Ch.24Chapter 1. Heroes Are Those Who Overcome Unreasonableness (1)

The scene had entered a lull.

The villain-turned-demon Lilith had been annihilated by Goblin’s ultimate technique, and the unidentified Platinum Knight who had appeared at the scene had vanished in a flash of light.

“…….”

Baek Seol-hee clenched her fist as she watched the Korean Hero Association staff cleaning up the debris.

Wasn’t it ridiculous to just stand by and get angry?

If this had been Busan instead of Sejong Island, she would have rushed over immediately to help people.

Though she had approached within 200 meters, Baek Seol-hee couldn’t get any closer to the scene.

“Kyaaah! Unnie, I’m your fan!”

“It’s Snow White! It’s really Snow White!”

“Wow… look how white she is. I could die happy now.”

She had come to see the accident site but was surrounded by crowds.

Beep.

-Snow White.

-Let me be clear, do not act ‘rashly’.

-Leave the scene cleanup to your subordinates, and maintain the dignity of an S-rank. Understood?

Because of the instructions from certain old-fashioned seniors who kept sending messages.

“…….”

Baek Seol-hee remained silent.

Afraid that saying anything would only make her angrier, she maintained her concept—staying still like the “Ice Princess” she was once called.

The crowd alone was complicated enough, but there were too many factors making her head spin.

The matter of the Platinum Knight.

Well, the Platinum Knight could simply be considered an unregistered hero.

They might be someone who suddenly awakened their abilities before enrollment and appeared at the restaurant to defeat the villain.

As an instructor checking on new students, someone would eventually reveal their abilities and their identity would be exposed.

So that wasn’t particularly worrying.

What really concerned her was the ‘Goblin’.

“How did Goblin appear anyway?”

“Goblin appears everywhere. Is this anything new?”

“He might show up when bored, but he’s never appeared on Sejong Island before.”

“Who knows. Maybe it’s because the girl he’s stalking came here.”

The irritating words grazed Baek Seol-hee’s ears.

Since she partly thought the same, she couldn’t flatly deny it.

Currently, Snow White and Goblin had formed a sort of ‘rival’ relationship.

Partly because Snow White always let Goblin escape, but also because they had clashed several times before, the public viewed them as the typical hero and villain—a structure of good versus evil.

“That Platinum Knight was really strong, wasn’t she?”

“Fighting Goblin in close combat like that—I think that female knight is the first? Even Snow White fights from a distance.”

“Wow. S-rank battles look casual but they’re seriously chilling. I really want to fight like that too.”

“…So now Goblin’s rival is the Golden Female Knight? Hehe.”

But another being had appeared and taken that position.

Someone who fought Goblin more actively than herself, who didn’t back down against Goblin and even showed a threatening stance.

Above all.

“Look at this photo. Is this like Goblin’s second form?”

“Wouldn’t it be better to call it a combat form? He’s been wearing a suit until now. But this is completely… like a tactical combat suit.”

“If you made a powered suit in Goblin’s image, it would look exactly like this. He’s even holding baton-like weapons in both hands for the first time.”

“Does this mean he hasn’t even shown half his skills until now? What a terrifying being, the Syndicate’s Goblin…!”

Goblin’s new appearance.

He was stronger and faster than the previous suit-wearing Goblin by comparison.

Even the weapons—refined and sharp rods instead of the usual nail-studded bat—looked elegant rather than vicious.

“Was the Golden Female Knight strong enough to make Goblin bring out his combat form…?”

“So is that female knight Goblin’s new rival now?”

“Who knows. How can we tell if that female knight is a hero or not?”

“Man, this is going to be interesting. If he fights Snow White without transforming into his combat form later, wouldn’t that be making a complete fool of Snow White?”

“…….”

The voices around her made Baek Seol-hee’s blood boil.

Should she flip them over?

No.

Step, step.

Baek Seol-hee pushed through the crowd and moved forward.

She stretched out her hand toward the destroyed restaurant building.

Beep beep beep.

[What are you doing! You just need to maintain your presence from behind! Do you have any idea how much the lower-ranked heroes suffer when an S-rank hero tries to show off by saving people?!]

The loud voice of a higher-up rang out.

Though it was only transmitted to Baek Seol-hee’s earpiece and couldn’t be heard by others, it was loud enough to potentially spread in all directions.

“Excuse me.”

Baek Seol-hee placed her hand on her Taeguk Watch.

“…Go eat shit.”

After cutting off the mana flowing to the Taeguk Watch, she stretched her hand toward the debris.

Whoosh.

The ice magic extending toward the debris quickly began breaking and splitting the wreckage, starting to clean up the chaos.

No one dared to say “An S-rank hero doing this kind of work?”

Because Snow White’s expression while clearing the debris was so fierce.

* * *

“Hmm. I didn’t expect this variable.”

A short distance from the scene, a young man wearing a red and black checkered modernized hanbok scratched his cheek and smiled faintly.

“I gave a fairly strong demon seed as a gift, but it exploded before it could properly germinate.”

The young man examined numerous videos recorded on the Taeguk Watch through playback.

“Ultimate technique, Grand Cross.”

Scenes captured from nearly 17 different angles.

Powerful magic energy infused the clubs gripped in Goblin’s hands, and Goblin swung them widely, instantly annihilating the demon without leaving a trace.

“Interesting. Using ‘Grand Cross’ as an ultimate technique on Sejong Island. If it were me, I would have named it something like ‘Southern Cross of Midsummer Night.’ Tsk. Is it true that Goblin is a foreigner? Though it’s difficult to assume someone is American or British just because they use English….”

The young man looked at a statue erected in one corner of the plaza and twisted his lips.

“Using an English-named technique on an island named after King Sejong who created Hangul. Master Ju Si-gyeong would be appalled. Their organization is called ‘Yimemangryang’ yet their techniques are in English. Tsk tsk.”

The young man kept clicking his tongue and shaking his head.

Suddenly, his Taeguk Watch began to ring.

“…Ah, yes. I failed. I’ll take responsibility.”

[Responsibility? Just drawing out Goblin was a tremendous achievement. Moreover, the ‘unknown’—]

“What?”

[…That unidentified ability user is also a good outcome. We’ve discovered a completely new variable we didn’t know about.]

“Right. A new variable. …Seems to be at least Special-grade level.”

[S-rank.]

“Special-grade.”

[Hey, you old fart. There’s an international standard, you can’t just use whatever rank you—]

Click.

The young man closed his Taeguk Watch.

The phone rang again as if in anger, but the young man paid no attention.

“It’s truly sad. That languages other than Korean are used in Korea. And above all, what’s most unfortunate is….”

The young man glanced at a book in his possession and twisted his lips.

“None of the yokai in our land are ‘absolute evil’…. Tsk, in the end, I have no choice but to import foreign ones to create proper chaos. Sigh.”

The young man lamented as if genuinely disappointed.

“The Golden Female Knight, Goblin, and Snow White too. …Hehehe. Well, some adversity makes the game more interesting.”

The young man turned and left the scene.

“It’s a match, Syndicate. I, Dueoksini, will show you who is the true pinnacle of evil.”

Grip.

Wearing his modernized hanbok and pressing down his hat, he disappeared into the darkness.

* * *

At the same time, somewhere in the female dormitory.

“Aaaagh!!”

The blonde girl buried her face in her pillow and writhed.

“Aaaaaaagh!!”

Though she was trying to scream without making noise to avoid being discovered by others, her cries inevitably filled the room sharply.

Bang!

Ymir kicked off her blanket.

Rather than kicking it from bottom to top, she tormented the neatly folded blanket with a knee kick, then pounded her pillow with her fist and began pulling at her hair.

“Uwaaa…! How could I make such a mistake…!”

Now red all the way to her scalp, Ymir was crying.

Not from sadness, but from shame, tears streamed down her face.

“No one has ever caught me…! I’ve never shown anyone! Oh, now I can’t get married…!”

She had shown her naked body to a man.

And not just any man, but to a man she had opposed, to a villain executioner.

“…….”

Ymir lay spread-eagled.

Tightly hugging the black durumagi robe placed over her body, Ymir bit her lower lip as she fidgeted with the robe.

“I’m never going… never transforming again to save people out of meddling. Sigh….”

Why had she transformed?

Even though she hadn’t resolved this ‘side effect’ yet.

This side effect where her clothes didn’t return after transformation—

Beep beep beep.

Her Taeguk Watch began to ring.

Ymir suddenly remembered why she had transformed.

“Teacher!”

[Student Ymir, are you okay?]

A man’s voice full of concern.

Ymir flipped over and brought the Taeguk Watch close to her face.

“Yes…! How about you, teacher?!”

[I’m still at the scene, but I’ve been looking for you because I couldn’t see you.]

“……!”

Ymir was about to rush outside, but then looked inside her durumagi and made a tearful face.

“Um, excuse me.”

Ymir frowned hard.

“…Teacher, can we continue our meal another time?”

[Student Ymir? Did something happen?]

“Ah, no! It’s not that, well, maybe it is….”

[Are you safe right now?]

Such a serious voice.

“…Yes.”

Ymir told the embarrassing truth, and soon a relieved laugh came through.

[That’s good. As long as you’re safe, that’s what matters. And Student Ymir. No matter what, I just want you to be safe. I’m on your side.]

“……Yes. Thank you.”

[Hehe. See you next time.]

Ymir.

“…Auto-record.”

She quickly operated an app on her smartphone and closed her eyes quietly while setting a phrase to repeat.

Teacher is on Student Ymir’s sideㅡㅡㅡ

“……Hmph.”