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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Vine
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Ariel Everley.
A freshman at the International Hero Academy who had only aspired to be a hero for a few months.
“I’m talking to you, why are you ignoring me?”
“…Huh?”
She faced the greatest challenge of her life on her very first day of school.
“Don’t you remember, Ariel?”
Trauma. The supervillain who appeared like a comet just a week ago. An unpredictable and uncontrollable being whose identity and purpose were unknown.
“We met before.”
This terrifying individual was talking to her, a transparent barrier erected around them, blocking anyone from approaching.
“A-are you talking about the incident at the academy?”
Ariel, tense and sweating, slowly spoke under Trauma’s silent pressure.
“T-thank you for back then.”
“…”
“For saving… me and Great…”
However, she trailed off, unable to finish her sentence.
“Is that so?”
Because Trauma’s atmosphere, as he slowly tilted his head and muttered, was ominous.
‘H-his aura changed.’
The lifeless, doll-like appearance from a week ago was gone.
‘Why? I definitely saw it back then.’
What she had seen during the brief moment when he attacked the monster that attacked them.
‘…Sister’s image.’
The resemblance to her sister, Justitia, had also disappeared.
“I see.”
Now, all she felt from Trauma, whispering so, was
…an abysmal darkness.
“W-what are you trying to say?”
Ariel involuntarily started backing away from the chilling sensation.
“*Gasp*…!”
Just then, a terrified voice came from behind Trauma.
“I’m not going to say it, I’m going to show you.”
As Trauma raised his hand, Ariel saw a citizen behind him clutching his throat and trembling.
“W-wait!”
Seeing that, she desperately reached out.
“Let’s talk…!”
– *Crack…!*
However, it was too late.
“Ah.”
The citizen, having completely broken his own neck, collapsed lifelessly.
“That’s one.”
Ariel stared blankly at the scene, then shifted her gaze to Trauma at his words.
“That’s one person who died because you, a hero, couldn’t stop me, a villain.”
Her legs started trembling.
“S-save me!!”
“M-my body is moving on its own…”
“Y-you villain…”
The hostages behind her and Trauma started panicking after witnessing the murder.
‘L-Lumia…’
Trembling at the unbearable sight, Ariel started looking for someone who could help.
‘…No, it’s no use. There’s no way.’
However, Lumia, who was somehow unaffected by the ability, was just scratching at the barrier with her fingernails, gritting her teeth.
Judging by that, it seemed even she had no clear solution.
“What are you looking at?”
– *Crack…*
Ariel didn’t know what to do. This wasn’t something she, an aspiring hero who hadn’t even received proper training, could handle.
However, as three more hostages twisted their own necks and collapsed,
“Stop it!!!”
…Ariel screamed and lunged at Trauma.
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A few minutes later.
“Cough, cough…”
“Yes, that’s a hero.”
Trauma, looking at Ariel collapsed before him, gasping for breath, muttered in a monotone.
“But being weak can’t be helped.”
As he said, Ariel was a mess, her lips split, bruises covering her body, and her long hair burned short.
“Why…?”
All the hostages in the front row outside the barrier were already dead, their necks broken.
“Why are you doing this…?”
She threw herself at him countless times, but couldn’t save anyone.
“Why won’t you kill me? Why are you doing this to me?!”
Her desperate cry, her spirit almost broken.
“You said it to me.”
Trauma sat down next to Ariel and whispered in a low voice.
“That I’m a hero.”
“Why does that…”
“It’s annoying.”
His gaze was directed at the news helicopter hovering above.
“If you see me as a hero, we can’t be nemeses.”
“For… such a trivial reason?”
Ariel’s trembling voice echoed within the barrier.
“Why am I your nemesis in the first place?”
Her frail hand grasped Trauma’s cloak.
“Why… do I have to fight you…?”
Just as a tear rolled down Ariel’s cheek,
“There’s a good reason.”
…Trauma grabbed her shoulder and slowly helped her up.
“Because…”
The eyehole of his still-cracked mask met her gaze.
“…I killed your sister.”
A brief silence.
“…What?”
“You hid the fact that you’re Justitia’s sister quite well.”
Trauma gently stroked Ariel’s hair, who had turned pale and asked.
“But you resemble her so much. You can’t fool everyone forever.”
Ariel pushed away his hand with all her might and moved away from him.
“No way.”
Crawling backwards, she muttered with a shocked expression.
“But the one who killed my sister…”
“Was Kang Haneul?”
Trauma cut her off, spreading his arms and shouting.
“Yes!”
His voice echoed loudly within the barrier.
“I am Kang Haneul!”
Ariel, staring blankly at Trauma after his declaration, her expression slowly distorted.
“There’s no need to hide my identity just because I’m wearing a mask. Don’t you think?”
“Y-you…”
“But, come to think of it, I don’t want everyone gossiping about my identity.”
He crouched in front of her and took something out of his pocket.
“So, let’s keep this our little secret.”
“Ah…”
Before she could react, he used the hypnosis app and implanted a suggestion in Ariel.
“By the way, you’re quite naive.”
“W-what did you do to me? And what is that smartphone…?”
Ariel, who had been staring at the smartphone with unfocused eyes, finally came to her senses at Trauma’s words, filled with amusement.
“I was just testing the power I took from your sister for fun, and you call me a hero. And you keep attacking me, believing you can actually defeat me.”
“…”
“That foolish side of you… resembles your sister.”
Trauma muttered, the amusement gone from his voice, as he looked at Ariel.
“But, I’m getting bored now.”
“…What?”
“I love that you resemble your sister in both appearance and personality. But you don’t resemble her in strength at all, do you?”
Hearing that, Ariel’s eyes started burning.
“Your sister said this in her last moments.”
Seeing that, Trauma smiled briefly, then continued.
“That her younger sister would become stronger than her someday. And that she would become a great hero who would defeat me someday.”
“…”
“That was your childhood dream, wasn’t it?”
A faint memory surfaced in Ariel’s mind.
Her sister, who was always busy and rarely visited, but sent letters every day.
The letters, half of which were about her partner, and her replying that she would become a great hero like her sister.
However, after realizing the limitations of her inherent concept, and her sister’s secret, she had to give up on that dream.
“But I think I was wrong.”
Trauma began to exploit that very point.
“A weak girl like you, who doesn’t even show any sign of attacking even after I’ve given you so many openings, could never become a great hero.”
There was nothing she could say to refute him. Trauma was still openly exposing his weaknesses. If it were anyone else, if it were Lumia who was pounding on the barrier from outside, they would at least have been able to counterattack.
“Forget it, let’s just end this.”
Just as that thought filled Ariel’s mind, Trauma’s voice rang out.
With those words, all the remaining hostages clutched their throats.
And chaos ensued.
There wasn’t enough time for a hero capable of resolving this situation to arrive.
‘I want to defeat him.’
In this desperate moment, with countless lives about to be lost in mere seconds,
‘I want to protect everyone’s lives, their smiles.’
…Ariel, staggering to her feet, was
‘Even if it means my death.’
…burning with fighting spirit, unlike her usual self.
‘As my sister told me.’
After Justitia’s death, she had chosen the path of a hero as if possessed.
Outwardly, she always pretended to be cheerful, but
…inwardly, she had been lost and wandering, and
…it was at that moment that she found a stronger purpose than ever before: to help others, even at the cost of her own life.
‘Just one hit.’
‘Just let me land one good hit.’
And as if waiting for this very moment,
– *Crackle…!*
…a miracle happened.
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“Uwaaaaaaa!!!”
Ariel, Justitia’s younger sister, so much like her. She started running towards me with a desperate cry.
– *Crackle… Crackle…!*
A tremendous energy started flowing through her arms, her legs, her entire body.
<Insight (LV2)>
◆ Name: Ariel Everley
◆ Sex: Female (17)
◆ Inherent Concept: [Hero’s Concept]
◆ Special Notes
– [Unawakened]
Looking at the energy and the information from the Insight skill, I smiled and thought to myself.
‘As expected, she’s the protagonist.’
The ‘Hero’s Concept.’
Truly a protagonist-like ability.
“No… Senior… please don’t…”
Her personality and character were also much more protagonist-like than the self-proclaimed protagonist muttering something in the distance.
“Choose me… choose me… please…”
The fact that she was walking down the street with Lumia must have been because she was being wary of him for some reason.
“That route won’t dooooo!!”
Lumia’s cry echoed, but it was drowned out by the destructive sound of Ariel approaching.
“That’s it.”
“Shut uuuuuup!!”
From now on, I would add another goal: to make this child the strongest hero in the world.
Our protagonist, who would end this dark age.
I would become the filthy fertilizer for her growth.
“My sister!! Liked you… so much!!!”
With that thought, I quietly closed my eyes as Ariel’s attack flew towards my chest.
The Grotesqueries that had been targeting her were all dealt with during the hostage situation just now.
There was also a way to share the terrible backlash she would receive from this blow.
Lumia, looking devastated in the distance, wouldn’t be able to do anything reckless because of the news helicopter hovering above.
“Why did you kill my sister!!!”
It was time for me to take responsibility for her, instead of Justitia.
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