Ch.45Chapter 2. Goblins Don’t Do That (1)

Honestly, I had been thinking I might need to step in halfway, but I was hoping things would resolve themselves without my involvement.

When I was hiding in the alley, I considered just enduring without taking off my clothes, but the moment I saw Yoon Yi-seon, my body moved first.

“Are you alright?”

“Ah, yes…!”

It’s a bit uncomfortable, the way Yoon Yi-seon is looking at me.

I did save her, but it’s really burdensome to be looked at like I’m some hero who rescued her from danger.

Because I’m not a hero, but a villain.

“Kuh, hehehe, so you’ve appeared, fake!!”

“Who’s calling whom fake?”

“You appeared in that form because you think I’m the fake!”

Yuk Gi-bong pointed at me and sneered.

“Look, this form is proof that I am the real ‘Rider’! You know that too, which is why you appeared in that form!”

There’s no reasoning with him.

A conversation should involve give and take, but Yuk Gi-bong is just talking while trapped in his own world.

“So you’re saying I appeared in this form because I acknowledge you as the real one?”

“Of course! I don’t know what you’ve done, but now I am the owner of this form! I, Yuk Gi-bong, am the original of the helmeted Rider form!”

“I see.”

I extended both hands lightly forward.

Clap, clap, clap.

“Congratulations.”

“What…?”

“Whether it’s Gibong Rider or whatever, an ability user’s power comes from pulling their delusions into reality. I don’t care what abilities you had before, but the power flowing from you now clearly shows an incredible ‘ego’.”

“Get to the point!”

“…To put it simply.”

I lightly tapped my temple with my index finger.

“I’m saying it’s frightening how strong your power has become from such excessive delusions.”

“W-what…!!”

Everyone in the plaza burst into laughter.

Those who understood my words, myself included—everyone can agree that Yuk Gi-bong’s delusions are excessive.

“Ha, haha! That’s right! Are you afraid of me? You should be afraid! Because I’m the real one! Because I’m the true Rider!”

But Yuk Gi-bong is already completely insane.

The patent failure must have been the trigger, and now something like demonic wings are fluttering behind his back.

“Kyaaaah!!”

People started screaming and running away at the sight of him becoming a real demon.

Even with several heroes gathered and the Goblin standing in front, just being near a real demon could get you caught in the aftermath and killed.

“Look at that! They’re running away in fear of me! Proof that my power is stronger than the Goblin’s!!”

“This level of self-delusion is severe.”

Well, it’s severe enough that he’s become a demon.

“Yuk Gi-bong. You’re a villain with a headache, so I’ll treat your head with this club.”

“No!!”

Yuk Gi-bong pointed at me.

“Transform! I, Yuk Gi-bong! Today we’ll determine who the true Rider is right here!”

“What?”

“Isn’t that why you came here too? To settle this! Transform, now!!”

“…….”

He wants me to transform again in front of all these people?

Like Doji Rider?

“If you don’t transform, I’ll start killing everyone here one by one!”

Now he’s threatening murder.

“These powerless, incompetent worms! Kuhaha!”

A student who claimed he would walk the path of a hero just a day ago now has no hesitation about killing humans—clearly the influence of a demon.

Demons can possess anyone, anywhere, anytime.

In martial arts novels, it’s called Shimma (heart demon), in the East it’s called Mara, and in Western religions, it’s called Satan.

“You’re incredibly arrogant.”

Looking at one of the seven deadly sins, what’s enveloping Yuk Gi-bong now is the demon of pride.

He’s trapped in the delusion that he’s “the strongest,” obsessed with the fantasy that he’s “the real one,” and calls those without abilities “incompetents” while thinking himself superior.

“Whatever people call you, I’m certain of one thing right now. You are.”

I pointed the end of my club at Yuk Gi-bong.

“A villain not even worth executing.”

“W-what…?”

I lightly shook my club, dissolving it into mist.

More like a recall than dissolution, conceptually.

“I came because I heard a villain was impersonating me, but you’re just wasting my time. Rather than dealing with someone like you, I’d be better off catching villains who kill people and run away.”

“Ha, haha…! Are you scared?!”

I won’t fall for his provocation.

“It’s not that I’m scared, but arguing with you about who’s real or fake based on transformed appearances is beneath me.”

Executing someone like him would be disrespectful to all the villains who have been executed so far.

Such a fool who can’t even be a proper villain.

“This form would be more appropriate for dealing with you.”

“What…?”

This works out well.

There’s no better way to deflate people’s excessive “Doji Rider hype.”

“Transform.”

There’s no belt.

Instead, what I hold in my hand is a fan full of traditional elegance.

“I told you. I’m just a passing scholar goblin.”

I opened and closed the fan, about to transform—

“W-wait!!”

Someone called out to me.

I turned my head slightly to see it was the vice president who had stopped Yoon Yi-seon and me earlier.

“Y-you’re not going to transform into another form, are you! Goblin!”

“…….”

“The fan is part of our tradition! Surely you’re not going to transform into a scholar wearing a durumagi!!”

Why is he suddenly saying such strange things?

No, more importantly, how did he know?

“Transform into Doji Rider! If you don’t transform into Doji Rider in this situation, that’s betrayal!”

“Betrayal?”

“Yes! Everyone is watching! Transform into Doji Rider!!”

“……That’s crazy.”

I said that, but honestly, I’m so put off that it’s not easy to transform as planned.

“Transform….”

“Hey, don’t tell me he’s really transforming into a scholar?”

“Wow, that would be so disappointing…. After being the first to do Doji Rider….”

The stag beetle-shaped rider, the cyclist, the Five Direction Special Forces, and those who came running in Mecha-Tyranno suits—all are looking at me with expectant eyes.

‘No, I’m a villain, people.’

What do they want from a villain?

Even pursuing romance has its limits.

‘Well, it is worth the excitement.’

The real one has appeared before the fake who claims to be real.

The real one completely denies the fake, and the real one provokes the fake while claiming to be real.

“There’s a story in folk tales. A mouse eats a scholar’s toenails and transforms into the scholar, driving the real one from his home. Do you know how that story ends?”

Whirr.

I stretched my hand to the side.

“The transformed fake mouse was killed by the real one.”

A belt appeared in my hand, and I took a stance while inwardly sighing deeply.

Glancing behind me, I saw Yoon Yi-seon pointing her Taegeuk Watch at me while gulping.

It’s not like she’s taking a fancam or anything.

‘Is it really a fancam?’

Taking a fancam here?

It’s a bit absurd, but if she’s been a fan club member since I was C-rank, I might understand a little.

‘Let’s think of it as fan service.’

Those gathered here came to subdue the villain’s rampage, but also because the villain claimed to be Doji Rider.

In other words.

Half of those gathered here are followers—specifically, design followers—of Doji Rider.

“READY——!”

A deep voice sounds as soon as I press the belt.

Waaaaaaa——!!

I want to ask why they’re cheering, but I leisurely put the belt around my waist.

“Trans-“

Just as I was about to say “form.”

“Kuhahaha!”

Yuk Gi-bong.

“Die, you fake!!”

He drew a gun.

No.

Attacking during transformation…?

Ta——ang!

The gun barrel.

It was aimed precisely at the space between my eyebrows.

* * *

Yoon Yi-seon is an aspiring hero.

Therefore, she has no intention of defending the Goblin’s taking of lives.

But while she couldn’t defend his actions, she found herself quietly cheering for him in her heart.

Watching him take revenge on behalf of those who couldn’t avenge their murdered families, Yoon Yi-seon felt an indescribable catharsis in the figure of the one called Goblin.

Not as the hero aspirant Yoon Yi-seon, but as the ordinary person Yoon Yi-seon, she was a fan of the Goblin.

She had no intention of bringing personal feelings into hero work, but she couldn’t forgive those who claimed to be the Goblin and tried to take away the Goblin’s rights.

She couldn’t forgive the “old men in the back room” who had manipulated a student into causing this situation either.

Still, persuasion was the first duty of a hero.

But when persuasion failed and she was in danger, the Goblin appeared and saved her.

He didn’t even need to save her, yet he appeared before her, kicking a utility pole.

It wasn’t just fan sentiment, but she was moved by the Goblin’s actions.

She found herself falling for him again as he executed the guilty in the name of punishment while saving the innocent as if it were nothing.

It was a bit disappointing that he appeared as a suited gentleman rather than as Doji Rider, but the Goblin seemed to be “willing” to transform as if he had no choice.

But.

How could he do such a thing?

No matter if the opponent was a villain, even if the Goblin was a villain.

‘Attacking during transformation!’

She knew.

Heroes also learned at the academy.

That villains have no rights, and there’s no reason to show mercy to villains.

“Danger-“

Just as Yoon Yi-seon gathered mana in her hand to shoot a sphere—

“Hmph.”

With a mocking laugh from the Goblin, golden mana spread forward from his belt.

Kagagakang!!

“W-what?!”

The golden wind spreading from the Goblin instantly enveloped his form, and the bullet fired by Yuk Gi-bong didn’t bounce off the wind but was “ground” into nothing by it.

“Transform.”

Flutter.

As the wind subsided, the Goblin revealed himself, extending his right hand to the side.

“Now, foolish one who can’t even be a villain.”

The Goblin lightly flicked his right hand to the side, and a black baton materialized in his grasp along with a flash of light.

“It’s time for enlightenment.”

The Goblin pointed the baton at Yuk Gi-bong, tilting his head slightly as he began to approach him.

“Ah.”

Yoon Yi-seon was genuinely disappointed.

‘I can’t believe I couldn’t see it from the front!’

Because where she was standing was, unfortunately, behind the Goblin.