There is an old saying.
Even if you go into a tiger's den, you live if you come to your senses.
If you fall down in the tiger's den and cry, you'll just be a tiger's lunch set.
This means there's a chance you can escape successfully if you come up with an escape route.
It's like that now.
What if I cry when I'm surrounded by three A-class heroes? I'll just get beaten up and dragged away.
But if I keep my head, I can walk out alive.
A relationship between subordinates and superiors formed by differences in information—
I decided to exploit it.
I know them, but they don't know me.
This is very important. It's the key point that can keep me alive.
Looking at the current situation:
All the terrorists are dead, and the leader is easily pinned by Shadow Walker. His hands, feet, and lips are stuck to the ground like a mummy.
Everything's fine—except for me.
A lunatic who seems to have killed everyone except Monkey Spanner.
One interesting thing about this is…
They can't touch me carelessly.
They don't know who I am yet.
They don't know my power yet.
Seeing the terrorists collapsed around us, they can only guess I'm very strong—but not how strong.
And an unknown like me can trigger fear. What if I'm much stronger than they think? What if I can wipe out everyone here with a flick of my fingers?
There are hostages here, too.
If I snap and start killing hostages, it's a disaster. They don't even know if I'm a hero, a villain, or just a nutcase.
Conclusion…
They can't touch me yet. They don't know my exact capabilities, and the hostages are here.
That's why I can do this. That's what I'm saying.
"People these days are so rude. In my day, if a higher-ranked hero passed by, you bent 90 degrees to greet them. That's just social life and manners. But these youngsters just stare up at me with their eyes wide… Oh, come on. Even if I'm working overseas, if I say I'm an S-class hero, you use honorifics. Why are you talking informally to me?"
"Excuse me."
While I was spouting nonsense, Stardust—who'd been listening—cut in.
"I just got a call from the Association. There's no S-class hero named Apple Mango overseas. Who are you?"
Hmm. When did she ping the Association?
Right—they all have earpieces linked straight to the Association president.
A first-class villain doesn't panic at this kind of thing.
Can I move my hands yet? Oh—now I can. If my hands are moving, I just need to hold out a little longer, then I can teleport.
Clenching my fist, I thumped the armrest and spoke. A first-class villain must shake his audience's spirit. One more gamble.
"I've never seen such rude juniors. Obviously they don't know because my identity's hidden. You think my personal info gets leaked? You're so suspicious… And your Association president, you know! I ate, drank, and even hit the sauna with the president!"
The three of them made strange faces. Maybe I went too far? Come to think of it, why would I go to a sauna with the Association president? He'd deny it on the spot.
Even if I'm just throwing out lines, they should at least make sense. I hurried to patch it.
"…Oh, and you know his name is Park Jun-ho now, right? That's his new name. His old name was Park Mak-chun. Our Mak-chun whined so much about his name that he changed it quietly. So cute. So cute."
Stardust flinched at something in her earpiece. Yeah—you didn't expect me to know that, did you? Useless TMI in the original comic, but I didn't think it'd be useful here.
Anyway, I bought time by dropping the president's old name. Good.
But a moment later, North Sea Ice Women spoke up.
"I mean, how are we supposed to trust you…? How can we believe you're an S-class hero without any proof? …Sir? Because you look like a villain to me…"
She doubted me.
Wow, she actually listened. What a nice girl. Stardust and Shadow Walker weren't even listening—they're more like, "Let's see how far this guy goes," watching me like grandparents at a kid's talent show. I know my brain's not working, so you don't need to look at me like that.
And you're right. When you can't think straight, move first. First move makes victory. Get serious first, and you win.
"Villain? Me? Hahaha."
Hahahahaha.
"Hahaha! Hahahaha!"
I suddenly laughed like a madman in the quiet hall.
Just now, I'd planned to speak seriously—to give off a creepy vibe.
Then, right there—
I abruptly stopped laughing.
I'd been laughing with my chin lifted; I dropped my head, then raised it again, lowering my voice, as if stating the obvious:
"If I were a villain,"
"you'd all be dead already."
My words fell like a decree, my hand to my face. Ugh, a little cheesy—but I kept a straight face.
The hostages tensed at the sudden threat. Stardust and North Sea Ice Women shifted, ready to shield them.
And Shadow Walker… zoning out. He doesn't seem to have thoughts. Well, it's night; he's not dying here anyway.
As if the earlier mood had been a lie, the place became a flashpoint.
Everyone gulped, bodies tightening, ready for combat at any second—
I chuckled and flicked my hand.
"Ha ha. Joke. I'm kidding. I wouldn't threaten my juniors. Relax."
They hadn't recovered yet from the whiplash; I flipped the atmosphere too fast. If you want to jam someone's brain, you spin them around and leave them confused.
Right then, Shadow Walker, still blankly staring, whispered into his earpiece:
"…Why don't we just attack? I don't think the three of us lose anyway. Knock him down, figure it out later. If he's a real hero, we can apologize."
Hey, you brat! I can hear every word.
Hearing Shadow Walker, North Sea Ice Women nodded excitedly; Stardust shook her head—probably worried the hostages could get caught up. You're my only one, Stardust.
I desperately pretended not to hear. If I react, I'm dead. If I don't react, my arrogant S-class hero shtick collapses; if I get mad and pick a fight, I'll get flattened in five seconds and dragged away. That cannot happen…!!
Honestly, my power is coming back. Took a while. All right—time to escape. Let's bolt.
But before I go…
Hmm…
Since I committed to this hero concept, I might as well say what I want.
Ahem! I coughed quickly and spoke while all eyes were on me.
"Anyway, it was nice meeting our junior heroes. A bit rude, but… if I may give advice as a senior: when you face threats, don't run. Fight back. No matter how big—how impossible it looks—don't back down. You're heroes. If heroes don't run away…"
"Then you'll win. Catastrophe? Disaster? Meaningless. If there's a will—if you have the will—you'll overcome it easily."
As I finished, I turned my head and looked at Stardust. Our eyes met; she flinched. Shivered? Is she still doubting whether I'm a hero while listening to a lecture? Fine by me. Or she just thinks I'm a clown. Tsk.
What's better—I've got my strength back.
Well, time to say goodbye.
In other words—time to escape.
"Right, I've done my part. I'm leaving. Goodbye. Adios."
I waved and teleported.
They looked… confused when I vanished? Maybe. Either way, I was already standing behind Seo-eun and Su-bin.
"Hm."
I grabbed them and blinked us to the car. We moved fast enough that no one should've seen. Probably.
"AAAAAA!"
Thump.
We tumbled into the car at the end. Sorry—my energy's gone…
"Ugh… Da-in, are you okay?"
"No… I feel like dying…"
I'm actually dying.
I'm about to black out—for at least a week. I'm screwed.
Before I collapsed, I left a last wish—no, last message.
"Ugh… Seo-eun, wipe all the hotel records right now. CCTV, entry logs. If we get traced, we're doomed…"
"Okay!"
Lying in the back seat, I handed the laptop I'd grabbed earlier to Seo-eun.
"And Su-bin… drive straight to Seoul. It's chaos after the attack; we can slip out. Hurry…"
No way the Association soldiers have a tight perimeter.
It'll be a mess. I cursed them when reading the original, but in times like this—they're helpful. Thanks!
"Y-Yes!"
Su-bin gripped the wheel.
Yeah, I did my job.
Now I'm losing consciousness…
No fatigue-recovery capsules or anything. In short, I'm screwed.
"I—I'm gonna sleep. Then…"
My overtaxed consciousness finally cut out.
My last thought as I drifted off—
At least the S-class hero concept, Apple Mango, slipped by without getting exposed.
Didn't expect that side effect to buy us time.
Yeah, now I can sleep easy…
***
[Exclusive] "Apple Mango," the self-proclaimed S-class hero, suspected to be the villain Egostic… The Association remains cautious but is "checking the facts." Netizens already "half-convinced."