Ch.93Under Investigation

The hero glared at me with sharp eyes and grabbed my hand holding the hot dog.

However, when I showed no reaction to his attempt to make me release it with his grip strength—*kwaaak*—his sharp gaze turned to bewilderment.

“What’s with this guy? Are you a superhuman?”

“That’s my hot dog.”

“Ugh, aaaagh…!”

When I grabbed his wrist instead and squeezed until it made a cracking sound, the hero opened his clenched hand.

After reclaiming my hot dog, I devoured it in just two bites.

“Y-you bastard, are you a villain?”

“Would a villain just apply pressure to get his hot dog back?”

“Oh my, no sir, he’s just someone from out of town…”

“A superhuman from out of town? That’s impossible.”

The hero who had dipped himself in the freezer pointed his phone toward me.

Facial recognition—the citizen search system used by W City police captured my face, and a beeping sound followed.

“See? He’s not registered as a superhuman. If he were an outside superhuman, he’d have to register first, and we’d get a notification with his information. There’s no way we wouldn’t know!”

“He says he’s not a superhuman. Just an outsider who came to A City at an unfortunate time…”

“Huh? There’s no way a non-powered person could withstand a superhuman’s grip strength.”

Munch munch… gulp. After swallowing the hot dog in my mouth, I crossed my arms and answered the hero.

“You must be weak.”

“You little… who are you calling weak?”

“Hahaha! Well, you’re just a newly promoted B-rank superhuman, so you’re not that strong.”

At that, the hero spread his ability’s wavelength and floated his body above the ground.

Telekinesis? No, air current manipulation.

The man who lifted himself lightly began compressing the air around me.

He seems to be trying to immobilize me.

“Whatever you are, you’re suspicious. I’ll subdue you and take you to the interrogation room…”

“One more hot dog.”

“What…?!”

Ignoring his insignificant ability, I dug into my pocket and pulled out a few more bills.

The store owner, watching nervously between me and the hero, took out three buns and sausages and began grilling them diligently.

“This is… strange.”

“At least A-rank. An unregistered A-rank superhuman? Definitely a villain.”

“You don’t look like a villain, but you’re suspicious. What are you?”

“Not a villain.”

I stood quietly with my arms crossed, stating only facts.

However, the heroes who didn’t believe me raised their bodies and drew upon their abilities.

“That’s impossible. You look suspicious no matter how I see it. You’re coming to the interrogation room.”

“We definitely need to investigate this.”

The hero who had been in the ice rose from the store and used the same ability as the other man.

Ability coupling—perhaps a combination designed for ability amplification.

One compresses, the other blocks; the oxygen around me instantly disappears, and the pressure difference creates a compression that squeezes my entire body.

“Hey! Civilians! Evacuate immediately!”

“Kyaaaah!”

“Run away, a superhuman is using his ability!”

“Hiiieek…!”

A belated evacuation order. Flap, flap—civilians scream in surprise and flee from the storm whipping through the streets.

The store owner who had been diligently grilling hot dogs ducked down, and the machine with bread and sausages on it rattled.

I walked away from the store to a place without people, gesturing for civilians to stay back.

“What’s with that guy?”

“Looks like he’s telling civilians to stay away?”

“That’s not the point! He’s completely ignoring my ability!”

Woooong—a compressed air bullet shot from his hand.

“I can do more than just restraint!”

“Hey! Wait…!”

“Kyaaaah!”

Bang! The improperly compressed air bullet affected a wider area than intended.

A massive shockwave—a child about to get caught in it while fleeing.

I kicked off the ground and shielded the child with my arms and legs.

Planting my feet at both the starting and landing positions on the crumbling ground, I instantly arrived in front of the child and stopped.

The shockwave was blocked by the small shield I made by placing my elbows on my knees, and the startled child, who had fallen and scraped his knee, ran away crying.

“Waaah! Mommy!”

“Th-that bastard, my ability doesn’t work on him at all!”

“Phew… no, hey, what are you doing?”

See this?

Crunch, crunch, crunch—my partially monsterized arm swelled slightly under the skin.

After confirming that the civilians had retreated far enough, I clenched my fist and gestured with my other hand for one of the heroes to come closer.

Taking this as a provocation, the guy gathered a small storm in his hands.

“Could it be… are you reinforcement from the Villain Association from another city?!”

“Wait!”

The roar of his swelling ability—bang! The bullet fired with a sound.

I met the rapidly spinning compressed air bullet with my fist.

Thwack! As the air bullet burst, I immediately charged through the storm and grabbed the man’s collar.

“What… gack?!”

Whoosh! The man I grabbed by the collar was dragged along as I jumped off the ground.

A light jump tracing a parabola, then landing.

Crash! After stuffing the hero upside down into a nearby trash can, I dusted off my hands and returned to the food truck.

“Hot dog.”

“H-here you go…”

Mmm, delicious.

After that light exercise, as I was eating the hot dog I received, the relatively calm-looking hero approached me.

“Why didn’t you attack me?”

Silently eating my hot dog, I pointed to the child crying in his mother’s arms in the distance.

Understanding my reason for attacking from just that, the hero chuckled and picked up a hot dog to eat.

“If that’s your reason, you’re definitely not a villain. What are you? A superhuman from another city? Why aren’t you registered?”

“Neither a superhuman nor a villain.”

“That’s not a funny joke. If you’re neither a superhuman nor a villain with that strength, what are you, a monster?”

“I’m just strong from doing a lot of construction labor.”

“Construction labor?”

Could it be that A City heroes don’t even know what construction labor is?

Puzzled by the term, the hero picked up another hot dog to eat.

“Superhuman… from that term, you’re definitely an outsider, but… do you realize what you’ve done?”

“I put trash in a trash can.”

“Well, if that’s how you see it, I have nothing to say, but whatever your true identity is, you’re officially a criminal now.”

“Criminal?”

“Violation of the Hero Priority Law, violation of the Superhuman Registration Law, attacking a hero, damaging public property, oh, you said you’re not a superhuman? Then add disobeying superhuman orders.”

After reciting a series of strange laws that don’t exist in W City, the hero tapped on his phone and showed me a screen with an “Emergency” button displayed.

“If I press this button, the entire A City will immediately track you…”

Crack! With one swift movement, I smashed the phone, and the hero silently shifted his gaze between the half-destroyed phone and me.

“This is obstruction of official duties and another count of damaging public property.”

“How will you report it without a phone?”

“I’ll just report when I get back. Don’t you know about hero cams? Your face is…”

The hero pointed to his chest and paused, swallowing hard.

Where the heart is located, the hero cam pinned to his collar was already broken.

The same goes for the hero stuck in the trash can.

If I had intended to, both of their hearts would have already burst.

“…You seem to be at least A-rank. What are you, really?”

“Just an ordinary person trained through construction labor.”

“You don’t sound like an ordinary person…”

Just when I thought they couldn’t track me anymore, the wary hero dug into his pocket and pulled out a metal case.

“If you think you can escape just because you broke the cam and phone, you should reconsider.”

Inside was a single large-caliber bullet about the length of an index finger.

The moment the bullet came out of the case, it split horizontally and revealed teeth.

With triangular ears and tail extending and standing up, the bullet with glowing eyes floated into the air.

“Bad luck for you. I’m from the Hound Team. One of the few Magical Bullet holders. Ever heard of the Hound of Baskerville?”

“Hmm.”

Baskerville, the annoying S-rank hero Gu Seo-ryong mentioned.

I don’t know what the Hound Team is, but this thing in front of me is called a magical bullet.

The inanimate object moves like a living creature.

Sniff, sniff—the bullet smells me and intensifies its presence.

“Interesting ability.”

“Well, it probably won’t happen, but if you kill me, the Hound of Baskerville will track you until you die. Even if you don’t kill me and just run away, once I order it to chase you, it will follow you to the end.”

The faint ability wavelength spreading from the bullet sends signals around, transmitting information about me somewhere.

Even if I crush this bullet, new bullets will probably continue to chase me.

It won’t damage me as a monster, but it’s an annoying ability… so that’s why.

Once you start being tracked, you’ll be chased until the main body is found and eliminated.

“No matter how much of an A-rank superhuman you are, you’d still fear an S-rank superhuman, right? So what do you say? Instead of making this a bigger issue, why not come with me for a quick investigation?”

“Investigation, huh.”

“I’m not trying to investigate you as a villain. You clearly seem like a superhuman, so just a little investigation and superhuman registration before you go. In A City, it’s illegal for superhumans to wander around unregistered.”

A rather friendly attitude, and it doesn’t seem like a lie.

The hero closed the case that had contained the bullet, as if to say he had no hostility toward me.

“If you just come along quietly and cooperate with a simple investigation, I’ll overlook the illegal actions. No need for pursuit. I’ll even vouch that you’re not a villain. What do you say?”

I thought for a moment, recalling Gu Seo-ryong’s words.

Don’t cause a commotion; being chased by Baskerville’s ability becomes troublesome.

I haven’t really caused a commotion yet, but if I start being chased by this bullet, it will become noisy from then on.

It’s only been a day, and to find the laboratory, I need to move quietly.

I guess I have no choice but to follow his instructions.

If something goes wrong during the investigation, I can figure out what to do then.

“I’ll cooperate with the investigation. But I have one condition.”

“Great, what is it?”

Instead, I put forward one condition.

Just now, this guy ate a hot dog without paying.

Besides that, the mess of ice.

The store owner’s concerned gaze toward the ice and his worried, anxious emotions bother me.

“Pay for the ice. And the hot dog.”

“You… really aren’t a villain. And you’re definitely not from A City.”

The hero shook his head in disbelief and took out a card from his pocket, handing it to the store owner.

A card labeled “Hero Registration,” which the store owner carefully accepted and used to pay for the ice and hot dogs.

“Bill it all, including the ice like this person said.”

“Oh my, thank you. The superhuman is paying for everything… oh my.”

Even after receiving the card, the store owner hesitated, wondering if this was really okay.

From the reaction, it seems they usually don’t pay.

There doesn’t seem to be any separate compensation either.

#

A City, District 9, a small building with a sign reading “Superhuman Department Jurisdiction.”

Is it because A City is bigger than W City, or because there are many more citizens and heroes?

This city seems to have separate standby stations for heroes in charge of each district.

“You bastard! Cut the act and tell the truth!”

Inside the building, heroes who seemed to have returned from fighting outside were showering, while others sat leisurely on sofas, eating snacks and drinking beverages while on standby.

Additionally, non-awakened police officers sat in front of computers doing paperwork.

And in front of me, a hero with compression bandages around his neck, chest, and shoulders was venting his rough emotions and getting angry.

“There’s no way you’re not a superhuman! Don’t talk nonsense! What are you, a member of the Villain Association, right?!”

This guy is the hero who was grabbed by me and stuffed into a trash can earlier.

I rattled the handcuffs on my arms and opened my mouth to yawn.

Wearing handcuffs that I could break at any time was an expression that I was cooperative with their investigation; yawning was just an expression that I was sleepy and bored.

Then, the man, furious to the top of his head, slammed the desk in front of me and shouted loud enough for everyone in the building to hear.

“Who was it! Who explained the right to remain silent to this bastard?!”