Chapter 12
Chapter 12
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Hello, Execution by Gunfire
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"Is it because you've held Dark City in your grip for too long? Your Hero Association has gotten way too arrogant."
'He knows where I am!'
Unfortunately, the Scorpion King knew exactly where she was hiding. That fact had backed Aqua Girl into a corner.
"Did you really think I was just a C-rank villain because I was pretending to be one? You never once suspected I was hiding my power?"
"..."
The Scorpion King's voice echoed from behind the crate once more. He seemed to think he had her like a fish on the hook, chattering away instead of attacking right away.
This might be an opportunity.
'Somewhere to run...'
Though fear gripped her, Aqua Girl was still a hero.
She was someone who had endured the Hero Association's grueling training and proudly earned her hero credentials.
She calmly scanned her surroundings, searching for an escape route.
"..."
But no escape route was in sight. The rooftop was swarming with the Scorpion King's minions armed with rifles. And among them were some skilled snipers.
'...No way out.'
Aqua Girl knew her own limits well. With her superpower still at a low rank, she couldn't take down the Scorpion King and make it out alive.
Death was the only option left.
'...If I can't run...'
In that moment, Aqua Girl recalled the words of the B-rank hero Jelly Master, who had died bisected.
'Danger can strike at any time. You might find yourself in utter despair with no way to escape. But remember this one thing: we are heroes. Even in the face of death, a hero never gives up. A single ray of hope, a single glimmer of light—that hope and light is what makes us heroes. Never forget that.'
The words from her respected senior hero had etched deeply into Aqua Girl's heart.
'A single ray of light, a single glimmer of hope.'
Aqua Girl activated her superpower. Water began to gather in her empty palm.
"Today, you'll pay the price for your arrogance..."
"Hyaah! Aqua Ball!"
Distracted by the Scorpion King's words, Aqua Girl hurled the orb of water at him.
The water arced through the air before plummeting toward the Scorpion King.
"...arrogance. Attacking while someone's talking? That's why you heroes never learn."
The Scorpion King squinted in annoyance and swung his fist at the incoming water.
Pang-! Pang-!
The water burst like a balloon pierced by needles, soaking both of his arms.
"This kind of attack won't work on m—hm?"
Mid-boast, the Scorpion King froze. His drenched arms suddenly felt impossibly heavy. He could barely lift them.
"Hyaah!"
Not missing her chance, Aqua Girl charged at the Scorpion King, whose arms were weighed down. She flung the water still clutched in her hand—this time aiming for his face.
"Aqua Ball!"
A mutual kill.
If she was going to die anyway, she wanted to at least avenge her fallen senior.
"N-No!"
With his arms pinned, terror filled the Scorpion King's eyes. Just as she had sensed her own doom, he now sensed his.
"Die!"
Aqua Girl drew her gun and aimed at the Scorpion King. If her aim had been good, she could've shot him from behind the crate, but sadly, her marksmanship was poor.
Then—
"Fooled you?"
"What?"
The Scorpion King's clothes tore open as a massive scorpion burst forth. His face was fused where the head should be. His superpower, Giant Scorpion King, had activated.
Splash-!
The Aqua Ball soaked the Scorpion King's face, but he didn't flinch. The ability to weigh down wet areas had no effect on this human-faced scorpion.
Ting-ting-ting-ting-!
Aqua Girl fired frantically, but the bullets ricocheted off his shell.
"Kyaa!"
Struck by the Scorpion King's claw, Aqua Girl flew backward and crashed into a crate, losing consciousness.
The 4-meter-long human-faced scorpion scuttled toward her on its many legs.
"Hmm... not bad at all."
Appraising Aqua Girl's looks and figure, the Scorpion King barked orders at his waiting minions.
"Contact the [Host] and tell them to come buy the goods. Being a hero, she should fetch at least $300,000."
"..."
"Didn't you hear me? Contact the [Host]..."
"Who's the Host?"
"..."
Turning around, the Scorpion King blankly looked up at the man who had questioned him. A towering figure nearly 2 meters tall stared down at him. The man wore a skull-patterned balaclava concealing his face.
Who the hell is this guy?
The Scorpion King spotted his own minions collapsed behind the man. Without a sound, this stranger had taken down over ten grown men.
'Enemy!'
There was a saying in the villain world:
If an unknown bastard shows up, cut off his limbs first and talk later.
The rising star of the villain scene followed the creed faithfully.
Crack-!
"...You blocked it?"
"Are you the Hello Claw Execution or what?"
The hulking man, Bal Jeong-nam, who had blocked the Scorpion King's claw with one hand, quipped.
Bang-! Bang-! Bang-! Bang-!
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-!
"Wow. So this is the back alley of the hero game."
The moment he stepped into the alley, deafening gunfire echoed through the streets.
Villains were just like this—no consideration for neighbors trying to sleep early. Slap on a silencer; what's the harm?
Of course, silencers still made noise. But it was definitely quieter than this racket.
"The flashy gunfire wraps around me~"
Humming a tune, he followed the sound of shots. Come to think of it, no more morning alarms now? For someone like him who needed five daily beatings to feel satisfied, losing that was pretty depressing.
"M-Move!"
"Huh?"
As he navigated the twisting back alleys toward the gunfire, a man in tactical gear—like a soldier from a movie special op—came charging at him. The guy's face was pale with fear.
As the man brushed past, he raised his massive forearm.
"Cross line."
"Gahk?!"
Caught in the sudden wrestling move, the man's neck slammed into his forearm. Legs flailing in the air, he passed out and crumpled.
Dragging him gently to the corner without killing him, he muttered:
"That's why you don't use informal speech and act like a dick. No matter how rushed, you gotta mind your manners in the land of propriety, you punk."
"..."
Of course, the man couldn't respond.
"...Oh. Right, this isn't Korea? Guess informal's fine then."
On second thought, this wasn't Korea. It was the game world, Dark City.
"Still no, you punk! Basic human decency to use polite speech with strangers—manners!"
But no matter how he thought about it, informal speech was a no-go. He kicked the unconscious man a few more times.
"There he is! Grab him!"
"Huh?"
A group burst from the alley the man had fled from. Rough-looking guys with tattoos and guns.
No matter how you spun it, they didn't look like good people.
"Kill him!"
"Well, hello?"
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-!
Without warning, they opened fire on him. Not warning shots—they meant to kill.
"..."
Was this how you said hello in the villain world? Hello Execution by Gunfire?
"What..."
He walked slowly toward them. Bare-handed, through the hail of bullets.
"I don't hate this kind of thing either."
Hello Execution by Gunfire—this was his style.
"M-Monster..."
"Yeah, why'd you shoot at a monster then?"
He smashed down on the face of the man calling him a monster, knocking him out. Similar fainted bodies littered the ground around them.
"As civilians, they're definitely weak."
No ordinary person could withstand a level 10 Body Enhancer's strike. Taking bullets while casually knocking them out one by one had ended it quickly.
"Hmm... they won't be waking up anytime soon."
He hadn't killed them. They were potential minions. Or in his honest terms, expendables.
His parents were loaded, but he couldn't spend recklessly. They tracked his spending, and that could expose his double life.
So, use parents' money carefully, but he needed a spendthrift cash flow. These guys would be that for him.
"Can't have my hard-caught hyenas running off..."
He hauled the fainted men into a nearby warehouse. To prevent escape, he bent steel pipes around their limbs with delicate control to avoid snapping them.
"Let's see... dog tags? No ID. Real soldier? But why here?"
He rummaged the last one, taken out with the cross line. Aside from dog tags, nothing identified him as military.
"Might come in handy someday?"
He bound the soldier with pipe too, wrapping things up.
Bang-! Bang-bang-!
Heading deeper into the alley where gunfire still rang out.
"What the hell's going on here?"
Criminals firing Hello Execution by Gunfire and tactical agents retreating while counterattacking. Now he saw—they weren't soldiers, but special agents.
"What are y—Gek!"
"Reinforcements have arr—Argh?!"
He subdued both criminals and agents, pushing inward. There, he spotted a man with several minions in tow.
"Is it because you've held Dark City in your grip for too long? Your Hero Association has gotten way too arrogant."
The man was saying weird stuff near stacked bulky crates. Talking to boxes? Crazy bastard?
To assess, he snuck up on the armed men, minimizing presence.
"What are you doing?"
"Catching Aqua Girl, wha—huh?"
The man answered instinctively before realizing something off. Too late.
"Who—Gurk?!"
Choking him out, then one by one the rest. Was he assassin material? They didn't notice even as comrades got necked right beside them.
Moments later, a woman burst from behind the crate. Wearing a mask with sky-blue water droplets. Probably the hero Aqua Girl they'd mentioned.
"Wow."
The man she'd attacked transformed into a giant scorpion, subduing her instantly. Without seeing the shift, you'd mistake it for a monster.
"Hmm... not bad at all. Contact the [Host] and tell them to come buy the goods. Being a hero, she should fetch at least $300,000."
'Host? Who's that?'
First day as Bal Jeong-nam, so much he didn't know. He crept up on the scorpion man.
"Didn't you hear me? Contact the [Host]..."
"Who's the Host?"
He genuinely asked out of curiosity. But this crazy scorpion bastard swung a claw at him right away. Th-this... Hello Claw Execution!
Crack-!
"...You blocked it?"
"Are you the Hello Claw Execution or what?"
Grabbing the claw, he smashed the scorpion's head with a hand strike. Crunch-! An ugly sound from its skull.
Body of a scorpion, face of a human? Fucking gross.