The Chosen Protagonist and the Abandoned Protagonist

A terrifying roar shattered the street.

The shockwave unleashed by Ariel’s blow ripped through the barrier—a defense that had never once been breached—and laid waste to everything around them.

"Cough, hack..."

It had been a flawless strike. So complete that, for a fleeting second, I thought Justia herself had returned.

"I-If it's just this much... I can bear it..."

Having exhausted her strike, Ariel sank to her knees before where I lay collapsed, murmuring to herself.

"...Wait. Why can I bear it?"

Naturally. It was an awakened power she had never once been able to control, so her bewilderment made sense. By all rights, a horrific recoil should have torn through her body by now.

Except I had already triggered a skill to avert that very fate.

Over the past week of poring over what Justia had bequeathed to me, I discovered thirteen distinct skills slumbering within her gift. Yet the only ones I could wield without restriction were my own original abilities: Insight and Defense.

The remaining eleven skills had all been pushed to their absolute caps by Justia, demanding an exorbitant toll for every single activation.

However, the Physical Link I had just engaged was slightly different. Among those eleven Non-Standard skills, it stood alone as a purely non-combat ability—a peculiar anomaly whose price was the act of skill activation itself.

Its true function was straightforward: to share and absorb damage inflicted upon the target.

In other words, no matter where Ariel was, I could now shoulder her pain. Naturally, being able to perceive whenever she was in mortal danger was a welcome bonus.

Then again, Justia really poured her whole heart into this.

She had told me once, long ago, about how she had secretly shouldered the recoil whenever her sister used her power—right up until she was caught. That discovery had crushed Ariel, plunging her into depression and leading her to abandon her dream of becoming a great hero who could surpass her older sister.

Only now did the full truth become clear.

Just as my desperate longing to uncover Lumia’s identity had given birth to Insight, perhaps it was Justia’s desperate desire to ease her little sister’s suffering that had forged this skill.

...Though, in my experience, desperately wishing for something doesn't just hand you a skill out of thin air.

The doubt flickered in my mind for a moment, but I dismissed it with a shake of my head. Regardless of how it came to be, this ability was forged for Ariel's sake. And so, I too would wield it for her.

Still, can I even get up?

My physical state was abysmal. I had conjured a tiny barrier just before Ariel’s blow landed, narrowly avoiding a direct impact, but the shockwave alone had battered my entire body. On top of that, there was the crushing burden I had absorbed on Ariel's behalf.

Yet for me, this was actually ideal.

Throughout the past week of cataloging every available ability, I had discovered an invincible synergy.

The moment I received damage through Physical Link, I triggered Tempering—one of the eleven Non-Standard skills—to forge and reinforce my flesh.

A perpetual motion machine in the truest sense. With this, I could temper my body at blistering speed without wasting years of blood, sweat, and effort.

Of course, it demanded a terrifying toll: the agony I felt was amplified to its absolute peak. But the Concept residing within me was none other than the Concept of Hypnosis, universally regarded as the pinnacle of psychic abilities.

A single command of self-hypnosis—whispering that I felt no pain—was all it took to bypass the penalty with flying colors.

There was, however, one minor catch.

The skill reinforced my body; it did not heal it. The physical trauma still accumulated beneath the surface.

My limbs trembled, but thanks to the subtle reinforcement creeping through my muscles, I found enough strength to lean on my cane and force myself up.

"Grrr..."

Fortunately, Ariel seemed to have burnt through every shred of her strength with that singular blow. She remained collapsed where she was, grinding her teeth in helpless frustration.

Then, someone slipped silently into view behind her.

"Ugh?"

Ariel, who had been glaring at me with murderous fury, let out a pained whimper as a hand chopped down lightly across the back of her head.

"Sunbae."

It was Lumia, finally arriving after having been kept at bay by the barrier until now.

"It's not too late."

She stepped toward me, her eyes clouded with the hollow despair of someone who had lost the entire world.

Seeing that look, there was no doubt left: she knew I was Kang Haneul. To keep that knowledge locked away without breathing a word to anyone... she really was something else.

"L-Lumia-san... don't..."

Despite the blow to her skull, Ariel hadn't lost consciousness; she weakly reached out a trembling hand, her voice barely a breath. She evidently believed Lumia was being puppeted by my mental control.

"Sunbae, choose me before it's too late."

Honestly, that was an injustice. There wasn't a speck of mind control on this girl.

"The one who took everything from you was me, wasn't it?"

Granted, her words and actions made her sound completely unhinged—like someone whose mind had indeed been fried by psychic tampering.

"Come, attack me. Avenge yourself on the root of all evil."

"......"

"You can treat me as roughly as you want. Trample me into the dirt, break me until I'm half-dead."

Stepping in close, Lumia took my hand and wrapped it firmly around her own slender throat.

"I'll take everything you can throw at me."

Her pupils trembled with a feverish, manic intensity.

"Violence, threats, confinement, abduction—anything is fine."

She bit her lower lip hard, her fingers tightening around my wrist to drive my grip deeper into her flesh.

"Please... leave your mark on me."

Watching her strangle herself with my own hand, an unbidden smile touched the corner of my lips.

"You want to be attacked that badly?"

"Yes... Yes! More than anything!"

She wasn't lying. Not a hint of falsehood betrayed her expression.

"Khhk... ngh..."

Her legs were trembling from the sheer force with which she was choking herself out.

Well, if that was truly what she desired, there was only one thing left to do.

"I refuse."

"...Huh?"

Whispering the refusal, I gently slid my fingers free from her frantic grip.

"My arch-nemesis is Justia's little sister."

I wiped my hand calmly against my cloak.

"Only she defines my identity."

Reaching up, I pulled aside my mask just enough to reveal my closed left eye, murmuring in a low, chilling cadence.

"Trauma..."

Behind her, Ariel's voice rasped out.

"Remember this..."

"S-Shut your mouth!!!"

The moment those words left Ariel's lips, Lumia shrieked as though having a seizure, but Ariel refused to be silenced.

"Even if it costs me my life..."

Pushed past her absolute limits by accumulated trauma, Ariel glared at me with eyes blazing like raw fire.

"You... I will..."

Before she could finish the sentence, her consciousness gave out, and she slumped limp to the pavement.

"Ah... Ah, aah..."

Lumia collapsed to her knees, emitting a deflated groan like air escaping a popped balloon, perfectly spelling out what Ariel’s unfinished words had meant.

Why are there so many damn notifications popping up?

As I looked down at Lumia with grim satisfaction, a flurry of blue windows obscured my vision. Right at the tail end was the name of Lee Se-ah, my childhood friend whom I hadn't seen in ages.

Still, now was hardly the time to worry about that.

"Why... Why?" Lumia muttered from the pavement. "Why didn't you choose me...?"

I had one thing I desperately needed to tell her.

"It's simple."

Lumia blinked up at me, her face blank and dazed.

"You're a dude, aren't you?"

A heavy silence draped over the alley.

"You gay bastard."

"I-It's a misunderstanding!"

Pale as a sheet, Lumia scrambled to her feet in a panic.

"It's a misunderstanding, Sunbae! I... I am—!"

What, was she planning to reveal she was actually a woman now? If you're going to commit to a disguise, see it through to the end. Talk about having zero backbone.

...Hm?

Just as I was about to raise my middle finger to salute her, a sudden wave of blistering heat washed over my back.

BOOOOM!

Less than a second later, a brilliant beam of radiant energy tore through the air, plunging straight toward me.

"Ngh...!"

Without time to deploy a barrier, I gritted my teeth and twisted my body aside, narrowly dodging the blast—only to witness a bizarre spectacle immediately after.

The radiant beam, which had blazed past me and headed straight for Lumia, subtly curved off course in midair and cleanly missed her.

Come to think of it... what even is Lumia's ability?

"I'm sorry! I didn't realize you were there!"

As I picked myself up from the ground, pondering the strange deflection, a clear, ringing voice echoed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠through the ruins.

A star-shaped lance of light descended between Lumia and me, erupting into a blinding flare that separated us with a shimmering wall of luminescence.

"Don't worry, citizen! I'm here to save you!"

And as the light formed an impenetrable barrier, an all-too-familiar catchphrase rang in my ears.

"Infused with the power of stars and love. Miracle Magic!"

Hearing those theatrical words, I instantly knew who had arrived on the scene.

"Channeling everyone's wishes—Change Up!"

Rank 2 Hero. Holder of the record for the most Magical Beast subjugations in history.

Despite her youthful appearance, she wielded a terrifying prowess on par with any veteran top-ranking hero—one of the few genuine beacons of hope left in this rotten era.

"Miracle Shine has arrived!"

Hero moniker: Miracle Shine.

Commonly known as: the 'Magical Girl'.

Cloaked in resplendent light, she touched down in the heart of the wreckage.

"...Well, thanks."

I was grateful that she had removed that nuisance Lumia from my sight, but that hardly meant our circumstances had improved. Youthful as she looked, the title of Rank 2 was not handed out as charity.

"A-Class Villain Trauma."

As cold sweat formed at my nape, she raised her magic wand and declared with unyielding resolve:

"Your wickedness has crossed the line. Slaughtering countless hostages. Threatening Academy students. And that terrorist incident before."

"Excuse me."

"I shudder to imagine what you will do next."

Unfortunately for her, I had no intention of clashing here.

"Therefore, right here and now, I will—"

"Hold on a second!"

Extending an arm, I shouted at the top of my lungs. She faltered, her proclamation cutting off mid-sentence.

"I have something to tell you. Will you just hear me out?"

Miracle Shine was a complete hero—the very paragon whom Justia had praised as the finest champion of justice and goodwill. It seemed that assessment had been entirely accurate.

"...What is it?"

As of a week ago, out of the twelve Top Heroes, only three were not Kaijin—my sister Kang Maru included. Miracle Shine, who was now glaring at me with eyes narrowed in sharp suspicion, was one of those three.

In this era of lies and deception, an uncorrupted hero stood right before me. Fighting someone like her offered zero benefit. My ultimate goal was vengeance, and while Kaijin were on my hit list, true heroes were not.

"I don't know whether you'll believe me or not..."

"Go on."

"Those people over there... are actually monsters."

"What?"

"I'm saying they aren't human. They're monsters."

If that was the case, my course of action was clear: reveal the truth.

Deceiving Ariel was necessary to foster her growth, but there was no reason to deceive fully established heroes. The more allies who knew the truth, the better.

"...Are you playing a joke on me?"

"No, I'm completely serious."

Now then. How should I persuade her?

Miracle Shine. The hero known to the world as the Magical Girl, fiercely adored by teenage girls and men in their twenties alike.

"Why would I bother lying in a situation like this?"

"Obviously, to catch me off guard and deceive me..."

"The entire reason I came here in the first place was to broadcast those monsters transforming on a live feed."

Having heard that the high-priority threat 'Trauma' had surfaced, she had asked the other heroes to hold back so she could respond to the scene alone. Now, confronting a villain unlike any she had ever faced, cold sweat trickled down her skin.

"No, forget it. It'll be quicker to show you directly."

"Wait a moment."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Trauma walked over to a hostage lying cold on the pavement nearby.

CRACK. CRUUNCH...

Fixing his gaze on her, he violently wrenched the hostage's neck until bone snapped.

"Look. Can you not see this?"

Reaching into the mangled, ruined neck, he mimed grabbing something invisible and shook his hand wildly through the air.

"Man, this really is disgusting. Looks just like an octopus."

"Excuse me."

Staring blankly at the spectacle, she posed a quiet question to the man flailing his hand at empty air.

"...Are you insane?"

"Can you really not see it?"

Trauma looked between his empty hand and her face, his brow furrowing into a deep scowl.

"This makes me look like a total lunatic..."

The words You look like a lunatic because you ARE one rose to her throat, but Miracle Shine shook her head vigorously and swallowed them down. Carefully, she began to raise her magic wand.

"Guess I have no choice but to try another method."

"...!"

She froze mid-motion as Trauma seized a nearby civilian by the collar.

"Hey. Spoil your identity to that girl."

"Ghhk... grrr..."

If there was still a living hostage, she couldn't engage recklessly.

"Hurry up. If you don't..."

"Grrraaaagh!!"

As she racked her brain for a way to ambush him and rescue the civilian—

POW!

Mocking her deliberations, the hostage's head exploded like a burst melon.

"Haah... Seriously, I'm losing my goddamn mind."

Trauma pounded his chest in sheer exasperation, then suddenly scooped up a jagged shard of glass from the rubble.

"Well, when their lives are on the line, they usually transform on their own."

STAB. SQUELCH. CRUNCH...

Without another word, he began driving the glass shard into the corpse over and over.

"Huh, still won't transform? Choosing secrecy over basic survival instinct... I guess that explains how you things remained hidden for so long."

That maniacal display laid bare the sheer madness driving Trauma’s actions.

...Is my condition off today?

Yet there was one detail she could not comprehend.

Why is my Concept reacting to him?

Her innate ability—which detected people desperately in need of rescue—was resonating powerfully off Trauma.

"Stop. Raise your hands and surrender."

Naturally, she had no intention of abetting this lunatic in mutilating and detonating corpses, so she took a deliberate step toward him.

"If you move, I will immediately enter combat mode. Keep that in mind—"

Just then—

Clatter... roll...

Something rolled to a stop at her feet.

"Oops."

Miracle Shine tilted her head in confusion and picked it up. Trauma’s voice carried over from a few paces away.

"That's mine. Thanks for picking it up."

Twirling his cane, Trauma issued a cool directive.

"Now then, disarm completely and come over here. Let's find somewhere secluded and have a little chat."

Miracle Shine stood completely still, her expression chilling into a solemn glare.

"...Is this a mental attack?"

Folding her arms, she addressed him directly.

"I suppose you realized a frontal confrontation was impossible."

Tossing the smartphone back toward him, she declared proudly:

"Unfortunately for you..."

"......"

"As a magical girl, psychic abilities have no effect on me."

Confront mighty evil with mightier justice.

Overwhelm great strength with absolute power.

That was her philosophy of battle. Her signature victory routine was to feign vulnerability, let the enemy believe their power had taken hold, and then demonstrate total immunity to shatter their spirit.

"T-That can't be."

It seemed to have worked. Trauma stumbled backward, weariness and shock plastered across his posture.

He's wounded. He really can't fight head-on.

Noticing his limp, she assessed the situation and prepared to raise her wand to bring this to an end.

This is my chance—

"T-This didn't work?"

Hearing Trauma’s suddenly pathetic, despairing whine, her hand paused mid-air once again.

"T-That's impossible! My hypnosis is invincible!"

"......"

"Look! Look right here!"

Staggering forward, Trauma desperately shoved the smartphone screen into her face, displaying the Hypnosis App.

So his ability brainwashes people through a smartphone.

Her eyes narrowed slightly as she ran the calculations at high speed.

His power won't affect me anyway. But ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠if I pretend to fall under his hypnosis here...

"Damn it, damn it all..."

...I might be able to uncover his veiled motives, his hideout... maybe even the whereabouts of his accomplices.

Having reached her conclusion in an instant, she sprang into action.

"Ah... uh...?"

Her eyes unfocused as she stared at the screen, and she swayed as if struck by sudden vertigo.

"Why... Why am I so sleepy...?"

Muttering weakly, she let her head drop.

"D-Did it work?"

"......"

"Did it succeed?"

Trauma’s excited, breathless voice reached her ears.

"Raise your right hand."

"Yes."

"Now your left hand."

"Understood."

After issuing a few basic commands, Trauma clenched his fist in triumph and muttered to himself.

"...Tch, piece of cake."

"Mmph."

Seeing him act so petty and pitiful, Miracle Shine nearly burst into laughter, only managing to choke it down by reminding herself of the gravity of the situation.

"Great. In that case..."

As she held her rigid, compliant posture, Trauma tapped her lightly on the shoulder and whispered:

"Shall we move to another ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠location?"

Watching him turn his back to lead the way, she allowed a quiet, triumphant smirk to blossom across her face.

You fell completely for my acting.

Walking ahead with my back turned to Miracle Shine, a faint grin tugged at the corner of my lips as I chuckled internally.

I knew it. Nothing works on psychic resistance quite like this.

What I had just cast was not ordinary hypnosis, but a suggestion that compelled the target to pretend to be hypnotized. It was one of my trump cards, explicitly designed to counter foes with ironclad mental defenses.

Kidnap her first, then drill the truth into her head later.

And thus began the abduction of the Magical Girl—an incident that would soon throw the entire world into uproar.