Although a Villain, My Wish is World Peace

The procedure to remove the identification tag was over in an instant.

That’s it?!

I wiped the cold sweat beaded on my forehead while inwardly shouting that in an attempt to reassure myself.

It had been so long since I had returned that the lightness of my neckline felt strange. Holding my identification tag, Professor Geum looked at me with an expectant expression.

What, what did he want?

Seeming disappointed at my nonchalant expression, Professor Geum grumbled.

“When people get their leashes removed, they usually get all excited and shout. Thank me profusely, even bow their heads to the floor in gratitude.”

“Sorry for the lack of reaction.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine.”

He said it was fine, but his face looked quite displeased. In any case, he was a strange fellow.

“You said Do-san sent you, so where are you from?”

How did he hear that? The signal jammer should have blocked phone signals.

As if answering my question, Professor Geum took out a machine resembling a smartphone from his pocket.

“Did you really think such a simple signal jammer would work on someone who specializes in this?”

So he had already heard the lie I had told. And yet he calmly performed the procedure with an unfazed expression. At my nonplussed look, Professor Geum continued speaking.

“Tell me where you heard that guy’s name. If you don’t, I’ll reactivate your identification tag. I can escape somehow, but you’ll be in quite a predicament if you become a government fugitive.”

At Professor Geum’s words, I realized I was caught with no way out. He must have removed my identification tag with this very moment in mind. Even if I tried to escape from here, if Professor Geum reactivated my identification tag, I would become a wanted fugitive by the government.

And without any official identity at that.

“You’re threatening me like this even though you don’t know what my ability is?”

I threw out those words to buy time. Professor Geum’s eyes widened at my response.

“If your ability was truly dangerous, instead of wearing that identification tag, you would have been an active hunter for a guild.”

Damn. That was also true.

In reality, my ability wasn’t particularly threatening.

But I was still confident I could subdue this raving professor before me. It wasn’t like I hadn’t studied this at all in the academy.

However, even if I physically subdued the professor, I wouldn’t gain anything. Instead, making enemies of Professor Geum and Baek Do-san would bring greater harm.

I had no choice.

I would have to use my ‘Lie’ ability.

Even for psychic abilities, they weren’t omnipotent. Those with strong enough mental fortitude could still break free. So I had to do it decisively.

Unlike other awakeners who could always train and hone their abilities, psychic awakeners always had to conceal and hide their abilities.

Naturally, their ability to wield their talents became inferior.

I was no exception. But the me who had groveled like a dog under Seol Rok-jin was different.

I raised my inner senses.

A translucent lock, visible only to me, appeared before my eyes.

Visualizing one’s ability was essential for psychic awakeners. But not many could accomplish this essential task.

Unlike other talents where one could immediately grasp them intuitively upon use, psychic talents mostly dealt with invisible things.

I too had to go through countless trials and errors to find the image of my ability.

Unlike the status window provided by the system, this translucent window originated solely from me. It was simply a visualization of my senses.

As such, it couldn’t be perfect, but as I said.

I had gone through countless trials and errors.

The lock that appeared before me had a very ordinary shape.

Depending on how many pin cylinders were inside, it might seem more or less difficult, but based on its appearance alone, it didn’t seem too challenging.

Click, the first cylinder.

My words became the key touching the lock.

I confidently spoke out.

“With my ability, I saw that person called Baek Do-san.”

At my words, Professor Geum’s brows twitched.

“You saw him?”

Taking a breath for that question, I continued.

The ‘Lie’ ability was extremely ambiguous.

It was different from Seol Rok-jin’s ability of ‘brainwashing’. The biggest drawback of my talent was that the other person had to fully accept my lie. Seol Rok-jin could command anyone to ‘die’, but I couldn’t. Accepting death was an extremely difficult thing. But for someone suffering from depression, someone who had already halfway accepted death, whispering ‘there’s a better world over there’ would be enough to give them a slight push.

If I whispered a story the other person could believe, accept, and want to believe, then a lie could work even better than brainwashing.

Professor Geum was someone who disliked boredom. He had been waiting for a special event to come his way.

So this might work.

No, it would work.

“My talent is foresight, you see. I can see the future.”

“Foresight?”

At my words, Professor Geum’s eyes widened. So far, only one awakener with the foresight talent had been discovered.

The now deceased Gerik Dosman. Despite being unable to conquer any gates, he had been treated as a 9-Circle awakener solely due to his ability.

Foresight was that extraordinary of a talent.

“If what you’re saying is true, the government wouldn’t have just left you alone.”

“To the government, they think my ability is mere prediction. Just a 2-second glimpse into the future.”

“You concealed your true ability?”

“To be precise, back then, it would be more accurate to say it ‘hadn’t manifested yet’.”

Cases of talents blossoming with time were quite common. So believe my lie.

Click. The sound of a cylinder locking into place. Professor Geum’s first defense had crumbled.

“You saw this situation from the future?”

“Not such a convenient ability. I just saw. I saw you, Professor Geum, and that person called Baek Do-san in the future.”

It wasn’t a lie. I really did encounter him and Professor Geum in my ‘future’. Just like me, who had unwillingly ended up under Seol Rok-jin, there were many whose futures were mortgaged to Seol Rok-jin. Baek Do-san was one of them.

Unlike me, who had a psychic immunity passive skill to deflect Seol Rok-jin’s brainwashing, Baek Do-san had been completely brainwashed, becoming Seol Rok-jin’s obedient dog who did whatever he was told.

Watching that Baek Do-san, Professor Geum had said this many times:

-You’re acting weird. It’s like you’re not you!

But those tearful pleas couldn’t change anything. Baek Do-san ignored and shunned Professor Geum, his one and only friend.

At some point, Professor Geum suddenly disappeared without a trace.

Whether Seol Rok-jin had killed him, or he had left of his own accord, unable to bear the situation any longer, Professor Geum’s presence could no longer be found in this black market.

What I wanted was for that ‘future’ to never come to pass.

Looking at Professor Geum’s face, I spoke.

“I also know that you two are friends. And that if the future continues to flow like this, you’ll soon lose that friend.”

At my words, Professor Geum sharply inhaled. Although he appeared to live carefreely without a shred of seriousness, Baek Do-san was a precious friend to Professor Geum in his own way.

So he must have grabbed Baek Do-san by the collar and advised him, even risking his own life.

“Just what did you see?”

Without a hint of playfulness, Professor Geum asked me in a serious tone. I shrugged my shoulders and opened my mouth.

“Before long, an incident will occur that intertwines Representative Seol Rok-jin and Director Baek.”

At my words, Professor Geum gave me a disbelieving look. It was unimaginable to think of a connection between Seol Rok-jin, seen as the representative of anti-awakeners, and Baek Do-san, active in the underworld.

“…Be careful when smuggling goods through Yeongjong Island.”

At those words, I heard the second click. Yeongjong Island. This was another important keyword.

“So the future you saw, in other words…”

“That person will become Seol Rok-jin’s dog there.”

The agitated Professor Geum grabbed my collar.

“A dog?!”

“Doing everything his master tells him to, isn’t that a dog? If told to die, he’ll die. If told to lick the bottom of his feet, he’ll lick it. That’s what he’ll become.”

My expression had also hardened just as much. I hadn’t originally intended to go this far, but since I was revealing this much, I could disclose a bit more about the future.

“That person called Baek Do-san, he’ll do whatever Seol Rok-jin tells him to. Of course, he’ll offer up everything he had built throughout his life, but he’ll also commit acts that go against his own beliefs numerous times.”

“Such as?”

“Human trafficking, body modifications, dealing with anyone who doesn’t obey, be it civilians or otherwise, as a basic…”

“You’re saying he’ll really fall that far?”

I just shrugged my shoulders. If he couldn’t believe it, so be it, but the future Baek Do-san had indeed committed such acts.

“How you use this information is up to you, Professor. But I feel like I’ve said everything I can say.”

To the Professor, who still had a dazed expression as if his mind was elsewhere, I asked, “Are you going to report me?”

Professor Geum picked up and put down the identification tag he had removed from my neck before shaking his head.

“Why would I?”

“Then shall we settle the payment? How much for all of this?”

At my words, Professor Geum gave me a look of disbelief.

“Payment? Ha, you’re really trying to weasel your way out.”

“Isn’t it better than trying to weasel out without even discussing payment?”

“Damn it, forget the money. If what you’re saying is true… I’ll cover the cost as payment for hearing it.”

“Are you sure? What if I lied?”

In reality, everything I had said was a lie. Professor Geum’s lock hadn’t fully opened yet. It meant he still harbored doubts about my words.

“Yeah, it really doesn’t make sense. Some foresight ability user suddenly appearing? Representative Seol Rok-jin this, that. It would be easier to believe that bastard Baek Do-san sent you here to play a prank on me.”

And yet, even as he said that, instead of kicking me out, Professor Geum chose to lend an ear to my words.

“But still, for some reason, I find myself believing your words, strangely enough.”

Click. The final cylinder locked into place.

Everything was unlocked.

Professor Geum believed me. My words, all of them.

Okay, I should quickly leave before Professor Geum changes his mind.

“Then may I take my leave?”

“Before you go, take this.”

What Professor Geum tossed me was an ID card.

He had said it would only be a temporary ID valid for a week, but the ID card he handed me had even received government certification – a full-fledged awakener ID card.

Age 23. Lee Seung-jun.

Seeing the name written on the ID, I blinked.

“A guy who died illegally conquering a gate, with no family or acquaintances to look for him.”

“But you said there would only be a temporary ID?”

“That was a lie. Who would give a real ID to someone as suspicious-looking as you? Consider yourself lucky to have met me.”

Receiving full government certification for an ID was not common. For reference, my original identity as Kang Yi-sin had not received government certification. To receive that certification, one had to not only conquer gates but also perform a considerable amount of volunteer work in destroyed areas.

I didn’t know how the ID of a man with such a record had ended up in this black market, but it was an unexpected windfall.

As I was snickering at the unanticipated gain, Professor Geum handed me another item. It was the GPS that had been inside my identification tag.

“For now, you can get by with signal jamming, but you’ll eventually need a plausible ‘end’. Throw this into the ocean or a river. Make it look like a suicide by drowning. Somewhere they’re less likely to retrieve the body would be better.”

Ah, indeed. An ‘end’ for Kang Yi-sin was needed. It was a thoughtful consideration. I nodded and pocketed the GPS.

Professor Geum asked me:

“Let me ask one thing.”

“What is it?”

“With that great ability of yours, what do you plan to do?”

A great ability to know the future. What I intended to do with that ability was…

“Well, maybe try saving this world for once.”

Upon hearing my words, Professor Geum briefly had a dazed expression before immediately letting out a hearty laugh and patting my back.

“Ha, joking around! Alright, I won’t ask any further, so go on, go.”

I’m not joking.

For some reason, it felt unfair.