episode_0030

… … … … …

I quietly returned to my seat and started working. Fortunately, the manager seemed to have taken my size into consideration, and instead of carrying heavy loads, I was assigned to sorting parcels.

But this wasn’t an easy task either. As I quickly sorted through the endless stream of packages, I soon found myself covered in sweat.

“Uh, Uh, Uh… … Where should I send this box?”

I cautiously asked the other part-time worker sitting next to me a question, but he just gestured with his hand as if he was annoyed.

It’s been a few days since I started working here, but I haven’t had a proper conversation with anyone yet. Everyone seems busy and focused on their own work, and they don’t seem to care much about a newbie like me.

“Sister Seo-yeon, Teacher Wol-hee, Mr. Ghost, President Haneul… … .”

Suddenly, thoughts of many acquaintances crossed my mind. I immediately focused on work and suppressed my loneliness, but loneliness still lingered in a corner of my heart.

Am I the kind of person who can’t get along with anyone without them? Am I meant to be alone like this?

With that thought in mind, I continued working silently. In the midst of the surrounding noise and busyness, I blended in without a presence, as if I had become a machine or a robot.

It was time to leave the logistics center. The night sky was dark without a single star, and the streets were deserted.

On my way home, hurriedly walking.

“Help me! Aaak!”

In a dark alley, a woman’s voice sounded urgent.

As I cautiously peered into the alley, I saw several men in black clothes and monkey masks surrounding a woman.

Because of their monkey masks, I could immediately tell who they were. They were rice thugs from the Human Defense Society.

“You’re like a trash dimensional refugee!”

“Do you know what I would say if I compared you guys to a restaurant? The owner is grilling meat, but the customers are――”

One of the rice thugs grabbed the woman by the hair and dragged her away. Her face was already bruised and blood was streaming from the corner of her mouth.

“Ugh, ugh… … !”

My heart was pounding so hard. If this continues, that woman will definitely suffer a terrible fate. In the worst case, she might even die.

But… …Can I save that woman? Me? Against those vicious rice-stalkers, and against several of them at that?

Reason was screaming that this was absolutely impossible. The best I could do here would be to call the police.

But my body moved faster than I could think. When I came to my senses, I had already run into the alley.

“Hey, stop it! Stop it!”

I shouted, trying my best to suppress the trembling in my voice. At that moment, all eyes were focused on me.

“What the heck, this kid?”

The rice-stalkers of the Human Defense Society, who had surrounded and assaulted the woman, broke free of the siege and approached me.

Taking advantage of that gap, the woman who was being assaulted ran away without even looking back, not even saying thank you or anything. In the end, what I achieved by volunteering to risk my life was that I changed the scapegoat from her to me.

“A little shit is meddling in our business?”

One of the big guys strode toward me. I backed away, but it was too late. He grabbed me by the collar, and the smell of alcohol and cigarettes from behind his monkey mask hit my nose.

puck!

“Aww!”

A fist was stuck in my stomach. I fell to the ground with such a huge impact. My body curled up like a shrimp in pain, but they didn’t stop.

“Hey, empty your pockets, kid.”

One of the Rice-Moons of the Human Defense Society dug through my pockets and took out my wallet. They took the bills as if they were a given, and then they took out my ID card from inside my wallet.

“Oh, it’s fall. There are photos, names, and addresses? I’ll remember them very well.

We’ll be visiting the house you live in soon. If you don’t want to cause trouble to those around you, wouldn’t it be better to hang yourself and die? ”

His shoe stepped on my neck as I lay on the floor. He took a small knife out of his pocket and held it in front of my eyes.

“Come here tomorrow night at 11 o’clock. If you bring 5 million won, I’ll let you and your family live there. If you don’t――”

The words of the rice-sack guy who mentioned ‘family’ gave me courage even in the midst of pain and fear. I absolutely did not want to show that I was scared as that guy thought.

“Absolutely… … That will never happen. I would rather give money to trash like you… … .”

“This kid, what? He still hasn’t come to his senses?”

His foot flew towards my head. I instinctively raised my arms to defend myself, but it was no use.

puck!

With a tremendous shock, my vision turned white. There was a ringing in my ears, and my consciousness began to fade.

At that moment, a black shadow appeared in the blurry vision. The shadow dug into the rice paddies in an instant, moving so fast that it was difficult to follow with the eyes.

But I couldn’t watch the shadow any longer. The last thing I could see as my consciousness completely faded away was that the shadow was a woman wearing a tight black suit.

… … … … …

The arm of the first member of the Human Defenders’ Association to fall victim to the Shadow was abnormally twisted. The broken bone was protruding through the skin along with bleeding.

“Eww!”

The shadow headed straight for its next target. The second member’s face was struck by the shadow’s kick. The bone under the monkey mask cracked, causing the nose to cave in, and the broken front teeth fell out and scattered on the ground.

The third member was terrified at the sight of the disaster and tried to run away, but the shadow was already behind him.

The shadow grabbed his hair and slammed him against the wall several times. Blood flowed down the wall as if it had been splashed in a bucket, and the victim fell down in convulsions. It was clear that he would either die or suffer serious aftereffects if he lived.

“This is crazy… … !”

The man who had been threatening the weak boy just a moment ago took out his pocket knife and swung it wildly. However, he could not even brush past the shadow, and the shadow’s hand, which had come close, grabbed the man’s wrist in a flash.

“Kkaaa …

The sword fell to the floor with a sound of bone breaking. A shadow… … no, a woman in a clinging black suit grabbed the man by the neck and pushed him against the wall.

“Are you ready to be punished for the crime you committed?”

Her voice was as cold as ice and her face was expressionless, but her eyes were filled with a strange joy.

Soon, the woman in the black suit began to slowly crush the man’s fingers, one by one. She wasn’t just breaking them, she was gripping them with incredible strength, shattering the bones.

“Eeee―――!!”

The screams of a man whose fingers were all smashed filled the alley. She watched the scene, smiling faintly as if intoxicated by the savage violence.

After a while, a woman in a black suit――Park Seo-ah looked at the members of the Human Defense Association who had fallen miserably without any concern.

The corners of her mouth twisted strangely. This moment of having a little fun while punishing the villains was the most enjoyable time in her boring life. An uncontrollable laugh escaped her mouth.

“Ha, haha… … ahahahahaha… … … .”

Her pleasure in satisfying her desire for torture and violence was short-lived. Soon, her gaze turned to the boy lying on the floor, his gender difficult to determine at first glance.

“… … … Huh.”

The moment she saw the boy, a strange desire welled up inside her.

Normally, she would have been satisfied with the torture she inflicted on the members of the Human Defense Society, but now, deep in Park Seo-ah’s heart, a stronger hunger was welling up.

The pale face, disheveled hair, and defenselessness of the frail and pretty boy – everything stimulated Park Seo-ah’s violence and sadism.

She tried to ignore her intense emotions and approached the boy as if possessed. When her fingertips touched his skin, a sensation like an electric current ran through her.

“… … Let’s investigate. Yeah. I guess we should slowly find out what this guy’s relationship is with those Human Defense Society guys… … .”

Park Seo-ah carefully lifted the boy’s body, draped it over her shoulder, and disappeared into the darkness. Her destination was a secret base she used for her vigilante activities.

… … … … …

Park Seo-ah is a wealthy person, and although she does not run her own business, she is also a successful investor who has invested in several startups.

Compared to this shining present, Park Seo-ah’s past was extremely dark and painful.

The child abuse she suffered from her parents was so severe that it was difficult to describe in words. For example, on the day Park Seo-ah’s powers awakened, she was kicked by her father, who weighed over 100 kg, causing her pancreas to rupture and all of her ribs to break.

Fortunately, she awakened her powers just before she died, and succeeded in killing her parents on the spot with incredible force.

Although many things happened after that, Park Seo-ah was finally cleared of the charges of murdering her parents and was able to inherit all of their property.

In recent years, after inheriting the fortune, she has been following the example of the heroes in the movies she loved as a child and has been working as a vigilante to punish the scum of society.

The means of punishing the trash are violence and torture, which can satisfy the desires latent in the depths of Park Seo-ah’s heart.

Park Seo Ah carried the boy in her arms and headed to her secret base. The base, a large mansion renovated on the outskirts of Seoul, was filled with all sorts of high-tech equipment and tools for her horrific hobbies.

Passing through several rooms and arriving at the bedroom, she carefully laid the boy down on the bed. Looking at his cute face, complicated emotions swirled around once again.