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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
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“Everyone. It seems I must bid you farewell now.”
“Huh…?”
Yoo Hee-won and Han Min-ha stood up from their seats and looked up at me with puzzled expressions.
“It’s an emergency recall order from the academy.”
When I showed them my phone, the light from the screen tinged the children’s faces red.
“What is this?”
“It’s an order to return immediately by flying.”
“What happened?”
“I don’t know that either. It’s something so urgent that they can’t explain the details.”
“So what on earth could be so urgent…”
I raised my hand, cutting Yoo Hee-won off.
“I have to go right now.”
I immediately left the movie theater and went up the stairs.
Yoo Hee-won and Han Min-ha followed behind me.
I thought about getting my luggage from the room but decided against it.
I couldn’t fly with luggage anyway.
As I went out into the spacious yard, the city’s night view spread out below.
And from the city, Aura of various colors, like missiles, could be seen shooting up one by one.
They must be academy personnel on vacation.
Just then, another loud alarm blared from my phone.
[MAINTAIN STRICT VIGILANCE OF SURROUNDINGS UPON RETURN / FORMATION FLIGHT RECOMMENDED]
“Professor… please be careful…”
Han Min-ha mumbled, lightly grasping the hem of my shirt with her fingertips.
“It probably won’t be anything special, student Min-ha. And other academy personnel are flying together over there.”
“Yes…”
Though it didn’t seem like that was actually the case.
I also greeted Yoo Hee-won, who was looking disapprovingly at Han Min-ha holding onto my shirt hem.
“Thank you for inviting me, student Hee-won. I’d like to stay until tomorrow if I could, but given the circumstances.”
“Yes.”
“Don’t fight with student Min-ha, enjoy the rest of your break, and I’ll see you at the academy.”
“Alright. I’ll send the car to the academy later.”
“Thank you.”
I smiled at each of the children once and then activated my Aura.
Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-!!!
Instantly, with a crushing pressure on my head, the ground dropped away beneath my feet.
Yoo Hee-won, Han Min-ha, and the grand mansion shrank in an instant, and the city’s night view came into full sight.
After reaching a certain altitude and reducing speed, a temporary sense of liberation came with a feeling of my body floating.
I immediately turned towards the academy and began high-speed flight.
If I broke the sound barrier, I would get there faster, but I wasn’t wearing a suit, so there was a risk of my clothes tearing.
I had no intention of landing at the academy naked.
It had been a really long time since I had flown like this.
Ever since coming to the academy, I had mostly traveled by car.
As I flew through the dark sky, leaving the city’s night view behind, a brown Aura slowly approached from that direction.
Looking at the owner of the approaching Aura, it was Professor Jin Se-young.
Professor Jin saw me, smiled cutely, and waved.
I also smiled and waved back.
It would be nice if I could wear a suit and use the radio, but that wasn’t possible right now.
So, we flew side by side in silence towards the academy.
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The academy was visible ahead.
Boundary lights lined up at regular intervals on the perimeter of the vast site, comparable to an airport.
Various auxiliary facilities, including a runway, stood within it.
Since an emergency recall order had been issued, there was no reaction from the anti-aircraft batteries scattered around the academy.
If I had flown in recklessly without permission, anti-aircraft missiles and Vulcans would have been fired like crazy from all directions.
Besides Professor Jin and me, many people could be seen rapidly descending in a curve towards the academy, trailing Aura of various colors.
Professor Jin and I also followed them and landed in the parking lot in front of the research building.
“Phew… Did you have a good break, Professor Kyo?”
Professor Jin greeted me, brushing off her clothes.
“I did. How about you, Professor Jin?”
“I just finished the home visits for my students yesterday and was just starting to rest… I don’t know what all this commotion is about.”
“Tell me about it. I saw five heroes flying in formation earlier today, and I think it might be related to that.”
Professor Jin Se-young seemed slightly surprised by my words.
“Five heroes? Weren’t they perhaps sidekicks?”
“Well. I’m not sure about that. Let’s go and see.”
It was past dinnertime, a late hour that should now be called night.
Professors who had arrived before us were already seated in the faculty office.
“Kyo Soo-hyun!”
Professor Heo Tae-hyun acknowledged me and gestured for me to come to his side.
I thought I might be able to get some information from Professor Heo Tae-hyun, a former spy, so I went over there.
“Hello, Professor Heo. Did you have a good vacation?”
“I did. How about you?”
“Me too. But what is all this? It doesn’t seem like anything has been reported in the media.”
“Would an emergency summons from the academy be reported in the media?”
“Hmm. But you know something, right?”
“The department head will tell everyone anyway.”
Just then, the department head, sweating profusely and holding a stack of papers, entered the faculty office.
“Is everyone here?”
The department head hurriedly counted the number of professors.
“Everyone’s here.”
“What’s going on, Department Head? I’ve already wasted my entire vacation on home visits, so I’m in a very bad mood right now.”
When Professor Yoo Hyun-joo spoke with her arms crossed, the department head flinched slightly.
Professor Yoo Hyun-joo, who was usually cool and quiet, had been extremely sensitive ever since hearing the news about the home visits.
Having wasted all that expensive airfare and hotel accommodation fees, it was understandable.
Professor Yoo Hyun-joo’s charisma was formidable, and now that she was angry, the department head wiped his sweat while glancing at Professor Yoo.
“Just a moment… Just wait a moment. That… what is it? How do I do this? Brutus?”
The department head pointed to the large TV mounted on the faculty office wall.
Professor Heo got up and connected the department head’s phone to the TV.
“Should I play this?”
“Uh-huh. That. Play that.”
Professor Heo played a certain video from the department head’s gallery.
“Huh…!”
Professor Jin, who saw the video playing, gasped.
What appeared on the screen were burning warehouses and buildings.
It wasn’t a city center, but some isolated factory on the outskirts.
The screen was from some hero’s bodycam, so the viewpoint wasn’t steady and kept moving.
[Hero! Above you!]
At the shout of someone presumed to be a sidekick, the screen jerked upwards.
As soon as the screen turned towards the smoke-filled sky, a villain wielding daggers in both hands was seen jumping down.
[Dodge!]
The screen spun wildly, and the screen owner’s curses were mixed in.
[Fuck…! There was another one?!]
[Everyone, be careful! I don’t think it’s just one or two of them here!]
Simultaneously, a firing sound presumed to be a large-caliber grenade and a flash erupted.
[Aaaargh!]
[Go back! Detour to the side! Don’t go in head-on!]
[These bastards seem to have set up an ambush deliberately?!]
A chilling laugh, a flashing explosion, and a harsh engine sound.
[Hero! I don’t think we can do it on our own! Let’s request backup!]
[Damn it! I thought I finally caught a big one…]
[At this rate, we’ll all die! If we back down, the agency is finished!]
[Kyahahahahaak!! Looks delicious!!]
Just then, a woman’s shrill laughter was heard.
[Keoheok…!]
[First-Class Sidekick hit! Incapacitated!]
[Hero! Request backup!]
The screen shook frantically.
[Request backup! Tell anyone to get here as fast as possible!]
[Understood! Administration! Administration! Appear! This is…]
[Another one’s coming! What the hell is that?!]
The screen moved violently towards a specific area.
There, a giant mechanical device with arms and legs was seen walking unsteadily.
It looked crude, as if someone had just randomly gathered cogs and parts from a junkyard and roughly put them together.
The mechanical device had no head, but upon closer inspection, a small person was inside, operating the controls.
A mobile suit…? But why is it so shoddy?
[Smash that bastard first! Everyone else, evade at all costs until backup arrives! Keep moving!]
[Understood! All units, evasive maneuvers! Third-Class Sidekick, Irys on the unidentified mechanical device!]
Soon, from the top of the screen, two blue Irys beams shot directly at the mechanical device.
The moment the Irys beams hit the mechanical device.
Suddenly, a black vortex-like thing appeared between the mechanical device and the Irys beams.
The vortex sucked in the Irys beams like a black hole, and at the same time, another vortex appeared, looking straight at the screen.
Suddenly, the screen flashed blue and then went black.
“Huh…”
Professor Jin Se-young covered her mouth and gasped for breath.
The other professors also looked at each other, unable to speak.
“This happened earlier today. An entire hero agency was wiped out.”
At the department head’s words, the professors began to murmur.
“What exactly happened, Department Head?”
At a professor’s question, the department head explained the events on the screen.
To summarize his words:
There was a villain rampage in an industrial complex on the outskirts, and the case was assigned to the nearest hero agency.
As it was a place with a concentration of sensitive facilities, the hero deployed with all their sidekicks, but there they suddenly encountered a large number of villains.
So, as seen on the screen, they urgently requested backup from the Administration, and heroes on regular patrol and even heroes on emergency standby were all dispatched, barely managing to suppress the situation.
“To be precise, it wasn’t suppression. As soon as the support heroes arrived, all the villains disappeared.”
“Is that why this urgent recall order was issued?”
“In addition to that, the results of an emergency meeting between the Ministry of Education and the Administration have been handed down.”
The department head turned over the sheets of paper in his hand one by one.
It was an official document issued under the name of the Ministry of Education.
A sound like a sigh escaped from the mouths of the professors who read the official document.
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