WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Dionysus
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Newbie Civil Servant Hunts Villains Before Going Home ◈
Chapter 28: Look at the Answer First (2)
──────
* * *
Whose experiment site was this?
A thrill ran through Hyeonyul’s entire body, beyond mere curiosity.
The corners of his mouth rose.
‘...I found it.’
The company run by Villains had never allowed Hyeonyul to take any materials related to experimental subjects or enter the experiment sites.
Perhaps they had feared Hyeonyul would change his mind, or stab them in the back.
No matter how much they tried to stop Hyeonyul, though, Hyeonyul had always found the locations of experimental subjects by force.
The results had never been good.
All Hyeonyul ever found were piles of corpses and cleaners sent to clear away the horrific results of the experiments.
There were no intact experimental subjects, nor were there any researchers who had injected countless drugs into them.
‘This time... the result probably won’t be good either.’
After countless experiences, Hyeonyul already knew.
There was a strong chance that both the experiment site where he had been and Hyeonyul alone had remained intact.
‘Still, I can’t give up.’
Hyeonyul intended to pursue every single person involved in the experiments to the very end and bleed them dry.
The same researchers could have changed jobs, so Hyeonyul held onto the hope that proof of the success of his experiment remained somewhere.
But Hyeonyul faced another wave of disappointment.
‘...It’s under construction.’
Construction materials lay around, making it clear this was not a functioning laboratory.
In other words, the experiments had not even begun yet.
They had merely made a plausible plan, and Hyeonyul had found it before that plan could be carried out.
That was all.
“...Ha.”
Hyeonyul let out a long breath.
‘It feels like I saw the answer first.’
Unable to leave carelessly because of lingering hope, Hyeonyul kept walking.
He stopped only when he reached an area where the wallpaper was gone and not even cement had been applied.
Beyond it was nothing but a space that had taken shape.
No one was there.
‘Let’s sort this out.’
Hyeonyul did not let the flood of emotions and reality consume him.
Instead, they looked only at the facts.
First, they assumed the owner of this place was Villain A.
Villain A had created this place to gather vast amounts of information in order to expand their faction.
“It's, it’s like a surveillance hub for other factions!”
If this place had only been meant to watch other Villain factions, then it was natural to assume that the information on Black Eagle’s internal informant found here had been taken, stolen, or bought from another faction.
‘If Villain A had been building this place to turn Black Eagles into experimental subjects, they would have needed to obtain information on the internal informant first.’
A building could not be put up overnight, so that meant Villain A had acquired that information much earlier.
Had Villain A intended to blackmail the Black Eagle internal informant?
How had they so calmly gone ahead with such a stupid plan to turn Black Eagles into experimental subjects?
‘How shocked must they have been when Black Eagle showed up while the plan was gradually moving forward?’
As planned, Villain A had retreated once before Black Eagle and intended to secretly take away the key information.
Until Nayun spotted the watcher.
They must have been caught while checking whether Black Eagle had withdrawn.
‘In the end, the key information Villain A was trying to take was probably this experiment site itself.’
Hyeonyul clenched his fist.
It was laughable that this had been a plan Villain A had worked on for so long.
‘I ruined it after they prepared all this.’
Villain A had only needed to blackmail the Black Eagle internal informant next, but Hyeonyul had discovered the internal informant first.
‘They must have spent an enormous amount of money.’
Pfft.
Hyeonyul laughed.
How great would the loss be if this place were completely destroyed?
Who, Villain or otherwise, did not care about money?
Watching something like this fall apart was not so bad.
‘In the end, Villain A didn’t plant the internal informant.’
If the one who had planted the internal informant was Villain B, then Villain A and Villain B were different people.
‘I should look for a mark before I go.’
Just as Shin Daeho had placed wineglass-shaped symbols all over to announce that a place was their territory, Villain A here might have done the same.
Even if there was none, that would not be strange.
It could be a newly formed Villain organization that had not yet made its own symbol.
Hyeonyul was about to head upstairs when he briefly licked his lips.
‘...Villain B is bothering me.’
They would have learned by now that Black Eagle had discovered the internal informant, so it would be strange for them to do nothing and let it end there.
‘If it were me, I’d have planted a bomb in the Nest.’
Would they not blow up Black Eagle’s Nest out of sheer resentment?
* * *
“...Find him.”
The red-haired woman sat with her legs crossed on the sofa, glaring at someone.
“W-We will soon bring you information on Black Eagle.”
The subordinate sweated profusely while looking at her.
They could not remember her ever being this sensitive.
When they glanced down, they saw a colleague crushed flat as paper.
That person had been standing beside them just a minute ago.
“Find the bastard who did this to me...!”
The Red Witch shouted, displaying her displeasure.
She had exposed her back.
‘It wasn’t that he was missing a hand. He had hidden it.’
How?
Humiliation washed over her.
“P-Please wait just a little longer.”
The subordinate pleaded.
The Red Witch’s eyes fixed on theirs.
She was like a vicious spider.
“...Fine. You can find him, right?”
When the woman crooked a finger, an unknown force seized the subordinate by the collar and dragged them forward.
Forced close to the woman, the subordinate’s lower jaw began to tremble.
“You have to find him. That power is strange, no matter how I look at it.”
It was not magic.
But it was not a superpower, either.
It was closer to a power she had never seen in her life.
Her eyes narrowed.
“...Yes, it was like an experimental subject.”
“...A-An experimental subject?”
The subordinate wanted to say that was impossible, but held it in.
They had never heard of a successful experimental subject existing.
“You think it makes no sense, don’t you? I thought the same. But if you saw that power, you’d think as I do.”
A power that did not exist in this world was exactly what they sought.
“What kind of lunatic made that bastard...!”
The Red Witch’s voice naturally rose.
The thought alone was enough to drive her mad.
The Empire.
To bring down that hateful Empire, they first needed to erase Black Eagle.
Those people were the Empire’s strongest wall.
To do that, to get rid of those self-important Eagles, they needed power.
A power that did not exist in this world.
“...Ah, how did they make him? What drugs did they use? How did he endure the pain of his blood vessels and flesh melting from the inside? How many other experimental subjects died to create him? Hundreds? Thousands? Tens of thousands? Maybe even more?”
The Red Witch questioned her subordinate, then soon burst out laughing alone.
She smiled as though she had found something terribly interesting.
“We must capture him alive. Once we catch him, every secret will be revealed.”
Anyone who saw that person’s power would think the same thing.
She needed to capture them first, before someone else did.
She had let her guard down before, but not this time.
“Ah, what happened to the things left behind by that Poison King and Shin Daeho? You’re gathering them properly, right?”
By chance, she had received news of the Poison King before anyone else.
By now, the Poison King’s subordinates must have been in an uproar.
When else would she have such an easy chance to swallow them up?
“...Of course. We are bringing them in with all our strength.”
“Really?”
Knock, knock.
Just then, someone knocked on the door.
“I-I think they’re here.”
The subordinate felt freed by that small sound, but suppressed the feeling as they spoke.
Please, please.
They looked toward the door with desperate hope.
At the Red Witch’s gesture, they hurried over and opened it.
The woman lowered her gaze as her subordinate approached.
‘The confidence to say he could kill me at any time.’
Even thinking about it again was absurd.
He had faced the Poison King, so poison would not work on him.
‘Drugs won’t work either. So how can I subdue him in that state?’
What else would not work?
‘No, what would he like?’
He was Black Eagle, yet it felt like he wore clothes that did not suit him.
Why wouldn’t there be Black Eagles who became Villains?
There had even been some among her own subordinates.
‘Should I say I’ll give him information on experimental subjects?’
The more she thought about it, the more she noticed her thoughts growing gentle.
It made her laugh for no reason.
Being furious was one thing. Finding them valuable was another.
“...Boss.”
The woman lowered her eyes.
There was nothing in her approaching subordinate’s hands.
“Why are you empty-handed?”
“According to what we just heard... Black Eagle stormed into the place where we were supposed to receive the information.”
Gulp.
The subordinate swallowed several times as they spoke.
“...Ha.”
A long breath escaped the Red Witch’s mouth.
The corners of her lips rose despite her displeased expression.
“Was there a helmeted one too?”
“I... don’t know.”
There must have been.
The Red Witch knew it instinctively.
‘Honestly, he’s damn fast.’
She did not know how he had discovered her business partner, but his speed was no joke.
‘What am I supposed to do if he’s this strong and this capable, too?’
The woman looked at the subordinate beside her.
Why did they suddenly look so stupid?
‘...How irritating.’
She wanted to kill them all, but restrained herself.
The blood of the subordinate she had killed earlier had soaked deep into the carpet, and the room was beginning to smell sickening.
“Ask somewhere else. If you come back empty-handed again, you’ll die. Understood?”
“Yes! Thank you!”
The subordinate dropped to their knees and bowed.
The simple fact that they had escaped death made them so happy.
Whether the subordinate left or not, the woman inspected her long, jewel-studded nails.
‘Come to think of it, Shin Daeho had a subordinate they used to boast about. Did they die?’
She did not know the name.
She had never even seen what they looked like.
They had simply been praised whenever Shin Daeho appeared, so they came to mind.
‘The Poison King would know...’
Shin Daeho was friendly with several Villains, but was closest to the Poison King.
Perhaps that subordinate was considering changing jobs by now.
‘If I can bring them in, I should.’
They would surely help her capture that Black Eagle.
* * *
‘...Is there really something about them?’
Haeryeon watched Hyeonyul closely.
She could not understand why Villains kept getting drawn to Hyeonyul.
She did not know which Villain had gotten involved this time, but how had a simple mission to collect documents turned into this?
They had known about the secret base, but had not received a report that there was an experiment site below it.
They had also captured the Villain watching the secret base from afar, so all that remained was an interrogation.
“An internal informant...?”
Nayun looked back and forth between Hyeonyul and Haeryeon with a shocked expression.
A traitor.
It was a word that tightened her chest.
“You didn’t know?”
“How could I know...? No one told me.”
Nayun’s inner brows rose sharply.
She was full of hurt and resentment.
“That was my fault. I had... a lot going on.”
Haeryeon immediately stood and approached Nayun.
She wore an awkward expression.
“Sinu knows, right? And once again, he was the only one who knew, right?”
“A situation came up where he couldn’t help knowing... Hyeonyul just said it right there while Sinu was present.”
“Was it supposed to be a secret?”
Hyeonyul tilted his head slightly.
He did not remember saying it was a secret.
“What about Jihwan?”
After finishing her question, Nayun pressed her lips together.
“...Ah. I didn’t tell Jihwan either.”
As if something had just occurred to her, Haeryeon scratched her cheek.
“Then it’s fine.”
“Fine...? Really?”
“Team Leader. If you hide something from me when even Sinu knows, I’ll be really upset. I’d rather you tell me and keep it from Sinu.”
‘...So THAT was what upset you?’
Haeryeon held back a laugh.
“I’ll do that.”
“That’s a promise.”
“Okay.”
Only then did Haeryeon burst out laughing and pat Nayun on the shoulder.
No matter when she saw her, Nayun was so cute.
“Then the reason Hyeonyul gave the documents only to me was because of the internal informant, wasn’t it?”
“...?”
At Nayun’s question, Hyeonyul only widened his eyes.
He had simply given them to Nayun because she was a teammate.
“Fortunately, Team 6, which Nayun worked with today, does not have the internal informant.”
“...Ha. That’s really a relief, then.”
Nayun let out a sigh of relief.
Then her eyes widened.
‘What...? So he granted my request even knowing there was an internal informant?’
Nayun was easily moved.
She had thought Hyeonyul might dislike her, but apparently that was not the case.
‘He looks cold on the outside, but he must be warm inside.’
Perhaps Hyeonyul was a very proper sort of person.
As Nayun’s eyes shone brightly as though she had discovered something, Hyeonyul felt burdened.
Nayun was difficult after all.
“...Team Leader.”
“Yes?”
“Is the remaining person a team leader?”
Hyeonyul had handed Haeryeon the list of Black Eagle internal informants held by the Villains and wanted to make sure.
He could not tell from names alone.
“He is. The Team 5 leader.”
That was also the team leader who had continuously opposed Hyeonyul.
To think they only now knew why.
Haeryeon let out a long breath.
Honestly, she had never expected him to find the answer before the investigation.
‘And Hyeonyul found it.’
Haeryeon smiled at Hyeonyul as though proud.
To think he had uncovered such important information.
“Hyeonyul.”
“Yes.”
“The Poison King is scheduled to be transferred to the special criminal detention center soon. If there’s something you want to say, it would be best to go now.”
Hyeonyul got a feeling from Haeryeon’s words.
A transfer.
It was perfect for something to happen.
Villain B, who had planted the internal informant, would not overlook it.
“When is that?”
“Three days from now.”
“When will the people on the removal list be removed?”
“...Probably two days from now? It’s only nominal, but we need to get their consent for something. It won’t take long.”
“Thank you for telling me.”
Hyeonyul smiled faintly.
A Poison King transfer.
Since it was the Poison King rather than some underling, it was the perfect thing to draw every eye.
‘Something will happen.’
Hyeonyul was certain.
“All right, you both worked hard. Go home now.”
Haeryeon announced that the work was now completely over.
“Team Leader.”
Nayun hurriedly called to Haeryeon.
“Yes?”
“You’re going to see the Team 5 leader right away, aren’t you?”
“That’s right. I’m going to wreck him.”
Haeryeon smiled brightly.
Before the leader could run, she had asked Dojin to hold him there by any means necessary.
“If it would not be too much trouble, may I come with you?”
Hyeonyul raised his hand as he asked.
He wanted to at least see what the Team 5 leader looked like.
“...You’re going to come along instead of going home?”
“Yes. I’m curious what he looks like.”
Hyeonyul smiled.
“...You’re really giving up going home to come?”
“Yes, I am.”
Haeryeon could not help being shocked when Hyeonyul said it again.
Was getting off work not what Hyeonyul had always desperately wanted?
‘What is this...? What’s happening?’
Haeryeon wondered if she was dreaming.
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried