Bad Boy Enters the Scene -3

I’d love to transform and crush them thoroughly, but that would be difficult.

They’re just small fry anyway, and doing that would disrupt today’s plan.

I need to extract Glasses’ essence, but it’s not appropriate to do it in front of the other kids. There are eyes watching, so I can’t transform.

I can’t beat them directly in case someone sees.

‘There’s no need to transform for opponents like these.’

‘Right?’

‘But hitting them directly is problematic. They’re still kids after all.’

‘Haah, that’s a shame.’

‘Why?’

‘Kids shouldn’t be beaten… but bastards only listen when they get beaten.’

It was disappointing that I couldn’t beat them directly.

Instead, I decided to show them just a little of Kraken’s abilities.

‘…Wire.’

Long tentacles emerged from my sleeve cuffs and wrapped around my fingers.

Tapping, I manipulated the tentacles and slowly connected them to the kids’ bodies.

Thin threads connected like puppet strings.

“Why did you come and pick a fight?”

“…”

“Things are already shitty enough.”

Two guys approach, cracking their knuckles.

I’ll call them Baldy and Glasses-guy for now.

They approached with quite a bit of swagger, but they didn’t seem to have noticed yet.

That they were already caught in my grasp.

“Huup!”

Baldy swings his fist.

Having seen Iris’s punches and survived, it looked like slow motion to me.

Normally, I should dodge and immediately counter, but.

Unfortunately, I can’t hit them directly.

In that case.

‘As long as I don’t hit them directly myself, it’s fine.’

Whoosh.

As I move my finger, another guy moves his body.

“Huh?”

A surprised expression.

The guy who lunged forward delivered a kick right into Baldy’s open spot.

Baldy, rolling on the ground, shouted:

“What the fuck are you doing!?”

“No, it’s… my body moved on its own…”

“What kind of bull—”

Before Baldy could finish his sentence, I moved my finger again.

Crack—

“Guk!”

“Huh? Hey… hey! I didn’t do it on purpose!”

“You son of a…!”

Baldy threw a punch at Glasses-guy’s philtrum, and his glasses were smashed. The two began to grapple, grabbing each other’s collars.

“Wow, this is a complete mess.”

“…What did you do?”

“Who knows? Maybe you guys are just playing friends? You know, kids like you, you talk about eternal friendship and all, but with just a little spark, you fight like this.”

Thud! Pak!

The guys fighting until one side becomes a pulp.

Of course.

“This shit…! Why… why can’t I stop!”

“Kuk! Kuhak…! Kak…!”

It’s also because I’m controlling them so they can’t stop.

“Hmm? Aren’t the other kids coming? Oh, they’re busy playing among themselves. Maybe they don’t want to include this old man.”

“…Are you an ability user?”

“Well… I might be, or I might not be.”

As if answering his question, I tightly clenched my fist.

Simultaneously, chaos unfolds.

Everyone attacking each other, blood splattering—a scene of mayhem.

Everyone is attacking each other without knowing why, following my control.

As the situation reached this point, Glasses glared at me.

“…Then there’s no need to hold back.”

Saying that with a grin, he looked more pitiful than scary.

At most, he’s just a guy who steals and fights against kids his own age.

“Here I come!”

With a solemn voice, he disappeared from sight. No, to be precise, he hid in my shadow.

His intentions were so obvious that I could only sigh.

Glasses suddenly emerged from the shadow and swung his fist.

However.

Thud—!

“…Kuk!?”

He punches his own face and staggers.

Tentacles have been attached to his body for a while now.

This idiot doesn’t even try to understand how his opponent fights.

He made a bewildered expression and then once again hid in the shadow to attack. With exactly the same method as before.

‘As expected.’

Even if he’s an ability user, he’s just a guy who steals at school. He probably never thought of training his ability.

Well, thanks to that, I can work easily like this.

“A method that failed once won’t work a second time. Are you stupid?”

“Kuhak!”

His punch’s trajectory changes, and he hits his own face.

What a real idiot.

I should correct his behavior thoroughly this time. At the very least, make it so he can’t touch Noah again.

“You…! Kuk! Hey! Stop…!”

“You should just shut up.”

Several people gathered around Glasses and began to stomp on him. The sound of beating resonated cheerfully.

I’ve taken care of one leader. Now for the remaining one.

“…”

“Hik!”

The queen bee’s trembling gaze suddenly turns toward me.

“P-please spare me—”

“That depends on your answer.”

“…What do you want…”

That’s simple.

“Never touch Noah again.”

“Yes…!”

“And don’t bully other kids either.”

Nod! Nod!

The queen bee nodding frantically.

This should keep things quiet for a while.

If it happens again… I’ll just punish them again.

I stared at her face intently and then grinned.

“This happened because kids were fighting among themselves. Understand?”

+++++

Noah bit her nails.

‘…I’m worried…’

What on earth is he doing to be this late?

He spoke so reassuringly, and gave her a look telling her to go ahead, so she did, but…

“Now, I will begin the class.”

The nervous-sounding voice of the new teacher was heard, and the class began. What on earth could he be talking about for more than 20 minutes?

A thought crossed her mind.

‘He’s not fighting, is he…?’

…It was entirely possible.

Once her thoughts went in that direction, she couldn’t think of anything else. The image of him surrounded by delinquent students, engaged in a fierce battle.

Was mister good at fighting?

‘This won’t do.’

“Teacher, may I go to the restroom—”

Slide—

“I’m sorry for being late.”

The teacher looked at the man entering and then at Noah simultaneously.

“…Um… Noah? What did you say?”

“…Nothing, I’m sorry.”

Noah stared at him, who had entered with perfect timing.

Contrary to her worry that he might have been fighting, the man looked clean and tidy.

‘So he didn’t fight, that’s a relief.’

If he had been seriously injured, she would have been upset. No, perhaps Iris the hero would have become Iris the villain.

As a villain who attacked high school students.

‘Whew… making me worry for nothing…’

Noah calmed her mind and sat down, but she felt something was off. She only noticed it after her heart settled.

‘Why is his outfit like that…?’

His clothes are unusual. A leather jacket and torn jeans within what should be an elegant, formal attire.

‘And what’s with the sunglasses!?’

To top it off, he was wearing sunglasses. The kind you’d see in a noir film.

‘So… embarrassing…!’

Though he was certainly someone she was grateful to and liked, at this moment she wished she could pretend not to know him. But contrary to such expectations:

“Um… which student’s guardian are you?”

“Ah, I’m here as Na Noah’s guardian. I apologize again for being late.”

She could feel the stares. Everyone’s gazes.

She wanted to hide in a mouse hole, but there was no escape.

“Ugh…”

Noah hung her head low.

“Noah, it’s your turn?”

Only when she heard the teacher calling her did she remember. It was time to express gratitude to the guardians who came to meet them.

Just as she was about to open her mouth, Noah felt her cheeks heating up again.

This time for a slightly different reason.

‘How am I supposed to read this…?’

[Like, like, like you, love you, like you so much, love you love you.]

There’s no way she could read that.

“…”

“Noah?”

“I… just… just a moment…”

Noah hurriedly turned to look at him. She needed to get some kind of hint.

With his arms crossed, he stood out particularly. But he did look cool. It suited him too.

“…The person who came to see me today is…”

Noah, trailing off slightly, soon continued.

“A bit strange, but still a cool person.”

That was the best Noah could do.

When Noah said that, the gazes turned toward Shin Hyun.

In their eyes as they turned their heads, they saw his face revealed as he took off his sunglasses.

A kind smile from a fairly delinquent-looking man. Even Noah could tell that their gazes changed to be more positive.

The effect was extraordinary.

People often talk about the gap effect, don’t they? The stark contrast in impression was so different that even Noah was surprised.

‘Could he have planned this from the beginning?’

If that’s true, it’s impossible to gauge how many steps ahead he’s thinking.

Why would he go to such lengths in the first place?

“…Haah.”

Noah rested her chin on her hand and let out a long sigh.

It was to hide her unusually pounding heart.

“He’s so cool…”

It seems the infatuation has taken hold properly.

To think even his appearance like that looks cool.

“Hey, Noah.”

A voice called from the seat next to her.

The classmate sitting next to her, with whom she occasionally chatted, wasn’t hiding her intrigued expression.

“Yes?”

“What’s your relationship with that person over there?”

“Just… a mister I know.”

“Hmm… doesn’t seem like it…”

“Why?”

Noah’s voice was filled with doubt.

Then the classmate pointed at Noah’s cheek.

“Your face is super red.”

Only then did Noah realize. Her cheeks had turned as red as a radish, to an extent that couldn’t be hidden.

‘Why is the class so long…!’

She wanted to hide in a mouse hole.