episode_0697

Thump, thump.

On top of an old gym or boxing ring, a young man is swinging his fist at a punching bag.

Bang, bang!

It’s not just an ordinary punching bag, but a special ability punching bag whose surface sparkles with mana every time your fists collide.

Its shape is similar to that of a dolhareubang brought from Jeju Island, and its characteristic feature is that there is a hole in the center for one person to fit into.

Kwa-euang!

The Dolhareubang punching bag, which seemed to be able to withstand an attack by a fairly B-level or even A-level person with special abilities, was shattered.

“Phew….”

Lee Jun-young, a young man with a fighting spirit, wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and looked outside.

Beyond the window with blackout curtains, cameras were shining as if trying to film themselves through the darkness, and on the street, people holding all kinds of placards were looking up at them from below.

” Commitment!! I will definitely win!!”

“You cannot lose to a traitor!”

“Oh, oh oh oh! For victory!”

Victory.

Defeat is not acceptable.

For unconditional victory, he must win.

There are personal reasons as well, but no matter how talented the hero is, there should not be a Korean hero losing to a hero from another country in the quarterfinals.

As a man, I cannot lose to a woman.

As a Korean, I cannot lose to the Chinese.

As a patriot, I cannot lose to a traitor.

As a person with the same body-enhanced special ability and a martial artist type, he cannot lose.

A person who is older cannot lose to a person who is younger.

In the community, there are dozens or even hundreds of reasons why Tushin should not lose to Cheonma, and people are having fun coming up with reasons.

but.

-Does it make sense to lose to a woman who collected tax money as a hero in Korea and then sent it abroad?

First of all, people prayed for Tusin’s victory, even if it was because of the ‘unfavorable feeling’ towards Cheonma that was prevalent in Korea.

You must win.

certainly.

This is not because the victory that people send towards them acts as a burden, but because they must win unconditionally.

The simulation is over.

rest of it-

“……!”

Tushin immediately turned around and swung his fist.

“Oh my.”

A gym with no one in it.

In a space where no one except yourself should enter, someone in red is standing in front of you.

“The welcome was harsh.”

“…Devil?”

“Yes, I am the devil. Now, wait! Please don’t report it. Are you here to talk? I’m not a bad person.”

Although the devil had black horns on his head and red skin, the devil grabbed the red suit’s shirt with his hands and ripped it from side to side.

“Ugh!!”

“…No, if you act like a virgin high school boy like that, I’ll be in more trouble.”

“Where else would a woman rip her breasts like that in front of a man who lived outside of her home…”

fluttering.

“How about it? Now do you understand that I am a devil who can communicate well?”

On the inside of the red dress shirt and in the center of the white T-shirt, there was a large Taegeuk pattern.

“Even the devil is the devil. There is no other devil who is as rational and communicative as me?”

“……Is he really the devil?”

“Yes. It’s the devil. A devil who wishes for Korea’s victory more than anyone else.”

The devil made a V with both hands and pointed with his fingertips at the Taegeuk pattern fluttering on his chest.

“Do you know why I came to you?”

“……I won’t give in to the devil’s whispers.”

“Because most people in this country are most earnestly hoping for your victory.”

“Of course-”

“I want to win more earnestly than other S-classes, but at the same time, I think it will be the most difficult to win.”

Quick.

Tushin clenched his fists.

“What?”

“Isn’t that right? Gwangikong is a sure-win card. Armored Taejo is showing some results, but I don’t think it will work against Blue Rider. The remaining one, Cheok Jun-kyung….”

The devil shrugged his shoulders.

“The opponent is Doblin. Everyone knows the current evaluation, right? If Korea has Gwangikgong, America has Doblin. It’s a sure-win card over there.”

“…….”

“Still, I hope Cheok Jun-kyung wins, but everyone seems to think that it will be difficult for Cheok Jun-kyung to win without a miracle.”

“In that case.”

Tushin stretched his fist forward.

“Shouldn’t it go to Jun-kyung, not me?”

“No, no.”

The fist stopped exactly in front of the devil’s face, and the devil pushed Tushin’s hand aside and thrust his face forward.

“Have you not seen the Toto dividend table for Korean talented people? Cheok Jun-kyung and Armored Taejo are ‘reverse teammates.’ In other words, the Koreans themselves judged that there was a greater possibility that they would lose.”

“!!”

“Money doesn’t lie. Especially when it involves your own money.”

The devil’s smile becomes even deeper.

“What are the odds on you? Compared to Cheonma, what is the dividend ratio? Oh my, it’s 1.4:1?”

“Jeong-bae….”

“Of course it’s you. However, considering that the ratio between Light Wing Gong and White Rider is 3.8:1, you know that it is quite dangerous right now, right?”

The devil stretched out his hands towards Tushin.

“I will help you. For your victory, for the Korean people’s victory.”

“Why are you helping Koreans win?”

“Yes, I am the devil of victory. Because it’s the Red Devil?”

The Red Devil shrugged his shoulders.

“How about it? Do you want me to win? If you’re anxious, make a deal with me….”

“I refuse.”

P————a-billion!

“…Huh?”

Tushin swung his fist.

The fist hit the devil right in the face, and the devil rolled across the arena.

“Oh, it hurts…”

“Why didn’t you avoid it….”

“Your will is strong. Yes, that’s right. To be a hero of Korea, you have to think about winning fair and square.”

The devil wiped the blood flowing from the corner of his lip along with his nosebleed and raised his thumb.

“Thank goodness. Because he is a hero who did not sell his soul to the devil. Huhuhu.”

“Are you testing me?”

“Hmm, I just wanted to check rather than test it?”

“I am not swayed by such things. If it was going to shake in the first place…”

“Okay. I would have left this country a long time ago. Like a heavenly horse.”

Crackling.

He swung his fist once, but Tushin’s fist trembled once more.

“I keep those feelings in mind. You should. Because….”

Smirk.

“Because there is no need for a hero to win to sell his soul to the devil.”

“…….”

Sararak.

The devil disappeared into the darkness.

Tushin ran his hand over the blood stains left behind by the disappeared demon.

“……Human?”

The blood was warm, like human blood.

* * *

Heroes are pure.

The unspoiled heroes of Korea are so pure that they do not notice the darkness within Korea.

“All Korean heroes have white hair.”

That’s why he’s a brat and an idiot.

“Are you cursing me?”

“For now.”

At midnight, I was chatting with Baek Sul-hee at her house in Busan and brought up a topic that might be somewhat sensitive to her.

“Just like Baek Seol-hee before she met me.”

“…Thanks to someone continuing to harass me, I’m a lot more turbid now, right? Eup-eup, coming from under Mr. So-and-so.”

“Is it because of Ymir bacteria? No, it could be because I am now a mother.”

Although this world is a bit like that, the conversations of women in their 30s and 40s in Korea tend to sometimes go beyond men’s imaginations very lightly.

“Baek Seol-hee, you can’t become a housewife anymore.”

“Ajumma? Ugh, I hate to hear it, but I don’t think it’s a big problem.”

Baek Seol-hee patted her stomach and smiled.

“Why give birth to and raise a child with someone you like? Still, it’s uncomfortable to hear the expression ‘ajumma’, so would you mind calling me ‘Missy’? Like an American.”

“That’s it. I said the wrong thing.”

It’s because Baek Seol-hee said strange things.

I am not at fault for the topic being out of focus for a while.

“Anyway, heroes are so pure that it’s stupid. Or each person has their own darkness.”

“Like Armored Taejo is Black Taejo?”

“Okay. In that sense, Korea’s S-class heroes can be divided into two categories.”

“According to you, there is a distinction between people who are white even inside their heads and people who are white on the outside but black on the inside?”

“Okay. Among the latter are Yun I-seon, Taejo, and Cheok Jun-gyeong.”

“Junkyeong too…?”

“There is such a thing.”

No one knows, but the association knows.

“The rest were all cases of believing in ‘justice’. I didn’t know about the existence of leeches or something like that.”

“This is the story until last year. If at least me and Yunji play well, would you say that Gwangikgong has also turned black?”

“I admit it up to that point.”

Gwangikgong died and came back to life.

Yunji Kim from Goblin’s Activities.

In my relationship with Baek Seol-hee.

“You can say that your brain has woken up.”

“Ah. I know that. Isn’t that the expression people use? My head was broken.”

“…I heard such harsh words from a child.”

“Sorry.”

I lightly flicked my finger on Baek Seol-hee’s lips.

“Anyway, that’s what I’m saying, but there are still friends whose heads are in bloom, right?”

“Yes, yes.”

“To put it in a good way, he is naive, and in a bad way, he is tactless. So, if someone approaches you with malicious intent, there are times when you don’t notice the actions of that malicious person.”

chamberlain.

“There are people who think they just need to purely prepare for the game.”

“…Hey, is that flower garden you’re talking about, by any chance Lee Jun-young?”

“Uh.”

Lee Jun-young, who committed suicide.

He is kind, brazen, naive, and just, but because he is such a hero, he does not understand anything that happens behind the scenes.

“For example, Tushin is unaware of the ‘desire’ of those full of malice to help Tushin, a hero who seems destined to lose, win somehow. Look at this.”

“What is it? huh? I will grant your wish…? When did something like this happen again?”

“Not long ago. It’s a community site created by an association, and it gathers information by collecting people’s wishes and pretending to tell their fortunes.”

“You say you can get intelligence through this?”

“Rather than spying, it’s about accepting the public’s wishes. Because….”

When the wishes of an unspecified number of people lead to a situation favorable to Korea, things related to those wishes tend to happen.

“The fact that there are many people outwardly wishing for victory through self-reliance means that inwardly, there are many people hoping for the opposite to happen, right?”

“…Defeat of the Heavenly Demon?”

“Okay. So.”

I comforted Baek Seol-hee, who was holding my wrist tightly.

“I’ll be back. So that Cheonma does not miss the World Cup games.”

“…Take care. Oh, if you do this, you’re not cheating, right?”

Baek Seol-hee raised her head and closed her eyes.

“……Should I ride illegally?”

“Not at all.”

I bowed my head towards Baek Seol-hee.

“The best luck.”

Intelligence.

Cheonma, scheduled to be attacked.