A Training Method from Another Dimension
A legendary A-rank hero. There are only five of them in all of South Korea.
To think I’d run into someone like Serapel again, and outside of an interview, no less.
Should I call this an honor, or is it more like pouring gasoline on a house fire? With her spouting nonsense about phantom pregnancies and the struggle to keep Shin Yura calm, the future looked bleak indeed.
Just as a brief silence settled over us:
"Sniff, sniff."
Serapel began to sniff the air like a beast.
At her bizarre behavior, Shin Yura instinctively straightened her back, while my mentor, Baek Seungha, simply watched with her usual indifferent eyes.
And then, her next words changed the atmosphere in an instant.
"A faint smell of gunpowder..."
"!?!"
"Hyunwoo. Your body reeks of gunpowder—a scent that doesn't suit a man—and... the smell of blood."
What kind of dog-nose is this...?
I’d heard rumors that Serapel’s ability was related to animals, but was it actually true? I thought that was just some YouTube clickbait.
She began to stride toward me.
Suddenly, Shin Yura—as if deciding that the enemy of my enemy is my friend—shifted her gaze away from Baek Seungha and stepped in front of Serapel, blocking her path to me.
"It’s been a while, Serapel."
"You are... Shin Yura. The talent currently being groomed by the Cheongryong Group."
"You remembered me?"
"Of course. The Baek-san Group recruited me specifically to keep your growth in check. Besides, we’ve crossed paths once before, haven't we?"
I was shocked by her words.
'Wait... has Shin Yura actually sparred with Serapel?'
A battle between a South Korean A-rank hero and a world-renowned super rookie. If that had been made public, the whole world would have gone into a frenzy.
But the fact that even a hero-nerd like me didn't know about it meant it must have been a strictly unofficial bout.
"Yawn~. Hyunwoo, let’s just go. This isn't a hero story anymore; it’s a variety show."
"M-Mentor! No matter how you look at it, those two are fighting because of me! And running away in this situation is impossible!"
I was the catalyst for this whole mess, yet my mentor was yawning nonchalantly. She looked genuinely tired, with not a shred of tension in her face.
Am I the only one taking this seriously?
"Anyway, Shin Yura. Why are you here? Don't tell me the Hero Association contacted you as well?"
"No. I just happened to be in the area and got caught up in this incident. And I’ve just finished wrapping things up safely with Hyunwoo’s help."
"...With whose help?"
Kugugugu—
"Yawn... I'm sleepy..."
"Mentor! Keep the yawning down!"
"I'm sleepy too... mmm..."
"Ego, you be quiet too!"
No sooner had Shin Yura finished saying she had my help than the ground began to shake.
Not metaphorically—literally.
It was like an earthquake; even the police officers escorting the masked gang lost their balance, stumbling and falling flat on the ground.
"Whoa?!"
I almost lost my balance and fell too, but—
"Careful."
"Ah, thank you..."
Baek Seungha had grabbed my collar and lightly lifted me into the air. As expected of a US-born hero, she stood there perfectly steady even in the middle of that.
And then.
"For a woman—a world-renowned rookie hero, no less—to receive help from a man who is meant to be protected... Shin Yura. I haven't paid much attention to you since I've been working abroad, but today, I am disappointed."
I broke into a cold sweat just hearing her voice. It wasn't even directed at me, but the sheer pressure hit like a head-on gale.
'This is the presence of an A-rank hero...!'
One of only a thousand top-tier heroes in the entire world. At that single sentence, all the venom drained from Shin Yura’s face—the same face that had been challenging my mentor just moments ago.
"Th-that is..."
She looked flustered, not knowing what to say. A deep shadow fell over her face, as if she couldn't find a single word to refute the claim.
And I... I couldn't just stand there and watch.
After all, the reason those two were clashing was, when you got down to it, because of me.
"I'll go stop them, Mentor."
"Eh? Let’s just watch~. It looks fun."
"That’s right, my husband. They say watching a fire from across the river is the best kind of fun."
"No, both of you! If they’re fighting because of me, I have to step in!"
I said that to Ego and my mentor, then cautiously approached the two.
Before speaking, I cleared my throat—*Ahem!*
"Um, excuse me... Serapel-ssi."
When I called out to her, her expression, which had been as sharp as a predator’s, instantly softened into that of a docile herbivore.
As expected... a pro hero.
One of the basic requirements of a hero is their attitude toward the weak.
She immediately withdrew her killing intent and, blushing, fidgeted in place. I spoke to her.
"The reason I helped Shin Yura-ssi was because I had the authority to do so."
"...Authority?"
To clear up the misunderstanding, I pulled my hero ID out of my pocket and showed it to her. She took it and...
"...?"
She turned it over and over, staring at it for a long time.
'She looks like a baby who just got a new toy...'
I thought she’d be satisfied after checking it thoroughly, but...
She kept looking around.
"Um, Serapel-ssi...?"
...When is this going to end?
She’d been holding my empty ID for several minutes now, sniffing it and looking at it. And why was her other hand slowly drifting toward her crotch...?
No, it couldn't be. ...It couldn't be, right?
When I stared at her intently, she finally opened her mouth.
"This... is real, isn't it?"
"Yes, that’s right!"
...Well, at least she finally confirmed it.
After she finished sniffing my ID, she returned to her cold, predatory expression and began to analyze the situation.
"Hyunwoo-gun... as a sidekick, you finished this incident alongside the hero Shin Yura. Is that correct?"
"Yes, that’s right! That’s exactly it!"
Having grasped my position, Serapel stopped pushing Shin Yura.
Instead.
"...You’ve gone completely mad."
"......Excuse me?"
"Oh, I didn't mean you, Hyunwoo-gun! Even if you’re broken... isn't that cute in its own way? I’ll wrap you up in my care and nurse you back to health with some hot... no, warm attention!"
She started spouting nonsense, then turned her gaze past me and Shin Yura. It was toward Baek Seungha, who had been silently watching the situation.
"Hey, you there!"
"...Me?"
"Yes, you. Are you... by any chance Hyunwoo-gun’s handler hero?"
The moment Baek Seungha nodded her head—
Ta-da-da-da!
"!?!"
"...Huh?"
Suddenly, Serapel lowered her body like a beast and leaped forward on all fours in an instant.
She vaulted straight over my mentor’s head.
By the time we reflexively turned around, it was already over.
Her heel had slammed down, the ground caved in, and dust exploded into the air.
"Cough, cough! I, I couldn't even follow that with my eyes..."
"B-Baek Seungha Mentor!!"
Amidst the dizzying sound of the impact, I quickly scanned the area in front of me.
There stood Baek Seungha on the caved-in ground. She had blocked the kick with one arm and was simply looking up at Serapel.
And Serapel looked momentarily flustered that her strike had been blocked.
"As expected... to be capable of such madness, you must have some sort of background."
Soon, she hopped down and landed in front of my mentor. With a sour expression, she spoke first.
"That face... I’ve been in Korea for over a year now, and I’ve never seen that face before."
"Yeah? Isn't it just that you didn't know?"
"Don't play games with me. That strike just now... even if it didn't kill, it had enough power to cripple a villain in one hit."
But my mentor had blocked it easily. That fact alone made Serapel begin to vaguely guess my mentor’s identity.
"Come to think of it... I did hear a rumor recently. That a certain hero from my home country, the US, had come to Korea for a vacation."
"If it’s the US... the home of heroes!"
"So that was you. Hyunwoo-gun’s handler hero."
"......"
My mentor said nothing. But that silence was an answer in itself. It seemed Serapel took it that way.
At this point, I felt like something huge was about to happen, so I rushed to run over there. But the person who grabbed my wrist was none other than Shin Yura.
"Yu, Yura-ssi? What are you doing?! We have to stop those two!"
"No... I’m sorry, but once you’ve been targeted by Serapel... Hyunwoo-gun’s handler hero is finished."
"What?"
No, that’s all the more reason to stop them!
I tried to shake her off, but—
Grip.
A minutely controlled super-strength. It didn't hurt, but it held me as firmly as a chain.
"I’m sorry, Hyunwoo-gun. I don't particularly like Serapel-nim either. But for once, I agree with her."
"Agree on what?"
"A sidekick loses their position once their handler hero disappears. So, until your hero is chased out of Korea, I will be the one protecting you."
"Whaaat?!"
Before she could even finish that sentence.
Swoosh.
"...?"
Without a word, Serapel began to slowly take off her gloves in front of Baek Seungha.
What was revealed underneath were fists tangled with scars and calluses.
It was a fragment of flesh that looked harder than metal, far beyond what one would call training.
"You... how far have you trained?"
"Training?"
"Yes. True strength never comes by accident. When you squeeze out every ounce of your life, day after day... you can barely manage to take a single step forward."
The fist she held out was proof of all that madness.
Time piled up through tearing, hardening, and breaking again.
A monstrous strength that still hadn't stopped growing.
"What do you think I did to create this fist?"
I gulped at a question I couldn't even begin to imagine.
It had a weight that suggested carving mountains and crushing boulders wasn't enough. And she easily surpassed that.
"To create this fist... I trained by striking my own 'vital points'."
...Excuse me?
"Women don't have a penis like men... but there is a hidden weakness five centimeters below the navel. For 20 years, I have trained that 'womb' along with my fists!"
This is definitely more impressive than crushing rocks or mountains with your bare hands, right?
"Y-you subjected yourself to such heinous torture... Is this the world of A-rank heroes?!"
At those words, Shin Yura knelt down in admiration.
"You... you’re pretty good."
My mentor also added a word, as if to acknowledge the effort, whatever it was.
And Serapel continued.
"Sometimes, when I couldn't use my fists, I would stand in front of a giant, specially-made bell and become the bell myself, taking the impact deep into my abdomen... until a puddle formed beneath my feet!"
"A-amazing...!"
"You... you’re an enemy, but you’re magnificent."
"Ho. You’re not bad for a human. Don't you think so, my husband?"
"???"
She was saying all of this so casually, so proudly.