Chapter 5
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: Am I Strong? (4)
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‘I went and did it...’
Honestly, I couldn’t just sit idly by, but my opponent had a powerful superpower that let him wield that dagger freely.
If that dagger had even grazed me, I’d have been wracked with pain, unable to do a thing as he butchered me to death. How could I not worry?
But the Stat Cheat applied to my body was far more potent than I’d imagined.
To think I could casually block those daggers flying at me so nimbly, then grab one with my hand and shatter it outright.
Thanks to the Stat Cheat, the daggers seemed to creep through the air at a snail’s pace, making it possible.
I gazed at the man who’d flown far off into the distance.
A simple flick from afar had sent him soaring several meters to slam into the wall. That kind of power...
‘He’s not dead, is he...?’
That was impact on par with a car crash. For an ordinary person, it’d be a life-threatening injury—nothing strange about dying from it.
At least, by any common sense I knew, no one walked away unscathed from a hit like that.
‘I tried to hold back as much as possible...’
I’d flung that little monster pretty hard earlier, so this time I’d gone even lighter.
And yet, this was the result...
I glanced around.
Everyone witnessing what I’d done stared in disbelief, frozen in place.
I wasn’t the only one here.
“Ah... that was...”
“A H-Hero?”
“Hero! It’s a Hero!”
Soon enough, they started cheering that a Hero had arrived, convinced that’s what I was.
No, wait...
‘I’m not a Hero...’
I’d only stepped up because I couldn’t stand by, but to think it’d turn out like this...
I had no clue what to do next...
As I broke out in cold sweat and inched backward, the woman the man had tried to kill first approached and bowed her head to me.
“Th-thank you for saving me... That was incredible... Could you tell me your Hero name, by any chance?”
“Ah...”
It felt awkward to say I wasn’t a Hero.
“It’s not much of a name worth sharing. More importantly, I’m glad you’re not badly hurt.”
I dodged the question, phrasing it as gently as possible to avoid offending her.
Seeming to pick up that I didn’t want to say, she bowed once more with sincere gratitude and returned to her spot.
Good thing she wasn’t the persistent type...
“He’s... not dead, right?”
“Pfft, who cares if he is? Didn’t you see that?”
“Still, you never know...”
He’s probably fine... I hope...
I could tell the situation had wrapped up once the late-arriving Heroes showed.
Fearing I might run into one of them, I bolted the second the doors opened.
Even on my way out, several people tried to grab me, making my escape a hassle.
Heading home, I kept checking behind me for any tails.
Thankfully, no one seemed to follow by the time I got there.
Ever since taking this body, my senses had sharpened abnormally—I could tell if someone was tailing me.
“Whew...”
Once home, I let out a sigh of relief.
I was on edge opening the door, worried I’d rip the knob off again.
Especially since my place wasn’t exactly high-end...
‘Living alone, it’s whatever...’
No parents.
I usually didn’t dwell on it, but today’s impulse brought them to mind, stirring an unexpected pang of longing.
I thought I’d moved past it all...
After changing and whipping up a simple dinner, I sat at my desk and fired up YouTube news.
Sure enough, it was all about the chaos in Seoul.
“Whoa... that’s where I was...”
It all felt like a dream.
To think so much had happened in one day...
‘This is ridiculous.’
I’d arrived in this world today, and bam—nonstop events.
Guess I’d dropped in right when the game’s story kicked off, dragging me into the mess.
The news called it unprecedented, stressing Heroes’ growing importance with who-knows-what monsters next.
Especially how U.S. cities were total wrecks.
Glancing at the U.S. coverage, I tilted my head.
‘Looks familiar from the trailer...’
Well, the original game started there, so no surprise.
Foreign game, after all.
‘But it dropped me in Korea...’
As a Korean, I counted my blessings.
I’d jumped into the game world mid-playthrough with zero story knowledge, so unfamiliar America would’ve sucked more than a different Korea.
This time, I’d accidentally revealed my power, but I had to be cautious from now on.
If this were a superpower awakening, I could flaunt it freely—but as a certified Powerless, that was the issue.
If word got out a Powerless had this strength, who knows what’d happen.
Like I said before, caution was key.
‘Next goal: probe the boss...’
The monster terror across Seoul had everything in uproar.
The cafe’d take time to normalize.
But if that Kinesis woman asked the boss for CCTV footage? He couldn’t refuse, exposing me beating monsters left and right.
‘So what I need to do now...’
First thing tomorrow: call the boss pretending to check in, casually fish about the CCTV.
- A brave citizen subdued an unidentified random stabber at the station shelter...
“Pfft...”
Damn it...!
No way that incident hit the news.
‘They don’t know it was me for sure...’
- ...at the station shelter. A man suspected to be a Doomsday Cult follower threatened with a knife...
“Yup, that’s the place.”
They won’t call it excessive force, right...?
I’d slipped away, but slamming him into the wall to knock him out—cops might summon me for overkill.
‘Hope nothing comes of it...’
I couldn’t gauge my strength objectively yet, and I didn’t want to flaunt it recklessly.
Earn big, live easy? Sure, but as a stamped Powerless with absurd power exposed, an easy life seemed off the table.
‘Do a good deed and have to run...’
I had to hide it, but today’s actions weren’t hidden, and I’d shown my power to a crowd.
They didn’t know I was Powerless, so they’d think: brave strong citizen or nameless Hero.
Fine for now, but government involvement? Headache city.
Like that Hero spotting me back then.
“Such a hassle...”
Thinking won’t fix it.
Nothing I could do now.
Dinner done, I stood.
“Careful...”
Power control’s no joke...
Everything needed caution on caution.
I’d get the hang of it soon, but until then, awkward living it was.
Nothing for it.
The terror was over.
No more monsters.
“Whew...”
Job done, Kinesis—no, Lee Seo-yul—recalled the cafe incident.
‘A powerhouse who burst through the wall, took out those monsters, and left in under a minute...’
Other Heroes said the monsters hadn’t been inside even a full minute.
Child’s play for strong Heroes.
The beasts weren’t tough; as an A-Rank Hero, she could’ve massacred them with a flick.
What nagged her was the cafe employee guy.
‘If he had a superpower, he’d say so—why claim Powerless?’
It didn’t add up.
A Powerless should’ve fled seeing the mangled corpses—or clung to her desperately.
Yet he’d been eerily calm.
‘...Nah, couldn’t be.’
Not a mastermind, but no ordinary guy.
She wanted to believe otherwise, but...
She had to investigate him.
‘No way someone with that physique is Powerless...’
His perfect build made the claim unbelievable.
And there was more reason to dig.
‘Tied to the Doomsday Cult, of all things.’
The shelter incident.
Heroes helped, mostly—but descriptions matched him closely.
Smashing a monster’s head like a watermelon, embedding it in the wall with raw strength...
Yet introducing himself as Powerless? Investigation was mandatory.
Hero or villain, entanglement with the Doomsday Cult made him dangerous.