#83 The Worst Villain
Attraction! I yanked them in with attraction—
"Gaaah?!"
The hero flew straight into my fist!
I repeated the pattern: attraction followed by a punch. The heroes couldn't cope with attacks powered by gravity manipulation. It was only natural, really. As far as the public knew, my only superpower was body enhancement. So if the Hero Association had cooked up a strategy against me, they'd have focused on countering a body enhancer. They were playing by their plan while I swung a whole other weapon—the Gravity Dominator. No way they could adapt.
"Damn it! What the hell is happening?!"
"What kind of sorcery is this?!"
I could hear the heroes panicking. Heh! Feeling lost, are we? Aww... don't be too embarrassed. Even I'd freak out in your shoes! This shit's wild! Scary as hell!
To make the heroes fear me even more, I kicked off a ritual to summon terror.
"L-look at that bastard!"
"No way... is he... dancing right now?!"
I leaned my upper body back halfway and snapped my legs out in a jaunty rhythm. I clapped my hands to draw every eye to me. Man! If this were stairs, it'd look way cooler! Damn, what a missed opportunity. Gotta dance on some stairs next time.
"Ugh...!"
"This psycho...!"
Anyway, my terror-summoning ritual—the Dance of Fear—wrapped up with roaring success. Look at those heroes over there. Every last one trembling in fright, right? I could see they were dying to bolt.
"This fucker's toying with us?!"
"You think being S-rank makes you invincible?! Think you're too strong to die? Big mistake!"
"Kill him! We don't need to capture that piece of shit! I'll take responsibility! Just kill the bastard!"
"Uh...?"
The heroes lost it completely and charged me. Wait, hold up. What if you all rush in at once? You guys have a ranged dealer, don't you? Why's the ranged guy charging like a tank? Oh shit... was this not the Dance of Fear, but the Dance of Taunt? I pulled way too much aggro...
"Whatever, works for me!"
With the heroes charging first, I didn't have to bother reeling them in like fish with gravity. When I use Gravity Dominator, I target with my left hand. Makes the power feel more intuitive. Trying to do it just with my eyes without the hand gesture often misses the mark—my proficiency's still low compared to the level. So using Gravity Dominator naturally seals my left hand. All I had left for fighting were my right hand, two legs, and my head, harder than steel.
Oh, and no, that doesn't mean I'm a blockhead. I wanna be a Harvard master's grad someday. Huh? What's that noise? Anyway, back to the point: heroes charging me was perfect. Let me unseal that left hand.
"Grgh...! Everyone, run! The... Black Goat sealed in my left hand is about to break free!"
Ever heard how terrifying a Black Goat is? Back when I was on Earth, I chugged Black Goat extract every morning, and man... it made me feel like pure shit. Face scrunches up, and if you burp? The stench is no joke. Like, about 30 seconds ago? That horrifying Black Goat was sealed in my left arm. And now it's stirring. When the Black Goat awakens, catastrophe strikes!
"Kill him!"
"Dieee!"
"You idiots! I said run!"
I yelled at them to flee, but they ignored me. Damn! Innocent sacrifices like this...
"Get lost, all of you!"
"Huh?"
Then Jenaraider's voice came from behind. S-rank hero, huh? Even when I slapped him full force, his head didn't pop off. Tough as nails!
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
Jenaraider in spider mode skittered toward me on eight legs. His bulk made him look like a tank barreling in.
"D-dodge!"
The heroes took one look and scattered in terror. Just Jenaraider showing up pulled all the aggro off me. What the—?
"Wide-area discharge!"
The moment he shouted, lightning erupted from him in all directions.
Boom!
Ka-boom!
The spreading bolts blacked out nearby buildings and blew cars sky-high.
"Gya?!"
The lightning hit me too. Caught off guard, I went flying back like I'd launched him myself. Against same-level superpower lightning, even a body enhancer's flesh couldn't hold up.
"Fuck, should've specced lightning resistance!"
If I'd taken lightning resistance, I wouldn't have flown like a ragdoll. But who predicts this shit without regressing? Too late for regrets now.
"To block lightning... fuck! Sorry!"
No clue! In comics, they redirect it with metal or whatever... as if!
Zzzap!
Zzzap!
Zzzap!
"Gya?! Gyak?! Ugya?!"
And Jenaraider kept blasting me relentlessly, not letting up. Lightning shot from his massive spider ass instead of webs, slamming my body.
-13 HP
[HP: 395 → 382]
-15 HP
[HP: 382 → 367]
-16 HP
[HP: 367 → 351]
...
[HP: 304]
"Gotta shake this electrocution first! How do I—huh?"
Then a weird feeling hit me. I'm electrocuted, but talking fine? I clenched my fist.
Squeeze!
It worked. I kicked my leg.
Flap!
It moved.
"...Not electrocuted?"
Somehow, amid the nonstop lightning, my body was fine.
How?
-47 HP
[HP: 304]
"Ah...!"
Every hit from Jenaraider's lightning shaved off my HP. That's when I truly got it—what HP means for a body enhancer. It wasn't just a shield soaking damage! It countered all status effects! A god-tier shield! Fuck, realizing this now! No wonder they say a dumb head makes the body suffer.
So my job was simple: crush Jenaraider before HP hit zero! If I was right, at zero I'd get zapped for real—paralyzed, twitching.
"Raaagh!"
No way I'd let that happen. I launched at Jenaraider.
"Still moving? Damn body enhancer!"
Zzzap!
Zzzap!
Zzzap!
He bit his lip seeing me shrug it off. But as a seasoned S-rank, he backed up coolly, firing nonstop. I dodged his blasts with ease, closing in. I saw him grit his teeth. Must be baffled. No body enhancer outruns lightning. Unless you're pure speed, impossible.
So how was I dodging? Simple.
'Crystal clear!'
Invisible to others, but my eyes saw it: red lines spreading like spiderwebs. Jenaraider's lightning trajectories. Move where they didn't touch, and dodge. The lines shifted with me, but I anticipated faster. I owned evasion—his lightning meant nothing.
'What a cheat skill!'
I marveled at the unexpected perk in my created power, Superpower Analyzer. Made it just to scout enemy powers, but it hid this gem: Level 7 trait 'Pattern Analysis'.
Player Bal Jeong-nam's superpower [Superpower Analyzer] activates.
Lv.7 trait: Pattern Analysis activates.
S-rank hero Jenaraider's attack patterns analyzed.
From now on, Jenaraider's attack paths will be displayed.
It passively analyzed his power activation and patterns through my eyes. Once done, red lines appeared with that message.
Against White Knight, it didn't trigger—too few superpower uses; mostly brawling. But Jenaraider hammered me with lightning from his power.
"Hya!"
"Kyaha!"
Right in his face, I smashed a fist into his jaw. Then slammed my left—unleashing the Black Goat—into his rising mug.
Meeeh!
The prairie outlaw Black Goat chomped his jutting fangs like grass!... Nah, just my fist.
Zzzap!
"Gya?!"
Lightning burst from him, shaving more HP. I saw the attack coming but couldn't dodge—his 3m radius was all strike zone. Too short-armed to hit from outside. I backed off his range, clapped hands to my right side.
"Eh-!"
Power condensed between them.
"Neh-!"
Aaah... Long ago, the legendary martial artist Moochundoosa existed.
"Ruh-!"
His unit's division commander visited the then-private Moochundoosa and pointed at the moon.
"Kee-!"
'If not for that moon, we'd see what's beyond!'
Curious about space, he craved the moon's end. Private Moochundoosa invented a way.
"Pah-!"
Moon-shattering power: Energy Wave! Bet Moochundoosa wanted to yeet the commander too.
'Jenaraider, you division commander fuck!'
Right now, Jenaraider was that moon-dooming bastard. Fuck you! Without you, the innocent moon lives! For Moochundoosa's endless anguish, I thrust at Jenaraider—the root of all evil.
"Grrrgh!"
My Energy Wave engulfed him; he couldn't hold, flew back like a storm-tossed spider, smashing into a building.
"Gravity Dominator's the shit."
Just repulsion skill.
*****
The heroes watching Steel Armor vs. Jenaraider were stunned.
"Even Jenaraider's losing?"
Everyone knew infamous White Knight—the top hero—fell to Steel Armor. But they thought Jenaraider could do it. His lightning countered close-range body enhancers perfectly. Unless stone-bodied, no enhancer tanks it. So only he deployed among S-ranks.
But he lost too...
"Q-quick, report up top! We need S-rank reinforcements!"
"Got it!"
A-rank hero Trickster shouted; others reached for Hero Watches linking direct to Association.
But—
Slash!
"Gurk?!"
"What? Hngh!"
A hero's head and limbs severed without warning as he hit the watch. Behind the corpse stood a man painted black head to toe.
"Fine harvest today. S-rank hero Jenaraider and S-rank villain Steel Armor... heh! Hehehehehehehehe! Kyuhuhuhuhuhu!"
The worst villain, Shadow Killer, burst into laughter.