Ch.2121. Red? A Mere Worm Like You?

*—Static*

“Who are we?”

“Listen and be amazed, be astounded!”

“Even if we cannot ascend to heaven!”

“With the spirit that refuses to be the tail of a snake!”

“Until all evil is trapped in the dragon’s pearl!”

“Soar high!”

“*Dragon King Sentai Draodger!*”

Six warriors charge forward. They subdue the villains in an instant with dazzling martial arts that captivate the eye.

Perfect teamwork, with enough composure to even high-five each other. They vanquish the SS-rank villain and his minions in the blink of an eye.

“Dragons do not shed tears!”

“They only soar!”

Six warriors strike a flawless finishing pose without the slightest gap.

The rescued citizens cheer.

“Haa, haa.”

Hearing those cheers, feeling the exhilaration of defeating the villain,

Choi Minseo couldn’t contain her overheated body more than ever before.

“Oooh, awesome, awesome, it’s perfect!”

Ji Se-hwa stomps her feet in excitement. All the other members celebrated their successful debut as a sentai team.

“Hmm! Everyone showed the great results of our training! Especially you, Minseo, you worked really hard!”

Jung Ui-seok patted her back with his large hand. Choi Minseo liked that comforting gesture. After every mission, Jung Ui-seok would praise Minseo like that.

“Hehe, he.”

*—Static*

“What are you grinning about? If you don’t eat quickly, I’m taking that.”

Somehow they were all eating lunch together. They were in the middle of inhaling jajangmyeon, each with a bowl, sitting on newspaper spread across the training ground floor.

“Ah, no way! Senior Yukyong, you’re always getting fatter because you do that!”

Choi Minseo quickly grabbed a dumpling and brought it to her mouth.

“What did you say! Chuseok was unavoidable! We received too many rice cake gifts!”

Han Somi watched the two of them and laughed, “Huhu.” She was always someone with such a beautiful smile.

*—Static*

She reached for her chopsticks again, but they weren’t chopsticks. They were fishing rods.

“Ugggh. Why am I not catching anything at all?!”

Kang Yerin, sitting next to her, finally exploded. At the stream where the sentai members had traveled together, for an hour straight, fish had been coming up only on Choi Minseo’s fishing rod.

“Hmm. Maybe it’s thanks to Quetzalcoatl? He’s a child who’s friendly with nature.”

“Cheating! That’s cheating!”

“Haha. What does it matter who catches them? Thanks to Minseo, we’ll have proper spicy fish stew today!”

Jung Ui-seok, who was chopping firewood, laughed heartily. Looking at him, Choi Minseo smiled so widely her teeth showed.

“By the way, Minseo!”

“Yes, big brother Ui-seok!”

“Why did you kill me?”

“What?”

*—Static*

Noididitonpurposeithinkiwasoutofmymindthenimsorryimsorryididwrongdontthatnonoithursthursthurstdontthatididwrongnonononononononononoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

*—Static*

“…Hehe, he.”

Choi Minseo opened her eyes.

“Oh? I remember better than before.”

Choi Minseo blinked her eyes like a pufferfish.

“Heee… That’s right. This is good medicine. Yes. I feel really good.”

Choi Minseo sat up in her bed and hugged her knees.

“…Should I go see big brother Ui-seok after so long? Why haven’t I seen him lately?”

Something in her boundary was gradually breaking down.

◈ ◈ ◈

Vroooom—!

Even with people starving to death in the back alleys, this city doesn’t spare electricity. The night roads are bright and flashy.

I race across the asphalt on a pitch-black bike. My target is a van commonly called a refrigerated truck. The vehicle that pathetic clown is riding in.

“Geo! Are you planning to attack Akshi?! Even if you do, how will you escape?!”

Lee Lu-a contacts me with a worried voice.

“I’ll try to shake them off. I’m just a bit angry.”

“Geo!”

Communication terminated.

The van is right in front of me. I switch the bike to AI driving mode.

“Transform.”

[Up a blind alley]

Without hesitation, I jump onto the van.

Boom! Crack!!

I tear off the ceiling of the VIP vehicle, which could withstand bombing, as if it were rice paper. I see the clown’s surprised face. Iron Mountain is lying face down in front of him, crying.

“W-what is this monster?!”

I answered lightly.

“Vengeance.”

“V-Vengeance?! Hey! Shoot him quickly!!”

The guards in the front seats. Before they could draw their guns, I jumped down and extended both feet for a kick. The side of the car bends and they pass out.

I subdue the guys in the driver’s seat and passenger seat by smashing their heads together.

Only the clown, Iron Mountain, and I remain in the car.

“Eeeek! Useless bastards!! Get lost! Do you know who I am! I’m Red of the Dragon King Sentai!!”

“So it’s just you?”

I can’t help but sneer.

Slap!!

I lightly struck the back of my hand across his face. With just that much, his nose bone bent, blood burst out, and three teeth broke.

“Aack! Aaaack! My face, my god-given face!!!”

The clown desperately tries to protect his face while curling up his body.

“You! You!! Do you think you’ll be safe after attacking me? Since this vehicle has been damaged, heroes from the Association will be dispatched right away!!”

“Really? Then why isn’t the car stopping?”

“Uh, uhhh?”

As I said, the vehicle is still running smoothly on the road. Normally, when a VIP vehicle has a problem, the system should coordinate to stop it in place and block the road.

Of course, I had already hacked it. No one noticed this abnormality.

“Oh my god, oh my god!! These pieces of trash!!”

“The trash is you.”

“Trash?! I’m Red! Red of the S-Sentai! The world’s strongest hero!!”

“With just that?”

Slap!

I lightly slapped his cheek again.

“Urk, uuurk.”

“Red?”

Slap! His face is already covered in blood. Rough breaths flow through the gaps in his teeth.

“S-stop. I’ll die. I-I won’t be Red. I won’t be, so stop.”

“You won’t be?”

Slap!

“Spineless bastard.”

Slap!

“Aack! I-I will. I’ll be Red…”

Next, I gently pressed my knee against his groin.

“Aack! Aaaack!!”

“Your lower half isn’t much to look at either.”

“No! It hurts too much!! Aaaaaaack!! It’s bursting, it’s really bursting!! Really aaaaaaack!!”

Pop. There was a sound of one testicle bursting helplessly. The clown rolled his eyes from pain beyond his limit.

“—?!!!!!!”

His scream was in a language that didn’t exist in this world.

“Please, please spare me, please.”

“Alright. I won’t kill you. You still have a role to play as part of the Dragon King Sentai.”

Just having a guy like this as a member of the Dragon King Sentai will make for excellent teamwork. I look forward to it.

“Really, really? Please. Money, I’ll give you money. Just go back like this. My testicle, my testicle. I can’t feel it.”

“What are you saying?”

I tilted my head.

“You still have one left.”

“Ugh— aaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!”

The clown screams until his vocal cords tear.

After finishing the job, I turned to look at Iron Mountain.

“…Teacher.”

The kid recognized me. Iron Mountain was shedding tears like chicken droppings.

“Get on my back.”

The kid obediently followed my words. I carried Iron Mountain on my back, jumped up, and returned to my bike.

I ride down the road with Iron Mountain. As I exit the interchange, I notice we’re being followed.

So they spotted us after all.

But it’s still just regular police cars, not the VIP response team. This much is no problem.

“Hold tight.”

Iron Mountain wrapped his arms around my waist with all his might. I shift gears and pull the accelerator. The four-cylinder engine roars. The speed increases.

I race through the road, avoiding cars like playing a bullet hell game. But this isn’t a game. One contact and the next moment awaits a major crash. It would be my body flying through the air.

From the highway to a regular national road. Intersection. The signal is red. A container truck passes horizontally.

The gap beneath it. I grab Iron Mountain’s head and sharply turn the handlebar.

The body of the bike tilts. The side touches the ground, creating sparks. We pass under the truck. I immediately right the bike and continue racing. The police cars that were chasing us hit the brakes and collide.

After shaking off the pursuit, I head up a mountain road. I enter the mountainous area and completely hide our presence.

◈ ◈ ◈

After arriving at a moderately wooded location, I sat Iron Mountain on a tree stump.

“Why did you form an investigation committee?”

“That’s… I believe in Red Dragon…”

“Your thinking is shallow. If Red Dragon didn’t betray as you think, have you considered that the Hero Association might be concealing that fact?”

Iron Mountain blinked.

“Going straight to the enemy asking to be killed, how stupid.”

“…You’re right, teacher.”

Iron Mountain looked dejected.

“But I had no other choice. Many people are suspicious about Red Dragon’s death. But for some reason, none of the media covers such information, so we had no choice but to gather directly…”

“You gathered them?”

Iron Mountain nodded.

“You’ve been marked by the Association because of this incident. You know you can’t return to your normal life, right?”

“But!”

Iron Mountain stood up abruptly.

“I’m a hero! I have a duty to protect citizens!”

“Do you think that makes sense?”

“Red Dragon wouldn’t have run away!”

Iron Mountain’s eyes were filled with tears, but there was no wavering in those pupils.

“Even if I tell you to run away?”

“I can’t stop being a hero.”

“What if Red Dragon told you to quit?”

“That’s… but he…”

A pained expression. She’s clenching her fist tightly on her thigh.

I used the Dragon’s Eye.

[Iron Mountain / Lee Junghye]

[Occupation: Hero]

[Rank: D]

[Ability: Ki Manifestation Lv.2]

[Affiliation: Hero Association]

[Alignment: Lawful-Good]

[Talent: Hero of Light (C)]

[ Resistance (SS)]

[ Vanguard Saint (SS)]

[Red Dragon’s justice is her justice]

How unexpected.

Even a worm has its talents.

Resistance. This refers to an organization of unaffiliated ability users.

If you want to enjoy the scenario as neither hero nor villain, you proceed as an unaffiliated ability user.

Though they don’t stand out in society, their influence is considerable.

“Bringer of Chaos” targets both heroes and villains as enemies, giving the highest growth stats, while “Citizen Hiding Power” is difficult to develop but offers many hidden quests and unique items.

“Vanguard Saint.”

Even among the unaffiliated, this is a very rare talent that receives significant leader bonuses.

Iron Mountain wasn’t meant to be a hero.

She was born with a destiny that would shine only if she had remained unaffiliated.

I was planning to incorporate the unaffiliated eventually, so planting a seed now would be a good choice.

“Quit being a hero. You’ll be eliminated by the Association at this rate anyway. The same goes for those who followed you. Form a resistance. The truth about Red Dragon’s death will soon be revealed. Build your organization and accumulate power for that time.”

“But my justice is…!”

Before she could finish her sentence, I deactivated my transformation without even leaving my mask.