Chapter 8: Activity (3)

“I thought I wouldn’t catch her, but I did.”

A-class hero Aeros, who had chased the villain fleeing into the mountains, let out a sigh of relief as she looked down at the captured villain.

Shadowstep, another B-class hero who had followed, asked incredulously.

“You can’t catch her with your flying superpower?”

“But you still chased her, didn’t you? What can I do? She’s my counter.”

Her ability was the superpower to manipulate air currents.

It wasn’t easy to gain an advantage against a villain who manipulated earth, specifically rocks, by merely sending gusts of wind.

Even if she descended and attacked by sending wind like blades, how could she attack when the villain defended with rocks?

“But it’s strange. Why is she so scared? That wicked b*tch must have done something weird again.”

“What are you talking about? I didn’t do anything! She’s been like this since I first arrived. I don’t know why, but she restrained herself with her own power.”

“Yeah, yeah. You’re always right.”

“Hey, I’m serious!”

Leaving Aeros, who was floating in the sky and shouting loudly, Shadowstep approached the villain and reached out to wake them, but felt something strange.

“What? She’s unconscious? No, wait… she’s not just unconscious, she’s foaming at the mouth?! Hey, aren’t you checking the villain’s condition properly?!”

“Huh? Unconscious? I really didn’t do anything!”

“Transport her quickly!”

Killing a villain in self-defense is not a big problem, but using abilities against a villain who no longer shows any will to resist is problematic.

After all, villains are also human, and they have human rights.

She didn’t particularly like it, but since the villain’s life was in danger, they had to be transported.

“Ugh, this is so annoying… Hey, help me out!”

“You can get there quickly with your ability.”

“No, if it’s flat ground, I can’t go fast because there’s no shadow, you b*tch! Do you think the shadow will extend all the way to the hospital?!”

“Hmph.”

Aeros, as if she had no choice, used her power to lift both Shadowstep, who had just pulled the villain from the rocks using shadows, and the villain themselves.

After a brief moment,

‘Huh?’

Aeros’s eyes caught sight of shattered trees and a deeply gouged ground.

More importantly, considering how the villain had been trembling in terror just now, it was clear that someone had suppressed the villain in this very spot.

“Hey. Is there any CCTV around here? Or any way to confirm what happened here?”

“In the mountains? Of course not. Just transport her quickly. We’ll be in trouble if she dies.”

“Is that so…”

Well, this could be reported later anyway.

Aeros casually dismissed the thought and quickly flew towards the city using her ability.

First, they had to save the villain.

****

‘Whew…’

I was so nervous, thinking I’d be caught.

Returning to the top, I watched the heroes take the villain away and then started walking again.

As I returned as if nothing had happened, I suddenly remembered that the old man who had been here was gone.

“Well… it should be fine. I didn’t reveal who I was to that old man.”

He probably thought he’d seen things and went home.

Logically, anyone who saw a human jump down a cliff hundreds of meters high and land perfectly fine would think they had hallucinated.

‘Or maybe not… I don’t think an ordinary person would be able to confirm someone landing perfectly hundreds of meters below.’

There was no point in thinking about it now.

It was already done, and since I didn’t know where the old man lived or who he was, I couldn’t go find him and ask him to keep it a secret.

I told him not to tell anyone before I jumped, so a conscientious old man wouldn’t tell anyone else, would he?

Even if he did, he wouldn’t be able to identify me, so there was no need to worry.

“Now that I’ve sufficiently confirmed the extent of my power, I should head home soon.”

The purpose of today’s outing was clearly achieved.

Now, I should go back and check the level of the heroes.

If the world I’ve entered is the world of ‘Noble Heroes Beginning’, I don’t know what will happen to Korea in the future.

Right now, wasn’t there an incident where a large number of never-before-seen monsters appeared, which didn’t happen in the original story?

I don’t know how the game’s story will unfold, but since this place is a game, a massive event comparable to world destruction could occur.

‘At first, I thought I just wouldn’t interfere with the game’s story…’

After encountering a monster once, I couldn’t help but feel that I also needed to become stronger.

The reason I decided to be as careful as possible with my activities was that I am socially incompetent, so I don’t know what would happen if my immense power were revealed.

But what if I act as a hero while hiding my identity?

What if that creates influence for me?

Even if my identity is revealed and my incompetence is exposed, the country wouldn’t be able to do anything because of the good I’ve done so far.

And through my activities, I could also practice my powers.

There were only good points.

More than anything, to prepare for future events, it was necessary to more accurately understand the extent of my power and find ways to utilize it to its fullest.

‘Right, I’ll act in secret.’

I should avoid harming civilians as much as possible and only subdue villains without killing them.

Since I don’t have a hero license and no way to get one, that would be the best way to act without getting into legal trouble.

Even if I get caught, the fact that I did good deeds and didn’t kill anyone would likely prevent it from becoming too big of a problem.

I can’t be sure, though.

.

.

.

The world was changing rapidly.

Just a few days ago, after Earth was invaded by unidentified monstrous creatures that struck the entire world.

Each country began to seek countermeasures.

Especially nations that lacked the capacity to train super-powered individuals suffered catastrophic damage during the last invasion.

This time, the damage was relatively minor because no exceptionally strong monsters appeared, but there was no guarantee that monsters of this level would continue to appear in the future.

Preparation was not an option, but a necessity.

“Haa…”

A green-haired woman wiped the sweat dripping from under her chin, deactivated her ability, and sighed.

Countless debris fragments lay scattered around her.

“Perfect again today. How’s your condition?”

“So-so.”

“Really? Your ability level doesn’t seem to have changed much from before. Do you feel any personal differences?”

“Not really.”

“Hmm… I was going to check if anything changed after the Gate incident… but it seems nothing significant has changed yet.”

“It’s only been a week.”

“Still, thanks to you, Seoul stabilized quite quickly. Everyone’s praising you for it, you know?”

“Perhaps.”

The woman, who had been checking documents, looked up at her assigned hero.

“Kinesis.”

“…Just call me by my name here, Yoonseo.”

“Shall I, Ms. Lee Seoyul?”

“Whew…”

Ignoring Yoonseo’s teasing, Seoyul recalled what had happened last time.

About a week ago.

The strange encounter in the cafe she rushed into, thinking there might be civilians inside.

“Yoonseo.”

“Yes?”

“Have any new physical-type heroes joined recently?”

“Joined recently? Exactly when?”

“From before this incident happened until today.”

“Just a moment. Well, there are countless heroes, so it’ll be endless if I try to find them all…”

“At least B-class or higher.”

“Then there won’t be many.”

Yoonseo, who had briefly checked the data on her tablet, shook her head.

“No B-class or higher physical-type heroes have joined in the last week.”

“That small monster from last time… what was it called?”

“Kobold?”

“Yes, that’s right. To be able to easily catch that monster and punch a circular hole about 1 meter in radius through the concrete wall inside the cafe… what level would that require at minimum?”

“That would require at least C-class. An E-class can catch a Kobold, but an interior wall would be about 10 to 15 cm thick, right? To make a 1-meter hole in that much concrete, a psychokinetic would need to be D-class, and a physical-type would need to be C-class.”

“Right?”

“Why?”

“…It’s nothing. Are there any C-class ones?”

“Hmm… if it’s C-class under the same conditions, there might be some. Should I look for them?”

“No, it’s fine. Thank you.”

Seoyul replied and rose from her seat.

‘As expected… he wasn’t a hero.’

So, he has that much power but didn’t become a hero?

Or did someone really come and take care of it?

Of course, as a hero, she didn’t particularly want to uncover his identity.

She only tried to find out because that person might be in danger.

The mastermind behind the previous stabbing incident was the Doomsday Cult.

Since he beat up one of their followers, the Doomsday Cult wouldn’t stand idly by.

It bothered her, but she also knew that going any further would be no different from being a stalker.

‘…I hope I can meet him again.’

Next time, she would ask what she couldn’t ask before.

And she also had to give him information.

Though there was nothing she could do if he didn’t want to answer.

Why did he try to hide it?

‘Was he scared of me…?’

Ever since becoming a hero, she had tried her best to maintain a gentle expression, but it wasn’t easy given her personality.

“Pfft… Hey, what are you doing?!”

“…”

Seoyul, who had been standing in front of a mirror in her personal room given to heroes, trying out an artificial smile, stopped when she heard Yoonseo, who happened to be passing by, scoffing.

“Ouch!”

She lightly tapped Yoonseo’s shin with her ability.