Ch.55Chapter 3. Mental Care at Your Service (1)

I realized why this woman came at this hour, and I was supposed to hear her story in detail, but I faced a major problem.

“Isn’t this sexual harassment?”

“What is?”

“I’m naked in an open-air bath, and Baek Seol-hee is sitting across from me wearing a long padded jacket.”

I am currently naked.

Though it’s an open-air bath, I naturally came in naked since I reserved it for myself alone.

What if someone sees me?

Would there really be CCTV in an open-air bath attached to a place that costs 5 million won per night?

Not at all.

There might have been in the past, but not anymore.

To protect the privacy of those who visit this place.

Thanks to that, neither Baek Seol-hee’s presence here nor my nakedness will be recorded on any CCTV.

However.

“Ms. Baek, why aren’t you looking away?”

“The steam and water make it impossible to see anything anyway, so what’s the problem?”

“If our genders were reversed, this would be a huge scandal.”

“Really? I saw a drama on public TV where a woman entered a men’s bath fully clothed, grabbed a man by the hair, and dragged him out.”

“……”

I wanted to argue about what would happen if our genders were reversed, but Baek Seol-hee looked too depressed for that conversation.

“You really can’t see anything, right?”

“No, I can’t see anything. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t. Just like you can’t see inside my long padded jacket.”

Baek Seol-hee was still wearing her ankle-length black padded jacket.

At least one fortunate thing was that there was nothing on her wrist.

“You left your Taeguk Watch behind. Good decision. If they tracked your location and found out you were on Ulleungdo with a man, you’d probably be caught in a historic scandal.”

“Yes. That’s why I took off the Taeguk Watch to avoid a scandal. Right now, the higher-ups probably think I’m drinking beer in my quarters and grumbling.”

“Did you have a fight?”

“Yes. A proper one. A really proper fight. In that sense… would you mind counseling me?”

“Hmm.”

I’m not sure why Baek Seol-hee thinks of me as an emotional garbage can for venting about the higher-ups.

That’s the negative interpretation. The positive one is that she feels comfortable around me.

She hasn’t discovered I’m the Goblin.

If she had, she would be looking at me with suspicion right now, but that’s not the case at all.

“Alright. What exactly did the higher-ups do to provoke you?”

“Human decency.”

“Hmm… thinking about what happened today, there’s only one answer.”

Like with the Red Scarf incident, the answer is already clear.

“Are they trying to cover up information about the dead villain and disguise it as a ‘simple rampage incident’?”

“…Something like that.”

“Something like that?”

“The government is trying to fabricate this incident as a rampage by an unidentified Goblin follower. No, they’ve already fabricated it.”

What is she talking about?

“That’s different from what I heard at the scene.”

“You were at the scene?”

“Yes. I followed the faculty manual from a distance, so I know most of what happened. Including the Doppelgänger student talking about patents.”

“…Yes. But what was said at the scene doesn’t matter anymore. What matters is how the government makes its official statement. Do you have a Taeguk Watch? The statement should be out by now.”

“Hmm….”

I quickly skimmed through the summary of the official statement Baek Seol-hee mentioned using my Taeguk Watch.

“The villain Doppelgänger was a Goblin follower obsessed with the Goblin, who created his suit as a new image of the Goblin, wanting to become the Goblin himself. The Goblin appeared at the scene and denied this, which ultimately led to Doppelgänger’s rampage.”

“Yes. But that’s not what actually happened.”

“Hmm….”

Those who were at the scene clearly heard the talk about “patents,” but looking at the related news, there was no mention of patents anywhere.

-Wait, why is there no mention of patents?

Even such comments, after refreshing, changed to “Comment deleted by author.”

“They’re controlling the narrative. The patent story must be a sensitive issue.”

“Do you use Haeguneul services often?”

“No. I’m participating in the Haeguneul boycott. Since they started charging more for fried chicken claiming it’s Western food while yangnyeom chicken is Korean food, I’ve hated Haeguneul.”

“Do you like fried chicken?”

“Yes.”

There’s a limit to patriotic marketing. How can they claim yangnyeom chicken is Korean food and lower its price?

“So Haeguneul was behind the patents. And they quietly backed away to avoid criticism.”

“That’s right. And the heroes were also silenced. While people on Sejong Island might go along with it since many receive sponsorships from Haeguneul, I’m a newcomer to this island.”

Baek Seol-hee’s voice grew increasingly depressed.

“Apparently to break me in, and because I have an unfortunate connection with the Goblin, they threatened me. They said if I don’t want to be seen as incompetent for letting the Goblin escape and demonizing a villain, I should quietly participate in ‘trashing the Goblin’s reputation.'”

“I have two questions.”

“What are they?”

“Does the government dare to threaten you, S-rank Baek Seol-hee? Dare?”

“…Well, that’s…”

Baek Seol-hee sighed deeply with a gloomy face.

“It’s quite ironic. Despite all the unfavorable conditions the country imposes on me, I have no choice but to accept them.”

“Why is that?”

“Because they know I can’t leave this country.”

Baek Seol-hee is being threatened.

With her patriotism as an emotional hostage.

“Sometimes I browse internet communities anonymously and see posts like: ‘If you have money, there’s no reason to stay in this country. Just go abroad and live luxuriously. Once you reach S-rank, you don’t need to be tied to this land’s mana; you can live abroad as the sole hero and god.'”

That’s actually true.

There are already many Korean ability users who have moved to the Middle East, Europe, Africa, and other regions, establishing themselves as the sole deities in those areas.

“Can’t you just leave?”

“I could. They would give me enough money to last a lifetime abroad, and provide housing, cars, everything. But….”

“Are you saying you can’t give up your nationality?”

“Exactly.”

Baek Seol-hee let out a hollow laugh.

“Nationality is such a strange thing; it drives people crazy over and over. Villains sometimes say that heroes are brainwashed with patriotism from childhood so they can’t think of resisting the government. If they could just abandon that meager patriotism, they would overflow with freedom, but they keep taking creative losses because they can’t let it go.”

“It’s all because the country uses patriotism to threaten people and demand passion pay.”

“Passion… pay?”

“They say it’s all experience that becomes your blood and flesh, that you’ve gained life experience more valuable than money, so you should consider that as payment.”

“……”

Baek Seol-hee smiled faintly.

“As expected. I’m glad I talked to you, Ji-hwan.”

“Is it because I criticize the country?”

“Yes. I thought you might be the only person around me who could speak so critically about the government. I was right.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Ji-hwan, you live in Seoul.”

Ah.

A regional joke here?

“Not everyone who lives in Seoul criticizes the country.”

“But don’t most Seoul residents have a negative stance toward the government? They don’t even send heroes there.”

“I’m just saying it’s not 100%.”

Besides sharing hobbies and becoming closer, Baek Seol-hee seems to have taken a liking to me because I’m a Seoul citizen.

“Anyway, so you came to find me because you wanted to vent about a country that turns a man into a demon for their own benefit, covers it up, frames the Goblin for everything, and if that wasn’t enough, threatens you using your patriotism?”

“Exactly. I finally feel like the indigestion is going away.”

Baek Seol-hee’s smile gradually became more relaxed.

The problem Baek Seol-hee has is not something I—a library clerk named Do Ji-hwan—can solve.

But sometimes just listening silently is enough for counseling.

Women don’t always want solutions to their problems.

They want someone to listen to their concerns, join them in complaining, and empathize.

“After hearing your story, I think it’s really too much. I feel confident in continuing my boycott of Haeguneul.”

“Hehehe. Well said. Haeguneul, the country, the association, all of them… sigh.”

Baek Seol-hee stared at the sky for a while before turning her gaze to me.

“What I understand least is their response to that ‘Dueoksini’ person.”

“Dueoksini?”

“Yes. Instead of immediately putting out a warrant for someone who uses strange magic that turns people into demons, they’re making a fuss about catching the innocent Goblin.”

“Magic that turns people into demons…?”

“Yes. Did you see the footage? Something like tentacles entering Doppelgänger’s body.”

“I wasn’t at the scene then… and when I tried to watch the videos later, they were all taken down, so I couldn’t see them.”

“Right. The videos were removed. Since you didn’t see it directly, there’s nothing we can do, but why are they making a fuss about catching the Goblin when they should be catching that person?”

Baek Seol-hee lamented before placing her hand on her padded jacket’s zipper.

“Um, may I get in the bath?”

“…Pardon?”

“It’s fine. There’s no problem.”

*Flap*

“In this country that everyone else praises, I just want to complain about some really terrible people.”

Baek Seol-hee instantly threw off her long padded jacket and gently sat on the edge.

“Today, will you be my bamboo forest?”