Chapter 12: Run Away Quickly

Drip… drip…

Wiping away the blood flowing from my body as best as I could,

I slipped into what looked like a decent professor’s office while Mobia was busy rescuing people.

“Eek…! P-Please, don’t hurt me…!”

“Get out. Now.”

Just as I stepped into the professor’s office,

I spotted a professor with what looked like a circular bald patch on his head. I was just about to send him out when—

– Ki Nam-yong.

The name tag on his chest told me he was Ki Nam-yong.

“Ah… don’t go. You, stay here with me. You’re going to be my hostage now.”

The moment I realized he was the one who had caused all this suffering, a wave of fury surged through me.

“Mmph! Mmmph…!”

“Shh… Don’t make a sound. If you do, I’ll smash your face in, just like that.”

I clamped a hand over his mouth.

Then dragged him under the large desk and hid with him there.

How many minutes passed like that?

Step… step…

In the stillness of the university hallway, the sound of someone’s footsteps began to echo.

[We’ll send in backup forces.]

“No need. If the opponent is a strong villain, other heroes will only get in the way.”

Mobia…

I heard Mobia’s voice coming from outside.

Clench—

To signal Ki Nam-yong to stay tense, I tightened my fingers slightly.

Step… step…

At some point, I heard the footsteps stop right in front of the office.

Must’ve been the trail of blood that gave me away…

Realizing immediately that I’d been found, I tried to use the hostage in my grasp to somehow buy some time.

Step… step… step…

But then I heard Mobia’s footsteps moving off in another direction.

…Did she not see it?

Maybe all that effort I put into wiping away the blood as I moved had actually paid off.

Thankfully, it seemed Mobia didn’t know I was here, so I kept holding my breath.

And after around ten more minutes passed like that—

[Has the villain still not been found?]

“No. We’ve been searching thoroughly, but there’s no sign of them anywhere. It looks like they’ve already left the scene.”

[…We’re still checking the area, so it doesn’t seem like they’ve left just yet.]

“We’ll continue the search for now.”

It became clear that Mobia wasn’t as good at finding people as I had thought.

What a relief.

I began thinking that if I could just hold out a little longer, Pyro Bomber would come up with some kind of solution.

Creeaak…

Creeaak…

Creeaak…

Only now did I start hearing the sound of Mobia opening each office door.

Creeaak…

She opened the door to the very office where the professor and I were hiding…

Creeaak…

Creeaak…

After giving the room a quick once-over and confirming that no one seemed to be inside, she began moving on to the next room.

Don’t look too closely… Don’t look too closely…

If only things could’ve ended there, with nothing happening.

“Mmph!!”

Suddenly, Professor Ki Nam-yong let out a loud scream, and for a moment, I considered whether I should just kill him then and there.

But I quickly realized… a hostage is only useful if they’re alive.

“I told you to stay quiet, didn’t I?”

Crunch—

“Aaaaargh!!!”

I gently crushed the bones in one of his fingers.

And as a result—

“…….”

“…….”

I was able to lock eyes with Mobia, who had slowly walked over to this spot.

“Don’t move. If you try anything stupid, even the slightest bit, this man… will die.”

Using the fact that heroes prioritize keeping innocent civilians safe,

I tried to buy even just a little more time, somehow.

And then—

Slide…

“…….”

Mobia subtly leaned her head back and checked the nameplate on the door, which had the professor’s name on it.

Then, instead of looking at me, she made eye contact with the professor. Her eyes seemed to wonder what she should do.

Whoosh—

Immediately, I ducked back under the desk with him.

I made sure the professor didn’t receive any kind of signal from Mobia.

At the same time—

“Stay still. I can see your feet. The moment you try to lift off the ground, this professor dies.”

By doing that, I kept Mobia from making any moves.

“…Alright. Just calm down for now.”

Thankfully, the threat worked.

Mobia who sounded troubled…

Clatter…

“?”

Pulled out a chair and sat down in it.

…You’re not going to rescue the hostage?

What was this?

Why was she sitting down?

I mean… sure, I did tell her not to move, but still…

She sat down in a chair just to prove she was really staying still?

What was this… some kind of diversion tactic?

“…What are you doing?”

“I’ll stay still. So please, don’t hurt the hostage.”

“…Alright.”

“If you keep stalling like this, other heroes will start to show up.”

“…….”

“Those heroes know there’s a bounty on your head. They might even try to kill you.”

“No wonder… the hero I ran into in the next building tried to take me out. So there really was a bounty on me.”

“…For now, how about letting yourself be captured by me? I have no intention of harming you.”

“If you were me, do you think you’d believe that?”

“…No.”

“Then my answer’s the same.”

We kept talking, dragging out time.

Mobia probably didn’t know, but backup was already on the way for me.

So stalling like this was actually a pretty decent strategy.

[Mobia, have you located the villain?]

A voice came through the radio, asking if she had found the villain.

“Tell them you haven’t.”

I quickly told her to say she hadn’t found me…

“I haven’t found them. But there are signs someone jumped out the window here.”

[Really?]

“Yes. Just in case, I’ll look around a bit more. For now, let’s widen the search range and check inside the university. They couldn’t have gotten far.”

Mobia gave a better response over the radio than I had asked for.

As expected… she really was a hero, through and through.

Trying to save just one innocent life like this…

“…Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.”

But still…

That didn’t mean the tense, explosive situation was resolved.

I stayed on high alert, aware that this might just be her strategy to make me let my guard down.

“…Was this terrorist attack your doing?”

Mobia asked again.

“No, I… I just came to save my little sister.”

“…Your sister?”

“Yeah. Did you see the corpse in front of the classroom?”

“Yes, I did. A man with his head completely blown off…”

“That guy’s the villain behind this attack. Not me. I just… I thought he was using my sister as a hostage, so I came to rescue her.”

“I see.”

It was a story that cleverly mixed lies with the truth.

I figured that if the Hero Association decided to investigate me later,

They’d check with the female students at the university to see if any of them had an older brother.

It would be unfortunate, but those poor guys would have to prove they weren’t the villain hunter.

It was a calculated answer, but Mobia kept asking questions, as if she hadn’t gotten the answer she wanted.

“So the villain hunter has a little sister too?”

“Of course. I’m a siscon. I love my sister to death.”

“…Hee.”

“Funny? Well, it was meant to make you laugh.”

“A brother coming to save his sister. That’s pretty romantic. Do you go to this university?”

“No, I just happened to be on a date nearby.”

“What do you like about your sister?”

“She’s pretty, kind… And well, she says you’re her favorite hero. Says it like it’s nothing, even though it breaks her brother’s heart.”

“…Do you hate me?”

“How could I not? Don’t you know how many times we’ve run into each other already?”

“This is only the second time.”

“…Right.”

While trying to buy time by half-heartedly agreeing, I almost made a slip of the tongue.

Fortunately, though, it seemed Mobia didn’t catch it.

She just kept throwing questions at me.

Is it time?

I saw a call from Pyro Bomber pop up on my phone which I had set to silent, and answered it right away.

– Babe!! I’m here!!!

Speak quieter, you crazy bit*h…!

Do you even realize what kind of situation I’m in right n—

Whoosh—

“……!”

At the moment I got distracted by Pyro Bomber’s loud voice,

Professor Ki Nam-yong suddenly leaped from his desk and charged at Mobia.

Bang!!

He slammed into the floor and crashed down to the lower level.

“Hup!”

Without hesitation, I smashed through the window and jumped out.

As I leaped from the window…

“You can’t come in here…!”

“This area is dangerous…!”

“Baabe!!”

I could see my crazy woman riding up on a motorcycle.

“Get on!”

I jumped onto the back seat of the motorcycle she was driving, wrapped my arms around her, and we sped off—

“Hold onto my boobs tight!”

“Just hurry up and get us out of here!”

“No, I said grab my boobs tight! There’s a bomb in there!”

“What?”

“I hid a bomb in there pretending it’s my chest, so hold it and threaten them with it! Say you’ll blow it up if they get in our way!”

“Oh…!”

I spotted the round bomb on top of Pyro Bomber’s chest…

And just like that, I lifted it up and started shouting at the top of my lungs.

“This is a nuclear bomb!! Don’t come any closer!!”

“Babe, I don’t think that’s quite it.”

“Just get going already.”

I never thought I’d see the day Pyro Bomber would correct me for once…

***

[Mobia…! The villain hunter is escaping! You have to catch him quickly…!]

A voice came through the radio, urgently calling for someone to catch the villain hunter.

Thud-thud—

Using telekinesis, I crushed the radio on the spot.

Then I watched Min-hyuk oppa as he escaped this place riding from behind Pyro Bomber and threatening the heroes with the bomb.

Run away quickly

Min-hyuk oppa had come here to save me.

Even the times he’d called me “little girl” here and there….it had just been the nickname he used to make me smile back at the hospital…

…I’m sorry. …I’m really sorry I couldn’t tell you…

If he had known I was a hero, he wouldn’t have come here to save me.

If he had known I was a hero… he wouldn’t have gotten hurt this badly today.

Of course… it wasn’t like I gained nothing.

He had compared me to a younger sister and mentioned the word “siscon”.

It meant he saw me as a woman…. not a little girl, but a real woman—

So I decided… not to despair too much—

“You should be catching him….! Why aren’t you catching him…!”

“…….”

I turned my head and looked at Professor Ki Nam-yong.

I was being asked why I wasn’t doing anything while a villain was openly escaping right in front of us.

“Mr. Ki Nam-yong.”

“Yes?”

“Just how many women have you sexually exploited?”

“Th-That’s…!”

“For years, you used your position as a professor to continue those vile acts on countless students, didn’t you?”

“I-It’s a misunderstanding…! I only… only… three times… no, four times… just…”

In my eyes—

“Mr. Ki Nam-yong.”

“…Yes?”

“In the battle between me and the villain, you tragically died with a broken neck.”

“Spare me—!”

Crunch—

The villain was still inside this building.