The Deal
Sizzle...
"Trauma?"
Great Order, who had been watching his sudden movements with guarded wariness, parted her lips in sheer bewilderment.
"What on earth are you doing in there?"
An A-Class Villain who had neutralized the Rank 2 Hero less than a week after his debut. An uncontrollable madman who, just moments ago, had butchered two-thirds of the sidekicks in her office.
Chop-chop-chop-chop-chop—!
And now, that monstrous figure was standing in her kitchenette, dicing scallions with practiced, rhythmic ease.
"I'm cooking."
"No—I mean, why?"
Between the brisk percussion of the knife against the board and the hiss of boiling water, Great Order pressed a hand to her temple, fighting off a dizzying headache.
"We're going to be sharing board and lodging for quite a while. It's only right that I treat you to a proper meal."
"What kind of nonsense..."
"Just think of it as a celebration. Besides, it's about lunchtime anyway, isn't it?"
Having said his piece, Trauma turned his full attention back to the stove.
To be fair, it was indeed nearing noon. The savory aroma drifting from the kitchen smelled surprisingly appetizing, and considering Trauma was an erratic loose cannon capable of anything, the whim wasn't entirely beyond imagination.
Still... he wants to eat in a place like this?
The office floor was currently strewn with the cold, lifeless corpses of her sidekicks. And right in the middle of this slaughterhouse, Trauma was engrossed in his culinary duties, his coat still stained with their blood.
"..."
Evidently, the man was far more unhinged than she had anticipated.
"All done. You should eat before it gets cold."
"Before that, I have a question."
After agonizing over the bizarre scene for a long moment, Great Order finally spoke up as Trauma set a steaming bowl of kimchi stew before her.
"The stew's going to get cold..."
"Why do you want to infiltrate the Academy and the Hero Association?"
Initially, she had believed she would cooperate with Trauma unconditionally if it served her purpose regarding Kang Haneul. But after watching him perform one eccentricity after another within minutes of stepping into her office, she realized she had to know his true motives.
"If you genuinely consider me a partner, you can at least tell me that much."
"I told you already," Trauma replied, offering a quiet, gentle smile against her piercing scrutiny. "There's a student at the Academy I must protect at all costs."
"Is that truly all?" Great Order pressed fiercely, refusing to back down. "If so, there's no reason for you to infiltrate the Hero Association as well."
"Ah, that's for a different reason."
"Which is?"
"I plan to flip the world entirely on its head."
Trauma's eyes ignited with a cold, sharp brilliance as he began his explanation.
"Before long, I will prove the existence of kaijin to the entire world."
"...!"
"My preparations are practically complete. No matter how desperately the higher-ups attempt to bury the truth, they won't be able to suppress it this time."
"Because of Pandora?"
"You're quick on the uptake."
Great Order was already well aware of the uncanny, systematic cover-ups surrounding the kaijin over the past several years. But with Pandora—the newly joined executive of Dominating Hands—in play, perfectly concealing information would be an impossible task.
Just as Lumia had hinted when tipping her off to the existence of kaijin a few days prior, their existence was destined to be dragged into the daylight before long.
"Well, Pandora isn't the entirety of my plan, of course."
"You're saying you have another weapon to prove their existence?"
"You'll see with your own eyes soon enough." Trauma curled the corners of his lips, continuing in a smooth, calculated cadence. "In any case, what matters is what comes after the world learns of the kaijin."
"After...?"
"Heroes are forbidden from killing villains without exceptional justification. Isn't that so?"
"...That is the law."
Subjugation for heroes. Containment and execution for Karma. That was the immutable doctrine of the modern era.
"But consider this: what if you kill someone first, and only afterward is it revealed that they were a kaijin all along?"
Trauma was striking at the very foundation of that doctrine.
"For instance, the Director of Internal Affairs, notorious for taking bribes. Secret Intelligence Bureau operatives who quietly assassinate heroes in the shadows without leaving a trace of evidence. Or the monsters masquerading behind the pristine masks of Top Rankers."
"..."
"If someone executes them based on mere suspicion, and they turn out to be kaijin... that act is entirely blameless. Exonerated."
A shockingly unprecedented concept.
"No matter what rank or office they hold, no matter how much wealth or social renown they've accumulated, none of it will save them anymore."
"..."
"Because kaijin are not human."
As Great Order sat struck dumb, Trauma leaned closer, his voice dropping to a low, chilling whisper.
"And when that new era arrives, what if the sole person capable of flawlessly distinguishing kaijin makes their debut as a hero?"
"Ah..."
"That hero will become the ultimate game changer."
Trauma was undeniably right.
If such a hero truly appeared... and if that hero possessed martial prowess so overwhelming that no institution could ever hope to control them...
Then no authority in the world, no conglomerate or syndicate, would ever dare cross them. Rather, every nation on Earth would shower them with desperate courtship.
"That is why I intend to debut as a hero."
And the man who satisfied every single one of those impossible conditions—the one destined to become that very transcendent existence—was sitting right in front of her.
"Does that satisfy your curiosity?"
And that very same harbinger of revolution, still wearing an apron, was currently ladling steaming kimchi stew into her bowl.
"So... are you orchestrating all of this simply to become that figure yourself?"
After a long silence, Great Order finally gathered her scattered thoughts and spoke.
"Ultimately, no."
"Then..."
"I'm merely laying the foundation so the mantle can be safely handed over to someone who is truly qualified to hold it."
Great Order tilted her head, searching his features. "Is that person... the student you must protect at the Academy?"
"You should eat. The stew is getting cold."
Trauma merely rested his chin in his palm, answering with a soft, enigmatic smile.
"Very well..."
Having lowered her guard after hearing the sheer scale and logic of his plan, Great Order hesitated a moment before lifting her spoon.
I'll just pretend to take a bite or two.
With the corpses of monsters that had worn the faces of her sidekicks strewn across the floor, she naturally had no appetite. She intended only to go through the motions to keep up appearances.
"...Wait."
The instant the stew touched her tongue, her eyes widened in shock.
"How is it? Delicious, isn't it?"
"..."
Just as Trauma had claimed, it was exquisite. Had the circumstances not been so gruesome, she would have cast aside all dignity and emptied the bowl.
What is this...?
More than that, an uncanny familiarity resonated from the flavor of the broth.
Am I imagining things?
She cocked her head in confusion, but soon dismissed the sensation as a trick of the mind. The only homemade kimchi stew she had ever eaten had been prepared by her younger brother years ago, a handful of times at best. Her frame of reference was far too scarce to draw any certain conclusion.
"Excuse me, about this stew..."
After taking a few more spoonfuls, Great Order looked up, intending to declare that propriety prevented her from eating any further.
"...!"
Her breath hitched, her entire body stiffening.
"Is something the matter?"
Trauma had removed the fedora pulled low over his forehead.
Whether by some cruel twist of fate or an uncanny coincidence, his face bore a striking resemblance to Kang Haneul.
"..."
Of course, the fine details differed. His eye color was different, his right eye showed no hint of infirmity, and his visage appeared distinctly more mature than Kang Haneul's.
Yet if Kang Haneul were draped in an impenetrable shroud of secrecy, and had aged ten more years under its weight... wouldn't he look exactly like this?
"...No. It's nothing."
After lingering in that thought for a brief second, Great Order shook her head with a faint, bitter smile.
"Nothing at all."
The genetic test between Trauma and herself had already proven they shared no blood relation whatsoever. In other words, the possibility of him being Kang Haneul was absolute zero.
Besides, comparing this man—eccentric though he was, yet driven by an ironclad conviction—to the Kang Haneul who had murdered Justia was an insult in itself.
"...Ahem."
Clearing her throat and steadying her mind, Great Order unconsciously scooped up another spoonful of stew. At the sound of soft laughter across the table, she lifted her head.
"...?"
Trauma was watching her, an amused smile playing on his lips.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
When Great Order asked in bewilderment, Trauma stared at her intently for a beat before dipping his head slightly.
"Seeing you enjoy the food simply makes me happy."
"Your expression looks far too complicated for that to be all."
At her suspicious remark, Trauma let out a quiet, wistful sigh.
"I was just... reminded of the past."
"...?"
"Ah, that reminds me. I haven't mentioned my condition yet."
Abruptly, Trauma crossed his legs and leaned back.
"...A condition? Now?"
"When you think about it, aren't you aligning yourself with someone destined to become the ultimate game changer of hero society?"
"That may be, but..."
"No matter how I tally the ledger, the numbers don't balance. So I must ask you to grant me one request."
Great Order's face twisted in displeasure, but she soon closed her eyes and let out a resigned breath.
"Speak. I'll hear you out."
In this negotiation, she was fundamentally the disadvantaged party. Trauma possessed more than enough initiative and momentum to carry out his plans without her. She was merely an accelerator—a booster to smooth his path.
Since she was the one who had proposed the bargain in the first place, she had no choice but to swallow his terms, no matter how demanding.
"I gave it quite a lot of thought," Trauma mused.
"..."
"What demand I should make, what wretched condition I should impose, just to make your life miserable."
Listening to his teasing cadence, Great Order swallowed a dry lump in her throat.
"...I'm joking."
Her eyes opened slowly at the change in his tone.
"Whenever we meet in the future, simply share a meal with me."
"...Is that all?"
"Yes. That is all."
Looking down at Great Order, who stared back with wide, dubious eyes, Trauma whispered softly:
"That is the only thing I ask of you."
As she looked at him with an unreadable gaze, dozens of missed calls from Lee Se-ah continued to accumulate silently on her smartphone screen.
Meanwhile, at that very hour.
The private residence of the Chairman of Shinwa Group, the world's foremost corporate conglomerate.
"What do you mean by that, Se-ah Sunbae?"
"Lumia-san is a woman? What on earth are you talking abou—"
"Young Lady, the Chairman is waiting for you."
At the sound of the chief secretary's voice outside the double doors, Himari gave a curt nod and began to step forward.
"...Let's talk later."
Cutting off Se-ah's utterly baffling call, Himari took a deep breath and crossed the threshold into the room.
"Good afternoon, Chairman."
Instantly, a voice rich with warmth resonated through the chamber.
"Ah, Himari. You're here."
The mastermind who had built Shinwa Group into a titan that held the world in its palm. A ruthless ruler reputed not to bleed a single drop even if stabbed by a needle.
A formidable powerhouse who, despite being handed a terminal sentence a decade ago, had clung stubbornly to life on continuous support without forfeiting a shred of his corporate dominion.
The Chairman of Shinwa Group—a terrifying titan before whom even the most arrogant powerbrokers could scarcely breathe.
"By the way, haven't I asked you to call me Grandfather?"
"...Grandfather."
"Hahaha! Yes, that's much better."
Yet before his granddaughter, he was merely an ordinary, doting elder.
"Have you been smiling more often these days?"
"...Yes."
"That is wonderful to hear. Hahaha..."
In truth, he was far from ordinary. The Chairman's blatant favoritism toward his granddaughter was legendary across the entire Shinwa Group.
The fact that Himari, once an outsider within the family, had risen to become a leading candidate for succession—and that she could freely wield the prestige of the Shinwa name in the outside world—was entirely thanks to the Chairman's unyielding, zealous backing.
"Well then, I will begin the overdue briefing."
"Yes, go right ahead."
Knowing this all too well, Himari even offered a gentle smile—a rarity for her—as she flipped open her files.
Because the Chairman entered periodic cryostasis to conserve what little lifespan he had left, it was essential to bring him up to date on everything that had unfolded in his absence.
And this particular briefing was set to be a decisive turning point for Himari.
The chain of events sparked by Justia's death.
Kang Haneul's subsequent downfall, and Lumia's tireless dedication.
By reporting all of this, the moment to completely turn her grandfather's heart had finally arrived.
Even after Himari had abandoned Kang Haneul, her grandfather had, for reasons unknown, continually maintained his support for him.
No matter how much she owed her grandfather as her greatest benefactor, Himari had deeply resented that fact. Because now, the one by her side was not Kang Haneul, but Lumia.
She had never dared to voice her displeasure directly, but once she presented the truth of the Justia incident, the board would be reset. Her grandfather would cut Kang Haneul off for good, and Lumia would finally receive the recognition he deserved.
"...That concludes the summary report on the death of Justia."
With that triumphant conviction, she brought her briefing to a swift close.
"And regarding this incident, what I would like to add is—"
Looking up to set her intentions into motion, Himari locked eyes with her grandfather.
"...Himari."
"Yes?"
Her voice died in her throat. She froze on the spot.
"What have you all done?"
The grandfather who had always looked upon her with boundless warmth and tenderness...
"Just what in the world... have you fools done?!"
...was glaring at her with eyes colder than a winter frost.
"...Grandfather?"
A chill ran down Himari's spine. Sensing that something had gone unimaginably, catastrophically wrong, she called out to him in a trembling whisper, cold sweat drenching the nape of her neck.