Chapter 95: Kang Ha-ni.
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 95: Kang Ha-ni.
This might be sudden, but what exactly is a hero?
Is it someone who suppresses villains committing crimes?
That’s not wrong, but I think of it a bit differently.
In the truest sense, wouldn’t a hero be someone who can prevent an accident from happening in the first place?
The moment an incident occurs, there’s bound to be a victim.
Things only went to hell because the variable known as the War Demon was so far out of left field; otherwise, I’d already handled almost everything else.
Even as I approached the guy who was doing nothing but screaming at the top of his lungs out of fear, he just stood there like an idiot, thrusting the detonator toward me.
He probably thought everything I said was a bluff.
Well, it makes things easier for me if he doesn’t run away.
“Boom.”
I spoke playfully as I pressed the button on the switch he held out. Everyone present watched with eyes wide with horror.
They probably thought I was a lunatic.
Don’t look at me like that.
I’m perfectly sane.
One second passed, then two.
Naturally, there was no explosion—not even a small pop.
“…Huh?”
“What, you think only that switch is broken? Why don’t you check the others?”
The man was so flustered that he didn’t even think to keep me at bay as I drew closer. He signaled his subordinates, but even as they frantically clicked their detonators, the bombs didn’t react.
Of course they didn’t.
The problem wasn’t the switches; it was the bombs themselves.
“It’s no use, you dumbasses. I’ve already dealt with all the tricks you prepared.”
Gazes of a different nature began to gather on me one by one.
Actually, it wasn’t that I had done anything personally.
I just sent a letter.
From the start, our Little Witch had installed all sorts of protective measures at the orphanage, making it quite safe from various forms of terrorism.
Not to mention defenses against mana bombs—there was no way simple, old-fashioned gunpowder could do anything.
The issue was that in the original story, this was an incident where the Twelve Zodiacs intervened, neutralizing most of her defenses by tricking her with a cursed, fake Philosopher’s Stone.
But I had already rendered the Twelve Zodiacs incapable of functioning normally. As for the Arcadia bastards who stepped in to replace them, they wouldn’t interfere the moment they realized the target was the orphanage.
If anything, they’d be furious that the contract terms were misrepresented.
“Why are you glaring at me like that, you bastards? You’re gonna make me think you’re falling for me. Hmm?”
In essence, this fight was already over.
Professor Park A-ram must have heard the news that things were going south by now, so she should be arriving soon, right?
“Ha, haha. It doesn’t matter if there are no bombs! It’s not over yet, so don’t act like you’ve already won!”
It seemed he still had some shred of hope, as he refused to give up.
“Is that so? It looks like that mister over there really wants to blow your heads off. You know it’s legal to kill villains on sight, right?”
“I don’t know what kind of trick you played on the bombs, but the main force isn’t even here! The real elites are on standby, so this isn’t over!”
Your main force that couldn’t even beat a single War Demon? Not only am I not scared, but I’ve obviously dealt with them too.
“Ah, uh. Right, right. This isn’t your main force, is it? But unless that main force can teleport here this very second, I don’t think your head is going to stay attached.”
“Ugh…!”
“And when someone talks to you, listen properly, you moron. I just told you.”
The man hurriedly tried to make a call, but there would be no answer.
I smiled broadly at him as he shook his head in denial.
“I told you, I’ve already dealt with all your tricks.”
In the original work, they appear on the villain’s side, but the Yuseong Group does indeed have a private superhuman army raised in secret.
The only reason they weren’t deployed here was simple.
I had already told my father exactly where these bastards’ headquarters were.
And Kang Hyun-woo, the Chairman of Yuseong Group, was a man who used any means necessary to crush his enemies.
As the man continued to call with a frantic face, his expression brightened when someone finally picked up—only to freeze again the moment he heard the voice on the other end.
I couldn’t hear it, but it was likely one of the soldiers my father raised.
In other words, excluding the ones who were already injured, the twenty or so left here were their final strength.
“T-This can’t be happening.”
“What do you mean ‘can’t be happening,’ you prick? Anyone would think you’d come up with some incredibly thorough plan. You felt pretty good when you stabbed that mister in the back earlier, didn’t you? Did you feel like some big shot, like you could even control an S-rank villain?”
Ah, maybe it was because I was annoyed, but the insults were flowing quite smoothly.
“But you’re not. You’re just a nobody, a total dumbass. In fact, you don’t even run the company called Miel, do you?”
“…What? You… No, just how much do you know?”
“I know everything you know. And I know most of what you don’t. But does that even matter?”
“…Pardon?”
“To a guy who’s about to die right here. Why are you so curious?”
“…May I take over?”
From this point on, what awaited them wasn’t a battle, but a one-sided massacre by a ghost obsessed with fighting.
I returned to Ha-ni without answering. Taking that as a sign of affirmation, the War Demon released his aura.
“It has been a very long time since I felt this disgusted.”
“W-Wait, between fellow villains…”
“Don’t give me that bullshit. Even among villains, there are levels of class.”
“…Everyone, stop him…!”
“Do you think ten or twenty rabbits can resist a tiger? You pieces of trash.”
The War Demon inhaled and let out a thunderous roar.
“Today! Know that not a single one of you! Shall leave this place alive…!”
Immediately after he finished speaking, a wind of blood began to blow.
* * *
Ha-ni watched the entire sequence of events in a daze.
What captured her attention wasn’t the overwhelming power of the giant man, nor the arrows of mana that had been raining down on her.
From beginning to end, her eyes followed one boy.
The boy who moved as if he were a different person the moment she fell.
The boy who faced the giant while mocking himself.
The boy who displayed movements she could never have imagined from his usual self.
The boy who smiled with relief while protecting her from the countless mana arrows pouring from the sky.
The boy who, with eyes swirling with a mixture of emotions, forced a potion down her throat while on the verge of tears.
The boy who, for some reason, was so enraged that he spat out harsh words and intimidated his opponents more than necessary.
She kept watching him.
In a situation that could have been extremely dangerous, the first emotion that surfaced in her dizzy mind was surprise, followed by a growing sense of questioning.
It’s natural to be angry when a friend falls in battle.
But she had never seen him lose his composure to that extent.
It wasn’t as if she had died. Sure, it was a bit dangerous, but she was mostly just dizzy; her internal injuries weren’t even that severe.
Yet, the look in his eyes as he watched her after the attack was filled with a deep anxiety, as if he were looking at someone who might die at any moment.
‘…Is my condition really that bad?’
Just in case, she checked her body with mana, but that wasn’t the case.
Nothing was broken, and her internal injuries were minor enough that she would be fine as soon as she focused on recovering.
She could guarantee it wasn’t serious enough to require the high-grade potion he had fed her.
Then where did that sense of loss and fear in his expression, that overwhelming worry for her, come from?
As she was lost in these thoughts, he returned to her side once more.
As if he weren’t the same person who had been spitting venom moments ago, his gaze was now a mixture of excessive worry, regret, and… affection.
…Wait, affection?
Had she misseen? She felt an emotion far more viscous than mere friendship in his expression.
“Are you feeling okay?”
“Yeah, I can at least move now.”
“That’s a relief.”
She could feel his immense sense of relief.
Was he really that worried?
She knew she shouldn’t think this way about a friend who had been so concerned for her, but seeing him like this made her suddenly want to tease him.
Perhaps it was because the ticklish feeling of being cared for by someone she liked felt strangely good?
A desire to see him get flustered as usual welled up within her.
“Hey, were you that scared something would happen to me? Scared enough to charge at a monster like that?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh, come on, there’s no need to be shy… Huh?”
She had been certain he would be embarrassed, but he was looking at her with unexpectedly calm and serious eyes.
“I was worried. I was scared. And… I was anxious. When you were sent flying, it felt like the world went dark.”
The way he gave a small, wry smile felt different from usual, giving him a different kind of charm… No, that’s not it.
She hadn’t expected him to be this honest…?
She just wanted to see him get embarrassed by her teasing, but his sincerity was making her own face heat up for no reason.
Regardless, Kang So-hyun continued to speak.
In truth, though he didn’t realize it himself, he was currently in a very unstable state, influenced by the emotions within the memories surfacing from beyond the Noise.
“I regretted it. At the time, I thought it was the right thing to do. I forced myself to push you away and reject you, and even though things were already twisted, I thought it was right to try and follow the original flow as much as possible.”
“Uh, yeah. I don’t really know what you’re talking about, but I get it for now. So-hyun, I get it, so could you step back a little? Your sense of distance is really weird right now…?”
He slowly reached out his hand.
Oh? Is he going to touch my forehead because I was hurt? As if mocking that thought, his hand gently touched her cheek.
“…Heeek…!?”
…Wait? Did that sound just come out of my mouth?
“I couldn’t say it back then. So I wanted to say it this time.”
“That…”
“Never again.”
“…Huh?”
“I tried so hard to make sure you—that all of you—wouldn’t get hurt again. I guess I wasn’t good enough.”
Her heart pounded. Well, hearts always beat, but the pulse was abnormally loud and fast.
To be honest, she couldn’t even process what he was saying anymore.
“I promise.”
She had to pull away; this wasn’t how friends acted.
But did she really need to pull away? The problem was that she had thought So-hyun was weak, that he wouldn’t be able to endure.
After seeing the performance he just put on, who could possibly think he was weak?
His body seemed healthier than before, too. Maybe this was okay…?
“So that you don’t have to be in pain anymore.”
The countless emotions reflected in those deep red eyes staring at her felt contagious, gradually staining her own feelings.
“So that I can protect you this time…”
Oh, this is bad.
“So that I can stand proudly by your side.”
But isn’t this a bit unfair? She was already starting to feel attracted to him.
The boy who risked his life to fight for her.
The boy who lost his cool and spat curses out of pure rage for her sake.
“I’ll work harder.”
When he smiled at her with that kind of face, who could help but fall for him?
“So this time, please stay by my side.”
I don’t know anymore, okay…? I was going to let you go, I didn’t want to share any burdens, but you brought this on yourself.
* * *
And at that point.
‘My’ memories completely vanished back behind the Noise, and my emotions, though a few lingered, calmed down.
It was likely thanks to confirming that Ha-ni was perfectly fine.
What do I mean?
…Holy shit, what is this? This is so embarrassing.
I mean it’s so goddamn embarrassing, what else could it be, fuck…!
What? Seriously, what? Was that really me just now…? I went full-blown ‘sweet guy’ mode.
No, no. NO! Seriously, what was that…?!
First, I tried not to panic and slowly pulled my hand away.
In that moment, Ha-ni’s eyes were strangely moist, and her lips were trembling. Combined with her expression, she looked exactly like a girl would.
“Hey, So-hyun.”
“Yeah…?”
“You know… I’m a guy, right?”
“I must have lost my mind. Sorry. I’m really sorry. It’s not like that, okay?”
As I scrambled for an excuse, Ha-ni finally burst into giggles.
“Ah, seriously. Now you finally seem like your usual self.”
Dammit. I have no excuse.
Am I going to be branded as having some ‘brotherly love’ complex…?
“Man, you’re seriously cute. If you were that worried about your hyung getting hurt, why did you even bring me to the field?”
Ha-ni seemed to be in an incredibly good mood as she spoke.
“Who’s a hyung…”
“Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere.”
“No, that’s…!”
“From now on.”
“…Hmm?”
“I won’t leave even if you tell me to.”
Wait. This feeling is a bit ominous…
The moment I thought something had gone wrong.
BOOM! A massive explosion resounded.
“Hahahaha! I can feel the power overflowing!”
…Judging by that line, which sounded like something straight out of an extra’s script, it was obvious that some other bullshit was starting.