Surviving as a Brainwashing Villain in a Hero World 27

## Chapter 27 – The Whereabouts of the Missing Executive Villains (1)

***

“You need a spare hero suit?”
“Yes. It got torn during activity.”

Dohwa visited the Hero Association headquarters’ support division office to receive a spare hero suit provided by the headquarters.

“Should we make the new hero suit with the same design as the one you were using?”
“Yes. I think that would be good.”

The support division of the Hero Association, as the name suggests, supports the activities of heroes.

They handle various tasks, from equipment used during activities to the health management of individual heroes, and periodic hero ethics education.

In particular, suits and equipment are damaged more often than you might think, so the support division always stocks spare suits in various sizes.

They are also responsible for making hero suits for each individual hero, and they do not charge the hero any costs as part of their welfare.

“Suit production will be finished in two days… Should I prepare two sets just in case?”
“Just one set will be fine.”
“Okay. You can pick it up over there.”

A large steel case came out of a large doorway on the wall of the support division office. Dohwa picked up the box containing the spare suit and left the support division office.

“Hello!”

The place she went with the suit case was another office inside the support division.

“Oh! Isn’t that Hero Ignition?”
“It’s been a while!”

The middle-aged man sitting at the desk in the office greeted Dohwa brightly.

“Chief, you haven’t aged at all?”
“Hey! Even if I look like this, I’m not even twenty years older than you.”

The man limped, seemingly uncomfortable with his right leg, and guided her to a table in front of his desk.

He is currently working as the head of the support division of the association, but in the past, he was an A-class hero who was active under the name ‘Spike’.

His limping on one leg is a sequela of a major accident he suffered during his activities.

After failing rehabilitation after the accident, he retired and is working in an office job.

“How is that roommate friend of yours doing these days? I heard she’s been sick and resting for several days.”

The chief asked about Jiwoo, her roommate who lives in the association dormitory. Dohwa replied with a slightly sullen face.

“She said she’s been weak since she was young. Recently, she had to overdo it because of performance issues… I think that’s why.”

“Hmm… I see. I hope she recovers quickly.”

The chief nodded slowly and handed Dohwa a cup of tea.

“So. What’s the matter that you called me here in person after so long?”
“Ah! That’s right. I forgot about that. Haha.”

The chief, scratching his head with an awkward smile, took out a tablet and showed Dohwa the screen.

The screen contained several photos of the collapsed Dark Knights’ hideout building, and photos of the organization members taken during the last operation.

“I remember you were also involved in this operation. Right?”

Dohwa flinched for a moment, looking at one of the dozens of photos.

A very familiar back view seen over the chief’s hand turning the photos.

His face is covered by a mask, so it can’t be seen, but his tall height and sturdy physique were definitely Siyoon’s appearance as a combatant.

“Yes. I was dispatched on the first day of the operation.”

Dohwa looked at the photos without any change in expression, nodding her head in response to the chief’s question.

“Most of the villain organization members and some executives were killed or arrested in that operation, but the important key figures had already escaped.”

When Siyoon ran to the hideout command room to request support, everyone had already escaped and no one was left.

In villain organizations, it is common for a mid-level executive to step in and resolve the situation in such cases.

However, the case of the Dark Knights was quite special.

Most of the organization members that the heroes who were put into the operation faced were mostly low-level combatants, and only lower-level executives who commanded them.

They didn’t even properly encounter the face of the leader, who is the heart of the organization, as well as the executives directly under the leader.

“We have obtained various information by additionally deploying intelligence agents and some heroes, but if we don’t take action quickly, it will become increasingly difficult to subdue them.”

“I guess so.”

“So, I was wondering if you could take charge of this case.”

The chief opened a small box placed on his desk, took out a small chip inside, and placed it on the table.

“This is a chip containing the acquired information. Have you used it before?”

In the case of common storage devices such as USBs, there is a risk of information leakage, so special storage devices are used to prevent anyone from accessing the information.

If you insert it next to the special terminal provided to the hero like an SD card or USIM card, you can check the information in the chip within the terminal.

“Be careful not to drop or damage the chip, as it can break easily.”

– Knock knock knockㅡ

Just as Dohwa received the chip and was inserting it next to the terminal case, the sound of knocking on the office door was heard.

“Oh! You came just in time. Come in!”

– Creakㅡ

“Hello, Support Division Chief Yoo Seonghwan.”
“Nice to see you. Please sit here.”

A cold-looking woman with silver hair fluttering as she walked in. Dressed in a neat semi-formal suit, she sat lightly on the sofa and greeted the chief.

“Let me introduce you. This is A-class hero Ignition. A lively and passionate hero.”
“Hello!”

Dohwa smiled brightly at her and greeted her.

“And this is A-class hero Ice Queen. A very professional friend.”
“Nice to meet you. I look forward to working with you.”

A-class hero ‘Ice Queen’ Seol Lumi briefly stood up from the sofa, and bowed to Dohwa with a expressionless face.

“I thought that this task would be a bit too much to handle alone. So I decided to assign it to you with a skilled hero who will help you.”

“Is that so? I understand.”

Lumi nodded without any change in expression, and received the chip handed over by the chief and inserted it next to the terminal.

‘That person… I can’t feel any emotion in her words or actions.’

Dohwa even felt a chill looking at Lumi’s words and actions, which showed no change in expression or emotion.

“Have you conveyed all the information?”
“Today we are just meeting each other. Let’s stop here.”
“Then I’ll leave first.”

Lumi left a mechanical salute to the chief, and left the office with a perfect posture.

“Haha. I also flinch every time I see that friend because she’s scary.”

As soon as Lumi went outside, the chief laughed heartily and told a few short stories about her.

“Ice Queen… That friend wasn’t always so stiff and mechanical. There was a time when she was active and energetic like you.”

“Did something happen to her?”

“I can’t tell you in detail. She hates people mentioning it. Actually, I’m just guessing based on what I’ve heard.”

There seemed to be a story behind Lumi’s mechanical attitude, but even the chief didn’t seem to know it properly.

She didn’t want stories about herself to be spread, so even those involved didn’t talk about it, even if they had a guess or really knew something.

“Unless it’s an emergency dispatch, there won’t be a dispatch request from today until the mission completion date. Take a good rest until then.”

“Yes!”

***

“I’m home!”

Late in the morning, before the sun had even risen high in the sky. Dohwa, who had received the mission from the support division chief, returned home early.

“Sister! What’s wrong? You’re home so early.”

Jiwoo greeted Dohwa, who had returned half a day earlier than usual, with a smile.

“There’s a reason. I brought some amazing information?”
“Amazing information? Did you bring a female to offer to Master?”

Dohwa put the steel case containing the spare hero suit next to the sofa, and took out the small chip she had received from the chief from her terminal pocket.

“Oh? What’s wrong? Did you already get off work?”

Siyoon, who closed the bathroom door and came out to the living room, also greeted Dohwa, asking if she had already gotten off work.

“Master! I have something I want to show you.”
“What is it? Did you bring some good information?”

When Dohwa inserted the chip into the side of the terminal, the terminal screen displayed the message ‘File has been downloaded.’

“It’s information about the organization you used to work for, Master.”
“If it’s the organization I used to work for… are you talking about the Dark Knights?”

When Dohwa pressed the round button on the side of the terminal, a long rod like an antenna popped out from the top of the terminal.

And when she clicked the button again and turned on the TV hanging on the wall of the hideout, a screen displaying information downloaded from the chip was quickly displayed.

“You can press this button on the side of the terminal to scroll through it slowly.”

Dohwa handed the terminal to Siyoon.

“The commander of the combat unit I was in… even information about the high-ranking executives is here?”