A Modest Counterattack?

"Baek Sehyun. On the ground."

"No."

"Baek Sehyun. I said get down."

"I already told you no!"

"Sehyun. Get down. Before I raise my fist."

She was trying to beat me into submission — violence, plain and simple, applied until I folded. Honestly, I was terrified. Every nerve in my body screamed at me to run. The only reason I didn't was that the paper-thin pride I'd worn down through years as a hikikomori had just begun to stir back to life.

"Go ahead! Hit me! Prove that violence is the only damn thing you're good for!"

"Hah... you've gotten real cocky. What, you came here to wag your tail at me anyway, didn't you?"

She wasn't entirely wrong. The difference was that I hadn't come here to wag my tail at Han Yuri — I'd come to turn her into the one moaning and writhing for me.

But my legs were shaking. My resolve was crumbling by the second.

The Han Yuri I knew was a C-class Superhuman. The kind who could take automatic weapons fire ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with her bare body and walk away unharmed. Strong enough to lift a multi-ton compact car with her bare hands. If she slapped my cheek, my teeth would rain out of my mouth. If that thick tail of hers so much as brushed against me, it would peel the skin right off my bones.

Knowing all that, terror crept up through me like a rising tide. I wanted to run. But I didn't. If I ran, I was dead — whether by Han Yuri's hand or the system's.

"Don't tell me you came here thinking you could get revenge with that body. Wait... are you trying to seduce me?"

"Hic!"

"That reaction says it all, doesn't it? Well, I'll give you this — it almost worked. When you kissed me earlier, I thought my heart was going to explode. If you hadn't been stupid enough to say my name, I might've actually fallen for it."

Did she have some kind of mind-reading ability? I was so startled a hiccup burst right out of me.

"Right. Sehyun... it's almost pitiful, watching you crawl up just because you awakened and got a cute face. One slap and you'd be groveling on the floor anyway."

Han Yuri seized me by the collar. I tried to jerk backward, but there was no overpowering the grip of a C-class Superhuman.

"Ghk—!"

"What's your awakening rank?"

"W-what?"

"If you awakened, you would've registered at a city hall or a hospital, right?"

"...F-class."

If you judged by the ability itself, it wasn't F-class at all — it was something that could aim for A-class or higher. But looking at the boost to my physical stats? F-class. No — lower than that. They'd actually gone down.

"F-class?"

"M-my ability doesn't raise my physical stats. Instead, I can acquire all kinds of different powers!"

"Yeah? I'm B-class on physical ability alone."

B-class.

A Superhuman ranked B-class meant conventional weapons couldn't so much as scratch them. A Superhuman of that caliber couldn't be killed by anything short ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of a precision missile strike or a nuclear weapon. I'd heard that when the US military tried to kill a terrorist Superhuman operating in the Middle East, they had to dump hundreds of tons of explosives on a single spot.

So Han Yuri was a Superhuman even stronger than that?

Meaning even if I died and came back, I wouldn't be able to inflict so much as a paper cut on Han Yuri — let alone a fingernail's worth of damage. It hit me then, just how impossible my plan to subjugate her truly was.

I'd thought she was C-class at best...

No — the quest difficulty had been insane from the start! If Han Yuri so much as pressed down with a fingernail, this soft little body of mine would pop like a balloon. Subjugate someone like this? The system had been trying to kill me from the beginning. There was no way I could succeed...

"Your face just ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠went white. Don't tell me you thought I was some D-class or C-class nobody?"

"Ah..."

"Sehyun. I'm going to say this one last time. Get down."

I couldn't win. If she was a Superhuman of B-class or higher... to an ordinary civilian like me, she was nothing short of a natural disaster. How was a small man like me supposed to handle a being that even the law could barely restrain? If she went on a rampage here, it wouldn't just be me — everything within dozens of kilometers would be reduced to rubble.

I couldn't withstand the pressure of a situation I had no power to change. In the end, I got down.

It felt like sinking into a swamp — a bottomless one. The more I thrashed to get out, the deeper I sank. The only way to make it easier was to just... let go. I'd thrown myself at reality to overcome my past. All I'd done was stick my head into a stinking beast's jaws.

"Finally listening. Aww, good boy. That's a good boy."

"Kh..."

"Sehyun. I know you hate me. But you know what? You're only alive and in one piece because of me. That's the only reason you made it through school."

What kind of bullshit was that? I was the one who'd developed trauma because of her — the one who'd been forced to lock himself in a room and never come out. This woman felt not a shred of remorse for what she'd done. No — I'd already known that. If she had any regrets, she would've apologized the moment she realized it was me. I'd just been running away, so I never had to face it.

Either way, that fact had clearly detonated something inside me. My chest burned. My head spun. It was exactly like cracking the metal snap on a disposable hand warmer. It felt like I was going to fall into the abyss for the rest of my life. I refused. I was going to fuck Han Yuri. I was going to make her my personal cock-sleeve, no matter what it took. Heaven had given me this power for exactly that purpose!

"There were tons of kids who hated you for no reason, remember? I beat every last one of them down. That's the only reason you got to live a normal life."

"Han Yuri."

"I'm a little sorry about the scar on your arm, but—"

"Han Yuri!"

"W-what?!"

A B-class hero. I was raising my voice at someone who could pop me like a balloon with a flick of her fingers — who could slice me into sausage links with a single chop of her hand. She clearly hadn't expected it. Han Yuri flinched. In that opening, I stood up.

"Apologize to me."

"...Hah?"

"Honestly, I was too scared of you to say it. But after hearing what you just said, I found my courage. So I'll say it to your face. Apologize to me!"

That was when it happened. Time slowed, just slightly — and a translucent window materialized in midair.

Codex.

I didn't hesitate. I pulled up the Codex immediately. Just as I'd expected, time slowed even further. How slow? Slow enough that I could see Han Yuri's tail swinging toward me. If that thing so much as touched me, my ribs would shatter like dry twigs.

And yet, for some reason, I wasn't afraid. Strange.

I get it now.

The true way to use this Status Window. First I had to force a submission. Only then would the Codex open, and from there I could extract the hints I needed.

I closed the Status Window and slipped past her tail by a paper-thin margin. Maybe she was stunned that an F-class like me had dodged her attack. Han Yuri's eyes went wide.

"Did you just use an ability?"

"That's not important. Han Yuri. From now on, you're going to listen to me."

"...And why would I?"

"Because if you don't, I'll expose everything you did to me."

If Han Yuri felt even a sliver of guilt toward me — if she was afraid of that truth coming out — she wouldn't be able to retaliate. Not right now.

"Ha, haha! Y-you think that's gonna rattle me? Sehyun. If you wanted to die, you should've just said so! Huh?!"

"...If I don't make it out of here in one piece, a scheduled post goes live. Everything you did to me is written in it. Evidence attached."

It was a lie. I hadn't posted anything. Hell, I didn't even have evidence. Even if I'd tried to collect some, someone from the outside would've interfered for sure.

"Hah! I'll just have it force-deleted. Easy."

"Then I'll find a way to die. Right in front of you!"

"You crazy bastard...! Do you hate me that much? That much?!"

Yeah. I fucking hate you. Enough ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to want you dead. You're lucky you're a woman — that's the only reason I have a shot at revenge. If you'd been a guy, I wouldn't even have tried.

"Yuri. Why the hell would I like you? There's no reason to."

"You son of a..."

Han Yuri bit down on her lower lip. Her eyes bulged as she glared at me like she wanted me dead.

"Han Yuri. From now on, you'd b-better listen to what I say! You get it, right? One little move from me and you're finished!"

"...You came here planning this from the start?"

"Yeah. And if I did?"

"Your face got cute, that's all. You're still just as disgusting. You piece of trash..."

Yeah. I was trash. A piece of garbage who'd locked himself in a back room for two years, rotting his health and his mind, doing nothing but running. Getting a little power and talking big like this was trash behavior too, I supposed.

But I was less human than she was, and that was exactly why I held the advantage in this relationship. Win and you're a degenerate. Lose and you're a degenerate. Fine — then I'd be the degenerate who won.

"Yuri. In that case..."

I muttered the most inhuman words I could think of.