Chapter 57
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: Vow with the Mayor
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It was too grandiose to call an epilogue, too pathetic for an after-action report, and far too extraordinary to label as just another day in the life.
Yeah, if I had to pin it down, it felt like the harvest after a late night at the office.
Of course, as with most things in life, harvest doesn't always mean something positive. It could be a bumper crop... or a year of famine.
This came after the kidnapping fiasco wrapped up, the Special Task Force's overzealous loyalty interviews ended, the media's hyped-up coverage died down, and Seria's devilish workload assignments finally stopped.
I wanted to sleep. Just burrow into the mayor's office luxury sofa and hibernate for at least 48 hours.
Humans have an inviolable right to sleep, but I didn't. Lee Garam didn't.
More precisely, the mayor with a demonic secretary like Seria didn't.
My smartphone scheduler app buzzed mercilessly. The schedule I'd skipped yesterday had been forcibly bumped to today.
[Regular Visit to Insimdang Main Branch]
A scheduled meeting with Sugar Girl, the girl who shot from C-rank villain to Neo Incheon's baking queen.
"Yesterday... it was a force majeure. I got kidnapped."
"And?"
And?
What did she mean, "and"?
It felt like the axis of common sense was shaking at its roots.
"A schedule is a schedule. You have to handle the postponed ones today."
"Come on, can't I skip one day? Humanely speaking?"
"This is the Insimdang project you personally championed, Mayor. You need to show some responsibility. Sugar Girl is waiting."
Sugar Girl is waiting?
Was I the only one who found that threatening? Why did "waiting" sound so scary?
I dragged my tattered mind and body out of City Hall.
How did it come to this?
All I wanted was to quietly stash some slush funds and spend my remaining days sipping cocktails on some obscure southern island, a humble everyman.
How did I end up a self-volunteered hostage buying McDonald's for kidnappers, then hailed as the city's hero in this absurd farce?
I had no idea.
The world was full of incomprehensible nonsense.
*
Insimdang's front was still packed, a total mob scene.
Even on a weekday afternoon, the sweet aroma drew a line of people snaking out the door.
I slipped in through the back door, our agreed-upon route.
And there she was, right in front of me: Sugar Girl, the multicolored-haired baker standing with arms crossed and a pouty expression.
"……."
"……."
Silence. An awkward silence stretched between us. The shop buzzed with customers, sweet bread scents and coffee aromas tickling the nose, but the space between us felt like a vacuum—dead quiet.
"You're here."
She spoke first.
Her voice was a tone lower than usual, her eyes avoiding mine, counting the floor tiles instead.
A clear sign of displeasure, like a cat thumping its tail on the ground.
"Uh, yeah. I am. As you can see."
"You're late."
I awkwardly raised a hand in response.
"Why show up now?"
Straight to the point. A fastball. No dodging it.
What excuse should I make?
"Do you know how long I waited?"
Okay, time to deliver the perfect answer, Lee Garam.
Muster every ounce of your social skills to craft the ideal line to defuse this crisis.
Squeeze out all your intellect and emotion for that one phrase to melt her hardened heart!
"Uh, well, you see. Yesterday I was super busy. Something urgent came up."
"Hm. More urgent than me?"
"No, it's not like that...! I got kidnapped!"
This wasn't an excuse. It was fact. Pure truth. Objective reality.
I'd been kidnapped by the C-rank villain gang Black Hound, locked in an abandoned factory, my life threatened.
What could be a more legitimate reason for being late?
Sugar Girl's head slowly lifted. Her clear eyes turned to me.
"Kidnapped?"
"Yeah! Kidnapped! Some dumb mutts robbed a bank, grabbed me as a hostage, and... anyway, I couldn't make it! It's true! You must've seen the news!"
I shouted like a martyr bearing the world's misunderstandings, pleading for her to recognize my innocence, my tragedy, my righteousness.
She blinked for a moment, deep in thought.
Seconds later, a sinister, eerie smile crept across her lips.
"Me too..."
Huh?
"I want to kidnap you too, Mayor..."
...What?
"Next time, I'll kidnap you... lock you away where no one knows... feed you sweet cakes every day until you can't live without me... ehehehe..."
Wait. Hold on. Stop. Time out.
The conversation had veered into seriously wrong territory.
Fundamentally, dangerously wrong.
She cupped her cheeks with both hands, twisting her body. She looked every bit the lovestruck girl, but her words were a blatant crime announcement.
Imprisonment, breeding, psychological domination. Straight out of a thriller plot.
Oh, right.
She was a former villain. The elders were right—roots run deep.
People, especially villains, don't change!
"No, no, that's not it! Sugar Girl! Kidnapping is bad! It's a crime!"
I desperately tried to correct her dangerous thinking.
Rectifying Sugar Girl's ethical lapse—that was my social duty right now.
"Kidnapping. Criminal Code Article 276. Abduction and inducement. And under the Act on Aggravated Punishment for Superpowered Crimes...! It's a heavy crime! Got it?!"
"Ah! How about this? You voluntarily come to my sweet prison... no, hotel! Then it's not imprisonment—it's just staying over!"
"Calling it a stay doesn't make it not imprisonment! If you can't leave, it's still confinement!"
What kind of conversation was this?
An academic debate on legalizing kidnapping?
A practical consultation on crime workarounds?
"Hm. So you neglect me but don't want to get locked up either?"
My legal knowledge and logical sermon crumbled under her pouty quip.
"No visits, no calls. I waited so long. You deserve punishment."
"Punishment?! I'm the victim! The kidnapping victim! I should be the one getting comforted!"
"Quiet. Punishment time."
Sugar Girl cut me off firmly and snatched my wrist. Her small, slender hand.
"W-wait, Sugar Girl! Where are we going? I haven't even ordered...!"
"Punishment."
One word dismissed all my resistance.
She dragged me to the back of the shop, into the VVIP room out of sight of customers.
VVIP.
Very Very Important Person.
Or soon to be Very Very Imprisoned Person.
And so the "punishment" began.
Long story short, it was sweet. Sickeningly, terrifyingly, cruelly sweet.
"Punishment one: Head pats until Sugar's satisfied."
She pulled a chair in front of me and laid her head on my lap. Her rainbow twin-tails filled my view.
"Go on."
No veto seemed allowed. I sighed and mechanically stroked her hair.
Soft, squishy locks. Sweet sugar and butter scent.
My hands got sticky, but this felt more like a reward than punishment—
"Punishment two."
A mountain of desserts piled up before me.
Rainbow cream-drizzled cupcakes, gold-dusted chocolate mousse, macarons studded with star-shaped sugar shards...
"Here, Mayor. Say ahh~. This is Sugar's special Secret Love Potion Cake, made thinking of you."
A cake with an ominous name shoved in my face.
Heart-shaped pink confection. Adorably cute to look at.
But my survival instincts screamed.
I didn't want to know the "secret" ingredient.
I didn't want to experience the "potion's" effects.
Was there maybe Sugar Girl's own hair in it? Nails? Or... something more intimate?
"N-no, it's fine! I'll eat it myself! Besides, there's too much! I can't finish it all!"
"It's okay. You can't leave till it's gone."
She beamed. An angelic smile, but devilish words.
"Um, Sugar Girl. I just pulled an all-nighter, my stomach's a bit..."
"If you leave any, I'll really kidnap you and lock you in the basement."
No choice.
I picked up the fork.
Nom nom...
The cupcake melted in my mouth—ridiculously delicious.
Brain-melting sweetness, creamy tongue hug, popping textures. And... a weird surge of energy through my body. All-nighter fatigue vanishing like snow.
"Tasty, right? Full of Sugar's love."
"Y-yeah... delicious..."
Something was definitely in it.
Next plate, then the next, mechanically shoveled in.
Macarons, éclairs, pudding, tarts. Endless dessert parade.
"N-no! Wait! I can't eat such precious stuff for free!"
My brain calculated escape routes even now.
Key was using social virtues like "politeness" and "shame" as shields. Even Sugar Girl couldn't force-feed a politely declining guest.
"Feels bad getting freebies all the time. I'm a grown man, and the mayor to boot—can't keep mooching like this!"
A premium excuse appealing to status and pride.
I inwardly cheered and landed the final blow.
"So I'll pay and eat! That way I can enjoy it guilt-free! But today... uh, oops? Forgot my wallet? Haha, what now? No helping it. I'll definitely come back next time and pay properly!"
Now I could slip out naturally, with the magic words "next time." Whenever that might be.
I was a genius. Social master. Securing escape with dignity intact—what finesse!
"Money?"
Sugar Girl tilted her head.
"If it's money, Sugar'll give it. Here."
My phone dinged.
[Sugar Girl has sent 50,000,000 won.]
"Insimdang's booming lately, and the consulting you introduced helped me open branches! The cat paw bread delivery to Caltopia's a huge hit too! All thanks to you, Mayor. So my money's basically yours. Spend freely!"
She grinned innocently, not a gram of malice.
But I cringed with guilt before that smile.
What was this...?
A successful young female entrepreneur promising financial support to a listless middle-aged man.
What did they call this dynamic?
Paparazzi?
No, genders reversed. Reverse paparazzi? Kept man? Sugar Girl instead of sugar daddy?
Either way, horrific terms.
Me, Neo Incheon's mayor, about to be bankrolled by a former C-rank villain girl.
Where did my life go wrong?
"Last dessert! Sugar Special Parfait!"
The glass bigger than my head towered with ice creams, fruits, candies in layers.
Topped not with a cherry, but sugar sculptures of Sugar Girl and me.
"Urgh..."
I finally gave up everything.
And ate.
Ate and ate.
Until my stomach screamed, sugar rampaged through my veins, and my brain pickled in sweetness, numbing reason.
"Ugh..."
When the plates were empty, I was sprawled face-down on the table.
Couldn't twitch a finger. Breathing hurt.
I vowed once more.
In this astral Neo Incheon, I would escape, no matter what.
To reclaim my dignity and quiet everyman's life.
***
The air crushed my lungs.
Inhaling felt like swallowing sandbags.
Exhaling, an illusion of marrow screaming in my bones.
Hero Association basement level 4, Gravity Training Room 3.
Gravity here: 10x surface level.
Prying feet from the floor was a battle.
A woman flailing in sticky muck.
"Haa... hngh...!"
Hanasia, hero name Polaris. C-rank hero.
Hands on knees, gasping raggedly.
Muscles beyond screams into death rattles. Crushing pressure like bursting veins. Bones cracking, reforming in endless cycles.
Pain that would've made any normal hero hit the emergency button ages ago.
Why gravity rooms were shunned—called torture chambers.
But she didn't stop.
Couldn't.
'Not enough.'
Lee Garam's face flashed—solid back stepping out without hesitation, volunteering as hostage to save citizens.
And what had she done?
Nothing.
'Because... I'm too weak.'
The Special Task Force had saved him in the end.
She'd done zilch. Failed to take down a single C-rank villain group, endangering someone precious.
Pathetic. Powerless. Miserable.
The kindness under her "Illwait" alias, the commendation from the mayor himself—unbearable shame.
He'd trusted her.
Trusted and entrusted his body to her.
"Not yet... not yet!"
Hanasia gritted her teeth. Faint starlight bloomed from her fingertips.
Her ability: Stellar Light Manipulation.
Releasing stored star energy to boost physicals, project as light.
Starlight burst from her fingers. Far from beautiful.
A death-rattle glow forced out.
"Kgh... aaaaaaah!"
Golden particles crushed by gravity, pouring heavily to the floor.
Sizzle—
Burning the flooring. Acrid smoke rose.
Overload.
Nerves felt severed.
But this pain was nothing compared to that day's self-loathing.
Then.
"That's enough. You'll die."
A new voice cut through the mechanical hums and her gasps.
Hanasia lifted her blurry vision.
At the entrance, beyond control room glass: someone stood.
Flaming red hair.
Golden eyes dominating the world.
Walking 10g like a stroll.
"...P-President...?"
Korea Superhero Association President, Jin Yeonhwa.
Living myth. Disaster in human form. Neo Incheon's guardian.
Hanasia held her breath. Even lung-shredding pain forgotten.
Jin Yeonhwa strode to the controls, resetting gravity to normal.
"Pathetic sight."
"……."
"Think torturing yourself like that sprouts new power?"
Her question hit dead center. What Hanasia was doing wasn't training—it was self-harm. Guilt-fueled self-destruction.
"...Sorry."
Hanasia bowed her head. Wretched before her idol. The gap vast.
"P-President...!"
What courage was this?
Words spilled unbidden, voice trembling badly.
"I'm a f-fan! Becoming a hero... it was all because of you!"
Jin Yeonhwa's brow twitched faintly.
"Ten years ago, Monster Wave... remember?"
She stammered on.
Ashen sky, crumbling buildings, screams. Child Hanasia thinking, This is it.
Then, red streak split the sky.
Flames blanketed heavens, roar devouring noise, incinerating ground monsters utterly.
After, Jin Yeonhwa vanished wordlessly, back to burning city, red afterimage fading.
Child Hanasia vowed watching that back.
I want to be like that.
A ray saving the despairing.
"...You saved... me then. So I..."
Finished, Hanasia looked up with faint hope.
Maybe, just maybe, she'd be remembered.
"Yeah."
Jin Yeonhwa's reply: one word.
A thank-you she'd heard thousands, millions of times.
No emotion in it.
Life-changing for Hanasia, just one tragedy among many for Jin Yeonhwa.
"Ah..."
Heart chilled.
Of course. How many had she saved? No reason to remember dust like her.
But inevitable disappointment surged.
"Someone like me... no reason to remember. Sorry. Pointless chatter..."
Logic accepted, emotions rejected the letdown.
Hanasia fully dropped her head.
Tears trailed cheeks. Fading starlight from fingers extinguished.
Her frailty, pettiness, insignificance stabbed her.
Brief silence.
Jin Yeonhwa silently gazed at bowed Polaris.
That indifferent stare pierced Hanasia's crown.
"Chin up."
"...Yes?"
"Pretty decent glare."
Faint smile on Jin Yeonhwa's lips.
"Stubborn idiot eyes that don't know quit. Real grit, not like these days' kids."
Eyes unknowing surrender. Rising from defeat.
Eyes willing to burn self to protect another.
True hero quality, rare in modern heroes.
Worth training this girl?
Answer: yes.
"I'll train you myself."
"...Yes?"
Hanasia blankly looked up.
Couldn't comprehend.
"Don't make me repeat. You want strength? I'll make you strong."
Unbelievable words.
Korea's strongest hero, legend incarnate, personally training a C-rank like her?
"But you might die."
Jin Yeonhwa's eyes glinted coldly.
"My training's no game. Ready to die?"
Ready to die.
Hanasia swallowed.
Then without hesitation, eyes shone. Extinguished starlight reignited in her pupils.
"Yes!"
Voice boomed, echoing the room.
"I will! Anything! Thank you, President!"
"Dawn tomorrow, 4 AM. Gyeyangsan Mountain."
She left those words and exited.
Heavy door shut, leaving Hanasia alone again.
She stared blankly at the closed door for a while. Like dreaming.
Clenched trembling fists. Fatigue, pain forgotten.
'Gotta get stronger.'
Enough not to lose to anyone.
To protect herself, and others.
And to him.
Be truly helpful to the man who trusted her, this time.