Shinnoda stood by the entrance with his foot resting on the door, waiting for Park Hayeon to come out.
They always walked home together.
“Hurry up and come out.”
“Just a moment!”
Hastily putting on her shoes, Park Hayeon came out.
“Sorry~”
“Let’s go.”
There were only 10 minutes left before they would be late.
If they delayed any further, they would have to run, so they quickened their steps.
“Shinnoda, did you see the news about Dark Knight?”
“…Yeah, I saw it.”
“I knew he’d eventually cause trouble, didn’t you? Villains will always be villains!”
Shinnoda chuckled wryly and tousled Park Hayeon’s hair.
“Ah! You messed up my hair!”
“Anyway, how’s Class A? Is the teacher okay? How about the students?”
Her expression darkened for just a moment.
Shinnoda, not paying close attention, didn’t notice.
“Well, the teacher seems nice, and the friends… yes.”
“Speaking of which, wasn’t Hwangje-seong in your class? How is he?”
“I haven’t really talked to him much, but he seems really fun and popular!”
“Is that so? You should get closer to him. It’ll help you a lot.”
“Um… yeah.”
Walking along, they soon reached the opposite side of the Academy.
They only had to cross one major road to arrive.
They calmly waited for the pedestrian signal.
Shinnoda, suddenly struck by curiosity, asked:
“Isn’t there someone unusual in your class? Super overweight and has pointy teeth…?”
“No? There isn’t even anyone that overweight.”
The light turned blue.
The signal changed.
They crossed the road.
A countdown appeared under the blue light.
25.
24.
23.
…
10.
At that moment, from the opposite side, the place they had just come from, Yang Min-seo began running.
Her luxury car, which she usually drove, was parked on that side.
Shinnoda wondered to himself.
“Why didn’t she just park in front of the school? Why bother parking across the street?”
This was actually due to a mistake made by Yang Min-seo’s driver, Lee Jin-hyung.
He had “accidentally” taken the wrong route and ended up on the opposite lane of the Academy’s entrance.
“I’m sorry, miss. I took the wrong way. To turn back, we’ll need to go around. What if you’re late? I’m truly sorry.”
Yang Min-seo sighed deeply and said,
“Just let me out here. I can walk across the crosswalk. I hope there won’t be any more incidents like this in the future.”
She opened the car door and got out.
“Yes, ma’am. I’m truly sorry.”
Yang Min-seo confirmed that the pedestrian signal had only 10 seconds left and quickly started running.
If she missed this, she risked being late.
Focusing only on running forward, Yang Min-seo didn’t notice something moving rapidly toward her from the side.
“Ahhh!”
Park Hayeon gasped upon noticing something.
A truck as big as a house.
It was speeding toward them despite the red light, even accelerating.
In an instant, the truck was about to collide with Yang Min-seo.
‘No!’
Her body was suddenly flung toward the side of the crosswalk like a spring.
An attempt to save Yang Min-seo.
Shinnoda reached out and grabbed her collar, pulling her down.
She fell straight to the ground.
‘This is too dangerous.’
Even Park Hayeon, who had grown significantly stronger after consuming many Growth Orbs, wouldn’t be able to withstand a truck moving at that speed.
Shinnoda decided he had to stop this tragedy.
‘I can’t let Yang Min-seo die.’
“Overload.”
The activation phrase for his magic rune.
A massive amount of mana flowed through Shinnoda’s body, activating the magic rune.
The intricate geometrical patterns glowed red.
It was too late to use telekinesis to extract Yang Min-seo since the truck was already too close.
If he didn’t slow down the truck even slightly, extracting her in time would still result in her body colliding with it.
Shinnoda extended his hands toward the truck.
Telekinesis C-Rank.
Even with the assistance of the magic rune, the force needed to stop a 25-ton moving truck was impossibly large.
He clenched his teeth.
‘If only I can buy some time!’
If he didn’t act, Yang Min-seo would die.
This simple truth became his motivation to face the massive truck head-on.
Telekinesis being applied to the 25-ton truck.
SQUEEEAK!
The opposing forces clashed, causing the truck’s frame to begin twisting.
Yang Min-seo finally noticed the truck coming from the side, but it was too late.
With less than one second to impact, there was no way she could escape on her own.
Shinnoda tried harder.
SQUEAK!
This moment, though fleeting, felt like an eternity to him.
Blood gushed from his eyes and nose.
His insides were twisted due to grievous internal injuries.
He could taste the metallic bitterness of blood as he pushed himself further.
“GRAAAAAH!”
The feeling of his brain burning.
Shinnoda persevered through sheer willpower.
He locked eyes with the truck driver.
Sharp and clear eyes.
The driver wasn’t sleeping, nor was he drunk.
‘Then damn it, hit the brakes!’
At that moment, Laura advised.
“Now’s the time. Extract Yang Min-seo.”
The fleeting moment created by struggling against the moving truck.
Shinnoda applied telekinesis to Yang Min-seo, pulling her to the side.
Simultaneously, the telekinesis on the truck was released, and the truck’s exterior narrowly missed her body.
BOOM.
The truck surged forward, crashing into the intersection signal and flipping over.
Yang Min-seo, narrowly escaping with her life, collapsed on the spot.
Shinnoda also dropped to his knees and fell to the ground.
“Keuhk… Heuk.”
Breathing heavily, he coughed up blood.
‘My body… it’s beyond repair.’
Yang Min-seo safely crossed to the other side.
Seeing Shinnoda panting, she rushed over to check his condition.
“Are you alrigh…”
Her words were drowned out by Park Hayeon’s outcry.
“Shinnoda! What happened?! Should I call 119?”
Other students on their way to school also took notice of the sudden traffic accident.
They had witnessed the truck move unnaturally before tipping over and realized that Shinnoda, revealing a tattoo that wasn’t ordinary and bleeding, had done something extraordinary.
Murmurs spread.
“That guy stopped the accident.”
“Isn’t he the strongest guy from Class B?”
“I heard he took down a ‘Luna Bear’ with one hit during practice.”
“Wow, he actually stopped a truck like that. Could it really be telekinesis? What kind of intelligence would that require?”
Shinnoda told Yang Min-seo what he had observed.
“The truck driver… had no intention of stopping. He wasn’t asleep, nor was he drunk.”
Yang Min-seo’s eyes sharpened, and she bowed her head.
“I see. Thank you for saving me. I’ll repay this debt. Let me know if you ever need anything.”
“You… no, this isn’t something I should interfere with.”
Shinnoda felt that something was happening around Yang Min-seo, but he couldn’t quite figure it out.
In the original storyline, Yang Min-seo’s route didn’t exist, so he knew nothing about her possible future.
“Still… if you’re ever in trouble, reach out. I’ll help. We’re friends, after all.”
She gave a somewhat melancholic smile and nodded.
Soon, the police arrived, and the truck driver was ruled as having fallen asleep at the wheel.
That was his claim, and without proof of intent, there was nothing more they could do.
Driver Lee Jin-hyung was fired.
Yang Min-seo could no longer trust him and decided not to work with him anymore.
*
Inside the Academy classroom.
An old teacher who looked good in glasses was passionately teaching.
He was Park Ho-yeol, a magic studies teacher.
I couldn’t concentrate.
It was because of the event last night.
<The villain's prison raid! Completely burnt due to arson... All innocent prison guards have died!>
<A prison raid last night, CCTV captured the culprit, it was none other than 'Dark Knight.' The police are investigating further...>
<Finally crossing the line, 'Dark Knight,' is this the end of the MZ-generation's hero?>
I wasn’t even near the prison.
Yet the article made it seem like I had raided the prison and killed innocent civilians.
Though I didn’t do it for fame as ‘Dark Knight,’ it still felt awful to be slandered like this.
At that moment, the teacher called on me.
“Hey, blondie. Did you say the intelligence status is related to real intelligence, or not?”
I wasn’t listening at all, but it was something I knew.
Anyone who’d played the original game wouldn’t know otherwise.
“The intelligence status is proportional to magical power and magical aptitude, and it has no relation to real intelligence.”
I replied before it was too late.
“Did you even hear the lesson?”
Teacher Park Ho-yeol wasn’t letting me off, for some reason.
He asked the next question.
“Five minutes ago, I taught something. Come up and solve it.”
Teacher Park Ho-yeol wrote down a problem on the board.
He adjusted his glasses slightly and glared at me.
It was a proof for calculating the required magical power to use a skill.
It wouldn’t be easy to solve it on the spot unless someone was extremely studious.
Naturally, I had no idea.
Who studies such things when it’s not exam season?
As I approached the board, I mumbled and silently called for Laura.
“Law-laa.”
Teacher Park Ho-yeol clicked his tongue as I picked up the board marker.
“First year students with piercings? Proper posture and diligent study improve academic efficiency.”
I only half-listened to his nagging.
[Don’t you know that I can hear your thoughts even if you keep them inside your head?]
Laura’s laughter echoed in my mind.
“Wait? You mean, you could’ve told me earlier instead of waiting until now?”
[Definitely gave you a hint the first time we met, but it was fun watching you keep talking to yourself.]
What a bad-tempered dragon.
