The Body Corrupts Itself
For the sake of Hyunwoo’s sidekick exam, Baek Seungha had entered the training room, though it was procedurally unavoidable.
'How on earth did it end up like this...?'
Originally, she had intended to be a third party watching coldly from the outside as this test failed miserably.
But look at this now.
Before she knew it, she had become a helper, sweating buckets.
"Hehe, can you hear me? Then, we shall now begin the sidekick exam for Hero Baek Seungha."
The moment the proctor’s voice cut off, the lights in the training room slowly dimmed.
Darkness surged in, and the white walls shattered as if breaking apart.
The space, disassembled like digital blocks, was soon reassembled into the shape of a city.
First, acrid smoke stung the nose.
Second, the surrounding air turned scorching hot.
And finally, what unfolded before Hyunwoo’s eyes was the ruins of a burning city center.
Half-collapsed buildings, rescue signals flashing across the sky, and the screams of people ringing out from everywhere.
Flames that made the very vibrations felt were shaking the floor.
“Whoa... seriously, this... I’d believe it if you told me it was real!”
“Well, yeah. It’s a space designed to maximize a hero’s real-world experience.”
It wasn’t just the background that was realistic.
The screams, the smoke, the heat, the dust—every single sensation was identical to the real thing.
Beside the amazed Hyunwoo, Baek Seungha scanned the area and then casually sat down on a piece of collapsed building debris.
"I’m not moving from this spot until the test is over."
"...!"
"This is your test, through and through. Me? I’m not helping at all. Got it?"
“Yes! Understood!”
She said it as if she were indifferent, but inside, she felt at ease.
In any case, according to the plan, Hyunwoo would definitely fail this test.
She was just a bystander, playing the role of someone who was merely 'watching' all of this.
'I will absolutely not help. Even if the Earth splits in two, I’m not moving!'
The moment she reaffirmed that resolution.
"W-wait!"
"...Yeah?"
"Wh-where are you going...?"
"Yes? I’m going to head toward where the screaming is coming from. I have to show you my skills."
Heading out on his own toward the direction of the screams?
Why is a guy so lacking in caution?!
Of course, rescuing citizens is an excellent choice to earn a high score.
But... why you? Right now? Why that?
Baek Seungha’s mind became complicated.
However, she had already declared, "I won't help at all."
So, after much deliberation.
“...Don’t go. They’ll come over here first anyway.”
“Eh? But then the hostages...?”
“If it were reality, that might be the case! But this is a test! There are no such detailed settings!”
In fact, the original test content was supposed to move that way, but.
Glare.
“...Are you looking at me, the one beyond the simulation, right now?”
Nod.
“Eek?!”
Hyunwoo won’t be helped.
However, don’t go where I can’t see you.
If possible, just stay within five meters.
If you go further than that, I really can’t do ‘anything’ for you.
With that contradictory resolution, Baek Seungha quietly turned her head and glared at Proctor Han Yusul, who was operating the simulation.
'Do it. Do it now. You know, right? Move tactfully.'
And though she shouldn't have ignored the fairness of the test.
'H-if you don't do as I say... I don't know what I'll do!'
Proctor Han Yusul, whose mind was still haunted by the shocking history of illicit activities he’d seen on the Hero ID Baek Seungha had given him, simply changed the simulation settings quietly, just wanting to survive.
At that moment, the screams that had been coming from all directions stopped dead.
...And.
Thud, thud, thud.
"Oh...! It’s for real. Just like Master said, the villains are coming toward us."
"Right? So just show me your skills within my line of sight. Don’t worry about anything else."
Hyunwoo and Baek Seungha were already surrounded by a group of masked villains.
'Good. Now, if one of those guys just growls, Hyunwoo will probably shed tears and say, "I want to stop~."'
The villains who appeared were all wearing blood-smeared masks and had hideous appearances.
Anyone could see they weren't just bit players in a horror movie, but lead-level actors—the kind that would last until season 3.
Usually, at this level, men would immediately soil themselves and faint.
In this world, men are originally like that.
They cry at the slightest fright, faint at a single scream, and go into shock just by seeing blood.
It’s not for nothing that men who get carried away after watching horror movies appear on the news every time.
Standing such a man in front of villains with appearances like that? Even Baek Seungha thought it was incredibly cruel.
That’s why she had adjusted all their combat power to 0.
They were just monsters for viewing, scary to look at but unable to lift a finger.
Of course, even so, if Hyunwoo actually ended up wetting himself, she planned to wash his underwear herself.
Anyway, she thought it was a perfect operation.
But.
“Here I go...!”
“Here... what?”
Instead of crying, Hyunwoo chose a frontal breakthrough.
A flying kick.
Next, he was weaving through the group of villains all by himself.
'...Am I dreaming right now?'
Her jaw dropped.
Hyunwoo was performing a musou among villains with 0 combat power.
But that... is damn sexy.
His arm muscles popping pop! pop!, sweat drops sliding down his collarbone, and his T-shirt rolling up slightly every time he rotated his waist—it was genuinely sex-!
...Not that!
Baek Seungha, whose saliva was naturally flowing up and down, quickly regained her senses.
'Hey, hey, hey! At this rate, he’ll really pass! Raise the difficulty!'
She urgently turned her head and shouted at the proctor, using all her hands and feet.
Responding to that, Proctor Han Yusul quickly adjusted the villains' combat power from ‘0 → 10’.
And, at that moment.
Pow!
“Ugh?!”
Hyunwoo, having taken a hit to the abdomen, flew through the air.
"Hy-Hyunwoo!!"
Hyunwoo lay miserably before her.
Looking at him, Baek Seungha should have been happy now.
If she left him alone, the test would naturally end, and she could cleanly cut ties with the failed Hyunwoo forever.
But.
The problem was her body, or more precisely, her lower half.
It was already suppressing reason with instinct and acting on its own.
Baek Seungha’s jaw stiffened at a strange feeling she had never experienced before.
She couldn't organize it, and she didn't know the reason, but...
'What is this irritation...? No, why am I this angry?'
Rumble rumble.
"Whoa?!" "Is it an earthquake?!"
An absurd killing intent spread, and the training room shook.
No, the sensation was as if the entire Seoul land where the Hero Association building was built was experiencing a micro-tremor of magnitude 3 or higher.
Proctor Han Yusul, watching from outside the simulation, flinched when he made eye contact with Baek Seungha, who was glaring at him.
'Damn it, what do you want me to do... I just did as I was told?!'
That was when.
"Hoo!"
"...?! Hyunwoo, don't get up! You just flew over here after being kicked right in front of me!"
"I'm fine with this much! Huff, huff... I can still do it."
...Does that make sense?
Usually, if it were the men of this world... no, if he were just an ordinary man!
It would be normal for him to be crying and calling for 'Mom!', burying his face in someone’s chest, and taking an hour to calm down.
But this guy, even though he was kicked squarely in the solar plexus, still managed to take a fighting pose again.
'Dangerous. This is too dangerous!'
Baek Seungha’s anger was soon covered by a fear even greater than that.
What if he really got hurt like that?
Could she make excuses and say she "didn't know" about an accident that happened right in front of her eyes?
"Master, please don't help me at all! I will prove my worth!"
"Y-yeah..."
If you prove it twice, I’ll die, you idiot.
Baek Seungha gritted her teeth and fell into thought.
She couldn't help him directly, but she couldn't let him get hurt either... then, suddenly, it flashed.
There is!
A way to help secretly without getting her hands dirty.
It felt unfair to call it a trick, but in any case, it was a very subtle move that allowed her to intervene secretly while keeping her declaration of 'I will absolutely not help'.
“Here I go again!”
...Right.
Hyunwoo, who was rushing in without any strategy like now, would soon be eliminated.
So let’s help ‘just a little’.
Very naturally, she just needed to flick a single finger.
Rustle.
While sitting, Baek Seungha scraped a pebble the size of a fingernail from the building debris.
And with that stone fragment on her palm, matching Hyunwoo’s timing...
"Haa!"
When his fist cut through the air, she quietly flicked her fingertip.
Snap!
The stone flew out like a bullet and embedded itself in the villain’s solar plexus.
And.
Boom!
The villain, whose body flew backward as if bounced, rolled three times on the concrete floor and slammed into the wall.
Saliva flowing from between the mask and twitching fingers.
It was the typical reaction of a guy who had been taken out in one hit.
"Huh?!"
"Good! You found the weak point!"
"Weak point...?"
"Yes, if you look closely, the area around their faces is the weak point, right? Keep aiming for that."
...Baek Seungha was absolutely not helping.
She was just changing the plan a little so that Hyunwoo wouldn't lose his pride, so he could fail naturally.
'If he catches a few more like this, gets tired, and eventually runs out of stamina and collapses, he fails. A natural and dignified elimination. This is the best.'
Boom, boom, boom!
"Master! Am I doing well?!"
"Yes, you're doing very~ well♥"
...She just asked, so why does she feel so good?
Hehehe... The thought of giving him a bonus for a single word came naturally.
Catching one or two more secretly... well, that should be fine.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!
"Master! If I become a sidekick... are we going to America together?"
"W-with me to America...?"
Hehehehe! That would be nice... no!
There are so many loose women in America! A country overflowing with such 'bitches' is exactly what a foreign country like America is, you idiot!
She was grateful for his heart, but it wasn't too early for Hyunwoo.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!
"Master Baek Seungha! I’m so happy to have someone like you as my master!"
"...?!"
Haaaaaack!!
Then came a foul-like declaration.
'Ugh... m-my female hormones are secreting on their own...!'
If you say it so prettily... it makes your 'Master' want to help you even more!
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!!
She should stop.
She really should stop.
This time, she won't flick her finger...!
...But will he say it again?
What if he says it prettily again?
It was Baek Seungha’s own heart, not the monster or Hyunwoo, that was starting to become unmanageable.
And.
“...Huh?”
The simulation in the room stopped, and the villains evaporated in an instant.
Baek Seungha, who was blankly staring at the central message, had her mind frozen because she had just been imagining the names of her and Hyunwoo’s third child.
"...Ah, the son’s name is Hyun-gang, if it’s a daughter, Hyun-ju... no, why am I giving birth to two kids by myself, damn it."
She came to her senses, but it was already too late.
At the point where she had matched her pace to Hyunwoo’s great performance without realizing it, this was already game over.
Baek Seungha, who slowly twisted the corners of her mouth while looking at that message.
“...Whatever. Well, if we get close like this, we might even be able to do it.”
Her face had entered a complete 'Sage Time'.