Chapter 13: Injection

“Are… are… you… okay…? We need to… go to the… ho-hospital… right away…”

“It’s alright. Just… please let me rest for now.”

As soon as we arrived at the secret base the two sisters shared, I found out something shocking.

Everything I had done at Hero University had been streamed live on social media.

Which meant… if I went to a hospital looking like this…

It would’ve been no different from saying, “Hey there, I’m the villain hunter,” which was basically suicide.

Having barely escaped, I had no desire to go through being captured all over again, so I decided to rely on natural healing at their secret hideout.

…What kind of shot did that guy give me?

At one point, a staff member from the Hero Association had injected me with some unknown substance.

But since my body didn’t seem to show any strange reactions,

If it had been a poison, it likely hadn’t reached a lethal dose.

Guess I got lucky.

At first, I think my legs felt a little tingly.

But small amounts of poison are said to help build immunity.

So my body had probably endured the ordeal and grown stronger because of it.

Haah… stop thinking about weird stuff…

Now that the tension had faded, my whole body started to feel limp and heavy.

“…I’m just going to sleep a little…”

Leaning back on what appeared to be Pyro Bomber’s bed, I closed my eyes and drifted off.

***

“I had no choice because the hostage was involved.”

“A hostage… right, there was a hostage. Then, what happened to the hostage?”

“He’s dead.”

“…….”

After hearing my answer, the on-site supervisor in charge of the recent bombing incident at Hero University led me to a more secluded area, away from the crowd. And then…

“You should’ve just killed the hostage from the start and arrested him! How many times do I have to say it, huh?”

“He was an innocent civilian.”

“The villain hunter was right in front of you! If you don’t catch him…. not someone else, but you, then who will?”

“I’m sorry.”

I ended up hearing the exact same words I had heard once or twice before from other field supervisors.

“If something like this happens again, just kill him and write in the report that the villain holding the hostage killed them. That’s why we don’t wear body cams, right? Isn’t that so?”

“Understood.”

“…Go on. Let’s finish up recovery quickly. We want to go home too.”

“Yes.”

I let the words in through one ear and out the other.

There was no reason to waste emotions on the same old lines I’d heard countless times before.

I should wrap this up quickly.

I erased the supervisor’s words from my mind right away.

I wandered around the half-destroyed university buildings, helping people in need of rescue.

Or safely bringing down buildings that were at risk of collapsing.

One of the things I came to realize during that process was…

There are this few victims?

Despite the scale of the terror attack and the fact that it happened during peak hours when people were everywhere,

The number of casualties and injuries was overwhelmingly low compared to other incidents.

…What is this?

Wouldn’t any proper hero naturally be curious about such a strange phenomenon?

So I headed into the recovery team’s tent set up for this incident, planning to sneak a glance at the reports they were writing.

…What is that?

From a laptop they had left on, a live news broadcast was playing.

And on that news…

…Min-hyuk oppa?

A video of the students rescued by Min-hyuk oppa was playing.

– This footage was submitted to our KHS broadcasting station.

– It was filmed by students who were trapped inside the building due to the bombing.

– In the midst of the chaos filled with screams and cries, a villain known as the ‘Villain Hunter’ appeared.

– But, surprisingly, the Villain Hunter created escape routes for the students who couldn’t get out, and kept moving tirelessly to save others.

– We continue to receive similar videos, and at this hour, YouTuber A is live-streaming the Villain Hunter’s rescue efforts using a drone…

A YouTube livestream.

Footage submitted by students.

In every one of those videos, the same man was captured….he was rushing off to save another victim right after rescuing the students.

Even…

[Little girl!!]

[Little girl… Are you here? Please… please be here, just please…]

– During the rescue, the Villain Hunter was heard using the word ‘little girl’ several times.

– Various online communities have started speculating who this ‘little girl’ might be…”

In a voice weary with exhaustion, I could hear the man calling out for me.

“.……”

I forced my trembling hands to stay still.

If I didn’t hold it in now… I felt like I’d grab my phone and call oppa right then and there.

Ask if he was okay, if he was hurt badly… and just break down crying, asking why he pushed himself so hard.

I told myself I’d come back to those articles later, and turned to go help with the recovery efforts once more.

“Is it true?”

“Yeah, I heard Chae-hwan injected him with that.”

“How much?”

“About half a dose.”

“Then he’s pretty much dead.”

“Now all that’s left is to find the Villain Hunter’s body.”

I overheard someone talking about Min-hyuk oppa being injected with something.

A poison shot…!

At those words,

I instantly recalled the poisons and cell-accelerating injections that some heroes from the Hero Association developed and distributed to regular staff.

No… No…!

I rushed out of Hero University, desperately looking for a place where no one would see me…

“Pick up… oppa… please…”

And I began calling Min-hyuk oppa’s phone.

“Pleaseee…”

I hoped I could pass on the information that he needed to get the antidote quickly…

I prayed I wasn’t too late…

“Pick up… please… pick up… oppa… you have to pick up… please…”

Each ring felt like ten minutes of waiting.

By the time I heard the tenth or so ring…

– Hello?

A woman’s voice began to come through the phone.

***

“Ah? Yes, that’s right.”

– …Who is this?

“I’m his girlfriend?”

I opened my eyes to Pyro Bomber’s voice.

I wasn’t sure who she was talking to on the phone, but it was clear she was speaking with another woman.

– …Let me talk to Min-hyuk oppa.

“He’s sleeping right now~. He needs good rest; I just drained all his energy a little while ago~.”

– Hurry…!

“And who are you to be calling someone else’s boyfriend?”

“…Wait a minute, isn’t that my phone you’re using?”

“Shh. He’s fast asleep. I’m taking the call for him.”

Realizing that she had answered my phone instead—

I immediately got up, snatched the phone from her, and checked who the caller was.

– Seo-yoon

“Ah…! Seo-yoon-ah.”

Ugh, that Pyro Bomber, seriously…!

Without hesitation, I slipped past Hye-won and Pyro Bomber, who were watching me with curious eyes, and made my way to the surface.

“Are you okay? Come to think of it, I saw it on the news. That… there was a terrorist attack at your school?”

I tried to sound as natural as possible and spoke as if I hadn’t been there.

“…Seo-yoon-ah?”

For some reason… I could hear the sound of tears in her voice.

“Are you okay, Seo-yoon?”

– Oppa… are you… a-are you okay?

“Of course I’m okay. I grabbed a coffee to go and left right after you did.”

– That café… the one we were at… they don’t do takeout, though…

“Must’ve been my mistake, then. I was so shocked by the news, I guess my memory glitched for a second. I just tossed the cup and walked out. I’m not drinking coffee from that place again anyway. Tasted awful.”

– …Really?

“Of course. I’m completely fine. That girl earlier? Not my girlfriend…. just a friend I met for work stuff.”

She really was such a caring kid.

The fact that she was on the verge of tears, worrying I might’ve been hurt… what a delicate soul she was.

“Are you okay?”

– I… I hid right away as soon as the attack started… Our building didn’t… explode, so…

“That’s a relief. Are you out now?”

– …Yeah.

“There was probably Hero Mobia over there too, right? You better get an autograph.”

– …..

The fact that Seo-yoon hadn’t been hurt at all was such a relief—

– …Oppa.

“Yeah? What is it?”

– …I want to come see you.

“…Why is that?”

– It feels like… you’re lying. The way you’re talking…

“Man… I feel like I’ve been so misunderstood lately. Why does everyone keep thinking I’m lying…”

– Oppa… you got really hurt, didn’t you? But… you’re pretending you’re not… That’s why…

Seo-yoon suddenly saying she wanted to come see me—

But how could I possibly let her?

How could I possibly show her the state I was in, completely battered?

If I showed her like this…

She’d catch on right away…

It was obvious she’d immediately figure out I was a villain.

Just as I was trying to calm Seo-yoon down and make a promise to meet her next time—

“Isn’t this call with some random girl going on a bit too long?”

“Ah, seriously…! Why do you keep doing this…! It’s not like we’re dating or anything…”

“What, seriously? Are you just using me and tossing me aside?”

“Using you? What are you even talking about…!”

An unexpected intruder suddenly showed up, casually clinging to my back and disrupting the call… No, wait a minute.

…Why doesn’t it hurt?

I was sure the spot where Pyro Bomber had landed was burned from the building fire…

But even with her pressing against it like this, I realized I didn’t feel any pain at all.

And so—

Tap… Tap…

The burned area.

My cracked knuckles.

I examined the palm that had been bitten by a villain…

It’s… completely healed?

I could see that my injuries had fully recovered.

– Please… Oppa. I…

“Oh, alright. Should I come see you? Our little crybaby just can’t handle it, huh? You’re still at Hero University? I’ll come over.”

At this point, it felt like the perfect opportunity to present clear proof that I wasn’t a villain hunter to her.

I decided to head straight to Hero University.

Click—

And with that, the call ended.

“Thanks for the treatment, Pyro Bomber.”

I expressed my thanks to Pyro Bomber, who had completely healed me.

“Lend me some money. I just want to buy some clothes on the way.”

“You know I charge high interest, right?”

“You stole a few hundred from me, didn’t you?”

“Phew… fine. I’ll be generous and give my darling 500,000 won for allowance.”

“Don’t act like you’re doing me a favor.”

“You want to get me pregnant or something?”

With 500,000 won in hand from her,

I immediately called a taxi and started heading to Hero University.

—

[Villain Hunter Forum]

[Wow… just the GOAT. Did you see the internal CCTV footage from Hero University this time?]

(Video)

(Video)

(Video)

(Video)

(Video)

– Saving students even before the heroes arrived was already crazy.

– If you watch the second video, you can see a bag being ripped open and money falling out.

– That was him negotiating with the villain, offering money in exchange for the students’ release.

– Wow… f*ck…

(Photo)

– I saw this on a YouTube livestream. If you watch around the 8-minute mark, you can see the Villain Hunter’s hand get torn.

– That happened when he ripped open an iron door trying to save the students, and even with his hand in that condition, he just wrapped it with some clothes and kept going with the rescue.

– On top of that, the laboratory caught fire because some chemicals ignited, and he still saved people while getting burned…

(Video)

– This one is footage from another building.

– The Villain Hunter even snapped at a professor who was out of it while holding a child, telling him to get it together and get out fast.

– Wow…

– Just the GOAT.

– Honestly, I teared up a little watching this video.

[Comments]

– : For real, I got super emotional watching the Villain Hunter videos this time.

– : Y’all only cried? Weak. My lower half cried with me. Just tears? Come on.

ㄴ : Bro…

– : But who’s that little kid he keeps calling for now and then?

ㄴ (OP) : Probably just yelling for all the college kids to come out. Everyone looks like a kid to the Villain Hunter.

ㄴ : Whoa… that’s kind of touching.

ㄴ : Isn’t that a bit too much praise though?

ㄴ (OP) : Shut up. I’m now beginning the worship of the Villain Hunter.

– : YouTube’s blowing up because of the Villain Hunter right now lol. They’re assessing hero rankings and he’s listed as Tier 2 lol.

ㄴ : Lol what’s hilarious is people aren’t mad he’s on the hero list. They’re mad he’s only Tier 2 lolol.

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