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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: A Hero's Perspective
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Shin Haru.
A student attending Yonhee University.
She seems ordinary, apart from her blonde hair and looks that would make anyone turn their head. Though, being pretty isn't exactly ordinary, is it...
Anyway, few people know that she's a hero.
It's a secret known to no one except a few agents from the Hero Association and her fellow heroes. That's why she could enjoy a relatively normal university life.
...Of course, she had a suspiciously high number of absences compared to other students.
Not only that.
She missed the freshman orientation, the general assembly, the MT (membership training), the after-party, the festival...
Since she hadn't participated in any school events, she had very few close acquaintances.
Of course, that was probably because she intentionally kept her distance from people. Even so, she wasn't completely without close classmates or seniors, so it wasn't a problem.
Thus, she was managing her double life as a university student and a hero quite well.
Seoul doesn't have frequent terror attacks.
Maybe once every two weeks?
Honestly, even that's frequent, but this world is inherently chaotic, so it was manageable.
So far, there haven't been many strong villains appearing in Korea.
Of course, I heard that the strongest nation in the world, the United States, is plagued by daily terror attacks, commensurate with its population.
But then again, it also has many S and A-rank heroes, maintaining a certain balance.
There's a saying that if you go to America, A-rank heroes are just strewn about the cities.
Considering that there are only a few A-ranks in all of South Korea, that just means America is extraordinary.
So, even though she's an A-rank, she doesn't particularly think her abilities are amazing.
Actually, what are her abilities? Nothing more than immense strength and the ability to fly.
Because that's all she had, when Egoistic did what he did last time, she could only watch helplessly, unable to do anything.
"....."
Tap. Tap.
She tapped the glass containing her smoothie with her finger.
Egoistic.
At first, seeing him kill villains, she was filled with rage.
In fact, back then, she thought of Egoistic like this:
An ignorant kid who gained power and ran wild.
Her conjecture was this:
Just some attention-seeker who gained power, thought 'Oh, can't I just take down all the villains with this?' and then, excited, went around killing other villains.
Instead of officially applying to be a hero and becoming part of the judiciary, he was a brat who recklessly used excessive power, acting as if he were justice itself.
There are those who, after gaining power, become zealous about vigilante justice and feel exhilarated by the public's attention that comes with it.
Those who delude themselves into thinking they are 'heroes,' unlike the so-called 'old-fashioned heroes.'
This was the type of person she loathed the most.
Attention-seekers.
Such thoughts turned into conviction when she saw that bastard write her name, Shin Haru, in blood at a murder scene.
Disgusting bastard.
What the hell is he doing with blood, so barbaric? Haa...
So, until then, she was fully intent on throwing him in jail.
...Of course, even then, she didn't know how he knew the whereabouts of an A-rank villain who was hiding his identity.
Yes, no one knew then.
That this bastard would be so crazy.
[Yes! Passengers, if you look at the center of the ship, you'll see a large red button, a detonator. The detonators I've installed on all three ships... are devices that will blow up *other* ships. That's right! Devices that will blow up ships *other than your own*.]
[Time limit: 30 minutes. All you have to do is make sure no one presses the detonator during that time.]
He wasn't just a kid intoxicated by his powers.
He was a definite villain, planning large-scale terror attacks.
Moreover, he was a psychopath who played with people's minds.
Though she didn't show it, she was inwardly appalled.
How could a human being conceive of such an inhumane idea?
Actually, if Egoistic heard this, he'd probably feel wronged, claiming it wasn't his idea but an homage to a movie from his past life, but she had no way of knowing that.
He revealed his name as Egoistic.
People in online communities analyzed that he likely took his name from the English word 'Egoistic,' meaning selfish.
The connection between his name and his statement 'humans are selfish.'
Even seeing this, one could tell he was not a normal person.
And then, last week, the highly anticipated event.
When she first heard that Egoistic's supporters were causing bomb threats, she just sighed.
One madman appeared, and then, like a ripple effect, other villains poured out.
She didn't know how they did it, but they carried out their grand plan the very next day after Egoistic caused his terror attack.
It was a meticulously planned attack, to the point where it could only be seen as a pre-arranged scheme.
However, since the method itself imitated Egoistic's actions, she had to admit it.
True fanatics who worshipped Egoistic had appeared overnight, and they were active enough to cause terror the very next day.
Even before the association could discuss countermeasures against copycat crimes of Egoistic's bomb attack.
The attack happened too quickly, so she, too, had no countermeasures and could only suffer the consequences.
But after observing the situation anxiously, blaming herself for being unable to do anything, Egoistic himself made an appearance.
Honestly speaking, she was extremely tense.
A lunatic who could do anything, came there himself? And to a place with hundreds of hostages?
It would have been strange not to worry.
So, everyone at the association, including herself, and the heroes on standby watched with bated breath.
...Of course, they could only watch through his broadcast. Even though his face, filmed up close, was obscured, he seemed so brazen that she had to suppress the urge to rush over and punch him, and kept watching.
And he, true to form, proved himself a lunatic.
He looked at his followers, told them to stop their nonsense, and shot them all dead.
Then he released the hostages. He even promised them money. She heard that money was actually deposited into the victims' accounts. They said it was sent through shell accounts or something, so it couldn't be traced.
And did he just give them money? He even apologized. He apologized for his followers' nonsense. And he did it on his own broadcast.
At that point, she became truly confused.
What kind of person was he? If he was a villain, he should act like a villain.
And frankly, looking solely at his actions that day, he actually acted like a hero.
....Of course, allowing vigilante justice is absolutely not acceptable. However, the association had already permitted lethal force to safely rescue the hostages, so their lives were going to be lost anyway.
So, she found him strange.
Among all the villains until now, there was no one like Egoistic.
Indiscriminate murder, bombing, arson, kidnapping, terrorism.
Villains who committed such acts were very common.
But a villain like Egoistic, who seemed to have some kind of 'conviction'?
It was a case she had never seen before.
Of course, globally, there might be similar cases somewhere, but at least in South Korea, it was the first time.
-Ding.
Having finished her assignment, she stepped out of the cafe.
A beautiful day, with warm sunlight enveloping her body.
She habitually stretched her arms out, arching her back.
"Hmmph—"
As she stretched, men walking by glanced at her, but she was oblivious.
"Egoistic..."
'...He knows the villains' locations, can hijack broadcasts, knows the bank accounts of hostages he's never seen before, and he's rich.'
What kind of person was this guy?
In her heart, Egoistic had already become her top priority target.
That meant, whether for good or bad, the man named Egoistic now occupied a significant part of her thoughts.
'...I will definitely uncover your true identity.'
***
"Phew. Is someone talking about me?"
"Hyung, is it because you haven't showered lately?"
"Seo-eun. I clearly know you're a girl, so why do you keep calling me Hyung—"
"Hyung. Be quiet. Please."
"Alright..."
"...Should I draw you a bath?"
"No, Ms. Soo-bin, why are you like this too? You don't have to do anything, just stay still. And I shower cleanly every day. It's slander, slander."
"...Yes."
"No, why do you look like you don't believe me? I'm telling you, it's slander!"
In the heart of Seoul.
Dozens of floors deep beneath a seemingly ordinary house, a secret base.
This is Egoistic's base, or Ego-Base for short.
"Hyung. Why do you just name other people's homes whatever you want?"
"Tsk. Seo-eun, between you and me, what's yours and what's mine? Your home is my home, and my home is your home."
"Hyung, you sold your house, so you don't have one anymore."
"..."
Yes, I moved houses.
To Seo-eun's underground secret base.
Since I have a lot to do from now on, I decided it would be best to live and sleep here, where all the equipment is gathered. And, Ms. Soo-bin is also an issue.
Seo-eun readily agreed.
Although it's an underground space whose depth is unknown, it's bright and nice, plastered with LEDs. Plus, the place is huge and has many rooms, so there were no major difficulties.
Thank you, Seo-eun.
As I lay on the bed and looked at Seo-eun, expressing my gratitude, she scowled as if asking what I was looking at. That rude girl. I wanted to say more, but I held back because I was lying down in pain from the side effects of teleportation.
Han Seo-eun, my closest confidante and genius hacker.
She's a very small child with silver bobbed hair. She's only in her third year of middle school, after all. At first, I thought she was in her first year.
She keeps calling me Hyung and insisting she's a boy...
Seo-eun, actually, I know you're a girl because I read the original story...
I never thought the day would come when a middle school girl would call me Hyung...
But it's not just me and Seo-eun living here.
The woman who called herself my follower, whom I... semi-kidnapped?
"...?"
Ms. Soo-bin, who looks up at me, seemingly scared, also lives with us.
....How I ended up picking her up is a long story.
"Haa..."
I feel like the number of people living with me is gradually increasing, but maybe it's just my imagination.