S-Class Hero Nightingale
One week later, Kim Sejin returned to school after getting thoroughly chewed out by her father, Hero Union Leader Kim Seyeol, and serving her house arrest.
Looking thoroughly haggard, all the life drained out of her, she shuffled toward the lecture hall with zombie-like groans.
"Uuuuugh..."
There was still a little time before class, so plenty of seats sat empty. Scanning the room for somewhere to sit, Kim Sejin spotted two familiar faces and drifted toward them on instinct.
"I'm baaack..."
Lee Yechan and Eun Seol, already seated, both turned to look at her—and both snorted with open mockery.
"So the fourth maniac who caused that whole scene a week ago was you? You got to meet Kid G just like you wanted, so I guess you've got no regrets left?"
That was Yechan.
"Honestly, this idiot... I hope you at least reflected properly while you were locked up."
That was Eun Seol.
Being scolded by both of them at once put Kim Sejin in a foul mood, and she immediately started whining back at them.
"You two are gonna pile on too?! I was going out of my mind from boredom for a whole week, you know! Ugh, Dad doesn't even know what kind of person Kid G actually is—he just keeps yelling that he's a villain no matter what and asking if I've lost my mind. Mom's the same way..."
"Ah. So she didn't reflect at all."
Kim Sejin bristled at Eun Seol's weary sigh.
"Reflect on what?! I'd need to have done something wrong first! Just you wait—I'm going to prove it wasn't me who was wrong, it was the world!"
Eun Seol, mid-bite of her chicken-breast salad for breakfast, nearly choked on sheer disbelief.
"I seriously don't think I'll ever meet another person like you as long as I live. An A-class villain openly announces he's going to attack, and you go charging in bare-handed. Is that reckless, insane, or both?"
"There's no option for 'courageous'?!"
"If that counts as courage, then nobody in the world lacks courage."
Eun Seol made a little nyam sound as she popped another piece of chicken breast and salad into her mouth and chewed.
Kim Sejin shot her a sideways glare.
"That's all you've got to say to a friend who just escaped after a week?"
"Yep."
"You evil bitch..."
"Eun Seol, does eating salad first thing in the morning even taste good? Or is it actually delicious? Can I try a bite?"
"No. This is my breakfast."
"So stingy."
"If you want some, go buy your own."
In that moment, Kim Sejin felt an unplaceable, overwhelming sense of wrongness.
...What is this? Something's different, but what? It feels like some huge change happened and I'm the only one who hasn't noticed...
Still chewing her salad, Eun Seol suddenly made a weird noise and stuck out her tongue.
"Ebehh... ptoo. Ugh, hair."
"You chewed on your hair again? Why don't you just tie it up?"
"Don't want to. This is more comfortable."
"You're a strange one, always chewing hair whenever you eat."
"Munch munch... none of your business... ah."
After swallowing the chicken breast, Eun Seol froze mid-motion, as if she'd just noticed something stuck.
"Hey, Yechan. Got any floss?"
"Nope."
"Haah... stuck again. I don't even have wisdom teeth, so why does this keep happening lately. I'm hitting the convenience store."
"Sure."
Leaving her seat, Eun Seol headed off to the convenience store for dental floss.
Having watched the entire exchange, Kim Sejin had gone past uneasy and straight into terrified.
W-what is this? What the hell changed? This massive sense of wrongness... i-is it just my imagination...? Yeah, that has to be it... right?
After the day of the battle with Cybers, my relationship with Eun Seol had shifted—just a little, but unmistakably.
Even after that day, as Valkyrie and Kid G we had run into each other twice more over the week. Every time I sent out a crime announcement, her mood would visibly sour, yet her attitude wasn't quite the same as before.
She had come to acknowledge that I was definitely different from ordinary villains—and still refused to give up on catching me, villain that I was.
The day after she let me slip away, I'd lightly tease her while she fumed and stomped around; then we'd sit through the same classes, I'd send another announcement, and the cycle of confrontation would start all over again.
I still didn't fully understand what exact change of heart she'd gone through, but one way or another, we were living a double life: hero and villain by night, classmates in the same major at the same university by day.
Then one day—
I was on my way home after fencing the goods I'd stolen at a different black market from the last one I'd used for settling up. The distance was a pain, but if word got out that the items Kid G stole were only circulating through one specific black market, things would get messy. No choice.
Riding a taxi home, I watched Myeongdong Street slide past the window.
Even during the day, the Union was still endlessly dispatching forensics teams and investigation units there. They hadn't sealed it off or put up police tape, but from a civilian's perspective there was no reason to enter that ruined street, so once night fell it turned into a pretty bleak ghost town.
Atmosphere's pretty grim.
That was about all I was thinking as we cruised past Myeongdong—until I saw someone in a nun's habit stepping into the nearly unlit depths of the ruined street.
Blonde hair coiled into a tight military bun...
Plenty of people wore that style, but somehow I knew on instinct exactly who she was.
"Driver, sorry—could you pull over here?"
I got out of the taxi and immediately followed the blonde woman into the still-shattered Myeongdong Street.
No woman would walk alone into a completely deserted, destroyed Myeongdong at this hour of night. If one did, she was either a complete lunatic with flowers growing out of her head, or someone who had nothing to fear even by herself.
I couldn't speak for the former, but there was exactly one person who fit the latter and matched the style I'd just seen.
Deeper in, on the main road in front of the collapsed cosmetics shop where Valkyrie and I had fought the terrorists, the blonde woman was kneeling.
Under a broken streetlamp that flickered intermittently, a large, still-vivid bloodstain soaked into the asphalt in front of her knees, forming a dark red blotch.
Nightingale.
One of the few S-class heroes of the Korean Hero Union.
Gentle and considerate by nature, kind to citizens and heroes alike, beautiful on top of it, and with her ability sealing the deal—she was treated by the public as essentially the Union's living saint. A hugely popular hero.
The outfit and the atmosphere combined to make her look like a real saintess right then.
Unlike Valkyrie, she didn't operate with a modified Recognition Deterrent Chip, so her public recognition was sky-high. Walk down the street and she was instantly swarmed by fans.
And right now, that woman was kneeling before the bloodstains on the street in front of the ruined cosmetics shop, hands folded, praying quietly.
I approached Nightingale slowly as she prayed. Without even looking at me, sensing my presence, she spoke while remaining perfectly still in her prayer posture.
"What a surprise, meeting someone else in a place like this at this hour. Are you alone?"
"Yes, alone. I thought I saw Nightingale, so I followed, and here we are."
"...I see. Alone, then. I chose a time when no one would be around, but it seems I should have come even later."
Nightingale rose, turned toward me, and gave a light bow of greeting.
"A pleasure. I'm Nightingale of the Hero Union."
"Lee Yechan. It's an honor to meet you."
Nightingale had never seen me as Kid G in person, so she had no idea who I was just from looking at me.
An ability user of her caliber would be virtually unaffected by a Recognition Deterrent Chip—if she'd ever laid eyes on me as Kid G even once, she would have recognized me instantly. Lucky break.
"What brings you out here alone at this hour, Nightingale?"
"The least I can do to mourn those who died at the scene of that day's terror attack."
As she spoke, she knelt again before the bloodstains and resumed her prayer posture.
"But according to the news, this is where the terrorists were killed by Skull Crusher, isn't it? I was under the impression the civilians didn't die here."
"Yes, I know."
"So you're mourning the terrorists as well?"
"Yes. A hero mourning dead terrorists—sounds absurd, doesn't it?"
"Not particularly... though the news said Skull Crusher personally executed every last one of them."
"......"
Finished with her prayer, Nightingale stood.
"Yes, that's correct. Which is why... I have all the more reason to do this. It's base, hypocritical, and performative... but I still felt I had to do it at least once."
"I'm not sure I understand."
I understood exactly what Nightingale meant, but for now I played the ordinary civilian who didn't get it.
Nightingale only smiled faintly.
"Heh. Of course you don't."
She brushed the dust from her knees, preparing to leave.
"It was nice meeting you, Mr. Lee Yechan. Well then, I'll be—"
That was when a handful of figures appeared on the rooftop of a ruined Myeongdong commercial building.
"I had a feeling, and sure enough—it's Nightingale."
"Saw her sneaking in here alone and thought she might be meeting someone. Guess not."
"Who cares? Unexpected or not, when are we gonna get another chance like this? Let's kill her!"
"Grab the guy next to her as a hostage!"
Three burly men leapt down from the rooftop, targeting Nightingale.
I recognized their faces in the moonlight and cursed inwardly.
Devil Rhino... Black Scorpion... Dead Eye... Damn it, they're after Nightingale? I don't think I can dodge their attacks...
All three were A-class villains, same as Cybers.
But these three operated on an entirely different level of strength from Cybers, A-class or not.
They were the kind who didn't even fear an S-class hero—enough to show themselves like this just to kill Nightingale.
No matter how much I knew about various events, my main body wasn't strong, so I hadn't sensed them at all.
Nightingale, however, showed no agitation, as if she'd known from the start.
"It seems you're not with them. I'm glad you weren't lying."
"Nightingale being alone is rare! Don't waste the chance! We have to kill her for sure!"
"Don't forget she's a healer! Overwhelm her with firepower so she can't pull any tricks!"
"Split into three directions! Hit her at the same time!"
"......"
Even with three of the stronger A-class villains launching a coordinated assault, Nightingale simply stood there, calmly assessing the situation.
Then, decision made, she whispered quietly to me.
"From now on, do not move from this spot."
With those words, Nightingale shot forward at a speed that outstripped even Valkyrie with her wings unfurled, closing on Devil Rhino.
Valkyrie already possessed physical abilities that casually surpassed ordinary humans, but Nightingale—being S-class—took it another step further.
Thump—
She flicked open her palm and tapped both of Devil Rhino's shoulder joints and both knees at incredible speed, then snatched up a shattered signboard reduced to tiny fragments and hurled it at Black Scorpion.
Mid-flight, the signboard fragments suddenly reconstructed themselves in midair, reforming into the original massive sign.
"Huk!"
Vision blocked, Black Scorpion flinched and ducked—and in that opening Nightingale touched both his wrists, both ankles, and the base of his scorpion tail near the coccyx, then turned on Dead Eye.
The mask covering one of Dead Eye's eyes was stripped away; a beam lanced from the exposed eye. Nightingale flung herself aside to dodge, then reversed and closed in, striking the beam-emitting eye with her open palm.
"Ugh...!"
The beam seared her palm; Nightingale let out a soft sound of pain.
But Dead Eye reacted far more violently.
"Huk... kk... gyaaaaaah...! M-my eye! My eye!"
Not just Dead Eye—Devil Rhino and Black Scorpion both collapsed to the ground, unable even to stand, writhing.
"Haa... haa... m-my arms! My knees! W-what is this?!"
"Aaagh...! M-my wrists...! My ankles too...! Nightingale, you fucking...!"
"Did you assume that because I specialize in healing, I have no offensive capability? I didn't reach this position through rear support alone."
Having completely subdued three A-class villains far stronger than Cybers in under ten seconds, Nightingale turned back to me with a gentle smile.
"You weren't caught up in it and hurt, were you?"
"Ah, no..."
That was my first meeting with the S-class hero Nightingale.