I’m Not That Villain

3 – Moving (3)

What’s done is done.

I decided to think positively.

What does it matter? Whether they’re criminals or whatever…

I have my own workshop now!

It took 8 years to get a formal license at the Black Chain Workshop.

It took 2 years to save money to build my own workshop.

I expected it to take a total of 10 years, but it was completed in a day.

Yes. 10 years. Since I saved 10 years, it’s worth being a criminal.

I gently leaned my hand against the window. The car, which had been moving slowly, began to reach the city center.

The important thing was the outskirts. It was a ruin to the extent that one might wonder if people could really live there.

Everything in sight was like that. Strange graffiti was written on the walls, and some things were covered with red paint, or maybe dried blood, I couldn’t tell.

It’s a chaotic neighborhood. Outskirts of the city. This place used to be called…

Was it Gwanak-gu?

That’s all in the past now. My goodness. Back in the day, people used to boast about Seoul being our capital…

The great escape of experimental subjects with supernatural abilities.

A place abandoned under the fleeing government that couldn’t even clean up after their grand human experiments.

They say they even mobilized the military back then but lost. There’s a line drawn in history.

A history that shouldn’t be mentioned.

Every time a new president comes into office, there’s a clause added to their promises. Do you know what it is?

The grand recapture of Seoul. The promise to cleanse the city of criminals.

But you know, I don’t think they’ve ever succeeded.

Foreign criminals have filled the void left by the government, turning it into a city full of violence where regulations and laws are ignored.

That’s Seoul. Oh, Night Seoul. The great city of crime.

“Mr. Lee Seo-jun.”

Cha Seo-yoon slowed down. She asked me as we entered the road.

“How much do you know about Seoul?”

“…Well.”

I glanced at the place that didn’t look like a livable city.

“Just mentioning it on various internet sites gets you sanctioned. So when people refer to Seoul on community sites, they call it ㅅㅇ or ‘that city’… But even those get reported, so I’ve never really heard much about it. Other than it being a hellish place. But since people live there, it can’t be that unlivable, right?”

“From the government’s perspective, Seoul is a history they want to erase. They ban any mention of it under the pretext of preventing criminal behavior, so few people know the reality. It’s an ironic situation where people living in Korea don’t know much about a city in Korea. Everyone refrains from mentioning Seoul, so most citizens of Busan just perceive it as a city of crime. A city where people can’t live.”

The broken and shattered walls gradually began to disappear.

What covered them was a brilliant civilization.

“But inside, it’s completely different. A city that has rapidly developed due to almost no regulations or restrictions. A city where supernatural abilities run rampant, but science hasn’t fallen behind. Seoul is the current government’s biggest stain and at the same time, it has now reached a level where it can almost be called a city-state.”

“…Huh?”

“I’ve taken a few clients to Seoul, and they were always surprised. They asked if this was really the city of crime. So I’m telling you in advance. As much as it looks glamorous on the outside…”

Cha Seo-yoon entered a proper road.

The desolate view completely disappeared.

And what greeted me was…

Skyscrapers that soared endlessly high.

“Seoul is so glamorous that most cities in the world can’t keep up.”

The smell of a brilliant city.

The streets were adorned with dazzling neon signs. But that wasn’t all. The city, now free from regulations and restrictions, seemed to have exacerbated the polarization of wealth.

A place so glamorous that no other city could compare. Perhaps only Tokyo, Beijing, London, or New York could rival it. Of course, its interior was likely rotten to the core.

“Wow…?!”

Skyscrapers lined the streets. The city’s shadows were deep, and the fashion of the people visible was somehow hip.

It felt completely different from Busan. Moreover, as Cha Seo-yoon had said, honestly, just by looking at the exterior, it felt like a city far more developed than the current capital, Busan, was placed before my eyes.

It wasn’t just the development that was different. The important thing was that every visible citizen seemed to be carrying a weapon as if it were natural.

Well, it’s a world where carrying self-defense items has become common. So, I wasn’t surprised by that.

What surprised me was that most of them were carrying pistols, not just cold weapons.

“Is this for real?”

Gun control.

It was the same in the past and now. Even in a world dominated by abilities, gun control continued without fail.

If anything, it had become stricter than before. The enforcement agencies, if nothing else, somehow managed to prevent firearms from being imported into the country.

It’s not that they couldn’t be made with the technology of the workshops… but when it came to gun control, the enforcement agencies were solemnly different, mentioning it as a taboo list that should not be touched at all.

Naturally, the smuggling of gun-related parts and such was strictly prohibited, and the imported goods were strictly inspected one by one through customs.

Just possessing one was a crime, so naturally, ordinary workshops didn’t even think about touching them. In relation to that, even the specialized weapons made in workshops had all sorts of regulations attached to them. Even the items publicly listed on the black market had to comply with those regulations.

But you know what?

Ironically, they said nothing about cold weapons.

It’s quite funny. Well, cold weapons are indeed better than firearms. Rather than killing someone without guilt by pulling a trigger, cold weapons are complex weapons that require you to beat someone with all your might to kill them.

So, the weapons from the workshops mostly evolved around cold weapons. They included various mechanical elements and sometimes had special functions…

Anyway, they didn’t touch firearms. The technology for items that shoot bullets when the trigger is pulled didn’t develop at all.

So, when people usually carried self-defense items, they often carried weapons that felt like knives. Worrying about knife crimes and such is a story for when you’re safe; at this point, if you don’t worry about crime, you’ll die yourself.

But here, the scale is really different. No, they really carry guns.

Moreover, the funny thing was that they seemed to be consumed as fashion items.

Wow. Look at that. They put patterns on the holster. There’s even a cat keyring on the gun… Is the fashion with many pockets perhaps to hide guns? Well, if you have many pockets, you can hide many things.

“Mr. Lee Seo-jun.”

“Yes?”

“There are four places in present-day Seoul where public order is relatively well maintained. Gangnam, Seocho, Yongsan, and Jung-gu.”

“…Oh.”

“But Gangnam’s land prices are insanely high. The same goes for Seocho. Yongsan has somewhat strict entry conditions. So, excluding those three, Jung-gu would be the best.”

“Isn’t that the very center? It seems like the land prices would be high there as well.”

“That’s correct. But recently, something happened. Each district has an organization that dominates it. They don’t control everything, but they control most of it. However, even such places are bound to fall once in a while.”

Cha Seo-yoon gently turned the steering wheel.

“In Jung-gu, that reversal phenomenon happened recently. It’s as if the center of power has shifted, and a major purge took place. Many people died.”

“…So there are more empty houses now? They’re not haunted, are they?”

“Do you believe in spiritual things?”

“There’s such a thing as supernatural abilities, so why not?”

“I don’t believe in them.”

“You seem to be trembling.”

“It’s an illusion.”

Lee Seo-yoon picked up the phone and made a call somewhere.

Click.

[Team Leader Lee Seo-yoon?]

“Yes, it’s me. What happened to the real estate agent we talked about?”

[Currently on standby. You can come over.]

“Understood.”

The car that had been rolling along finally stopped. A man in a suit and another man in casual clothes greeted us in the city center.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Lee Seo-jun.”

The real estate agent.

He rubbed his hands together and smiled at me. His eyes were full of greed.

“There are a lot of properties available right now. Come with me.”

A real estate agent directly hired by the black market.

He was certainly experienced. He also showed me only the buildings that I liked.

But, you know, there was a slight flaw. There was a bit of blood smeared in the corners of the houses.

They tried to clean it, but traces remained here and there. Did they kill someone inside the house?

A chill ran down my spine.

“So… do civilians die in internal conflicts between organizations?”

“They usually don’t touch civilians. Mr. Lee Seo-jun, what do the houses you’re looking at now seem like to you?”

At Cha Seo-yoon’s words, I glanced at the building I had just seen.

A house. Three stories. Its exterior was also splendid.

“It looks expensive.”

“In this place, wealth is power. At the same time, you must strive not to lose it. To maintain wealth and power, you have no choice but to focus on one place. Those who own such a house in Seoul are inevitably tied to special power.”

“…If I choose here, do I have to do the same?”

“It’s Mr. Lee Seo-jun’s choice. You don’t have to, but you should know that a house with a beautiful exterior naturally arouses envy and jealousy.”

With perfect advice, I immediately changed the direction I was looking. From a house that looked expensive to one that felt a bit cozier.

I do want to live in a palace-like house…

But isn’t my life more important?

The real estate agent seemed somewhat disappointed, but he still diligently guided me. I carefully checked the buildings he showed me.

Fortunately, I was able to find a suitable house late at night.

A place that was somewhat close to the surrounding buildings but still had some distance.

A spacious first floor and basement space, and a place where a simple living space could be created on the second floor.

However, I was concerned that the building itself was somewhat outdated. It seemed like there was mold here and there, and it looked like it would crumble if scratched.

Cha Seo-yoon helped with that point.

“If it’s renovation work, we can do it along with the security facility construction.”

“Perfect!”

Hmm. Delicious. The gift is so delicious that I’m satisfied.

Now that the site is decided, all that’s left is to quickly start the construction. And that too, the Black Market quickly sent agency staff.

The remodeling manager bowed his head to me. He wiped his hands clean and showed me the blueprint.

“We plan to design it roughly like this. If there are any modifications…”

“Let’s overhaul everything.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m thinking of using the entire first floor as a workshop, not a living space.”

“The entire first floor?”

He stroked his chin as if intrigued.

“It seems like this will be a long conversation. Very well. Since we received a direct cooperation letter from the Black Market, we will try to meet your requirements as much as possible.”

. . .

Cha Seo-yoon leaned against the car and stared blankly at Lee Seo-jun, who was talking enthusiastically.

A confident attitude as if he had never been discouraged. Is his mental strength quite strong? Even though he suddenly became a criminal, he was smiling as if he was in a good mood.

[Team Leader Cha, what should I write in the report?]

“…….”

Cha Seo-yoon stepped away from the car. He organized the words he was about to say in his head.

There is, of course, a reason for giving such a reward to an individual. It could have been left alone after killing.

But the reason for not doing so was his usefulness.

…A weapon. A weapon maker.

To the extent that it pleased that madwoman.

A big shot famous for being a weapon collector. A madwoman who had killed artisans on the spot if the weapons made for her did not please her.

And yet, she personally praised the performance of this item.

According to a separate investigation within the Black Market, it was reported that her currently collected weapons could not be matched by current technology.

If all of that is true…

Doesn’t that mean there are almost no artisans who can replace him?

“I think we need to watch a little longer.”

[Shall we report it as… disposal on hold?]

“Yes.”

In the end, it can only be known by seeing it directly.

What he makes, and what he can do.

If it is something that benefits the Black Market, he will be given support without hesitation.

If it is the opposite…

He will have to be disposed of, albeit belatedly.

There is no need to drag on a relationship that has no benefit.

“Let’s end this…”

Cha Seo-yoon, who was about to end the communication, noticed a bloodstain stuck in the corner of the mansion.

“…Do you believe in spirits by any chance?”

[Spirits? Ghosts? No way. There’s no such thing.]

“…I thought so too.”

[Ah. But when you think about horror movies… it seems like there might be.]

“…….”

Cha Seo-yoon slowly moved to a spot where the bloodstain was not visible.