I’m Not That Villain

37 – Assassin (3)

Creak, creak.

A strange sound is heard. But more than that, my head is ringing.

Night Owl frowned and opened his eyes. He could hear murmuring voices in front of him, but he couldn’t see well.

“…You didn’t seem like it, but you’re quite skilled, aren’t you? Where did you learn to shoot?”

“…I come from a family of hunters… There were always guns at home. I ran away because I got sick of the smell of gunpowder…”

It feels like my head is going to explode.

Why does it hurt so much? Where am I?

For some reason, I can’t muster any strength in my body. Night Owl muttered in a hoarse voice, his throat burning with thirst.

“Water… please…”

The conversation abruptly stopped.

Footsteps were heard. As he squinted against the too-bright light, a shadowy figure extended something towards him.

“Drink.”

A commanding male voice. He drank it for now. As his thirst subsided somewhat, his blurry vision began to clear.

What he thought was a bright light was actually a lamp, and the place he was tied up in looked like a warehouse.

“You said you were targeting me?”

He lifted his head and looked ahead. The shadowy figure, becoming clearer, was quietly staring at him.

A stern face.

A harsh expression.

“…Am I captured?”

“And now I’m debating whether to kill you or not.”

He tried to move his hands.

But they were tied. They wouldn’t move. He could usually tear through most things…

What is this?

It doesn’t budge.

“It’s a chain. Custom-made for you.”

“……”

“Here.”

The man sat down on a chair in front of him. Two women looked at him from behind the man.

One was the woman he had seen in his fleeting memories. The malice was gone, replaced by a trembling, innocent expression.

The other one was young… but didn’t seem young. She was wearing a ridiculous maid outfit, staring at him quietly as if she would break his wrist with a single move.

Neither of them seemed like ordinary people… So who is this man…

“…Are you… Heukgyeong?”

“Yes.”

The man whispered.

“I am Heukgyeong.”

. . .

Ha!

I always wanted to say this.

You know, the kind of scene where a man hidden in the shadows of a gloomy place utters a single word in a heavy voice…

Like a hidden boss reveal!

It’s a situation every man dreams of at least once. Absolutely. But, it seemed like a good idea to stop joking around now.

An assassin targeting the weapon maker ‘Heukgyeong’ was right in front of me.

Hadn’t I watched the recorded internal data several times? This woman, she deliberately targeted the truck.

Was it for valuables, or the special equipment being transported…

Or was it really my life she was after? That’s what I needed to find out from now on.

I cracked my knuckles.

“Name.”

“Night Owl.”

“…Quite a stylish name.”

Renata and Lily whispered from behind.

“Is it… a cool name?”

“If you dig into it, there’s no end. Move on.”

I can hear everything.

The assassin, Night Owl, smiled slightly.

“At least you have some sense of aesthetics.”

“You too.”

I tossed and caught the hammer in my hand repeatedly. I asked the bound assassin.

“Why did you target me?”

“I was hired.”

“Hired?”

“It’s a principle to keep the client’s identity confidential.”

The assassin glanced at the hammer in my hand and cautiously observed my reaction. He whispered softly, as if testing me.

“Just cut my throat instead.”

“Loyalty, huh? I like it even more. But, you know, talking might increase your chances of survival, even if just a little.”

“……”

The assassin added a word.

“I can never say that the person who hired me belongs to the Steel Plate Workshop. I will never mention that it is one of the officially certified workshops in the Black Market, even if I die.”

…Seems like he really wants to live.

Now, let’s see.

“Steel Plate Workshop?”

Sounds…familiar.

I casually took out my phone. With a light swipe, I could instantly see where I had seen that name before.

Those real b*stards. One of them was from that place, posting inflammatory articles openly mocking me.

I even made a note of it separately. Among the worst of the worst, this guy was the easiest to identify.

“Black Mask? Was it him who ordered it?”

“Who is that?”

“…Never mind.”

Well, it’s not entirely unrelated. Why?

Because my intuition points that way!

“What exactly was the request?”

“I can never say that I was asked to kill Heukgyeong. I also can’t mention that I received several lists. I will never say that all the targets are weapon makers, and that everyone except you is from a workshop!”

“The list?”

“I burned the documents and memorized the contents in my head, but I will never say that!”

“I want to verify if what you’re saying is true. You must have kept some record of the request, right? Where is it?”

“……”

The assassin averted his gaze slightly.

So, that’s the one thing he can’t say.

“Wow. Impressive.”

I smiled broadly.

“You’re protecting your client’s information. Very loyal. Right?”

“…That’s the difference between an amateur and a professional.”

“That’s right. And as you said, a professional must take responsibility for their own failures.”

“Yes, that’s right. I am the marksman, Night Owl. Of course, I intend to take responsibility.”

“A splendid choice. No matter how much I dig, you won’t answer… You are a terrifying night owl.”

“You know a thing or two.”

The assassin, whose nose was held high, nodded. He turned his head.

“Ms. Lily. Shall we kill him now?”

“Yes.”

Lily pulled up her white gloves with a swift motion. Night Owl blinked.

“Wha? Ki, kill me?! What are you talking about?!”

“Well, you said you’d take responsibility, so we should do as you wish.”

“Wa, wait! Of course, I didn’t spill anything, but haven’t you heard all the information you wanted?!”

“How can I believe that when I can’t even verify if it’s true? You might have tried to kill me out of personal grudge. In that case, it’s better to kill you now. Even if it’s the latter, you, who are bound by loyalty, won’t show me the full contract. It’s only natural that I can’t trust you. Damn it. Night Owl. You were a fine woman. To protect the client’s identity as a hitman until the end… I won’t find an assassin as good as you. At least I’ll kill you without pain.”

“Wa, wait…”

“But come to think of it, Ms. Lily. Isn’t killing without pain an insult to a professional? Let’s torture her a bit before killing.”

“Shall we start with the fingernails?”

“Oh, that’s harsh. Just, you know. Let’s start with the toenails. We’ll do the fingernails later.”

“Ahhh!!!”

Night Owl, with a face in shambles, shed tears. Tears fell as if her mask was breaking.

“Do, don’t kill me… I’ll show you… I’ll show you, so don’t kill me…”

Well, you should have done that from the start.

“Next time, I won’t say it. I’ll start with the toenails. Even though I look like this, I’m a superhuman, so I can pull them out. Got it?”

“Got it…”

“Spill everything you know. If you try to keep some foolish loyalty, got it…?”

I gently patted the assassin’s head.

“You’ll go to hell.”

.

A professional among professionals, with over a hundred kills.

Among those killed, there were quite a few with special abilities. Well, it doesn’t matter how they lived their lives.

For such a big shot, wasn’t it a bit… too easy to capture them?

When I persistently asked for the reason, the woman cried and said,

“Ac-actually… the real Night Owl is my sister…”

“Sister?”

“Yes, yes. That’s right. But, I’m quite skilled too. Really…”

“Why are you impersonating your sister?”

“Well, my sister disappeared…”

What is she talking about?

She sniffled. If you look closely, she has a really pretty face. She’s wasting it.

I wiped her face with a tissue. She quietly held out her face and blew her nose.

“My sister is a legendary assassin. Night Owl. The real night owl. But she disappeared… One day, she just vanished. So I stole her account and impersonated her, thinking that eventually, she would come looking for me.”

“But she didn’t come?”

“Yes, that’s right. But you’re not really going to pull out my toenails… right?”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Sniff.”

“So, the client who gave you the list… you’re sure it’s the master of the Steel Plate Workshop?”

“Yes. I investigated it myself.”

Yoon Si-woo. I stared intently at the name of the person who commissioned the murder.

Could this be the Black Mask who left the first hate comment on my post? Maybe not. The important thing is that he’s a master in the same industry.

Someone I’ve never been involved with before is doing this…

Is there a reason? Or is it just simple jealousy?

“The list you mentioned earlier?”

“I remember all of it.”

“Recite it all. Let’s organize it.”

She started listing the names one by one. There were twelve in total.

I searched each of those names.

Workshops certified by the black market. And usually, those workshops…

Most of them had personal websites on the internal network of Seoul.

Oh. Here it is. There it is too. They’re all artisans from workshops, aren’t they?

…But you know.

“…Look at this?”

They’re all workshops located in ‘Jung-gu, Seoul.’

It can’t be a coincidence… If that’s the case, it must be targeting workshops in a specific area…

The important thing is whether they did this knowing that I live here. If they did, it would be a big problem. It would mean my living area has been exposed.

But… it didn’t seem like that. Yes. If my location had been discovered, they would have sent the assassin straight to my house, not the car.

Didn’t the assassin in front of me also say that?

He didn’t know where I lived, so he prioritized attacking the truck.

I thought for a moment. I looked down at the names on the list.

It’s clear that something special is happening in the workshops in Jung-gu, Seoul. It’s common to kill competitors during chaotic times, and it might not be.

Whatever it is, there seemed to be some internal circumstances that I didn’t know about. To find out, I might need to dig a little deeper…

First, it’s important to eliminate the threatening opponent. There’s someone openly pointing a knife at me, so I can’t let them continue their activities.

I had no intention of leaving those who targeted my life alone. I was already angry from the malicious comments, damn it. These b*stards even sent an assassin?

I’ll eliminate them in return. Crazy b*stards.

I put the list down with a thud. I stared at the assassin tied to the chair.

“…First.”

The thing in front of me. He had no personal grudge against me.

To be honest, he was just a tool. A bullet sent by the enemy to kill me.

If that’s the case. Conversely…

Doesn’t that mean I can use and discard him too?

Let’s see.

“Show me your ability first. Let’s hear what you can do.”

First, let’s see how useful he is.