Chapter 11
──────
Troublemaker II
Shin No-ah
3
Thanks to the Saintess, I succeeded in pinpointing the location of the Goryeojang Villain.
I'd love to say I immediately moved and cracked down on the Goryeojang Villain... but in reality, it took a bit more time.
A regressor's schedule is, by nature, as tight as a superstar who's just started being praised as a national actor.
No matter how outrageous the Goryeojang Villain was, I had far more urgent matters piled up. I had to upload the 'Aura Manifestation Video (Advanced)' to SG Net with a sub-account, reorganize the Korean Awakener Alliance structure, go on a food tour in Busan, prepare for the meteor shower, and so on.......
It's no joke—my calendar was packed solid for a full seven years calculated from my regression starting point.
In the end, it was nearly half a month before I found time to meet 'TodayJoined.' And even that was barely scraping together some free time.
I asked the Saintess (more precisely, through the Constellation she portrays, the 'Saintess of National Salvation') to set up the meeting place and time.
When I arrived at the meeting place, there was a broad-shouldered, muscular young man waiting, wasn't there.
"TodayJoined-nim?"
"Ah... Are you ZeroSugar-nim?"
"Yes. Nice to meet you. Please feel free to call me Funeral Director."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Lee Ju-ho."
We shook hands.
A weighty hand.
I could feel the calluses of someone who had carved his way through this rough world by his own will.
On a side note, I personally believed that a person's physiognomy was in their hands rather than their face.
"Is your occupation perhaps a teacher?"
I asked while glancing over his shoulder.
"Ah."
Lee Ju-ho smiled awkwardly.
Where we met was an elementary school playground. More precisely, it would be correct to call it an elem/entary school. It was split in half.
Peek-
Tiny children were peeking from inside a pile of miscellaneous items that a used car dealer would have already condemned as scrap. When our eyes met, they hid their heads scurrying like squirrels.
Cute, isn't it?
Lee Ju-ho scratched his head.
"Yes, well... I'm currently serving as a teacher for elementary school students."
"In these times, that's truly remarkable. May I call you Teacher?"
"Oh my, it's fine. Just call me comfortably. I wasn't originally a teacher anyway."
Lee Ju-ho gave a bitter smile.
"I was just a math instructor at a private academy receiving a monthly salary... but as it turned out, I was the only one left to stand at the podium. When guild work finishes in the morning, I take up teaching duties in the afternoon as well. Another one of our guild members is serving as the school nurse and art teacher, as well as the librarian."
"Oh..."
I'll mention in advance that at this point, my favorability toward Lee Ju-ho had already broken through Lv.5.
What is this young man? An angel?
"Ah. Right. ZeroSugar-nim, you came all this way in this hot weather. You must have had a hard time. If you're thirsty, at least have this..."
What Lee Ju-ho offered while saying that was a Zero Coke beverage.
Since the Gate incident, such commercial products had always received special treatment.
He probably prepared zero soda deliberately, noting that my ID was 'ZERO_SUGAR.' He was someone who knew how to change intangible thoughtfulness into tangible substance.
"Oh..."
Favorability Lv.6 broken through.
"Well now... I won't refuse. I'll gratefully accept it."
"Haha. That's a relief. I thought you'd like it seeing your ID."
"Of course. It's even more welcome since I haven't had it in a while. And though I'm late in saying this, my condolences for your loss."
"Yes. Thank you."
We sat side by side on a bench in the half-ruined elementary school playground.
To introduce again, the young man's name was Lee Ju-ho.
His area of activity was Pocheon-Cheorwon. Where we met now was also Pocheon.
The guild Lee Ju-ho belonged to couldn't dare compare to AAA-grade guilds like Three Thousand Worlds or Baekhwa Girls' High School, but it was solid in its own way.
However, according to my memory, it was a small-to-medium guild that disappeared like a ghost at some point. But in this day and age, how many guilds like that would there be?
"So, Funeral Director-nim..."
When the conversation had warmed up to some extent, Lee Ju-ho looked toward me.
"You told me you have information regarding Goryeojang."
"Yes. That's correct."
Lee Ju-ho's black eyes shone darkly. The anger of losing his beloved father must be burning as gunpowder in his heart.
Lee Ju-ho parted his lips.
"Will you help me kill that bastard?"
Hmm.
I put down the aluminum can.
"Please decide for yourself whether to kill or not, Mr. Lee Ju-ho. My role is to take you to the destination."
"Destination...?"
"Of course, it's where the Goryeojang Villain lives."
"...!"
Lee Ju-ho's eyes went round.
"Heavens! Do you know where that bastard lives?!"
"Yes."
"How on earth... Ah. Perhaps...?"
The words Lee Ju-ho swallowed would have been the question 'Are you perhaps an acquaintance of Goryeojang?'
I shook my head.
"Don't worry. I'm not an acquaintance of that fellow—on the contrary, we've never even seen each other's faces."
"Ah."
Later this would be revealed, but at this time I unintentionally told a lie.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to suspect ZeroSugar-nim. But then by what means did you find that guy's location...?"
Naturally, it was thanks to the Saintess who had the ability [Thousand Li Eyes]. As anyone would gradually realize listening to my story, the Saintess was a truly broken awakened one.
"I cannot tell you that. However, I'll give you only the hint that I found out thanks to my awakening ability and the Constellation I personally serve."
"Ah..."
"Will you follow me?"
When I stood up from the bench, Lee Ju-ho also stood up awkwardly.
He reflexively looked in the direction of the abandoned school. In other words, at the pile of miscellaneous items where young students were hiding.
"Ah, um, I didn't know things would turn out this way so I didn't wrap things up... There's guild work and school work too. Excuse me, but could you wait just a little bit?"
"No. You don't need to do that."
"Pardon?"
I beamed.
"It's very close from here."
The reason I deliberately adjusted my busy regressor-schedule to make time to intervene in this incident.
"How close do you mean...?"
"Pocheon. Lee Ju-ho-ssi and the Goryeojang Villain are actually from the same neighborhood."
"..."
Lee Ju-ho's mouth fell open blankly.
What was there to hide?
This incident was a humble quest that could be resolved with just one run without any burden.
4
[Go to the right alley.]
[Next is the left alley.]
[Keep going straight.]
The performance of the limited edition navigation product 'Saintess' that only I could use in the entire world was certain. Thanks to that, I found my way even with my eyes closed.
"..."
On the other hand, behind my back, the signs of confusion never ceased. It was Lee Ju-ho following me.
"Are you alright?"
"Ah, yes. Yees... It's just, the information was so unexpected..."
That was understandable for him to be bewildered.
Logging into SG Net meant that the Goryeojang Villain was also an Awakened. And since Pocheon wasn't a major city, the Awakened here would all know each other.
"Oh! Team Leader Ju-ho!"
Sure enough, as we were walking, village vigilante members appeared, recognizing Lee Ju-ho.
In this day and age, vigilantes were a must-have item for every village. Following the latest trend, the vigilante members looked at the strange outsider—that is, me—disagreeably.
"Excuse me, but what business do you have in this neighborhood?"
Lee Ju-ho stepped forward in my place.
"Ah, well... A hometown friend came up for a bit so we're taking a walk together."
"A hometown friend? My. Such friendship is rare to see in these times."
The vigilante member opened the road barrier.
"Well, if it's the Team Leader's acquaintance, it should be fine. Please pass."
After passing through security like that, the streets became a bit cleaner. This was probably the affluent neighborhood serving the position of Gangnam's Cheongdam-dong in Pocheon. The original Cheongdam-dong had been reduced to ruins, though.
"Um, ZeroSugar-nim. Is this really the right place?"
Upon entering this neighborhood, Lee Ju-ho's voice, already anxious, began to waver instantly.
"Why? Are you anxious?"
"To be honest with you... Yes. This is where our guild Awakened mainly live. There's not a single guild member from another place."
"Is that so? Then you should prepare yourself in advance."
"..."
Actually, whether Lee Ju-ho finished preparing or not didn't matter much. In any case, hadn't I come all this way wanting to see how exquisitely the Goryeojang Villain's facial muscles were formed?
Unlike Lee Ju-ho, I didn't particularly intend to kill Goryeojang. I would just beat him moderately and give him a warning saying 'Don't ever cause trouble on the internet again.'
"Here it is."
Not long after, I arrived in front of a certain house. Red bricks. A small front yard.
It wasn't particularly luxurious, but in this era, living in a detached house rather than a communal dormitory already meant being part of the privileged class.
Lee Ju-ho's pupils wavered. It seemed to be a house where an acquaintance lived, as expected.
"My goodness."
"The location my Constellation informed me of is here. The Saintess of National Salvation, do you know her? She's the most reliable among the Constellations. Let's have a look at that face."
"Z-ZeroSugar-nim. Wait a moment...!"
Lee Ju-ho tried to grab my shoulder, but I had already infiltrated the mansion.
As befitting an Awakened's hideout, various security devices were installed in the mansion. But I infiltrated as simply as a mosquito in summer.
Because the very person who first proposed and realized the design of such security devices was none other than... me, the regressor.
Passwords? Traps? The Puppeteer's special spiderwebs? They all couldn't even last a second before me, the copyright holder, and were deactivated en masse.
"No, what the――."
Behind me, I could hear Lee Ju-ho's voice of astonishment. But I ignored it. Originally, such infiltration operations were most important in speed, and once infiltrated, it was better to quickly finish without looking back.
If this world were a game, my profile would display [Primary Class: Regressor], [Secondary Class: Assassin (Thief)].
I instantly reached the depths of the Goryeojang Villain's hideout.
"Hehe... Here goes blue, hehehe..."
The Goryeojang Villain was playing around, painting on a canvas.
So focused on the painting that there was no sign of noticing my intrusion.
Only when I approached right behind did the Goryeojang Villain's ears twitch!
"Hmm? Who...?"
Critical hit to the nape of the neck. With Aura attached as an option.
"Heek."
Thud-
A woman wearing a white doctor's gown collapsed clumsily. Adjusting her direction so she would fall on the floor avoiding the paint cans was my last consideration.
Target secured, operation complete.
It was worth as much as gum.
"Hmm?"
The problem started from here.
Knocking out the Goryeojang Villain was good, but when I checked the face belatedly, how could this be.
What in the world.
"No way..."
The identity of the Goryeojang Villain, lying on the floor with her eyes rolling in spirals, was... one of the 399 survivors summoned to the Busan Station waiting room like Seo Gyu or me.
'Such a coincidence?'
Since 399 people wasn't a very small number, such a coincidence could certainly happen probability-wise, but surprisingly, the Goryeojang Villain was not only known to me but also to all of you listening to my story.
Right in the previous episode.
Do you perhaps remember the scene where our passionate SG-man Seo Gyu had his neck nicely sliced by the tutorial fairy?
-Heeeek!
At that time, there was one person who was completely drenched in Seo Gyu's blood.
-S-someone died...! A person! Heek, they died! Heeeek! A person, died...!
Saying that while running away, she scattered Seo Gyu's innards and blood, creating the miracle of Moses across the Busan Station waiting room (though the Red Sea was a bit redder than the original).
It was none other than a person named Sim A-ryeon.
'...Why is she here?'
Isn't the world quite small?