At that moment, at a research institute on Sejong Island.
“Haah!”
With a shout, a white-haired girl thrust her fist forward.
The girl opposite her deflected the punch with her arm, successfully blocking the attack.
Both girls’ attacks were imbued with mana, and each collision of mana erupted in bursts of red and black light.
“Impressive.”
S-class hero, Baridegi, Tae Irin, watched the sparring from the referee’s seat, clicking her tongue in admiration.
Their fight was merely at the level of E-class ability users bickering with each other, but what mattered was that these were individuals who had turned into demons before being kidnapped and had lost their abilities.
“Students Do Eun, Ye In? Pause for a moment.”
“Huff, huff.”The two girls stopped their attacks against each other.
Both of their faces were flushed with heat and drenched in sweat, but the fervor in their eyes remained.
“Both of you, come here for a moment.”
Baridegi asked for their attention, then inspected the shimmering emblems on their chests.
“Do Eun is the Spade Queen, Ye In is the Clover Ace…. What does this mean?”
“We don’t know.”
“Yes, we don’t know.”
The girls knew nothing.
“We just made a contract with the Dark Charisma. He said we could regain our powers. Where would you use them?”
“Where…?”
“Yes. And we answered. We would use our powers in a place that means more, in a place that’s meaningful.”
“We’ll use our powers where they’re needed. Even if we become mere physical enhancement ability users, there’s bound to be somewhere we can be of help.”
“Like rushing to save people when a fire breaks out.”
“Or pulling people out of cars or lifting cars entirely in a pile-up.”
It was textbook talk.
In fact, it was one of the examples illustrated in elementary social studies textbooks under ‘how abilities can help in daily life’.
“That’s a commendable mindset. Both of you are admirable.”
Baridegi felt proud yet slightly bitter that such textbook comments came from them.
“When I was your age, I whined about not wanting to do what others told me. I’m a bit envious of that mindset. Ah, I’m not saying anything weird. I’m being sincere. I’m a selfish woman.”
Despite being an S-class at 17 herself, she recognized that at 15, these girls were already trying to live for others.
“Still, I wish you would live a bit more for yourselves. That’s my wish.”
“Thank you for your words. We will take care of ourselves properly.”
“We’re not going to live as standby members for just 5 minutes, but we won’t live like pushovers either.”
The two girls nodded vigorously at each other.
“We will ensure we live in a manner that befits our abilities.”
“If we’re not treated accordingly, and if the demands are too much or they ask for more, we’ll boldly ask for adjustments or more.”
“We’re people who can help others, not machines or robots that just follow orders to fight and die from above.”
“…….”
Tae Irin was genuinely intrigued by their crisp responses.
“Is all of this what the Dark Charisma told you?”
“Yes.”
“He gave us a new life. He gave us the chance to live a new life.”
There was a desperate longing visible in the two girls.
“We are….”
“…….”
The girls seemed about to say something, but the emblems above their chests sparkled.
As if suppressing or calming something.
“……Interesting. I’d like to meet him too. I’m curious about what he would say.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Tae Irin felt a surge of mischief.
“I wonder what kind of person he is, to speak of justice as if it’s the most natural thing in the world.”
“How come every time I come to your room, there’s always a woman here?”
“You’re the one who taught us spatial movement, remember? Thanks to you, we can easily come here now.”
“Ugh. Should I not have taught you…”
“Don’t be like that, Yumir. Good things are meant to be shared, right? Ahaha!”
“Am I something to be eaten?”
Despite the postponement of the Jamminpuff Girl plan, Yumir became quite close to Gunggi and Doul.
The reason was, of course, spatial movement.
As Gunggi and Doul mastered spatial movement, they began freely coming and going to my house, using it as a coordinate.
“Yumir. Did you know? After the Dark Charisma appeared, all the talk about the Platinum Sun has completely vanished.”
“Oh, really? No wonder the search terms dropped drastically when I did ego-searching.”
“Ahaha. But, it’s also because we’re all watching it at once. Not just the brewers under Gunggi, but my hitmen and hitgirls are also on the move.”
“Not killing them, right?”
“An unfortunate accident that results in a finger injury so severe they can’t use a keyboard for about two weeks?”
“That sounds like a rather unfortunate accident.”
Gunggi and Doul also supported Yumir.
They too understood why I was trying to recruit Yumir into the organization and were subtly trying to sway her to join their teams.
“Doul. Don’t try to outbid me for Yumir.”
“It’s not like Yumir has decided to go with anyone, isn’t that a bit much? I’m a director, and you’re just a manager.”
“A director and an independent team manager.”
“With only one manager as the team member? Yumir, work with me, okay?”
“I haven’t even decided to join the company yet…”
“Have you forgotten the loyalty we pledged as Jamminpuff Girls? Under Manager Do’s…”
“Don’t say weird things. That never happened.”
I smacked Doul on the head once.
“If Yumir becomes an employee of our company, I’ll personally mentor you and teach you everything from scratch.”
“Already taking care of her.”
“Of course. I was the first to suggest recruiting her. You all should look for someone else.”
“But the people Manager Do has scouted are all top-notch.”
“That’s why don’t even think about snatching them away.”
“You’re already drinking the congratulatory rice wine before the deal is sealed.”
“What did you say?”
“Ah, a Korean language issue. Sorry. Hehe. Anyway, thank you for continuing to take care of me.”
“It’s nothing. This is just the basics.”
After a light meal and discussing Yumir’s safety:
“Where were we? Ah, talking about Do Eun, the student. The ability of the resurrected, starting from E-class.”
We lightly touched on abilities.
“Yumir, how much do you know about the difference between E-class and S-class ability users?”
“…Honestly, not much.”
Yumir found it difficult to answer Doul’s question.
“The difference is huge, you know. One can summon a creature from behind—”
“It’s not a creature! It’s a god!”
“Stop it.”
I approached Doul from behind, pressed her cheek with my hand, and she struggled.
“I was just telling the truth!”
“That’s for when you’re maintaining that concept.”
“I can go all out then?”
“I’ll properly acknowledge it then.”
Concept was crucial.
Acting like that as naturally as breathing was the behavior of a madman. I was not a madman but a normal person pretending to be one.
“Yumir. Being an E-class ability user, that is, being able to use mana, means becoming a being with exceptionally superior physical abilities, right?”
“Yes. That’s always what the academy professors say. ‘You guys are physically superior, so be careful even when opening a bottle cap.’ They say back in their day, orange juice came in glass bottles.”
“That was the case. It’s not like that anymore, but let’s take a pasta sauce bottle, for example. Can an ordinary person break a glass bottle just with grip strength? Not by throwing it, but by squeezing it with their hand.”
“No, that’s dangerous, aside from being glass.”
“Right. But it’s possible for an E-class ability user. With the power of mana.”
It’s not impossible, even if it might cause a little injury.
“The organization aims to utilize such abilities throughout society, in law enforcement, public safety, and even national security.”
“So, they want to fill the roles of police, firefighters, and soldiers with ability users?”
“Adding to what those people already do, by filling those areas with ability users, unlike the current Hero Association.”
I activated the villain report feature on the Taeguk Watch.
“Teacher, if you press that…!”
“Yes, it will create quite a stir. Whether it attracts the attention of villains or not, it’s crucial to alert others that there’s a villain here. The organization will begin by transforming this system.”
“If a B-class villain appears, nearby C-class ones will stall for time until a B-class can handle it. The Hero Association has a similar strategy, but the organization will operate in a more organized and systematic manner. And at the heart of it will be…”
“Heroes purified by the Sephiroth Knights, stepping forward to do their part?”
“Not exactly risking their lives, but indeed doing their utmost.”
This includes both those reborn as heroes through the Goblin Bat and the organization’s mental training, and those who lost their abilities but were given a second chance to live as ability users.
“They will do their utmost in their respective roles. Not just standing by with a camera or pretending not to see until someone stronger arrives when villains rampage, but taking appropriate action.”
“Evacuating people or attempting to persuade the villains?”
“Yes, doing their best without sacrificing their lives.”
Everyone will dutifully perform their assigned roles.
Except for two.
Excluding the two that Gunggi and Doul had swapped out in advance.
“Do Eun has been taken under Gunggi’s wing, and there… Jo Ye In? That student went to the United States with her parents. The organization also assisted with identity laundering.”
“So… the two appearing on the broadcast now are… those individuals?”
“Yes.”
Two white-haired girls appeared on the broadcast.
The girls were practicing martial arts, utilizing their magic powers in front of S-class Baridegi.
“Such unfortunate children. Tempted by demons, they nearly chose the wrong path.”
Non-ability users who became ability users through a deal with the Sephirot Knights.
Originally, they were the ones swapped out to enter Sejong Island as Zenros.
“Pandemonium’s prepared substitutes. …Non-ability users, but tempted by the promise of being granted abilities, they volunteered to be subjects of human experimentation.”
“It must not have been easy to find such people in Korea.”
“Mixed race, mixed race.”
“…Excuse me?”
“Cases where the father is Korean and the mother is a foreigner.”
The two girls, though of different nationalities, shared the commonality that they were not born as ability users but their parents wished they were.
“Children fathered by Korean men traveling abroad. They wanted to come to Korea and desired to become ability users. Pandemonium cunningly exploited this desire.”
And through a contract with the organization, they became our people.
“The organization made them into ability users, and there’s only one thing the organization wants from them. Not to become bad people.”
“What if they become bad people…?”
“Their abilities would be taken back. If they become villains or demons who kill people, then their lives would be taken along with their abilities. In this way, our organization is placing people all around the world. Reviving their abilities or enhancing weakened abilities.”
“That’s amazing.”
“Amazing, isn’t it? Thanks to that power, we can operate this comfortably now.”
For example.
“Yumir. What do you think is the reason the organization can operate so extensively in Korea?”
“……You don’t mean?”
“Never thought about it?”
I displayed a photo.
“Why hasn’t the strongest S-class hero appeared, despite all this chaos?”
S-class hero.
The strongest, number one hero in Korea.
Gwang Ik Gong (光翼公).
“Is he, on our side?”
That’s how it turned out.
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