Pride Swallowed, Muscles Torn
As rationality returned to him, Ayoung's logic—piercing straight at Rapidstar's weakness, Han Eunbyeol's safety and the absence of the pager—lodged firmly in his ears. His rage was steadily, surely deflating. She was the half-baked, incompetent daughter he despised most, but he had no choice but to acknowledge her ability to wield power as a committee executive and meticulously manage the system. During his absence, her greenhouse was the sturdiest bomb shelter to protect Eunbyeol from the variables lurking in back alleys—a cold, hard calculation that rang true.
Rapidstar glared down at the pager clutched in his hand with icy eyes. In the end, must I accept this woman's protection? Deep-rooted distrust and loathing lingered. But for his obsession and Eunbyeol's safety, he had to swallow his paltry pride. The humiliation of temporarily entrusting his possession to the shadow of his worthless daughter clawed at his gut. Crunch. The plastic pager screamed in his thick fist, on the verge of shattering. Just as he nearly pulverized it to dust—
Whoosh. His trembling hand stilled, and he roughly hurled the pager at Ayoung's chest with a thwack.
"Ah!"
Ayoung startled and reflexively caught the falling pager in both hands. Rapidstar fixed her with a piercing glare and spat through gritted teeth.
"Even if it's not needed now... it might come in handy later."
Ayoung's pupils shook at the sudden return of the pager. Rapidstar leaned in close to her ear, thrusting a dagger that ripped open old wounds.
"Entrusting this pager to you again is fucking disgusting..."
His cold breath grazed her nape.
"This time, press it without being late."
"...!"
"If you'd pressed this button just a little faster back then... your mother could have lived."
No... that's not true...
Aaaah! Honey! Hoooneeey!
The inferno of the bombing site. The stench of burning flesh. The moment her terror-frozen finger hesitated on the pager. That brief delay cost her mother her life, torn apart by flames, and her father abandoned her forever. The bone-deep guilt that had crushed her for life pierced through the hypnosis in an instant. Before her father's cruel blow, unearthing humanity's primal trauma, blood surged reverse in her veins and her heart felt like it was ripping apart—her breath caught in agony.
"......"
Ayoung bit her trembling lips hard and bowed her head deeply. The knuckles gripping the pager turned white. But she squeezed out a suppressed voice to retort.
"This pager... it's an old model that only sends a signal. No eavesdropping function, no black box like on airplanes."
"......"
"The moment Mom died... I saw it, heard it, felt it with my whole body. She was gone the instant the explosion hit. Even if I'd pressed it before the bomb went off... she still would have died!"
She desperately pleaded her case to the father who abandoned her, the trauma that clawed at her lifelong guilt. But—
Whoosh! Rapidstar didn't even pretend to listen. Having shredded Ayoung's psyche to salvage his shallow pride, he turned without regret and tossed the order at the director.
"Prepare."
"Rapidstar!"
"I'm going to America. But if anyone tarnishes my disciple's name before I return, no matter who it is, I'll rip their throat out."
With that savage warning, Rapidstar flung his cape and kicked open the heavy director's office door. A suffocating silence blanketed the room until the echo of his footsteps faded down the hall.
"Phew... we're saved."
Once Rapidstar's presence fully vanished, the External Cooperation Director—stiff with tension—exhaled a deep sigh of relief, like pulling a bad tooth. He pulled out a handkerchief, wiped the sweat beading on his forehead, and approached Ayoung, who still hung her head.
"Director Park. Truly, thank you. Without you, that man would've held out without handing over his passport. The Detroit incident nearly blew up into a diplomatic mess, but you got us over the mountain."
The director's heartfelt gratitude filled the office. Ayoung slowly lifted her head. The eyes shaken by her father's brutal words were buried under hypnosis. Her expression returned to that of the impeccably cold Planning and Adjustment Director, not a needle's width of vulnerability showing. Her gut twisted and blood tears welled inside, but outwardly, the accomplishment of exploiting even this situation for her Master's goals tugged her lips into a faint smirk. She replied with polite yet businesslike, meticulously calculated poise.
"No, Director. If anything, I should be thanking you."
"Hm? What do you mean?"
Ayoung pulled a file of approval documents from her bosom and placed it on the director's desk.
"That crew project I mentioned earlier, still in planning. A few days ago, you so readily approved the rental of the committee's A-rank Secret Training Facility as its training ground."
The director's eyes widened.
"Ahh..."
"A tricky procedure, high-budget A-rank facility... and you handed it over trusting just my face..."
Ayoung smiled coldly.
"That price is paid when I get Rapidstar on a plane, wouldn't you say?"
"Hahaha! As expected of Director Park. You handle things so cleanly."
As the director's hearty laughter echoed, the greatest obstacle—Rapidstar, too strong to ignore—was chased across the Pacific. And with the official A-rank training facility secured, her nephew's body modification plan gained ironclad support.
The director slumped onto the sofa, still mopping sweat.
"Whew... by the way, what was the hero crew name you planned? Dealing with Rapidstar drained me so much my mind's blank. Am I getting dementia? Maybe it's time to retire."
Ayoung smiled as she gathered her documents.
"Don't worry, Director. You can't retire yet. It's natural you wouldn't know—I didn't include a name in the report. Started with a provisional 'Side B', but we've just finalized the official name."
"Heh, you're squeezing me dry to the end, Director Park. So, what is it?"
"Unmarked."
"Unmarked, huh."
"Two members confirmed for now. One ex-villain with a record, one dirt-poor aspirant who couldn't even enter the academy."
"Sounds utterly ordinary and featureless. Well, their specs are pretty lackluster."
"Exactly. These days, heroes are idolized like big corp stars—too distant from the public. But if they're too human and weak, they die early to villains."
Ayoung laid out her media play blueprint, piercing public psychology, before the director.
"So we'll have these high-potential underdogs rise from the bottom, cover their exploits for relatability and narrative. A growth story proven in blood and sweat. The masses go wild for that authenticity. Just like the old... Shooting Star."
At the name, the director nodded with interest.
"Unmarked... saying it out loud, not bad. A bit bland is good for public empathy. But just two? Feels small for a crew."
Ayoung gazed out the window with an enigmatic expression and added,
"There's one more... but she doesn't want the spotlight, so I'm still convincing her. She'll join soon enough."
At the same time.
The top-security A-rank Secret Training Facility secured by Ayoung through the committee.
"Gaaahhh—!"
"Save me, nyang! Pleeease stooop!"
Eunbyeol and Miyang's screams echoed thunderously through the training hall lined with cutting-edge equipment.
"Grit your teeth! Whining over this much?!"
At the screams' epicenter, Ohoo, Miyang, and Eunbyeol writhed on the floor. Mercilessly trampling them was the instructor—B-rank hero Last Moment, dubbed the devil of the training grounds.
As her name implied, her hero alias came from colleagues who'd endured her sets yet heard "one more" endlessly.
"If your muscles tear, I'll fix 'em! Get up and run again!"
Last Moment. Her healing was extremely specialized in muscle regeneration and repair—an awkward ability useless for organ ruptures or poison. It capped her at B-rank as a combat medic. But here, it synergized into inhuman cruelty.
Crack! Pop!
"Agh!"
"Torn!"
Fwhoosh—!
"Reattached!"
Endless muscle destruction. Instant ultra-rapid over-recovery via her power. She forcibly shattered trainees' muscle fiber limits, then repaired them on-site. It drove them mad with extreme pain... but surviving this hell birthed monsters who could overwhelm street villains with pure physical prowess.
"Hngaaah... M-Master... Miyang's dyiiing..."
Miyang and Eunbyeol were moments from foaming at the mouth, eyes glazed. But.
"Haa... haa..."
Ohoo's eyes, soaked in sweat amid the agony, burned unclouded. He overlaid the pain of tearing muscles with rage to rip loan shark limbs apart. Scorched his own mentality via the Hypnosis App, forcibly breaking through this wretched, fat worm of a body's limits again and again.
"Again... come on again."
Ohoo staggered up, biting lips bloodied by sweat's salt.
"Hoh... I like your spirit. Thought you'd drop first."
A smile crept across Last Moment's lips. Hundreds of heroes and aspirants had fled her methods. Even training-mad Last Moment unconsciously dialed back intensity—earning her academy instructor suspension for complaints. But now.
A trainee appeared who endured her original ferocity, reverting her to full throttle.
"Hahaha! Let's go all the way then!"
As Last Moment's laughter boomed, staggering Ohoo was clung to by Miyang on his leg.
"M-Master... any more and we'll really die..."
Miyang whispered in a tear-glazed, crawling voice.
"Just turn on the Hypnosis App quick so we don't feel the pain, nyang... pleeease..."
But Ohoo panted roughly and replied flatly.
"I'm not hypnotized right now."
"...Hngk?!"
Miyang's cat ears shot up.
"Y-You're enduring this insane pain stone-cold sober?!"
"Yeah. That instructor looks crazy, but she's a vet—precisely tuning to limits, tearing and mending. No hypnosis till the training sinks fully into my body."
Ohoo ground his teeth, recalling his asphalt knee-smash.
"Or it'll shatter again like before. Pain's part of the training."
"St-Still, give Miyang some hypnosis... it hurts so bad I'm dying..."
As Miyang whined and rolled on the floor—
"Me too... one more, please!"
Eunbyeol forced herself up on shaking legs from Ohoo's other side. No hypnosis for her either—stone-cold sober. Yet her eyes gleamed strangely clear.
It hurts... my body's breaking. But...
For slum orphan Eunbyeol, who'd never neared Hero Academy from poverty—this was a dream: A-rank secret facility, veteran instructor. Her flesh screamed at its limit. But her heart brimmed, owning the world in happiness.
"One more... let's go!"
Eunbyeol's determined shout made sprawled Miyang's eyes twitch.
That bitch is racking points in front of Master?! I'm the top wife here—can't lose face!
Sudden rivalry ignited the alley cat's instincts.
"M-Me too, nyang! Bring it, you crazy instructor!"
Miyang shrieked, leaping up and sparking electricity. Last Moment watched, grin splitting ear-to-ear. After weak heroes fleeing her hell, three maniacs dove in eyes ablaze.
"Kyahahaha! Perfect! I'll shred every muscle cell today!"
Last Moment cackled in delight, charging mercilessly at the trio anew.
Under skies where Rapidstar's shadow crossed the Pacific from Korea.
Unmarked members vomited blood from rock bottom, fueling growth on mutual venom.