“Kwarrrrr!”
A bear the size of a house let out a roar.
The bear was as powerful as its size suggested.
Every time it swung its forepaws, my teammates went flying into the air.
Park Changju.
I hadn’t known him long, but I had heard his ambitious dream.
[After graduating from the Academy, I’ll return to my orphanage covered in glory and use my riches to give the director a taste of his own medicine!]
He died with his face torn off.
‘Why am I so unlucky?’
When I was young, my father ran off with the family fortune.
My mother worked in a restaurant kitchen to barely feed me.
Then, one day, I underwent an Awakening.
At first, I thought something was finally about to go right for me.
But my power was the overly common Physical Enhancement.
I failed the Academy entrance exam the first time I tried.
I studied hard and reapplied, despite knowing it would disappoint my mother.
If I could become a Hero, I could reverse my fortune and look after her without her having to work so hard.
I prepared intensively and, on my second attempt, was accepted into the Academy.
My mother and I cried together, hugging in our tiny room.
My Bronze rank earned me no special support, and the tuition was comparable to law school.
Still, my mother took out a loan to cover my fees.
I could tell she was proud and spoke highly of me to others.
That made me happy.
But then…
On the first day of Academy classes…
During an experiential learning session where we were supposed to hunt in a dungeon, everything went wrong.
Suddenly, this house-sized bear appeared and began attacking my group.
‘Am I about to die like this?’
What have I lived for…
The bear approached me. Larger than a massive cargo truck.
It looked even bigger up close.
Overwhelming fear.
Am I supposed to fight this kind of monster?
‘You’ve got to be kidding.’
It’s impossible.
This level of brute force can’t be overcome by human means.
The bear raised its paw.
The sharp claws at the tips glinted menacingly.
This is the end.
‘Mom, I’m so sorry.’
You took out a loan to pay for my tuition.
I wanted to become a Hero to give you a comfortable life…
This really is the end.
Just then, golden sparks shot down from above.
A female student fell from the sky onto the bear’s head.
Her pink hair was striking.
She stabbed the bear’s eye with her spear.
The bear thrashed in agony.
“Kwarrrrr!”
The female student lost her grip on the spear and fell to the ground.
Turning her head, she shouted at me:
“Run!”
“B-but what about you?!”
“I’ll be fine. Run!”
In an instant, the bear swatted her away with its paw.
She flew far away and collided with a tree.
Struggling, she managed to get back up.
Weaponless, she still didn’t back down from the giant bear.
Diving under its legs.
Getting thrown back by its attacks.
Covered in blood, but still she refused to yield.
Her indomitable spirit amazed me.
I thought to myself:
‘This is what a real Hero looks like.’
I felt ashamed that I only wanted to become a Hero for the money.
Then the bear’s paw came down on top of her.
She was completely crushed from view.
I covered my face with my hands, despairing at the terrible scene.
Suddenly, golden lightning shot up the bear’s leg.
Shaken by the electric shock, it collapsed.
“It’s a lightning skill! Did it defeat the bear…?”
Incredibly, the bear got back up.
“What, wha…?”
I didn’t want to believe it.
The female student, likely injured from being crushed earlier, struggled to stand.
The bear suddenly bit into her and started shaking violently.
Its massive teeth pierced through her pristine white stomach, splattering blood everywhere.
I wanted to help, but my body wouldn’t move.
My legs trembled uncontrollably.
My very flesh refused to fight.
This enemy truly was unstoppable.
Perhaps this is what an S-Class Monster looks like.
‘Dammit. Just rationalizing again…’
Intense self-loathing consumed me.
I’m a coward… I’m such a coward.
When our eyes met, I turned away.
I couldn’t bear to see the accusation in her face.
She’s about to die.
She, who tried to save me… is about to die.
Then, near the bear’s neck, black mist began to swirl.
Moments later, Shinnoda appeared.
The D-Rank who supposedly passed due to a malfunctioning tester.
He muttered while gripping the bear’s fur.
“What? Why’s Park Hayeon down so quickly? I beat her back in the game…”
His words made no sense.
The female student was already too far gone, but at least I had to warn this one from getting involved.
If I stayed silent, the number of sacrifices would only grow.
I flailed my arms to warn him.
“Stop! This thing is way beyond your level!”
My voice barely carried.
Despite my warning, he displayed extraordinary skill.
Shinnoda’s spear pierced the bear’s neck.
“Kerrrrrr!”
The black bear dropped the female student and let out a mournful roar.
He pulled out the spear and drove it into the bear’s head this time.
‘Impossible.’
It was clear his skull must be exceptionally hard, even without testing.
Yet he pierced straight through it.
Shinnoda twisted the spear, turning the bear’s brain to mush.
“Thud.”
The massive furball collapsed.
It took him less than a minute to defeat the beast since he arrived.
‘That guy is D-Rank…?’
I felt an insurmountable wall between us.
*
Hero Office.
The exclusive waiting room provided by MX Management featured various facilities including a gym.
The ‘Office Lady’ sat at her computer, moving the mouse.
At first glance, she seemed more like a regular office worker than a Hero.
She was searching community posts about ‘Dark Knight.’
The hero ‘Metal Man’ from the same agency snickered at her.
“Again with Dark Knight. All day Dark Knight. Do you secretly like him? Always checking on him…”
“Quiet. That’s why you have no female fans. Your line was all men, wasn’t it?”
“Hmph. Those guys just admire my manliness.”
“I doubt it. Didn’t you get scolded by the president for trying to hit on ‘Magical Girl’?”
“Urgh…”
‘Metal Man’ retreated to the gym after realizing he’d pushed the wrong buttons.
A particular post on the screen caught her attention.
<Dark Knight should just be recruited as a regular hero. Any regular people harmed by him? He just beats up villains. Though he doesn't get awards, the bounty on villain designations keeps rising.>
The ‘Office Lady’ gave a bitter smile.
Despite criticizing Dark Knight on broadcasts, she very well knew there were villains who could never be reformed.
Sometimes she envied his unrelenting determination.
‘Dark Knight likely lost much to villains… What kind of suffering would turn someone like that?’
She remembered that day.
‘Dark Knight’s’ voice.
[Can you say those words to the victims’ faces?]
The terrible voice, like rusted iron scratching, seemed to reflect his inner pain.
She had seen how much the relatives of villain victims suffered.
Perhaps Dark Knight was one of them.
Another monster created by a villain.
[Are you afraid?]
Perhaps that was the essence of ‘Dark Knight.’
She thought.
Then the emergency bell rang.
It was time to mobilize.
The location: Suwon, K Electronics HQ.
The opponent: the bold necromancer ‘K Pharma Villain’ who dared to directly attack government institutions.
The ‘Office Lady’ grabbed her gear and left the office.
K Electronics, under attack by ‘K Pharma Villain.’
The former hunter-turned-security-guards were putting up a fight at the entrance, but they were outnumbered.
Zombies, zombie dogs, and ‘K Pharma Villain’ himself.
He led an army of thousands of zombies.
An excited Mabo Sung, wearing a kagune mask, shouted wildly.
“Your deaths are sponsored by K Pharma!”
“This is all on the orders of the K Group chairman.”
Babble.
His nonsensical ravings were accompanied by his notorious voice modulation.
[We are Korea’s top company, always striving for progress with K Group.]
♪🎶♪
With a recent anonymous patron supporting his activities, he became bolder.
A single tome sent to him – the ‘Necronomicon’ – was perfectly suited to Mabo Sung’s necromancy skills.
Thanks to this, even heroes sent to stop him struggled.
Leading zombies ahead and cursing with the ‘Necronomicon,’ Mabo Sung remained unscathed.
He laughed loudly.
“I’m invincible now!”
The more necromancy consumed the living, the faster he grew stronger.
He grew more powerful every day.
However, there’s a reason necromancers are labeled as combat-incompatible awakeners.
Awakeners who grow strong through necromancy eventually experience mental collapse.
Mabo Sung, who was already a bit off, had now completely lost his mind.
