Although a Villain, My Wish is World Peace

That device Han Seo-hyeon had discovered – I personally crawled through the ventilation duct to examine it.

The role of that device in the duct was simple.

Explosion.

And smoke.

Ray had confirmed it, so there was no doubt.

It seemed someone else besides us had intended to rob this auction today, taking advantage of the opportunity.

Instead of disarming it, I decided to utilize that device.

As I had anticipated, the explosion only caused chaos in the auction hall without being lethal. But amidst that chaotic atmosphere, the auction hall itself became perilous.

In a place packed with over six hundred people, a mix of civilians and hunters, no one would recklessly unleash their full power.

“The Red Flame Mana Stone! We must protect it!”

At someone’s booming voice, everyone’s gazes turned towards the auction stage. They had realized what the perpetrator behind this explosion was targeting.

These were superhuman individuals. They could easily see through trivial things like dust and observe the auction proceedings.

But what had spread from the explosion was no ordinary dust.

That deliberately released smoke had mana particles infused within it – an intentional smokescreen designed to blind the awakeners’ sight.

“I can’t see ahead!”

“Dammit! Everyone be careful!”

A dense, impenetrable cloud of smoke began enveloping the area.

—This way, the hunters definitely can’t recklessly act either.

‘Precisely because they are hunters, they can’t act recklessly. It would instantly lead to catastrophic casualties.’

Besides hunters, there were also numerous civilian waiters and observers present. Frail individuals who could be instantly killed by a stray, indiscriminate awakener attack.

Without clear visibility, they would be unable to do anything.

Ah, of course I was the exception.

My vision was imbued with mana concentration – the single-stroke talent ‘Clairvoyance.’ This allowed me to clearly perceive the world through the obscuring smokescreen.

Now it was my turn to make a move.

If someone had so kindly prepared an appetizing meal for me, wouldn’t it be good manners as a guest to properly savor it?

I pressed the button on my mask. The previously ordinary-looking face of a young man in his twenties vanished, replaced by a grinning visage crudely scrawled like graffiti.

* * *

“Everyone stay calm!”

After the explosion, Do Chae-hee immediately raised her voice. The tangled mess of people did nothing to help the situation. Amidst this chaos, there was no way to identify the culprit!

“Auction observers, please do not panic and remain in your seats! Avoid any unnecessary movement!”

Despite Do Chae-hee’s instructions, those in the front rows had already descended into panic, desperately trying to flee.

The hunters were relatively composed, at least. But the affluent sightseers who had come merely because an auction was happening were the problem.

“Save me!”

“Let me out of here!”

People blindly rushing to evacuate immediately collided with others, tumbling like falling dominoes.

“I said stay still!”

Do Chae-hee’s eyes flashed. Possessing the ‘Eagle Eye’ talent amidst this mana-infused smokescreen, she could clearly assess the situation – from the people entangled and rolling around, to the directionless security teams stumbling about in confusion.

The entire chaos unfolded within her sight.

But she couldn’t detect any suspicious individuals who might have orchestrated this incident.

The people shoving past her to escape made it difficult to maintain a clear line of sight as well.

“There are people over here!”

At times like this, her diminutive stature was an immense inconvenience. Damn these worthless humans! Just as Do Chae-hee was inwardly cursing and considering firing her holstered gun into the air, Park Cheol-wan’s voice rang out in her ear.

[Chae-hee, what’s happening?]

“We’re under att-!”

Her words were cut off.

Booooom!

A second explosion occurred.

“Kyaaaaak!”

Not only those who had already panicked, but even those trying to remain composed began wavering. It seemed they feared more explosions might follow.

“This isn’t good.”

The situation had already escalated beyond what Do Chae-hee and the few security personnel could contain through restraint alone. Without anyone possessing ‘eye’-related talents to restore visibility, protecting the countless individuals here was simply impossible.

Then she would protect the auction items, at least.

Do Chae-hee’s gaze turned towards the Red Flame Mana Stone. Fortunately, it remained intact for now.

The Red Flame Mana Stone was shielded by a protective barrier. Even after two explosions, that barrier remained firmly in place.

‘Good, that’s a relief.’

Just as Do Chae-hee was about to breathe a sigh of relief, a distortion caught her eye near the protective barrier’s perimeter.

‘What’s that?’

The passive skill accompanying her marksmanship talent – Eagle Eye, allowing her to accurately perceive her target in any situation, observed the anomaly.

Bone-white.

A skeletal figure whose sheer whiteness strained the eyes had appeared inside the enclosure housing the Red Flame Mana Stone. Concealed by the dense smokescreen, it seemed no one else had noticed, but Do Chae-hee clearly saw it.

She saw that bleached-white skeleton’s hand grasping the Red Flame Mana Stone.

“The magic stone!”

And in an instant, both the skeleton and that magic stone-

Vanished.

The multi-billion won Magic stone had simply disappeared before her eyes.

What was happening? Do Chae-hee averted her gaze from the people shoving her aside and looked up once more.

And in her line of sight, a certain youth – someone who shouldn-t be present here – appeared.

“Han Seo-hyeon.”

Why was he here?

“No, wa- just a moment!”

But before she could finish, Do Chae-hee was pushed aside by the crowd, losing sight of that youth.

“No, I said stay still, dammit!”

As her temper began to flare, the smokescreen gradually thickened. And this smoke – it was no ordinary smokescreen.

“My body is getting heavier…”

Normally, smoke should naturally dissipate over time. But this smoke only grew denser as time passed.

“Look over there! More smoke is continuously flowing in through the ventilation ducts.”

That’s right. The source of this smoke, which she had assumed had spread from the initial explosion, was actually the ventilation system. Smoke continued pouring out from the ducts in all directions, even now.

“Ho-san, did you notice?”

At Kim Myeong-cheol’s words, Jeong Ho-san also nodded grimly.

“There’s something mixed into this smoke.”

And this was no ordinary smokescreen. Upon detecting the mana particles floating within, the hunters simultaneously drew upon their mana to protect themselves.

Whoever this villain was, their target was likely the auction items. As hunters who valued their own lives above all else, they held their mana at the ready while holding their breaths.

Unless they could discern what was concealed within this smokescreen, none would recklessly act.

‘They’re being smart about this.’

Do Chae-hee bit her lip.

It was a disaster.

To be completely neutralized by such a trivial smokescreen. Well, even without it, using her abilities amidst the entangled civilians would have been precarious.

“If you’re all just going to cower like that, then stay out of my way! I’ll handle this myself.”

As Kim Myeong-cheol said that and stepped forward, a man’s voice echoed from within the smoke:

“As expected of Master Kim Myeong-cheol, with his fiery spirit.”

Do Chae-hee immediately turned her gaze towards that voice. Kim Myeong-cheol growled menacingly in response:

“Is that you, bastard?”

“The one behind all this? Who knows?”

The man’s tone was disturbingly playful, as if this entire situation meant nothing to him.

As Kim Myeong-cheol drew upon his mana, the man spoke:

“Woah, woah. Do you know what’s mixed into this smoke? If your flames erupt within it, you’ll only be doing me a favor.”

Even the notoriously unrestrained Kim Myeong-cheol couldn’t recklessly act after those words.

His ability was none other than ‘fire.’

If there were any flammable substances mixed into this smokescreen, as the man implied, a single errant spark could potentially engulf this entire area in an inferno.

For the same reason, Do Chae-hee couldn’t fire the gun holstered at her waist either.

“Dammit.”

In the end, Kim Myeong-cheol had no choice but to retreat. All that could be seen amidst the smoke was the grinning mask worn by that man – like a ghostly specter roaming the mists, that eerily glowing mask looked down upon them all.

The man wearing that crudely scrawled grinning mask spoke:

“As long as you all remain still like that, no one will be harmed.”

His voice sounded quite affable, but no one was fooled by that feigned geniality.

Yet there was an undeniable charisma to the man’s words.

“But if anyone, even slightly, draws upon their mana – poof. Everyone present here will die.”

As suspicious as this man was, those words had to be believed.

In an instant, he had rendered everyone here powerless.

“Thank you for your cooperation.”

“Cooperation, my ass.”

Through gritted teeth, Kim Myeong-cheol glared at the smoke-concealed man.

“I’ll ensure the Red Flame Mana Stone is put to good use for the sake of this world.”

Unlike Do Chae-hee, who had already realized the Red Flame Mana Stone had been stolen, the others only now grasped that the Jade had vanished upon hearing the man’s words.

“You bastard!”

Someone’s voice reverberated throughout the auction hall. As the murmurs from the crowd grew increasingly agitated:

“Just who the hell are you?”

Do Chae-hee stepped forward and asked that individual.

Her gaze, capable of piercing even this smokescreen, stared directly at the face hidden behind that mask.

Amidst all these countless hunters, she alone locked eyes with the man concealed by that mask.

“You’ll all come to know my name soon enough. For today, farewell!”

The instant he snapped his fingers, water gushed forth like a waterfall from the spot he had occupied.

“Uwaaah!”

People were swept away by the cascading deluge. The sheer volume completely flooded the auction hall, shattering windows as everything was pushed back by the turbulent currents.

Everyone had become like drowning rats. Yet remarkably, there were no serious injuries.

On the auction stage that man had ravaged, a word was newly etched into the surface – a word that had not been there moments earlier.

Weltschmerz.

“Bastard.”

As the man had said, his name had become known to everyone present here.

* * *

“It refers to a pessimistic, world-weary worldview. Fitting for an edgy middle-schooler to adopt as their name, isn’t it?”

A simple internet search revealed that word carried a twisted meaning befitting the perpetrator’s deranged behavior.

The world must seem quite bleak from that guy’s perspective. Huh? My world is a field of flowers, you say? Filled with rainbows and such? I’m the picture of happiness?

Inwardly, Do Chae-hee scoffed, but the situation was no laughing matter.

“He didn’t just steal the Red Flame Mana Stone. The Vampiric Lord’s Ring was taken too.”

With all the hunters present! Do Chae-hee clutched her throbbing head. Uwaaah, a raging inferno blazed within her.

It was an utter farce.

No other word could describe this ridiculous farce.

Weltschmerz or whatever – no matter how formidable he was, with only a water-based talent, he should have been unable to overcome the hunters gathered there.

But every factor had conspired to let that guy make an absolute mockery of them.

“It was an unavoidable situation.”

“If we had acted, greater damage would have occurred.”

“The security team’s negligence is to blame for allowing him to approach in the first place.”

The hunters were busy covering their own asses, throwing around excuses. Putting their bruised egos aside for the moment.

The shattered, ruined stage was in full view.

Victims entangled and groaning in pain could also be seen here and there.

Damn it all.

Forget leaving on time – overtime was a certainty.

Clutching her pounding headache, Do Chae-hee tightly squeezed her eyes shut.