The Stranger Behind the Mask
“……”
Cold sweat ran down my back.
■ Bloodlust detected.
■ Hero's Super-sensory activated.
The skills lit up on their own, and I stared at the man in front of me.
“Welcome.”
The moment I saw that pleasant smile and that tall, clean-cut face, every alarm bell in my body went off.
■ Korka’s illusion exposes the lie.
■ Eye of Enlightenment activated.
■ Kim Jincheol: the disguise of Forbidden Knight (A) is stripped away.
■ O Jimin: Star of Shadows (S)
“……”
My eyes widened. The information window had changed. The sudden shift made me freeze. What the hell was this?
I thought he was hiding his profile?
How? I couldn’t believe my eyes. Was something like that even possible? If it was, then that meant he’d fooled the Association itself, too.
I stared blankly at Kim Jincheol—no, O Jimin.
Even the fact that he was an A-class superhuman was a lie. His name was a lie. And on top of that, he was an S-class superhuman.
Fine, let’s say he’d managed to hide that. But the important thing was this.
Bloodlust detected and Hero's Super-sensory had activated at the same time.
That meant one thing.
That bastard.
He was not a normal human being. I rolled my tongue against the inside of my cheek. Should I tell Irene about this? I was still thinking it over when—
“Approved.”
“……!”
Irene said it. Approved. At those words, O Jimin broke into a bright smile. It was a smile that made him look like the nicest man in the world.
“Thank you very much.”
With that, O Jimin left, and I tried to think of something, anything, I could say with my shaking eyes. But nothing came to me.
What was I supposed to do? While I was scrambling to think, Irene spoke.
“Calm down.”
“Huh?”
“Your instincts are... really good...”
“What do you mean?”
“That person just now... You know, right?”
“……!”
Irene spoke with a blank expression. Her face was indifferent, but it seemed like she already knew everything.
“Then why...?”
I couldn’t understand it. Why had she approved him, then?
“Because...”
She tilted her head. A faint trace of golden light flickered through her blue eyes.
“It’s easier to watch your enemies when you keep them close.”
“……”
“So I let him in for now. Figured it was a convenient chance.”
“You did that on purpose?”
“Yes.”
Wasn’t that way too dangerous? Was this really okay?
“……”
It didn’t make sense to let someone that dangerous inside just because it was convenient.
I looked at Irene in disbelief, but—
“It’s fine.”
Her gaze was calm.
“As long as I’m here, nothing will happen.”
“……”
What a brazen attitude. Damn...
For some reason, I found myself thinking that she was kind of cool.
“What’s with that look? Creepy...”
“You can’t call someone creepy just by looking at them.”
“...I don’t like seeing your face.”
“……”
Irene stood and moved. Then she simply walked out.
“……”
And just like that, I was left alone, unable to say a word.
“Lee Jinwoo, superhuman.”
Jeon Yuseon called me over.
“Yes.”
“If your schedule is finished, you should go receive your item this time.”
“My item?”
“Yes.”
Jeong Yujin nodded and said,
“Your official knight certificate has been issued.”
“Ah.”
“Let’s go get it.”
It was the one thing I’d forgotten about.
* * *
I didn’t go to the Association to receive it. Normally, a knight certificate would be picked up at the Association headquarters, but this time, it was brought directly here.
“Here you are.”
“Thank you.”
I took the certificate and the uniform. The card felt like an ID in my hand. The photo had been taken in a hurry, my hair still a mess.
That picture had been printed right onto the certificate, like a proper ID card.
“……”
My knight certificate.
The thing I’d wanted so badly. I’d wondered whether I’d ever get to hold one in my life, and now it was in my hands.
If this had been the old me, I probably would’ve been overflowing with emotion.
“...I don’t feel anything.”
“Pardon?”
“Ah, no. Thank you.”
I received the certificate and the uniform. So this was a Knight Order uniform?
Kind of looks comfortable.
It seemed easier to move in than I’d expected. It was mostly blue, with white trim. There was also something like an armband attached to it.
I’d seen them on the news before—knights wearing the same uniform when they came to lecture at superhuman schools. Of course they would.
A new Knight Order, huh.
It still didn’t feel real. Was it really this easy to get here?
Still confused, I headed home.
On the way to my room, my phone rang.
I didn’t even look at the caller ID. Obvious. It was probably Jin Gyeongbeom.
“Hello?”
-You alive?
Yep. Exactly as expected.
“What now?”
-What do you mean, what now? I was just checking whether you were alive.
“I’m alive, then. Oh, I got my knight certificate, too.”
-Oh, what? You got it today? Then you got the uniform, too, right?
“Yeah.”
-You must’ve been happy. That was what you wanted so badly.
“……”
At those words, I bit my lip.
-What? Why are you doing that?
“Nothing. I am happy.”
-No, you’re not. You sound miserable.
“Forget it. Are you doing well?”
-I’m doing great. Oh, and—
“Hm?”
-I’m going overseas for a while, so I can’t keep in touch.
“Out of nowhere?”
Going overseas? That bastard never went anywhere, so why was he suddenly heading abroad?
“Where are you going?”
-The U.S.
“Why the hell are you going to America all of a sudden?”
He was just going to fly off to some faraway place for no reason? I was dumbfounded when he added,
-I’ve got to start learning the company business sometime. My dad’s letting me in through the back door. I can’t stay a bum forever, can I?
“......You’re twenty now, aren’t you?”
-Then what, you think you need to be thirty or forty to become a knight?
Fair enough.
I nodded without meaning to. That was a devastatingly good example.
-Anyway, I’m telling you I won’t be able to call for a while. Maybe a few months.
“...Yeah, okay.”
-Take care of yourself. That’s all I called to say.
Then the line went dead.
“……”
Jin Gyeongbeom was going to Japan, apparently. At that thought, I let out something close to a sigh.
Was I disappointed? Maybe I was.
Screeeech.
I stepped into the house. The place was unnaturally quiet.
“……”
At some point, the moving boxes had been brought in. I looked through the things inside, then went into my room. A small room.
I stared at the papers covering the wall.
A silent space. A place I had made that way.
And on the desk, there was my parents’ photo.
“……”
Looking at it, I heard a faint tap.
Tap.
Tap.
The sound came from my knuckles, slow and steady, as if trying to match the beat of my heart.
“Where are you?”
I spoke in a low voice. I’d become a superhuman. I’d become a knight, too. So I had to find them faster.
“Where are you?”
Where were you?
That day.
“I’m asking where the hell you are.”
The bastards who had killed my parents and vanished. I was still looking for them.
* * *
Screeeech.
Screeeeeech.
The sound of a chair scraping the floor rang out again and again. It was a painfully unpleasant noise, stabbing at the ears. At a skewed angle in some off-kilter space, one man spoke.
“You’re at it again with something useless.”
At that, the figure standing nearby turned around.
“Long time no see?”
The masked figure greeted the clown. The one-armed clown looked at him.
“You got a mission, huh?”
“Ah, yes. Thanks to the captain giving me a chance. I owe it all to my seniors.”
“……”
At those words, the clown’s eyes narrowed. In other words, the opportunity had come to him because they had failed.
“My body was already feeling stiff, so I’m just relieved this kind of mission came up.”
“Good for you.”
“How’s the other senior doing? He met the famous Irene, didn’t he?”
“He’ll be fine, probably.”
Thinking of that bastard made the clown laugh. The guy who’d been bragging so much had needed days of rest. He’d had his insides twisted all to hell, and his bones were apparently wrecked, too.
“He should be.”
The idiot had brought it on himself.
“Then what about you, senior?”
“Me?”
“Yeah. You don’t look so good either.”
At the words and the gesture toward his arm, the clown gave a small snort.
“What difference does one arm make?”
Fwoosh.
Flames flickered around his body.
“I can still burn you alive right now. You know that?”
“Ah... well, that’s a little much. I’d like to live a long time.”
“Hahaha.”
At the ridiculous answer, the clown laughed.
“Would someone like that really do this kind of work?”
“Everyone has their calling. Ah, right. I saw that friend, too.”
At the word friend, the clown reacted.
“Lee Jinwoo, was it? The friend who did this to your arm?”
“...Yeah?”
“Yeah. I mean, there wasn’t much to him. I don’t get it. I mean—”
The masked man shrugged.
“How did you end up looking that pathetic because of some brat like that...”
“Ha.”
The clown laughed.
But there was murderous intent in that laugh.
“Oh, scary. Fine, I won’t tease you anymore.”
“Yeah. Good. One more word and I’d...”
He would probably have burned him to death on the spot.
“You’d better do your job well. And if possible, don’t let your guard down.”
“Let my guard down? Please. Even the great Irene didn’t recognize me.”
“Really? Well, that’s a relief. Go on, then.”
The clown turned and walked away. All he could do now was hope that man’s confidence wouldn’t change.
There was only one thing that bothered him.
Irene didn’t recognize him?
Would the greatest mage in the world really fail to see through that? The clown wondered. Irene was the sort of existence even the captain took seriously.
Just the fact that she’d come to Korea had already changed how they operated, and yet somehow they had simply let that man in without a second thought. It didn’t make sense.
Surely...
Had the captain really not anticipated that and placed him there anyway?
The thought drifted through his mind.
* * *
Screeeech! Whoosh—!
It was dawn. Covered in sweat, I had been swinging my sword like a madman from the moment I woke up.
Fwoosh—!!!
The heavy blade made my arms ache, but I endured it. I’d swung it so much that my palms hurt, too.
Heavenly Demon Divine Sword. I forced myself to bear the weight it carried and kept moving.
This was what I’d started doing after stopping my morning run.
Practicing with the sword.
I had a skill now, and my profile said I used a sword. It made no sense for me to be completely unable to swing one.
So I thought I’d at least practice a little, and from the crack of dawn on, I’d been moving the sword every day—but—
“...Is this even right?”
No matter how I looked at it, something felt off. Thud.
I planted the sword on the ground and leaned on it like a cane.
“Hah...”
I was drenched in sweat. I didn’t even know how long I’d been at it. Probably a long while had passed.
“Ugh...”
Maybe I was trying to practice something I wasn’t suited for? I couldn’t get a feel for it, and all I could manage was clumsy movements.
Hmm.
Maybe it would be better to just punch things instead.
Most of the God of War’s skills had been fists anyway, so maybe that would suit me better.
Besides, I honestly didn’t seem to have much talent with swords.
Just as I nodded to myself and was about to let go of the blade—
“Oh. Jinwoo, right?”
“……”
A voice came from behind me. It was Yu Jin again.
Why the hell was this bastard always showing up at the right time?
“Sword training?”
“...Yeah.”
“Nice. Mind if I join?”
I frowned slightly at the sight of his bright smile. Train with him?
I didn’t want to.
I was wondering how to get out of it when—
“I’m in, too.”
Another voice cut in.
“Huh?”
“...What?”
With her hair swaying, Jin Yeonhui appeared.
She stepped between me and Yu Jin and spoke.