Chapter 72
Chapter 72
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: What a Ruckus!
----------------------------------------------------------------- ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ S-Rank Hero, Guardian. Arrives at Ulleung Island. S-Rank Hero, Valkyrie. Returns after combat ends. Numerous other hero forces. All arrive at Ulleung Island. Residents who barely escaped with their lives choose to return home. Some tourists left entirely, but the rest have come back. South Korea—no, the entire world—is focused on Ulleung Island. Those who survived the brutal battle on Ulleung Island were the last to leave.
The injured were treating their wounds in temporary medical wards.
A few were helping search for the bodies of the fallen.
The rest sat dazed, watching the situation unfold.
…
…
Seo Ha-eun and Kang Yuna. Jin Seo-ah and Louise. And even Jeong Ye-bin.
They too were sitting in one corner, taking a rest.
The adrenaline from the battle still seemed to be surging through them.
Their hearts pounded, and a intense heat lingered in their bodies.
A massive wave of exhaustion would soon crash over their entire bodies.
…Ha-eun.
Louise, fiddling with her empty gun, cautiously spoke up.
"Back then... you definitely said it. That the Smiling Man saved us."
"Yes, Louise."
"Before that, he helped Yuna, and later he even saved us from the monster outright."
"That's right."
And finally, he saved Ulleung Island and everyone here.
From an Apocalypse-Class monster. From an unstoppable catastrophe.
The Smiling Man performed acts of kindness without any conditions.
Yes. Acts of kindness. A word that could never coexist with a villain.
It was absurd, yet they had witnessed it with their own eyes.
It was impossible to believe, yet they had no choice but to believe.
"Hey. Actually, I have something to tell you all."
Seo Ha-eun glanced around before gathering the four closer.
Then she told them what she had investigated on her own.
"The Smiling Man's actions were so suspicious that I looked into it alone."
"Alone? Why didn't you ask for our help?"
"The more people who move, the more attention we'd attract. Right now, it's just the curiosity of one cadet, but if it spreads, the Union might take notice. They'd definitely do that."
Jin Seo-ah, Louise, and Jeong Ye-bin exchanged looks and nodded.
The granddaughter of the Sword Saint. The lady of Britain's Bullet family. And a member of the Whioon Group.
It was a combination that couldn't possibly go unnoticed. The Union would definitely catch on.
"So? Ha-eun. What exactly did you investigate about the Smiling Man?"
"Not exactly the Smiling Man himself—I investigated the heroes he killed. Around them. Yuna, you know too, right? The S-Rank Hero Holy Knight that the Smiling Man killed. He was close to me."
"Yeah. I remember last time, you called him uncle or something."
Come to think of it, something felt off. Kang Yuna tilted her head.
A few days after Holy Knight died, when she saw Seo Ha-eun again, there was no sign of grief.
She'd thought it was shock at the time, but now she realized that wasn't it.
…That man... wasn't a hero.
"Huh?"
"Eh?"
The four cadets wondered if they'd misheard.
Holy Knight wasn't a hero? But he was an S-Rank Hero?
"Ha-eun? What do you mean..."
"He was a hero. Yes, but... inside, he wasn't a hero."
Seo Ha-eun bit her lip, trembling with betrayal for a moment.
But soon, she told them what she had seen and experienced.
The cadets started by listening to their comrade's words with puzzled expressions.
But gradually, anger and bewilderment filled their faces.
…Wait, hold on!
Kang Yuna waved her hands frantically, cutting off Seo Ha-eun.
It made sense. No one admired heroes more than she did.
An S-Rank Hero. Holy Knight, no less. A role model for everyone.
And it turned out that man was a criminal who committed such heinous acts?
"A-Aren't you mistaken? M-Maybe the video was edited! Or..."
"Instructor Valkyrie already confirmed it. No compositing or manipulation. What was in the video was definitely me and Holy Knight, and if it had been just a little later, something terrible would have happened."
…
…
No one could speak. It was that shocking a story.
A hero. An S-Rank Hero at the center of all heroes.
Acting like an apostle of justice in front, performing good deeds.
Only to try something so filthy and disgusting behind the scenes.
…And. I haven't investigated much yet, but another hero the Smiling Man killed. An A-Rank Hero named Blader.
"Ah. I know him. He was a swordsman, but not a disciple of the Sword Saint, which was a hot topic for a while."
Jeong Ye-bin spoke up, and Jin Seo-ah nodded in recollection.
He was known to wield the sword quite well, yet oddly, the Sword Saint showed no interest.
The Sword Saint who would check out any swordsman at least once.
"Wasn't it a shame he died so young? The articles said he did a lot of good too."
"He was one of the 10 heroes the Union had their eye on."
The cadets suddenly felt a sense of dissonance and fell silent.
Good reputation. It wasn't much different from Holy Knight.
"You're thinking what I'm thinking."
Seo Ha-eun confirmed it.
"Everything known about A-Rank Hero Blader is that he was an outstanding hero. People's evaluations. The records left behind. Articles and videos. But one person was different."
She met Blader's old comrade, who had retired and lived in seclusion.
The Blader he described was nothing like the man people knew.
He said Blader recklessly used his Ability to kill innocent civilians.
And he even treated his comrades like slaves!
…What is this? Am I hearing this right?
"This is disconcerting. I've never heard of anything like this."
"Grandpa didn't seem to know either..."
Heroes they knew as perfect agents of good and justice.
As the true faces of some were revealed, they couldn't hide their shock.
It felt like an absolute, unchanging truth they believed in was shattering.
If what Seo Ha-eun said was true, this was no small matter.
"If this got out to the world, the public's perception of heroes would take a severe hit."
"And the Union that put those heroes in their positions would suffer even more."
Now she understood why they were so desperate to hide and cover it up.
The moment this got out, the world would erupt in chaos.
The public order and stability maintained by heroes would shake.
The authority built on heroes as tools would face challenges.
Those who wanted to protect it were desperately silencing it.
"But. Ha-eun? You said Hero Valkyrie knew about Hero Holy Knight?"
"Yes. She knew before I did."
"That's strange. From what I know, Hero Valkyrie is a really good person. Knowing this and still staying silent instead of making it public?"
Kang Yuna reacted with surprise to Louise's question.
Surely Valkyrie hadn't done something bad too?
…I think I can answer that.
Jin Seo-ah, who had been deep in thought, replied instead.
"Not all heroes are like that. But people tend to think the part represents the whole. Plus, Instructor Valkyrie must have thought the order and stability built under the name of heroes all this time could collapse."
"Even if heroes commit wrongs, they're still better than villains. I admit that. My home country, Britain, went through something similar once."
Heroes and villains must coexist.
Otherwise, forces following villains would inevitably emerge.
"But hiding and covering up heroes' misdeeds and turning a blind eye is nonsense!"
"Yuna's right. This... this is an insult to all the senior heroes who risked their lives."
"Now, now. Let's not fight among ourselves."
Jeong Ye-bin quickly stepped in after watching the four for a moment.
"That's not what's important right now, is it? The Smiling Man. We need to focus on him. Think about it—maybe he wants to tell us something."
"What do you mean, Ye-bin?"
"He clearly knows something. Why doesn't the Smiling Man reveal this himself? I think it's this: Heroes should handle heroes' problems."
It was a reasonable point. But there was one crucial issue.
"Why, though? The Smiling Man is a villain. Why act like that?"
None of the five could answer that. ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The monster incident on Ulleung Island had come to a perfect close.
Though both Apocalypse-Class monsters survived in the end.
At least, no major disaster occurred.
Once safety was secured, reporters began flooding in from the mainland.
"Hurry! We need to get there faster!"
"Grab anything there, and it's front-page news. All of Korea is glued to Ulleung Island right now!"
"Check if any special articles pop up elsewhere! Copy them all and slap on one more interview—we'll climb higher!"
The reason reporters were going wild was simple.
No need to look far. Just check YouXube or SNS, and the answer was clear. 📰 Breaking News < Ulleung Island Monster Wave Full Video. Cumulative Views Break 4 Million in Three Days > 📰 Breaking News < Interview with Hero on Duty at Ulleung Island. Hits Real-Time Top Views > 📰 Breaking News < Villain, Smiling Man. Tops Real-Time Search > 📰 Breaking News < Analysis of Smiling Man's Swordsmanship. Could Surpass the Sword Saint? > 📰 Breaking News < Smiling Man Appears on Ulleung Island. Villain Rank Readjustment Essential > 📰 Breaking News < Black Woman Revealed as Clan's Boss. Union Remains Silent > It was like an inexhaustible treasure jar.
Articles from here alone would keep them fed for at least three months.
If they got greedy, they could stretch it to half a year.
In the midst of it, one more piece of news arrived.
The reporters drooled upon hearing it. 📰 Breaking News < Smiling Man in Video Pulls Out Phone During Call. Revealed as Whioon Electronics Model, Whioon Galaxy! > "Book an interview with Whioon Electronics right now!!"
"Smiling Man! Thank you!"
While the whole country buzzed about Ulleung Island, one video was uploaded.
This secretly filmed video showed.
Extremely subpar food and absurdly high prices.
Clear price gouging that anyone could see.
The owner yelling "No photos!" the moment pictures were taken.
And finally, a sign reading 'No Photo Shooting. No YouTubers.'.
For reference, the ID of the person who uploaded the video was 'Ha Ha11'.