devour more than necessary out of a craving for power. My head kept saying I had to stop, but I couldn’t cut off that hunger for strength.

The ones who egged me on back then were the villains. They coveted my power—a newcomer with overwhelming strength. My failure to stop then ultimately caused the rampage, and the villain called the Blood Lord was born.

That it’s all my fault doesn’t change. But very occasionally, I think this. If someone back then had told me to stop, would things have turned out a little differently?

Looking back, I think I wanted someone to rein me in as I charged ahead like a runaway train. Wanting that among villains is laughable, though.

It’s passing the buck, but I’ve always been petty. So I figure the 1% responsibility for my becoming the Blood Lord belongs to the villains. Truth is, I’d love to pin the whole 99% on someone else, but my conscience won’t quite allow it.

Besides, this world applauds you the more villains you kill.

So I intend to use that 1% grudge and social justice as my justification.

The moment I took a step, the distance shrank as if space itself had been cut. The villains who’d been joking around were startled.

“You—what are you?!”

Bang!

I watched the bullet fly from start to finish, then tilted my body and dodged it.

In that same instant, I reached the villain and placed a hand on his shoulder.

Crunch!

“Aaaagh!”

Along with a horrifying bursting sound, a scream erupted from the villain’s mouth. The shoulder I’d grabbed was completely crushed.

This gift, called Arc Mine, belongs to Franz, Germany’s Grand Master.

A gift that uses Force to cause violent explosions at the point of contact—it’s called a close-combat nightmare.

Ten years from now, Franz dies at my hands after I become a villain, but this life will be different.

Thinking of the old man who stared at me like a CCTV grandpa, I figure I might be able to build a different relationship with him this time.

He’ll probably throw a fit again this time asking if Beethoven wasn’t actually Russian, though.

“W-what the!”

“Spread out!”

The startled villains tried to put distance between us, but my hands were faster.

Grab a shoulder, and it crumbled like a cookie. Grab an arm, and it bent the opposite way.

One at a time.

This was why being ordinary was so hard.

If I were a villain, I’d have ripped out their throats without hesitation. Or touching their heads and destroying their brains would’ve been a sure method too.

But I’m a test-taker preparing for public service Hunter. Even if they’re villains, if I killed indiscriminately and slipped up, I could be mistaken for a villain myself.

“As I thought, killing is the most comfortable.”

If I were a public service Hunter, I could’ve used my authority for summary judgment—that part was a shame.

Clicking my tongue, I charged straight at the villains who’d been in the vault and came running out when they sensed the commotion outside, subduing them at once.

“Freeze!”

When I’d subdued four in an instant, the last remaining villain aimed his gun at the branch manager’s head and shouted.

“Hands up and back off!”

“Why should I?”

“What?”

“I don’t negotiate with terrorists.”

“What are you saying…….”

Whether he listened or not, I looked at the branch manager being held hostage. His face had gone white. But no matter how fast I am, I can’t save the hostage’s life too. At times like this, you have to extract maximum efficiency with minimum sacrifice.

“I wanted to save you, but what a shame. I won’t forget your sacrifice.”

“You—what are you saying right now?!”

“If you want to kill him, go ahead. But I’ll kill you too. Just so you know, I’ll crush your head. Your brain will shatter and dribble out of your eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. Ah, was that too merciful? I’ll break your limbs first and save the head for last.”

Trading one hostage’s sacrifice to take out one villain is a bargain.

I walked openly toward him.

* * *

“……”

Unlock, the leader of the villains who’d raided the bank, felt like he was going insane.

Why on earth was a lunatic like this in a place like this?

He specialized in jamming communications and cracking safes rather than fighting, and he felt his plan for one big score had gone completely sideways.

He was a villain who’d been through hell and back himself.

He figured there was no answer once you were outmatched in momentum, so he’d resolved to see it through to the end—but his opponent was even crazier.

He thought if he put a hole in the branch manager’s head and grabbed someone else, he might be able to negotiate.

But the moment his eyes met the lunatic approaching, he understood.

This was a lunatic beyond handling.

He saw him not as a human being, but as a bug he could stomp flat at any moment.

The moment he put a hole in the branch manager’s head, this man would crush his own head like tofu, just as he’d said.

Tap.

In the end, overwhelmed by his opponent’s momentum, Unlock dropped his gun and raised his hands.

“Eek!”

He saw the branch manager flee in terror, but Unlock couldn’t move an inch, like a fish caught in a net.

“Good instincts.”

The lunatic who’d arrived right in front of him clicked his tongue.

Crunch!

Along with a horrifying bursting sound, both of Unlock’s shoulders caved in. He screamed and thrashed as pain swept through his entire body.

“Aaaagh! W-why?!”

“If only you got off scot-free, the others would feel wronged. And this eye level is just right.”

The lunatic answered calmly.