Chapter 28: Heroes Always Arrive Late (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 28: Heroes Always Arrive Late (2)
Ah, so this is what “strength” feels like.
Even though my internal organs weren’t just twisting but practically doing the poppin’, the situation itself was quite satisfying.
Judging by the shocked expressions on the faces of our resident psychopath, Jin Gyeong-tae, and the kidnapped students, he wouldn’t be lunging at me again anytime soon.
To be honest, I was a bit surprised myself.
I didn’t expect that simply reinforcing a device meant for chasing away bugs with a mana wave would actually slaughter a monster.
I’d occasionally told myself that my ability was an all-purpose supernatural power, but only now did it truly sink in.
I guess it wasn’t ranked A-rank for nothing.
“Impressive. I don’t know exactly what your talent is, but based on that momentary output, you wouldn’t fall behind this year’s co-valedictorians.”
On the surface, he was acting as if he’d regained his composure, but the man was clearly still shaken.
“However, the fact that you didn’t use that power to wipe out all my subordinates at once suggests it’s a power with certain restrictions, doesn’t it?”
At this point, I made sure to knit my brows slightly.
“That’s likely why you provoked me. Perhaps your talent is a powerful reinforcement type that can only react to an opponent’s attack as a penalty?”
Now, I had to put on a slightly surprised face.
The key was to do it for just a split second; if I held it too long, he’d get suspicious.
“You really are just a child. You’re fairly skilled at controlling your expressions, but at my level, I can see even the tiniest changes.”
Nope~ wrong. I showed you that on purpose~
It was always easier to deceive the “half-witted” types who thought they were geniuses.
The more they relied on their own deductions, the more easily they convinced themselves they were right.
“This is troublesome. I have the numerical advantage, so I don’t think it’s impossible to break through, but it’ll be over if the reinforcements you called arrive before then.”
“Why don’t you just surrender? It’s only attempted murder so far, so you’ll be out in no time.”
“Haha, I’ve finally decided to live honestly with myself; I can’t do that. If I had saved even one cadet, maybe, but otherwise, wouldn’t I be left with regrets?”
“Is that so? Then just stay there and get your ass kicked until you’re caught.”
The man chuckled as if something was hilarious and reached out toward me.
“Now, Cadet So-hyun, instead of doing that, why don’t we make a deal? I am a professor, after all, so I have a last resort. Honestly, I’d rather not use it.”
Since I had the Setting Book practically memorized, I knew he wasn’t bluffing.
In the original story, he had mocked Lilac, saying, “I have no regrets left,” and chose not to use his trump card. That secret weapon was likely still tucked away in his coat.
“A deal?”
“If you just hand over Kim Ga-eul—the one you probably hate the most—I’ll let everyone else live. How about it?”
Not that I had any intention of accepting such a crazy proposal.
“Hey, that kind of offer only works when you’re the one with the upper hand. After what I just showed you, why would I feel pressured to do that?”
Actually, until a moment ago, the kids rustling behind me might have been tempted. But after seeing me massacre those insects, their eyes were filled with nothing but trust.
“Because if I keep my word, you can definitely save all the other hostages. And honestly, don’t you feel like getting revenge on Kim Ga-eul for bullying you? No one would blame you right now.”
“Nope, don’t feel like getting revenge at all.”
“You can be honest…”
“Not everyone in the world has such a murky, depressing hobby as you.”
“I won’t fall for that tactic again.”
Tactic? What tactic, you bastard? There is no tactic. If I have to do that again, I’ll actually die.
“Tsk, that didn’t work.”
Of course, I kept those thoughts to myself.
“What a shame. I suppose that means I have to use this after all.”
Saying this, the man smiled with an expression that didn’t look disappointed at all and pulled a small gourd-like object from his pocket.
“You’re running your mouth like that because you don’t know what this is. If you knew, even you would be a little…”
“It’s a Gu, right? Not a formal one, but a prototype you made by forcing the venomous insects you tamed to fight each other?”
When I spoke as if I knew everything, his mask of composure crumbled once again.
You amateur, there isn’t a single important setting I don’t know.
Gu.
Originally a form of Chinese sorcery where small animals or venomous insects are placed in a jar to fight until only one remains, which is then used for curses or restrictions. However, as is common in these kinds of novels, Gu here was a technique closer to chimera production than a curse.
Inside that small gourd lived a venomous insect he had raised with all his effort, and its toxicity was powerful enough to knock out even a decent hero in a single strike.
“…Do you really know everything? No, if you know, how can you act like that?”
“Who knows? If you’re so curious, why don’t you open that gourd? But are you sure about that? You can’t fully control it, can you?”
Exactly.
He was talking as if that gourd was his trump card, but the reality was that he had sealed it away because it had become a monster far exceeding his ability to dominate.
“I guarantee it. If you open that, it’ll devour your other insects before it gets to us, driven by the memory of eating its own kind. And then it’ll try to grow by breaking the restrictions you put on it to keep it from reaching its complete form.”
I wasn’t lying.
It was written right there in the Setting Book. There was even an episode later in the story where the confiscated Gu fell into the hands of another villain and grew into its complete form.
If he released the Gu now, he’d just be destroying his own forces.
As for me, I’d much rather keep one strong monster at bay than deal with dozens of them swarming from all directions.
Lilac, who would be doing the actual fighting, might have a hard time, but hey, isn’t a protagonist supposed to face trials? If the original protagonist grows too comfortably in a possession story, they end up useless later on.
“…There’s been a lot of talk about whether Cadet Cheon Yu-hak or Cadet Lilac is the most outstanding freshman at Leilan Academy, but I think I’ll have to add another candidate to the list.”
Is that so? Right now, as a transmigrator, I might look impressive, but a year from now, no one would even say such a thing.
Even if I stole all the discarded settings and villainous fortuitous encounters, it would be hard to keep up with the two protagonists in the latter half of the story.
Well, for now, I needed to maintain that reputation to keep him on guard.
“You know, So-hyun.”
So-hyun? Not ‘Cadet’?
“If you don’t like the deal, why don’t you come work with me?”
What is he talking about…? Is he insane…?
“No, thinking about it, you seem better suited for our side than that one. Actually, I was scouted recently. I turned it down because it seemed impossible, but with you, I feel like it might be doable.”
Ah, for the record, the organization that tried to scout this guy is the same one that will soon seduce Professor Park A-ram, our Basic Mana Studies teacher, into becoming their new member.
“I’m starting to wonder… do you know about the organization that contacted me as well?”
“Who knows? What do you think?”
“Common sense says there’s no way you’d know. But my gut tells me you do. What’s the truth?”
“I’m not telling you, you bastard. Think whatever you want.”
“Truly a waste of time. So-hyun, you should definitely never take the Provocation class next year.”
The man raised the gourd high.
“Are you really going to do it?”
“Yes. I am a professor, after all. If I just keep getting pushed around like this, what will the cadets think of the other professors?”
“Fine, go ahead.”
“Cadet Kang So-hyun. In my eyes, you’re quick-witted and talented. I think you’re an amazing cadet. But perhaps because you’re still a student, you lack experience.”
“…What?”
“You’re right. My Gu has grown to a point where it’s a bit too much for my talent to handle, so I can’t control it. However, there isn’t just one way to handle a monster.”
The man shifted his gaze behind me.
“For example, what if I had sprayed our unconscious cadets with a scent similar to the Gu’s favorite prey? And conversely, sprayed my insects with a scent they hate? As I’ve mentioned in class, monsters in the form of insects or beasts find it hard to resist scents they are instinctively drawn to.”
It was a valid strategy.
And it was a strategy that hadn’t appeared in the original story during the fight with Lilac because there were no hostages then.
If what he said was true, it wasn’t exactly checkmate, but it was a very dangerous situation.
“Cadet Kang So-hyun, you’re strong, so you might survive, but you’d better give up on the other cadets. We can’t all die together, can we?”
But unfortunately for him, I wasn’t scared in the slightest.
In fact, I felt like showing off how relaxed I was.
Like a third-rate villain committing his first crime, he was already acting smug, confident in his victory.
“Hey, then do you know this?”
“Pardon?”
I spoke as slowly and leisurely as possible, intentionally dragging out the time.
“When is a person at their most vulnerable?”
“…I wonder. I suppose it’s when they think they’ve won and become conceited? Are you trying to say that’s me right now?”
“You know it well.”
I could hear it.
Others might not, but with my senses slightly heightened through reinforcement, I could clearly hear the footsteps of someone racing toward this place.
“There’s never a villain who survives after blathering on in the middle of a fight. You moron.”
He had arrived.
Yes, even though countless misfortunes would befall him in the original story, and even when he faced situations that seemed insurmountable, he always appeared before the villains.
And no matter how strong the foe, he would eventually strike them down, even if he ended up covered in wounds.
The hallmark of an academy protagonist: acting like they’re late but never missing the critical moment.
Now, the others would be able to hear his footsteps too.
A strategy I didn’t know? Such things lose their meaning the moment he arrives.
The reason Lilac had fallen into despair because of Jin Gyeong-tae in the original story was solely because he arrived after the incident had already occurred, after those who could have been his friends were already dead. Neither the crude Gu nor the tamed insects could be a match for the protagonist.
Finally, he reached the door.
Jin Gyeong-tae’s expression soured, and he tried to release the Gu, but it was too late.
The kick that smashed through the door…?
Wait, a kick?
Lilac?
“Is everyone okay…!?”
The voice that rang out was far too high-pitched to be Lilac’s; it was a woman’s.
The one who had come to our rescue was, surprisingly, our secret friend.
Why is Cathy Noona coming out from there…?
Where’s Lilac…?
* * *
The reason Cathy was able to arrive at the scene faster than anyone else Kang So-hyun had messaged was simple.
She was already inside the Chairperson’s office within the Academy when she received the text.
Even so, the moment she got the message, her mind went blank, and her body was already moving.
Calming her racing heart, she surveyed the scene. Fortunately—if it could be called that—there were no casualties yet.
The fact that an Academy professor had done this meant it was far from a “good” situation, but it was better than having victims.
Even in that moment, she anxiously looked for the person who had sent her the text.
The fact that everyone else was restrained meant he had been the one facing the professor. Seeing the devices scattered on the floor, broken as if from an overload, and his strangely exhausted complexion, it was clear he had used his talent again.
Her fists clenched involuntarily.
She had intended to watch over him to prevent this, yet she had let a cadet who was barely recovering use his strength again.
In the midst of all this, that boy could have just run away or called for help, so why did he stand his ground when he was still just a student?
Seeing his eyes waver as he looked at her, he must have been very scared.
“It’s okay now, cadets. Rest assured.”
“Professor Cathy!”
The cadets’ expressions brightened, relieved that they were saved.
“Hmm, Cadet Kang So-hyun. I’m disappointed. Of all the reinforcements to call, you chose Professor Cathy? She’s a bad match for me. You know well that she’s a specialist in one-on-one combat and isn’t suited for fighting many at once, don’t you?”
Meanwhile, Jin Gyeong-tae, who had put some distance between them while she was protecting the cadets, spoke up.
The cadets’ faces darkened again at his words, but she gave them a smile to reassure them.
“Professor Jin Gyeong-tae. No, Mr. Jin Gyeong-tae, caught in the act. If you surrender now, I’ll make sure you can at least hire a lawyer.”
“Professor Cathy, you seem to have forgotten that you lost to me before. I don’t hold back when dealing with adults. You’re actually quite decent for an adult, but I dislike you all the same.”
“If you think I’m the same as I was back then, you’re in for a rude awakening.”
“You’re a hero who has already reached the limit of her growth, aren’t you? An A-rank hero who barely made the cut, good at facing a single strong entity but lacking the skill to handle a vast number of weak ones. Isn’t that you?”
“If that’s what you think, then come at me.”
Taking her stance and clenching her fists, her movements didn’t seem much different from before, at least to the eyes of others.
A hero who had already reached the limit of her growth.
It wasn’t entirely wrong.
Only a month ago, she would have agreed.
But now, remembering the glimpse of the realm she had touched that day and having practiced by chasing those movements, she was—even if only by a tiny bit—further ahead than when she had fought Jin Gyeong-tae in the past.
At her level, growing even a fraction meant she was a completely different person from that day.
Her fist lashed out, and with the sound of rushing wind, the heads of five centipedes charging at her exploded simultaneously.
“Is that all?”
She was experiencing a slightly late growth spurt.