“Ugh…”
“…..!!”
The part-timer who I had been watching the whole time suddenly let out a groan.
Ambulance quickly…!
I flew high into the sky, grabbed the first visible ambulance I could find, and transported it straight through the air to avoid traffic jams before placing it right in front of the part-timer.
“There’s an injured person! He’s been stabbed in the abdomen…!”
“Get the stretcher, now!”
Fortunately, the part-timer was immediately loaded into the ambulance and transported to a nearby hospital.
“Haa…”
I let out a deep sigh and just stood there, watching the ambulance disappear into the distance. I was feeling a bit worn out from following the part-timer all day without being noticed…
But there was somewhere I needed to check first.
Why?
I flew straight to the parts factory and looked down at the two villains who had crashed into the outer wall and were lying unconscious.
…Did he have a grudge against them or something?
Why did the part-timer enter the factory and fight those two villains?
If he had truly wanted to commit an act of terror, he wouldn’t have saved the people here…
Just as I was wondering what kind of connection those two collapsed villains had with the part-timer—
“Hh…”
I saw that the villain who had suddenly summoned and thrown a dagger earlier was still alive.
“Hrk!”
I carefully pulled the villain out from where he was embedded in the wall and directed a question to the male villain behind the already-dead female villain.
“Did you know the masked villain?”
“Sp… are… me…”
“Just answer the question. Have you met the masked villain somewhere before?”
“I don’t… want… to die…”
It didn’t seem like the male villain was in any condition to answer my questions.
“This is your last chance. Answer me.”
“No… My power… I can’t… I…”
“Haah… So, no answer. In that case, you died from being impaled into a wall.”
I lifted the man into the air and drove him straight onto a metal rod protruding from the wall.
“Ghhk!.. H-Hurk… hurgh…”
I made a large hole in his lower abdomen, in the exact same spot where the part-timer had been stabbed.
“Try to survive. At least until the 119 paramedics get here.”
Just as I was about to stay on guard to make sure he wouldn’t use his summoning ability to continue the terror attack—
“Summon… summon… I… can’t…”
“?”
The dying man…
Acted as though his ability had disappeared… then went limp and collapsed completely.
“…Is it even possible to lose a special ability?”
Was his power truly gone?
Was it just that he couldn’t activate it due to being on the brink of death?
Or was he simply acting to confuse me…?
“Beats me.”
Whatever it was, his circumstances didn’t interest me in the slightest.
“Is everyone okay?”
I moved to check on the people inside the factory whom the part-timer had saved.
“It’s Mobia!”
“Mobia!!”
“We’re from the Hero Association. We’ve already sent a request for support to the Association.”
“Lady Mobia! Do you happen to know what happened to the hero who arrived before you?”
“He was injured while trying to save us…”
Villain… even I’m starting to get confused now.
At this point, I honestly didn’t know anymore.
The loan shark raid incident.
The bus suicide bombing threat rescue.
The factory raid and rescue…
Was he really a villain?
And if he wasn’t… why hadn’t he joined the Hero Association?
Now… I truly didn’t know anything anymore.
…Why does he keep saving people even though he’s a villain, and even go around catching other villains…?
***
Pyro Bomber… next time we meet, I swear I’ll just—
The surgery had ended successfully.
The bag of money had also conveniently disappeared.
That Pyro Bomber bit*h… I knew that she was a clever one.
So that whole plan was just to snatch someone else’s money…
“You have no guardian…?”
“That’s…”
After my younger sister was killed by a drunk driver.
My mom had withered away from the shock and eventually passed away.
My dad, struggling to endure in a world without his daughter and wife, left behind a single handwritten apology and took his own life.
Having gone through all of this, I didn’t receive proper compensation simply because I was an adult.
Having gone through all of this, I could do nothing but watch as the drunk driver was released on probation. On account of mental instability and a clean record.
“Huh? Please wait just a moment, sir.”
“Yes…”
My thoughts were all over the place.
But the first thing I had to deal with now was paying the hospital bill.
Since I didn’t have terror-related insurance, I was about to start calling around, hoping to borrow money from someone—.
“Thankfully, there wasn’t any major organ damage, so if your condition stays stable, you can be discharged in about three days.”
“…What?”
“We’ll move you to a VIP room.”
A nurse who had just returned from somewhere suddenly informed me that I could be discharged in about three days…
And then, she began transferring me to a VIP hospital room.
…Am I dreaming?
Was I dreaming all of this?
Could it be… had I actually died in real life?
As I started spiraling down into all sorts of ridiculous thoughts—
Knock knock knock
Someone knocked on the hospital room door, trying to come into the VIP room.
The moment that happened, I instinctively felt that either Pyro Bomber or Hye-won had paid my hospital bills for me.
“Pyr—”
I had been cursing her in my head earlier, so I quickly tried to greet her warmly, ready to apologize…
“Yes?”
“I… want some pie…”
“Uh… should I go get you some pie?”
“No… I’m sorry. I was just talking to myself. But… how did you find me?”
Back when I was working part-time at a pub.
Every night, I used to see a female college student order half a chicken and a draft beer every day. She was the one who walked into the VIP room.
“Ah, um… so… what should I call you?”
“Go Min-hyuk.”
“Go Min-hyuk… I’m the one who paid your hospital bills. That’s why I came.”
“…Huh?”
When she said that she was the one who covered the cost of my surgery…
I felt like I deserved to be beaten up and thrown into a corner for ever suspecting my regular customer might be a hero trying to catch me.
“Thank you… really, really… thank you so much…”
I expressed my gratitude from the bottom of my heart. At the same time, I made it clear that I would find a way to repay the money no matter what.
“It’s okay. That night, you saved my life at the pub.”
“Ah.”
I remembered it then. The last day I worked at the pub. I had shielded her from a flying shard of glass.
“Still, I’m sure the surgery wasn’t cheap…”
“It’s alright. Ever since that day, I’ve been looking for a way to thank you. And now, the chance to return the favor finally came.”
I started to understand how people could fall into cults.
When a young woman like her said something so sweet, I thought if someone walked in and told me she was actually a goddess, I would’ve believed them without question.
“What’s your name?”
“Lee Seo-yoon. I’m twenty this year.”
“Ah, Miss Seo-yoon.”
“Hee…”
Seeing her smile shyly like that…. if my heart hadn’t fluttered even though there was an eight-year age gap between us, that would’ve been a lie.
But still…
What kind of college student has that kind of money?
“When you’re discharged, I’d really like to get in touch. Could I have your number?”
What kind of college student had that kind of money?
At such a young age, she must have held some kind of “fantasy” about the man who had saved her.
It was clear that, eventually, she would come to regret the money she had spent today.
“Yes!”
Using the excuse of buying a meal, I decided that the next time we met, I would repay her for the hospital bill.
…
After exchanging numbers,
We ended up chatting about this and that.
That I was twenty-eight, and though a bit embarrassing to admit…that I was currently unemployed.
That Seo-yoon had just entered college, and according to her, her family was more than a little well-off.
Why a young lady from such a wealthy family had become a regular at a pub.
Why she had stared at my face so intently, and so on.
During that conversation…
“You might not remember, but… I’m the elementary school girl you saved back then.”
“No way, that little girl grew up to be you?”
I realized then that the little girl I had rescued long ago was her.
“The one who cried her eyes out?”
“That…! That was a misunderstanding…! I was just really young back then…!”
No wonder…
I’d been wondering why she kept staring at me like that.
She had been trying to confirm whether I was really the man she remembered.
“Ahaha, I was just teasing. I did wonder now and then how that little girl was doing. To see how well you’ve grown.… it really makes me proud.”
Who wouldn’t be proud, seeing the little girl they once saved grow up so well?
As we kept talking, completely losing track of time—
– Next up in the news: a clash between villains at a parts factory…
At the sound of the news anchor’s voice, both Seo-yoon and I instinctively turned our heads to look at the news screen.
– …Regarding the masked villain who brutally murdered a duo of villains, the Hero Association has declared the act a clear case of illegal killing…
I had a dagger in my stomach, and I wasn’t supposed to kill in that situation? Seriously, how does self-defense even work in this country?
“What do you think?”
“Hmm?”
“I was asking what you think about that villain, Oppa.”
Seo-yoon’s sudden question caught me off guard—
It’s not like I could just say, “I’m that villain.”
So I thought about what kind of answer I could give…
“If someone did something wrong, they should be punished.”
“…Huh?”
I began spouting the most convincing answer I could come up with.
“Heroes aren’t stupid, so they try not to kill villains.”
“…….”
“There are laws, and if someone refuses to follow those laws and goes around killing other villains like some kind of vigilante… then yeah, that’s wrong.”
Even as I said it, I couldn’t deny the truth in those words.
There’s no such thing as a villain without a story.
Anyone might have a reason for turning dark,
But that wasn’t something that applied only to villains. It was the same for ordinary people too.
There were plenty of regular folks who went through each day bearing injustice.
But they didn’t resort to terrorism.
It wasn’t because they were fools that they swallowed that pain and carried on with life…
Now that I’ve said it… I really don’t have anything else to say.
Feeling embarrassed by the way I was being forced to reflect on myself,
I figured I might as well change the subject.
“Seo-yoon.”
“…Yes?”
“Do you have a favorite hero?”
“M-Me?”
“Who else would I be talking to here besides you?”
“Ah…!”
I had asked her if she had a favorite hero.
Seo-yoon who was looking a bit flustered quickly responded:
“I… I like Mobia…!”
She said the name of the hero Mobia.
“A hero like Mobia? Not one of those handsome male heroes?”
“Yes…! Yes! I like Mobia.”
It was a little unexpected, but I thought it could be true, so I continued with a somewhat appropriate remark.
Naturally, I changed the TV channel to a movie channel.
“Hero Mobia’s great.”
“…Really?”
“The only people who don’t like Hero Mobia are villains.”
“…What about you?”
“She’s my favorite. Mobia’s the only hero I know.”
I was exaggerating a little.
But girls her age usually love it when someone agrees with what they like. Well, maybe she liked Mobia this much…?
“!!!”
…Does she really like Mobia that much…?
Seeing Seo-yoon smile so brightly, brighter than at any other moment in our conversation….
All I could think was…yeah… she’s still young.
—
[Look at the Association’s response]
– If you’re going to go right now, you should be trying to recruit him as a villain hero, not criticizing him in public.
– Tsk tsk.
– Even if I were in charge, I’d do a better job than that.
[Comments]
-: Lately, I’ve been getting that feeling too. If the old Association focused on rescue missions, these days it feels more like they’re trying to make money. Like selling merch, shooting ads, that kind of thing.
ㄴ : Well, they’re a business too. Of course they want to make money.
ㄴ : But they get heavy government support, don’t they?
-: I kind of get where the Association’s coming from, though. Heroes are supposed to arrest villains without killing them. But that masked villain? He just kills when he’s annoyed.
ㄴ : We don’t actually know, though. Heroes could be killing people out of annoyance too and covering it up as accidents. How would we know?
ㄴ : Come on, would heroes really do that? Think about it. People who became heroes to save others…would they go around killing villains?
ㄴ : Have you ever worked a part-time job just to make money and wanted to strangle a rude customer?
ㄴ : Okay, that hits different… I get it now.
-: Can we come up with a name that sticks better than “the masked villain”?
ㄴ : Villain Hunter?
ㄴ : Oh.
ㄴ : Ohhh.
-: You’re all being fooled. Why is no one talking about the fact that behind that mask might be a stunning beauty?
ㄴ : Whoa… is that for real? Alright, I’m taking my pants off and waiting.
ㄴ (OP) : Put your pants back on, you crazy bastard lol. What if it’s a dude? lol
—
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