episode_0035

“……”

(Ting! Click)

Arthur leaned back in his home office, repeatedly opening and closing the lighter lid.

(Ting! Click)

“…”

Hashimoto, who had come to the home office to deliver a report, looked at Arthur, lost in thought while flicking the lighter, with a serious expression.

“Darn, what should I do?”

Unable to act due to Arthur’s serious expression, Hashimoto couldn’t decide how to hand over the report and get it confirmed.

(Tap tap)

Hector tapped on Hashimoto’s shoulder from behind.

“I’ll handle this.”

“Thank you.”

Grateful for Hector’s words, Hashimoto handed over the report and quickly left the home office.

(Ting! Click)

“What are you doing?”

“…”

Even when Hector asked, Arthur didn’t respond, just kept flicking the lighter.

“Hey!”

“Hmm?”

After Hector made a noise, Arthur finally realized that Hector had entered the home office.

“You’re here?”

“I came a while ago.”

As Arthur regained his composure, Hector handed him the report and sat down.

“Why were you so absent-minded?”

“Thinking about various things.”

“Because of that person?”

“…You know about it?”

“Yeah, I know. The caller is indeed that person.”

Hector took out his phone and told Arthur about the information he had investigated.

“The problem is how did you figure it out. Have you ever done anything suspicious enough to be caught?”

“No, I changed my identity and lived in hiding. Because of that, I even lived in the educationally unfavorable F district. If there’s anything, it would be villainous activities.”

“Well, how can we help you, even if you have a different identity?”

“…It’s fine.”

Putting the lighter down on the table, Arthur said, “It’s hard to keep hiding.”

“And what will you do if you meet them?”

“I don’t know, as long as Alice is safe.”

“Well, if that’s your intention, by the way, Seohyun said to come and tease you about moving.”

“…Does she have stuff to move?”

“She took some things from your house.”

“…….Alright, tell her to take them.”

Arthur waved his hand lazily and said, “Is there anything to watch?”

As Arthur began to read the documents, Hector turned on the TV with the remote control.

“Don’t run, walk! Walking Man!!”

(Beep!)

“Popular Song! Today’s idol is-”

(Beep!)

This is breaking news. It has been reported that a group of villains appeared in F07 area and kidnapped a large number of hostages.

“Another incident. Heroes gathered in the F zone, and it seems like the villains have gathered more. Isn’t that right?”

…

Currently, they are demanding ransom for the hostages.

…

At the point where one person has already died, the authorities and police are emphasizing that there will be no negotiation with the villains.

…

Arthur, who had been scribbling on documents, paused for a moment and looked at the news.

“The authorities are considering deploying heroes.”

“Hmm.”

As Arthur suddenly looked at the news, Hector cleared his throat.

“The police have announced that negotiations are ongoing. Now let’s watch the video released by the villains.”

“We are superior beings!! We will not hide our power and live! We will demand the rights bestowed upon us from the beginning!!”

(Scream)

Arthur, who had been watching the news, started crumpling the documents.

“It has been revealed that the terrorist group with abilities, Superiorial, advocates ability supremacy and carries out terrorist acts…”

(Bang!)

…

As Arthur slammed the table with his hand and stood up, Hector looked at him in a tense state.

(Thump, thump)

Standing up, Arthur grabbed his coat and tried to leave the study.

“What are you doing? Where are you going?”

…

“Hey, seriously, where are you going?”

Hector, looking at Arthur with worried eyes, or more precisely, with eyes full of concern about what he might do, desperately called out to him.

…

“Sob! Sob!”

“Dad, Mom.”

“It’s okay. It’s okay.”

In a dark room, people gathered in a corner were shedding tears.

(Creak! Bang! Bang! Bang!)

“Stop crying!!”

One villain opened the door and entered the room, shouting and firing a gun into the air as he looked at the crying hostages.

“Just one more death?”

“No, you can’t. We agreed on getting money for each person.”

“Negotiations…”

The villains of the organization, Superiorial, were having a meeting.

“1 million won per person (100 million won in total), a total of 50 million won (5 billion won).”

“It was originally 10 million. Why did it drop by half?”

“If we don’t lower it to this extent, they’ll just send in the heroes.”

“Tsk, the boss insisted on filling it with 10 million.”

“Once more should do it.”

“Is that so?”

(Spark! Spark!)

“Ah, damn it, the lights are acting up again.”

As the lights flickered, a villain looked at them and said,

“Hey, go fix it.”

“Again? Why me?”

“You’re the only one here who knows how to handle machines.”

“Damn it.”

Unable to argue back, the villain cursed under his breath and walked away.

(Tick, tick, clink)

The villain, now at the instrument panel, started fiddling with the machinery and wires.

“Should I put this here?”

As he connected the wires here and there, the villain hesitated.

“It’s not here; it should be connected over there.”

A hand emerged from behind the villain, pointing to the right place.

“Aha.”

As the villain connected the wire to the spot indicated by the hand, the machine began to function properly.

“Thanks, but who are you?”

To see who had helped him, the villain turned his head.

“…?!”

Turning his head, he saw someone in a silk hat, tuxedo, monocle, and a villainous mad hatter.

(Clink)

The person showed a pocket watch to the villain.

“Mad Hatter?!”

“Shall I tell you an interesting story?”

…

“Oh, the lights are on.”

Unaware of what had transpired, the supervillains confirmed that the lights had come on and continued their activities.

“Let’s drink! Cheers!”

“Hahaha!”

Villains drinking alcohol.

“2,000 won.”

“Call and raise another 1,000 won.”

“I’m all in.”

Villains playing poker.

“Hey, can’t you be serious for once?”

“What does it matter if we have a hostage?”

Villains attempting despicable acts against hostages.

…”

Villains keeping watch around them, less than twenty in total, each occupied with their own tasks.

(Click!)

“Hahaha!!”

The villain who fixed the lights opened the door and entered, laughing loudly.

“Hahaha!! Come here, everyone!!”

Appearing to find something incredibly amusing, the villain called the others together.

“What is it?”

“What’s going on?”

“I’ve got a really funny joke! Gather around, everyone!!”

Laughing maniacally, the villain gathered the surrounding villains and said,

“Hahaha! Do you know what’s the most useless time in the world?”

The villain laughed and pulled something out of his pocket.

“What are you talking about?”

“Our lives.”

(Ting!)

The villain laughed like crazy as he pulled the pin of a grenade from his pocket.

“!!”

“!!”

(Boom!)

Startled, the villains turned to run, but the grenade exploded immediately.

“Cough!!”

“Aargh!!”

The nearby villains either turned into red pulp or disappeared without a trace.

Fortunately, those who hastily avoided the grenade had some parts of their bodies missing as they lay on the ground.

“Is it over?”

As the sound of the explosion was heard, Arthur opened the door and cautiously looked inside.

“Well, that’s fortunate.”

Seeing that most of the villains were dead, Arthur went in.

“Phew, if there were hostages, it would have been a disaster.”

Looking at the chaotic scene of mangled flesh scattered around, Arthur spoke.

(Bang!)

“What the!”

A villain burst out of a room.

“…What’s…”

Upon witnessing the gruesome sight, the villain fell silent.

“Oh, this little rat is the only one left.”

Regretfully, Arthur said upon seeing the remaining villain.

“Hello. May I ask your name?”

Arthur approached the villain and asked.

“What! You! Huh? Mad Hatter?”

“Yes, well, honestly, I wasn’t curious.”

(Clack)

Approaching the villain, Arthur took out a pocket watch.

“Don’t breathe.”

“Gasp!”

At Arthur’s command, the villain grabbed his throat.

“Hmm!!”

Unable to breathe, the panicked villain desperately clutched his throat and collapsed to the floor.

“Is anyone there?”

Ignoring the struggling villain, Arthur leaned into the room where the villain had emerged, scanning for anyone else present.

“Oh, thankfully, it seems you’re the last one here.”

The only surviving villain in the building, apart from the person with missing lower body lying near the exploded grenade, was standing before Arthur.

“Ughhh!”

“Do you know? I believe humans are inherently evil. No, humans are evil. They are inherently wicked.”

Struggling to breathe, the villain beside Arthur began to speak.

“However, I dislike it when people do evil things. Most people hide the evil within themselves and live commonly. But why do scoundrels like you boldly express their evil outwardly?”

“Sigh! Sigh!”

The villain, struggling to breathe, desperately hoped that Arthur would allow him to breathe while grabbing his leg and speaking to himself.

“Even though everyone harbors evil, they manage to live well in society. Why then do you selfishly vent your own evil?”

“Grrr!!”

“Oh, can’t answer, huh?”

(Slap!)

Looking at the villain’s reddened face, Arthur flicked his finger as if he had forgotten something.

“Huff!”

Finally, the villain was able to breathe.

“Phew! Phew! Phew!”

“So, do you have something to say?”

“…W-We are evolved humans. Superior to inferior humans, we will dominate this society—”

“Haha, telling boring stories again. Acting all high and mighty just because a few genes are activated. Other people have the same genes.”

“…What?”

“Oh, didn’t you know? The pro-human gene is present in all humans.”

“…What?”

“So, what that means is… Never mind. What’s the point of explaining to someone who’s about to die?”

Arthur, seeming annoyed to explain something, took out a revolver from his pocket.

“Hehe, I barely managed to—”

(Bang!)

As if relieved by the weapon called a gun, Arthur aimed the revolver at the villain and pulled the trigger.

“…”

Like an ordinary person, the villain fell to the ground with a bullet hole in his head.

“Ta-da! These are new bullets! Originally, bullets capable of inflicting fatal wounds on villains could only be used with special sniper rifles, but these have been improved to be usable with revolvers too!”

As if boasting, Arthur showed off the revolver towards the dead villain.

“…What are you doing? Seriously, you seem to be going crazy.”

Realizing what he had done, Arthur muttered to himself and walked into the room where the hostage was.

“Ugh!”

(Bang! Bang!)

As he walked into the room, shooting the heads of the villains whose upper bodies remained due to a grenade, Arthur continued walking.

(Knock, knock, clatter)

“Ahh!”

“Whoa, whoa.”

As Arthur entered the room after knocking, the hostages were startled.

“Mad Hatter?”

“Oh! Am I a star now? Many people recognize me.”

Smiling, Asa said, “There are people who recognize me.”

(Ring!)

The phone in the middle of the room rang.

“Yes, I’ve got a call.”

[…Who are you?]

On the other end of the phone, the police were puzzled by a voice that felt different from the villain’s voice they had heard so far.

“I’m called Mad Hatter, the villain.”

[…Mad Hatter? Why are you there?]

The police, who were negotiating with Superial, were taken aback by Asa’s sudden appearance.

“Oh, the gentlemen from Superial here, I’ve taken care of them.”

“…Really?”

“You’ve taken care of everything?”

At Asa’s words, the hostages murmured.

“Now the hostages are safe.”

“Wow!!”

The hostages cheered at Asa’s words.

“Hmm? Why are you happy?”

“Yes.”

“Now all of you have become my hostages. Safely.”

“…”

“…”

“What are you doing? Bow your heads.”

(Click, click, click!)

Asa took out a pistol from his pocket and aimed it at the ceiling, pulling the trigger.

“Ahh!!”

“Ahh!!”