I Became the Academy’s Kibitz Villain

Chapter 326

When an ability user died, their corpse was managed more strictly than anything else.

In this sentence, various words could be inserted in place of ‘anything.’

The most representative example would be the word ‘resource.’

An ability user had died.

If the deceased ability user was not a hero but a villain, especially one who pretended to be a hero, gave people hope, and then was revealed to be a villain, bringing despair to them.

Something must be done anew with this villain’s death to avoid resentment.

So, whether they were a villain or anyone else, the corpse of an ability user was considered the most important ‘resource’ managed by the Hero Association.

Even if it was just a corpse.

But.

“Tsk tsk. Coming up to Seoul after such a long time only to see a corpse.”

Hyeon Se-rin and I exchanged glances as we looked at the people who entered the morgue.

It’s someone we knew.

There’s no one in South Korea who didn’t know this man.

Choi Ho-jung.

Chairman of Haegneul, one of the leading groups in Korea.

Even though he was well past sixty, he still looked as fit as a man in his forties, regardless of what kind of delicious things he had been eating.

“You bastard.”

That man was cursing at the corpse of the deceased ability user.

Even though it was wrong to insult a corpse, no matter how dead they were.

“After pocketing 50 billion won, all you do is act like a villain? Rotten scum. Do you think I gave you that expensive sponsorship money for that….”

Considering the economic losses to Haegneul and the nation caused by Nuts Crusher’s villainous actions, and what would happen in the future, it’s probably natural for this man to curse.

“What’s the family’s reaction?”

“They don’t even want to come up to Seoul.”

“What about insurance?”

“No human could have the face to ask for death insurance, could they?”

“Of course. Even if they get the insurance, they’ll get sued by the families of the people their child killed. Tsk tsk….”

For Chairman Choi Ho-jung, everything boiled down to money.

“Did you already pull this guy’s ads and replace them with something else?”

“Ah, yes. Our group’s….”

“Just remove them entirely. For at least a week. Let’s not run anything before or after the news or dramas for about a week either. Damn….”

“But that will cause massive losses….”

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“Do you want those losses, or do you want to stand in front of the cameras and read an apology?”

“Ahem.”

The other middle-aged man who came in with Chairman Choi Ho-jung cleared his throat and turned away.

“Anyway….”

While the chairman’s group was discussing the economic losses, I checked the condition of the group that came in with Hyeon Se-rin.

There were no ability users.

So, no one here would be too sensitive if we talked about things using mana.

[There’s nothing to worry about right now, right?]

[Yeah. Even if someone catches us, it wouldn’t be strange. We have an excuse.]

An excuse.

The fact that Goblin and Doul were present in this morgue.

It was the same reason that S-class ability user Raijie bothered to come up to Seoul.

The corpse of an A-class ability user.

The corpse of a villain.

A resource.

“So, the head of the Hero Association’s Seoul Branch?”

“Ah, yes! Chairman!”

A middle-aged woman with a stern face stepped up behind Chairman Choi Ho-jung.

“How does the government plan to handle this villain?”

“We will follow the wishes of the bereaved family, according to the guidelines….”

“Don’t give me that flowery talk.”

“…The President is more concerned about public order and peace in southern Gyeonggi Province after the loss of Nuts Crasher than about the body itself. He doesn’t want any trouble arising from the corpse issue.”

“That makes sense. So, we’ll handle it ‘as usual,’ right?”

The chairman gave a sly smile.

His eyes on the corpse didn’t see it as a dead person but more like the body of a cow electrocuted by lightning.

“It’s not like he died fighting a demon or a villain. He was just a scumbag who tormented the weak and got his head smashed in by Goblin. If we quietly bury a body like his, it would cause even more problems, right?”

“Yes, sir. People from China or Japan will surely come to dig up the corpse. Villains might do the same. Even Goblin….”

“You fool. If Goblin wanted to suck the life out of an ability user’s corpse, he would have done it right then and there. Why would he leave the body behind? If Goblin had dismembered and drained the corpse, it wouldn’t be Goblin but something disguised as Goblin. Tsk tsk. Anyway, it’s best if this corpse disappears quickly.”

As if making excuses, the chairman started to come up with a reason.

“And the body of a villain like this is best used as fertilizer for the national economy, isn’t it?”

He smirked.

“As per the manual, Haegneul Sangjo will cremate the villain’s body.”

Cremation.

Burning the body to ash.

The reason is obvious: to extract the most important resource from an ability user’s corpse.

“Report as soon as the mana powder refinement process is complete. The morticians are coming up from Busan to Seoul now, so start the ‘dissection’ as soon as they arrive.”

The corpse might look human, but it’s not human.

“Cut this part, and cut that part. Make sure not to spill even a single cartilage.”

It was a resource more valuable than gold.

“If it’s the corpse of an A-class ability user, it should be worth at least hundreds of billions. Tsk, if only he hadn’t been executed… We could have sold it for trillions.”

Chairman Choi smacked his lips.

“Of all people, he had to die at the hands of Goblin.”

---

We safely left the morgue and took a short break in an alley not far from the hospital.

“It’s a world gone mad, don’t you think?”

“Yeah. Haegneul never seems to change.”

Hyeon Se-rin and I sipped on drinks from a vending machine while reflecting on the conversation that had taken place in the morgue.

“Do Chief. Do you know the real reason I joined the Secret Society?”

“Because they brought you back from the dead?”

“That’s part of it, but the bigger reason I threw my second life into serving the Society?”

“The dignified death of an ability user.”

“Correct.”

Hyeon Se-rin snapped her fingers and smiled faintly.

“When an E-class ability user dies, turning that body into mana powder alone would fetch tens of billions. Tens of billions! If you move it around discreetly, using brokers here and there, it could easily exceed hundreds of billions.”

Mana powder was essentially a doping agent for ability users.

To put it bluntly, it was a drug.

Creating drug powder was illegal, but if someone extracted drugs from a dead body, it’s the government’s job to handle the corpse before that happened.

However, no country easily ‘erased’ the body of an ability user.

“When I was in Northern Europe, well, I won’t say where exactly. I don’t want to shatter your illusions, Chief.”

“It’s fine. I’ve been breaking illusions since the moment I opened my eyes in this world.”

“Hmm. Glad to hear that. Anyway, over there… when an ability user dies, the state turns them into mana powder and makes other ability users inhale it.”

As if just thinking about it disgusted her, Hyeon Se-rin crushed the empty drink can in her hand.

“I understand it. To become stronger, weak nations will do anything. It makes more sense to focus resources on one A-class ability user rather than having a pile of C and D-class corpses. It’s logical.”

Logically.

“But does it really have to be that way? Huh? Ability users are people too. Can’t they just be buried somewhere peacefully when they die? Can’t they even have rest after death? Sigh, really.”

“Is that why you joined the Society?”

“Yeah. The Society… at least they don’t turn ability users into mana powder when they die.”

Strictly speaking, they did turn them into mana powder.

But instead of turning them into strange candy to be consumed like others, the cremated remains were placed somewhere no one could exploit them, or if the person permitted it, they were erased from the world entirely.

The Society ensured that no one could recklessly desecrate the corpse of an ability user, or any human for that matter.

“Chief, if you had been the one to execute Nuts Crusher, what would you have done with the body?”

“I would have left it as it was.”

“Right? There’s no point in turning the ones you execute into mana powder.”

Those executed by Goblin left no mana behind, even if their bones were ground into powder and inhaled.

The mana had already drained away.

Unless it’s right after the execution, the mana in the bodies I executed didn’t remain in the bones; it returned to nature.

“That reminds me. When you went after Red Scarf, but the government’s dogs got to him first.”

“…….”

That was probably when I handed over the bike to Baek Seol-hee.

That was several months ago.

“Today, they’ll probably start the dissection process. They’ll try to extract the mana powder as quickly as possible before any more leaks out.”

Then.

Even if the person was executed by Goblin.

If they extracted the mana before all of it leaked out?

If they tried to salvage whatever mana remains?

“Really, why are people so desperate to cling to even the ashes of the dead?”

“If another method arises, things might change a little.”

If there was something else besides mana powder, fewer people would bother with it.

It was impossible to get rid of it entirely, though.

“Someone once said, human greed has no end, and we keep repeating the same mistakes.”

“The second part doesn’t quite fit the situation… or maybe it does.”

Hyeon Se-rin raised her hand to her face and used her power to create a mask.

“Really, do they want to be that strong?”

“Their mentality is that as long as they win, nothing else matters.”

I too pulled down my mask and gripped the Goblin Bat tightly.

[A-class ability user’s corpse. And a villain at that. There’s no way scavengers will leave it alone.]

Presently.

[They’re coming.]

Unknown magical powers were converging on Seoul’s Haegneul General Hospital.

[Time to clean up the maggots gathering around the corpse.]