—
[What the hell is going on with the Hero Association??]
An EMP went off at the Association building, knocking out all the CCTVs and electronic devices.
Not only did everyone inside, including the heroes, pass out, but now dozens of heroes who woke up are claiming they were brainwashed??
??????
Are we seriously supposed to believe all of this happened in just one day???????????
And on top of that, the Vice President lost his left arm?? And no one knows why??
They say the police are investigating…
But they haven’t even finished the investigation into the Association’s involvement in that civilian murder recently, have they?
This…
Feels like something the government needs to step in on, hmm…;
Personally, I don’t think I can trust the Hero Association anymore.
I’m starting to wonder if I should just use a private ability user security service instead…
[Comments]
-: Sounds like the Hero Association is gonna get dismantled soon.
ㄴ : Fr
ㄴ : Think a little before you speak. How would they dismantle the Hero Association? Do you know how much government funding they get? They’ll just fire a bunch of higher-ups and restructure it.
-: The Villain Hunter was right. Yet another win today.
-: A lot of people are starting to use ability users protection services these days because they don’t trust the Hero Association anymore.
ㄴ : They’re actually kinda good. You can find available ability users near your area and the price isn’t bad.
ㄴ : More heroes are quitting and getting jobs at these ability user security services, so they’ll probably keep getting better.
ㄴ (OP): Isn’t 150,000 won a month kind of expensive? The Hero Association only charged 30,000 won a month at most.
-: Just be careful with those ability user protection services. There are a lot of scams.
-: Don’t worry, everyone. South Korea’s safety is in the hands of Villain Hunter bro.
-: What if it was the Villain Hunter who took the Vice President’s arm?
ㄴ : I don’t know… even for the Villain Hunter, setting off an EMP at the Hero Association, slicing off just the Vice President’s arm, and walking out seems like a bit much.
***
As soon as surgery on my severed left arm was complete, the first place I headed to was the police station.
We really got hit hard…
All those key assets we had brainwashed to keep from quitting the Hero Association… the brainwashing had completely worn off.
And now, I had to be investigated because of that.
How could things get this tangled…?
Originally, even if the brainwashed ability user died, the brainwashing was supposed to persist.
However, due to the shockwave from the modified EMP, their brainwashing had been broken.
In preparation for the possibility that one day, heroes with uncontrollable abilities might start a revolt, the EMP had been modified to emit a shockwave—
And that modification had led directly to the events of this incident.
Yes… It was only right to call it karma.
…At least I had taken out insurance… I suppose that’s a small relief…
Surprisingly, in anticipation of the day when their brainwashing might one day break, I had prepared a form of insurance.
I had manipulated their memories to completely erase all recollection of me.
That was why the ability users now claiming they had been brainwashed wouldn’t remember that I had given those orders.
If the brainwashing ability user had been able to use his ability more than once a month, I could’ve attempted a more thorough memory alteration…
But even with what I had done, it still provided a solid enough excuse, so it wasn’t a serious concern.
“……”
According to the plan, I was supposed to use that insurance.
I was supposed to join the crowd condemning the now-deceased brainwashing ability user.
That way… I could have maintained a favorable public opinion.
But… the reason I wasn’t doing that now…
“We’ll be arriving at the station in five minutes.”
“All right… Just hang in there a little longer.”
…was because of the woman sitting beside me on the ride to the police station. She was the one known as the Sword of the Association.
“…….”
She was the only one among us who had been granted the authority to hear the Association President’s words directly.
She could know anything she wished to know.
She could see anything she wished to see.
She could hear anything she wished to hear…
And she could accomplish anything she wished to do…
It was that very President who had used the Sword of the Association to sever my left arm.
The President had cast me aside for crossing the line…
Now… what’s going to happen to me…
From the moment the Association President abandoned me… nothing I did held any meaning.
No matter how desperately I struggled to survive, if he had truly resolved to kill me… then death was the only outcome for me.
And so, as I was being transported to the police station, or perhaps to some oil drum where I’d be buried. I didn’t know where. I braced myself to calmly accept my end.
“……?”
I saw the vehicle I was in pulling up to the police station.
And at the same time…
“The Association President has spoken.”
“…What?”
“He said to get out of this situation, no matter what it takes.”
“I-I… wasn’t… abandoned…?”
“The Association President never abandons you. It’s only you who leaves him.”
“No…! I’m not crazy. I’d never do that…!”
I had thought I’d been discarded because he had severed my arm…
But now, I was hearing that there was still a chance left for me.
“He hopes you’ll find your own way out of this and return on your own.”
“Does that mean…?”
“He says you still have work to do for the safety of South Korea.”
I had been spared.
No, this world still belonged to me.
The Association President had trusted me enough to place me in the position of Vice President of the Hero Association…
“P-Please tell him I’ll give it everything I’ve got…!”
All I had to do was gather the heroes, however I could, and build the world the President envisioned.
“Understood.”
I immediately picked up my phone and called my personal secretary.
The secretary answered after only a few rings, and I heard her voice on the other end.
“Tell everyone at the Hero Association… that I’ll use my own personal funds, so let’s try renegotiating their salaries…!”
“Understood.”
I decided to pour in all the money I had earned thanks to the Association President…
And use it however I could to keep the heroes from leaving.
***
To hold onto heroes whose hearts had already left, a massive amount of money was needed.
Of course, that money would come from one man’s wallet.
The foolish man would pour in every last cent he had, just to avoid being cast aside by the Association President.
Until he didn’t even have money left for himself to use.
And the moment arrived when not a single coin remained for him.
Thank you for your service.
That was when the Association President planned to discard the man he had placed in the Vice President’s seat.
At most, he’s got one or two months left.
At most, two months.
If the man didn’t realize he was being used within those two months, then only tragedy would await him after that.
“Please give the Association President my regards.”
“Understood.”
Knowing nothing, the man couldn’t hide the faint smile on his face as he walked into the police station.
As he disappeared inside, and I turned to return to the place I truly belonged—
“…….”
—I saw her.
Across the street from the police station, hands in her pockets, silently watching the Vice President.
***
Bow…
“?”
As I watched the Vice President walk into the police station,
A woman I’d never seen before approached me, gave a brief bow, and then…
“??????”
…walked right past me and started heading somewhere.
…What was that?
Was this really the standard of etiquette in South Korea?
I had just ignored a woman who politely greeted me.
What an incredibly rude, villainous thing to do.
“Uh…”
Even as the pointless thought crossed my mind that I should go back and return her greeting, I turned my head toward the police station once more.
But the Vice President was no longer in sight.
…Should I go?
Wanting to clear my tangled thoughts, I turned away from the place I’d come to sort them out and began walking toward Seo-yoon’s house.
What should I do now?
That Vice President. He’d surely find a way to safely get out of that police station, using money, power, connections, or whatever else.
No matter how much the Hero Association’s reputation had taken a hit, it was still the Association.
Eventually, it would start regaining its footing again…
What would it take for me to hear an apology from you, Won-il?
I began to think deeply.
What kind of nightmare could I possibly give him?
Many thoughts drifted through my mind, but nothing specific came to me. Before I knew it, I had arrived in front of Seo-yoon’s house.
For now, I planned to go with her to Sae-eun’s school—the gem ability user—and try to resolve her bullying problem first.
Thinking to make use of the Hero’s reputation, I entered the passcode to Seo-yoon’s house, intending to go inside.
Beep—
Just then, the door across from hers opened, and someone who looked like a neighbor stepped out…
“…Dream Caster?”
“Huh…?”
“…Why are you here?”
Wait, hold on a second.
Why are you coming out of there?
Creeeak… Thud…
“…….”
Did she really think that looked natural?
The absurdity of the woman casually closing the door behind her, like it was the most normal thing in the world, stunned me for a moment.
Right… I’m the one who let her go. Of course she wouldn’t want to see me again.
She probably didn’t want to see me because she remembered how she used to be bullied by Pyro Bomber and me.
Once again, I entered the passcode to Seo-yoon’s house…
Step, step…
Is that Seo-yoon?
If someone was coming all the way up here, it had to be Seo-yoon returning.
So I was planning to go in with her…
“…Seong-won?”
“Huh…?”
…Why was Lee Seong-won, the whistleblower from the Hero Association, coming out of there??
Had the two of them grown close while living together, maybe even fallen for each other?
Dream Caster and Seong-won, living in the same house…
“…….”
“…….”
Normally, I wouldn’t have thought much of it.
Love was an emotion no one could predict.
It wasn’t impossible to imagine the two of them realizing their feelings and deciding to live together.
However…
“O-Oh, long time no see…. Villain Hunter… haha…”
That look in his eyes…. like he’d been hiding something from me and just got caught.
And the fact that of all places, those two were living in Seo-yoon’s house…
In other words, right across from Hero Mobia’s place—
It didn’t take long for me to realize that this wasn’t a situation that could be brushed off as mere “coincidence” or “love”.
“Shall we go inside and have a little chat?”
“Haha… Y-Yes… I suppose…?”
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