episode_0031

031

The center of South Korea, Daejeon.

I’m not talking about the social or cultural center. In a pure sense… when you look at it from a geographical perspective, Daejeon was the center of South Korea.

Of course, the term “geographical center” became somewhat awkward after the reunification with the North. Nevertheless, Daejeon still played a central role in South Korea.

“Indeed, Daejeon… is quite big.”

Although it is not even half the size compared to Seoul, when you look at the changes, it was a massive scale comparable to Gangnam!

This was due to the fact that the Korean Hero Headquarters was located in Daejeon. Being the most important facility, it naturally attracted human resources and various capitals, leading to tremendous growth.

This is the development of Daejeon that I learned from textbooks. However, according to Kim Yerin, it seems to be different from reality.

“If that place is breached, it won’t be good.”

“Huh? It’s not even the front line.”

“From the inside. Well, you’ll find out later.”

I was very curious about what this meant, but for now, let’s move on.

“If we could go to Level 1 area, it would be great.”

“What do you mean? You and the professor are A-rank heroes.”

“We do have access, but not Seonghyun and Hanyuri.”

At this point, I became curious. Areas? Are there places in South Korea that you can’t enter? Are they referring to some military facility?

“Why do we need to go to these ‘areas’?”

“Because that’s where the address you provided is.”

I located Victoria’s location with my skill and informed Hanyeong and Yerin of the address.

Upon hearing the address, both of them looked very serious. It seems that you need special qualifications to go there.

“There are several places in Korea where you can’t enter without special qualifications. The place you mentioned is one of them.”

“Why did that happen?”

“Because of the existence of S-rank superhumans. They are ‘ordinary’ superhumans who are not members of the Hero Association.”

I was frozen by those words. S-rank! Are these beings, closer to anomalies than living creatures, dangerous just by existing?

“Specific S-rank superhumans release power and turn the surrounding space into their nest. If you don’t follow specific rules, ordinary people can’t survive inside.”

“Hieek…”

“Many A-rank superhumans are working as agents in Level 1 area. Perhaps Victoria is one of them.”

At this point, I was truly terrified. How can a human like me survive in such a place? And can I make Victoria mine while avoiding the eyes of S-rank superhumans?

“Hmm. Of all places, it’s the area of ‘Exciting Heart Attack.’”

“It’s a relief that all the rules are known in that area. Maybe we can get permission.”

Exciting Heart Attack? Oh, I’ve heard of that before. It’s the name of a famous idol group!

“Wait a minute! Exciting Heart Attack is an S-rank superhuman?!”

“Strictly speaking, only the leader, Jung Soojin. The rest of the members are villains who have committed crimes.”

Oh my goodness! I’ve heard their songs several times, so I know them well. They are a group that is incredibly popular not only in Korea but also overseas.

“Jung Soojin has been debuting for about 5 years now. The number of members who have changed during that time is 239.”

“That many?”

“Of course. If you include ‘stage staff’ and ‘potential concert attendees,’ the number easily exceeds four digits.”

…Wait, what? Still, just by listening to what they’re saying, it seems like they haven’t killed as many people for an S-rank.

“We are now going to enter the stage as staff members…. But you two will have to enter as potential audience members.”

“Is that so?”

“Victoria will probably be on the staff. Hmm…. What should we do? If we want to provoke that girl, we’ll have to go in that direction.”

Right now, it’s questionable whether we can even go to the Grade 1 area, and we have to infiltrate there….

But this is not the time. We have to endure 1234 hours of continuous harassment from these three? That’s really unreasonable. We absolutely cannot endure it.

I steeled my heart and looked at Kim Yerin and Baek Hanyoung.

“I want to go as staff. Please find a way.”

I know this is forced, but there is no other way.

“Sung Hyun….”

“Sung Hyun.”

They looked at me with a worried expression. But I have no intention of changing my mind.

“If I’m with Yuri, it’ll be safe. Right?”

“Yeah…? Uh, yeah! Of course.”

“Ah, well. Then I’ll try to use all my resources. I want to stop you…. But if I mobilize everyone, it should work somehow.”

It feels like I’ve thrown myself into a pit of fire. But on the other hand, I felt a little proud to show an active side.

“However! There is one condition.”

“Yes, I’ll do anything.”

“Don’t die. Got it? I’ll give you the easiest role….”

“I understand. That’s what I was hoping for too.”

Kim Yerin hugged me without saying a word. It was a warm feeling. At the same time, her body was trembling slightly, indicating how nervous she was.

“I want to have sex.”

Ah, I see. Well, then.

***

The Grade 1 area, ‘Exciting Heart Attack Concert Rehearsal Stage,’ is held once a week.

The timing is always random. It usually opens at 3 p.m., but it can also open at 9 a.m., and if you’re unlucky, it could even be held in the middle of the night.

Now was the usual time. 2:30 p.m. Yuri and I were nervously preparing for the stage.

“Mineral…. Water, right?”

“Yes. And it has to be from Company A. If it changes, report it immediately and bring the right one.”

The mission assigned to the stage staff is varied, but I was in charge of a relatively simple task. It was to ‘monitor’ the drink that Jung Sujin would have after finishing her performance.

I insisted on A Company’s mineral water, and if for some reason it changes or disappears, I would become the next ingredient.

Am I going to live in fear because of this? But they said that if it’s only a C-grade superhuman, this task can be easily handled, so I didn’t have to worry at all.

“Victoria is…?”

“Shh, she’s over there.”

I looked at Victoria, who entered the stage as a staff member just like me, with a nervous expression.

She was overall very white. It felt like seeing a ghost born in a snowfield. Her face, body, and hair were all pure white. The atmosphere itself gave off a pure impression of innocence.

‘She’s pretty.’

She seemed like a Western beauty with an Eastern atmosphere. It felt like taking the advantages of both races and mixing them.

“You seem whiter than me.”

“That’s true….”

“Shh, look over here. Let’s go back to monitoring the water bottle.”

As far as I know, Victoria’s role is ‘security.’ She just has to block crazy audience members who rush onto the stage, which is a simple task for an A-grade superhuman.

I looked at her and then turned my head again. It’s not the right timing yet. I need to wait a little longer….

[Welcome everyone to my performance!]

Before long, the performance began. The owner of a fresh voice was heard jumping around on stage.

In the audience, there were many people, but no one moved a muscle.

‘Is that a corpse play or something?’

In this performance, one must focus solely on the song ‘Exciting Heart Attack’. Touching a phone or making loud noises is never tolerated. Otherwise, an attack will be launched immediately.

“Hmm….”

The performance went smoothly. The idol’s singing and dancing that can be seen on TV. It seemed like the performance would continue smoothly.

“Ah.”

Of course, if life continues to be smooth, there would be no such thing as hardship. Trouble soon ensued.

“Ah, no!”

One of the members of Exciting Heart Attack made a mistake while rapping and dancing. Not only did they mess up the lyrics a bit, but they also stumbled on their steps.

What will happen if that happens? I know I’ll die, but….

“Wait a minute! Please spare me! I won’t make any mistakes again, I promise….”

“Sorry, Hyojin. You’re fired.”

Crack! A person’s head exploded right in front of me. Just like a can expanding and bursting.

Despite this cruel phenomenon, all the people in the audience did not change their expression. It seemed like this was common.

The sight of such detachment gave me goosebumps. Even if they were villains sentenced to death, a person died without any reaction. It’s truly horrifying.

“Darn it! This is frustrating! We can’t continue the performance like this! It can’t be helped. We have to recruit a new member!”

“A, a new member? Why are we recruiting now… This is a big problem.”

Victoria’s voice, filled with confusion, came out of her mouth. Is this the first time this pattern has happened? Didn’t she say she had it all figured out!?

“Ms. Victoria! You seem to have potential for Exciting Heart Attack. What do you think?”

Jeong Sujin turned around and looked at Victoria, who was in charge of security duties.

This… is something I never imagined.