Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: How Am I Supposed to Believe That?
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How am I supposed to believe that?
Hero Academy, the Records Archive.
A place where detailed information on monsters, villains, and heroes is stored.
It's an essential spot, but it's also incredibly boring.
Those who come here are mostly instructors or sidekick candidates.
And in such a place, a freshman who had just arrived was sitting there.
"…."
Beside her was a search device and a large monitor screen.
On the opposite side were piles of documents and books.
While much of the information was recorded on computers, not everything was.
Villains had targeted the database through hacking many times.
Taking that into account, some parts were kept as physical documents.
Tap, tap—
Seo Ha-eun focused solely on gathering data, skipping even lunch.
The search terms appearing on the monitor screen were "Smiling Man."
Nothing else. Only the Smiling Man. Everything related to him.
"Smiling Man…."
Villains always show signs from the moment they appear.
Strange vibes even before awakening their abilities.
Or using that power for personal gain after awakening.
Some villains were once heroes who turned.
There are always traces like that. You can predict their beginnings.
But this Smiling Man was completely unpredictable.
"His first appearance was suddenly killing a B-Rank hero one day and vanishing without a trace…."
The world keeps talking about S-Ranks and A-Ranks, but B-Rank heroes are still impressive.
Especially considering most heroes never surpass C-Rank.
To kill a B-Rank hero means he must possess considerable power.
It doesn't make sense that such a villain caused no incidents before that.
"After that, zero crimes against civilians. He went quiet for a while, then killed another hero. Vanished, repeated…."
She meticulously noted the Smiling Man's movements in her notepad.
As expected, no crimes against civilians.
His targets were solely heroes. Nothing else.
When she reached the end, Seo Ha-eun bit her lip.
'What the hell is this? This guy has no common threads at all.'
He picks only heroes to kill. That's it.
Ranks vary, genders differ, age groups too.
No consistency in abilities, no connections between victims.
Like random murders? But one problem.
He skips easy civilian targets to hunt heroes.
It's hard to explain. Near impossible actually.
'At face value, he seems to harbor clear hostility toward heroes.'
Checking the situations again, other heroes were present too.
He could have killed them but he targeted only the victim and retreated.
Records say he withdrew due to the Union's quick support, but that's doubtful.
Unless an S-Rank arrived, he could have killed anyone there.
Yet the Smiling Man chose retreat over combat.
Even stranger was the part involving hero cadets like her.
The recent Kang Yuna incident was the hardest to understand.
Media and articles claimed Kang Yuna defeated a villain.
But Kang Yuna herself said the Smiling Man helped her.
A hero killer saving a hero aspirant. Doesn't make sense. Even as whimsy as he is, its hard to justify.
'And me too.'
He killed an S-Rank hero but spared me there.
Inconsistent. Hates heroes but not cadets?
Its so strange she even considered this.
Did the victims including the Holy Knight wrong the Smiling Man?
But there's no connections at all. He appeared like a ghost.
And reaped only their lives cleanly like the Grim Reaper.
It felt less like committing crimes and more like enforcing law.
Comparing a villain to that? Absurd, but nothing else fits….
"…Wait."
Crime? Enforcement? The words she just thought combined.
Thinking back, most recently: S-Rank hero Holy Knight.
He tried something vile against her, that she hates even mentioning.
To the public, no hero is more upright and pure than him.
Always polite, kind, a big donor, never abused his power.
A hero beloved by many. Respected by heroes.
Yet behind the scenes, such evil deeds he has done.
'Was that all? To target me?'
I'm not certain, but it's likely a 'no.'
If Holy Knight wore a mask, he'd done it before.
A shining facade upfront, but his dark insides are shown behind him.
A unheroic hero. Maybe they're more eviler than villains.
And Smiling Man killed that Holy Knight.
Tap tap tap!—
She changed search targets. Not Smiling Man anymore.
Starting with Holy Knight. Heroes killed by Smiling Man.
Different ages, genders. Varied ranks, abilities.
But with the one possibility that just dawned, she busily moved her hands.
"…Nothing."
This is the Hero Academy's Records Archive.
Info on monsters, villains, even heroes.
How much damage a monster caused.
How many civilians a villain killed.
How great a hero's feats were.
But none of the info Seo Ha-eun wanted was here.
'Records of crimes heroes might have committed.'
Heroes don't always get cheers.
Civilians were sometimes hurt by abilities in battle.
One reason the Union exists: to compensate victims of heroes.
Property damage. Injuries.
Even unlucky deaths caught in the crossfire.
'Records of heroes harming civilians like that are here. But crime records? Absent. If they truly committed no crimes, fine. But if not….'
Even the archive hides them.
Maybe a hero has committed many serious crimes before.
Like Holy Knight, a great hero doing evil behind closed doors.
If those heroes were Smiling Man's victims….
"…No."
This might be jumping to conclusions.
Holy Knight aside, no confirmation on others.
They could be innocent; we're not presuming their guilt.
Smiling Man might have unrelated reasons in his attacks.
"Haaa…."
Her chest feels tight. The more she digs, the less she knows.
Smiling Man. What kind of person are you?
Clearly a villain. A Hero killer.
But why does it feel like he's doing something else entirely?
Even if it's true, vigilante justice is forbidden.
Whatever, Smiling Man is still a villain.
"Excuse me."
Seo Ha-eun startled, reflexively closed her notepad.
Then turned warily.
"Ah. Sorry. I'm from the archive staff. Records show you entered this morning, no exit log since. Just checking."
"They check that too?"
"Usually not, but most leave for meals. You've skipped lunch and it's almost dinner, yet you've made no exit."
Dinner? She checked her phone time.
Only then did she realized that far more time has passed than she thought.
No windows were present in the archive, thus she lost her sense of time.
"Looking for specific records? I can help."
"No, it's fine."
Seo Ha-eun cut him off; the staff just laughed awkwardly.
They offered help, but she got waried instead; the situation became awkward.
"Got it. I'm new today too. There's lots of things I don't know in here."
"…I see."
She wasn't curious and she didn't ask; why say that?
Just a new chatty staff, she thought.
"Are you staying overnight? You might need to create a new entry log."
"No. I'm stopping here today."
I won't give up. I will learn more. Dig even deeper.
Smiling Man. Why help me?
What thoughts drive your actions?
"You said you're an archive staff?"
"Yes. A new hire starting today."
"Then, is the info here the most accurate?"
"For monsters and villains, Academy archive is at the top! Union's is good too, but restricted only to Union affiliates!"
"What about heroes…."
"Hero info? Most are found here."
She was about to say crime records, but she shut her mouth.
A hero cadet curious about their seniors' crimes? Weird even to her. Best to drop it here.
"Um. Not sure what you mean."
The staff adjusted their glasses and continued.
"If you're curious, its faster to ask people around that hero directly. No surer way!"