Ch.42Chapter 2. Villains Have No Rights (1)

I was perplexed.

Even though I hadn’t done anything wrong, it felt like I had somehow made a mistake.

‘What the hell is this!’

Following Yoon Yi-seon, I berated myself for my actions.

‘If I had known this would happen, I wouldn’t have transformed just to go with the flow!’

I had unnecessarily done a secondary transformation and ended up creating a strange atmosphere among people.

-Right now, we are living in the great Rider era.

‘Don’t do that!’

Through Yoon Yi-seon, I understood that the students’ minds were completely absorbed in characters from old tokusatsu shows.

Among them, the most obsessed ones were…

HONK!

A horn blared from behind.

“What’s that sound?”

“Teacher! Look out!”

As I turned my head, Yoon Yi-seon grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward her.

VROOOM!

Whatever passed by with that roaring sound was definitely a bike.

Not a bicycle or a scooter, but a motorcycle spewing exhaust.

“Sorry! In a hurry!”

And on that motorcycle was a Doji Rider, fluttering something like a cape.

“Is that… an insect?”

“A stag beetle, specifically.”

The Doji Rider, who seemed to be modeled after an insect, continued riding the bike while wearing a steel suit.

It was absurd watching him leave after just a brief apology, and even more absurd that this was supposedly a hero rushing to defeat some rampaging entity.

‘No wonder there are protests against heroes in American shows.’

There’s one hero who can run extremely fast.

For whatever reason, he ran through streets at incredible speeds, and due to the impact and collision force, pedestrians in his path were obliterated without even leaving bone fragments behind.

Worse than being hit by a train, they died as nothing but bloody pulp.

Something similar almost happened just now.

“Are you okay? Were you very startled?”

“Ah, yes.”

“I’m sorry. It’s because of me.”

“No, no. You saved me. Besides, evacuating civilians is part of a faculty member’s job.”

The faculty of Sejong Academy has a duty to protect the vulnerable when villains appear or when students go berserk.

“I’ll make sure that student receives disciplinary action through the student council later.”

“That… would be appreciated.”

VROOOM.

Just as I was gathering my thoughts to move forward, another bike sound erupted from behind.

“Woooah!”

This time, a young man wearing a motorcycle helmet passed by, pedaling a bicycle furiously.

The speed wasn’t particularly fast, but it seemed faster than a car driving through the city.

“Maybe he doesn’t have a motorcycle license so he’s using a bicycle…?”

“I think there’s more to it than that.”

When Yoon Yi-seon pointed behind us, there were five differently colored ability users running in a line, wearing matching outfits.

“And who are you guys?”

“We are!”

“Protectors of!”

“The country and!”

“Its people!”

“Patriotic warriors!”

“””””The Five Directional Special Forces!!”””””

Each dressed in red, blue, yellow, white, and black, they wore tight spandex suits and helmet-like headgear as they ran forward.

“Don’t tell me this is also the Goblin’s influence?”

“Of course. They’ve all been influenced by seeing the Goblin’s appearance.”

“Good grief.”

I never thought my actions would lead to this result.

‘I apologize, world. I’ve unleashed this poison upon this country.’

I casually suggested to Ymir that she should transform her armor into a new form, and now this situation has occurred.

‘This is terrible.’

Beyond just cringing, as the culprit behind this situation, I feel like I should issue a public apology.

“Yi-seon. Are you also going to transform like that? Hmm?”

“How could I transform just like that? I don’t even have a suit.”

“Well, of course…”

Oops.

I almost revealed the Goblin’s top secret, ‘mana suit transformation.’

“…shouldn’t a hero wear a suit under their clothes?”

“Some people do, but I don’t. Unfortunately.”

“Then…”

“We’re going to check out the scene. It’s not a matter for the student council, but as a hero.”

What a beautiful mindset.

It wasn’t for nothing that she had led students as the student council president on Sejong Island for several years; she already possessed sufficient qualities as a hero.

Of course, regardless of her heroic attitude, I don’t think she’s a hot pink Doji Rider.

“President!!”

As we were running, a bespectacled male student appeared from the opposite alley.

“Are you alright?!”

“I’m fine. Why are you here?”

“I heard the president was coming to this area for food, so I rushed over! …Who’s this person beside you?”

“This is Teacher Do. He works as a librarian.”

“I’ve never seen him before…”

“He’s on basement level 2.”

“Ah.”

The way he gave that “I see” look was quite impudent.

“President, I’ve already contacted the police. You don’t need to get involved.”

The vice president, a typical bespectacled boy you’d find in any class, blocked our path.

“Those Goblin copycats will be handled by the police. You don’t need to step in. First-“

“Are you stupid?”

Yoon Yi-seon pushed the vice president aside.

“When an Academy student is threatening public safety as a monster, you just want to wait for the authorities to handle it? I can’t do that.”

“President!”

“I’m going. Not as a student council member, but as an aspiring hero.”

Yoon Yi-seon firmly rejected the vice president’s attempt to stop her.

“Teacher, let’s go!”

“…Alright.”

“Wait, why are you…?!”

“‘You’?”

As I was about to run forward, I pointed at my Taegeuk Watch and mocked the vice president.

[Emergency. All faculty members are to do their best to evacuate students. Please provide prompt support according to the manual.]

“It’s a faculty member’s—an adult’s—duty to respond to accident scenes. Kid.”

“Kuh…?!”

After informing the vice president about an adult’s duty, I immediately ran alongside Yoon Yi-seon.

“Adult… that has a nice ring to it.”

“Yi-seon is a college student too, so aren’t you an adult?”

“From the outside, college students are adults by age. But the world doesn’t view ability users that way yet.”

As Yoon Yi-seon said, the world still views ability users as children—or at least as wayward delinquent teenagers.

That makes sense, since even the oldest ability users born in 2000 would only be in their mid-twenties by 2025, just graduating college and starting their careers as the youngest in their workplaces.

“Still, seeing them like that makes them seem like children.”

Those becoming adults, or even adults themselves, falling under the indescribable magic of tokusatsu—

ROOOOOAR!

A thunderous sound erupted from behind.

Wondering what it was, I turned my head and there was—

“Excuse me! Please make way!!”

A metal contraption about 2.5 meters tall was walking.

Not just any metal, but a mecha-tyrannosaurus like the one I saw in a movie recently, running on two legs.

And inside the mecha-tyrannosaurus, there was definitely a person.

“What is that…?”

“It’s a masterpiece created by students from the engineering department club. They take a huge chunk of the student council budget, but they produce results like this.”

Thump, thump, thump!

The mecha-tyrannosaurus runs forward.

Although its speed couldn’t match that of a bike or a running person, the sight of the mecha-tyrannosaurus advancing without destroying the road was certainly—

“…I think I understand the feeling.”

I somewhat understand why they’re so enthusiastic about the Goblin.

While their behavior seems like madness to me, that madness could also be described as—

“For students, this is a kind of romance.”

“Romance, is it.”

Literally, romance.

Becoming the hero from content you watched when you were young, or the one that impressed you the most.

That is the true secret to an ability user becoming stronger, and pursuing romance is what makes a true hero.

“After seeing the Goblin’s appearance, we started thinking again. Who really is the demon? Who is the villain? Can someone be called a villain just because they have a villain’s appearance or adopt that look?”

“Of course not.”

As I continued running with Yoon Yi-seon, I understood their feelings.

Yes.

That’s how they must feel.

Like when a science teacher appears in a professional game and gets a pentakill, and you want to try playing as a science teacher too.

‘Think positively.’

After all, I just mixed designs I brought from the original world.

‘If everyone starts wearing suits, they’ll be safer, so think positively.’

This “Doji-mania” prevalent on Sejong Island is just a temporary phenomenon.

Everyone is just momentarily fascinated by the Doji Rider’s appearance, and when some S-class hero or villain appears, they’ll adopt a different look.

Just like how dalgona coffee spread across cafes nationwide when it became trendy, this is just a temporary fad.

In that case…

“Yi-seon. Are you going to transform… following the romance?”

“Depends on the situation.”

We arrived at the scene.

Several transformed heroes were already confronting the rampaging villain, and honestly, Yoon Yi-seon’s intervention might seem like excessive force.

“What’s that villain’s goal…?”

“Hahaha! Now, this appearance is mine!!”

The villain, who looked similar to my transformed state but with a palette swap (red), shouted with madness.

“Now, no one can copy this appearance! Why?! Because…!”

The villain…

“I am the copyright holder and patent owner of this design!”

“……Insane.”

What a terribly absurd villain.

“From now on, this design isn’t called Doji Rider as people say! It belongs to me, Lord Yuk Gi-bong!”

“……”

Wait.

Could it be.

“From now on, everyone will call this design ‘Gibong Rider’! Anyone who wants this costume design must pay copyright fees to me, Yuk Gi-bong! Those who don’t… are all plagiarists!”

“Stop talking nonsense! That’s Doji Rider! It belongs to the Goblin!”

“The Goblin? Ah, that guy?”

Yuk Gi-bong spread his arms in the Doji Rider form.

“Do villains have human rights? If they don’t have human rights, they certainly don’t have other rights. Let me ask you. Does a villain… have copyright?”

Flutter.

“I’ve already registered the copyright! Faster than anyone! I’ve already reported to the patent office, and only the patent review remains! Today, five minutes from now! The moment the patent review is completed! You all won’t be Doji Riders…!”

Yuk Gi-bong made his cape flutter with mana and struck an impressive pose.

“You’ll be ‘Gibong Riders’! Hahaha!!”

Ah.

I feel like transforming.