Surviving as a Brainwashing Villain in a Hero World 176

## Chapter 176 – The Future Chosen by Human Han Chaeri (1)

***

The countless vehicles bustling between tall buildings.
The subway, diligently moving along the rails every day.

Within that scenery, so ordinary and easily seen by some,
countless people spend days that are nothing particularly special.

Simply because the world has set standards and directions for how to live,
and they had to find ways to survive within those standards.

Even in such a monotonous life, humans, being social creatures,
cling desperately to relationships, from friends and lovers to family.

And within those relationships, another city-dwelling human is born,
and they repeat the cycle of forming relationships and giving birth to the next generation.

In such an ordinary family in a city, the most common type in South Korea,
Han Chaeri was growing up, walking a path that anyone could have taken.

“I’m home… but there’s no one to say it to, I guess.”

She doesn’t even know why she goes, but she finishes the academy her parents told her to attend,
and returns home, but there’s no one to greet her when she opens the front door.

Only the sound of the cold air in the house whistling,
and the sound of the front door closing automatically due to the wind, with the lock engaging.

“If they’re working late again… I guess I’ll have to eat ramen again.”

It’s already been several years since Chaeri started having cup ramen for dinner.
In fact, she hasn’t missed a single day this week of eating alone and going to sleep.

Of course, it’s not that Chaeri’s parents want to neglect her or don’t love her, to the point where she has to struggle with meals that make her look like she’s suffering from malnutrition every day.

‘We’re working hard to raise you to be great.’
‘We have no choice for you to eat, dress, and study.’

A parent’s excuse that children growing up in modern society have heard at least once.

People say it’s hard to understand the parents’ feelings when they have to say such things to their children,
but the truth is, even saying “I’m sorry” becomes trivial if you keep saying it.

You have to hear such things once or twice to understand the person saying it,
but if you hear it so much that it becomes ingrained, you won’t even hear it later.

“Ah… I ate this yesterday. But I don’t want to open another one…”

It’s even more tiring than eating the same flavor of cup ramen she ate yesterday.

– Dingㅡ

“You don’t have to send me these… I know you’re working late.”

A message containing a small amount of allowance to buy a lunch box to eat with the cup ramen.
When she was young, she was just happy to have money, but now it’s just annoying.

“Annoying… I’ll just eat this and sleep.”

Chaeri had lived her life without ever receiving proper attention from her parents,
to the point where she didn’t even know what the word “dual-income” meant.

As several more years passed and she was about to graduate from high school, for some reason,
Chaeri’s parents stopped working late or leaving the house like before.

Every time she came home and opened the front door, they greeted her warmly, which was awkward,
and when she took off her bag and coat and entered the living room, dinner was already prepared on the table.

“You’re home?”
“You must be hungry? I made your favorite, so wash up and come eat.”

Watching her mom and dad trying to act like they were hastily creating a harmonious family,
Chaeri didn’t have the courage or the thought to accept their act.

“I don’t have an appetite. You two eat.”

They hadn’t given her any attention for nearly 20 years,
and now her parents, who were trying to approach her affectionately, were just like strangers.

Rather, she was worried that they might be trying to take something from her now that she was about to turn twenty,
and she was suddenly afraid that they would want to be compensated for raising her.

“Why don’t you… sit down and talk with Mom and Dad?”
“Yeah! We’re curious about what our Chaeri wants to do… and what Mom and Dad can do to help.”

The reason Chaeri’s parents suddenly showed this attitude was simple.

After giving birth to her and focusing on work for nearly 20 years without rest,
they finally had time to look back at their family instead of work.

They wanted to ask their daughter, who had silently endured, for a conversation, even now.

“I don’t need your help or your attention.”

But what came back was their daughter’s heart, which had already grown cold long ago.

Her parents had always thought that Chaeri was just quiet and didn’t talk much,
but they probably didn’t think that they wouldn’t be able to exchange a single word with her for months before she left home.

‘There’s no way I’ll ever come back.’

That’s how Chaeri graduated from high school and became an adult,
reminding herself that she was just a being dropped alone into the world, and left home.

She didn’t exactly have a knack for studying during her school days, so she didn’t go to a good university,
but Chaeri had a talent that she was hiding from everyone.

The ability to freely wield any bladed object like a sword.

From small razor blades and box cutters to sharp-edged real swords,
Chaeri could wield a sword better than any swordsman, even though she had never learned swordsmanship.

She found out about it because of a club she was forced to join during her school days,
but in a way, it could be said that it was lucky for Chaeri.

Thanks to knowing about that great ability, she was able to easily get involved in something.

As soon as Chaeri turned twenty, she left home and challenged the Hero Union’s open recruitment hero exam,
and became a hero, beating hundreds of challengers who applied at the time.

Thanks to her powerful ability, Chaeri quickly built up her achievements after starting her activities,
and in just two years, she rose to the ranks of an A-class hero.

However, Chaeri had one fatal problem.

“My legs and shoulders are acting up again today… ugh…”

She was more prone to injury than ordinary people, being as fragile as glass.
By the time she was in her third year, she had to rest for a week after each sortie.

No matter how thoroughly she managed her body, it only got worse,
and the Union supported her in every way, but it didn’t improve.

From the beginning, her body was too weak to do physical work,
and after doing hero work for several years with such a body, it had already reached a point of no return.

“Senior… are you really okay?”

Her close junior from the past, Inyeong, who was still an A-class hero at the time, was worried about her,
but Chaeri silently nodded and continued her activities.

However, as the days went by, the number of patches applied to Chaeri’s body increased,
and painful groans leaked out of the dormitory where she stayed every night.

‘Should I really… quit?’

A thought that suddenly came to her as she looked at her completely tattered body.

‘No… I can still do more.’

But that thought was soon covered with unnecessary stubbornness,
and she shook her head from side to side, saying that she didn’t have time for that.

If she were to quit this job here, she would have to find another job,
but somehow, she felt like she would end up in the same situation as her parents.

She hated such parents and recklessly cut ties with them and ran out of the house,
but she was afraid that she might end up becoming the same kind of person.

Was it because of such fear and anxiety?

“It seems… difficult for you to continue your hero activities in the future.
In the first place, we should be worried about whether you can even walk now.”

She couldn’t concentrate on the battle and ended up suffering fatal injuries to both legs,
and had to receive an opinion from the Union’s doctor that she might not be able to walk anymore.

“Can’t I… get better soon and start working again…?
I don’t care how much money it costs… please fix me…”

Chaeri grabbed the doctor and desperately pleaded with him at the news that was like a bolt from the blue.

“The joints were already severely damaged from the beginning… and now even the nerves are in danger.
If you’re not careful, you’ll be in a wheelchair for the rest of your life.”

However, Chaeri’s body was already too damaged to follow her desperate wishes,
and in the end, she had to quit her hero activities and undergo major surgery.

She had to be able to walk, let alone resume her hero activities.

“Fortunately, the surgery went very well.
The damaged parts have been replaced with artificial joints… and tiny devices have been inserted into the joints and nerves.
If you do some rehabilitation, you’ll probably be able to walk like before soon.”

The doctor said that she would be able to walk again after a long surgery that lasted more than ten hours.
But he also told her that it would be difficult to resume her hero work.

‘I didn’t want to live that kind of life… so I threw everything away and ran out…’

Chaeri, who was no longer the A-class hero ‘Blade’, despaired.

Even if she could walk again, it would be impossible to return to hero work,
and in the end, she would have to face the life she hated.

Confined to the dormitory where she could only stay for about a week,
she buried her face in the bed and shed tears until the sun rose and set.