I'm Not a Hero, Though (5)
My ability—well, precisely the one I could wield right now—was attraction and repulsion.
I wasn't exactly a science whiz, being a liberal arts guy and all, but that was the gist of it.
Digging deeper would probably lead to some bullshit about principles and theories, but that wasn't my problem.
What mattered now was... using this power to take out these assholes.
I glanced sideways at the guys charging in from all directions, surrounding me.
A siege that screamed there was no escape.
Getting out would be simple enough.
But that would just make things more of a hassle in the long run.
I clenched my fist.
The steel marbles clinging tightly to it looked grotesque, but right now, they gave me a solidity rivaling an infinite gauntlet.
First up, the one flaunting his ability the most blatantly.
I kicked off the ground toward the guy rushing at me with a pipe spewing cold air.
Ten steps between us.
A distance you couldn't ignore normally... but with my power, it was no different from one step.
I repelled my body forward, shooting out like a bullet blasted from a gun.
"Fuck?!"
As I accelerated in an instant, the startled ice prick swung his pipe.
It'd hurt if it connected.
But I'd already accounted for that.
The moment the pipe was about to graze my temple, I used repulsion to shove it away.
His arm naturally flung wide, leaving his upper body wide open.
So, end it in one go.
"You little—"
A heavy thud resonated through my fist.
Confirming the guy flying backward, I spun around and cradled my head with my right hand.
"Damn...!"
"This fucker’s got some hidden tricks up his sleeve, huh?"
The goblin-looking Rattlesnake bastard glared at me while turning his hand green.
A sickly green glow shimmered over his palm, clearly dangerous on sight, and he growled at me with bulging eyes.
"I wasn't gonna use it 'cause it'd make everyday life a pain..."
That’s gotta be poison.
Is that why they call him Rattlesnake?
Either way, getting touched by that hand would fuck me up, so one more thing to watch out for.
Best to keep my distance and fight.
I thrust my hand out toward the Vipers closing in again.
It looked like I was reaching to grab a weapon.
The Mohawk prick charging at me must've thought so too—he pulled back his weapon and puffed his cheeks.
"What a gross-ass move."
"Hoo—!"
What the hell is this clown now.
A ninja?
Spitting fire from his mouth?
Ridiculous, but seriously threatening.
I instinctively repelled my body sideways, dodging the stream of flames.
A split-second later, and I'd have been lit up.
I clenched my fist, shifted my weight to my right foot, and stomped the ground.
Center of gravity was key for powerful strikes.
I only knew taekwondo from the military—
But I got the basics.
Still, he'd already read my punch's trajectory and twisted aside.
His cheeks puffed again.
I could repel it to survive.
But that'd just buy me a moment.
Excluding Rattlesnake and this clown, there was one more.
He was sneaking up behind me.
If that guy had a power that could pierce mine, I was dead.
So, I had to go aggressive without hesitation to survive.
Die.
The steel marbles on the back of my hand launched all at once toward the Mohawk clown.
Dozens of them flew like shotgun pellets, mercilessly riddling his face with holes.
Holes that'd give anyone a sudden fear of phantom limbs.
But no time to admire the carnage I'd wrought.
Two left.
"You're not dying easy today."
"If you'd stayed quiet from the start, you wouldn't have died. Just grabbing one little kid—what's the big deal?"
"Gotta make an example of punks who stir shit in Viper territory."
Angry glares hit me.
But I was unfazed.
Gazes like that were just a hello around here.
I rolled along the ground to dodge something swinging at my back.
A kitchen knife, maybe.
"I muffled my presence, how the hell...!"
"That kinda power, huh."
Whatever it was, he could suppress his presence.
A pain-in-the-ass ability.
If I hadn't sensed him breaching the repulsion field I'd set up behind me, my back would've been sliced open. Game over right there.
I sighed and thrust my palm forward.
Now that they got it, the two attackers charged at once.
"You crazy fucks."
Using their buddy's corpse as a shield!
These scum would try anything dirty!
Made it hard to land pellets without hitting the body!
And I couldn't afford to trade blows with that poison hand!
If the venom was as nasty as his nickname implied, one graze and I'd be writhing in agony till I croaked.
Sure, repulsion could block it, but I couldn't guarantee that was his only trick.
In this world, you had to hide at least thirty percent of your power, like in wuxia tales, to survive.
Decision made, I widened the gap before they closed in.
Luckily, lugging the corpse slowed them down—they couldn't catch up.
I could probably escape like this... but letting them live would bring bigger trouble later.
No mercy in my strikes.
Wipe them out clean.
Rattlesnake and I stared each other down from afar.
Would he ditch the corpse-shield and close in, or keep hauling it forever?
The shitty dilemma I'd forced on him.
Either way, the moment I created distance, the board tilted my way.
They hadn't pulled guns yet, so probably none.
That left me free to pummel them from range unilaterally. Full control.
Time to end it.
I kicked off and charged—not at Rattlesnake, but his underling.
Though my body feinted toward Rattlesnake.
Caught off guard by my sudden rush, Rattlesnake shoved the corpse forward with his poison hand out.
Planning to finish me on contact.
But he wasn't the target.
"Wh-what?!"
My power was attraction and repulsion.
Just like pulling steel marbles to my hand for a makeshift gauntlet, I extended my left hand and yanked the guy next to Rattlesnake with maximum attraction force.
He hadn't seen it coming, so he got dragged helplessly right between us.
The gloomy ability user's face turned green in the blink of an eye, like wilted lettuce in a sandwich.
How potent was that poison to work that fast?
I tore my eyes from the instantly withered corpse and locked onto the now-solo Rattlesnake.
"Damn..."
"Just you left now."
Interrogating this one might reveal the mastermind.
But even if I did, I couldn't act on it right away.
With kids to protect, picking a fight with the Vipers rashly was tough—and their boss Salmu-sa was no pushover anyway.
I needed to confirm if this attack was his orders or some underlings acting alone.
"Hey, wanna live? Answer me. Did Salmu-sa send you?"
"How the hell do you know Salmu-sa—"
His face twitched.
Probably 'cause I knew the veiled Viper boss's name exactly.
"Don't need to know that. Just answer."
I casually raised my right hand over my shoulder.
Plenty of steel marbles left.
And even if he lunged, he'd need to cover nearly five meters.
No matter how fast, I'd drill his forehead first.
Couldn't just trust the corpse either—after all, I'd killed his underling with it in play.
I could just repel the whole corpse-shield and pellet him anyway.
"...Yeah. He sent us."
"Just to grab me?"
"You stirring shit in our turf gave us a real headache.
The Alligator Gang's already rampaging on their boss's clout, and now you pull crap in our zone too? Total chaos.
Boss ordered us to nab you as an example. Show what happens when you fuck around in Viper territory."
"What bullshit."
Criminals talking about making examples.
"Such a pointless reason to hassle me."
"Why not join Viper? If you—"
"Shut up."
"Argh!"
Clean shot through.
I looked down at the bastard collapsing, blood gushing, and said,
"Never gonna work under Viper scum. And... you're not the only ones making examples."
"What?"
With that short question, the light faded from his eyes.
Obviously.
Steel marble through the forehead.
I glanced at the corpse, then turned away.
They'd come sniffing around soon enough.
Better leave a warning first.
I piled the bodies against the wall and scrawled "Salmu-sa" in Korean with their blood atop it.
"...Time to head home."
I left the blood-soaked scene and hit the road back to the house.