The Night Guest (1)
Whoooosh—
"Ah, I'm exhausted.... Looking at it, the time I spent knocked out after eating that mushroom was basically sleep, but it doesn't feel like I rested at all...."
After a grueling day that began with collapsing from a matsutake mushroom the moment I woke up and then having to work overtime for every hour I had been unconscious, I looked up at the dark night sky, long past midnight, the day itself already gone.
With the still-chilly night wind as my only company, I lamented a life far more wretched than that of the villain I had caught this morning.
...Whew. Still, I nearly jumped out of my skin when that guy tried to sparkle and bolt.
That villain I had captured in the morning had suddenly tried to escape using the power of that American hero grandpa I had seen a few times during joint operations. Without thinking, I had reached out and snatched him.
...If I had been spacing out and let him go, it really would have been a disaster.
Truthfully, if I had to catch someone fleeing at that speed, I could manage it somehow. But moving that fast in my current physical condition might leave this city in who-knows-what kind of state.
...Honestly, the fact that I had stretched my arm out that quickly without any real trouble was pure luck. I still was not used to controlling my strength with that level of precision. I had succeeded almost entirely on instinct.
Tsk. Frost-sunbae, I can explain away by saying I heard it from Ravi. But when I arrived to catch that guy earlier, the civilians seemed to be under some strange misunderstanding about me....
Right. A few of the people there had been saying things like "The claim that Smile got weaker was all a lie after all," and "There's no way Smile would be like that."
Hmm, did that weird rumor spread because I have been subduing villains as gently as possible lately while trying to control my strength...? I have adapted pretty well by now, so it should not have looked that awkward to people.
Come to think of it, the strange misunderstanding Na-yul had might have come from watching me move in the training room and sensing that something was different from before.
I was fine with my current level, but compared to how I used to be, my fine control of strength had clearly become much clumsier.
...Well, the civilians seemed reassured again after watching me arrest that villain this morning, so this weird misunderstanding will clear up on its own soon enough.
Besides, once a little more time passed, I would adapt even better to the power I currently possessed....
All I needed to do was throw myself into hero work the same as always.
...Still, things have been pretty noisy lately. It has not even been long since Eternox's dying words spread, and now that American hero grandpa with the mysterious ability has fallen in the line of duty too.
Well, honestly, I had only seen him briefly a long time ago, so I was not as deeply saddened as the American public currently mourning him. Still, anyone who had devoted decades to being a hero because they loved it must have been a truly good person, regardless of public opinion. Being killed by a freak like that was genuinely tragic.
Click.
...Then again, I am in no position to leisurely worry about other people. Ah, I need to hurry up and lie down and get some sleep.
No matter how the world turned, my most urgent goal was to retire from this job as soon as possible and reclaim a daily life where I could sleep as much as I wanted. I simply hoped my successor would grow up strong and become a pro hero soon.
Thud—
I stepped into the goshiwon, which Ravi had made far more comfortable than before, and threw myself onto the high-end mattress that looked like it cost a few million won—
—waiting only for that girl named Ju Eun-ha to grow into someone truly excellent.
.
.
...Hmm, wait. When that Successor Suitability hits exactly 100 percent, what happens, exactly? Does she suddenly awaken or something?
Just as I closed my eyes to sleep, that question suddenly rose in my mind, and a strange unease forced me to open them again.
...Thinking about it, the villain I had faced this morning was the kind of opponent who would be extremely troublesome for any hero without my Invincible trait, no matter how strong they were.
So when my successor eventually took over, how was she supposed to deal with annoying villains like that...?
...To me, whether it was that guy or someone like Eternox, the only difference was how many more hits their durability required. They all felt the same as some random thug with a toy knife and no powers.
But for an ordinary hero without this Invincible ability, no matter how skilled, there would always come a dangerous moment like the one Frost-sunbae had faced today.
In that case, the successor who had to completely replace the role I currently filled—if a whole swarm of those bothersome types appeared at once, how was she supposed to handle them?
"Don't tell me... just like the name 'successor' implies, it's not only my position that gets passed on, but this Invincible trait and the penalty along with it...?"
Right.... Until now I had carelessly assumed that my Invincible Hero trait and that damned status window were unique powers stuck to the body I had possessed, completely different in nature from ordinary abilities or restrictions. Of course they would never leave my body.
But what if, just in the one-in-a-million chance....
...What if that damned square window and my ability were transferred together to my successor?
What a horrific thing that would be to dump on a kid whose whole future still lay ahead of her?
My Invincible power itself was something I would gladly throw to a stray dog if it meant I could quit this forced hero life. But that cursed status window? Honestly, I would feel bad even giving it to the garbage villains I had tossed into prison by the dozens today. The thing was that miserable.
...And just as that anxious thought gripped me—
Ding—!
The Invincible Hero trait is bound exclusively to you. It cannot be transferred to another person by any means.
Ding.
Furthermore, the current successor candidate with the highest suitability already possesses an extremely high Potential stat, along with a powerful Restriction that accompanies that ability.
The status window, having heard my ominous muttering, floated those windows right in front of my nose as I lay trying to sleep, then continued.
Therefore, even if suitability is fully filled, succession of your Trait and Restriction is impossible.
It cleanly answered the exact thing I had been wondering about.
...What? Since when does this thing actually answer what I want to know right away? It never used to care about anything except screwing me over.
Right. For fifteen years it had hidden the stat points I had accumulated, hidden the retirement "conditions" I so desperately wanted to know... hoarding secrets like some old schoolmaster with a jar of honey stashed away.
Tsk, this is suspicious.... Normally this damned status window just stays quiet—like with the Hanwoo lunchbox or Eternox—and then springs a nasty surprise on me at the worst moment, doesn't it?
...Even so, the crazy square had never once told me a lie. So for now, I could trust what was written in front of me.
If I could not trust that, the retirement condition it had offered would become meaningless too.
...Plus, as heartless as the status window seemed about the feelings of an overworked human, after being forcibly stuck with it for a full, exhausting fifteen years, I knew its style. Always going on about what a hero should be this and that.... At the very least, it did not seem to have a "lie to mess with him" function. It might hide things, but it would not take back words it had already spoken.
...So once that suitability climbs close to 100 percent, it means she will at least have overwhelming combat power enough to completely replace me.
Would the percentage gains slow down as suitability rose from now on?
Or would that "extremely high" Potential stat, plus the overwhelming talent Jeong Hak-hyeon-sunbae had mentioned before, smash right through and keep climbing rapidly...?
Thud—
Ahh, whatever. The teachers at the hero academy will take care of all that. Right now I just need to sleep.
...Yeah. I was far too tired today to waste energy worrying about every little detail.
Even if the upgraded mattress had improved the quality of my sleep, I would still only get a short rest before more villains swarmed out like summer mosquitoes and I had to go catch them again....
I could think about those things later, while I was out hunting villains. Not during this precious sleep time.
...Anyway, at least I know for sure that damned square window will not pass on to my successor. That is enough for now.
So I finally closed my eyes, ending the long day, feeling the pleasant night breeze drifting gently through the new window from the recent renovations—
—and burrowed deep into the luxurious comforter stuffed full of something as soft as bird feathers, falling asleep.
Hehehe, this is seriously soft. Yeah, once I quit the hero life and start earning real money, I have to repay Ravi no matter what....
.
.
.
Knock knock knock—
...Ugggh, what? Is it the person next door? What could they want at this hour...? First I need to find my mask and sunglasses.
Fumble, fumble.
...Yet about an hour after I had fallen asleep, still filled with gratitude for Ravi's boundless kindness and vowing that I would repay the favor someday—even if I could not match a swallow or a crane—
Click—
...Huh? Why did the lock just open...? Is it a thief? There's nothing in my room worth stealing except a few coins.
The sudden night guest barged in.
No, wait—if it is a thief I have to take them to the police station, which means even less sleep.... Damn it. If the status window does not say anything, maybe I should just pretend to be asleep and let them take a few hundred won....
Flump—
A body settled lightly onto my chest, still wrapped in the soft comforter.
"What... Ravi...? What on earth is going on in the middle of the night? And even if you are the landlord, just opening the door like that is a little—"
"I don't want to.... I don't have to be a hero anymore, right...?"
...Tears falling one after another from eyes as red as jewels, she quietly buried herself against me.