Chapter 25: New Toy

“The bombs are a bit of a shame.”

“Don’t be too sad. We can always get more bombs later.”

Honestly, it would be a lie to say I wasn’t disappointed about not being able to use the bombs at the Hero Association.

“It would’ve been nice if I had a summoning ability too.”

“You’re trying to slack off too much, babe.”

“By summoning the bombs and finishing everything off cleanly, the Hero Association would end up gaining absolutely nothing, right?”

Regretfully, I sent a remote signal to detonate the bombs—

“…What’s that bomb?”

At Pyro Bomber’s words, I looked down—

Without even realizing it, I saw a bomb sitting in my hand.

“…What is this?”

Of course.

I had no idea why I was holding it either.

“…No way.”

But soon enough…

A certain word popped into my head, bringing a strange feeling with it.

“…Summon.”

When I thought of the bombs I had attached to the Hero Association and muttered the word “summon”…

“……”

“……”

“……”

Before I knew it, a bomb was firmly grasped in my hand.

“…Where the hell did I get this ability from?”

At this point, I had no clue where or how I had even stolen this power.

Of course.

“Summon, summon, summon, summon, summon, summon, summon, summon, summon…”

There was no doubt that I still had things I needed to do.

“How many abilities do you even have…?”

“…Unnie, I’m starting to get scared of the Villain Hunter. What if he thinks our abilities look useful and ends up stealing them too…?”

…

“Hmm… Is it necessary to kill?”

“…What?”

“Ah, I was just talking to myself. Don’t mind it.”

“P-Please… Please spare me…”

I had been experimenting with stealing abilities using Dream Caster.

Specific actions.

Specific words.

Specific conditions, and so on.

I tried matching various conditions to trigger the ability theft…

But none of the actions resulted in me obtaining Dream Caster’s power.

So, I began to think about the common traits of the people whose abilities I had stolen so far.

The villain at the parts factory, with the summoning ability.

The villain at Hero University, with the physical regeneration ability…

Judging by how much stronger I had become, I must have also taken the supernatural strength ability from the port terror villain…

When I recalled the common trait among the villains whose abilities I had stolen, there was only one thing.

…I killed them directly.

The fact was, I had personally killed them.

That led me to wonder if killing an ability user allowed me to steal their ability…

But then I thought,

If that were the case, why don’t I have the abilities of the other six villains who participated in the port attack?

If stealing abilities was as simple as killing the ability user,

Then I should have also gained the powers of the six other villains involved in the port terrorism, since I had taken care of them too.

However, judging by the fact that I didn’t possess a dazzling array of abilities,

It was clear that merely killing them wasn’t enough to steal their powers.

“…I don’t get it.”

If only I could figure out this condition, I could gather enough abilities to even stand against Mobia.

The next time I fought Mobia, I felt confident I could win proudly.

What exactly do I have to do…?

While I was trying my best to recall the common traits of the three villains,

“Hey, mind if I use a gun?”

“Sure, go ahead. But the room isn’t soundproof, so it would be better to ask Hye-won to make a silencer specifically for a revolver.”

“Thanks. Where are the bullets?”

Pyro Bomber came over and asked if she could shoot a gun.

Since Pyro Bomber was a woman and probably had no experience with firearms, it was understandable that she would be curious about shooting.

“There’s a bag of bullets around here somewhere… Ah, here it is.”

I opened a briefcase to give her bullets so she could shoot freely…

Thud…

“…….”

“…….”

What was this huge pile of white powder…?

…

In a situation where it was clear from the context that this was drugs,

We began to worry about what to do with it.

“Let’s sell it.”

“How are you planning to sell it when you don’t even know what kind of drug it is?”

“Then should we use it ourselves?”

“Dream Caster, just put Pyro Bomber to sleep.”

“Don’t come any closer. If you do, I’ll blow up the choker.”

“……!!”

Using this ourselves would have been sheer madness.

But selling the drugs was a sensitive issue, even for Hye-won.

“Looks like we’ll have no choice but to use it for terrorism.”

Having decided to use it for terrorism,

I turned my head and looked at Dream Caster, who was floundering in front of Pyro Bomber.

It seems about time to let her go.

Although our hideout wasn’t exactly small.

She had never been someone we particularly needed.

It didn’t seem like a bad idea to grant her freedom under the condition that we could silence her appropriately.

For now, I put the drugs back into the bag…

“…What are you doing?”

“I just wanted to have a little taste. Aren’t you curious?”

“…….”

“I’m kidding, just kidding…! Put your fist down…! Put it down…!! No matter how much I like getting hit, not by your fists…!”

***

– The Association is denying that the post uploaded by the villain hunter online is entirely false.

– They are emphasizing that the document in question is a villain’s attempt to cause the public to distrust the Hero Association.

– As a preventive measure to avoid such distrust in the future, they have announced that all heroes will be required to wear body cameras…

“.…..”

This had been the plan from the beginning.

As a countermeasure in case the villain hunter posted an exposé, they would dismiss the post as false.

To prevent other citizens from developing anxiety toward the Hero Association, they decided to enforce the mandatory use of body cameras as a definitive solution.

Of course… the villain hunter had already built quite a solid reputation.

It remained difficult to dispel the negative image the public had toward the Hero Association.

Also.

“Report.”

“It’s exactly as written in the report.”

“Do you have no excuse for missing him three times?”

“He is a seasoned villain.”

“Wasn’t Hero Mobia an even more seasoned hero?”

“……”

An illegal loan shark company.

The Hero University.

Even Mobia’s own residence.

They believed that Mobia, who had failed to capture the villain hunter not once but three times, also bore responsibility for the current situation.

“You must know how serious this incident is.”

“I will accept whatever disciplinary action you decide.”

“We’re not foolish enough to discipline Hero Mobia. We’re simply going to form a new task force dedicated to the villain hunter.”

It had become a situation where they could no longer leave the villain hunter solely in Mobia’s hands.

“…What do you mean by that?”

“Though the Association President hasn’t said anything, it’s clear to us that the villain hunter is the number one villain we must eliminate.”

“…I agree.”

“We’ll be forming a new team. You’ll be part of it.”

“…Understood.”

“We’re going to form a new villain hunter task force.”

Now it was certain.

The villain hunter possessed the strength to subdue multiple villains on his own.

He was also strong enough to withstand Hero Mobia’s telekinesis.

It was clear that proper preparations were necessary to capture him.

“For reference, the villain hunter task force will be excluded from regular hero activities for the time being. They won’t even wear body cams, so they can focus solely on eliminating the villain hunter.”

“…Are you saying…”

“I’m saying you must kill him by any means necessary.”

“…Understood.”

“Good. There will be additional instructions regarding this later. You may go now.”

“…Yes.”

***

“You’re here.”

I let Seo-yoon into the house, noticing the troubled look on her face.

This place had once been the home of the trio of villains who had tried to ra*e Pyro Bomber.

Now, it had become my house, a place I could use freely.

Since Seo-yoon had said she wanted to visit, I had invited her over…

“……”

She entered the house without a word.

Poof…

She suddenly threw herself into my arms.

“…Did something happen?”

Wondering if something was wrong, I led her into the living room. Once we got there…

“Well… um…”

She opened her mouth as if she were about to say something important but then kept closing it, repeating the motion over and over without managing to say a word.

…What is she trying to tell me?

It was clear she desperately wanted to say something, but it also seemed like she felt she shouldn’t.

Watching her hesitate again and again…

…Did she do something wrong?

I began to wonder if maybe Seo-yoon had done something she felt guilty about.

…The GPS tracker?

However, the only thing that came to mind was the GPS device she had planted on me.

As I debated whether I should comfort her and tell her it was okay—

Ding-dong.

“……?”

I heard the sound of the doorbell, something that hadn’t gone off even once over the past few days.

However…

“……”

Since I wasn’t the real owner of this house, there was no way I could simply answer the door.

This place had originally belonged to a group of villains, and if the visitor outside turned out to be one of their comrades…

If it were just me, it wouldn’t matter so much, but with Seo-yoon here too, it could quickly turn into a dangerous situation.

“……?”

When Seo-yoon looked at me with a puzzled expression, I simply gestured for her to stay quiet.

All I could do was continue keeping silent.

Ding-dong.

Ding-dong.

“Aren’t you gonna open the door?”

“……”

Of all times, a visitor had to come right when Seo-yoon was here…

…Looks like I’ll have to pretend to be one of the villains’ friends.

Because of that.

“Seo-yoon, could you hide over there for a moment?”

“…Hide?”

“Yeah, the visitor is someone your Oppa really doesn’t like… I’ll just say a few words and send them away.”

“Oh…! Okay, Oppa… Hurry back…!”

After hiding Seo-yoon inside the wardrobe,

I opened the front door, planning to tell the visitor that no villains were currently here.

“Tick-tock, open the doo …huh? Who are you?”

“I’m a friend of the owners. They just stepped out for a bit.”

“Ah, I see.”

I answered as quietly as possible so that Seo-yoon wouldn’t hear.

I intended to send the man back just like this—

“I’ll tell them to contact you when they get ba—”

Thud—

Startled by the man pushing my shoulder and barging into the house,

I tried to get him to leave but…

“It’s fine. I’ve known the guys here for years.”

“…I see.”

The man, who had forced his way inside,

went straight to the fridge and started pulling out food and eating it.

“……”

This was bad.

Of all times, a guy like this had to show up while Seo-yoon was here…

“……”

In a situation where I didn’t even know what to do anymore,

I tried to casually walk toward the wardrobe, hoping to make sure the man wouldn’t ever run into Seo-yoon, but…

“Ugh, I need to pee.”

Hearing the man’s footsteps heading toward the bathroom,

I took that opportunity—

Creak—

“…Oppa?”

“I’m sorry, Seo-yoon… I’ll explain everything later, but for now, let’s just get out of here…!”

I had been about to send her outside safely…

“What’s this? A new toy?”

The guy who had gone to the bathroom came out and started walking toward Seo-yoon without a hint of hesitation.

“Kyaaah!”

“Ha, listen to that feisty scream.”

He grabbed Seo-yoon’s arm and yanked it without warning.

Squeeze…

“…Hmm? What’s this?”

I grabbed the man’s arm tightly, trying to force him to let go of Seo-yoon…

Grin.

But then, seeing the man grin slyly and swing his fist at me,

I immediately threw a punch at his abdomen—

Crash!

“!”

Before I knew it, I was slammed against the wall.

“Ever heard of it? Reflexive ability, they call it.”