Part 1 Chapter 5 (2)

9 AM. National Assembly Building, Yeouido.

Jang Hujeong felt a unique sense of emotion as he looked at the neatly restored National Assembly Building. This was the very place he had worked until he became the Vice Minister of the Monster Countermeasures Department, and until he lost his constituency in Seoul and fled to New Seoul.

“……Hmm.”

President Seonui Cheol insisted on the National Assembly Building as the location for the secret meeting. The other party readily accepted. He didn’t know the reason.

Was it a consideration for Jang Hujeong, a former member of the National Assembly, or was there some other reason?

“It has nothing to do with me anymore.”

What was important was for him to successfully rescue 10 Heroes under the President’s secret orders. Even if the other party was the Villain Alliance, since they were once citizens of South Korea, they wouldn’t indiscriminately kill hostages during negotiations with the government.

“But…”

Jang Hujeong swallowed hard as he looked at those who had escorted him here via the subway station. The black suits, which were hard to believe were made in Seoul, and the blue ties with flame patterns, indicated that they were all members of the same organization.

“Have they all arrived?”

“…….”

The organization members remained silent. Only the team leader who had brought Jang Hujeong spoke, but even he said nothing beyond what was necessary.

“They are very quiet people, aren’t they?”

“It also means they are well-trained.”

The man who accompanied Jang Hujeong nodded in agreement. Yoo Young-ho, the Praetor of the Association, whose eyes were full of stress.

Yoo Young-ho, who had been exiled to Busan under the guise of a business trip, personally set foot in Seoul to rescue the kidnapped Heroes. Jang Hujeong whispered cautiously.

“Praetor-nim. Even so, wouldn’t it be better if I went alone from here? What if something happens to your safety, Praetor-nim?”

“From the moment we left the escort Heroes in Gwangmyeong, all three of us became vulnerable. The other party won’t try to take us hostage either. It means they have an intention to negotiate.”

Yoo Young-ho glanced around. Although a bit clumsy, those assigned to escort and monitor them all showed signs of being well-trained. It was similar to how civilians voluntarily formed patrol groups at the initial stage of the monster commotion.

“Now that I think about it, this place…”

Yoo Young-ho surveyed his surroundings. Traces of battle were evident everywhere, but the buildings themselves were perfectly straight, as if newly built.

“What do you think, Eun Jaemin-nim?”

Yoo Young-ho asked Eun Jaemin. The chairman of Yuseong Group. Despite being a business figure completely unrelated to the government and the Association, he came to this negotiation site.

If the government found itself in an economically unfavorable position during negotiations, it planned to use the financial power of corporations. The heads of the business world showed reluctance at the government’s coercive behavior, but Eun Jaemin alone obediently followed the suggestion.

“Haha. Of course, I’d like Seoul to stabilize. Wasn’t Yuseong’s headquarters here? My father-nim would be pleased too.”

Eun Jaemin was as delighted as a child at an amusement park. While managing the group, he dealt with matters as coldly as a bloodthirsty person, but occasionally showed the appearance of a young man his age.

A passionate man who couldn’t stand injustice and worked for social justice. People called him the ‘Pushover Chaebol’.

“Haha. Indeed. Please do your best. The government is currently facing budget difficulties…”

“Rest assured. Any amount for the negotiation is fine. Just safely bring them back to New Seoul, and in return…”

“If it’s Yuseong’s sponsorship, leave it to me. I have that much power.”

“Thank you, Praetor-nim.”

Of course, no matter how good-natured he was, his fundamental nature was that of a businessman. He fully intended to secure a quid pro quo in exchange for funding the negotiation. The government side could simply keep silent, but the Association side offered the maximum possible compensation.

Thud, thud.

At the appearance of a man descending the stairs of the Assembly Building, the escorts straightened their posture.

He was dressed in a neat suit, like a new employee of a large corporation. The man wore brown sunglasses, as if sensitive to sunlight.

Beep.

Yoo Young-ho input visual information into the lens of his specially made glasses. The man’s physique, his gait, and the mana fluctuations he felt. Yoo Young-ho’s personal database stored on his smartwatch quickly identified the man’s identity.

B-rank ability user. Villain. Beacon Kim Ji-hwa.

He, who had reigned as the Cowardly King of Guro, brightly illuminating the night, was now bustling about from the bright morning sun.

While Yoo Young-ho was thinking about him inwardly, Beacon bowed his head and greeted them.

“Pleased to meet you. Please call me Beacon.”

“…Is it okay to reveal your identity so openly?”

Yoo Young-ho scratched his cheek. Beacon chuckled slightly and gestured inside.

“Please follow me this way.”

Beacon walked into the building. The three followed him into the Assembly Building.

“Hmm.”

Jang Hujeong fell into thought at the sight of the clean interior of the building. Yeouido was said to have become a ruin, a fierce battleground between humanity and monsters, but the National Assembly Building he saw with his own eyes was nothing like that.

It was cleaner than when he was a congressman. Jang Hujeong couldn’t understand the condition of this building based on his common sense. It was as if it had been newly built.

Thud. Beacon’s steps stopped. It was a bare place with no nameplate, but an A4 paper taped to the wall clearly read ‘Conference Room’.

“……Truly unpredictable.”

As Jang Hujeong shook his head in disbelief and grew more bewildered, Beacon knocked on the door.

“I’m coming in.”

Creak. The door opened. In the middle of the desolate conference room, a concrete table welcomed the envoys.

“Welcome. …Jang Hujeong?”

The gentleman in the fedora sitting at the center of the round table raised his voice. Jang Hujeong naturally realized who the other party was.

“Ryu Cheon-seong? Gangnam Gap, 4-term representative?”

Haneulseong, Ryu Cheon-seong, glanced around him as if flustered.

To Haneulseong’s left, a woman with her face covered by a mask covered her mouth with her hand as if surprised. Behind the woman, a blue-haired girl stood with her head bowed, like a secretary.

The woman with her body tightly covered in a coat and the girl dressed as a secretary. Beacon strode over and sat in the remaining empty seat.

“Please take a seat first.”

As Beacon gestured, the envoys each took their seats. A round table. Jang Hujeong, the government representative, sat opposite Haneulseong in the center, and Yoo Young-ho sat to Jang Hujeong’s left-opposite the masked woman. Eun Jaemin sat in the remaining seat, facing Beacon, but his gaze was clearly directed at the woman.

A moment of silence passed, then Jang Hujeong spoke.

“…Indeed. So this is why this conference room.”

Jang Hujeong suddenly felt his entire body tense up. The other party was a 4-term representative, but he was only a first-term one. As a distant senior, this conference room was practically his home ground.

“I didn’t expect you to come as an envoy.”

“Are you two acquainted?”

The masked woman spoke casually to Haneulseong, who was much older than her. Jang Hujeong, who valued the principle of respecting elders, was about to scold the woman for treating his distant senior so disrespectfully, but Haneulseong replied to the woman as if unconcerned.

“I told you, didn’t I? I was a congressman. That one over there was a friend who served his first term in Mapo before Seoul fell.”

“Hmph. So that kind of person came as an envoy, as the Vice Minister of the Countermeasures Department.”

The woman divulged a secret without a care. The existence and information of the envoy were top-secret, conveyed only to Haneulseong.

The fact that the woman spoke of it meant that Haneulseong had shared the secret, implying that the woman’s position at this meeting was quite high. Yoo Young-ho moved the device on his glasses to scan the woman’s mana. Instantly, a blue light flashed.

Crack!

Yoo Young-ho’s glasses cracked. He unconsciously clenched his fist under the table. The woman stared blankly for a moment, then let out a snicker.

“Trying to secretly film me so brazenly. Don’t you know that’s a sexual offense? I didn’t know Praetor-nim had such hobbies.”

“Good heavens. Praetor-nim was a voyeur?”

“Beacon-ah. That’s not something you should say, is it?”

At the woman’s remark, Beacon became subdued. With his head bowed, he still hadn’t removed his sunglasses indoors.

“First, I’ll introduce myself. Phantom.”

The woman who introduced herself as Phantom pointed to her side.

“Haneulseong.”

“I am Beacon.”

Each of the Villains revealed their aliases. Jang Hujeong was convinced that they were the ringleaders of the Villain Alliance who had practically occupied Yeouido.

“Envoy, government representative. I am Jang Hujeong, Vice Minister of the Monster Countermeasures Department.”

“Association representative. I am Yoo Young-ho, Praetor.”

“…….”

It was Eun Jaemin’s turn. He was staring blankly at Phantom. Phantom felt his gaze and snorted.

“Hey? What are you staring at? Don’t you have a name?”

“Ah, ah. I apologize. It’s just that…”

Eun Jaemin bowed his head as if embarrassed.

“Since I’ve been traveling such a long distance, I haven’t been able to use the restroom yet. Would it be alright if I went for a moment?”

“Again? …Tsk.”

Jang Hujeong clicked his tongue. An unspoken secret about Eun Jaemin. Because he constantly needed to use the restroom, one of his derogatory nicknames was ‘Constipation Prince’.

Beacon sneered with a troubled expression.

“Restroom? Seriously… What the hell, right at the start-“

“I will guide him.”

The girl standing behind Phantom interrupted and stepped forward.

“What?”

“…….”

“Ah, ahaha. Well, he’s human, so we have to understand, don’t we?”

While the Villains were flustered, the secretary scanned them and said with a smile.

“The guest might get lost, so I will guide him per.son.al.ly.”

At the secretary’s gesture, the Constipation Prince stood up with a look of delight.

“Haha, I apologize. My stomach is really not good… Instead, Vice Minister-nim. I think I’ll be back late, so please start the meeting first.”

“What? What do you mean by you’re leaving?”

Eun Jaemin bit his lower lip and continued speaking. Everyone in the conference room tensed up at his face, which looked like he was desperately holding something in.

“It’s fine. Negotiate as freely as you wish, no matter how much it costs. Yuseong’s financial power is sufficient.”

“Please follow me.”

Guided by the girl, Eun Jaemin grimaced as if smiling and hastily left the conference room.

“……Well, then, let’s begin. After all, it will be a negotiation between you and me.”

Haneulseong raised his hand to draw attention. Jang Hujeong clenched his fists tightly under the table.

The opponent was an old monster of the political world who would have easily served 6 terms. But now, he was merely a Villain who had left politics for 8 years.

In contrast, he himself had gained recognition for his abilities by working in New Seoul’s main departments for years, and as the Vice Minister of the Monster Countermeasures Department, he practically received ministerial treatment, accumulating political experience. One who had virtually retired from politics, and one who was still going from strength to strength in politics.

It was a fight worth trying. Jang Hujeong straightened his posture and opened his mouth.

“Very well. Then, first, regarding the government’s position…”

The representative of the government and the representative of the Villains. A heated negotiation between two former congressmen filled the conference room.

* * *

Thud, thud.

Eun Jaemin couldn’t take his eyes off the girl in front of him. A black suit skirt and jacket. And a white dress shirt underneath. Her blue hair, tied like a horse’s tail, was particularly striking, making it hard to notice, but Eun Jaemin saw it.

“Office wear with sneakers isn’t quite right, is it?”

“And what about constantly sending a chaebol chairman to the restroom?”

The girl, Phoenix, sneered. The two had stopped in front of the restroom. Eun Jaemin hesitated for a moment.

“What are you doing? Come on in.”

The girl naturally entered the restroom. The men’s restroom. Eun Jaemin shook his head in disbelief and followed her in.

There was nothing inside the restroom. It was as if it had just come from a construction site; there was no interior design, not even any facilities.

“I knew our client was extraordinary, but…”

“This place is really quiet, you see.”

Snap. Phoenix snapped her fingers. A chair of flames appeared between Phoenix and Eun Jaemin. The authority of S-ranks to materialize mana and give it physical power in reality. Eun Jaemin sat down on the chair.

Golden starlight sparkled in Eun Jaemin’s eyes. Phoenix became even more nervous at Eun Jaemin’s bold action of sitting on the blue flame chair and tapping its armrest.

“Hehe. As expected. You were the one who fought Harang too, right? A transformation ability? Which one is your true form? This one?”

“…Strictly speaking, neither is my true form. It’s like.”

Phoenix raised a finger and pointed at Eun Jaemin. Mana flowed from her fingertip towards Eun Jaemin.

Suddenly, a woman’s scream, which shouldn’t have been heard, echoed.

[Kyaak?!]

The woman’s voice was extremely high-pitched. Phoenix held her stomach and giggled, then cut off the flow of mana.

Whirr, clunk.

Eun Jaemin’s mechanical eye opened, and a screen appeared from the light that emanated from it. On it was a blonde girl, blushing and huffing. The girl’s bangs were slightly singed.

[What are you doing?!]

“Yes. That’s your true form. Shall we reintroduce ourselves?”

Phoenix bowed her head and then raised it.

“The good-for-nothing third daughter of Yuseong Group. The chaebol family’s unprecedented villainess. But her true identity is the pillar of Yuseong and the true chairman, who single-handedly leads the entire group in place of her deceased brothers. The chairman of the Black Market I first met, and Eun Jaemin, who came here as an envoy, are both machine dolls you control, aren’t they? Puhuhu. Oh, and weren’t there five more besides that?”

[…….]

“Anyway, it’s a pleasure to meet you. A-rank ability user Doll Master. No…”

Phoenix snapped her fingers, creating a flame.

“Young Lady Eun Yuha.”

A blue flame brightly flared up beside the girl. Eun Yuha replied with a bright smile.

[It’s a pleasure to meet you too, our beloved client.]

In the men’s restroom, where no one else would come, another negotiation was about to begin.