Geee—
“I told you, I’m not.”
I kept watching the woman who was my imaginary friend from childhood, whose name I had forgotten.
She reached into thin air and pulled out a mysterious potion.
…What is that?
“You have no idea how long it took me to get this. It’s easy to interfere with the lower world, but meddling with the upper world? That’s a whole different story.”
Lower world.
Upper world.
I didn’t know exactly what those two terms meant, but…
There was one thing I could infer from what she said. And that was—
“…You said you were created from my imagination?”
“I told you, half of me came from your imagination. So where do you think the other half came from?”
“…Your mom and dad?”
“Now you’re making sense. And just so you know, I’m only half-imaginary in your world. In my world, I’m fully and truly my parents’ daughter. It’s only in this world that I take this form.”
She was saying my imaginary friend was actually from another world.
“The President of the Hero Association of South Korea… wasn’t even Korean?”
“…Can you not make it sound like I’m Chinese or something? I’m half-Korean too, so I know what people think when they hear ‘Chinese’.”
“Tch…”
She was from another world, yet somehow half-Korean too.
What kind of hybrid was this?
Actually, thinking I’ve gone crazy might make more sense at this point—
“I’m giving this to you.”
“What even is that?”
“In your words? A panacea. In our world? An Elixir.”
And now it all made sense.
My childhood imaginary friend was actually a being from another world.
She had disguised herself as my imaginary friend just to cross over to Earth…
Well, in a world where superpowers exist, it wasn’t like the idea of parallel worlds was all that far-fetched.
“…You were living so seriously for the past few years… so why are you suddenly acting like a kid again in front of me…”
“Give me the elixir.”
“…You’re not even going to answer my question?”
“That was a question?”
“Haa… Forget it, I’m not even gonna bother.”
Maybe it was because I was meeting my imaginary friend who was created back when I was just a child in real life, and it brought back a sense of childhood wonder.
Or maybe, like they say, men never really grow up and I was still that same mischievous kid deep down.
Or perhaps, having resolved everything related to Choi Won-il, I was finally feeling a true sense of peace.
It could be that all of these reasons came together to create the current me, leaving me feeling like I’d gone back to my childhood days, buzzing with excitement.
Then again, wouldn’t anyone feel the same in my shoes?
“I’ll drink it gratefully.”
Because the imaginary friend I had once wished would become a real-life hero had actually shown up in front of me, just like I imagined.
I guarantee you. If the friend from the fantasy world someone imagined as a child came to life, even an 80-year-old grandpa would jump up and go on an adventure.
To explain it simply: it’s like the heroine from the fantasy novel you wrote suddenly appearing in real life.
“Just so you know, drinking that won’t heal your body right away.”
“Then what?”
“You’re going to have to suffer a bit.”
“Suffer? What do you mean by that?”
“Not telling.”
Ugh!
What a sassy attitude.
As if she wasn’t born of my imagination.
“You’re very self-aware. Anyway, I’ve got things to do, so I’m heading out. See you next time.”
And just like that, she tossed out her final words, tore open the air as if it were paper, and disappeared into it. My imaginary friend from childhood was gone without a trace.
Left behind in the aftermath of my vanishing childhood innocence was only the elixir, sitting there by itself.
I slowly reached out my hand and picked up the potion.
Should I drink this or not…?
Should I really drink this potion?
Was I perhaps being played by that so-called false god?
Just as those doubts crossed my mind—
Step… step…
I heard approaching footsteps. Probably from a prison guard.
I remembered that sometimes they do cell inspections to prevent summoners from summoning terrorist items.
Click—
Without any hesitation, I popped the cork off the potion bottle and forced the contents down my throat.
“Grrrrrgh…”
As the saying goes, good medicine always tastes bitter.
After forcing down the concentrated liquid, which was an essence of every bitter taste that existed in the world, through my throat with difficulty,
I pushed the now-empty glass bottle aside, pretending as if it had nothing to do with me.
“I’m here to escort the Villain Hunter.”
“Ughhh…”
“Are you alright?”
“…No, I’m not.”
“If you tell me your symptoms, I’ll take immediate action.”
“It’s bitter…”
“…Huh?”
Tch…
If I had known she was a sword of the Association, I would’ve done some research before drinking that elixir or whatever it was.
Why is she wandering around inside a prison when she’s not even a guard?
“It’s nothing…”
It was a situation too ambiguous to even call unfair.
Deciding not to fake an illness, I reached out my hand, trying to crawl forward to get into the wheelchair.
“……?”
I felt something strange. My body wasn’t moving the way I wanted it to.
What’s going on?
Crack-crack-crack—
“Ugh…”
The moment I began forcing my sluggish body to move…
With every movement, loud cracking sounds came from my bones.
So this is the suffering she was talking about…
It was then I realized that my current physical state was the “suffering” the Hero Association’s president who had crossed over from another world had mentioned.
Mom always told me not to take food from strangers. Seriously… Why now, of all times?
For no reason, memories of my childhood with my mother started to resurface.
“Could you help move me?”
I asked the sword of the Association to help transfer me into the wheelchair.
“Understood.”
And so…
For the first time in my life, I was carried in a princess hold by a woman who looked far more delicate than me.
And once I was held like that… judging by how wildly my heart was pounding—
I want to die…
It was clear that this position was going to kill me from sheer embarrassment.
…
Tap, tap, tap—
“With looks like that, even makeup turns out flawlessly, huh.”
What was I even doing right now?
Tap, tap, tap, tap—
Why on earth was I…
being made up by these people who called themselves stylists?
“……”
In a situation where even turning my head had become difficult,
I made eye contact with Seo-yoon, who was watching me with a big smile from behind the stylist.
I desperately wanted to ask her why I had ended up in this situation.
I kept locking eyes with her, but…
Click-click—
Since Seo-yoon couldn’t indulge her personal interests under the pretext of “restraint”,
it was Pyro Bomber who was now disguised as one of Mobia’s teammates who was continuing to take photos of me with great enthusiasm.
And to make matters worse—
“…….”
Inside the car the two of them had arrived in, Sae-eun and Hye-won were watching me with expressions full of curiosity.
Might as well be a zoo.
Realizing once again just how exhausting today was turning out to be,
I found myself wishing. If only a villain attack could happen right here.
“I’m so sorry I’m late, Sir Villain Hunter!”
With a bright, cheerful expression, the PD came running over, apologizing for the delay.
Please explode. No, get sliced. Heart attack? Lightning, strike her down.
“Nice to meet you, Sir Villain Hunter! I’m PD Shin Jeong-hwa, the executive producer in charge of today’s shoot.”
Despite cursing her every way I could in my head…
Why was it that I didn’t have any supernatural ability to curse people?
“……”
Did villains not have human rights either?
Well… it would be ridiculous to demand human rights for a criminal who had taken so many lives.
Since I had never agreed to appear on TV, I chose to remain silent in protest.
“You can relax a bit, Miss Mobia.”
“Huh?”
It was then that the PD suddenly told Seo-yoon she could loosen up.
“We’re all trained in villain response tactics, so there’s really no need to restrain Sir Villain Hunter so forcefully.”
They seemed to have mistaken my total immobility as the effect of telekinesis.
Well, I guess it could look that way.
That misunderstanding, in its own way, was an opportunity.
If I had to appear on a TV program anyone could watch, then rather than letting people think, “The Villain Hunter can’t even move a single limb properly,” it would be much better to give the impression, “He’s being restrained by Mobia’s telekinesis.”
It was a good way to conceal how weakened I was.
No need to appear vulnerable and become prey for other villains.
“See, Mobia? I told you. People still think the Villain Hunter is on the side of justice. But clearly, they’re choosing me over you so-called heroes and your hollow sense of justice.”
I moved my mouth in a plausible manner and blinked at Seo-yoon to give her a signal.
“Villain Hunter is dangerous. He’s not someone who fits within the scope of the villain-response training you all received. It’s not like the other heroes died to him in vain, and he is the only villain I failed to capture.”
Seo-yoon gave a tactful response that matched my intentions perfectly.
To think that clueless kid had grown this much…
I guess the recent days of mental tug-of-war with Pyro Bomber had sharpened her instincts. Thank goodness fo—
“Oooh~ can’t even escape from that, Villain Hunter~?”
“…….”
So instincts can be exchanged, huh…
…
And so the TV shoot began, with Hero Mobia restraining the Villain Hunter.
What kind of scheme is this…?
The sword of the Association who followed the Association President’s orders had coordinated separately with Mobia only to then send me onto a TV program?
That could only mean one thing: the President of the Hero Association who was also a warrior from another world was clearly trying to achieve some goal by having me appear on television.
It’ll probably just be a few light interview questions or something.
I couldn’t move anyway.
I had planned to get through the shoot as quietly as possible, without causing trouble.
“Alright, we’re rolling. 3, 2, 1!”
The moment the countdown ended—
Drip…
A thick, dark red stream of blood began to pour heavily from my nose.
“Huh…? What do we do…?”
“What are you hesitating for? Film it! Hurry!”
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