Her Decision
"...Nightingale. What is this?"
Kim Seyeol, Leader of the Korean Hero Union, quietly asked as he looked at the resignation papers Nightingale had brought in along with yesterday's mission report.
The report detailed how she had intervened in the operation and how her momentary lapse had allowed Kid G to escape.
She had deliberately omitted any mention of Eun Seol and Kim Sejin bursting onto the scene, and afterward she had ordered silence from Operator Han Juyeon as well as the heroes who had actually been on the mission—Jumper and Iron Fist—promising she would handle the matter of those two herself and that no one was to speak of them again.
"Exactly what it looks like, Leader."
"There has to be a reason you're suddenly doing this. Anxiety among the citizens is already spiking because word is spreading that Oblivion has started to move. If one of the Union's three greatest powers resigns in the middle of all that, the people we're supposed to protect—"
"Leader... are we really a place that 'protects the citizens'?"
"......"
Kim Seyeol answered Nightingale's question with silence.
"I'm not saying the Union doesn't care about public safety. Valkyrie and most of the other heroes truly are good people who fight villains for the sake of the citizens... in a word, they're 'justice.' But the ones sitting at the very top of a group full of that kind of justice—are we justice too?"
"...Is this because of that video Kid G broadcast at dawn? You already knew most of what was in it."
"That's not the only reason. But yes—that's why I'm resigning."
"......"
"All those filthy scandals... They shout about protecting the people, about being the people's staff, about upholding the law fairly—and yet the people doing the shouting have never had the slightest intention of living up to their own words. I've spent so much of my career moving for the benefit of groups like that.
Even then I told myself it wasn't my will, that I was only following orders... that as long as I stayed clean, it was fine. That's how I lived. Refusing the cell-farming project when Project JD was at its height, and insisting we only subdue Prototype Eve when she went berserk instead of killing her—those decisions all came from that same mindset."
The Leader said nothing. He simply listened.
"But after watching that broadcast with my own eyes yesterday and seeing how people reacted, everything I'd done finally hit me. I wasn't justice. I wasn't good. I was just a hypocrite. Someone who compromised with reality, looked the other way at injustice, and then told myself I was fine because I never personally joined in or committed corruption—a coward who turned his eyes away."
"Even if you are a hypocrite and a coward, you are still someone the public trusts deeply. An important person."
"Which made me even more convenient for the government to use. Whenever I stepped forward, public backlash automatically softened. I decided I couldn't keep living like that. That's why I'm leaving the Union. I'd rather get smashed to pieces trying something now than sit still and regret it later."
"If you leave, there will be serious unrest among the citizens. Villains may grow even bolder."
"There are already juniors far more outstanding and reliable than I am. And as for unrest among the citizens... there's already someone deliberately stirring that up from behind the scenes. Will one more person vanishing from the Union really change anything? You know who truly creates social conflict and chaos, Leader."
"......"
Once again the Leader answered with silence.
Neither of them named the person out loud, but both of them were thinking of the same face.
"I have no right to say this, but you should think carefully about it yourself sometime. My father, who used to work with you, always said that when you were young you were a hot-blooded youth who couldn't control your temper and ran around doing every kind of foolish thing. I can't help wondering whether both of us have compromised too much with reality. You... and me."
"......"
"I'll be going now. Thank you for everything until today."
Nightingale bowed her head in farewell and left the Leader's office.
Alone in the room, the middle-aged man let out a sigh that seemed to hollow out the floor, then collapsed into his chair and clutched his head with both hands.
By the time morning classes ended and lunch hour arrived, every news site and internet article was plastered with reports of Nightingale's resignation from the Union.
Heroes leaving the Union was already rare enough that even an ordinary A-class departure would have generated plenty of discussion. But the hero in question was none other than Nightingale—an S-class and one of the Union's three greatest powers.
Of those three, Dimension Walker's usual behavior was already known to be less than stellar, so public opinion on him was mixed. Dreamweaver barely ever showed his face anywhere, to the point that people sometimes wondered whether he even existed. Nightingale, on the other hand, was highly active and never used a Recognition Deterrent Chip, so her everyday image had spread widely; she was a true public celebrity.
Unlike Dimension Walker, she had no scandals in her personal conduct. Kind and gentle to everyone regardless of age or gender, she was one of the Union's most beloved figures—its very face.
And then the news of her resignation dropped without a single press conference, just a dry Union statement that essentially said, "She has left." The world flipped upside down.
People pieced together the available information and quickly settled on a consensus: shocked by the contents of Kid G's exposé, Nightingale had resigned out of disappointment. Criticism against the government, the corrupt corporate executives, entertainment agencies, media outlets, police, and prosecutors grew even fiercer. Some people even appeared on the streets crying over the fact that Nightingale was gone.
Eun Seol was just as shaken.
Throughout lunch she kept her eyes locked on her phone, scrolling through article after article.
"Nightingale... she looked completely fine just yesterday. And then suddenly this... She could have at least said something..."
I was pretty surprised myself.
I had chosen the words that would most cleanly pierce her conscience so I could slip out of her grasp—never imagining it would lead all the way to her leaving the Union.
Of course, part of me had also hoped she would come to her senses and clean up her own mess.
In the original story her track record had made her a somewhat divisive character, but she was beautiful, and her final fate—tormented by her own sins and essentially choosing suicide—had earned her far more sympathy than hate.
She wasn't a bad person. She was simply the kind of ordinary person who deliberately turned away from ugly truths, who believed that as long as she personally stayed clean it was enough, and who hated the orders that came down yet ultimately always followed them.
My own stance had been something like: She isn't blameless, but comparing her to the rest of the rot is an insult—and she doesn't deserve to die that miserably.
So I had said what I said, partly to escape and partly to jab at her conscience.
So this is what she meant when she said she'd reflected and made her decision.
One thing was certain: from this point on, Nightingale's path would diverge completely from the original story.
I had already planned to keep Valkyrie from falling into corruption as much as possible, which would have changed Nightingale's fate anyway—but it looked like things were going to change even more than I had expected.
"She must have found a reason to make up her mind about something. And since it's Nightingale we're talking about, she'll figure things out on her own."
"...Yeah. Still, I wish she could have at least said one word..."
While Eun Seol reeled from Nightingale's departure, Kim Sejin was interested in the news for an entirely different reason.
"Ha, people are hilarious. They spent forever screaming to catch and kill Kid G, and the second the exposé drops they flip and start cursing the government like nothing happened. Just yesterday they were parroting the government and calling for Kid G's head."
After the way I had coldly pushed her away yesterday, I decided to play along and smooth things over a little.
"Can't really blame them, though. When there's a kill-on-sight order, you can't exactly stand up and defend the guy."
"Yeah, I get that, but every time I see them switch sides this fast it pisses me off. I've always believed in and followed Kid G, no matter what... Wait—now that I'm talking about it I'm getting mad all over again. He turns me down for a duo, but that artificial human gets the smile treatment... ugh..."
"Hey, why are you so desperate to team up with Kid G in the first place? That's basically saying you want to become a villain."
"No! Don't tell me you think Kid G is just some ordinary villain too?! Everyone else can think that, but I thought you of all people would get it!"
"I'm not talking about my personal opinion. I'm talking about how he's officially classified."
"Hmph. He might be labeled a villain to the outside world, but if you look at what he actually does, he's a Dark Knight. You saw yesterday's exposé, right? The government, the police, the prosecutors, the media—all of them are garbage, and none of them ever get punished no matter what they do. The only one who actually gives those bastards the punishment they deserve is Kid G. How is that being a villain? I want to join him and help punish the trash too, so why the hell won't he take me?!"
Eun Seol shook her head slowly from side to side.
I tried to soothe the fuming Kim Sejin.
"Hmm... maybe Kid G is just worried about you?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Think about it. Kid G is constantly running around cleaning house, clashing with heroes, and spending half his time escaping. People say he has clones and portal abilities. Do you have a way to run like that?"
"Well, no, but..."
"I think he's worried about you. He can just bolt and be done with it, but if he teams up with you he'd have to look after you too—and you don't have comparable escape options, so he couldn't just abandon you either."
"How can you be so sure about that?"
"Come on, who do you think I am? I'm the guy who presented on Kid G for our major's first assignment and got told by the professor to drop by the research lab sometime. The professor said my report was so good he could believe I'd written it myself. So whatever I'm saying right now is basically the same as Kid G's own thoughts."
At that, Eun Seol whipped her head around and let out a tiny snort of laughter.
Normally she would have just stared at me like I was trash.
From my point of view I was simply trying to talk Kim Sejin out of jumping into dangerous situations with her sudden antics...
"I knew it! Kid G doesn't hate me—he's just worried that I'm weak! Of course! There's no way a Dark Knight like him would reject the future ruler of the underworld, the Black Friend Kim Sejin!"
Revived, Kim Sejin broke into a confident smile and suddenly overflowed with energy.
"Then the solution is simple! Once I get strong enough that everyone knows it, Kid G will look at me again! The duo thing failed, but a trio wouldn't be a problem at all! Nice! Just hearing that gave me strength. Now I know exactly what I have to do! As expected of Lee Yechan! Your attendance might be garbage, but you're still the assignment ace! That actually helped a bit, huh?"
"......?"
Watching Kim Sejin's confidence balloon to terrifying levels, I shot Eun Seol a desperate look for backup. She casually averted her eyes.
"Don't look at me. That's your karma."