Caught in the Chase

I clicked my tongue. "Tsk... This wasn't part of the plan."

Just as I'd decided the night before, I'd headed out early that morning to the neighboring district and visited the traditional market in Miwol-dong. But now I was facing an unexpected problem.

"I forgot I didn't bring the car."

The moment I woke up and thought about heading to the market, I'd wondered if it was really necessary to drive when the place was right next door. After all, it was only about a forty-minute walk from my shop to the market.

"And I haven't been exercising much lately."

I used to work out a bit, but ever since I started running the restaurant, I hadn't exercised once. My body was starting to bother me a little. Normally I wouldn't have cared that much, but maybe it was because I'd recently gotten tangled up with that beauty named Astra? Working in the food industry had increased my meal portions too, and I'd noticed the extra padding around my waist. So I'd left the car behind and walked to the market, figuring the distance would count as light exercise.

At the time, I'd even thought that carrying the groceries back would be good exercise too.

The problem was...

"I bought way too much."

Since it had been a while since my last visit to the market, I'd gone a little crazy buying all sorts of ingredients. I stared down at the mountain of bags at my feet. I hadn't meant to buy this much, but the moment I saw the cheap prices, my eyes had glazed over. Especially since I still hadn't decided what to cook for Astra—I'd just grabbed everything that caught my eye, and the pile had grown even bigger.

"If I try to carry all this home... I'll collapse from exhaustion."

I could manage it for a short distance, but lugging this much weight for forty minutes? I'd be too wiped out to even cook. There was only one solution.

"Ha... If I'd known this would happen, there was no point in walking here in the first place..."

I pulled out my phone and called for a taxi. Even as I regretted not driving, I set my bags down near the market entrance and waited.

—...Rumble!! Crash!!

"Hm?"

While I was waiting for the taxi, a loud noise came from not too far away. It was different from the usual market bustle—more like people screaming and something shattering.

'What the hell?'

A sense of unease crept over me. I opened my phone to check for any disaster alerts, but there were no monster appearance warnings or villain alerts.

As I stood there wondering what ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to do, the taxi arrived right on time.

"Did you call for a taxi?"

"Ah, yes. Just a moment—the bags are pretty heavy..."

"Whoa, you really bought a lot. Let me help you load them."

Since there hadn't been any official alerts, I stopped worrying about the noise. With the driver's help, I loaded all my groceries into the car. Once everything was packed and I'd taken the passenger seat, the driver closed the trunk and moved to get behind the wheel a moment later.

That was when it happened.

"Kyaaah!? W-what the—?!"

"Huff... huff... Move!!!"

The noise that had been ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠distant suddenly grew much closer, and a wave of people came rushing toward us. The driver, who had just opened the driver's door, looked puzzled and glanced in the direction of the commotion.

"Hey! Stop right there!!"

The temperature around us seemed to drop slightly as a sharp female voice rang out.

At the same time, a woman clutching a heavy-looking bag burst through the crowd, running desperately. Her body was lightly dusted with frost. She scanned her surroundings with a frantic expression, then her eyes lit up when she spotted the driver about to enter the taxi. She charged straight toward us.

"Out of the way!!"

"W-wait, what—!!"

"Huh?"

The ordinary taxi driver was shoved aside like he weighed nothing. I froze in the passenger seat, stunned. Ignoring us completely, the woman pushed the driver out of the way, jumped into the driver's seat, and slammed on the accelerator.

—Vrooooom!!!

"Stop right there!!"

A moment later, the owner of that sharp voice from earlier came sprinting after her. Snow-white hair. A flashy costume like the ones heroes usually wore. And the exact appearance I'd seen while looking up information about the hero in charge of Miwol-dong yesterday.

The moment I saw the hero and the woman who was clearly being chased, the situation clicked instantly.

'A villain?!'

"Fuck off, you bitch!!"

The black-haired woman spat out a crude curse, flipped the bird through the window, and floored the accelerator—with me still in the passenger seat.

—Crack!

The hero chasing her didn't want to lose her target. An ice spike formed in Snow White's hand as she prepared to throw it at the taxi, but then she noticed me in the passenger seat.

"Ugh... a civilian?"

"Hm?!"

The woman who had jumped into the taxi in such a hurry finally noticed me too. She looked momentarily flustered, then smirked when she saw Snow White lower her attack.

"You! Don't try anything funny and stay quiet! If you resist, you'll regret it!"

She barked at me—I was still frozen from being suddenly dragged into this mess—then laughed loudly as she ignored the traffic lights and sped down the road.

'Aaaaaagh!!!'

I held my breath so I wouldn't upset the villain, screaming internally the entire time. I'd only come out to do some shopping after so long, and now I was caught in a hero-villain chase?! What the hell was going on?!

—Vrooooom!!

"Huff...!!"

Inside the car as it weaved dangerously through heavy traffic, I curled up as small as possible, praying this nightmare would end without us crashing. The villain kept checking the side mirror. When Snow White's figure grew distant and finally disappeared, she let out a sigh of relief.

"Phew... That crazy bitch. A C-class hero going all out just to catch me..."

She muttered irritably, then turned her gaze on me. I was trembling. Her voice dropped threateningly.

"Yeah. Keep your mouth shut and stay quiet like that. You get the situation, right? You're a hostage now. Behave yourself and I'll let you go safely. So just sit still."

In ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the twenty-plus years I'd lived in this world, I'd never been in any major accidents. So why was I suddenly getting dragged into these incidents one after another? Last time it was a monster, now a villain. At least she seemed to be using me as a hostage, so she hadn't hurt me yet. But riding in a car that was driving like a madwoman was terrifying in itself.

What I'd worried about last time had come true. This world might seem peaceful, but you could get swept up in a villain or monster incident at any moment. That was why I'd decided to research my ability more, to see if it could help in situations like this...

'It's completely useless!!'

No matter how much my mindset had changed, actually being caught in a situation like this made me feel utterly powerless. I couldn't do anything.

'Someone... please...'

"Shit. The road?!"

Just as I was desperately hoping some hero would come save me, the villain—who had been speeding recklessly—slammed on the brakes when she saw police cars blocking the road ahead. She yanked the wheel and tried to turn, but every escape route was already sealed off. She bit her nails in frustration.

"Damn it... damn it. Don't these bastards have anything better to do? Go catch someone else, for fuck's sake. I was just running a little gambling and loan sharking..."

Watching the net close in around us, she nervously chewed her nails until she was finally cornered in a dead end. Forced into a narrow one-way alley, she looked around desperately for an escape before giving up and abandoning the car.

"You, come with me!"

"Whoa?!"

The problem was that, with no escape route left, she apparently decided she still needed a hostage. She dragged me out of the passenger seat too.

"Stay quiet. No, wait. Beg for your life. Tell them to back off!"

—Shing!!

"...!!!"

I'd guessed from how she'd been running from the hero that she was a superhuman, but the way her nails suddenly sharpened into points and pressed against my throat confirmed it. But right at that moment—

The temperature around us plummeted, and a sharp voice rang out.

—Craaaack!!!

"Kyaaagh?!"

Instead of the sharp sting of nails against my skin, I felt the cold touch of ice. I quickly backed away as I watched the villain struggle in pain, trying to move her frozen arm, and the hero who had appeared from the direction of the voice.

"Kyaaaah! You white-haired dog bitch!"

"Who are you calling Snowy?! I'm Snow White!"

The villain thrashed in agony from her frozen arm and swung her nails at the white-haired hero who had closed the distance. The woman she'd called Snowy simply scoffed and released a blast of cold air toward the incoming claws.

—Crack!!

"Kyaa!"

"Haa... haa... You made me run all the way from the market. Damn it. I couldn't even eat because of you...! Ugh, I'm starving."

Looking rather exhausted, Snow White froze the villain's joints in an instant. Then, with a bright smile, she reached out to me where I sat collapsed on the ground.

"Are you okay? Don't worry. I'm here now."

She delivered the classic hero entrance line with perfect flair.

...

The situation was quickly wrapped up by the E-class heroes and police who arrived shortly after. They checked me with simple equipment to make sure I wasn't injured, contacted the taxi driver whose vehicle had been stolen during the villain's escape, and so on.

Standing among the heroes cleaning up the scene, I let out a deep sigh of relief and finally relaxed my tightly wound muscles.

"What the hell just happened..."

To think I'd been dragged into a hero-villain chase and taken hostage. It was a relief that everything had been resolved so quickly. Otherwise, I could have been seriously hurt—or worse.

"Are you alright?"

After a quick health check, the hero who had subdued the villain approached me with a worried expression. Uh, so...

"Snowy."

"...It's Snow White, actually."

"Ah. Sorry about that."

Oops. Between the online posts I'd read and the villain shouting earlier, I'd accidentally called her by the wrong name.

"No, it's fine... Everyone calls me that anyway. So, are you hurt anywhere?"

"No. Ah, thank you for saving me."

Even though she sounded a bit grumpy, Snow White was clearly concerned about me. I made sure to thank her first. After all, she was the one who'd rescued me in that moment of crisis. I didn't mind her casual way of speaking. I knew that was part of her hero concept.

Heroes often chose specific concepts—wearing matching suits, fixing their speech patterns—to establish themselves as symbols of hope for citizens. It was pretty common.

"No, it's my fault. If I'd done a better job, this wouldn't have happened. I'm sorry."

"How is this your fault, Snow... Snow White? It's that woman's fault for committing crimes, running away, and taking a hostage."

I spoke sincerely ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as she apologized. The fear and despair I'd felt earlier had been intense. There was no way I could blame Snow White for saving me in that moment. From what I'd heard, it wasn't even her fault that I'd been taken hostage.

The woman I'd encountered today was an unregistered superhuman working for a local criminal organization that ran illegal gambling and loan sharking. Apparently, cleaning up that organization was supposed to be the job of D-class heroes, not her. Several D-class heroes and non-superhuman police had been working together to take it down. They'd missed this particular villain, so they'd urgently called in the nearest available hero—Snow White—for help.

'Still, she feels responsible for not catching her in time.'

Anyway... I'd only gone out to buy some groceries. What a mess. Sigh.

"Just to be safe, you should go to the hospital, get a proper diagnosis, and submit it to the Association..."

"Ah, I've already heard all the details. But thank you for your concern."

Maybe because she blamed herself for not catching the villain quickly enough, Snow White kept hovering around me, worrying the entire time. Having a beautiful woman fussing over me helped calm my racing heart. Thanks to her, I finally remembered something I'd forgotten.

"...Oh. My groceries."

"Hm?"

I went back to the taxi that had been wrecked during the chase and found the bags I'd loaded earlier. Thankfully, even though they'd been jostled around, nothing was crushed. Everything looked intact.

'Should I just throw them out?'

I'd come all this way to shop. It felt like a waste to just discard everything. As I hesitated, Snow White—who had been watching me and roughly figured out the situation—called over one of the police officers cleaning up the scene.

"Can you give this citizen a ride home?"

"Ah, of course, Snow... Snow White."

"...You were about to say Snowy again, weren't you?"

"N-no?"

The offer to escort me home in a police car. I'd turned down the suggestion to go to the hospital, but I gratefully accepted this one. Thanks to that, I was able to gather all my groceries and finally return to my house.

"Like I said earlier, if you feel any pain or discomfort, get it checked right away. And even if you're not physically hurt, today's events might come back to you and cause nightmares, so it might be good to see a professional counselor..."

"Ah. Yes."

For some reason, Snow White stayed by my side the whole way. She kept speaking casually to me, but everything she said was filled with concern. Strangely, it didn't feel bad at all. It seemed like she felt responsible and wanted to escort me all the way home.

"Ah, you can drop me off here."

Safely back home, I thanked both the police officer and Snow White who'd accompanied me this far.

"Thank you for the ride."

"It's nothing. This is part of our job."

Snow White smiled brightly. The setting sun cast a warm glow over her, making her look radiant. As I stared at that expression, I felt obligated to make one polite offer.

"Would you like to eat something before you go? I'd be happy to treat you."

She'd helped me, and we'd returned right in front of my restaurant. It only made sense to offer her a meal. Of course, I'd only said it out of courtesy. I fully expected her to decline, but...

—Gurgle.

'Hm?'

A loud rumble came from Snow White's stomach. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at me.

"...Are you serious?"

Contrary to my expectations, she didn't refuse. Instead, she asked with bright, hopeful eyes.