Superman, Not Spider-Man

Along with a piercing demonic incantation—

His body scattered into shadow.

As if it had never existed at all.

In a single instant, he melted into the darkness.

'I've finally got it.'

It was called Fluidization.

One of the defensive abilities available to a Lower-Middle Demon—a temporary authority that dissolved the physical body into shadow, unmaking it into something immaterial to slip past any physical interference.

Not ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠just blades and fists, but projectile attacks like bullets would pass harmlessly through. And once his rank climbed higher, he would even be able to shrug off most explosions.

'An authority I absolutely must master for the sake of my vengeance.'

Poison and disease posed no threat to a demon.

But what if his enemies wielded powerful modern weaponry?

The moment his body was destroyed, his Descent would be over. If only to prevent such a disaster, Fluidization was essential.

"......"

Tae-jun, completely merged into the darkness blanketing his surroundings, soon returned to his original flesh with a look of satisfaction.

'A good harvest.'

His most gratifying predation in recent memory. Slipping back into the shadows, Tae-jun calmly slipped away from the scene.

All that remained where he had stood was the biting night air and the lingering stench of blood.

An afternoon with sunlight pouring in through the windows.

A franchise café in Nowon-gu. Lee Seo-hyun, who had just uploaded the article, took a sip of her coffee.

Then she turned her ear toward the voices around her—a young couple by the window, a parents' group, a freelancer working on a laptop, an old man reading a book. Nearly all of them were talking about the same thing.

"So those YouTuber murderers are gone now, apparently?"

"Seriously, what is even going on anymore?"

"Doesn't it kind of bother you, though? No bodies, nobody knows what happened... and they haven't caught the guy responsible."

"Sure, but honestly, does he need to be caught?"

"That's fair. Trash like them disappearing—how is that bad for people like us?"

"Still, it's a little scary, isn't it? If he's just killing people on a whim..."

"He only goes after the bad ones, though. We're not criminals. Nothing to be scared of."

"Well... I guess."

It was the single biggest issue in South Korea right now. Conversation revolved overwhelmingly around the so-called 'Shadow' incident.

"The news scares me these days. People just... vanishing like that? How is that even possible?"

"Tell me about it. But some people are happy about it—saying the world's getting cleaner."

"Honestly, I've had that thought too, but it still unnerves me. Speaking as a parent, I mean..."

"That's exactly why it's good. Isn't he sweeping away everything dangerous for our kids?"

"Still, just in case—telling you now: don't be out late at night."

"What about the kids' academy?"

"That's... well, nothing we can do about it."

Young and old, men and women alike, everyone was busy bringing up the Shadow—or the chain of incidents connected to him. Naturally, the conversation eventually drifted to other topics, but the aftertaste the word Shadow left behind refused to fade easily.

'My brother-in-law really has become a full-blown celebrity now.'

She had expected it, but the fire was spreading far faster than anticipated. And for good reason—the moment something became casual small talk in ordinary people's daily lives like this, it meant her plan was progressing smoothly. No—beyond her expectations.

A current rising where people feared the Shadow's existence and, at the same time, cheered on his deeds. A figure granting vicarious satisfaction in a world where justice was never properly served—or perhaps, an emerging hope.

'But... this is nowhere near enough.'

Even as satisfaction warmed her, she coolly faced reality. Because what her brother-in-law wanted was not simple revenge.

A perfect revenge drama so vast the entire world would roar with it. For that, he needed far greater fame and overwhelming power than he had now. Not a word passed around as an urban legend, but a presence vast enough to shake the world itself.

'And for that, his power will have to surpass all imagination. Far more than it is now.'

She found herself curious. Where exactly was her brother-in-law's limit?

Say, if they compared it to movies?

'The average superhero movie wouldn't even come close. He'd have to be at genuine Superman level, wouldn't he?'

At that thought, Lee Seo-hyun let out a soft laugh. Then, as she organized the documents she was to hand over to Tae-jun, she mused:

'We're meeting today anyway. I'll have to ask him properly.'

Under the warm spring sunshine, her steps were light. But the look in her eyes wavered restlessly between anticipation and thrill for the future to come—or a faint madness and thirst for vengeance.

"Why do you keep changing the location?"

A bench somewhere along the Itaewon streets, still bustling even in the dead of night. Two people sat side by side at a careful distance—Ki Tae-jun and Lee Seo-hyun.

"Nothing wrong with being careful."

Seo-hyun answered Tae-jun's question.

"I've been writing articles about you lately, you know? At some point, I could end up under surveillance myself. So I need to build alibis ahead of time. Tonight, I'm supposed to be meeting some old coworkers from my former job nearby."

She had always been like this—meticulous in unexpected ways. Tae-jun gave a small nod.

"Anyway, thank you again for all your work this time."

Over the past stretch, Tae-jun had hunted down the perpetrators of the apartment mother-daughter murder, along with a total of three indiscriminate killers—beasts who had received comparatively light sentences and been released back into society.

Thanks to him, the world had grown all the louder with Shadow-related news, and perhaps as a side effect, the usually packed Itaewon streets felt a little ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠emptier tonight.

"So, how is it—recovering your strength well?"

"Thanks to you."

Tae-jun's answer was sincere. If he'd been left to wander aimlessly, relying on nothing but the scent of evil, his growth rate would have been appallingly inefficient.

"Since we're on the subject, let me ask—how far can I set my expectations?"

"Expectations?"

"I know perfectly well you're not human anymore. But there are all kinds of not-human, aren't there? For example, in The Avengers—ah, right, you wouldn't know The Avengers. You left fifteen years ago."

"......"

"What a shame. They're really fun. You should watch them sometime. Fittingly, the title ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠means 'Avengers'—people of vengeance."

"......"

"Anyway, let me put it in terms you'd know... You do know Spider-Man, right?"

A nod. He remembered that much.

"And you know Superman too."

Another nod. Weren't those the very archetypes of the genre?

"If the two of them fought, who do you think would win?"

"...Superman?"

"Right. Superman wins. So which of the two is your brother-in-law closer to?"

Spider-Man versus Superman. Tae-jun considered it for a moment, then spoke.

"I'd say I'm in the process of becoming the latter."

At present, one could call him a level slightly above Spider-Man. But if he kept building his strength like this—and if he recovered it in full—then while he might not stride across the cosmos like the Superman of the films, he would become something of comparable standing.

"That's a relief, actually. I've been wondering anyway—just how not-human can you get? I need to know that to plan around your limits. But if you're closer to Superman than Spider-Man... then there's a great deal we'll be able to do going forward."

His ceiling was Superman himself. That would be enough to accomplish a great deal.

Truly, a great many things.

"In that spirit, this next prey is from a different field. Though they're no less of a trash-heap, I assure you."

The prey he had hunted so far—sex offenders, for instance, or violent criminals who had received slap-on-the-wrist sentences. This next quarry belonged to a different category, yet was every bit as vicious.

Tae-jun took the documents she handed him and studied them.