Ch.221Chapter 9. S-Class Reader (6)

* * *

During the previous night, I and Baek Seol-hee researched the doppelgänger.

It took quite a long time.

The doppelgänger kept being created and destroyed.

Sometimes it would break when I hit it with a bat.

Fortunately, I wasn’t injured when the doppelgänger broke, and we were able to verify various abilities of the doppelgänger.

“First, for now, she can only create one. Confirmed. She can recover mana by breaking the doppelgänger. Confirmed. If the distance to the doppelgänger is close, sensations can be linked. Confirmed. And…”

I organized Baek Seol-hee’s doppelgänger abilities so she could use them more comfortably.

“You can move to where the doppelgänger is. This is moving by converting the body into frost mist… teleporting like spatial movement is impossible.”

“I’ll make it possible someday.”

Perhaps truly envious of Ymir’s spatial movement, Baek Seol-hee wanted to move her body to the doppelgänger doll regardless of distance.

For now, she just hoped to be able to come to my house where her doppelgänger was at any time.

“Definitely. Absolutely. I want to come and go as I please. I can’t keep asking Ymir forever.”

“Ymir doesn’t complain every time she teleports, does she?”

“No, she doesn’t. If she did, I would have said something to her. Actually, it makes me feel worse that she doesn’t. Especially last time when you and I were doing that… tsk.”

“You must have felt really sorry for ruining the mood. It’s okay. From now on, you can come to me like this.”

Though the method is much more complicated and difficult than Ymir’s, it’s an encouraging achievement that Baek Seol-hee can leave her Taeguk Watch in the dormitory and come to my room.

“Also, the doppelgänger can use supernatural abilities, albeit very weakly.”

It wasn’t just gestures and movements; it could fully use supernatural abilities.

However, those abilities had clear limitations.

“The supernatural power the doppelgänger can exert equals the total amount of magical power put into it. If you put in E-rank power, it has E-rank strength; if C-rank, then C-rank strength.”

“…When I put all my magical power into creating the doppelgänger, I couldn’t move at all while recovering and could only control the doppelgänger. Ah, this is a bit different. Please correct this part. Rather than that feeling…”

Baek Seol-hee lay on the bed, watching me organize notes on my laptop and helping with the summary of the doppelgänger abilities.

“The sensory connection between the doppelgänger and the original body varies with distance. It’s like a walkie-talkie. Even separating them by the distance between the entrance and the balcony breaks the sensory connection.”

“…Training will fix that.”

“Right. With training, you’ll be able to appear in front of people as your doppelgänger. During pregnancy, you’ll mostly be resting in bed or taking light walks anyway.”

Someday, even while sitting still, the doppelgänger Baek Seol-hee would be able to handle everything.

But that would require consuming a lot of magical power to create the doppelgänger each time, so if there was a way to continuously recover mana quickly—

“…Ah.”

A good idea came to mind.

“Seol-hee. How much cash do you have?”

“…Should I give you all of it?”

“No, no. What are you saying? When you talk like that, it makes me sound like a scumbag who approached you for your money.”

I lightly flicked Baek Seol-hee’s forehead.

“I was asking if you have enough money to buy a building of about a thousand pyeong on Ulleungdo.”

“…How much would that cost?”

“For a thousand pyeong… roughly calculating, just the land would be about 100 billion won?”

Amazing, Ulleungdo.

One billion won per pyeong.

Such a price is possible only because of the strong “patriotic” energy imbued in the land.

Including a pension or hotel on top, we’d need at least 200 billion won.

“You know that pension I go to often.”

“Yes.”

“The hot spring there is actually a mana recovery spot.”

“…?”

“That’s why I go there so often.”

“Just by getting in the water, magical power recovers…?”

“Yes.”

“Then…!”

Baek Seol-hee immediately tried to get up.

“Let’s go to Ulleungdo. I’ll take you there.”

“Calm down.”

“If we go into the sea water, no one will notice. Or—”

“I said calm down.”

I pulled Baek Seol-hee tightly into my arms and gently stroked her head.

“We can go to Ulleungdo anytime. We could go now if we wanted. But do you think you’d enjoy it right now?”

“……”

“Let’s go later when you’ve recovered some strength. Okay?”

“…Yes.”

With her face buried in my chest, she blinked for a moment, then blushed and clung to me.

“Should we buy that pension on Ulleungdo?”

“No, no. Not that one. We buy a hotel where no one else can enter. And while pretending to live there, we actually stay at that pension. Together.”

“That’s the ultimate escape. Paparazzi would be hanging around the hotel I purchased, and if I send my doppelgänger there, everyone would think Baek Seol-hee is there… But couldn’t I just buy that pension?”

“No.”

That place is an asset of The Syndicate.

“Anyway, let’s have at least an E-rank doppelgänger placed elsewhere, acting similar to how you normally behave. At the same time, you could be soaking in the Ulleungdo hot spring or being patriotic without any problems. That should be enough to maintain appearances, as long as no one attacks you.”

“…Won’t people find it strange about the doppelgänger? Wondering why it only has E-rank magical power?”

“We’ll think about that when the time comes. Or we could hire someone else as a bodyguard.”

It would be good if a Syndicate agent could be assigned, but I’m not sure if Baek Seol-hee would like having a Syndicate agent by her side.

“Seol-hee. Could you fight with the doppelgänger?”

“The doppelgänger could probably show its face as Snow White, but fighting seriously like we did in Jindo would be impossible. The doppelgänger’s magical power is its life force.”

“Magical power is life force…”

“…Does that remind you of someone?”

“Just thinking that if that were the case, using mana would be really concerning.”

It reminded me of a certain restriction.

“Using magical power to protect people is good, but if using mana shortens your lifespan, even S-rank heroes would find it hard to step forward actively.”

“…That’s true. And if they’re S-rank heroes, the government would manage them too. Don’t step forward recklessly in any situation, only come out when the country is in danger.”

Baek Seol-hee looked up at me with a meaningful expression.

If my guess is correct, she must have heard information about “that man” from either the Association President or the President.

“Being the ultimate weapon must be tough. If they reveal their condition, the world would become more chaotic.”

Is the number one ranking the same everywhere?

A hero full of justice, fighting villains with a dying body, driven by the strong belief that the symbol of peace must not fall.

The difference is that in this world, there are many people who could become symbols of peace after him.

“Seol-hee. If your pregnancy becomes known to the world, at least for a year, the next S-rank will temporarily become Korea’s representative.”

“…Then Battle God would be Korea’s representative?”

“Do you think you can entrust this country to Battle God?”

“……”

Baek Seol-hee pressed her lips tightly.

“Battle God is righteous, handsome, and certainly capable, but he seems insufficient to replace Lord of Radiant Wings or Snow White. Right?”

“……”

“Someone told me that if you divide Korea’s S-ranks into tiers, it would be like this.”

S+ rank: Lord of Radiant Wings, Snow White.

S rank: Battle God, Princess Bari, Cheok Jun-gyeong, Thunder Empress.

S- rank: Armored Taejo.

“Want to hear something interesting? Do you know what criteria people use to classify the two as S+ rank?”

“Achievements…?”

“It’s whether one person can subdue all the S-ranks of a neighboring country. For example, can Snow White alone subdue all five S-ranks of Japan.”

“…It would be difficult, but not entirely impossible.”

“Right. That’s the standard of S+ rank.”

Though they’re all classified as S-rank by the Hero Association, distinctions naturally form within the S-rank.

“What if someone more reliable than Battle God becomes S+ rank and represents Korea as a supernatural ability user?”

“…Then I’d want to make a public announcement.”

Baek Seol-hee poked my cheek repeatedly with her finger.

“Without saying who the baby’s father is, I’ll announce that Baek Seol-hee is finally pregnant, just as the whole nation wanted. If the world is anxious about the absence of an S+ rank, wouldn’t everyone feel reassured if there’s an S+ rank to protect this country during my maternity leave?”

“Who do you have in mind?”

“How about making the person responsible for Baek Seol-hee’s maternity leave take responsibility?”

“…That’s out of the question.”

Just as Baek Seol-hee rejected my recruitment offer, I cannot accept that proposal.

“I’d rather raise a few S+ ranks and put them in place.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I’m already eyeing one person.”

“A woman, right?”

“Why do you think it’s a woman?”

“Because you wouldn’t teach a man.”

“…You think I’m some kind of misandrist.”

It might be easier to teach women, but I’m not the type of man who automatically recoils at the thought of teaching men.

“Or should I ask Platinum Sun? To protect this country while I’m pregnant and having a baby.”

“And when Platinum Sun gets pregnant, you’ll step forward again?”

“We could take turns, one year each, couldn’t we?”

“Well, well. You’re not planning to stop at one?”

“Didn’t you say you wanted to gather kids for soccer?”

“……”

I covered Baek Seol-hee’s mouth with my hand.

“To do that, you’d essentially have to retire. Are you just going to have babies and be done? A mother should be there with her children. If both mom and dad are away on business trips, who will be there for them?”

“……”

“Don’t look at me like that. I’m not the type to abandon my path because of a child. I’ll actually be more active. Before, I did it for my woman, but then I’ll have to act for my children.”

I’m already moving with such feelings, but when I have even more responsibility, I’ll have to give it my all.

“So the answer is simple. To ensure you can raise your child with peace of mind…”

My conclusion is one:

“I’ll raise S+ ranks who can dedicate themselves to this country in your place. As quickly as possible.”

After all, work is meant to be done by successors.

“Instead of waiting for new S-rank recruits to come in, we create them.”