Part 1, Chapter 11, Section 8

“First, let’s hear what you have to say and then I’ll judge. Why did you do something like this?”

Before I said what I wanted to say, I wanted to hear an explanation from Eun Yuha first.

“Alright. If I cause a misunderstanding, customer-nim will get really angry.”

Eun Yuha readily explained why she had put forward a mediation proposal between me and the Association-or, as a result, might end up at odds with us.

“What I want to say is this: both are companies where I’m the largest shareholder, so why do I have to watch them fight each other?”

Eun Yuha judged us from a strictly entrepreneurial perspective.

“After the Great Monster Era, do you know how much money Yuseong invested in the Association every year? As soon as operating profit came in, almost 90% of it was invested in the Core industry and Hero development.”

“How much?”

“About 500 trillion won? After Yuseong Group poured its soul into repeated investments and reinvestments over the past decade or so, this country’s Core industry hasn’t lost its competitiveness, despite the Pyongyang incident.”

“……The funds invested in the Azure Syndicate for three months must be roughly hundreds of billions.”

“Yes. But the potential of the Azure Syndicate or customer-nim might be even greater than that, don’t you think?”

“That’s true.”

I didn’t particularly deny Eun Yuha’s assessment of the Azure Syndicate.

“That’s why I can’t just stand by and watch customer-nim’s organization and the Association clash. Not only would the infrastructure of Seoul, which we painstakingly restored, be destroyed again, but I also can’t bear to see the Project delayed.”
“……Is that your main objective?”
“It’s a bit of both. If we fight and bicker, I’m the only one who loses. Do you think I’d just stand by and watch that loss happen? No way.”
“So you lured Baek Heea.”
I was dumbfounded by the cunning collusion of the two heroines.
“Baek Heea puts the Azure Syndicate, a massive group of superhumans, under the Association, and you just reap the benefits while maintaining the Azure Syndicate’s infrastructure. ……It’s amazing how you two managed to join hands.”
“I originally had a separate plan, but Miss Baek Heea proposed it to me.”
“Baek Heea did?”
“Yes.”
Eun Yuha briefly recounted to me the story of how Baek Heea came to find her-Eun Jaemin.
“She said that no matter how much she thought about it, an all-out war with the Azure Syndicate would result in significant national losses, so she considered ways to appease them. Since the Azure Syndicate claims to be a Villain organization, she offered the most plausible carrot.”
“And that’s a special pardon, is it?”
“Yes. First, they’ll all uniformly undergo a probationary period of 5 years and 5 months. You know why it’s 5 years and 5 months, right?”
“It’s timed with the Day of World Destruction. Tsk.”
Since I was the one who first proposed a joint struggle to prevent world destruction, Baek Heea also aimed for that and deliberately timed it.
“During the probationary period, they’ll pretend not to see anything, but if they commit another crime during that time, they’ll be sentenced to actual imprisonment.”
“Whether they have the power to apprehend criminals or not, that’s at least the minimum ‘line’.”
“……The members of the Azure Syndicate can’t live as criminals their entire lives, either. However.”
I pulled out the list of criminal records I had received from Baek Heea.
“In my case, I have a murder record, and some of the other guys under me also have similar records. No matter how great the Azure Syndicate’s contributions are, wouldn’t it be quite difficult to just release murderers out into the open?”
“That’s why ‘special inspectors’ are scheduled to be deployed to the Azure Syndicate.”
“……Who?”
“Hmm, well. Who would you prefer? I’m expecting .”
“…….”
If it’s Park Raon, she’s the perfect talent for the name ‘special inspector’.
But there was a big problem with the plan Baek Heea and Eun Yuha had concocted.
“Do you think I’ll follow this?”
“That’s why I’m asking customer-nim for a favor right now. Please, please listen to my proposal.”
“……What if I suddenly turn around and harm you-”
“I’ve prepared myself for even that.”
Eun Yuha was unhesitant towards me.
“No matter the situation, we must prevent bloodshed. What would happen if the Association rejected customer-nim’s joint struggle proposal? There would be no Heroes in this country, would there? It would all become a monstrous human world.”
“That’s true.”
“Customer-nim is currently set to turn the entire world into an enemy. Perhaps even the Round Table could become an enemy. About half of them, anyway.”
“That’s also true. ……Then are you two planning to turn the whole world into an enemy?”
Eun Yuha’s thoughts must be Baek Heea’s thoughts. I pressed my throbbing head and unfolded a world map.
“Don’t you know why I’m a Villain even though I’ve set foot in this country? I’m trying to prevent this country from becoming a target for the whole world. So that they can cut ties with me if need be.”
“We’re helping you so that you don’t have to cut ties, aren’t we?”
“By turning the Azure Syndicate into the government’s dog?”
“Customer-nim. Why are you so prickly? Should I be honest with you?”
Eun Yuha pointed to her neck with her hand.
“Customer-nim isn’t someone who can be tied down with a leash like Gwanggeom-nim, and you’re someone who breaks out of a cage if you’re trapped in one.”
“And yet you’re trying to trap me in a cage, knowing that.”
“We guarantee maximum freedom. The Azure Syndicate will simply be affiliated with the Association as a Hunter Guild. Nothing will change from the current situation. It’s just that the Azure Syndicate will officially come out into the open.”
“……It seems you and I have a significant difference in opinion right now.”
My insides were burning.
“Can you handle it? The idea of the whole world becoming an enemy isn’t something that can be easily accepted. As long as you’re tied to a country, it’s not something you can just escape from by running away.”
“You’re saying that because something like that will happen in the future, right?”
“……Yes. I’m saying this from the perspective of someone who has turned the whole world into an enemy.”
A whopping 17 times. But Eun Yuha’s resolve seemed firm.
“Miss Baek Heea wishes for this country to stand tall. I wish for Yuseong to become the best group. Both of us are already dealing with the entire world. What we lacked was the ‘power of superhumans’.”
“And you’re trying to fill that with the Azure Syndicate.”
“Yes.”
“…….”
I quenched my parched throat with the strawberry ade placed for me.
The future Eun Yuha and Baek Heea wouldn’t have launched such a reckless operation. But perhaps because she was still five years younger, her actions were extremely aggressive.
“I simply can’t understand what the merit is in putting the Azure Syndicate on the front lines.”
“Well, public opinion is very different from before.”
“……Public opinion?”
“Yes. Not the public opinion I manipulated, but the real public opinion.”
Eun Yuha smiled broadly, as if pulling out a trump card.
“If the entire nation wishes for

to become this country’s Hero, what would customer-nim do?” “Bullshit.”
To think that a gamble would turn out like this.
A hollow laugh escaped me at the indicator Eun Yuha presented.
* * *
– Foreigners are trying to naturalize the Villain

into their own countries. This was a rumor that began to subtly spread in Korea after the 6-Mint Terror on July 2nd.

At first, it was just a baseless rumor, but the intentions of the foreigners who had already entered the country clearly meant ‘moving to Seoul’.
At first, people suspected they might have come for Cheonghwa, but their suspicions began to change.
-Isn’t

actually the main target? It was extremely common for countries to poach Villains who were at odds with their own nations. Especially as Seonui Cheol began to take a nationalist stance, there were even superhumans who left the country in defiance of him.
Phoenix was clearly a criminal. But within Korea, he was just a serious criminal; globally, he was like a mischievous troublemaker who committed eccentric acts.
For example, blocking Chinese Heroes who tried to conquer Pyongyang at the Amnok River.
For example, leisurely flying across all of China even during the Terror.
For example, strangely provoking a Villain of equal standing and issuing a challenge during the