One Way or Another
One Way or Another
I heard the gang had raided Lee Ha-yul's house and rushed over.
Shit. Why are they pulling this crap already?
I ran, caught a ride, and even teleported, barely making it to Lee Ha-yul's house in time.
There was noise coming from inside a ramshackle hut sitting all alone in the dark night.
"Huff... huff..."
I caught my breath and pressed my ear to the door. Wait, didn't those guys even post a lookout? Then again, who's coming to a hovel like this in the dead of night? A thief would take one look at the place falling apart and just walk away.
Anyway, when I listened closely, I could hear voices inside.
[P-please... save me... save me...]
Hm. Looks like I got here right on time.
Thank God he was still alive. If he'd died, that would've been a real disaster.
Now I just had to choose the right moment to storm in.
So I waited outside the door for a moment.
Before long, the bastard finally reached the point where he was about to finish off Lee Ha-yul's little brother.
Yes. Now.
I pulled out the bomb I'd prepared.
Egostic Bomb, Type Four.
A dummy charge.
KABOOOOOM.
The door blew open with a tremendous boom.
Of course, using a normal bomb on a shack like this would blow away more than just the door, so I'd adjusted the power accordingly.
"What the shit?!"
A curse came from inside.
What kind of rude bastards swore at someone before they'd even met him?
They clearly needed a little education.
"Boss, I'll go check!"
Someone inside shouted at the top of his lungs.
Hm, the first sacrificial victim, then.
Adiós, asshole.
"Who the hell are you?!"
What a shame those were his last words.
I observed a moment of silence for him, then put a bullet through his head. They say one bullet to the brain is good for your health. Maybe?
"Shit!!!"
"Everyone, draw your guns! The rookie's down!"
Hm, actual combat at last.
Then let's get started.
First I used my telekinesis to cut the power to the fluorescent light. Ambience matters, you know.
...And since this was my first time fighting at night, I wanted to do it in a darker atmosphere. Because of that damned Shadow Walker, I'd never gotten to operate after sunset. Causing trouble during the day just didn't have the same impact. Night was when you could really project menace.
So I cut the power.
I felt the men inside tense up. No—I could see them. My mask had built-in night vision. It seemed to be turning into the pinnacle of cutting-edge technology, but that was probably just my imagination.
Anyway, I approached to give them a little peekaboo. The moment my footsteps rang out, a hysterical voice screamed, "Shoot!!!"
Bullets came flying at me like mad. Oh, how terrifying. But.
I hadn't used my telekinesis once in the previous three months, you see?
Not that I'd grown that much stronger, but I could still deflect bullets fired by punks like these.
I quietly deflected every bullet.
The deflected rounds smacked into the hut's walls, kicking up a huge cloud of dust.
I held my breath and stayed perfectly still.
Unable to see an inch through the darkness-and-dust combo, one of them muttered under his breath.
"Did we get him?"
You wish.
I briefly released my telekinetic hold on the fluorescent light.
When the light returned, what did they see? Peekaboo—me, standing right there.
"Fire!!!"
They shouted.
I swept them away with gunfire instead.
At the very end, the guy who looked like their boss pulled the pathetic stunt of taking Lee Ha-yul's little brother hostage, but...
I handled it with a simple telekinetic fake-out.
Seriously, had that guy never seen me on the news? Didn't he know I had telekinesis?
Hm... I guess I still wasn't famous enough. I'd have to work harder.
Anyway, I barely managed to prevent the event where Lee Ha-yul's little brother died.
And now.
The house was a total bloodbath, straight out of a gore movie. If I filmed and sold it, it would get an instant adults-only rating.
And the two watching this scene were both under 19. Ah.
Lee Ha-yul, with her hands, feet, and even her mouth tightly bound, stared at me in terror.
Hm, worst possible first impression.
She probably saw me as a murderer who had suddenly killed five people. I was only trying to help you!!!
It would've been perfectly understandable if her elementary-school-aged brother had fainted. He hadn't, but the way he stared at me with trembling eyes made it clear he was scared too. Ah, fuck... first impressions were everything.
Now what? Should I just go full horror mode? As I wondered what to do,
Lee Ha-yul's little brother spoke up.
"M-Mangostic...?"
Honestly, that made my brain freeze for a second.
Huh?
I'd been expecting a 'Please spare me,' and then this came out of nowhere.
When I looked at the boy again, his eyes were sparkling at me.
Right. That was when it hit me.
Maybe I could actually pull this off.
***
Back in the present.
I untied Lee Ha-yul and her little brother.
Lee Ha-yul looked like she was going to resist, but her brother was faster.
"M-Mangostic! I-I'm really your fan!"
The kid was staring up at me, eyes sparkling.
Ugh, stop it.
Ugh, stop it. Seeing a little kid's pure, innocent eyes like that makes me feel weird!
...But how is he this chirpy with a literal bloodbath behind me?
Ha-yul, how exactly did you raise him?
His sister, Lee Ha-yul, already had him wrapped in her arms and was completely on guard, but... hey, your little brother already looked completely won over by me.
"Did you come to save me?"
The kid said it, his eyes shining.
Yeah, I had. Definitely. But if I said that here, things would get awkward.
"Ahem. Well... no. Your sister stole my wallet, so I came to catch her."
The instant I said that, Lee Ha-yul's face went white.
I quickly kept talking.
"But when I got here, some punks were acting up. I don't like people like that. You know what I mean, right?"
He nodded furiously. Seriously? Even I had no idea what I meant.
"Anyway, that's how it went down..."
I glanced around and sighed.
Then I shrugged and went on.
"Kids, you should come with me for now. It's the middle of the night, and all that gunfire just went off. If anyone shows up and sees this carnage, I'm going to be in serious trouble."
Lee Ha-yul finally spoke for the first time.
"Why would we trust you and follow you anywhere?"
She was blatantly wary.
Right. After what that orphanage director had done, Lee Ha-yul had developed a basic distrust of people, so this reaction was inevitable. Then again, wouldn't it have been stranger to follow a murderer who had just killed five people he'd never even met?
Anyway, when she reacted like that, I had nothing.
My only option was to threaten her into coming with me?
Of course, threatening her carried a high risk of sending her favorability toward me straight into the abyss. In other words, it would be terrible for developing a long-term relationship.
That was why I'd tried to lay the groundwork with the wallet in advance.
Normally, I'd have been seriously screwed.
But hey—there was one variable here. A huge positive one.
"What are you talking about, big sis? Egostic is an incredible person!"
Her little brother suddenly cut in.
Then he launched into an impromptu speech to his sister about how amazing I was, right in front of me.
It felt like about 80% of the content was a mix of exaggeration and made-up crap, but... eh, whatever works, so I decided to just keep quiet. The only problem was that listening to someone sing my praises right in front of me was mortifying as hell.
Once his epic sermon finally ended,
Lee Ha-yul looked deeply conflicted.
"Cha-yun... even so, how can we trust someone we just met enough to follow him?"
"He's not a stranger! Mangostic—no, Egostic—is a hero!"
That wasn't right. I wasn't a hero, kid.
Anyway, no matter how I looked at it, Lee Ha-yul's little brother was definitely in the Mangostic Fandom.
And this was a tremendous opportunity...!
Lee Ha-yul trait: obviously a total pushover for her little brother.
Just look at her now. A moment ago, her face had been set with firm resolve as she demanded why they should trust me enough to follow me. After her brother spoke, she looked deeply conflicted instead. What a dramatic change!
And now, with her brother rebelling and her thrown off her game, this was the perfect moment.
"Kids, hurry up and follow me. If we stay much longer, Shadow Walker, the police, or somebody else will show up. Once they see these bodies, everything will turn into a complete mess."
"Yeah, big sis! Let's hurry and go with Egostic!"
When I brought up the cops and her brother piled on in support, her expression grew more and more conflicted.
Then, finally, she spoke in a slightly trembling voice.
"...If you try anything—anything at all—I won't let you get away with it..."
The moment she said that, I shot back.
"Why would I do anything to you? I won't touch either of you, so follow me for now. Take my hand."
When I held out my hand, her little brother immediately grabbed it first.
With her brother taking the lead, she had no choice but to take my hand too, hers trembling.
Good.
And with that, I teleported all of us to my underground base.
All right. Somehow... was this actually going according to plan?