For Now... Success
The Bank of United Tower.
Naturally, the air in the lobby was already a chaotic mess.
Shattered glass littered the floor.
The reception desk had been overturned, serving as a makeshift barricade for the robbers.
"P-Please spare me...! Please, just let me live...!"
"Shut up! Someone shut that bastard up, now!"
Hostages and robbers alike were busy screaming and shouting.
And outside that very lobby...
"...Tsk."
Great America stood waiting.
What am I supposed to do?
Her first emotion was bewilderment.
She had come because they told her to deploy.
The others? Honestly, she didn't care.
That wizard-like person—she couldn't even tell if they were a man or a woman—hadn't even shown up to the office today.
The giant meathead was supposedly attending some event.
And the red idiot was busy dealing with a villain in another district, so he couldn't make it here yet.
But "he" was different.
He had said he had some business to attend to.
He had promised he would return soon.
And yet...
He's late.
He was running late.
She found that fact highly displeasing.
She had been told to wait.
She had been told that even if she wanted to kill, she needed permission first.
So she was waiting, but...
"Hey, you! Rookie hero! Move even an inch, and this bastard is dead!"
A villain who was supposedly somewhat famous was pressing a gun barrel against a hostage's neck.
"..."
Great America tilted her head slightly.
Should I just kill them all?
Hostages be damned, the robbers were the real problem, weren't they?
What if she just wiped out everyone and claimed they all died because of the robbers' cruelty?
...Hmm, no, there are too many eyes watching.
No, she couldn't do that.
She had to be the symbol of America.
She had to be the pride of Pax Corporation.
No matter how much she wanted to crush those fingers.
No matter how much she wanted to rip those arms off.
No matter how much she wanted to incinerate and erase everything.
Hajun told me not to.
She immediately shook her head.
In that case, the only thing she could do was wait.
"...Great America. What do you plan to do? We spoke with the higher-ups, and they said there will be absolutely no negotiations—"
"—Give me a moment to think. I am currently mapping out my entry route."
Great America smoothly brushed off the police officer's question and stared at the scene.
At that moment...
Static.
A connection signal beeped in her ear from her communicator.
Then, a familiar voice drifted through.
—[Good job. Don't move for now.]
"..."
Great America's eyes widened ever so slightly.
—[Just stand there. I'll give you the signal, so intervene then.]
He...
Hajun... had arrived.
The Bank of United Tower, rear entrance.
I checked the signal strength of the Independent Communicator hidden inside my coat collar and took a quiet breath.
At least the connection is established.
While this communicator functioned like the standard ones used by The Paragon...
—[26 hostages. Two Pax Corporation heroes are currently deploying.]
—[What are they doing now? Why isn't Great America moving?]
—[She's still assessing the situation, Chief.]
...it also had the ability to intercept police and Pax Corporation radio frequencies.
I calmly assessed the situation.
Fortunately, this is an incident I remember.
Hearing the location and the number of hostages, I retraced my memories of the past.
In my past life, this incident had ended up as a one-woman show by Great America.
The problem was that some hostages died too.
She had barged straight into the lobby of the Bank of United, blocked the exit with debris, and then...
"Go ahead, kill them."
"W-What...?"
"Shoot them."
"Are you saying you don't care if the hostages die?!"
"Did I kill them? You did."
...She had said those words before brutally tearing the robbers apart.
A few hostages had been "sacrificed" by stray bullets fired by the panicked robbers.
She had justified it as self-defense, shifting the blame entirely onto the criminals.
But unfortunately, I had no intention of letting that scene play out again.
That was the her of my past life. The her of the present had not done such a thing yet.
I had no intention of blaming her for sins she hadn't committed in this timeline.
At the same time, I wasn't about to let her commit the same sin again.
Beep.
I pulled out a mini drone about the size of two fingers from inside my coat and activated it.
"...Whew."
Whirrrr—
The tiny drone slipped smoothly into the gap of the ventilation shaft above the entrance.
I monitored the interior through the drone's controller and display.
...Five robbers. Twenty-six hostages.
Information that roughly matched my memories began to appear on screen.
Tsk, the lineup of superhumans is the same too. Was her name Electric Vixen?
One lightning manipulator and one with enhanced strength.
The rest were likely insignificant lackeys.
And...
...That is.
Underneath an overturned desk behind the reception counter...
...a black duffel bag was sitting quietly.
Tick—tick—
A small red light blinked on top of the bag.
Several exposed wires trailed out of it.
It's an explosive.
If I recall correctly, that crazy girl Great America had X-ray vision.
Did she just charge in regardless of whether there was a bomb or not?
At the same time...
—[Great America's deployment is delayed. Deploying additional snipers.]
—[In position. Standing by for the shot.]
Orders crackled over the police radio.
"This is crazy."
Bullets won't work on those bastards.
Even if they shoot, the bullets will just be blocked by the electricity of that lightning manipulator, Electric Vixen.
In other words, I had to move right now.
Thwip—whirrr—shatter!
I immediately fired my grappling hook, securing it to a second-floor window.
"Hup...!"
I quickly ascended the rope and slipped inside the second floor.
Naturally, the second floor had already been evacuated.
Keeping my body low beneath the shattered window frame, I looked down at the lobby.
"Ah, shit! How is there a hero here already?!"
"Boss, should we run while we can? I saw that woman on the internet, she's not normal."
"Why back down now that we've come this far? Besides, those hero types can't do shit when we have hostages.
It's their job to bust their asses trying to save these worthless pieces of trash."
Electric Vixen and her lackeys conversed.
But unlike the relatively quiet lobby...
—[Target acquired. Locked on.]
—[Awaiting authorization to fire.]
...the police radio was incredibly chaotic.
No.
I couldn't speak to the police directly.
The independent communicator Hope had hastily put together could intercept transmissions...
...but it didn't have the authorization to transmit back into the police network.
So if I wanted to stop this...
I have to stop it myself.
I zoomed in on the mini drone's camera feed.
Electric Vixen's left hand came into view.
...That is.
She was holding wires that extended from the handle of the duffel bag.
And seeing how tightly she was gripping them, that was probably...
A dead man's switch.
The type that detonates the moment she lets go.
I couldn't subdue her immediately.
Nor could I startle her.
Even if Great America rammed her, it would likely detonate.
Then this is what I have to do.
I pulled a fist-sized object out of a pouch inside my coat.
The disposable EMP bomb Hope had mentioned.
Of course, its radius was small.
Its power was limited too.
But it was more than enough to fry a crude detonator circuit like that.
"Hmm?"
And right on cue, Electric Vixen's gaze shifted toward me.
I threw the bomb along the trajectory visualized by Future Predict.
Swoosh—crackle!
"Argh...?! W-What is this?!"
After neutralizing their explosives...
Thud!
"Aaargh?!"
...I fired my grappling hook, piercing Electric Vixen's foot.
Zip!
"You motherfucker—!!!"
Looping the rope over the railing, I used her as leverage to swing down and land in the lobby, then whispered into the communicator.
"Great America."
—[I am listening.]
The threats to the hostages...
...and the most dangerous individual...
...had now been neutralized.
Therefore...
"Sweep them all. But keep them alive."
—[Understood.]
I summoned her to the scene.
Whoosh!
Along with the sound of the air tearing open came...
"Aaargh...!!!"
...the screams of the robbers.
Just as I felt assured of victory...
"You bastard—!!!"
Electric Vixen gritted her teeth, blue electricity crackling from her fingertips.
"...!"
The current wasn't heading toward me.
Nor was it heading toward Great America.
It was heading toward the explosives.
The duffel bag, whose circuits were fried but was still capable of detonating.
In that split second, my vision split.
0.5 seconds later, red flames erupted, triggering an explosion.
And 0.5 seconds after that, the hostages were blown away, unable to withstand the blast.
I couldn't let that happen.
Neither in my past life nor in this one could I allow the death of hostages.
Therefore...
"...!!"
Zzzzzzt!
I threw my body forward to block the electrical current.
"Ugh...!"
The insulating fibers of my coat's lining glowed blue with heat.
"Haa, haa...!"
It wasn't fatal.
I was an Awakener from Korea, after all.
On top of that, with Hope's gear, my life wasn't in any real danger.
However...
"You absolute insect...!"
Great America's voice dropped low.
I could feel the air in the lobby growing heavy, pressing down on us.
A crimson light began to gather in her eyes.
"H-Hieee—cough?!"
The robber blocking her path was struck in the head in an instant, collapsing to the floor.
Her target?
Naturally, it was Electric Vixen.
But she couldn't kill her.
No matter how villainous the target, she had to stay away from murder.
Violence is a means, not an end—that was the lesson.
I had to engrave this into her mind.
"...Great America."
I gritted my teeth and spoke to her.
"Stop."
At that exact moment, the fist that was about to crush Electric Vixen's skull froze.
"H-Hic..."
Specifically... a mere hand span away from her forehead.
"...Why?"
"Ack, cough...?! Urgh...!!"
Great America turned back to look at me, still choking the villain.
A crimson glow flickered in her eyes.
"This person hurt you. And she tried to kill the hostages. So why?"
I looked at her, then glanced around the room.
And the answer I gave... was this.
"...Because you are the symbol of America."
"..."
The lobby fell silent for a moment.
Great America continued to stare at me without moving.
Specifically, she stared at my arm, which was still smoking and marked by blue electrical burns.
Turning her head back to Electric Vixen, Great America asked me.
"Then, what am I allowed to do?"
...Good.
It was working.
She was listening to my opinion rather than acting on her own judgment.
If so, the words I needed to say were already decided.
"...Subdue her. Just her hands, so she can't use her ability."
"...Sigh, very well."
Great America immediately grabbed both of the villain's hands with one of her own.
"P-Please—"
Electricity erupted violently around them, but Great America didn't even blink.
And then...
Crunch.
"Aaaaaaargh—!!!"
Her hands twisted.
The fingers and wrists that had channeled the lightning...
...were completely crushed.
After finishing, she turned back to look at me.
"Hajun."
She dragged Electric Vixen, whose hands she was still holding, and stood before me.
Naturally, blood was smeared on her hands.
"Did I..."
She tilted her head slightly.
"...handle it well?"
"..."
I scanned the lobby for a moment.
Broken arms and crushed knees.
Robbers knocked unconscious from the pain.
However...
...The hostages are alive.
Not a single person had died.
It might seem like a small thing, but lives had been saved.
"...Yes."
I spoke with confidence.
"Today, you were flawless."
But the moment she heard those words...
Great America's eyes widened slightly.
"...Flawless."
She repeated the word slowly.
Like someone memorizing a standard of evaluation they were hearing for the first time.
Then, she looked down at Electric Vixen, who was still gripped in her hand.
She was still breathing.
She could still scream.
She could still cry.
She could still speak later on.
Great America stared at her as if confirming this, then nodded.
"She is alive."
"..."
"Yes. I broke her, but she did not die."
She turned back to me.
A strange sense of satisfaction lingered in her eyes, which still held a faint crimson glow.
"Then next time as well."
Great America spoke.
"Should I only break the parts you tell me to?"
Her tone sounded as if she were asking, As long as they stay alive, I can do whatever I want, right?
...We still have a very long way to go.
I couldn't answer her right away.
Because... that wasn't the answer I had been hoping for.
Meanwhile, at that same hour, in a high-level meeting room at the Pax Corporation Headquarters.
Brook Vender was looking down at a field report.
• Casualties: 0
• Great America: Stood by for orders, executed limited subdual.
• Field Manager Ryu Hajun: Entered the scene based on independent judgment.
• Equipment: Confirmed use of externally manufactured gear.
"Hahaha! Zero casualties, is it?"
It was undeniably a massive success.
So Brook chuckled softly to himself.
Because...
"The man who controls Great America... There are so many narratives we can sell with this."
An incredibly intriguing dynamic was unfolding before him.
"Excellent."
Brook Vender's eyes grew cold and calculating.
"This man is definitely going to make us a lot of money."