Third-Party Intrusion
In the end, I won the evaluation for the assignment presentation.
After listening to my entire report, the professor rose to his feet and clapped, heaping praise on me without restraint.
"That was a truly outstanding presentation. Behavioral analyses of heroes are common enough, but almost no one applies the same rigor to villains. Yet Mr. Lee Yechan thought exactly as if he himself were Kid G, dissected the man's actions, and backed every conclusion with solid reasoning.
"On top of that, the hypothesis that the currently famous Valkyrie is chasing justice as though something is hunting her—that was both fresh and entirely plausible. The content was thorough, and the behavioral analysis was excellent. You really did a fine job. Ah, and Mr. Lee, when you have a moment later, you should drop by my lab sometime…"
I had no desire to be sentenced to graduate school, so I pretended to answer that I understood. Of course I had zero intention of actually going.
Back in my seat, I smirked and slid into the chair beside Eun Seol, whispering under the cover of the student presenting after me.
"Looks like I won, doesn't it?"
"……"
"No matter how much pride you put on, I trust you'll admit what's fair. Especially since the words came out of your own mouth—you'll keep them, right?"
"Who said I wouldn't?!"
"Your face looked so sour I figured you were planning to weasel out."
"…You. How much do you actually know?"
"Pardon? About what?"
When I played dumb, Eun Seol stared at me for a long second, then turned her head away.
"Nothing."
She must have decided there was no way I could know about her younger sister Eunhwa, so she didn't press further. From her perspective she had no desire to tell her enemy anything about Eunhwa anyway.
And then there was one other person who had reacted explosively to my presentation: Kim Sejin.
The moment my conversation with Eun Seol ended, Sejin's eyes lit up like searchlights and she began grilling me about every last detail of Kid G.
"Dude, Lee Yechan, you were insane! How did you dig that deep? I genuinely thought Kid G himself was up there presenting!"
Well, I am him.
"See? My eye for people never fails! Hey—wanna start a Kid G fan club right now? I'll be president, you're member number one and vice-president! If we start recruiting, tons of people inspired by Kid G will join! And from now on we tell the world that Kid G isn't a villain—he's a dark hero, and—"
"Uh, sorry, but I'm not that much of a fan. I just worked hard on the analysis. I didn't research him out of pure obsession the way you did."
"What? Anyone who digs that deep has the same potential I do, so why…"
Sejin visibly deflated. Eun Seol looked at her with pure pity.
"You're the Hero Union Leader's daughter and you're out here glorifying a villain and trash-talking the Union. Aren't you even a little ashamed?"
"Hmph. Whatever Dad does has nothing to do with me. He only ever moves for his own benefit, and that doesn't match my idea of justice."
"The Union Leader asked me to look after you. What am I supposed to do when you act like this?"
"Since when have you ever cared about that?"
While the two of them bickered lightly, Sejin suddenly noticed me sitting right between them, jumped, and hastily backpedaled.
"Ah—no, this is—! Seol's doing an internship at the Union, and Dad found out she goes to the same university as me! That's the only reason he said that! It's not like she's special or anything—"
"I didn't say a word."
Eun Seol knew I was Kid G and I knew she was Valkyrie, but Sejin alone was still in the dark about the fact that we knew each other. Even so, her fundamentally good nature kicked in; terrified that Seol's identity as Valkyrie might slip out to me, she was spinning frantic lies to cover for her friend.
When I showed no particular reaction, Eun Seol turned her suspicion on me instead.
"You hear that she's the Union Leader's daughter and you don't even blink?"
"What, you want me to do a Japanese variety-show double take and fall over yelling 'Eeeeeeh?!'?"
"Not that dramatic, but it's still something worth being surprised about, isn't it?"
"While I was digging through materials I already found out Sejin is Kim Seyeol's daughter. And do you really think she's the first person who's ever made a fuss over that? From the way she talks, I figured she hated the attention, so I just kept quiet. Am I right?"
In the original story Kim Sejin genuinely disliked being fawned over simply because she was the Hero Union Leader's daughter. She already knew a few of the Union's darker sides, so her belief that the organization was not pure justice was rock-solid; she had a rebellious streak and hated being treated as "the Leader's daughter."
I'd known that from the start, so I simply invented a plausible reason. At my answer, the look in Sejin's eyes shifted a little. A faint flush colored her cheeks as she elbowed me in the side.
"Hey… that was actually kinda cool just now?"
"Could you just say I'm always cool instead?"
"Whenever people found out I was Dad's daughter they clung to me—buy me this, do that for me, get me so-and-so's autograph. It was so annoying. First time anyone's reacted like you did. I like you even more now. See? You're definitely going to be Kid G's number-one fan-club member and—"
"No thanks."
That night I sent a declaration of crime to the CEO of the corporation I intended to hit: the SCP Group.
They had left aging facilities unrepaired, forced workers into unpaid overtime, and when a death finally occurred in the factory they didn't even call emergency services—they covered it up and scrambled to minimize compensation. That report had just broken. Before that, fatal machine-entrapment accidents and severed fingers had piled up one after another, each met only with cover-ups and buried articles. Another fatal accident had just happened. It was time for punishment.
The moment Kid G's crime notice landed on the SCP Group CEO's desk, the news exploded with the story. Because the Myeongdong terror incident had already made Kid G a household name, public attention concentrated on him like a laser.
The old arguments flared back to life—whether Kid G had truly been behind Myeongdong or not, whether the SCP Group deserved whatever was coming, whether that still didn't make it right—and endless keyboard battles filled the internet.
From the second Eun Seol learned I had sent the notice, her attitude toward me turned ice-cold. She refused to exchange a single word; whenever we happened to cross paths she simply glared as if she wanted to devour me alive. Of course she did—she knew perfectly well who had sent the letter, yet without evidence she could only watch the culprit stroll through daily life in complete comfort right under her nose.
Kim Sejin, for her part, reacted to the notice with even greater fervor.
"Finally! I've been waiting for this day! After Myeongdong, Kid G went completely silent and I was worried, but he's back in action! This time, as president of the fan club, I have to help him!"
"Help him how? You're not planning to go start a riot, are you?"
"Heh heh heh. I'm going to prove once and for all that Kid G is no ordinary villain! Just you wait! You won the presentation, but this time I'm the one who'll win!"
"…Was that even a competition?"
And then an unexpected third party also responded to the crime notice…
The broadcast cut to video of the A-class villain Cybers himself.
"Kid G, Kid G, it's always Kid G! I'm sick of it! Some unfunny nobody shows up late to the party and tries to steal my fame?! That spotlight, that attention, the public's worship and cheers—all of it should have been mine!
"And look at this mess now! Ever since that Kid G appeared, people don't look at me anymore! They don't worship me! I can't stand it—I'm furious!
"Kid G! How kind of you to announce exactly when and where you'll appear every single time! You must be drunk on your own greatness. Well then, I'll teach a little humility to a self-important clown who thinks he's a star villain! Midnight on the 29th, was it? That night is going to be a whole lot of fun! Wahahahahaha!"
"……What a lunatic."
With Cybers's promise of chaos piled on top, public attention converged massively on the announced crime time—midnight of the 29th. This time even the press jumped in, scrambling to cover the scene.
Me, Valkyrie, Kim Sejin, the SCP Group and the A-class villain Cybers, every major broadcaster and newspaper, plus the overwhelming gaze of the public—all of it mixed together. Time flew past in a blur, and on the night of the crime the exterior of the SCP Group CEO's residence was already packed with reporters who had risked danger to gather in a solid wall of cameras and microphones.
"Well then. Time to get to work."
In a pitch-dark place I slipped the white mask over my face and started walking toward my real job.