Chapter 23
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: The Mayor's Grace
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There are all sorts of justice in the world, and as many kinds of evil as there are kinds of justice.
There are grand villains shouting for world conquest or the extermination of humanity, driven by lofty ideals. And then there are the petty, everyday villains who move only to satisfy their twisted desires.
And here appeared one of the latter—a villain whose methods were utterly sweet.
"Alright, citizens of Neo Incheon! The dessert time you've all been waiting for is here! Today's special menu is—you guessed it—you yourselves!"
A cheerful voice, like that of a part-time bakery clerk. A gentle tone.
But from the giant lollipop she swung came blasts of hot syrup and hard candy shards.
"I'll make you all sweet—every last one of you!"
With her mad cry, Rodeo Street in Guwol-dong, Namdong-gu, transformed in an instant into a candy wonderland straight out of a fairy tale.
The asphalt was coated in sticky chocolate, streetlights turned into candy canes, and shop windows were adorned with spiky sugar sculptures.
A sweet aroma assaulted the nose. The scent of burning caramel, fresh-baked cookies, fluffy cotton candy.
C-Rank Villain, Sugar Girl.
True name unknown. Age unknown.
The only known info was her utterly clichéd, tear-jerking backstory: one day, she awakened a refreshing superpower that turned her entire body into sugar candy, but her dream of becoming a pâtissier was shattered, filling her with resentment toward the world.
A truly tragic tale. But that didn't justify destroying public property and terrorizing citizens.
Tragedy sometimes makes people stronger, but other times it just twists them. She was clearly the latter.
And as always, justice follows tragedy.
Justice had just arrived on the scene.
"A single beam of light piercing the darkness! Your North Star, Polaris, has arrived!"
She shouted what must have been a line she'd practiced leaping from rooftops hundreds of times.
"That's as far as you go, Sugar Girl! I won't forgive you for tormenting the citizens!"
The landing was perfect. A textbook drop, knee slamming into the asphalt to absorb the impact.
But the problem came next.
Squelch.
Her knee stuck fast to the chocolate asphalt and wouldn't come loose.
"Wha—huh?"
Hanasia, D-Rank Hero Polaris, struggled desperately to pull her knee free.
She looked ridiculous. Not the arrival of justice, but a fly caught on flypaper.
Sugar Girl giggled at the sight of her.
"What's this, a little kid? What gave you the guts to step up? C-Rank... no, D-Rank level? The Hero Association must be hurting for manpower these days, sending out rookies like you."
"Don't underestimate D-Rank! Stars shine brightest in the dark!"
"Poetic. But stars? Dipped in sugar, they just turn into sweet syrup."
"I'll stop your wicked plan! Brace yourself, Sugar Witch!"
"Witch? That's so cliché! I'm Sugar Girl! And this isn't a wicked plan—it's a noble artistic endeavor to make the world sweeter!"
"No more talk! Starlight Shot!"
A faint starlight energy bullet fired from Hanasia's fingertips.
The D-Rank Hero's finisher. The name wouldn't be out of place on an S-Rank move.
But the starlight got sucked harmlessly into a cotton candy wall Sugar Girl whipped up in an instant.
No explosive boom—just a pathetic psshht.
The starlight energy didn't even blow up the cotton candy. It just lightly toasted the surface, releasing an even sweeter caramel scent.
"Oh my, my cotton candy tastes even better now. Thanks, Sparkle Princess."
"Urgh...!"
It pissed her off. But it was reality.
A D-Rank Hero's attack couldn't land a solid hit on a C-Rank Villain.
Forget matchups—there was an absolute gap in power.
"Now, shall we wrap up the finale? How about a sticky caramel shower?"
Sticky caramel syrup poured from Sugar Girl's fingertips. There was nowhere to dodge.
The street was her domain now. Every step was a sweet trap.
Before she could even try to evade, sugar syrup engulfed Polaris from head to toe.
"Gah! It's hot! And so sticky!"
Drenched head to toe in sticky caramel syrup, Hanasia stuck fast to the asphalt.
Her hero suit was dyed an ugly brown, and her prized blonde hair clumped like taffy strands.
A defeat. Or a sweet one.
Either way, it was defeat.
"Oh dear, oh dear. You look positively delicious like that. Should I let you harden and put you on display? As a sugar sculpture titled 'Defeated D-Rank Hero'."
Weee-ooh!
Hearing sirens from another hero team in the distance, Sugar Girl regretfully hopped onto a giant flying donut and fled.
"Gotta go for today! Next time, I'll make you even sweeter—look forward to it!"
All that remained was the sticky street... and one even stickier defeated D-Rank Hero.
[NNC Breaking News. Around 3 PM today, C-Rank Villain 'Sugar Girl' carried out a terrorist attack on Rodeo Street in Guwol-dong, Namdong-gu. Witnesses report she covered a 200-meter stretch of street in sugar and chocolate before escaping on an unidentified flying donut.]
[D-Rank Hero Polaris, dispatched to the scene, unfortunately failed to subdue the villain, but luckily there were no casualties.]
[Police are currently securing the area, but... hold on, we have a tip coming in. High school students nearby are flocking to the scene to lick the chocolate and candy... Wait, field reporter? What are you doing right now? Huh? It's delicious? Ah, our on-site reporter has tasted it and says it's Godiva chocolate quality... But citizens, no matter how tasty, do not consume substances from a terrorist site!]
[Neo Incheon City Hall plans to deploy a special cleanup team for recovery, but given how sticky... and tasty it is, it's expected to take quite some time.]
An old boarding house in Michuhol-gu.
Step by step. Trudging.
Hanasia's steps up the stairs felt heavier than usual today, still clad in her candy-scented hero suit.
Not figuratively—heavier for real.
The caramel syrup stuck to her soles clung stickily to each step.
Click.
Room 302. The door to her sole sanctuary opened.
One desk. One chair. And a tiny bed just big enough to lie down on. That was the whole space.
Only a large constellation poster on the wall proved this was the room of Hero Polaris.
She flopped straight onto the bed, sticky body and all.
Her body throbbed. The caramel poured over her suit had hardened like handcuffs. How was she supposed to get this off?
"Ah."
A short sigh. Caramel smeared on the blanket. Laundry added to her already threadbare life.
Salt in the wound. No—caramel topping on the salt.
She headed to the bathroom.
Peeling off the hardened suit was torture.
She grunted like a snake shedding its skin, wrestling with the suit.
When she finally broke free, her body was covered in red marks and bruises.
She filled the tub with water and soaked the ruined suit.
This suit had reached its limit too. The standard-issue one from the Hero Association.
After two years of countless battles and washings, the original navy blue had faded to near gray.
Scrub scrub.
She lathered laundry soap and scrubbed at the hardened caramel. But the sugar's stubborn curse wouldn't yield easily.
"Please... come off...!"
She rubbed with all her might. And the result?
"Hiiieek...! This was my only one!"
A scream burst from Hanasia's lips.
No longer navy or gray, but a mottled pink. The caramel's brown pigment must have reacted strangely with the fabric dye.
Her one and only battle suit forcibly turned into a sugar syrup edition.
This... this was too much.
She collapsed on the bathroom floor and sobbed. Resentment welled up.
It hurt to lose, but for her prized No. 1 treasure suit to end up like this?
"Haa..."
A deep sigh escaped her.
Two years since she ran away from the orphanage to become a hero.
Reality was far harsher than she'd imagined. Living expenses always short, hero work never going as planned.
Should she quit?
This exhausting hero game. Justice no one recognized. The D-Rank label.
It was common knowledge that convenience store part-time wages beat hero activity stipends. Maybe just ramp up the shifts and make real money?
She really wanted to throw it all away. Drop the heavy burden called a dream.
That was when it happened.
Ta-daa!
Smartphone notification chime. A fanfare shattering the silence.
A familiar nickname lit up the screen of her phone, tossed outside the bathroom.
I'llwait has sponsored 1,000,000 won!
Her one and only, most fervent fan. The mysterious tall mister.
[I'llwait: Our Sia did great today. Bet you looked cute all sticky too. Heh heh.]
[I'llwait: They say defeat is the mother of victory. Think of today as meeting Mom. Tomorrow, wanna meet your mister instead?]
Not a message of pure intent. Anyone could see the lecherous undertones, borderline sexual harassment flirting.
[I'llwait: Suit got wrecked? Perfect. Your mister will buy you a cuter, sexier one. What design you like? Heh heh.]
While others sent textbook cheers, this mister always said something offbeat.
Idiot. Pervert.
But that lightness was somehow comforting.
When everyone pitied her failure and offered serious consolation, this guy turned defeat into a light blip, a laughable joke.
Pfft.
A small smile spread across her tear-streaked face.
This mister was weird, but weirdly warm.
She scrolled up the post-stream donation log. The countless messages he'd sent.
[Wanna go eat samgyeopsal with your mister?]
[Wanna be secret friends with mister? Heh heh.]
Hanasia read his messages one by one again.
Grinning, laughing at how dumb, then her nose tingling again.
Reading them, the wrecked suit and pain of defeat felt a little fainter.
Who could he be?
"Who... are you really?"
He seemed loaded, and somehow influential.
Opening her vanity drawer revealed the ointment he'd gifted her.
A prototype labeled 'Ultra-Regen Ointment MK-7. Strictly No External Distribution'—something no online shop would sell.
She unscrewed the cap and dabbed some on her bruised arm. A cool sensation followed, and the bluish bruise faded in seconds.
"Wow... practically superpowered?"
Whoever he was, he always watched over her.
Showering such great kindness on a D-Rank Hero like her, no strings attached.
"Someday... can I repay this grace?"
A goal that still felt impossibly distant.
But she couldn't give up. Not as long as one person believed in her.
Hanasia carefully picked up the pink-stained suit and started rinsing it.
"Maybe... think of it as personality. The one-and-only Sweet Polaris Edition!"
But why did this mister help a D-Rank Hero like her?
"Thank you, my mister."
Hanasia hung the ruined hero suit on the clothesline.
The stains remained, but strangely, her heart felt much lighter.