Ice Queen (2)

After stopping Ice Queen from nearly turning evil for some unknown reason, I stared at her intently.

‘Is she having such a hard time lately?’

Objectively thinking, it made sense for Ice Queen to be struggling.

She was a hero who acted out of a sense of duty and responsibility, not fulfillment.

Hero work is inherently stressful, and working reluctantly due to a single trauma naturally led to more stress buildup.

‘How can I help her grow properly?’

I vaguely felt that this was both a crisis and an opportunity.

If handled poorly, her evolution tech tree could be ruined, but if she grew properly, we could even aim for an ‘awakening’ of her ability.

Paradoxically, her current unstable state was growing pains occurring because she had built up sufficient experience and internal strength so far.

I rolled my tongue inside my mouth, carefully choosing what to say to her.

‘First, it’s probably best to refrain from saying anything that further lowers Ice Queen’s self-esteem.’

Her self-esteem had already hit rock bottom.

If I push her here under the guise of shock therapy, she’ll surely give up and cry rather than overcome it.

Additionally, suggesting she become a villain or any other tempting words are also forbidden.

Considering what happened earlier, she might fall for it completely.

This is forbidden.. that’s forbidden, and that too is forbidden.

‘..Hah, alright.’

Having roughly grasped the precautions, I threw one question at her.

“Ice Queen-ssi. Do you know the meaning of the job of a hero?”

“What?”

Ice Queen was momentarily flustered, but soon began to stammer out what she knew.

“..Someone who is admired by the public for accomplishing what ordinary people cannot, with extraordinary courage, talent, and wisdom. Right?”

“That’s the definition, but what about what they do?”

“The role of protecting people..”

“Then you could be considered a hero, Ice Queen-nim.”

“……”

Ice Queen tightly shut her mouth at my words.

While confused and suspicious about what I was saying, she shook her head with a dark expression.

“..That may be the definition, but in my opinion, I don’t think I’m a hero.”

“Why is that?”

“Because I’m only doing this out of a sense of duty.”

The air suddenly became heavy.

During our conversation, a nearby wolf whined and tried to approach, but I simply raised my gun to stop it and focused on Ice Queen.

“A noble hero that others think of? I don’t think I’m that kind of person.”

“What’s the exact reason?”

“I don’t have courage. Like others, I’m scared, and when I see strong villains, I used to think about wanting to run away.”

Well, your mental strength seems almost inhuman though..

Even though being a hero is a job where you carry one or two traumas, the fact that she’s still playing the role of a hero after getting trauma as a rookie showed that.

But I didn’t bother to refute and just silently listened to what she was saying.

“I’m not as strong or as good a person as others think.”

She spoke word by word as if making a confession.

“What’s the use of having a strong ability? I’m crumbling inside like this. It’s not goodness, it’s hypocrisy. I just didn’t want people to die in front of me, and honestly, I don’t even care as long as they don’t die in front of me.”

She told only me the worries she had never told anyone around her until now.

After continuing with various complaints for a while.

“I’m not a hero. I’m just an imitator, pretending to be a hero.”

The story concluded with her plain yet sad words.

“……”

I looked at her nonchalantly.

And once again, I carefully chose what to say and opened my mouth.

---

“Ice Queen-nim. There are several errors in your claims.”

“Errors?”

At Ice Queen’s question, Maker nodded as if certain.

“First, that you don’t have courage. That’s incorrect.”

Maker glanced at the wolves around, then turned his head back and met her gaze.

“Courage is not the absence of fear. Even if there is fear, moving forward steadfastly – that is courage. In that sense, you are a courageous person.”

A look that conveyed both confidence and sincerity.

Ice Queen was about to say something to him but tightly shut her mouth.

Maker continued his rebuttal towards her without stopping.

“You said you’re not a strong person? Even setting aside your ability, you are a strong person.”

What is this?

“..Even though I’ve become weak because of trauma?”

“How can someone who has endured without breaking down until now despite the pain be called weak? You haven’t ‘broken down now’, but rather ‘only now have you broken down’.”

What on earth is this person?

“You said you were hypocritical?”

“..Is that wrong too?”

“Completely wrong.”

Even you probably wouldn’t be this certain about yourself.

How can you have this much faith in me?

He personally shattered all of her negative thoughts.

After all the rebuttals were finished.

“You are already a proper hero.”

The villain she opposed, disliked, and hated called her a hero when she couldn’t even acknowledge it herself.

“Not an inexperienced rookie, nor a powerless person, but someone who has already saved and can save countless people.”

He was saying.

That you are brave.

That you are strong.

That you are good.

Maker demolished the thorns Ice Queen had set up to a pitiful degree, and warmed her tired heart like the warmth of a spring day.

‘..I don’t understand.’

Why this villain was being so kind to her.

And why she was feeling these emotions at his words.

A strangely ticklish feeling in her heart.

She opened her mouth with a trembling voice.

It was like a kind of tantrum.

“I don’t want to be a hero.”

“That’s because you’ve suppressed yourself too much.”

And it was like a kind of confession.

“I’m scared of villains. I’m afraid they’ll hurt me and my family.”

“It’s natural for a person to have fears.”

Maker continued to answer Ice Queen’s words as if they were normal.

“I feel like I’m going to collapse.”

“If you want, I’ll be there for you to lean on the next few times we meet.”

“But.. I’m hypocritical?”

Maker knelt on one knee to meet her eyes, stroked her cheek, and smiled brightly.

“As your villain, I dare say, you are a foolishly good person.”

A warm hand unlike her cold cheek.

“……”

That warmth transferred to Ice Queen’s face.

..Perhaps she too had been hoping for someone to speak to her like this.

When even her mentor Baek Gangho spoke skeptically about hero work, offering words of comfort and concern.

When even Hero Victor, who had taught her so much, saw her as an immature being and only gave advice.

‘You are already a proper hero.’

Only Maker gave her the ‘acknowledgment’ she truly desired.

‘How long do I have to fight?’

‘Should I just give up everything?’

Not words of compromise she uttered to herself, saying she had done well enough.

‘Did you see her smiling at men? She’s totally a fox.’

‘It’s not like hero work is child’s play.’

Not words from others who only disparage out of blind jealousy.

‘It’s okay to rest if it’s hard, Yoon-hee. It’s not your fault.’

..And. Not the words of an adult who sees me as a child and hugs me.

Complete acknowledgment.

‘This is what I’ve been wanting.’

What she truly desired was not to be allowed to give up as is, but to receive help to stand up again healthily.

That’s why her heart easily crumbled, and she felt a sense of stability.

“..Maker.”

“Why are you calling me, Ice Queen-nim?”

The villain made her become a hero.

Not a hero put forward by someone else’s burden and sense of duty, but a hero who could exist because she herself wanted and was proud of it.

Grrrr..!

“-!! Watch out!!!”

Therefore, protecting him was almost instinctual.

Wolves trying to attack Maker’s back.

Ice Queen pulled Maker, who was holding her cheek, and embraced him in her arms.

‘Freeze!’

She then stretched out her arm towards the wolves and activated her ability.

At that moment.

Woooong-!!!

A sensation of mana being strongly stimulated.

With a fierce momentum different from before, the mana was soon converted into ice.

Zzzzzap!!!!!

Eventually, a huge glacier extended in a straight line from the ground from her hand.

“..Huh?”

It was big enough to surprise even her.

---

“You are already a proper hero.”

At that moment when Ice Queen was recovering her heart.

“……”

Ice Queen and Maker were not the only two people in that space.

“I don’t want to be a hero.”

“That’s because you’ve suppressed yourself too much.”

Phantom Luna, who had come to help Ice Queen.

She was hiding behind a building as if she had committed a crime.

“I’m scared of villains. I’m afraid they’ll hurt me and my family.”

“It’s natural for a person to have fears.”

Why?

“I feel like I’m going to collapse.”

“If you want, I’ll be there for you to lean on the next few times we meet.”

Why are you saying such things?

“But.. I’m hypocritical?”

Phantom Luna held her breath and waited for his last words in response to her question.

“As your villain, I dare say, you are a foolishly good person.”

Thump.

Her heart sank.

Ah..

Phantom Luna bit her lip hard, afraid that even a sound might be heard.

Thump thump thump-

Why, why..

Tears welled up in her eyes, and a few drops that finally flowed out caressed her cheeks as if to comfort her.

Thump thump thump-

To me.. you.. to me..

Thump thump thump-

‘You are quite a pathetic person.’

To me.. you didn’t say such things to me.

Thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump-

Sadness and self-loathing,

And jealousy.

-Drip.

Ripple..

A strange unpleasantness welled up.