—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: JayM
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
It was sudden, but what was a hero, anyway?
Someone who subdued villains who committed crimes?
That wasn’t wrong, but I thought a little differently.
A true hero, in the real sense of the word, was someone who could prevent incidents from happening in the first place, right?
Because the moment an incident occurred, there would always be a victim.
The Fighting Demon was an unexpected variable that messed things up, but I had already taken measures for everything else.
Even when I approached the guy who was yelling his head off in fear, he just stupidly held out the switch to me.
He probably thought I was bluffing.
But if he didn’t run away, it was easier for me.
“Boom.”
I playfully pressed the button on the switch he offered, and everyone there stared at me in shock.
They must have thought I was crazy.
Don’t look at me like that.
I was perfectly sane.
One second passed, then two.
Of course, there was no explosion, not even a small bang.
“…Huh?”
“Why? Do you think only that switch is broken? Why don’t you check the others?”
He was so flustered that he couldn’t even think of stopping me as I approached them and signaled his subordinates. But even when they frantically pressed the detonation switches, the bombs didn’t react.
It was only natural.
The problem wasn’t the switches, but the bombs themselves.
“It’s useless, you idiots. I’ve already taken care of all your tricks.”
Their gazes, with a different meaning than before, focused on me.
But I hadn’t actually done anything myself.
I just sent a letter.
Our little witch had already set up all sorts of protective measures in the orphanage, making it quite safe from various attacks.
There was no way they could get through her defenses against magical bombs with something like old-fashioned explosives.
The problem was that in the original story, the Twelve Zodiacs intervened in this incident, deceiving her with a cursed fake philosopher’s stone and neutralizing most of her countermeasures.
Naturally, I had already rendered the Twelve Zodiacs incapable of functioning properly. And since the Arcadia guys, who had replaced the Twelve Zodiacs here, wouldn’t intervene once they realized that the target was an orphanage, they weren’t a big problem.
They would probably get angry that the contract terms were misleading.
“Don’t look at me like that, you bastards. Are you trying to make me shy or something?”
This fight was practically over.
Professor Park Ah-ram would have heard about the commotion here by now, so wouldn’t she be arriving soon?
“H-Haha. It doesn’t matter if the bombs don’t work! It’s not over yet, so don’t act like you’ve already won!”
But he still seemed to have some hope left as he refused to give up.
“Really? That guy over there looks like he wants to blow your heads off. You know it’s not a crime to kill villains, right?”
“I don’t know what you did to the bombs, but this isn’t our main force! Our true elites are waiting, so it’s not over yet!”
Your main force that can’t even defeat one Fighting Demon? Not only was I not scared, but I had already taken measures for it as well.
“Ah, yeah. That’s right. You’re not the main force. But unless your main force teleports here right now, I don’t think your head will remain intact for long.”
“Ugh…!”
“And listen carefully when someone’s talking to you, idiot. I just told you…”
He hurriedly made a call, but there would be no answer.
I smiled at him as he shook his head in disbelief.
“…I’ve already taken care of all of your tricks.”
They appeared as villains in the original story, but the Yoo-sung Group really did have secretly trained superhuman soldiers.
There was only one reason they weren’t deployed here.
I had already told my father about their headquarters.
And Kang Hyun-woo, the chairman of the Yoo-sung Group, was a man who didn’t hesitate to crush his enemies.
As he anxiously continued making calls, his face brightened when someone finally answered, but it quickly hardened as he heard the other person’s voice.
I couldn’t hear it, but it was probably one of the soldiers my father trained.
In other words, excluding the injured ones, the twenty or so remaining here were their last fighting force.
“T-This can’t be happening.”
“What can’t be happening, you bastard? You act like you had some elaborate plan. Did it feel good backstabbing that guy earlier? Did you feel like you were some hotshot who was capable of manipulating even an S-rank villain?”
Ah, I guess my mouth was working well right now because I was annoyed.
“But you’re not. You’re just a small fry, an idiot. You’re not even the one running Miel, are you?”
“…What? Y-You, no, how much do you know?”
“I know everything you know. I also know most of what you don’t know. But does that matter?”
“…Excuse me?”
“To someone who’s about to die here. What are you so curious about?”
“…Can I do it?”
What awaited them wasn’t a battle, but a one-sided massacre by a demon obsessed with fighting.
I didn’t answer and turned back to Ha-ni. Taking my silence as consent, the Fighting Demon unleashed his aura.
“It’s been a long time since I felt this disgusted.”
“B-But, we’re both villains…”
“Don’t bullshit me. Even villains have standards.”
“…Everyone, stop him…!”
“Can rabbits, even ten or twenty of them, resist a tiger? You trash.”
The Fighting Demon took a deep breath and roared.
“Today! None of you will leave this place alive…!”
A bloody wind swept through the area the moment he finished speaking.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Ha-ni watched the whole scene unfold in a daze.
What caught her attention wasn’t the giant’s overwhelming power, nor was it the magical arrows that rained down on her.
From beginning to end, her gaze followed a single boy.
The boy who had moved like a different person after she collapsed.
The boy who had faced the giant with self-deprecating humor.
The boy who had displayed movements she couldn’t have imagined from him.
The boy who had smiled reassuringly as he protected her from the countless magical arrows raining down from the sky.
The boy who had fed her a potion with a mix of emotions in his eyes and a trembling voice.
The boy who had spewed harsh words and intimidated his opponent more than necessary, fueled by an unknown rage.
She kept watching him.
In that potentially dangerous situation, the emotion that surfaced in her dizzy mind was surprise, and then, curiosity.
He could be angry because his friend was injured in battle.
But this was the first time she had seen him lose control like that.
She wasn’t dead. Of course, it was dangerous there for a moment, but she was just dizzy in the end, and her internal injuries weren’t that serious.
But the way he looked at her after she was attacked with such deep anxiety, as if she might die at any moment…
‘…Is my condition that bad?’
She checked her body with magic just in case, but it wasn’t.
Nothing was broken, and her internal injuries were minor, the kind that she could heal quickly with a little focus.
She could guarantee that it wasn’t serious enough to warrant the high-grade potion he gave her.
Then where did the sense of loss, fear, and worry directed at her in his expression come from?
As she pondered this, he returned to her side.
She wondered if he was the same person who had spewed venomous words just now. His gaze was filled with excessive worry, regret, and… affection.
…Wait, affection?
Did she see wrong? She felt an emotion far more intense than friendship in his expression.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I can move now.”
“That’s good.”
She could feel his excessive relief.
Was he that worried?
She shouldn’t be thinking this about a friend who was worried about her, but seeing him worried about her made her suddenly want to tease him.
Perhaps it was because she strangely liked the ticklish feeling of someone she had feelings for worrying about her.
A desire to see him embarrassed like usual arose.
“Hey, were you that scared I might die? Enough to rush at a monster like that?”
“Yeah.”
“Hey, don’t be embarrassed… Huh?”
He, whom she had expected to be embarrassed, looked at her with unexpectedly calm and serious eyes.
“I was worried, scared. Ah, and anxious. When you flew off, it felt like everything went dark for me.”
His small smile seemed different than usual. It was a different kind of charm… no, that wasn’t it.
This wasn’t what she had wanted to hear…
She just wanted to see him embarrassed like usual when she teased him, but his serious response made her face flush.
But regardless, Kang So-hyun continued.
He wasn’t aware of it himself, but he was in a very unstable state, influenced by the emotions from the memories that surfaced from beyond the noise.
“I regretted it. Back then, I thought it was the right thing to do, pushing you away, rejecting you. Everything was already twisted, and I thought it was right to go back to the original flow, even if just a little.”
“Uh, yeah. I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I get it. So-hyun, I get it, so could you back away a little? Your sense of distance is really strange right now…”
He slowly reached out his hand.
Huh? Was he going to touch her forehead because she was hurt? As if mocking that thought, his hand gently touched her cheek.
“…Eek…!?”
…Huh? Did that sound come from me?
“I couldn’t say it back then. So I wanted to say it this time.”
“That…”
“Never again.”
“…Huh?”
“I tried so hard so that you, all of you, wouldn’t get hurt again. But it wasn’t enough.”
Her heart pounded. Well, her heart always pounded, but now it was beating abnormally loudly and quickly.
She could barely hear what he was saying.
“I promise.”
She should pull away. This wasn’t something friends did.
No, was there a need to pull away? The problem was that she thought So-hyun was weak. That he wouldn’t be able to handle the burden.
But after seeing the performance he just put on, who would think of him as weak?
He seemed healthier than before, so maybe it would be okay…?
“So that you don’t have to be hurt anymore.”
The numerous emotions reflected in his deep red eyes seemed to be contagious as it gradually colored her own emotions.
“So that I can protect you this time…”
Oh, no.
“So that I can stand by your side with pride…”
Wasn’t this a bit unfair? She was already being drawn to him before, and now this.
He who fought for her while risking his life.
He who lost his temper and cursed in anger for her.
“I’ll work harder.”
Who could resist him when he smiled like that in front of her?
“Stay by my side this time.”
She didn’t know anymore… She was going to let him go as she didn’t want to share her burdens with him, but this was all his fault.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
And at that point…
‘My’ memories had completely disappeared beyond the noise, and my emotions had calmed down, though some still lingered.
It was probably because I confirmed that Ha-ni was alright.
What was I talking about?
…Damn it, this is so embarrassing.
What else could it be but incredibly embarrassing, damn it…!
What was that? Really, what was that? Did I really do that…? I turned into a crazy sweet guy.
No, no, no! What was that…!?
I calmly removed my hand.
Ha-ni’s eyes were slightly moist, and her lips were trembling, with her expression like that of a girl.
“Hey, So-hyun.”
“Uh…?”
“You know I’m a guy… right?”
“I think I lost my mind. Sorry. I’m really sorry. It’s not like that.”
As I was frantically trying to come up with an excuse, Ha-ni giggled.
“Ah, really. Now you’re back to normal.”
Damn it. There was nothing I could say here.
Was this going to be seen as brotherly love…?
“Ah, you’re so cute. If you were that worried about your hyung getting hurt, why did you bring me here in the first place?”
Ha-ni looked very pleased as she said that.
“Who’s your hyung…?!”
“Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere.”
“No, that’s…!”
“Now.”
“…Huh?”
“Even if you tell me to go now, I won’t.”
Huh? This felt ominous…
Just as I thought something was wrong—
Bang! A loud explosion echoed.
“Hahahaha! I’m overflowing with power!”
…Judging by that incredibly cliché line, something must have gone wrong again.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
T/N – Hey guys! I’ll be releasing 2 chapters today to account for the one that was supposed to be released last Thursday. Enjoy!
First up, corrected the title of Chapter 89. That was supposed to be “Kang Han-hee” and this is the chapter that’s supposed to be titled “Kang Ha-ni”.
Also, the MC: “All according to keikkaku…” The villain got countered so hard here.
Lastly, woah woah woah! Chill, MC! Ha-ni is still crossdressing. Otherwise, that was so fucking cute, I might develop diabetes. It also makes my theory alot more convincing.
If you find any mistakes, feel free to point them out in the comments.
Oh god, even I blushed 😳