A Flashy First Terror! (3)
The department store was collapsing with a deafening boom. Yet Ice Queen kept perfect balance, sliding toward me with her ability still active.
‘A visible chill pouring from one hand. It’s impressive she’s still thinking about subduing me even now.’
If she had truly meant to kill me, she would have formed an ice rapier. I smiled faintly.
As she drew closer, I timed it perfectly and stepped straight into her reach.
BANG!!
I “drew” the gun and pulled the trigger, aiming right between her eyes.
Ice Queen’s upper body snapped backward. In what could only be called an instant, she formed a sheet of ice over her forehead and successfully blocked the shot.
Even with her center of gravity thrown off, she slid backward without falling and immediately regained her stance.
‘Her sense really is insane. I figured she’d block it, so I went all out, but still…’
Regardless, this would make her see me as a true enemy. No matter what ordeals I threw at her, she would endure with unbreakable determination to capture me.
“That was impressive.”
I widened my eyes in apparent admiration and gave a small round of applause. Ice Queen glared at me fiercely.
“An ability?” Her gaze locked onto my eyes. They were probably glowing golden by now.
I nodded, confirming her question.
“Yes. It’s a rather insignificant ability.”
“Insignificant?”
Ice Queen stared at me with a dumbfounded expression. By the way, is it really okay for you to stand there like that? The building is tilting in real time.
Rumble—
“...Tsk!!”
When the collapse accelerated to an unavoidable speed, she clicked her tongue and pressed her palm against the rooftop floor.
CRAAAAACK!!!
The department store froze rapidly outward from her hand.
Creak. Creeeeak. The rate of collapse slowed noticeably.
But maintaining the effect seemed to be her limit. With her hand still glued to the floor, she lifted her head and glared at me.
‘Hmm. Even after hitting her trauma, her eyes are still burning.’
As expected of a heroine. I watched her for a moment, then turned my head toward the organization members.
“Shall we get going?”
“Yes. Understood.”
The member had already finished preparations, as if he had predicted my words. It was the same quick-witted one who had removed the empty teacup and chair earlier.
‘The more I see of him, the more I like him.’
“What’s your name?”
“I am Forty-Two, assigned to the Sixth Squad of the Combat Division.”
“Understood. We’ll talk in detail later…”
“Wait…!!”
The moment I tried to leave, Ice Queen called out to stop me.
“Stay… right there!”
With a sharp cracking sound, ice clung to the soles of my shoes. But because she was devoting so much power to holding up the massive building, I broke free relatively easily.
I walked over to her, knelt on one knee, and met her eyes.
“Are you trying to capture me?”
“......”
Even while exhausted, a small flame of determination to catch me still burned in her eyes.
‘Why is she acting like this?’
I was genuinely confused. This wasn’t her original personality. She had always worked hard to catch villains, but she prioritized citizen safety above all else.
I had assumed her attention would be drawn to the citizens rather than to capturing me…
Citizens?
I recalled the scene right before I pressed the detonation button. The man with the bright voice and the nervous one. And the word “mannequin” the man had shouted just before I flipped the switch…
Ah.
‘Is she under the impression that all the citizens were fakes or already dead?’
I looked at Ice Queen’s face again.
Eyes reddened with rage as she glared at me threateningly. Teeth clenched tight. Shoulders trembling.
‘…Bingo.’
I spoke quickly to correct her misunderstanding.
“The citizens are still alive.”
“...How can I believe you?”
“I did prepare mannequins that resembled people for the sake of the performance, but just in case, I also took the actual citizens of the department store hostage and tied them up in several different locations.”
“......”
“I placed them as far from the bombs as possible, so they should be relatively safe.”
‘I’m only saying what I want without trying to persuade her.’
Believing was entirely the hero’s burden. And even if she suspected me, she wouldn’t be able to capture me.
Because she could never abandon citizens who might still be alive.
The ice that had been crawling up my body to restrain me gradually lost strength.
“Will you really waste time trying to catch me when there may still be living citizens?”
At my words, the ice that had been slowly climbing upward fell away completely.
Grind. She clenched her teeth so hard it sounded like they might break, staring at me with eyes full of burning heat.
“You… I will definitely catch you.”
“I look forward to your future efforts.”
I smiled faintly, stood up, and glanced back. The organization’s helicopter had arrived at some point.
“Well then, farewell!”
I gave a polite, gentlemanly bow straight out of a foreign drama. As soon as I boarded the helicopter, it shot away at high speed.
A few pursuers annoyingly stuck to us, but only briefly. The outstanding pilot shook off every tail and headed straight for the organization’s base.
“Whew…”
My first terror ended just like that.
Even though several hours had passed since the terror ended, new articles were still pouring out.
‘The page changes every time I refresh.’
My debut as a villain seemed to have gone rather well.
‘Broadcast media is about what I expected. The comments are a bit disappointing though. I wanted to see the citizens’ raw reactions.’
In times like these, the internet communities were the place to go. Something felt slightly off at the end there, but I brushed it aside and entered the community site.
‘Yeah. This is the internet alright.’
A wave of nostalgia washed over me, like I had returned to my old hometown. I clicked on the top post.
They couldn’t even catch the villain who did the terror attack. They tried to save the citizens and ended up causing the building to collapse like idiots. Meanwhile the actual citizens were safely resting in a corner while the heroes got themselves hurt for nothing lol.
What the hell are these guys doing?
“The public opinion is worse than I expected.”
There had always been a tendency to bash heroes, but it seemed that failing to catch me while their own mistakes were broadcast live had attracted both hero-haters and people just stirring the pot for fun.
‘Not my problem, though.’
Hoping the heroes would handle it themselves, I clicked on the post with my name in the title.
Isn’t he from Eclipse? I heard he’s one of their executives, but weren’t those guys the ones who always get wrecked by B-class heroes?? Since he’s a new villain there’s literally zero info on him;
Has anyone dug up his identity or anything?
…The original poster’s intentions seemed a bit strange, but watching the comments explode like this was satisfying. I tossed my smartphone aside and let every muscle in my body go limp.
Contact with heroes. A flashy debut that would leave an impression on everyone.
‘……’
In my opinion, it had been quite successful.