Donut Hole Payback
A massive donut hole had ripped open in my side, but searing it well-done had at least stopped the bleeding. The scorching heat had cauterized the wound, for better or worse. Was I grateful for my fire affinity in a situation like this, or should I curse it even more? I couldn't decide. But amid the unspeakable agony that left me speechless, I blacked out—and when I came to, a whole week had passed.
A week. It was the first time in my life that such a huge chunk of time had just vanished.
I'd been terrified of waking up in a hospital, but thankfully, Makina wasn't that careless. I was able to awaken safely inside the capsule she'd been sleeping in. Sneaking it out of Okinawa had been a real hassle, but seeing it come in handy like this made the effort worthwhile.
That said...
It was a relief to wake up in one piece, but I still had a serious problem on my hands.
"Ughhh..."
Makina, her eyes puffy and red from who-knows-how-much crying, yelled with a flushed face.
"You jerk! How long ago did you promise not to get hurt, and you come back like this? Do you have any idea how scared I was? I thought you were gonna die right there!"
"S-sorry about that. I didn't mean to worry you..."
"If you knew that, why'd you go and get hurt?!"
I couldn't even open my mouth in the face of her blazing fury. Normally, I'd brush it off with a joke, but this time, I could feel her terror skin-deep. Not only had I broken my promise from last time, but while I was down, she'd hauled me into this capsule, managed the uncontrolled Core Relics and animals, and handled all the cleanup. I had nothing to say, even if I grew ten mouths.
She probably hadn't slept a wink that entire week I was out.
Makina hissed and started to unload more, but she glanced at the wound on my side again and let out a deep sigh. That sigh carried more relief than anger.
"Hoo... Can you use your ability now?"
"Huh? What?"
"Your side wound. The capsule's just a stopgap—it can't fully restore you. Leaving it like that could be dangerous."
Only then did I catch on. I quickly checked my side. The charred, gaping hole had been roughly patched by the capsule, but a hideous scar still coiled there like a snake. I'd forgotten about it while getting an earful from Makina, but seeing it up close brought the throbbing pain rushing back along my nerves to my brain.
"Yeah, no problem. This is more than enough."
It wasn't bad enough to make me pass out again, so I placed my hand slowly over the wound and activated Restoration. First time using it on myself—what a weird sensation. My organs, muscles, fat, and skin twisted back into place from the inside out, unpleasantly queasy. I wanted to yank my hand away, but Makina was staring holes through me, so I held on.
Before long, the scar vanished completely, as if it had never been there.
"Man, the more I see it, the more amazing your power is. Wiping out a wound like that in seconds. Isn't this straight-up cheating?"
"Heh, wounds are just the start. I fixed your busted capsule with this too, remember?"
"Tch, how many times have you brought that up? My mouth's tired—drop it already."
Once she confirmed the wound was gone, Makina's intensity softened a bit. She's fun to tease as a kid usually, but when she's genuinely pissed like earlier? Terrifying.
Anyway, satisfied that I was back to full health, she crossed her arms and asked seriously.
"So, how'd you end up hurt that bad? Tell me everything, no details skipped."
I'd figured she'd ask. It happened after I'd pulled back all my minions and drones, so she had no clue about the scene. Nothing to hide, so I sat on the edge of the bed and explained flatly: healing Nova, then the red flash from behind.
"A hero ambushed you?"
Makina's eyes went wide—she was pretty shocked, as expected. Sure, this world was full of ability users, but there were still hero manuals and human rights. Officially, certified heroes were for subduing and arresting villains—summary judgment or punishment was the judiciary's job. Beyond that, excessive force was frowned upon; heroes generally avoided killing. Sure, cauterizing kept me from dying on the spot, but a hole in the gut was attempted murder, plain and simple. This wasn't subduing; it was assassination.
"What kind of hero does that!? 'As long as they don't die, it's fine'?"
"Tell me about it. I never saw it coming like that."
And at the end, she'd aimed for my head. If I'd hit the switch a second later, there'd be a charred corpse here right now. No one could argue that wasn't pure killing intent.
"Her name was Flare, right?"
"Only S-rank fire hero with red hair fits. She's the rising star all over the news lately."
Flare. The first hero I'd encountered after crashing into this world thanks to that Tanaka bastard was her, featured on the news. Then meeting Nova, her debut stage, and now punching a hole in my side. If that's not fate, I don't know what is.
"So what're you gonna do, Jinwoo? You can't just let it slide, right?"
Her unusually sharp tone got a grin out of me—like she even needed to ask.
"What else? Double it back. That's my style."
If it'd been Nova ambushing me, I'd laugh it off as my own complacency. Hell, I might've been proud she'd exceeded expectations. She's the protagonist I chose; I'm the villain playing for her sake. But some third-party interloper barging into my setup and humiliating me? No way I'd swallow that. Pride as a villain aside, she owed me for that stolen week.
"Of course she pays the donut tax. Can't get a big, beautiful donut like this for free, right?"
True hero-villain bonds are forged by inflicting pain beyond what you received.
Know thyself and thy enemy: invincible in a hundred battles. The old saying held true. Sure, Flare had one-shotted my kitty in our first clash, but digging deep into enemy intel never hurt.
My side was fully healed, but at Makina's insistence, I took it easy another day to recover my condition. Starting the next day, I dove into scraping every scrap on Flare. Public hero database, paid databases, wikis, news articles, community chatter—I scoured it all. Makina's hacking pulled internal Hero Association personnel files, and I set up 24/7 surveillance with animals dispatched to her address.
As an S-rank, unlike Nova, the sheer volume of info was overwhelming. Curating the key bits took two full days. Nova had been so sidelined I had to fabricate her hype myself.
Without Makina, stacking Flare's dossier would've taken ages.
Hero Name: Flare
Real Name: Han Jua
Age: 23
Ability: Flame manipulation, not just spewing fire, but compressing it into sharp blades or arrows.
Registered as A-rank, promoted to S-rank in one year. Hero career: 1 year (shorter than Nova's), but villain arrests: absurd.
"Whoa, 117? Impressive. She mass-producing 'em or what?"
Solo-taking over 100 villains in a year. Was she amazing, or was this country's security rotten? Anyway, Flare's profile glittered compared to Nova's, but one detail jumped out.
[Special Notes]
Extreme hostility toward villains: Habitually uses excessive force during subdual. Attacks aim not for simple neutralization, but permanent physical damage to targets.
"Hostility, huh. That's beyond hostility."
Internal disciplinary records and victim cases confirmed it—our S-rank hero was a problem child. Every villain she'd nabbed got the donut treatment. Come to think of it, that Muscle Pig had a hole in his side too.
Not just sides—legs, shoulders, everywhere but vitals, riddled with holes. Some lost limbs from the shock; healer heroes griped about the cleanup in reviews.
The Hero Association debated her brutality, but the villain-hating public cheered her mercilessness. Same judicial distrust here as in my old Korea—fans and haters polarized.
Easy to subdue but deliberately doling out near-death agony: a hero fueled by hate.
Dangerous and twisted, sure—but music to my ears. The more warped the foe, the sweeter the crush.
"—It's decided, Han Jua. I'm gonna grind you into the dirt."
Her methods were brutal, but she protected Korea's peace from villains. Not blocking Nova's path, so originally, zero interest. But as Sigma the villain? Leaving the one who holed me alone would be rude.
What face would she make, crushed by the villains she despised, her own cruelty boomeranging back? I couldn't wait.
I stretched and turned to Makina, a villainous chill curling my lips.
"Get ready, Makina."
This time, it wasn't terror for Nova's trials. It was villain-style hero hunting.