Evil Organization’s Extra Mr. A – Chapter 25

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Xrecker
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I first noticed the changes in my body when I was in my second year of middle school.

My parents initially dismissed it as a normal part of puberty, and I believed them.

But six months later, I realized their words hadn’t been meant to reassure me; they’d been avoiding the truth, the truth about me becoming a superhuman.

Scientists from the Earth Defense Alliance came to my school, and I was taken to their research facility in their car. Dressed in white coats, they observed me as I experienced more changes, and I soon realized my body was developing abilities beyond human limits.

My strength increased exponentially when I focused, and any injuries healed instantly. I never felt tired, no matter how much I exerted myself, and when I concentrated, the world around me seemed to slow down.

It felt like a switch had been flipped inside me, granting me superhuman powers.

My stay at the research facility was long. I spent six months there, unable to go home. No matter how much I cried and pleaded, the adults wouldn’t listen.

There were other children at the facility, but I never saw them. After six months, I was finally allowed to return home.

I cried uncontrollably when I saw my parents after such a long time, but they didn’t look at me. They only talked to the researchers who’d brought me back, showing no interest or concern for me.

When I went back to school, my friends had moved on to the third year, and so had I. They’d made so many memories without me, and I almost felt a pang of loneliness, but my friends welcomed me back.

I was relieved they were happy to see me. But two days later, they started avoiding me. They wouldn’t answer when I spoke to them and wouldn’t look at me. I felt like I was there, but not there, like a ghost.

I hadn’t always been so outgoing. I wasn’t particularly introverted either, just average.

When it was time for high school, I asked my parents to send me to a school far away. They still avoided my gaze but granted my request.

I started attending the new school. My parents had sternly warned me not to tell anyone I was a superhuman. It wasn’t a request; it was a threat.

High school was a happy time. I didn’t know anyone, having come from far away, but that allowed me to reinvent myself. I became more outgoing, made friends, and they accepted me without prejudice.

I knew I’d developed earlier than my peers. Perhaps because of that, the boys who approached me always had ulterior motives. I hadn’t been close to any boys since then.

I learned that people enjoyed my company when I was energetic and proactive. So, I often acted even more outgoing than I felt, and sometimes, I wondered who I really was, but it didn’t matter. This was better than being ostracized.

In my second year of high school, my parents got me an apartment near the school. They said they’d give me an allowance until I graduated and told me to live there. I was relieved. Living alone was better than living with parents who wouldn’t even look at me.

I graduated from high school. Just like my middle school graduation, my parents didn’t attend. I hadn’t heard from them since, and the only money left in my account was the last allowance they’d sent. I’d known since moving into the apartment that they’d abandoned me.

I wanted to go to university. I wanted to study cosmetology and had even chosen a school. I studied hard and got good grades. But I couldn’t go. I had to find a way to support myself after becoming an adult, so I worked various part-time jobs.

Now that I was independent from my parents, I thought it would be okay, so I proudly told people I was a superhuman. Being different could be an interesting conversation starter.

People avoided me.

The people I’d chatted and laughed with until yesterday no longer welcomed me.

Why? I hadn’t changed. Did they hate me just because I was a superhuman?

The Earth Defense Alliance contacted me. They asked if I was interested in working for them, protecting Earth.

I was a superhuman, and there were alien invaders who’d come to Earth to conquer it. With my powers, I could help people, and maybe they wouldn’t ostracize me anymore. Yes, if I became a celebrated hero of justice, everything would be okay.

Three years had passed since I joined the Earth Defense Alliance. Nothing had changed in my life. I won duels, found new jobs, proudly declared myself a superhuman, and people avoided me.

But I didn’t give up. There had to be someone out there who wouldn’t judge me, someone who saw me as Kwon Yu-ra, not just Pink of Hunter Killer.

I started working at a cafe a short distance from my apartment. It was a couple of bus stops away, within walking distance, so I thought it would be convenient. I couldn’t quit my part-time jobs. While the Earth Defense Alliance provided a salary, it wasn’t enough to live on.

After paying rent, taxes, and bills, there was nothing left.

While working at the café counter, a man kept pestering me for my number. I finally snapped and threw him out of the café when he started raising his voice, and the owner called me over.

“You’re a superhuman?”

Experience had taught me what this meant. I was about to be fired.

“Go back to work.”

“Huh?”

Her words were unlike anything I’d ever heard before.

“I said go back to work. Or do you want to quit?”

“N-no!”

The owner said I could keep working at the café. She didn’t judge me and saw me as Kwon Yu-ra, a person. A few days later, I asked her,

“Owner, why didn’t you fire me even though you know I’m a superhuman?”

“Why would I? I always hire pretty and handsome people, even if they’re not good at their jobs. Being a superhuman isn’t a flaw. What’s wrong with a pretty girl wanting to work here?”

Her casual words touched me deeply, and I decided to keep working at the café. Perhaps influenced by the owner’s acceptance, the other staff members also accepted me for who I was, knowing I was a superhuman.

One day, the owner told me,

“From today onwards, you’ll be working in the kitchen, not at the counter.”

I understood her reasoning. While she didn’t have any prejudice, rumors about a superhuman working at the café might deter customers. I didn’t mind. As long as I could keep working at a place that accepted me, that was enough.

While it was probably a thoughtless decision on the owner’s part, I tried to stay out of sight for her sake. I wore a baggy jumpsuit and a mask, so customers wouldn’t recognize me if they happened to see the kitchen. I occasionally went to the counter to deal with difficult customers, but no one seemed to mind.

After two years at the café, we got an unusual new hire. Many people had come and gone, but they all quit quickly. They probably didn’t want to work with a superhuman.

This new guy would probably quit soon, too.

“No, I mean about me being a superhuman.”

“I don’t care about that.”

He was strange. Most people pretended to be accepting, saying “I see” before quietly avoiding me, but he said it didn’t matter.

He was my age and had apparently lived abroad when he was young. Was it common to see superhumans in other countries?

His name was “A.” It was an unusual name, even for a foreigner, and I’d initially tried to add the honorific “-ssi,” but it sounded like a curse word, so I wasn’t sure what to call him. Since we were the same age, I thought it would be nice to be friendly, so I jokingly called him “Ah-ssi,” and he didn’t seem to mind.

Following A’s advice, I decided to tell my friends I was a superhuman. They were my longtime friends, and it had been a while since we’d seen each other since becoming adults, so I thought they would accept me.

Working at the café for years had made me forget. Superhumans weren’t welcome, even among ordinary people. What had I done wrong? What was wrong with me?

Distraught, I went to the convenience store near the subway station and drank alone. I was used to drinking alone. I’d never had anyone to drink with.

A appeared as I was getting drunk. He drank with me and took me home. A accepted me without prejudice. Thanks to him, I reconciled with Red and became friends.

A called me his friend. I had a friend.

I’d gone drinking with A. We went to a place near the subway station, a place I’d wanted to try because it was always crowded. I took a while to get ready, perhaps because I was trying too hard, but it was still fun.

A coworker teased me, but I enjoyed it. It was my first time going out for drinks with a friend. I hoped A liked drinking with me, too.

It was raining. I could clearly hear voices from inside the café, near the back door where I’d worked for two years. It was the coworker I’d worked with for six months and another girl who’d been there even longer.

The rain faded, and their voices seemed to echo around me.

“Psycho superhuman,” “Desperate bitch,” “Flirting with every new guy,” “Everyone hates her,” “Slut”…

What had I done wrong? I was just a superhuman.

Was that so wrong? Was my existence itself a sin?

Then… what was I supposed to do?

I turned away from the cafe’s back door, placed the umbrella in Yu-ra’s hand, picked up the one she’d dropped, and headed towards the cafe.

“!”

The two women who’d been badmouthing Yu-ra were startled when I opened the back door and entered. Then they smiled and greeted me.

“A, what brings you here at this hour?”

“Yu-ra left her wallet. I came to get it for her.”

I smiled back. I wanted to curse them out, but I pretended I hadn’t heard anything, acting as if everything was normal, went to the storage room, and retrieved Yu-ra’s wallet from a shelf.

I considered Yu-ra a friend, and their baseless gossip infuriated me.

“Then I’ll be going.”

“Okay, have a safe trip back.”

I didn’t respond to their farewell and left the café. Yu-ra was still standing there. Her t-shirt was soaked, and I took off my shirt and draped it over her shoulders, then closed her umbrella.

I opened mine and, without a word, led her home, her gaze unfocused, staring into space.

I’d been there once before, so I didn’t get lost. I didn’t speak to her on the way, and she didn’t speak to me.

We walked to Yu-ra’s apartment in silence.

The walk, which had felt long when I carried her home drunk, didn’t take long this time.

“…”

We stood at the entrance of her building, still silent. I placed the umbrella in her hand.

“Go inside and rest. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

There was nothing I could do for her. I thought she needed some time alone, so I gave her the umbrella, opened mine, and slowly walked away.

The rain intensified, the sound growing louder, and the splashing of water with each step grated on my nerves. Even the rain seemed to be mocking her.

20 steps? 30 steps? I didn’t know how far I’d walked. I just knew it wasn’t far, and in that short time, I’d experienced a whirlwind of emotions. I looked back, just in case, to see if she’d gone inside.

She was still standing there, motionless, in the same spot where I’d left her, her gaze lost, like a statue.

I couldn’t leave her standing there alone in the pouring rain, so I turned back.

“Let’s go inside.”

I hesitated as I was about to enter the passcode at the entrance. I’d seen her enter the code that day when she was drunk, so I knew it. Should I really go inside? I hesitated, but I prioritized getting her home safely.

We took the elevator to the 7th floor. I held her hand, guiding her, and checked on her one last time in front of her door.

Suppressing a sigh, I opened the door and led her inside. I took off her shoes and helped her sit down on the living room sofa. Despite the umbrella, we were both drenched from the heavy rain.

“You’re soaked.”

I went to the bathroom, grabbed two towels, and draped one over her legs, using the other to dry her wet hair.

“…”

I couldn’t speak. I felt like any word I uttered might break her.

I couldn’t see her eyes behind the towel, but her trembling lower lip was clearly visible. I’d never seen anyone’s lips tremble like that.

Where had things gone wrong? Going back to the café to get her wallet? Agreeing to drinks? Running into those women before leaving? No matter how far I rewound the events, I couldn’t pinpoint the mistake.

It was a pointless exercise. I didn’t know anything and had no way of knowing.

The only thing I knew was that Yu-ra had seemed happy while we were drinking together.

“You’re soaked, so take a shower and go to bed.”

Why was Yu-ra being treated like this? Why were superhumans treated like this?

Shouldn’t they be directing their hatred towards Spacetroe? Why did they hate the superhumans fighting to protect them more than the invaders?

Why was Yu-ra receiving the hatred that should have been directed at us?

Trying to comfort her now would be hypocritical. I was a Spacetroe soldier, sent to monitor her; we were enemies.

“I’ll be going.”

I put down the towel after drying her hair and stood up to leave. Just then, I felt a tug on my shirt and stopped.

She was holding onto my shirt with a trembling hand, her grip weak, as if she desperately wanted to hold on but lacked the strength.

I took her hand and sat back down beside her.

Yu-ra had just lost the one place where she felt accepted. Even though I was the enemy, I might be the only person in the world who saw her without prejudice.

Words of comfort wouldn’t help.

What could I say to her? Should I just stay by her side?

Would that be enough?

Her eyes, hidden behind her bangs, were trembling. I saw her biting her lower lip, trying to hold back her tears.

“I won’t go.”

Her carefully constructed walls crumbled, and she burst into tears.

She sobbed uncontrollably, like a child who’d lost something precious.

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