Chapter 5: I’m sendo (4)

‘I ended up doing it…’

Honestly, I didn’t think I could just stand by, but my opponent possessed a strong superpower that allowed him to manipulate daggers freely.

If I had been stabbed by those daggers, I would have been helpless in pain, hacked to death, so I couldn’t help but worry.

However, the stat cheat applied to my body was more powerful than I had imagined.

I couldn’t believe I not only casually blocked all those swiftly flying swords but also caught them with my hand and shattered them.

It was possible because, thanks to the stat cheat, the daggers appeared to be flying incredibly slowly.

I looked at the man who had been sent flying far away.

Just a simple flick to the forehead from a distance was enough power to send him flying several meters and embed him into a wall.

‘He’s not dead, is he…?’

That level of impact was akin to a car accident; for an ordinary person, it wouldn’t be strange to sustain life-threatening severe injuries and die.

At least, based on my common sense, there was no one who could take such an impact and remain unharmed.

‘I tried my best to control my strength when I sent him flying…’

When I sent that small monster flying earlier, it felt like I used quite a bit of force, so this time I used even less than that.

Yet, this is the power it unleashed…

I looked around.

Most people were frozen, their faces showing disbelief at what I had done.

I wasn’t the only one there.

“Ah… this is…”

“A-are you a hero?”

“A hero! It’s a hero!”

Eventually, they seemed to think I was a hero and started cheering, saying a hero had arrived.

Ah, no…

‘I’m not a hero…’

I stepped in because I thought I couldn’t just stand by, but I never imagined it would turn out like this…

I have no idea what to do…

As I was sweating and slowly backing away, the woman the man had tried to kill earlier approached me and bowed her head.

“Th-thank you for saving me… You were amazing… Could you tell me your hero name, by any chance?”

“Ah…”

It was awkward to say I wasn’t a hero.

“It’s not a name worth revealing. More importantly, I’m glad you weren’t seriously hurt.”

I avoided the question, speaking indirectly to avoid offending her.

As if realizing I had no intention of speaking, the woman sincerely thanked me once more, bowed her head, and returned to her spot.

It’s a relief she’s not the type to cling…

“This… he’s not dead, is he?”

“Pfft. Who cares if he’s dead or not? Didn’t you just see?”

“But still, you never know…”

He’s probably not dead… probably…

****

I learned that the situation had been resolved through the hero who arrived late.

Fearing I might run into that hero, I exited faster than anyone as soon as the door opened.

Even while leaving, several people tried to stop me, making it a bit difficult to escape.

Even on my way home, I had to keep checking behind me, wondering if anyone was secretly following me.

Fortunately, I didn’t feel anyone following me until I arrived home.

Since gaining this body, my senses seemed to have become abnormally sharp, so I could tell if someone was following me.

“Haa…”

Arriving home, I let out a sigh of relief.

I was nervous, worrying that I might tear off the doorknob again when opening the door.

Especially since the house I live in isn’t that great, it made me even more anxious…

‘Well, I live alone…’

My parents are gone.

I usually lived without much thought, but today, I impulsively thought of my parents, and I felt an inexplicable longing.

I thought I had already shed all those feelings.

After changing clothes and preparing a simple dinner, I sat at my desk and turned on the news via YouTube.

Sure enough, the news was full of stories about the events that had just happened in Seoul.

“Wow… that’s where I was earlier…”

What happened earlier feels like a dream.

I can’t believe all of this happened in just one day…

‘This is truly unbelievable.’

I arrived in this world today, and all these things happened in just one day.

It seemed I got caught up in the events because I arrived just as the game was starting.

Indeed, the news reported that it was an unprecedented event, and that the role of heroes had become even more crucial as no one knew what kind of monsters would appear next.

Apparently, major cities in America were in complete chaos.

Casually checking the situation in America, I tilted my head.

‘I think I’ve seen something like this in the trailer…’

Well… since the original game also started in America, maybe it’s not strange.

Is it natural since it’s a foreign game to begin with?

‘It’s a foreign game, but I ended up in Korea…’

As a Korean, it’s actually a relief.

Since I ended up in this world while trying to play a game and know nothing about its story, it’s better to have landed in Korea, even if it’s completely different, rather than the unfamiliar America.

This time, I revealed my power unintentionally, but I had to be careful from now on.

If I had manifested this power as an actual superpower, I could move around freely, but the problem was that I was officially a powerless individual.

No one knew what would happen if it were discovered that a powerless person like me could wield such strength…

As I said before, I had no choice but to approach this cautiously.

‘Is the immediate goal to sound out the boss…?’

Because of the monster terror incident that just occurred across Seoul, it was currently chaotic.

It would probably take some time for the store to normalize.

I hoped it wouldn’t happen, but what if that woman, Kinesis or whatever she was called, went to the boss and asked to see the CCTV footage?

He wouldn’t refuse, so it would be revealed to everyone that I had been beating up monsters.

‘Then, what I need to do right now is…’

First, it would be best to pretend to call the boss tomorrow to check in and then subtly probe about the CCTV.

– There was a brave citizen who subdued an anonymous random stabbing incident that occurred at a shelter…

“Pffft…”

Oh, damn it…!

I never thought what happened back then would make it to the news.

‘No, the certainty that it’s me…’

– … This occurred at a shelter near the station. A man presumed to be a cultist threatened people with a knife…

“Ah, that’s definitely where I was.”

They won’t say it was excessive force, right…?

I managed to escape, but honestly, since he was sent flying into a wall and knocked out, I’m a little afraid the police might call me, claiming excessive force.

‘I hope nothing comes of it…’

I couldn’t even objectively judge how strong I was right now, and I didn’t want to live recklessly for no reason.

It would be nice to earn a lot of money and live comfortably, but given that I’ve been branded as powerless and it’s been revealed that I possess such ridiculous strength, wouldn’t it be hard to live a comfortable life no matter what?

‘I did a good deed, and now I have to run away…’

I keep telling myself I need to hide it, but I couldn’t properly hide what I did today, and just now, I even showed my power to many people.

Those people don’t know I’m powerless, so they’ll probably just think a citizen with considerable strength acted bravely, or that an unknown, nameless hero accomplished it.

It might be fine for now, but there’s a high chance it will become troublesome if the government gets involved.

Just like being discovered by that hero back then.

“This is annoying…”

Will thinking about it solve anything?

There’s nothing I can do right now.

Finishing my meal, I rose from my seat.

“Careful…”

Controlling my strength really isn’t easy…

Every time I touch something, I have to be careful, and then even more careful.

It seems I’ll be able to control my strength freely soon, but until then, I’ll have to live uncomfortably.

It’s just a shame, I guess.

****

The terror had ended.

Monsters no longer appeared.

“Haa…”

After finishing her work, Kinesis—no, Lee Seoyul—recalled what had just happened at the cafe.

‘A skilled individual who could break through a wall, subdue those monsters, and leave in such a short time…’

She had heard from other heroes that less than a minute had passed since the monster entered the cafe.

Of course, a strong hero could certainly do that.

The monster itself wasn’t very strong, so as an A-rank hero, she could have annihilated it with just a flick of her finger.

What bothered her was the man presumed to be a cafe employee.

‘If he had superpowers, he would say so, so why did he claim to be powerless?’

It was unnatural.

If he were truly powerless, it would be normal for him to flee upon seeing the monsters dead in such a gruesome state.

At the very least, he should have clung to her, yet the man was strangely calm.

‘…It can’t be, can it?’

He probably wasn’t the mastermind, but he was certainly an unusual individual.

She wanted to believe he wasn’t involved in anything like that, but…

An investigation into the man was necessary.

‘Someone with a body like that couldn’t possibly be powerless…’

Considering his perfect physique, his claim of being powerless was simply unbelievable, if nothing else.

More importantly, there was another reason why a separate investigation was needed.

‘Of all things, to be involved with the Doomsday Cult.’

The incident that occurred inside the shelter at that time.

The prevailing story was that a hero had helped, but judging by the description, it was highly likely to be that man.

The monstrous strength to smash a monster’s head, harder than a human’s, like a watermelon and embed it into a wall…

Considering he introduced himself as powerless despite such abilities, an investigation was absolutely necessary.

Whether the man was good or evil, he was dangerous if involved with the Doomsday Cult.