The One Who Stops Me From Consuming You!
The biggest superstar currently shining in South Korea.
Such a rookie hero lay helplessly sprawled out before her, a girl who had risen from the bottom of the social ladder.
Jang Marin looked down at the sight and chuckled.
"And they call her the hope of the hero world? Is that all she's got~."
The fact that even Shin Yura had fallen meant that her own power had been definitively proven.
That realization made her feel as if she were reigning proudly over this rotten world, so Jang Marin let out a louder, "Hahaha!"
But then.
Thud, thud.
"Hm...?"
She heard footsteps she didn't recognize. Only then did Jang Marin realize she had been staring too intently at the enemy in front of her.
From the direction of the manager's office, the sound of heels clicked—a sound that was somehow irritating. She wasn't sneaking out; she was walking out in broad daylight.
The footsteps even carried an air of... "there's no need to hide."
She felt unnecessarily ignored. Jang Marin, her mood instantly soured, whipped her head around.
"Hey! Who told you to move as you please!"
"If I want to move my own body, why should I need your permission?!"
"Uh... uh...?"
But wait.
What on earth is up with this old geezer?
Is this the same branch manager who, just a moment ago, was hunched over, ready to recite the vault password? She was clearly a terrified old woman who looked like she was about to wet herself, but now...
What caught Jang Marin's eye was something like the aura of a veteran who had survived the world for decades with her wits.
'She's old, but she's not dead. That means she's fought a lot.'
It wasn't the combat power of an old master, but rather, the survival instinct of one?
...This is, strangely, terrifying.
"Hey, Branch Manager... don't tell me you were hiding your strength?"
"I was not!"
"...Then it's still true that you're in a state where I could kill you just by reaching out my hand, right?"
"That is correct!!"
"...Ha?"
She couldn't understand it at all. She was still old, still weak, and still an old woman who looked like her bones would shatter if she got hit once—so why... was she so confident right now?
Just as Jang Marin furrowed her brows, the branch manager finally revealed the reason.
"For us women, born with the mark of the axe between our legs..."
"...?"
"Regardless of age, occupation, or skin color... there comes a moment when we must be brave!"
It wasn't a weak flicker of flame.
It was the final eruption of an old heart that had been boiling inside a pressure cooker until it finally exploded.
She had nothing left to give birth to, nothing left to protect, yet it was the pure rage of an old woman who refused to lose to even a single person.
Even if I die, I'll die in style!
Even if I lose, I'll keep my eyes wide open until the very end!
"My body may be past menopause...!"
The branch manager lunged forward, throwing her body that she had been holding back. There was no glory or hope in that gesture. There was only one instinct: 'Before I disappear, I'm going to land one last blow.'
"But my heart is full-term pregnant—!!"
An indomitable warrior.
A beast rejuvenated.
A lioness charging forward, splitting rocks with her stride.
Her fist flew toward Jang Marin.
...Of course.
*Tap.*
"What are you talking about, you old hag..."
"Gah?!"
Reality was cold.
With a light flick of Jang Marin's fingertip—a mere tap to the forehead—the branch manager staggered helplessly and fell backward.
However, just before her body could hit the floor with a thud.
"Against an elderly person... do you have no sense of decency?"
"...Hm?"
Someone who had approached unnoticed carefully wrapped their arms around her, slowly and gently laying her falling body onto the floor.
It wasn't simply 'stopping her from falling.'
It was an attitude of embracing and respecting the 'person' who was falling.
At that moment, Jang Marin's brow furrowed.
"Who are you, just who are you...!"
Only then was the silhouette revealed.
A height that looked to be at least 180cm, shoulders that weren't explosive but solid, and forearms where the muscle fibers were honed to be both smooth and sharp.
And that gaze.
The resolve possessed only by a 'man,' neither beast nor warrior.
Jang Marin, who had been arrogant and high-spirited until now, felt her eyes waver for the first time.
"...A man?"
Her breath hitched.
"...It's a... man?"
Her Adam's apple bobbed involuntarily. He wasn't something popped out of a dense manga doujinshi, nor was he a male model painstakingly crafted in 3D MMD. He wasn't even a silhouette in a low-quality adult video blurred into a mass of pixels.
He was a truly living, breathing, 'real man.'
"Officially registered hero, sidekick Kang Hyunwoo, reporting for duty."
"...Side... kick...? A man...?"
"Run away... Hyunwoo-ssi!"
It was then.
Shin Yura, who had been collapsed behind Jang Marin, managed to lift her head and shout. Fear was clearly evident in the eyes of the woman she thought had been knocked unconscious. It was a roar of a female giving her all to protect a male. Hearing that desperate voice, Jang Marin had no choice but to believe it, even if she didn't want to.
This wasn't just cosplay or a woman dressed as a man. This existence before her eyes meant, quite literally, a 'real man.'
As if to prove it, Hyunwoo quietly pulled out his hero license.
"I am an officially registered sidekick."
Jang Marin's pupils trembled. The gender that was considered adorable just by breathing. And now, the most authentic 'real thing' was standing right in front of her.
The moment she realized that fact.
"A... ah, no... don't look!"
"Hm?"
Jang Marin instinctively wrapped her arms around her own body. Her three-meter-tall giant frame, her absurdly muscular mass—this body she had always considered proud now felt insanely embarrassing.
It was a strange emotion she was feeling for the first time in front of a real man. A red flush crept across Jang Marin's face.
She quickly lowered her head and covered her eyes like a protagonist in a romance comic, saying,
"I, I'm... compared to those 'chosen women' who just wait on men... I'm, I'm an eyesore!"
"...Excuse me?"
"Hic?! If it were someone like Shin Yura collapsed over there, maybe... but someone like me... just looking at me will rot your eyes! So you can't look!"
Jang Marin stammered, pointing a finger at the unconscious Shin Yura she had beaten up herself. The monster-like villainous aura she had possessed until now was nowhere to be found; she looked so terrified that even the muscles all over her body seemed to be shrinking.
Watching this, Hyunwoo judged that arresting her wouldn't be difficult right now. But what bothered him more was what she had just said. It was that attitude of denying all her own efforts and considering herself a monster.
So, Hyunwoo relaxed his stance for a moment and slowly opened his mouth.
"What's so ugly about it? From where I'm standing... you look pretty cool."
"...Uh?"
Jang Marin's arms, which had been tightly wrapping her body, slowly loosened.
Saying something like this right before fighting an enemy wasn't the standard for a hero. But Hyunwoo knew. A true hero is someone who saves 'people,' regardless of whether they are a villain or a citizen.
And he, too, had heard the phrase "What's the point of trying when you're just being protected?" countless times in the past, simply because he was a man.
"How do you usually work out? I've been doing home workouts alternating between anaerobic and aerobic exercises lately."
It was a sudden question. But at the same time, it was a question she could answer, a question she wanted to answer, so Jang Marin's lips twitched.
"I, I! I divide it into morning, lunch, and dinner! I do a thousand reps a day, from bench presses to squats and deadlifts... and I never, ever skip my protein!"
There was genuine sincerity in the voice she used to pour out her passion.
"Have you ever tried kimchi-flavored protein? I'm a regular user of the OO brand."
"Oh? I eat that too?! Really?"
"Really. It tastes decent, and muscle recovery is fast, too."
"Right, right! If you eat that, you can really feel your muscles recovering, right? Hahahahaha!"
Suddenly, the atmosphere warmed up with talk of exercise and protein, and Jang Marin was laughing brightly like a child before she knew it. Like an elementary school student out on a picnic.
It was like that back then. The world was brilliant even with just a roll of kimbap or a sip of a drink, but when did it change? This body, which had lived without skipping a single workout and taking protein religiously just to become as 'arousing' as a man's body... had now become such a heinous 'villain' that she was about to be arrested by a 'man.'
It felt so unfair, and so strange. Moreover... that one word, "cool," spoken by a muscular man. She had always masturbated, saying her only lovers were the muscles in these two forearms, but this was the first time she had received recognition from a real man, a real member of the opposite sex, a real 'possibility.'
The moment that thought crossed her mind, her heart went thump.
Her ears burned red, and her eyes felt ticklish.
And so.
"Now, then, let's have a fair and square fight...!"
Drip. Drip. Drip.
When she came to her senses, Jang Marin was already streaming tears and snot from her face.
"Ugh... *sob*...!"
"...Hm?"
"Waaaaah! What on earth have I been doing! The world is so beautiful!!"
Hyunwoo was left literally dumbfounded watching the scene. It was his first debut as a sidekick, and it was about time for him to coolly pull out his soul weapon, Ego. But the opponent was...
"A man... called me cool... and we even talked about working out... If I had known this, I would've just opened a gym...!"
Sudden regret and realization. Jang Marin slumped down, muttering with her head bowed low. Then she jumped up and slapped her own cheek.
*Smack!*
"No... if a man fights a body like this, he'll die immediately... rather than that, I'll... I'll fight myself!!"
"...Excuse me?"
*Smack!* *Thwack!* *Bang!!*
She punched her own stomach, struck her own chin with her knee, and even kicked her own legs until she fell, rolling around on the ground. Then she twisted her arms behind her back to dislocate them herself, and bent over to strike her own shoulder with her pelvis.
Hyunwoo watched the scene blankly for a moment, then hurriedly ran over when he saw Jang Marin finally smash her own face into the wall and collapse.
With a crunch, she slumped over. Hyunwoo knelt down and carefully examined the face of Jang Marin, who lay helplessly on the floor, covered in blood.
At that moment, Jang Marin asked with a smile, even through the blood.
"See? How strong I am..."
"Yes... I did see it, but..."
Hyunwoo had literally, truly just 'seen' it. But at that one answer, Jang Marin nodded as if satisfied and closed her eyes.
"Right, then that's enough. Then... I won."
"...?"
Thump.