Instead of a Villain, I'm A Model Prisoner Chapter 6

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Chapter 6

Surprisingly, Mu-jae's wounded lips returned to normal. Instead, Hae-seo's lips tore, and blood dripped to the floor.

Drip, drip.

Ding. 

Before Mu-jae could even understand what had happened, a new system window popped up.

[Evil Value increases by 0.01%. ]

For the first time in his prison life, his villainy stat had increased. But even before Mu-jae could grasp this, it was obscured by a new notification.

[Decimal values are automatically deleted. ]

"......?"

[ The fluctuation in the Evil Value has disappeared.]

[Evil Value- 23% ]

The tension drained from Mu-jae's body. His villainy stat had increased for the first time... and then it vanished.

'What the, give it back.'

It seemed the system didn't know the saying "many a little makes a mickle." (TL: Similar saying to how little drops eventually fill a bucket)

As if Hae-seo had taken more than just the lip injury, Mu-jae's headache gradually faded and breathing became easier.

Unable to keep up with the sudden changes in his body, Mu-jae's mind naturally drifted into sleep.

***

Clatter, clatter.

The sound of utensils clashing echoed in Mu-jae's ears. It was like the sounds of daily life, as if someone was preparing breakfast, continuously making his body languid.

"Ugh."

Mu-jae tossed and turned before finally waking up 30 minutes later. The first thing Mu-jae saw as he groggily opened his eyes was Hae-seo unfolding the blanket he had folded.

"Mr. Yeo Hae-seo?"

"Are you awake?"

With a squeak of the springs, Mu-jae sat up and immediately held his head. The headache that had briefly subsided thanks to Hae-seo's skill had returned.

Hae-seo, who had been moving quickly since Mu-jae woke up, soon handed him a cup of water.

"Ah, thank..."

"Si Mu-jae, please, speak casually."

Mu-jae, who had just taken his first sip, rolled his eyes at Hae-seo's words. What was speaking casually again? He didn't remember ever speaking casually since coming here.

"Tha...nks?"

For now, he expresses his gratitude as lightly as possible.

Hae-seo paused briefly before returning the thanks to Mu-jae.

"Thank you."

"......?"

This was meant to express his gratitude for the thanks towards himself, someone who was just a doll. However, Mu-jae was too normal to realize this fact.

Even so, his throat was terribly dry.  Mu-jae gulped down the water, emptying the cup.

"How long did I sleep...?"

...huh?...Did I? ...right?

Too conscious of speaking casually, his unfinished voice trailed off weakly.

"You slept for a day and 11 hours. It's 9 PM now."

He had slept a lot. Frankly, at this point, it wasn't sleep, but a coma.

Hae-seo took the empty cup from Mu-jae's hand and returned with it refilled. It was as if he knew Mu-jae was still thirsty, even though he hadn't said anything.

As Mu-jae received the second cup of water, he finally noticed Hae-seo's horribly torn lips.

"Are you okay?"

Genuine concern was directed toward Hae-seo.

It was quite surprising to see the skill with his own eyes for the first time, but more than that, he wondered why Hae-seo had taken the wound.

"Do you prefer to show pain?"

"No."

…It was a question, but he decided not to solve it.

They seemed to understand each other, but they quickly went astray. Mu-jae quickly cut off Hae-seo's words and sighed.

"First, Hae-seo, you should also speak casually. It's hard for me to be the only one doing it."

"Yes, Mr. Si Mu-jae."

"Is that speaking casually?"

"Mr. Mu-jae."

"... Please drop the ‘Mr.’"

"Mu-jae-ssi."

"How about dropping the '-ssi' too?"

"Brother Mu-jae?"

"Let's stick with Mu-jae-ssi."

Why is it 'Brother' after '-ssi'?

The questions he couldn't solve continued to pile up.

'But am I really older?'

If he asked, Hae-seo would probably tell him his age. The problem was that Mu-jae didn't know 'Si Mu-jae's' age.

'Well, it's not really important, is it?'

Either way, it didn't seem like they would ever be close enough to call each other 'hyung' or 'dongsaeng,' so he dismissed it from his mind without further thought.

Next, Mu-jae's attention was drawn to the fact that Hae-seo was wearing the same item as him around his neck.

"Hae-seo, um... how do you use your skills?"

"I'm suppressing them."

Ah, even though he didn't know much, he knew that A-rank was amazing. Or maybe Yeo Hae-seo was amazing.

Either way, that wasn't important right now. Mu-jae continued to stare intently at the black choker around Hae-seo's neck.

In the world of 'Hidden Curses,' he hated that everyone was A-rank or S-rank, so even the main villain, Si Mu-jae, had become F-rank. But it was strange that Yeo Hae-seo, who called himself a doll to play with for two months, was A-rank.

'There are only two possibilities I can think of.'

One was that Yeo Hae-seo was an important character.

'It's possible that the story changed because of me, and that's why he ended up in prison.'

At this point, the fact that Hae-seo had become a criminal because of him once again caused guilt. It couldn't be helped, as conscience wasn't something he could control at will.

'Haa... but I've never heard of a handsome man with light blonde hair and blue eyes.'

Then the remaining possibility was…

'Given his personality, there's a good chance he suddenly added him on a whim.'

If it was the former, he had to get away as soon as possible, and if it was the latter... what could he do?

'I have no choice but to stay as quiet as possible and get out of prison.'

Of course, he had no intention of using Hae-seo to raise his Evil Value. As a minimum apology, he would help with prison life and then cleanly break it off when he was released. This was the most Mu-jae could do for Hae-seo.

"Mu-jae-ssi. Mu-jae-ssi?"

"Huh?"

"I finished preparing while you were sleeping. Please tell me if there's anything missing."

Hae-seo stepped back slightly, and the desk that had been hidden came into Mu-jae's view. Based on his short experience, the preparation Hae-seo was talking about was probably for 'play.’

Mu-jae, who had completely gotten out of bed, looked at Hae-seo once before approaching the desk.

'What is he going to surprise me with this time?'

Mu-jae took a slow breath and prepared himself.

"Hup."

But just because he had prepared himself didn't mean he wouldn't be surprised. It wasn't like ripe fruit; his heart continued to plummet to the floor.

What was on the desk was the source of the noise Mu-jae had heard in his sleep.

"H, how did you prepare this?"

No matter how hard he tried, the casual speech that wouldn't come out normally burst out because he was so surprised.

"I brought them inside. I didn't think it would be easy to find them here."

As soon as he heard the words "brought them inside," Mu-jae turned his head to look at Hae-seo. Sure enough, Hae-seo's hand was pointing at his stomach.

"It's classic, but if you use thread, it's easy to put them in and take them out..."

"Stop."

He brought these sharp objects into his stomach through his esophagus.

Mu-jae felt like he was going to throw up right now. If Hae-seo had said a little more, he might have already thrown up.

Neatly arranged on the desk were medical instruments such as scalpels and scissors, which were unfortunately going to be used for the opposite of their original purpose.

'I don't need these!! Take them all back!!’

Lee Cheong-mun's doll gift to Mu-jae was not a single item, but a set.

***

Long, red hair rippled in the cool breeze. Pi Ha-yun, the official Hunter Association's number two hunter in terms of villain disposal rate, glanced at her brother who had been holding his phone all day, and spoke.

"We brought that bastard here to catch villains, but he's just holding his phone."

"Is it another new phone? He seems to be sensitive to trends, unlike what he looks like."

"It's not a new phone this time. And he's not sensitive to trends, he's just a dumbass. What's the difference that he changes his phone every time one comes out... tsk."

Another hunter next to Pi Ha-yun chuckled, somewhat agreeing. And following Pi Ha-yun's gaze, he showed interest in her brother, Pi Ha-gwon.

"If it's not a new phone, then it must be about Si Mu-jae?"

"Yeah. He caught that villain last time. He's been like that ever since. He's dissatisfied whether he catches him or not, I don't know why he's like that."

"Maybe it's not actually hatred, but love?"

"Don't talk nonsense."

As an S-rank hunter, he would definitely be able to hear them even from this distance. But Pi Ha-gwon, completely ignoring their conversation, was still focused on his phone.

What was playing on his phone was a YouTuber's video, ranking villains.

Pi Ha-yun and Pi Ha-gwon were sibling hunters who were three years apart. Of course, Pi Ha-gwon was three years younger, and there was exactly a three-year difference in their awakenings as well.

On a completely random day, Pi Ha-yun was watching a drama rerun that she wasn't even interested in when she awakened as an S-rank. There was no other hunter who had awakened as peacefully as Pi Ha-yun among the S-ranks.

And Pi Ha-gwon was eating the ramen that Pi Ha-yun had cooked when he was hit and awakened as an S-rank.

The Pi siblings were strange in pairs, from the reason for their awakening to their personalities.

Ha-gwon didn't care at all whether his sister, who was dealing with a B-rank villain on the outskirts of Incheon, was doing the hitting or being hit. Rather, what made Ha-gwon anxious was the YouTuber's live broadcast that was in progress on the small phone screen.

- Alright, alright. It's time for the monthly villain settlement that our Yubeom-ies have been waiting for~!

Either way, there was no way his sister would lose.

This was the composure he could show because he believed that as long as Ha-yun was involved, his turn wouldn't come.

Well, it was also because Ha-yun had forcibly dragged Ha-gwon, who had been lying at home, to her mission.

"Let's go! I believe in you as much as I believe in myself!"

A slightly pathetic-looking hunter who was cheering alone in a place where a bloody battle was taking place.

This was the protagonist of 'Hidden Curses.’

TL NOTE: I'm sorry for no updates the last 2 or so weeks, life hit hard and updates might slow a bit, but alas I won't be abandoning the project! It's just too fun of a story to quit (˵>ᗜ<˵) !! ONWARD TO VICTORY!!

If you see any mistakes I would appreciate help in the comments, but  please be nice and do so in moderation. <3

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