The Tough Guy Hides the Villainess

047 – The Great Showman #2

047 – The Great Showman #2

Everyone has something they fear.

Even a man like me, Han Nam-jin, who fears nothing, actually had a few things that scared me.

The “Permian Extinction,” known as the third great mass extinction, is one of them.

During this period, 96% of marine life and over 80% of terrestrial vertebrates went extinct! It’s said that Earth almost became a planet devoid of life, like Venus or Mercury.

I didn’t express my fear to uphold my manliness, but I was indeed scared of this “Permian Extinction.”

Second, I was also afraid of the “fifth mass extinction,” when all the dinosaurs died out.

However, compared to the previously mentioned Permian Extinction, the fifth mass extinction was less frightening.

This is the point.

When two frightening things fight, one of them is bound to become less scary.

Perhaps both could become not scary at all.

Movies like “Alien vs. Predator” or “Freddy vs. Jason” proved that.

“Fight fire with fire! You face fear with fear!”

I showed explicit adult content to Yoo Yeo-reum, who was panicking due to the monsters, making her overcome her fear with another fear.

You could call it a counter-offensive strategy.

Whether my plan was actually working or not, Yoo Yeo-reum’s eyes, which had turned as red as a mad bull’s, sparkled with a colorful prism light.

“Ugh—.”

Yoo Yeo-reum sat down, clutching her head.

Soon, a strong heat ray burst from her eyes, melting the monsters.

Ziiing-!

Indeed.

Yoo Yeo-reum had a constitution that shot beams from her eyes when she got excited. The heat ray just now could be seen as a sign that s*xual excitement and exhilaration had overcome her fear of death.

“Jina, what did you just show me in this situation? I was so surprised that my mind actually cleared up.”

Yoo Yeo-reum covered her face with her palm.

The light seeping through her fingers shone like stage lighting.

As Yoo Yeo-reum became the protagonist of this scene, Pinocchio shouted from inside the orphanage building.

“Adult content? You controlled Yoo Yeo-reum by playing porn? What the hell—, I didn’t hear anything like that! But, well, fine. I still have plenty of ‘cards’ left.”

That was the end of his words.

He would probably start a full-scale protest inside the orphanage.

Throb, throb-.

I endured the throbbing in my arm that had blocked Yoo Yeo-reum’s fist and surveyed the corpses of the monsters lying nearby.

With my emotions guiding me, this one was a “Rock” ogre, this one was a “Leaf” dog, and this one was a “Sand” cat.

Thanks to that, I obtained the concept stones of Rock, Leaf, and Sand!

Not a bad harvest.

Now all that was left was to enter the orphanage, thoroughly beat up “Pinocchio,” and obtain the remaining addresses from him to rescue Shortcut Girl Kim Mari and her friends who were trapped.

With that thought, I limped toward the orphanage when Yoo Yeo-reum grabbed my shoulder.

“Jina, you’re hurt.”

“I know. But I can endure it.”

“Why are you going this far? You’re putting yourself in danger. Aren’t you scared?”

“I’m like a hot steam locomotive.”

“… A locomotive?”

“I can only run when someone shovels coal into me, puffing out steam. “I just keep running until the hot heat cools down.”

“… So that’s how it is? I think I understand. I’m like you. “I’m a hot train like you.”

Yoo Yeoreum nodded as if she understood and accepted my words, but in truth, I had no idea what I was saying.

It just seemed like the right moment to say something cool, so I said something that sounded impressive, but it was a meaningless conversation.

“Jina, I’ll take the lead. “I can still fire about two more beams.”

Yoo Yeoreum’s remaining two rounds.

That should be enough.

# # #

The inside of the orphanage was unusually dark.

It was like a star world with not a single point of light.

“Yeoreum, stop.”

I carefully removed the tripwires installed around the ankle area with my hands.

Click-!

“This b*stard, setting up annoying traps.”

Seeing the improvised explosive devices (IEDs) placed everywhere reminded me of the post-apocalyptic gang’s base we visited a few months ago.

This place was extremely dangerous.

Pinocchio seemed to have learned how to make explosives from the instructors, just like a graduate of the first class of the Youngsa High School.

Why on earth did they teach such things to minors?

Were they planning to create a special superhuman unit to infiltrate North Korea?

“Jina, who taught you this?”

Yoo Yeoreum was greatly impressed as she watched me disarm the traps one by one with the light from my phone.

The light in her eyes had a slight pink tint, indicating she was impressed by me.

Who taught me?

“Hunger.”

“You mean you learned from the experience of hunger and pain.”

No, the person’s name was actually ‘Hunger.’

He was an old man I met while picking up scrap.

But that’s not important right now.

“Yeoreum, in my experience, b*stards like Pinocchio try to confuse us with their sly words. So we have to take him down before he says anything.”

“Got it.”

As we moved forward for a while, we arrived at the basement.

There were no particular traps in the basement.

Instead, there were documents that could be called profiles attached to every wall.

What is this?

Flap-.

「Name: Kim Nuri」

「Age: 8 years」

「Note – Signs of awakening are gradually appearing. “Need to increase the intensity of deprivation.”

「Name: Lee Haon」

「Age: 9 years」

「Note – Early stages of awakening. Shows emotional instability, needs attention and care.”

It seemed to be personal information about children.

Just as I was wondering what this was, someone emerged from the darkness.

It was 「Pinocchio」 with woolly hair.

“Familiar faces, right? These faces are─.”

“Summer, now!”

Ziiiiiing-!

Yoo Yeoreum immediately fired the laser at my command.

The heat ray was aimed directly at the woolly head, so it should have turned him into a donut!

We won! End of episode!

However, instead of turning Pinocchio into a donut, the heat ray grazed my side.

“Huh?”

Sizzle-.

As I looked at my scorched side in bewilderment, Pinocchio laughed, holding a round hand mirror.

Hot smoke was rising from the mirror in his hand.

“Mirrors reflect light.”

“No way─.”

Did Yoo Yeoreum’s heat ray have such a weakness? It seemed both obvious and absurd, which made me slightly angry.

Did Yoo Yeoreum know about this?

When I looked at Yoo Yeoreum, she said.

“… There’s no need for me to go around telling everyone how to defend against my ability. It would be troublesome if the enemies found out.”

The ‘enemy’ already knew.

Anyway, the important thing is that Pinocchio is defending against Yoo Yeoreum’s laser with a mirror.

And one of my legs is shattered, making it difficult to leap.

Even so, we had Yoo Yeoreum.

She was like a tank in the form of a high school girl.

Normally, it takes three high school girls to destroy the latest model tank, but Yoo Yeoreum was a super high school girl, so she was enough on her own.

“Go! Yoo Yeoreum!”

I decided to deploy Yoo Yeoreum.

However, Pinocchio tore off a piece of paper that was nearby and handed it to Yoo Yeoreum.

“Wait, wait, wait! Look closely at the faces in these documents. Don’t they look familiar? They’re the friends who disappeared since that night. They’re the missing people. Aren’t you curious about what happened to them?”

“What did you do to my friends!”

“I didn’t do anything. It was you. The friends who disappeared from the orphanage that night. Were they really missing? What if they were killed by someone who was afraid of the monster and swung their fist?”

“What?”

Yoo Yeoreum killed her friends at the orphanage?

That was the first time I heard such a story.

It was time to use my “emotion” to see if the story was true or false.

From noble mtl dot com

“Yeoreum, no, Yeoreum-ah. You’re a murderer. Just like us. Do you think you can become a hero of justice just because you wear a cool cape and shoot beams from your eyes? Is that really okay?”

“I… with these hands…”

Yoo Yeoreum’s breathing started to become rough.

Indeed, Pinocchio’s specialty was to deceive people with his tongue.

What an unmanly guy.

A man should show actions, not words!

“What’s wrong with that?”

I retorted.

“Who made such a rule? Are you the president or something?”

“Are you serious?”

“Name: Nogiho

Possession: Click to see details ☜

《Persuasion Lv.3》 – He has the eloquence of a religious leader. Anyone would become a captive to his charming speech.

Status: 《Speechless》 – Struck dumb by the bizarre logic.”

I could continue the discussion like this, but I was a man among men who proved himself through actions rather than words.

Hoo-.

I took a light breath and quickly leaped!

Pababat-!

My broken leg hurt as if it would snap, but it didn’t matter.

“Namjin Kiiiiick!!!!”

I clenched my fist and struck Pinocchio’s face with all my might.

Pinocchio, hit by my attack, rolled on the floor, and thanks to that, the mirror he was holding shattered with a clang.

Very satisfying.

“Khehehehe-. A kick, but with a punch to the face? Khehehehe….”

Pinocchio, perhaps because my blow was too strong, lay on the floor laughing.

Has he lost his mind?

Sss, Saaa-.

At that moment, a strange wind swirled in this windowless basement.

Soon, Pinocchio’s body began to float in the air.

“Levitation?”

What’s going on?

When I felt puzzled, I looked up, and Pinocchio’s eyes were bloodshot.

That’s a symptom of consuming an unpurified conceptual stone, like “Yama.”

“As expected, you two need to exit here. This is what it feels like to have overflowing power. If I had this kind of power, I wouldn’t have to bother persuading and lying about this and that─.”

Has Pinocchio become a demon?

Ready to face death?

At this point, I was rather curious.

“Hey, why are you guys going so far? Aren’t you afraid of death?”

“We are─.”

It was when Pinocchio tried to say something.

Ziiing-!

A hot beam shot out from beside me and pierced Pinocchio’s groin precisely.

Chiiiik-!

“Ah…”

Pinocchio, who had floated into the air, collapsed to the ground just like the moths I had fought. Could he be dead? I need to ask for coordinates.

When I turned my head, I saw Yoo Yeoreum, who had lost the light in her eyes, slumped to the ground.

“Before you speak… I told you to finish him off. Discharged… I can’t… anymore, me too…”

Yoo Yeoreum, who had used up all her power, started to groan like a smartphone with a dead battery.

Soon, someone shouted from my smartwatch.

━Hanamjin! We saved the kids! I did it! Mureung-hu─hup!

━I didn’t know Yeoul had such talent!

━It was possible because of bad luck….

The hostages that Pinocchio had held were also rescued just in time.

We were lucky in many ways.

# # #

I brought Yoo Yeoreum to the surface.

“Jina…”

Yoo Yeoreum, who was supposed to be “invincible,” was limp.

But she moved her lips as if she had a lot to say to me.

“Do you think what Pinocchio said is true? The kids who went from the orphanage are actually….”

“That’s a lie. That guy is ‘Pinocchio,’ right? A liar. I have ’empathy,’ so I can see through that kind of lie.”

“…Really?”

“Yeah, I swear on my cool underwear.”

Yoo Yeoreum’s expression, which had been full of thoughts, relaxed a bit.

Limp, limp.

I supported Yoo Yeoreum and left the orphanage.

“Yeoreum, can’t you walk by yourself? My legs hurt.”

“It’s been a while since I’ve been completely discharged…. I’ll get better if I get some sunlight. Sorry. I really can’t move a finger.”

It’s 11 PM now.

Unfortunately, it would be a long time before the sun rose.

I took Yoo Yeoreum into a dark alley.

“Jina, I’m glad you transferred. If I had been alone, I would have messed everything up. I tend to break things easily. It was the same back then…. If I hadn’t insisted on keeping the cat ….”

Yoo Yeoreum started to cry, tears streaming down her face.

Is a beauty still beautiful even when shedding tears?

“…How wonderful it would have been if you were by my side back then, Jin.”

“Yeoreum, from now on, we can always be together.”

“No way, are you confessing?”

“No, I’m sorry, but my heart belongs to Seo Ga-eul.”

Pfft-. Yu Yeoreum couldn’t hold back her laughter.

After laughing for a while, Yu Yeoreum spoke in a somewhat sad voice.

“…I’m jealous of Ga-eul.”

“There’s no need to be jealous. You’ll always be with Ga-eul from now on.”

“Huh? What did you just say?”

Clang, creak-.

I opened the basement door and pushed Yu Yeoreum inside.

Seo Ga-eul, whose hands and feet were bound with chains, opened her mouth wide upon seeing Yu Yeoreum.

“Oh.”

“…Huh?”

Yu Yeoreum also blinked, unable to comprehend the situation.

Seo Ga-eul spoke to Yu Yeoreum, who seemed to be in a daze.

“Yu Yeoreum, since you don’t seem to understand the situation, I’ll be honest. Han Nam-jin, that b*stard, kidnapped me and locked me up here. He’s a crazy psychopath! A perverted b*stard!”

“Wha…”

Yu Yeoreum’s eyes turned towards me.

The warmth that had been in those eyes just moments ago was now replaced with confusion, betrayal, and a myriad of other emotions, shining with a strange light.

They were literally prism-like eyes.

Is this the right thing to say in this situation?

“The culprit is a cripple!”