Classroom before the morning assembly.
The students who had arrived early were busy chatting. This was because a huge news story had come out yesterday.
<(Breaking) B-rank Hero 'Medusa' assassinated. High possibility that the culprit is 'Dark Knight'…>
<At the 'Medusa' assassination scene, unlike usual, there was green moss instead of ash… What's the content?>
<Shocking! Hero 'Medusa' confesses to a murder from her school days. How did 'Dark Knight' know?>
<Korean Superpower Association expresses great regret over 'Dark Knight's hero assassination... They will respond strongly from now on...>
<Is 'Dark Knight,' who is now targeting heroes as well, the birth of an anti-hero...?>
Netizens couldn’t help but jump on this great story, and a battle between ‘Dark Knight’ fans and anti-fans ensued.
It was attracting so much attention that it could be named “Great Battle.”
Yesterday, I browsed through the communities, and while those defending ‘Dark Knight’ had a slight edge, the backlash wasn’t weak either.
—————————————
<Dark Knight's Villainy Irrefutable Facts.txt>
Here comes the herd of fanboys of ‘Dark Knight.’ Let’s feed them some shit first, haha.
[Audio Recording (2:15) ▶]
B-rank Hero ‘Medusa’ confessing to murder during school days. Haha.
The villain was you, Medusa, all along, haha. If you’re here just to hate ‘Dark Knight,’ please dislike this and leave, haha.
Turning people to stone, smashing them into pieces, and flushing them down the toilet? Are you defending that? Are you a washing machine? Haha.
Likes -45,334 Dislikes -22,447
(Comments) -21,448
<BS nonsense>
<How does 'Dark Knight' know about the monster theory?>
n<Does it come from the Dark Knight fan cafe?>
<Socially maladjusted kids praising villains, hahaha>
n<Are you a future hero? Honestly, from a commoner's perspective, there's no reason to dislike 'Dark Knight'>
n<So, is your investigative power better than the police or prosecution? What will you do if you mistakenly accuse an innocent person?>
n<Then, we can criticize you then.>
<Even when heroes get killed, some people just irrationally defend 'Dark Knight', haha>
n<That's a villain, not a hero, right? haha. Is it that everyone kills a friend in their school days?>
n<Even with heroes being killed, praising villains won't inspire a sense of mission in any heroes; ugh...>
n<Yeah, next up, aspiring hero, haha>
n<You incompetent person is so annoying. If I see you on the street, I won't even look at you>
n<Oh, are you an aspiring villain? Haha, here's your next ash candidate~>
<Seriously, I don't understand what's wrong with 'Dark Knight.' There's nothing wrong with him at all>
<That student who died because of Medusa would have not known 'Dark Knight,' but he didn't, right? Respect. He's a real hero>
<Morons, 'Dark Knight' trolling is getting ridiculous;>
.
.
.
—————————————
—————————————
<Is 'Dark Knight' Really a Cute Girl?>
Voice manipulation and the hindrance to perception prevent anyone from knowing her true figure, but what if it turns out she’s a cute girl?
O_u_YA
Likes -1 Dislikes -12
(Comments)-2
<Bullshit.>
<Nonsense>
—————————————
I was only hunting because of the ‘Succession’ skill, but with so much attention from people, it started to feel burdensome.
Even my group members gathered around my desk, discussing the matter.
Yang Min-seo, who prioritizes law and order, surprisingly had a positive attitude toward ‘Dark Knight.’
“Medusa simply didn’t qualify as a hero when you think about it.”
Ji Soyeon cautiously raised an objection.
“B-bu-but meddling with a hero is still… Besides, Min-seo usually dislikes such lawless people, right?”
“E-eh, um… ‘Dark Knight’ is a bit different.”
Yang Min-seo, her face slightly red, tried to justify it.
Ji Soyeon looked curious.
On the other hand, Oh Haena reacted enthusiastically. Clenching her fists, she said,
“If he comes to me, I’ll capture him and make a name for myself.”
She also added that she practiced fighting against ‘Dark Knight’ in the training ground regularly.
Yang Min-seo subtly smirked.
Whether it was because she didn’t notice or didn’t care, Oh Haena began explaining the various methods she had devised herself on how to crush ‘Dark Knight’ if she ever met him.
I just felt embarrassed.
‘Go talk somewhere else, you guys. This is embarrassing!’
At that moment, our door opened as the new homeroom teacher entered.
A middle-aged man with a stern expression. He was bald.
“Everyone, pay attention. I’m Yun Seon-do, your new homeroom teacher. Due to the negligence of student supervision, Song Si-yeol has been removed from his position.”
Teacher Yun Seon-do introduced himself by writing his name on the board and sharing his credentials.
His voice was filled with pride.
“I differ from other teachers in the Academy in that I’m a ‘Hunter’ by origin. I even accompanied S-rank Hunter ‘Blood Sea’ Duk-go-seong on his final expedition. Although I’m only B-rank, I confidently claim that my real combat skills rival those of A-rank heroes.”
The students all tilted their heads in confusion.
‘What’s this Blood Sea and who’s Duk-go-seong?’ It was something that happened when they were all still very young, so they barely understood.
The teacher, clearly dissatisfied with their reaction, slightly frowned.
“Hmm. In the future, we plan to add a ‘Hunter’ curriculum to the Academy, so my role will grow accordingly.”
Teacher Yun Seon-do said this and continued with the morning assembly. He constantly subtly bragged about his own credentials afterward, causing us to frown.
Though his self-promotion was fine, he subtly belittled heroes while doing so.
Claiming that hunters who capture monsters are stronger than heroes who capture villains.
‘Is there no decent teacher in the Academy?’
I lamented.
Incidentally, it is said that some parts of Jang Seo-yoon’s remains in the toilet of the Academy annex were recovered and given a proper funeral.
Her surviving family members, in an interview, said,
“We’re relieved that the truth has come out, so we no longer have to wait endlessly. We would like to thank ‘Dark Knight’ for exposing the truth of the incident.”
Apparently, the family had believed until then that Jang Seo-yoon was missing and kept searching. Initially, they distributed flyers with her photo, then later hired private detectives to do an investigation.
However, the Academy strictly prohibits outsiders from entering, so no matter how skilled the detective, it was impossible to uncover the truth without accessing the crime scene.
I felt a sense of accomplishment from their gratitude.
To be precise, Hwang Harin wasn’t a target for my growth.
It was a request from the dead that I didn’t really need to heed, and I accepted it with some goodwill.
Meddling with heroes involves great risk, and with plenty of villains around, I didn’t need to take on unnecessary risks.
Thus, their gratitude hit me even harder.
*
Some detention center in Seoul.
I sat in the cell, lamenting my fate.
“Damn Hwang Harin is no help.”
Due to Hwang Harin’s audio recording, not only was I caught, but also Kim Eun-hee and Nami-hyang.
Honestly, the actual murders were only done by Hwang Harin and Lee Yeonhwa. All we did was watch or put the ash into bags, and still, it felt unfair.
Besides, while Nami-hyang, after graduating, gave up on being a hero and lived as a company employee, which might have been okay, both me and Kim Eun-hee were still active C-rank heroes.
‘Not a chance to make a comeback…’
I resentfully blamed ‘Medusa’ once more.
I deeply regretted my past when the handcuffs and Awakening Bombs were placed around my neck, it was a bone-chilling experience.
After entering JW Management, Huang Halin, like a ghost, got rid of us immediately after becoming a big shot.
We, at the very bottom of the C-ranks, weren’t worth her time.
So we lived separately for a while, but suddenly, trouble fell on us.
Bang.
At that moment, commotion broke out outside the cell.
I strained to overhear the guards’ conversation.
“What is it!”
“Dark Knight has invaded!”
“Why is he here?”
“There are some new inmates, right?”
“Damn it.”
My body trembled violently.
‘Dark Knight… me? I just helped keep things hidden. Honestly, I didn’t kill anyone…’
The situation outside grew more serious.
“Uaaaaaah.”
Fierce shouts and cries of pain.
The sounds of many footsteps.
It sounded as if they were engaged in a fierce battle.
Then came the sound of gunfire.
BANG. BANG.
“Sa, save us… We are not villains… grrk.”
The desperate cries of those whose lives were ending echoed through the prison.
The door burst open, and a guard stumbled into the corridor.
He was injured and couldn’t walk, crawling along the floor desperately trying to escape something.
Then came the figure in black robes.
I shivered with fear.
‘Dark Knight’. He had come.
“Shit. Shit.”
I trembled in terror. My friends must be doing the same, unseen in other cells.
The guard’s hand moved toward the holster, trying to draw the pistol.
“Please, shoot him!”
I desperately prayed with all my heart.
‘Please let Dark Knight not come to me!’
I cheered for the guard I’d normally berate for arrogance.
But he couldn’t.
There was no gun in his holster.
“Uh, uh… I was sure I had it….”
“Is that so?”
The pistol in Dark Knight’s hand.
A gunshot and a hole appeared in the guard’s head.
Pushing the guard’s body aside with his foot, he stood in the center of the corridor to announce,
“I am Dark Knight. I’ve come to dispose of all you criminal scums! Hahaha.”
Mechanically distorted voice. For some reason, it carried a bizarre, playful tone.
I was certain that ‘Dark Knight’ wasn’t the dark hero people portrayed him to be.
He suddenly disappeared from right in front of me and reappeared with oil drums in both hands.
‘Instant teleportation ability…?’
The more perceptive of the prisoners started screaming.
“Hey, hey! Why are we dying? Just kill the Medusa gang and go!”
“Dark Knight” tilted his head, savoring their cries.
“Didn’t you commit minor offenses? It’s unfair to die for something you didn’t deserve, isn’t it? Despairing, are you? Heh heh.”
All the prisoners in the detention center realized what Dark Knight intended to do.
They went berserk.
“Help! Please, save us!”
“What did we do wrong?”
“I just stole a bread!”
“At least spare me! I’m innocent! I’ve been falsely accused!”
Dark Knight shivered.
“Aaah, this is amazing. Why didn’t I think of this before?”
After sprinkling oil all over the detention center, he lit it and disappeared.
