Invincible (1)
"…Alright. But in return, promise me. That you absolutely won't get hurt. …If you look even the slightest bit in danger, I'm jumping into the fight right away."
"Hahaha, deal! Of course. I swear it. I'll crush that villain without a single scratch and come back looking magnificent."
"Ugh, fine…. You're the kind of idiot who always keeps his promises, so I'll believe you for now."
…Fortunately, my perfect acting seemed to have worked.
Lavy watched me walk toward the enemy, her hand half-rising as if to stop me—then she let it fall with a soft tuk, and stepped back just as I'd asked.
…Whew. Thank god. If I'd left Lavy to her own devices, she'd have set herself on fire just to attack that bastard.
After all, Lavy wasn't a fake like me, always looking for any excuse to retire. She was a real hero, moved by a genuine, noble sense of duty toward the citizens. And for all her usual grumbling, she had a huge heart….
Even the short connection we'd shared years ago was enough for her to still carefully pack me bentos every so often, or invite me to just come live at her place already. She was a good kid. The kind of hero who could throw herself into self-sacrifice without a second thought.
…On top of that, back when I hadn't even been isekai'd into this damn world for a full year yet, I'd first met Lavy in a rundown hillside slum during a massive fire.
Sure, part of it was that she was a character from the original game, so I'd paid special attention. But that tiny kid had looked like a walking corpse—sunken eyes, hollow face—probably from whatever nightmare of a home life she'd grown up in….
Even though I'd been living like a mountain hermit myself back then, barely scraping by, something about her had tugged at me as an adult. So every lunch break I'd carve out a little time, bring over potatoes I'd grown up on the mountain, and look after her. Maybe that left her feeling like she still owed me something—because she always seemed to care about me a little more than most.
…Honestly, for me it was just a break while I ate. And looking after half-dead little Lavy counted toward the hero-activity quota that damn status window demanded….
(Though true to its petty nature, it only ever credited me for about a third of the actual time spent.)
I'd mainly gone so I could check on her and kill two birds with one stone. No big deal.
—U-um…! Here. I learned this from a big sister who came to volunteer at the orphanage today. She said if you fold a thousand of these, Heaven will grant your wish. I wrote on it that I wish Oppa never gets hurt. Hehe.
…Haa. And no matter how forced my hero act was, how was I supposed to not care after hearing something like that?
Really—back then Lavy had been so honest and adorable.
And now look at her: all grown up, an S-class hero everyone recognized just by walking down the street. I hadn't even raised her, and yet it still filled me with pride.
…Alright. Time to take care of that bastard and clock out.
But while I was lost in nostalgia, remembering the cute little kid Lavy used to be—
"Hwahahaha! Magnificent! Truly ideal, utterly heroic words!"
…Eternox, having overheard my conversation with Lavy, was laughing like a man possessed.
Kuuuuung—!
"…But that is exactly why I cannot stand it. When I see things that shine so brightly, I simply cannot resist crushing them."
True to his role as the final boss of a hero game, he muttered classic villain lines while moving that grotesque body of his—muscles swollen beyond reason, writhing as if alive. Step by step he advanced, shattering the solid concrete floor beneath him, until that hideously bloated face loomed right in front of my nose.
"Ahh…! When I peel off your skin and eat it right before your eyes, what expression will you make for me? …No matter how strong or righteous a human was, once I tore out their flesh and tongue and chewed it in front of them, they always burst into tears like a child. Kkukkuk! I can hardly wait to watch those upright eyes of yours die in terror."
…Ugh, disgusting. This is definitely going to show up in my dreams tonight.
Honestly, how did this guy manage to be nothing but pure nuisance to the bitter end? Looks, actions—everything about him was repulsive.
"Hahaha! Me, looking afraid? …At the very least, you'll never get the chance to see that in this lifetime."
Kwaaaaaang—!!
…So I kicked the bastard who wouldn't shut up a little harder than necessary and launched him high into the sky—somewhere I could beat him as much as I wanted without collateral damage.
Whew. It's been ages since I got to thrash someone for real. Time to work out some of that stress the status window's been piling on me.
Not that I could go completely all-out. Even high in the sky, if I didn't hold back at least a little, the wind pressure from my fists would turn all of Seoul into a desert….
Full power was out of the question.
…Alright. Instead of the usual light knuckle-rap, let's go with something more like a firm shove.
Kwaaang—!!
The sound arrived several steps later than the sight.
And with that thunderous roar that seemed to tear the vast night sky apart—like two enormous stars colliding—Smile and Eternox clashed hard enough to make space itself ripple.
…Lavy could only stare upward, dazed.
Toward a star she felt she could never reach no matter how hard she tried, she quietly stretched out a hand.
This is impossible…. We're both S-class, so how can the gap be this huge…? With abilities that aren't even that special, he can overwhelm a monster like that…? Just how much effort does it take to become something like that…?
…Thanks to long years of hero work, Smile's abilities were common knowledge.
Flight and Physical Enhancement. Two powers.
Ability users who possessed two powers at once were rare. Heroes with flight were rarer still. But that was only because strong flight-capable heroes were scarce—among civilians, flight itself wasn't all that uncommon. And physical-enhancement types, while they varied in restrictions, form, and utility, were by far the most common category among pro heroes.
So, aside from the fact that he was a dual-ability user, Smile's "specialness" was actually rather lacking for someone called one of the strongest heroes. If two people had similar levels of obsession and talent, a pure physical-enhancement type was generally considered slightly inferior to someone like her—who could apply their power in far more versatile ways and make better use of support gear like powered suits.
…And yet, despite all those clear facts, there was one thing that ordinary citizens, countless pro heroes, and even the villains who fled into the shadows to escape him all agreed on without a single dissenting voice:
Regardless of how ordinary his powers seemed for a high-rank pro hero—
Whenever there was someone he had to protect—
Smile was always as strong as if he were invincible.
Kwaaaaang—!!
So strong…. Really, someone like me doesn't even compare…. Now that I've become an S-class hero too, I thought I could finally be a little help to you….
Just how far ahead had her sun walked that grueling path while she'd been distracted, only imagining herself sprinting at full speed in her head?
While I was complacent, thinking I'd reached the top, you just kept getting that much stronger…?
And as Lavy slowly lowered the hand she'd stretched toward the sky, lost in belated regret….
In the heavens above, as if a great sun had simply swallowed a tiny lantern, the outcome had already been decided with absolute clarity.
…Because just as he always had, whenever there was something behind him that needed protecting, Smile never lost to evil.
What is this…. In the end, I'm always just the one being protected by you. I'm such an idiot…. While you were working that hard, what the hell was I even doing…?
Ah, when had it been?
…The moment when her simple admiration for Smile as a hero had grown into something more—when she'd started wanting to become a hero strong enough never to lose to him, strong enough to walk side by side with him, shoulder to shoulder.
—Haha! Of course. Whenever you're in danger again, I'll come running as many times as it takes to help you!
Misery born from marital discord is almost always dumped, untouched, onto an innocent child.
…In that sense, until the age of ten, Lavy—no, Seo Su-a's childhood, spent neglected by her parents, picking spoiled food out of the fridge like some abandoned pet, never once setting foot in a school that everyone else attended even during the chaotic years—could not, by any stretch of kindness, be called happy.
From the very first memory she could recall, the relationship between the parents who had given birth to her had been so terrible that violence constantly flew between them. And the poverty that always clung to such households had only tightened its noose around the unfortunate child's throat.
Hwarreureuk—!
…Until finally, after years of mutual hatred, the two decided—belatedly—to separate. That night, glaring at Su-a as if she were an obstacle stuck between them, they shouted at each other, each trying to dump the responsibility of the child onto the other—
And in the end it was decided she would be sent to an orphanage. The night Su-a learned that no one in the world wanted her.
In the old hillside slum crowded with dilapidated houses where she lived, a massive, gorgeous blaze erupted—born of the grief, rage, loneliness, and despair tangled inside little Su-a's heart.
'C-cough! Cough! M-Mom! Dad…! H-help me! It's so hot—'
'Uwaaah! D-don't come near me, you damn brat! Wh-what the hell is that…! That bitch just set the place on fire!'
…And just as casually as they had abandoned her moments earlier, her parents fled from the powerful ability that had suddenly awakened in Su-a, staring at her as if she were a monster. While she desperately called after them, surrendering her body to the scorching heat that seared her skin and the dark, acrid smoke that carried death….
In the midst of that terrible pain and despair, just as her breath was about to stop—
…Even though petty criminals who lived at the bottom of society like her parents often wandered the area, no real villain had ever appeared in that slum. The residents were all too poor to have anything worth taking.
And so Su-a, who had only ever seen them on television, never in person….
Hwareuk—!
'Alrighty, nothing to worry about now, kid! I'll get you out of here right away!'
…met for the first time in her life a being who reached out a gentle hand to save someone drowning in despair—
A "hero," shining like the sun.