I Picked Up the Greatest Villain in the Story

17.

The man pulled out a Hunter ID card the size of a business card from his pocket and briefly showed it to Jian.

‘B-rank? He looks stronger than that.’

The Hunter ID clearly stated B-rank, but something felt off. The name portion was covered by his thumb, so Jian couldn’t see it. Still, since he had taken the order, he had to make the coffee.

“Alright. That’ll be 90,000 won. Your drink will be ready soon. Please wait a moment.”

Jian quickly started pulling shots after briefly setting aside the sketchbook Sehun had handed him. His hands moved faster, wanting to deal with this customer as quickly as possible.

Suddenly, the customer leaned over the counter with both hands and asked an unexpected question.

“Did you pick up this child from the street?”

“…Pardon?”

Jian turned his head in shock, his neck creaking. It was true that he had picked up Sehun, but he couldn’t understand, nor did he want to, why the man would say such a thing in front of the child.

“It was a joke, but you look really surprised. You and the kid don’t look alike at all. As you know, since the gates appeared, many children have been abandoned. Even more have lost their parents. So I thought maybe you were doing a good deed. If I offended you, I apologize.”

The man put his hands together in a pleading gesture and asked for forgiveness. His apology didn’t seem very sincere, and Jian set down the cup he was holding with a thud.

He would usually just let it go to avoid trouble, but why did so many people have to bring up Sehun unnecessarily?

“I’m really sorry, so please charge me double for the coffee. I have a smiling face, so people often misunderstand, but I’m genuinely apologizing right now.”

As the man said, his narrow eyes were consistently curved upwards, making it hard to gauge his serious expression.

“You’ll forgive me, right?”

“…Please be more careful with your words in the future. Children understand everything and can get hurt.”

In his past life, Jian had been hurt countless times by adults’ thoughtless words before his heart had fully matured.

As he filled the cup with ice, he checked Sehun’s face. Sehun, who had been hiding behind Jian’s back, was now staring up at the man.

His expressionless face showed no signs of being hurt. However, Jian worried that Sehun might be hiding his sensitive feelings behind such an expression.

“The child has such beautiful black eyes.”

The man didn’t avoid Sehun’s gaze. Instead, he crossed his arms, leaned forward, and asked in a friendly voice.

“Hello, little one. You look familiar somehow.”

“…”

Familiar? Jian’s hand paused as he was pouring the espresso shot into the glass filled with ice and water.

There was still a lot Jian didn’t know about Sehun. All he knew was his name, age, and that the child had been wandering the streets for a long time before meeting Jian.

And that he shared the same name as Han Sehun, a public figure in the original story, and might even be that person.

“Your coffee is ready. Can you please pay 180,000 won?”

Feeling uneasy, Jian subtly used his body to block Sehun from the man’s view. Unfortunately, the novel Jian had read didn’t describe much about the situation before Gong and Su met.

By the time Gong met Su, he was already a complete madman and evolved into an even crazier one after meeting Su.

Such a cruel nature could be innate, but there was also a high possibility that it developed due to a troubled life from childhood through adolescence.

Could this man know something about Sehun’s past?

Jian summoned his skill window internally while maintaining a smile on his face. He was ready to attack immediately if the man showed any suspicious behavior. He had already confirmed the power of the tickling skill against the Clams.

“I insert the card here, right?”

“Yes.”

Despite Jian’s tension, the man paid with a smile until the end, put a holder on the cup, and prepared to leave.

“I hope you sell a lot. Sorry again for my earlier slip of the tongue.”

“…Yes. Have a nice day.”

“I’ll come again tomorrow.”

The man took his coffee, apologized once more, and turned away without lingering. Jian remained tense until the door closed, then let out a sigh of relief.

‘He seems too important to be just an extra character.’

He was too good-looking to be an extra. Jian tried to recall if there was anyone similar to this man described in the novel, but no one came to mind immediately.

‘It’s natural that I don’t remember since the story mostly focused on Gong and Su.’

There were other characters, but since the story was from Su’s perspective, the descriptions were limited.

Moreover, around the middle of the novel, Su gets locked in a room without windows. From that point on… the story took such a strange turn that it was hard to tell if it was a Hunter story or an SM story, making it difficult to read properly.

‘If I at least knew his name, I might remember something…’

As Jian was considering asking for the man’s name next time, given that he said he’d come again, a group of customers suddenly rushed in. They were all Hunters.

Before taking orders, Jian pointed to the notice written on the sketchbook.

Most of them left with disgruntled expressions at the ridiculous prices. Things were going as Jian had hoped.

* * *

“Ahem, hello sir.”

“…”

As customers became scarce, probably due to rumors spreading, the door opened and a familiar face appeared. Jian stared silently at the person before him.

Feeling guilty, Soochul took out a handkerchief and wiped his sweaty forehead as he approached the counter.

Unlike his previous casual manner, he now looked as disciplined as a new military recruit. The overly formal speech gave Jian goosebumps.

Jian untied his apron and set it aside. As he opened the counter door and stepped out, Soochul nimbly moved to the side.

“Let’s sit over here. We have something to discuss, don’t we?”

“Yes…”

Soochul hesitantly sat down where Jian indicated. Jian changed the sign on the café door to ‘closed’ and pulled out a chair opposite Soochul. As soon as he sat down, Jian got straight to the point.

“I heard you posted about me on the community.”

“Me?”

“Didn’t you come here to confess? There’s only been one customer I’ve used violence against in this café.”

As Jian spoke firmly to the man who seemed about to deny it, Soochul gripped his sweat-soaked handkerchief tightly and avoided eye contact.

Then he took out a business card from his pocket and hesitantly offered it. Jian’s eyebrow raised slightly. The silver business card read “Kim Soochul, Vice Guild Master of Iron Guild.”

“What is this?”

“Ahem. It’s my business card.”

Kim Soochul. The name suited his rough appearance quite well. Jian crossed his arms and wiped the expression from his face, not understanding why he was being given this.

Recalling the expressions of loan sharks who used to harass him at every opportunity, setting the mood was easier than expected.

Feeling pressured, Soochul wiped his sweaty palms on his pants and stated his reason for coming.

“Actually… our Guild Master would like to meet you.”

Instead of answering, Jian just twitched his eyebrow. Soochul started rubbing his palms together like a fly and began explaining about the Iron Guild in detail.

“Our Iron Guild is ranked in the top fifty in South Korea…”

The explanation was long, but the gist was that they wanted to recruit Jian on good terms because they were such a good guild.

The conditions included that although Soochul was currently the Vice Guild Master, if Jian joined the Iron Guild, the position would be transferred to him.

“If you’re already affiliated with another guild, we’re willing to cover the trade costs.”

Trade costs referred to the amount paid at the guild level when exchanging Hunters between guilds or recruiting a Hunter already affiliated with a guild.

“I know I made a mistake. Please give me a chance to make amends. If you join our guild, you won’t have to run a café like this anymore. We’ll also clean up all the stories circulating in the community.”

The troublesome situation had occurred because of Soochul in the first place, and this café was Jian’s dream workplace.

Nothing Soochul said resonated with Jian at all. To begin with, Jian had no intention of working as a Hunter.

While F-rank monsters like Clams were easy to deal with, it was common knowledge even among civilians that higher-rank monsters became more dangerous.

Deciding there was nothing more to hear, Jian raised his right hand to stop Soochul and spoke in a firm voice.