Ch.103Ambassador (3)

# Hero City, Backstage Waiting Area of the Festival

In the moments before the bright lights came on, the backstage area was eerily quiet.

Only the occasional footsteps of staff members and the intermittent sounds of communication devices broke the silence.

I sat in the rehearsal waiting area.

My outfit was impeccable and my hair neatly styled, but my mind was far from settled.

‘A stage prepared by Councilor Avanka… and I’m right in the middle of it.’

Just as I was about to swallow a sigh, a familiar presence approached.

“Janghoon… why are you here?”

When I turned my head toward that voice, golden twin-tails flashed across my vision.

Carmilla.

She looked particularly radiant today.

A white one-piece dress revealing her shoulders, softly gleaming golden hair, but more impressive than all that was the look in her eyes.

I stood up from my seat.

“That’s my line, isn’t it?”

Carmilla stopped in front of me, and we stared at each other in a strange silence.

Soon, we both let out small chuckles.

“I never expected you would be standing on this stage.”

Carmilla paused for a beat before continuing.

“Actually… I came because I found Councilor Avanka suspicious and wanted to keep an eye on her.”

My eyes widened slightly at her words.

“…You thought so too?”

“Does that mean… don’t tell me, you too?”

“Yeah… well, something like that…”

A moment of silence.

Then, Carmilla crossed her arms and shifted her weight to one side.

“You remember, right? The monster attack in City D. That cockroach-like creature that swept through the city… They announced zero casualties. You must also know that I was taken out of commission fighting that monster.”

Carmilla lowered her gaze slightly.

Her eyes were smiling, but her lips were forcibly pressed together.

“But people laughed about it. Said the rescue operation was perfect or something. Later, I heard the truth. There was actually a mother who died in place of her child.”

She quietly drew in a breath.

“But it was quietly covered up. And that announcement was made directly by Councilor Avanka.”

I didn’t respond.

I was the one who had defeated that monster, and no one knew that truth.

The silence that covered that scene was likely a script meticulously crafted by someone.

“I hated that so much. I was convinced someone was hiding the truth, and I felt that Councilor Avanka was at the center of it all.”

“So that’s why you came?”

“Yes. That’s why I’m here.”

“I’m similar. For different reasons… but something kept bothering me.”

We spoke simultaneously and laughed together.

A brief, strange sense of camaraderie.

“Well then, I’ll be counting on you. For our surveillance mission.”

“Sure. The two of us.”

For a moment, the atmosphere softened, and Carmilla gave a playful smile.

“That formal attire suits you better than I expected.”

“It’s embarrassing when you say it like that.”

“I mean it. You look much more polished than before.”

Just as I was about to smile back, Carmilla’s gaze fixed on something.

She stared intently at my face, then suddenly reached out and lightly touched near my jaw.

“…Just a moment.”

Carmilla looked at the area below my jaw, carefully moving her fingertips toward my neckline.

As her soft fingers grazed my skin, I instinctively flinched.

“What?”

How much had she seen?

She looked at me from an extremely close distance.

With narrowed eyes, she slowly raised her gaze.

“Here… these, aren’t these teeth marks?”

Her voice remained gentle. So careful, which made it all the more frightening.

My breath caught.

I reflexively tried to step back, but my legs wouldn’t cooperate.

“That’s… yesterday, with Hoshino…”

Carmilla tilted her head slightly.

“Hoshi… no?”

Her eyebrows maintained their perfectly groomed curves while only the corners of her mouth turned up ever so slightly.

“Ah, I see.”

Those words were so brief, yet they contained hundreds of emotions.

“Carmilla, it’s not… it’s not what you think!”

“It’s fine.”

She answered in a low, gentle voice. Then she stepped one pace closer.

Her scent, her body heat, her breath—all too close.

“Janghoon.”

She whispered near my ear.

“Later… could we have a talk, just the two of us?”

With a slight smile, she raised her head and looked directly into my eyes.

In that moment, I clearly felt something in her gaze.

Something soft, sweet, and very dangerous.

Then, as if nothing had happened, she turned around and walked toward the stage.

Slowly, deliberately making her high heels click against the floor. I stared blankly at her retreating figure, silently swallowing a curse.

‘…I’m screwed. For real.’

***

The lights came on.

The host’s voice echoed throughout, and the main broadcasting studio of Hero City lit up brightly.

Three people sat side by side on the sofa on stage.

In the center was Kang Janghoon, the promotional ambassador for this Hero Festival.

On the left was Councilor Avanka, the figure who had politically elevated him.

On the right was Carmilla, the newly promoted S-class hero.

As cameras rolled, monitors displayed each person’s name and a brief introduction in subtitles.

“Mr. Kang Janghoon, how does it feel to be the first male to pass the hero exam?”

The host’s microphone approached me.

Under the lights, camera flashes blinked before my eyes.

I took a moment to compose myself and smiled lightly.

“Well… I think it was more about timing than my abilities. I was lucky.”

As soon as I finished speaking, small applause and laughter erupted from the audience.

Through the camera lens, I could see the caption “Humble Hero” appearing.

Glancing to one side, I saw Carmilla looking at me with the corners of her lips slightly raised.

“You’re being modest.”

Her acting skills followed the pre-arranged script perfectly.

“As someone who has witnessed your abilities firsthand, I think you’re quite remarkable.”

Applause rang out again, and Councilor Avanka quietly lowered her gaze with just a smile.

That smile never faltered from any angle.

The atmosphere in the studio was warm.

For this moment at least, everything in the world seemed to be flowing smoothly.

The host raised the microphone again and turned toward Councilor Avanka.

With a slight smile, Councilor Avanka quietly began to speak.

“We have always feared monsters. They were destroyers, calamities, and felt like an ‘end’ we could never overcome.”

Her fingertips tapped slowly on the table.

Tap, tap. An irregular rhythm.

There was a strange power in each of her words that commanded attention.

“But civilization always begins to handle fear the moment it names it. Fire was initially a threat, but soon became a tool. The sea was an impassable boundary, but eventually became a route.”

She continued, slowly scanning the audience.

“The same applies to monsters. We raised our swords against them, and those swords will one day become leashes, beyond mere weapons.”

The lights dimmed slightly, and the background music slowed.

Even the air seemed to condense.

“So I think like this. Humanity has now moved beyond the era of simply ‘eliminating’ monsters…”

Her gaze turned toward the floor beneath the stage.

It was a look as if she were watching for something waiting for this very moment.

“We are entering a stage where we ‘dominate’ them.”

As those words ended, the entire studio froze.

The host, momentarily speechless.

Carmilla, flinching.

And in the audience, holding their breath in that suspended space.

“…So today, I would like to show you directly ‘one possibility’ that I have prepared.”

She raised her hand, pointing to the side of the stage.

The studio lights slowly shifted as the curtains at the back of the stage quietly parted.

And from within, a girl walked out.

Silver hair, mechanically refined gait, an exquisite blend of dress and armor.

Ice-like skin and unnaturally perfect features.

She moved forward without hesitation, like a precisely designed being.

Councilor Avanka opened her mouth slowly, as if making a grand declaration.

“This is Zero. A new form of life we have created.”

A momentary silence fell over the audience.

The host stammered with a puzzled expression.

I too froze at Zero’s unexpected appearance.

“So… so you’re saying that the being standing on stage right now is not human?”

“That’s correct. Her name is Zero. She is the first complete artificial life form created by humanity.”

Zero, standing at the front of the stage, nodded very calmly.

“She can breathe, feel, and think like a human, and can fight, protect, and control much more efficiently than humans.”

That voice was quiet but rang out more clearly than anyone else’s.

“And beginning with this child, we will now erase the reasons for humans to be afraid.”

I felt my breath stop for a moment.

She wasn’t simply talking about scientific progress.

It was a declaration, a collapse of boundaries.

“Monsters are no longer objects of fear. We will now stand above them. The age of domination has begun.”

Her gaze turned back to Zero.

In those eyes was only certainty, without reverence or fear.

“Zero is just the beginning. Based on this prototype, more species will be born. Combat types, rescue types, emotional support types, even forms specialized for political decisions.”

At that moment, the studio froze.

I couldn’t even breathe, and Carmilla, seated beside me, was looking down with clenched hands.

Avanka declared quietly with a smile:

“Now you no longer need to be afraid. Monsters are no longer a threat. Because starting next week, homunculus breeding experiments centered around Zero will begin!”

A moment of silence.

And then…

“Wooooah!!”

The audience erupted in cheers.

People were ecstatic, and the broadcasting station displayed the caption “Innovation” for this moment.

But only Carmilla and I were suffocating under the weight of those words, our eyes vacant.