Life is Easier If You're Handsome novel Chapter 32

A hero.

I learned that a hero has to defeat villains. That’s what the fairy tales and TV shows said.

When shiny heroes defeat villains, everyone’s happy. Heroes always win, always turn the tables, no matter how dire the situation.

Even if they lose once, it’s fine. There’s always a next time, always a chance to power up.

I longed for, and yearned to be, such a hero.

In this black-and-white world, only heroes could claim the color white, while everything else remained dark.

I genuinely wanted to be a hero.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

I did everything I could to become stronger and to fight well.

Just like every hero does.

“Hey, what are you?”

At first, I started off weak.

“P-please, spare me. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it...”

“What did you do wrong? You didn’t do anything. You were just born that way.”

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

As time went by, I got stronger and began to defeat villains. Bad guys deserved punishment. It was okay to do it.

“Head!”

One day, I heard a voice and turned my head. Kids were swinging swords—practice swords—but they resembled the heroes I admired.

Now that I thought about it, heroes usually wielded weapons, and most of them wielded swords. Just as I’d used a knife when I killed that stray dog that had tried to bite people, I realized I needed a weapon again. So, I learned kendo.

“Waist!”

Crack!

Even when my hands bled, as long as my bamboo sword didn’t break, I kept practicing.

Kendo was perfect for me. Carrying a bamboo sword was a major advantage.

In a way, it was like I had powered up, too. I went from fighting with bare hands to having a weapon.

Maybe that’s why?

My second heroic moment came sooner than I expected.

“If you borrow money, you gotta pay it back!”

It was the same old story. It was a time when the legal interest rate was up to 49 percent.

It was a time when TV commercials urged people to take out high-interest loans. Those were the only places willing to lend to our struggling family.

We were weak.

“We promised to pay back the principal, but you kept avoiding us!”

“Well, whatever. Just pay back the interest on time.”

They were pure evil.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

And I was the hero.

“Son...run. Get out of here, far away. I’ll handle this.”

Even though things had come to this...

“Go far away, wherever you can.”

The fact that I was a hero didn’t change. I defeated evil.

+++++

Swoosh!

As soon as I snapped out of it, I realized what this so-called hero really meant.

“A criminal catching criminals.”

A vigilante.

An evil that punishes evil. A being that tries to enact justice outside the law, believing in their own righteousness despite their wickedness.

A title like Hero suggested a path that, while it defeated evil, posed the question: could that path be called good?

It was clear they wanted to blur the line between good and evil.

“With it being a short film, the content is definitely concise.”

The mention of this black-and-white world made me imagine how the movie might play out.

“A black-and-white film?”

I paused for a moment.

“There’s no better script at the moment.”

No need to think any further.

“Seok-ho hyung, I’ll go with this one.”

I placed the Hero script on the passenger seat.

“Hmm? Oh, Hero? Are you sure? It’s a bit brutal.”

“Hey, I can handle it. I watch Saw, you know.”

“You watch Saw? Shouldn’t you be too young for that?”

“They show it at school.”

“...”

Seok-ho hyung muttered about how kids these days were different and said he’d contact the director.

“I hear he’s a college student, and he should be graduating this year.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, and this is his first project post-graduation.”

“You already talked to him?”

“No, but he wrote a long post when he uploaded the script on the forum. Must be lonely.”

“Anyway, if you’re set, I’ll handle the rest. You should have some free time until Christmas. And then there’s the High Dream production announcement the following week.”

At his words, I checked my phone.

“Come to think of it, Christmas is coming up.”

The Christmas party with Su-jin’s family. I was already looking forward to it.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

– [You can’t fully embody the Hero character’s vitality.]

– [Download the app Heavenly Warrior’s Body]

– [From now on, when you dive into martial arts characters, you’ll gain martial arts skills.]

The Sims – The Real Life was giving me an early Christmas gift.

+++++

December 25th, when Mariah Carey’s Christmas song filled the air. Su-jin’s family was preparing for the Christmas party with excitement.

“When Dong-hoo gets here, don’t let him leave right away!”

“...Why?”

“Because if he leaves immediately, he won’t eat the food I prepared.”

Daughter, that’s not what I meant.

Kim Gi-chul felt a pang in his heart. His precious daughter, the apple of his eye. And now she had a crush!

He hadn’t known. Or rather, he had.

“There’s no way I couldn’t have known.”

“That changed as soon as she met Kim Dong-hoo.”

“Isn’t that too mature?”

“Unforgivable!”

Ding-dong!

Let’s see what he looks like!

Clunk!

The High Dream production announcement kept reporters busy with the new year.