A Girl Group Appears?

Daejeon sat at the heart of South Korea.

I don't mean that socially or culturally. In the purest, most literal sense — geographically speaking — the center of the country was Daejeon.

Of course, reunification with the North had made the whole "geographic center" claim a little awkward. Even so, Daejeon still served as the nation's central hub.

"Daejeon really is... huge, isn't it."

It was less than half the size of Seoul, the capital, but if you looked at the downtown commercial district alone, the scale rivaled Gangnam itself. That was thanks to the Korean Hero Headquarters being based here. As the single most important facility in the country, people and capital had poured in, and the city had swollen to an enormous size.

That was the version of Daejeon's development I'd learned from textbooks. According to Kim Yerin, though, the reality was something else entirely.

"That's because this place can't be allowed to fall."

"What? It's not even the front lines."

"I mean from the inside. Well, you'll find out soon enough."

I was intensely curious about what that meant, but I decided to let it go for now.

"It'd be nice if we could get into the Class 1 Zone, though."

"What are you talking about? You and the professor are A-class heroes."

"We have clearance, of course. But you and Han Yuri don't."

I found myself wondering at this point. A zone? Was there a place in South Korea you simply couldn't enter? Were they talking about some kind of military facility?

"This 'zone' you mentioned... why do we need to go there?"

"Because the address you pinpointed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠is inside it."

I had used my skill to locate Victoria and given that address to Hanyoung and Yerin. Both of them had gone dead serious the moment they heard it. Apparently, getting in there required special qualifications.

"There are a few places in Korea you can't enter without special clearance. The place you named is one of them."

"...Why do places like that even exist?"

"Because of S-class Superhumans. The 'ordinary' Superhumans who never joined the Hero Association."

I froze at those words. S-class. Beings closer to bizarre phenomena than living creatures — just existing was enough to make them dangerous?

"Certain S-class Superhumans radiate their power and turn the surrounding space into their own nest. If you don't follow specific rules, ordinary people can't survive inside."

"Eek..."

"A lot of A-class Superhumans work as agents inside Class 1 Zones. Victoria is probably one of them."

By this point I was genuinely terrified. How was someone like me supposed to survive in a place like that? And could I even make Victoria mine while staying under an S-class Superhuman's radar...?

"Hmmm. Of all places, it had to be the Dugun Dugun Heart Attack zone."

"At least it's a zone where all the rules have been figured out. That's a relief. We might even be able to get permission."

Dugun Dugun Heart Attack? Oh — I'd heard of that. It was a famous idol group!

"Hold on! You're saying Dugun Dugun Heart Attack is an S-class Superhuman?!"

"Technically just the leader, Jung Sujin. The rest of the members are villains who've committed crimes."

Good lord. I'd heard their songs plenty of times, so I knew them well. They weren't just huge domestically — they had massive popularity overseas, too.

"It's been about five years since Jung Sujin debuted. In that time, they've gone through two hundred thirty-nine members."

"That many?"

"Obviously. If you include the stage crew and the standby audience, you're easily into four digits."

...Wait, what. Still, just going by what they were saying, that seemed like a relatively low body count for an S-class.

"We're going in as stage crew from here on... but you two will have to go in as standby audience."

"I-is that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠so."

"Victoria's probably crew. Hmm... what to do? If we want to seduce that bitch, we'll have to get over to that side."

It was already questionable whether we could even get into the Class 1 Zone, and now we had to infiltrate it on top of that...

But this wasn't the time to hesitate. I was supposed to endure 1,234 hours of continuous milking from these three? That was completely insane. I absolutely could not let that happen.

I steeled my resolve and looked at Kim Yerin and Baek Hanyoung.

"I want to go in as crew. Please find a way, no matter what."

I knew this was unreasonable. But there was no other option.

"Sehyun..."

"Sehyun."

Both of them looked at me with deeply worried expressions. But I had no intention of changing my mind.

"I'll be safe as long as Yuri's with me. Right?"

"Huh...? Y-yeah! Of course."

"Haa, for crying out loud. Fine, I'll pull some strings. I want to stop you, but... if I go all out, it should work somehow."

I felt like I was throwing myself into a fire pit, but showing some initiative made me feel a little proud, too.

"But! There's one condition."

"Yes, I'll do anything."

"Don't you dare die. Got it? I'm planning to get you the easiest role, but..."

"I understand. That's what I want too."

Kim Yerin hugged me without a word. It was a warm, soft sensation. At the same time, her body trembled slightly — a sign of just how tense she was.

"I want to have sex."

Ah. Never mind. That figures.

The Class 1 Zone opened once a week. The time slot was always random. Usually it opened at three in the afternoon, but sometimes it opened at nine in the morning, and if you were unlucky, it could even be held in the dead of night.

Today was one of the usual times. Two-thirty in the afternoon. Han Yuri and I were ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠nervously bustling about, preparing the stage.

"Mineral... water, right? That's what they said?"

"Yeah. Brand A's, specifically. If it gets swapped for anything else, report it immediately and bring a replacement."

Stage crew had all kinds of duties, but I'd been assigned a relatively simple one. I was to "monitor" the drink Jung Sujin would have after coming off stage. She insisted on Brand A's mineral water, no exceptions. If it got swapped or disappeared for any reason, I would become the next ingredient, apparently.

Good lord, how was anyone supposed to live with that kind of fear. But they said that as long as you were around C-class Superhuman level, this job was easy enough to handle, so I didn't need to worry at all.

"Where's Victoria...?"

"Shh. She's over there."

Tense as a bowstring, I looked at Victoria, who had come in as stage ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠crew just like me.

She was white all over. It felt like looking at a ghost born in a snowfield. Her face, her body, her hair — all pure white. Even the air around her gave the impression of something pristine and delicate.

She's beautiful.

A Western beauty with an Eastern air about her, maybe. Like someone had taken only the best features from both races and mixed them together.

"I think she's even paler than you."

"Yeah..."

"Shh, she'll look this way. Let's just watch the water bottles again."

As far as I knew, Victoria's assigned role was security. Stopping crazed audience members from rushing the stage — a simple enough mission for an A-class Superhuman.

I looked at her for a moment longer, then turned my head away. It wasn't the right timing yet. I needed to wait a little more...

Before long, the performance began. From the stage came the sound of a bright, refreshing voice bouncing around, hopping this way and that.

There were plenty of people in the audience, but not a single one so much as twitched a hair.

So that's the so-called corpse-audience act.

At this concert, you had to focus solely on Dugun Dugun Heart Attack's songs. Touching your phone or making a loud noise was absolutely not tolerated. Otherwise, an attack would come flying immediately.

"Hmm..."

The performance flowed along quite smoothly. The kind of idol singing and dancing you'd see on TV. It looked like the concert would proceed without a hitch.

"Ah."

Of course, if life were always smooth sailing, hardship wouldn't exist. Something was about to go down.

"Ah, aah!"

One of the Dugun Dugun Heart Attack members made a mistake during a rap-and-dance part. She not only stumbled over the lyrics but also missed a step.

What happens then? I already knew she was going to die, but...

"W-wait! Please spare me! I'll never make a mistake again, I sw—"

CRACK! A person's head exploded right in front of my eyes. No warning, no buildup. Like a can expanding until it burst.

Despite this brutal spectacle, not a single person in the audience so much as changed expression. As if this was just a regular occurrence. That disconnect sent chills down my spine. Even if they were villains who'd been sentenced to death, a person had just died so casually, and not one face had changed. Truly horrific.

"Aish! This is so annoying! We can't even do a concert like this! Guess I have no choice. We'll just have to recruit a new member!"

"A m-member? Why is she recruiting one now...? This is bad."

Victoria's voice came out thick with dismay — and this was someone who'd done this job who knows how many times. Was this pattern a first? Hadn't they said all the rules had been figured out?

Jung Sujin turned around and looked at Victoria, who was on security duty.

This was... something I hadn't even imagined.