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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Vine
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My head is throbbing.
My vision is spinning.
I feel like I’m about to collapse and lose consciousness.
“Ah?”
Kang Maru, hero name ‘Great Order,’ who was sitting still, lost in those thoughts, only regained consciousness a full 10 minutes after the incident.
“…Oh my god.”
As soon as she came to her senses, she hurriedly got up and looked around, her expression gradually turning grim.
What she saw was the execution site in ruins.
Guards and soldiers still lying unconscious here and there clearly showed the severity of the situation.
“Any casualties?”
“None so far… but there are quite a few injuries.”
Great Order, looking devastated, stared at the scene of carnage.
She turned her head at the voice from beside her.
“The seriously injured are all from Student Lumia’s affiliated group. A coincidence, perhaps?”
“That’s unlikely. Begin the investigation.”
“By the way, it’s shameful as a hero that we only managed to enter after ‘Dominating Hands’ retreated.”
“We didn’t have many people on our side in the first place. We should be grateful there were no casualties…”
The heroes and the investigation team, who had belatedly managed to enter the building, were already investigating the scene.
“Ah, Great. You’re awake.”
Watching them, she started walking.
Several heroes recognized her and greeted her, but her attention was focused elsewhere.
“Lumia!!”
It was none other than Lumia, standing still near the collapsed wall.
“A-are you alright? Are you hurt…?”
Great Order, with a deeply worried expression, approached him, but stopped, feeling a slight chill.
“My favorite. My favorite…”
Lumia was muttering to himself with a dark expression she’d never seen before.
“…is gone.”
“Lumia…”
“Why? How? Everything was perfect, so why?”
Thinking that he must have been quite shocked by this incident, Great Order, with a similarly somber expression, carefully approached him.
“Why is the story different from the original? No, if this happens, Senior will be in danger. I have to do something…”
“Oh my, Lumia!”
She noticed Lumia’s fingernails, bleeding from being bitten repeatedly, and reached out with wide eyes.
“What is all this…”
“…Stop!”
And then, something completely unexpected happened to Great Order.
“Stop touching me… seriously.”
“…Huh?”
Lumia, who had slapped away her outstretched hand with all his might, was looking at her with a look of disgust.
“…”
A moment of silence flowed between the two.
“…G-Great…”
In that brief moment, Lumia returned to his usual innocent expression and started muttering incoherently with bewildered eyes.
“I-I’m sorry. T-this is the first time this has happened, so I lost control of my emotions… I got carried away…”
“…”
“I-I didn’t know things would turn out like this. All of this happened because of me. W-what should I do…? I’m scared, Great…”
He looked just like the usual Lumia.
“…Don’t worry.”
Slightly relieved, Great Order opened her arms and gently embraced Lumia.
“…I’ll figure something out.”
Lumia, nestled in her arms, began to tremble again.
‘That’s understandable.’
How emotionally overwhelmed must this innocent and kind child have been to react so strongly?
Seeing him still trembling, unable to control his emotions, made his strange behavior earlier somewhat understandable.
“Kim Ira, where are you?”
After comforting him for a while, patting his back, she started walking towards the investigation team, gritting her teeth.
“I know you’re here.”
Her current objective was to find the person presumed to be one of the masterminds behind this unprecedented incident, which had severely tarnished Lumia’s spotless reputation.
“Where are you hiding!! I already know your ability!!”
To find Kang Haneul’s sidekick and accomplice, Kim Ira.
“…Kim Ira? Where have I heard that name before?”
“Wasn’t she the one handing out posters at the office last time?”
“Ah, that strange poster saying Kang Haneul wasn’t the real culprit? But why are you suddenly looking for her?”
At Great Order’s sudden action, the heroes started murmuring, scratching their heads. Meanwhile, she glared at the collapsed guards.
“I command you. ‘Kim Ira,’ feel a burning pain throughout your body right now…”
Just as she was about to activate her ‘Concept,’ as she always did, to find Ira, who must be hiding somewhere here,
“…Ugh!?”
Suddenly, a tingling sensation, along with excruciating pain, washed over her.
“W-what’s happening?”
“Great, are you alright?”
“A-are you injured?”
Unable to finish her sentence, she gasped and rolled on the floor as the heroes around her rushed to her side.
“H-here! Get a medic…!”
‘What happened…?’
After rolling on the floor for a while, Great Order finally managed to get up with the help of the heroes.
‘Did I get injured without realizing it?’
She felt her body with a bewildered expression, but there were no visible injuries.
‘…I should be more careful next time.’
Perhaps it was simply the result of pushing herself too hard. Dismissing the heroes’ support with that assumption, Great Order tried to give the command again, this time as slowly as possible.
“I command you. Kim Ira…”
She couldn’t finish her sentence.
– *Shudder…*
The excruciating pain washed over her again, consuming Great Order’s body.
“Great!”
“Why are you doing this all of a sudden?”
Only then did Great Order begin to realize what had happened to her.
“W-what… what did you do to me…”
That’s right.
The culprit behind this phenomenon was Kang Haneul.
As a result of pushing himself to the point of almost losing consciousness, Kang Haneul was able to inflict a permanent alteration of common sense on her.
“What did you do…”
It was none other than the ‘Price of Ability.’
Now, whenever she gave a command that affected others, she would unconsciously give the same command to herself.
“Kang Haneul!!!”
A very simple yet most effective penalty. It was an unacceptable risk for her, who took giving commands for granted.
“How dare you… how dare you do this…”
Unable to accept that fact, Great Order stood frozen for a long time.
– *Rustle…*
“…!”
Then, she belatedly noticed something in her pocket and put her hand inside.
[Since you’re my only sibling, I can’t do more than this.]
A note came out with some dust.
[So, eat your side dishes well.]
Great Order, reading the note written in a very familiar handwriting, began to tremble all over.
[Goodbye forever.]
Somehow, her younger brother’s sorrowful face and voice seemed to linger around her.
“I… command…”
How much time had passed like that?
“…Kim Ira, reveal yourself to everyone.”
Great Order, her head hung low with the note crumpled in her hand, gave a new command in a barely audible voice.
– *Whoosh…*
And a moment later, she straightened up and walked towards the heroes who were looking at her with concern.
“G-greetings. I am Korea’s Rank 3 hero, world Rank 11 hero. And currently…”
“G-Great…?”
“The loyal servant… of Master Lumia… Kang Maru.”
Then, she suddenly raised her voice and declared so.
“…Um.”
Without even finding Kim Ira, her objective, she had suddenly come out in front of everyone.
“Um, are you really alright?”
“You should go to the hospital…”
‘You want me… to live like this… for the rest of my life?’
Flustered by the unexpected turn of events, she trembled with her head hung low, her face flushed red.
‘I can’t face Lumia…’
Then, she shifted her gaze towards where Lumia had been, her eyes downcast. But,
“…?”
Lumia, who had been there, was already gone.
“W-where’s Lumia?”
“He went somewhere by himself just now.”
“Right, he was muttering something about blonde hair.”
“That’s right, he said to tell you he won’t be able to see you for a while.”
The heroes answered Great Order’s bewildered question, scratching their heads, and then returned to their investigation.
Thus, Great Order was left alone.
“…What is this?”
The back of her hand, where Lumia had struck her earlier, throbbed for some reason.
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A few days later, at Dominating Hands’ secret hideout.
“How’s Haneul doing?”
“Not bad. He should wake up within the day.”
“Really? Then I should go wait. Thank you as always.”
At the hopeful report from the woman in the neat doctor’s coat, Paradise’s face brightened, and she headed towards Kang Haneul’s private room with a satisfied smile.
“Don’t worry, Haneul.”
Then, she whispered in a low voice.
“The self-proclaimed protagonist can’t touch you anymore.”
Paradise’s purple eyes shone quietly in the morning sunlight streaming through the window.
“Because I’ll protect you now.”
With that resolve, the moment she opened the door to the private room with a smile on her face,
“What did you do to Dice? Tell me before I kill you.”
“I didn’t do anything.”
“Say, Haneul, do you believe in God?”
“No.”
“Would you mind telling me your weight and height? Ah, it’s nothing…”
“…”
She saw Kang Haneul, who had just woken up, surrounded by executives, being simultaneously threatened, proselytized, and solicited for personal training.
> Hey, do you watch anime?
> Do you know how to program?
> What games do you play?
Pandora, with her eyes sparkling with anticipation, was hacking into his smartphone and sending chat messages in real time, which was a bonus.
– *Whoosh…*
“What are you guys doing?”
Countless cards flew out from Paradise’s arms, the smile on her face cracking, and rained down on them.
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