DRS 7

C7

Arresting the Villain

Without hesitation, Gwanghyun immediately headed toward the area where he had just seen the villain operating on the wanted poster website.

The villain’s name was Jo Donghyun, and his danger level was Level 2.

The wanted poster website basically disclosed the locations where each villain had been spotted.

However, it was not easy to confidently set out looking for a villain based solely on that information.

Even so, the reason Gwanghyun moved without hesitation was because he knew a fair amount about Jo Donghyun.

‘Jo Donghyun, the civilian slaughterer. Bounty: 40 million won.’

He was the man responsible for hundreds of deaths despite possessing an E-rank Awakener ability that did not seem particularly dangerous.

He had caused a huge uproar in the news by attacking and hacking apart ordinary civilians walking down the streets, and he was the villain who made people realize that even a low-rank Awakener could become extremely dangerous if they harbored malicious intentions.

Because of this incident, widespread distrust of Awakeners had developed throughout society for some time, even leading to conflicts between Awakeners and non-Awakeners.

That was how severe the aftermath had been.

At the time, Gwanghyun had even received hostile looks from non-Awakeners simply because he was also an E-rank Awakener.

The incident had been so impactful, and Gwanghyun had suffered indirectly because of it, that the moment he saw Jo Donghyun’s picture on the wanted website, his memories of the man naturally came flooding back.

‘Piece of trash.’

Regardless of all the complicated social issues that followed, Gwanghyun personally despised Jo Donghyun.

The bastard never picked fights with other Awakeners.

Instead, he specifically sought out non-Awakeners who were almost completely incapable of resisting and committed his crimes against them.

Gwanghyun was incredibly relieved that he could vaguely remember even the area where Jo Donghyun used to operate.

‘I don’t remember the exact address, but I should be able to find him if I head over there.’

Hoping he could find Jo Donghyun immediately, Gwanghyun quickened his pace.

There was one thing that fortunately worked in his favor.

The bastard was still listed as Danger Level 2.

As far as Gwanghyun remembered, Jo Donghyun’s danger level had eventually risen to Level 3.

That meant he had not yet caused the large-scale casualties that would lead to his danger level being raised.

“…Let’s hurry.”

Gwanghyun resolved to find him as quickly as possible before any more innocent people became victims.

A man waited for the light coming through the window to disappear.

Only after the sun had completely set did Jo Donghyun rise from his seat and slowly stretch his body.

‘Shall I get going?’

With a vile smile on his face, he changed into dark clothing and headed outside.

There were far too many people wandering the streets at night who seemed to have no fear whatsoever.

And to Jo Donghyun, such people were perfect prey.

That was why he went out every night in search of victims to kill.

‘Yesterday was a work of art, too.’

Just the previous night, Jo Donghyun had committed two murders.

As he recalled the woman who had desperately begged him to spare her life while blood poured from her wounds, a slow smile spread across his face.

But then Jo Donghyun suddenly twisted his expression as if he had never smiled at all.

He had remembered his most recent failure.

Unfortunately, the person he had targeted that time had not been an ordinary person, but an Awakener.

Something like that was bound to happen occasionally because Jo Donghyun was not the type to make elaborate plans or carefully choose his targets before committing murder.

He simply attacked people who happened to catch his eye while passing by.

And every now and then, that meant he ended up targeting an Awakener—a Hunter.

Awakeners generally had much sturdier bodies than non-Awakeners, and Jo Donghyun’s personal trait did not possess particularly impressive destructive power.

As a result, when he targeted an Awakener, he could barely inflict any damage at all.

‘Still, that bastard didn’t seem to understand what was happening at all.’

Even when his surprise attacks failed, however, Jo Donghyun was never in any real danger.

His personal trait was Physical Acceleration.

He could use his enhanced speed to launch a surprise attack, and if it failed, he could simply run away without any problems.

‘I’ve made a few mistakes like that, which is why I ended up on the wanted list, but…’

Jo Donghyun was not particularly worried.

Even if someone tried to pursue him, escaping the area was easy enough whenever he decided to run.

And thanks to that, Jo Donghyun’s crimes had become increasingly brazen as the days went by.

The number of people he had victimized was already approaching three digits.

“I hope I can find someone with a nice, fat wallet today…”

As Jo Donghyun walked along, chuckling to himself, a man entered his field of vision.

He gave a grin and licked his lips before slowly pulling a knife from his pocket.

It was just an ordinary knife, not specialized Hunter equipment, but that was more than enough for Jo Donghyun to use.

‘Doesn’t look like he’s carrying much money.’

Judging by his appearance, the man did not seem to be carrying anything particularly valuable.

But that did not matter much to Jo Donghyun.

He was not committing murder and robbing people because he desperately needed money to survive.

He simply regarded it as a game, and getting a particularly fat wallet as a trophy only made it more entertaining for him.

‘I’ll finish this guy quickly and find another one.’

─Tap.

In an instant, Jo Donghyun charged toward the man at tremendous speed.

He immediately aimed for the man’s neck to render him incapable of resisting.

Just before the blade reached his neck, Jo Donghyun felt a rush of exhilaration and flashed a chilling smile.

Clang─

“…Huh?”

‘Stab’…? No, ‘clang’…?

Jo Donghyun raised his head in confusion and examined the spot where his knife had struck.

He noticed that the man’s neck did not even have the slightest scratch.

Jo Donghyun slowly took a step back and frowned.

“Another Hunter?”

If his knife could not pierce the man’s skin, that meant he was not an ordinary person.

In other words, he was an Awakener.

Two Awakeners in a row, including yesterday.

It was almost absurd.

“…”

The man whose neck had just been stabbed turned around, and Jo Donghyun met his eyes.

The man simply stared at him without saying anything, as though he had not properly understood what was happening.

Jo Donghyun clicked his tongue and, as usual, instantly fled the scene.

Once he had put some distance between them, Jo Donghyun let out a breath and slowly raised his head.

He had held back a little unnecessarily, but something like this was hardly a problem.

“Seriously, what terrible lu—?”

Just as he was calming himself down, Jo Donghyun suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

Driven by an inexplicable sensation, he abruptly turned his head.

And somehow, he found himself face-to-face with the man who had already caught up to him.

“Huh?”

─Grab!

In an instant, Jo Donghyun was seized by the neck and dragged all the way to a wall.

Thud!

His body slammed into the wall with such force that Jo Donghyun momentarily felt as though his consciousness was about to disappear.

“Ghk…”

His head was spinning, and the hand around his neck was still choking him.

Jo Donghyun could do nothing but tremble in pain and desperately flail his arms.

“Jo Donghyun, right?”

As it turned out, Jo Donghyun’s comment about having terrible luck had been completely accurate.

Because the man he had tried to attack moments ago was Choi Gwanghyun.

“Ghk, ghk…”

Jo Donghyun’s face turned blue.

Feeling as though his breath would soon be cut off completely, tears, mucus, and saliva began to stream down his face.

Just as he was about to lose consciousness, Gwanghyun threw Jo Donghyun onto the ground.

─Boom!

Jo Donghyun rolled across the floor once before coughing violently.

He had only been deprived of oxygen for about thirty seconds, but it felt as though an eternity had passed.

After a while, Jo Donghyun managed to regain his senses despite the pain and staggered back to his feet.

“Kh… kh, hehehe…”

Then, all of a sudden, he began laughing like a madman.

But he was not laughing because he had lost his mind.

It was simply laughter born from joy.

He had finally figured out what was happening.

‘He came to capture me.’

An Awakener who already knew his name despite not exchanging a single word with him.

There was no other explanation.

This guy had to be a Hunter who had come to capture him.

And if that was the case, then this man had just made a huge mistake.

“Heh, heh… stupid bastard. I’ll remember your face.”

The man must have thought he had already caught him and therefore released his grip on Jo Donghyun’s neck.

But if so, he was mistaken.

Even though Jo Donghyun’s offensive abilities were practically nonexistent, when moving at full speed, his speed was at least that of a B-rank Hunter.

Jo Donghyun had absolutely no intention of allowing himself to be captured quietly.

“If you wanted to catch me, you should’ve tied my legs up first.”

─Whoosh!

The instant he finished speaking, Jo Donghyun kicked off the ground and began sprinting.

The speed he had shown earlier had only been half of what he was truly capable of.

The man was probably so shocked that he had lost the ability to speak by now.

‘That fucking bastard. I’ll definitely get revenge.’

As he ran, Jo Donghyun recalled the face he had seen moments ago.

To think that bastard had done this to him.

He would never let it go.

Even if it took days, weeks, or even months, he swore he would get his revenge.

He did not care even if the bastard was an Awakener.

He would find out everything about him, track down his family, and tear the bastard apart—

“So I guess I did make a mistake.”

‘…Huh?’

Hearing a voice suddenly come from beside him, Jo Donghyun turned his head in confusion.

His face immediately went pale.

Gwanghyun was running right beside him at exactly the same speed.

“Wha…?”

Before Jo Donghyun could react, Gwanghyun suddenly grabbed him by the back of the head.

Jo Donghyun lost his balance and went crashing to the ground with a violent thud.

Gwanghyun approached the fallen Jo Donghyun with an expressionless face.

Then he calmly brought his foot down on both of Jo Donghyun’s knees.

Crack.

A brutal snapping sound rang through the air.

“AAAAAAAAARGH!”

Jo Donghyun screamed after both of his legs were broken.

Gwanghyun frowned as though he found the screaming unpleasant.

At least now the bastard would no longer be able to run away.

Gwanghyun pulled out his smartphone and began searching for the message he had received last time.

[Police Agency Villain Special Task Force]

After finding the message regarding the bounty payment, Gwanghyun checked the phone number.

Since the message had been sent directly by the Villain Task Force, he knew it was their direct line.

So Gwanghyun immediately called it.

The ringing stopped before even ten seconds had passed, and a weary, exhausted voice answered.

—Yes… Villain Special Task Force…

Judging by how quickly they answered despite it being the middle of the night, they really did seem to operate twenty-four hours a day.

Then again, they had responded immediately the last time as well, even though it had been quite early in the morning.

Gwanghyun nodded, somewhat relieved.

“Ah, hello—”

“AAAAAAAAARGH!”

Hearing Jo Donghyun’s scream, the Villain Task Force seemed to realize that something serious was happening.

Their voice immediately changed.

—The person calling, is something wrong? If you’re in danger, you can lower your voice as much as possible while speaking. If you need assistance, please tell us your current location as briefly as possible.

Gwanghyun scratched his head awkwardly before answering.

“Um… it’s not really dangerous. And I don’t actually need any help.”

—Pardon? What… Ah! If you’re being threatened by a villain, please don’t hang up! Just wait a moment! We’ll immediately prepare to track your location.

“It’s not that either. I just wanted to ask you something.”

The Villain Task Force could not help but find Gwanghyun’s strangely calm voice puzzling.

But Gwanghyun paid no attention to their reaction and calmly asked:

“I caught a villain. Where should I take him?”