The Villain’s Recipe - Chapter 21.1
‘The location of ZERO’s hideout.’
Only the memory of traveling through a port remained in Lee In-su’s recollections, and even the place he arrived at was a run-down, prison-like spot. There, this bastard had received money and handed over a nephew. How should he convey this to Kang Sa-hyeok?
‘He won’t go crazy, right?’
Instead, he would swallow his anger inward.
“First, let’s receive guiding. I’ll tell you afterwards.”
“The story comes first.”
“Do you know what your eyes look like right now?”
In an esper who is going berserk, the eyes usually change first. The pupils become smaller, the sclera gradually turns red, and blood vessels begin to show. Then, unable to endure the pain, they scream and their power explodes. When an S-rank esper goes berserk, how many people would die right away?
Kim Mi-yeong called over Yoo Yeon-seo, whom she had made to wait in advance. She actually wanted to bring Seo Mun-ji-yeon, but something else had come up for her. Yoo Yeon-seo had probably meddled with something. Still, for the time being, it was better than having no one.
Seeing that Kim Mi-yeong had no intention of changing her mind, Kang Sa-hyeok let out a sigh and moved rooms for the guiding. Usually, he could barely manage physical contact, yet it seemed he wanted to resolve things as quickly as possible somehow.
“My word.”
So a friend is precious to this extent. No, wait, are they really true friends? If they have to go this far to be friends, then it must be true that she has no friends.
“Tell me now.”
As soon as his berserk state subsided, Kang Sa-hyeok sought out Kim Mi-yeong again. He came wearing a bathrobe, as if he had run straight over the moment he finished showering. Looking at the water droplets clinging moisture to his chest revealed through the opening of the bathrobe, Kim Mi-yeong shut her eyes tightly.
“Such a hurried temperament. Understood. I’ll tell you.”
Kim Mi-yeong calmly told him what she had found out from Lee In-su.
“By the way, your friend was bold, wasn’t he?”
In the process of peeking into memories, she saw Lee Min-ha, who had been dragged away by Lee In-su, cooking meals for other espers. Usually, when placed in such a situation, it is not easy to take care of meals. Hearing Kim Mi-yeong’s words, Kang Sa-hyeok wore a bitter smile.
“He was always like that.”
Uniquely small in build and weak, he had the goodness to step forward and help when others were having a hard time. Even if that person happened to be a bad person, he tried not to be trapped by stereotypes.
“Still, now I know.”
The suspicions he had harbored all this time became the truth. Min-ha had been dragged off to ZERO and was serving as their guide. No matter how much courage one mustered, how long could that be maintained in a desperate situation? Kang Sa-hyeok rubbed his forehead with his hand.
‘I must rescue him.’
By any means necessary, he had to find ZERO’s hideout and rescue Min-ha. Kindness sometimes becomes a weakness. Min-ha was someone who even cherished caterpillars on leaves. Just imagining whether he was being deceived by monsters who looked nothing like humans, or what kind of horrific treatment he might be subjected to, made him feel like he was losing his mind.
“I will rescue him.”
That was why Kang Sa-hyeok deliberately voiced his determination aloud.
“Yeah, if it’s you, you can do it.”
Kim Mi-yeong thought she ought to work hard for Kang Sa-hyeok, who was both such a junior and a subordinate employee.
❖ ❖ ❖
“Hureeeeeh.”
The white-haired young man whimpered in terror as he watched a centipede crawling down the wall. Because their hideout was made by remodeling an old building that had not been used for a long time, bugs often popped up. On top of that, perhaps because there was a forest nearby, not only were the varieties diverse, but their sizes were also no joke.
“S-Save me.”
He tried muttering in a small voice, but there was no one who heard it and came running. The young man, Woo Eun-yul, wrapped his body tightly in a blanket and crawled into the corner of the bed. He could have just opened the door and gone out to ask for help, but he didn’t want to do that. He simply wanted to die quietly alone in the dark room. Thus, while he was huddled and crying over the terror of the centipede, the door that had remained shut all this while burst wide open.
“Huiik!”
A scream naturally popped out of his mouth. That person had come again. Lee Min-ha. The guide who had somehow started living together with him at some point. However, he had aspects distinct from the other two guides.
