Academy’s Villain Professor-Chapter 192 : Chapter 192

Chapter 192: Second Round as a Villain (4)
When the executive showed a puzzled expression, Ho-cheol shrugged his shoulders casually.
“I’m shy. If I’m surrounded by strangers, my words tend to get jumbled.”
Since it was strangely persuasive, the executive also agreed.
He turned his head and gestured with his chin at Ha-rin.
“You come along too.”
“Yes.”
Ha-rin lowered her head and answered.
At that moment, only Ho-cheol could barely see the faint smile that appeared on her lips.
And so, at the end of the executive's guidance, they arrived at a huge door and stepped beyond it.
A spacious interior, a huge hall in the center revealed itself.
Perhaps he liked tigers so much, the carpet on the floor was also a tiger pattern, and on the edge of the hall, there were so many and varied tiger-shaped decorations and taxidermy that you couldn't count them with one hand.
In the center was a spacious couch covered in a tiger skin.
On top of it, a middle-aged man was lying in a comfortable position.
Hong Beom-do.
Like his crude name, his appearance was also extremely rough.
A wide forehead, thick eyebrows, and a bushy beard went well with his height of 2m and his well-defined muscles.
“Right. Welcome. I am Hong Beom-do.”
His gruff voice was low and rough as he stroked his short beard with his large hand.
“You caught the traitor.”
He stood up from his chair and came down the stairs.
From between his casually worn overcoat, four axes hanging from his waist dangled.
Ho-cheol's brows narrowed.
Judging by the fact that even his overcoat had a tiger pattern, wasn't it an obsession beyond just a preference?
It was natural to have such a question.
And no matter how good his body was, it was quite awkward to see a middle-aged man's chest.
After thinking for a moment, Ho-cheol crossed his arms and waved one hand.
“Even if the difference in weight class is severe, still. To greet the boss of an organization.”
He nervously tapped the floor with the tip of his foot.
“Your attitude in greeting a guest is rotten. A villain may be without law, but not without dignity.”
The dozen or so executives gathered in the hall.
Half of them momentarily doubted their ears, and the other half, ‘What the hell is this crazy bastard talking about?’ their expressions clearly showed such thoughts.
Even Hong Beom-do was momentarily stunned, unable to understand what Ho-cheol had said.
A very short silence followed.
“Puhahaha! That’s right. Right!”
He burst out laughing heartily.
“In any case, we’re both ‘bosses.’ This side was rude. My apologies. I apologize!”
“It’s a pitiful thing. To have to apologize to some unknown villain just to act like a magnanimous boss. Your true feelings must be quite different.”
Even after receiving an apology, Ho-cheol did not stop and continued to pick at Hong Beom-do's insides.
In any case, that guy was a key factor in Ho-cheol's acting as a villain this time.
It wouldn't be bad to check his bottom line in advance.
Especially as a guest, he would be safer than ever before.
“I’m sorry, but that kind of blatant provocation won’t work! If I had been that immature, I would have died a long time ago!”
Ho-cheol chuckled.
As expected, surviving as a villain for over 10 years was not just a fluke.
“A display to give a sense of pressure. Since you tried to test a person with such an old-fashioned display, just take it as a trivial complaint.”
“Well, you’re said to be a complete rookie who hasn’t even been registered as a villain, but you don’t feel like one at all!”
Hong Beom-do straightened his clothes.
Was it a good thing that he no longer had to see his cleavage, which had been bothering him until just a moment ago?
Honestly, it was hard to concentrate on the conversation with such a revealing outfit.
“So shall we get to the point!”
Since he had failed to overwhelm him with his atmosphere, Hong Beom-do immediately got to the point.
“I heard you can spot a traitor just by looking at them. Is that true?”
“It’s not just by looking.”
“In fact, our organization is in a very precarious situation right now!”
Hong Beom-do drew one of the axes from his waist.
Although it looked like a crude, ordinary axe, Ho-cheol could feel it instinctively.
It was not a simple iron axe.
Each of the four axes had a different aura.
They must have been made with a special metal that could only be found in a gate.
But what he felt even more strongly was the smell of blood that vibrated even though it had been polished to a shine.
In the end, a villain is a villain.
While Ho-cheol was thinking that, Hong Beom-do continued to speak.
“I’m not the type to be luckier than others, but I’ve had two clear strokes of luck in my life, and I didn’t miss them!”
Two strokes of luck in his life.
One was over 10 years ago, when he was an S-rank villain, but since the other S-rank villains had such strong and solid forces, he was eventually treated as a borderline, half-baked S-rank.
Not by another S-rank, but by something in the darkness, all the other S-rank villains had either died or had been incapacitated.
There were only a couple of S-rank villains left.
And the deeper darkness, unknown to anyone, had disappeared as if it had evaporated, leaving him alone.
The other surviving S-rank villains held their breath and watched, but Hong Beom-do did not miss the opportunity at that time and seized the title of S-rank No. 1.
And the second stroke of luck was less than half a year ago.
As if the situation from 10 years ago had been repeated, the other villains had disappeared in the darkness without a trace.
Unlike 10 years ago, Hong Beom-do had stopped all his activities and held his breath.
Just as you had to lie flat on your stomach when a typhoon was raging.
And the typhoon, as he had expected, soon disappeared.
What was left behind were the corpses of the second-in-commands who had been running rampant in front of the typhoon without knowing their place.
As he swallowed up the completely empty territories of the other villains, Hong Beom-do further solidified his position as a villain.
A wild instinct.
The ability to perfectly distinguish between when to step up and when to hold one's breath.
The fact that the opportunity had come was in the realm of simple luck, but the fact that he had seized it was Hong Beom-do's ability.
He shouted confidently.
“A tiger doesn’t always have to catch its prey alive! If you just turn your head a little, there’s plenty of delicious prey like this!”
But that expression quickly disappeared.
The roaring voice from just a moment ago sank coldly.
“But this time, it was too much. There was too much to eat, and too many competitors. I just stuffed it all in, but it got stuck in my throat.”
In the midst of rapidly expanding his organization's scale, to digest the workload, he had been accepting an unlimited number of members without being too picky, as long as they had no disqualifying factors.
Naturally, he was vulnerable to spies or agents who were determined to hide and enter.
And to Hong Beom-do, Ho-cheol's ability to ‘discover an internal traitor or agent just by looking at them for a moment’ was not just interesting, but an essential requirement.
Ho-cheol also nodded his head as if he understood the explanation to some extent.
From Ji-an's case to the prison break incident, Eclipse, and even Black Oskopf.
They were all dangerous incidents that would have been more than enough to disband the organization if even one of them went wrong, but conversely, if they just survived, it would be an opportunity to swallow up the other disbanded organizations.
“How many traitors or spies do you think are in our organization? At least among the new recruits, it’s probably more than 10%.”
Hong Beom-do lightly swung the axe he had drawn.
Buung—
A strong gust of wind swirled around him.
And he raised his axe and aimed it at Ho-cheol.
“I’m going to catch them. Can you lend me your strength?”
“For someone asking for a loan, it’s no different from a threat.”
Ho-cheol pushed aside the axe that had come right up to his nose.
“In fact, it would be great if I could learn the method, but since you say it’s just a gut feeling, I have no choice!”
“The gut feeling I’m talking about is not just a simple guess. It’s about collecting all the information, the person’s gaze, breathing, eye movement, gait, voice, and atmosphere, and distinguishing the differences from the usual to capture the noise, so the answer doesn’t come out easily like in physiognomy.”
Hong Beom-do was genuinely impressed.
“It’s a Trait that’s more amazing than a Trait. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a superpower.”
To think that such a thing was not a trait, but a simple individual's ability.
That was a real superpower.
And he was greedy for that ability.
“Most importantly, I can only catch the small fry. If they’re a little smarter, they can hide it as much as they want.”
“It’s important to catch even the small fry!”
“The small fry are meaningless.”
Ho-cheol suddenly looked around.
“This hall, it’s a place where only those with a certain rank or who can be trusted can enter, right?”
“Yes. Only executives and guests are allowed to enter.”
Of course.
That's why he had been planning to leave behind Ha-rin, who was just a team leader.
Ho-cheol suddenly turned his body to the side and approached a tiger decoration.
“But one thing is for sure.”
He reached out and placed his hand on the top of the tiger decoration.
Seeing that, Hong Beom-do shouted in a fluster.
“Hey! You can’t just touch that! How much do you think I paid for…”
Udeudeuk—
Ho-cheol twisted and pulled off the decoration's neck.
And he stuck his hand into its throat.
His hand, which had gone deep into its throat, came out again, and in his hand was a very small mechanical device.
Ho-cheol nonchalantly crushed the recorder with his fingertips.
“Don’t trust anyone.”
***
Ho-cheol was immediately chased out and left.
A meeting room where only a few trusted executives were allowed to enter.
A listening device was found there.
This alone was a huge incident.
In the first place, he had been planning to assign Ho-cheol the role of catching traitors among the low-level new recruits, but now was not the time for that.
On his way back, Ha-rin, who was a few steps behind Ho-cheol, said shortly.
“A lie.”
Ho-cheol stopped for a moment.
As he turned his head back, Ha-rin glared at him and said.
“There was no listening device there. I saw it.”
Since she had been the only one in the hall who was not in front of Ho-cheol, but behind him, she had been able to see.
Just before he had torn off the tiger decoration's head, his hand had gone into his pocket, and when it had come out again, in his hand was the listening device he had taken out of the decoration.
No, in the first place, she didn't even know if that was a listening device.
Because Ho-cheol had already broken it before she could confirm.
Everyone had just assumed it was a listening device because Ho-cheol had called it a listening device.
“You’re the one who created a traitor that didn’t even exist.”
Ho-cheol, who had been hit on the mark, was not surprised, but just smiled lightly.
“It’s a very small psychological trick.”
“When did you draw that picture?”
“From the moment Hong Beom-do asked to see me.”
Although it was just a simple sleight of hand, the effect was outstanding.
Since he had been invited as a guest, there would be no body search, and since they would be talking about internal traitors, there was no way the conversation would be held in an open place.
After that, even if it hadn't been a tiger decoration, he could have created a situation like this at any time.
“Hong Beom-do’s method is too old. I like this classic stuff.”
There was no better way to gain trust.
“Why on earth did you do that?”
“A situation where no one can be trusted. If you suspect that everyone inside is a guy who will stab you in the back, there’s only one thing you can trust.”
An outsider with no possibility of betrayal.
Ho-cheol perfectly fits that condition.
And since he had even informed him of the danger of betrayal, his trust was also sufficient.
“But to correct you on one thing, it wasn’t that you could see it, but that I showed it to you.”
Ho-cheol momentarily put his hand in his pocket and took it out.
Then he waved his hand back and forth.
To Ha-rin's eyes, it seemed as if there was nothing in his hand, but when he gestured with his finger, the same mechanical device as before was in his palm.
“It’s just a simple sleight of hand. Still, you have a good eye for things. I’m glad.”
In fact, he had been a little worried about what he would do if she didn't notice.
The mechanical device that moved freely as if it were attached to the back of his hand and his palm.
If he had not intended to show her, Ha-rin would not have been able to notice it at all.
Ha-rin also realized that and asked with a displeased expression.
“Why did you show me?”
“When I first saw Hong Beom-do, your eyes were as if you were glaring at an enemy.”
While everyone's attention was on Ho-cheol, only Ho-cheol had looked straight at Ha-rin.
The strong anger he felt from her, it was all directed at Hong Beom-do.
Even though she was exuding a menacing aura as if she would draw the knife hidden in her pocket and rush at him at any moment, she had endured it until the moment he left.
As if it was not yet the time.
Ho-cheol raised his index and middle fingers.
He gestured with his index finger.
“You said it yourself. These days, all villains are about business. So I deliberately told you one thing. A clear weakness of this side. In return, what I want to hear is quite simple.”
This time, he gestured with his middle finger.
“The reason you’re under him, while glaring at Hong Beom-do as if to kill him.”
Of course, even if it was a weakness, it wasn't particularly fatal.
That all the work so far could be ruined?
Such a risk was actually of little meaning to Ho-cheol.
Since it would just be a waste of about 2 weeks.
He could just deal with a small organization like this and then stop the villains and catch this kid with a different identity and method.
Of course, Ha-rin, who did not know that, had misunderstood that Ho-cheol had asked this question even while taking a considerable risk.
She parted her lips for a moment.
“Revenge.”
Ho-cheol is different.
He is by no means an ally of Hong Beom-do.
In that case, he would surely be useful to her in other ways as well.
“I have no intention or reason to say more.”
In fact, this alone was a confession that required a great deal of determination.
Since she had no relationship or trust with Ho-cheol.
Unlike her determination, Ho-cheol nodded his head as if he had expected it.
“I thought so. Revenge is good.”
I have another thing to argue with our old man about.
***
Ho-cheol, who had returned to Clington, took a short, deep breath and grabbed the doorknob.
Returning home after nearly 2 weeks after the end of his vacation.
Originally, it was natural for no one to be beyond this door, but he felt a blatant presence from inside.
He pulled the doorknob.
“I’m hom—”
Before he could finish his words, something rushed quickly from inside the room, leaving an afterimage.
“Mister!”
Ji-an, who had run without even slowing down, hugged him.
Ppu-eeeeeeeng—!
Then she cried so loudly that the whole dorm seemed to shake.