I was surprised by what I heard from Han Seo-hyeon.
Do Chae-hee, Hong Nan-hee, and Jeong Ho-san met?
"What, how did things turn out like this?"
Originally, I sent Do Chae-hee to lawyer Hong Nan-hee because I had separate tasks for Nam Ju-hyeon, lawyer Hong Nan-hee, and Do Chae-hee.
I thought Hong Nan-hee, Nam Ju-hyeon, and Do Chae-hee would make quite a good team.
Building connections and then passing Hong Nan-hee to Jeong Ho-san... that was my plan.
But when have my plans ever gone smoothly? The world once again trampled on my plans.
Even so, for Do Chae-hee to volunteer to help with lawyer Hong Nan-hee's work.
And to take on Jeong Ho-san's case, no less.
—Is that so surprising?
'The old Do Chae-hee would never have cooperated with a lawyer.'
Do Chae-hee, a police officer who catches criminals, and lawyers who represent those criminals' circumstances to get them lighter sentences were like oil and water. She might have gone along if told to act with a prosecutor, but she would have absolutely refused a lawyer.
But to voluntarily cooperate with a lawyer for the defense of that criminal?
'Honestly, it's a bit surprising.'
I wonder if something happened while I was away.
It would be difficult to hear about what happened before since I didn't ask Han Seo-hyeon to keep an eye on Do Chae-hee separately, but it seems some incident occurred.
'Hmm, I wonder why Do Chae-hee didn't tell lawyer Hong Nan-hee the information I had prepared.'
To be precise, I wonder why Nam Ju-hyeon didn't deliver that information. I asked Nam Ju-hyeon about the situation via phone, but there was no answer from Nam Ju-hyeon. Did her phone break or something?
With no choice, I opened an anonymous chat room and invited Nam Ju-hyeon.
N: Who is this?
S: It's me.
N: Who's me?
After a brief conversation, I succeeded in convincing her of my identity. After briefly explaining the situation and asking why the plan went awry, Nam Ju-hyeon suddenly complained:
N: I'm sorry I couldn't send the text. No, but! I really have a lot to say too!?
N: This all happened because that girl you entrusted to me took my phone away!
N: She took my phone saying I seemed to be contacting you, and won't give it back, what am I supposed to do? Even Lee Hye-won can't beat that girl!
N: No, that's not important! So when are you going to take that girl away? I really feel like my blood is drying up every day here!
The chat room was instantly filled with Nam Ju-hyeon's messages before I could even reply. How fast is her typing?
Anyway, thanks to that, I got enough information.
'...So she just couldn't give the information on time.'
—Because her phone was taken away.
'Yes.'
It was hard to blame Nam Ju-hyeon. How could she stop Xie Haozhu who came charging for her phone? I'll have to tell her to check if Xie Haozhu is around before using her phone from now on.
S: So you still haven't gotten your phone back?
N: Your girl won't give it back! I'm already suffering enough losses from not being able to check in for the attendance event!
S: Attendance event?
N: Oops!
S: What on earth are you doing with that phone?
N: Just some games. No, you see. In-app purchases were possible on that phone... Ah, no, you didn't say anything either! I thought I could use it!
Good heavens, what on earth are you doing? No, in-app purchases? That was possible too? Well, it's just untraceable, so all functions possible on a phone would be available... Wait, then who's been paying our phone bills all this time? The fees Nam Ju-hyeon said she used? The image of a reliable sponsor flashed by from beyond reason.
Who else could it be. It must be Professor Geum.
I put my hand to my forehead.
He gave us untraceable phones so that no trouble would arise because of me, a criminal, and she's using it to play mobile games? And even making in-app purchases?! I felt dizzy.
N: I-I'm sorry! No, you see. I knew this was wrong, but, no, I really only did it a little. Really just a bit when there were pickups...
N: No! It's because I can't use my identity anymore because of you.
N: No, I can have one hobby too, right!
I was overwhelmed by the stream of excuses pouring in. By the way, how many times are you using the word 'no'? Did she catch a disease where she can't speak without that introduction?
Anyway, whether she spent money on games or not isn't important.
—Professor Geum might think differently.
'If he really disliked it, he would have contacted us somehow.'
—He can't, you blocked one-way communication.
'Ah, did I?'
I need to stop by for Cha Song-jin's equipment anyway, so I'll talk to him properly then.
Anyway, what's important is how to handle this from now on.
'Come to think of it, though some details changed, looking at the result, it seems like what I was going to do.'
Do Chae-hee taking on Kim Hyun-ki's case was unexpected, but it wasn't a bad result.
Wasn't it similar to what I was going to assign anyway?
I originally planned to put Hong Nan-hee and Do Chae-hee together to broaden Do Chae-hee's thinking a bit. Since Jeong Ho-san went over there anyway, I needed to have Do Chae-hee as a reliable ally.
And Do Chae-hee wasn't a very helpful ally right now.
But...
Do Chae-hee moved one step ahead of my expectations, and my arrangements all became unnecessary.
'Maybe it's fortunate. She thought she should move on her own even before I did anything. In my previous life, Do Chae-hee learned this lesson when everything was too late.'
Though his methods were wrong, Park Cheol-wan sincerely cared for Do Chae-hee. He sincerely tried to prevent the child he sponsored from going down the 'wrong' path. Creating a team for her and making her ACD's idol was all because he had thoughts.
'He probably planned to gradually soak her in power. To make her dip her feet deep in the mud without her knowing.'
But that strategy didn't work in the past either. Because unlike others, Do Chae-hee realized something was strange.
'Anyway, I'll have to keep watching how things go over there from now on.'
—Why are you interested in that side? I could understand if it was Jeong Ho-san...
'Well, because what I do can't change this world.'
What I do might be enough to change someone's life, but it's far from enough to change the world.
Why, if you think about it, it's simple.
All I can do is punish evildoers who escape the judgment of the law.
It might be justified revenge for someone, or change a life, but looking at the big picture, my movements have no meaning.
All I can do from hiding in the shadows is destruction in the end. I can kill someone, leak information, bring down towers built by evildoers, but that's it. That's not enough to change the world.
'It's useless no matter how many bad guys I kill. If society doesn't change, eventually another bad guy will fill that position.'
Right now, no one might dare covet Assemblyman Kim Seong-deuk's position. But will it be the same as time passes?
No, a second Kim Seong-deuk will appear. There will probably be a third and fourth Kim Seong-deuk too.
If people don't change, if the most important thing doesn't change, fate will repeat in the end.
'When this world remains the same, it's foolish to expect change just by removing a few bad guys. Of course, if all the bad guys were killed at once, something might change...'
But my abilities are lacking for that.
Justice is weak, and good is too...
In the end, it's that side that changes the world.
That's why I saved Nam Ju-hyeon, and why I'll save Hong Nan-hee.
Because people like this are needed to change the world.
'All I can do is kill and eliminate the nasty guys who come after them. And I'm extremely good at that. I like it too.'
I'm not a good guy. I'm even less of a cool guy. I'm just trash who uses kids by dragging them into my personal revenge.
But because I'm trash with some conscience, I intend to take responsibility and protect my people and make them happy, but even so, my essence doesn't change.
It takes a lot of power from good people to change the world.
'I've said it before, haven't I? That I can't save the world alone.'
To be precise, it means it can't be done with just guys like me.
So I'll do my best to save them.
Good and kind people.
And I'll help as much as possible. So they can fulfill their will.
N: But, um, this is the last pickup. Just 10 pulls, no, 20 pulls? Ah, actually the pity is at 80 pulls, so, um, just up to there...
'...I'm suddenly starting to feel self-loathing.'
—Hmm.
I just left a message telling Nam Ju-hyeon to stop talking nonsense and focus on the case. And at the same time, I asked her to investigate Kim Hyun-ki's case. Do Chae-hee will be working hard in the field, but she'll need help.
Okay, then I just need to watch how things progress from now on here. I slightly opened the door. As soon as I went out of the room, I frowned at the uninvited guest sticking to my side.
[Oh? You're here? Shall we continue what we were talking about earlier?]
[What talk.]
[The house isn't bad now, but I'm telling you it could become really cool with just a little touch-up. Huh? Let's change just a little, just a little.]
[You say let's change just a little, but you'll end up changing everything!]
[Ah, that's not it?]
[It is!]
There's a reason I couldn't monitor Do Chae-hee and Jeong Ho-san's case in real-time. It was because of this damn Yankee, Edward, who kept sending love cuckoos, no, interior designer cuckoos at me.
After returning from IKEA, as if he had received some divine inspiration, Edward asked me the same thing several times.
[The wallpaper is too dark, so no matter how good lighting we use, the house atmosphere doesn't come alive. Hmm? It would brighten up even if we raise the tone just a bit. And that furniture over there and this furniture here don't match each other's atmosphere. If we put, um, a small table in between to connect them smoothly, it would look much prettier.]
With his unnecessarily good aesthetic sense. The way he kept coming up with answers to problems was just annoying.
—Why don't you just leave the interior to that guy...
'That would be admitting my defeat!'
—Defeat? Do you think this is a competition? Who on earth are you fighting with?
'Of course, it's this narrow-minded world that doesn't appreciate the coolness of my interior!'
—If everyone except you says it's strange, isn't it just that your eyes are bad rather than the world being narrow-minded?
I glared at Ray's words. This damn artifact. It never takes my side even once!
Haah...
I looked at our living room that I had grown attached to.
A great living room that's gloomy, depressing, and makes your eyes dim just looking at it, like the epitome of a villain's base.
—Aren't you actually thinking it's tacky too?
My philosophy was already shattered when I brought in mass-produced IKEA furniture. The philosophy of a DIY villain base made entirely by my own hands has long since disappeared.
—That's why who would try to DIY something like a villain base?
Indeed, is it best to leave this to someone who's good at it too? Yeah, it's time for me to make a decision as the boss.
[...Don't change too much.]
[Okay! Leave it to me!]
Edward smiled brightly at my permission that finally dropped and headed towards Cha Song-jin. I slapped my forehead.
'What's going to happen to the state of the house!'
—Well, won't it turn out really well if that guy takes charge?
'Can't you take my side even once?'
I shook my head as I heard Ray laughing at my grumbling.