Chapter 66

Whack! Whack! Whack!!!

Every time I smashed the guy’s head, it felt like the stress I had just built up was being released in real-time.

“Ahhh!! Aaaahhh!!!”

“Oh, he’s tougher than I thought.”

I love the sound of screaming~

Using the echoing cries of the villain as my rhythm, I intensified my beating.

“Ahhh!! Ahhh!!!”

Even after all this head-bashing, he’s still standing. Guess he really is an ability user.

Despite the strength of a grown man who works out and the heavy bat hitting his vital points, he’s not knocked out. If he’s not an ability user, this doesn’t make sense.

But he’s just tough—he’s not even putting up a proper fight.

‘In other words, he’s just a good punching bag.’

Whack!!!

“Stop!!”

In the midst of this one-sided beating, I turned my head at the voice coming from behind me.

Heroes, glaring at me fiercely.

Just moments ago, they were munching on popcorn, watching like useless heroes.

“Hey, I don’t know who you are, but that’s enough, right?”

“Yeah! What you’re doing is clearly obstructing official duties and violence!”

Seriously.

I looked at them with a dumbfounded expression, leaning on my bat, resting it on my shoulder.

‘When this guy was causing a scene, you were all lazy…’

I guess they’re trying to avoid disciplinary action.

There’s a huge difference between taking a long time to subdue a villain and some random guy suddenly showing up and interfering with the heroes.

Plus, in the latter scenario, if the hero’s target gets taken away and killed by some unknown guy?

Unless they’re exceptionally competent heroes, it’s clear that higher-ups would take some action.

“Ugh… ugh…”

The man let out a voice filled with pain.

Seeing his state, the heroes seemed somewhat relieved.

“…If you stop now, you won’t face any legal consequences.”

As if telling me to hand over the villain to them, one of the heroes extended his hand.

“Huh.”

I couldn’t help but find their bold attitude ridiculous.

If they were so scared of the law, they wouldn’t have done this in the first place, right?

But it didn’t seem like they were just trying to intimidate me, as the hero continued confidently.

“I’ve heard of it. People who, for some reason, don’t act as official heroes but operate in the shadows, punishing villains. They call themselves vigilantes, right?”

‘They must’ve been racking their brains to figure out my identity in such a short time.’

Though their guess was completely wrong.

Vigilantes.

Literally translated, they’re self-defense groups.

Among the factions I mentioned earlier, they belong to a third party, like the researchers.

‘Expelled from the Association, having a criminal record, or simply lacking skills.’

For whatever reason, they couldn’t become official heroes, but they still exert their strength to eliminate villains where heroes can’t reach.

It’s illegal for non-heroes to kill villains, but they’re a strange group that helps people regardless.

‘If they think I’m a vigilante, their attitude isn’t that strange.’

Vigilantes are, after all, people who capture villains for the safety of citizens.

That’s the image they project to the public.

“If you hand him over to us, we’ll clean up the aftermath neatly.”

Vigilantes, who only kill villains haphazardly, naturally have a hard time repairing the damage caused by villains, unlike the Association.

So, if I were truly a noble, good-hearted vigilante who cared for the citizens, handing him over would be the right move.

But.

“No thanks.”

“Yeah, I thought you’d make that decision. Now hand over the villain… wait, what did you say?”

Not expecting this answer, the hero looked at me with a dumbfounded expression.

Sorry, but I’m not a vigilante.

“Why should I… no, why should I do that?”

Since I’m pretending, I should change my tone a bit.

No need to be polite now.

“But, you’re a vigilante…”

“You seem to have a few misunderstandings.”

I walked over lazily in a slouched posture and stepped firmly on the villain’s back.

“One. I’m not part of any vigilante group or whatever.”

Then, I raised my bat towards the heroes for a moment.

“Two. I don’t just beat up villains. I beat up anyone who pisses me off.”

Quickly adjusting my stance, I struck the villain’s head with a powerful swing.

The villain trembled for a moment before collapsing.

“……”

“Three. And right now, you guys really piss me off.”

So, if you’re gonna fight, bring it on and get lost.

I need to take Gayeon and get out of here.

***

“Ugh…”

“Ugh…”

“Now I see why you didn’t just rush at the villain.”

These guys are pathetically weak.

I haven’t been slacking on training, but even without using my abilities, my skills should be far behind…

Somehow, these guys are weaker than me, even without using their abilities.

‘Anyway, let’s get out of here.’

Quickly organizing my thoughts, I glanced at the citizens pointing their phones at me.

‘I was a bit flustered at first, but thinking about it, it’s not bad.’

I was planning to create a new disguise soon and gain some recognition like this.

A disguise with some level of recognition but no real information available.

It’s not like I just randomly jumped in and caused a scene because I was really annoyed.

‘No matter what method I used, I could’ve gotten Gayeon out anyway.’

I glanced at Gayeon.

“…Oppa?”

“Shh.”

I smiled slyly and whispered quietly to Gayeon.

‘If you let Gayeon go, come pick me up in about 5 minutes.’

‘Okay.’

‘And, you’ll have to explain to me exactly what happened.’

‘……’

Gayeon looked at me with a face that said, “We’re in trouble.”

Did you think I’d just let this slide after all this?

You’re gonna get scolded later.

“Shall we go back now, kiddo?”

“…Yes.”

I smiled and patted Gayeon’s head.

“Wait! Who are you…!”

“Bye~”

Ting-! Tiring-! Ting!!!

Pshhhh-

Ignoring Chise running towards me, I pulled out a smoke bomb from my pocket and set it off immediately.

This identity wasn’t made to befriend heroes anyway, so no need to chat.

‘Let’s escape quickly and change into Gang Ian’s clothes.’

Leaving the gradually fading figures behind, I made my escape.

***

“……”

A quiet, old-feeling room.

A man sat for a moment, meditating as he took a deep breath.

The only sound in the room was the man’s breathing.

“……”

The man’s mind gradually grew hazy, and his body relaxed, slumping in the chair.

“Ugh… ugh… ugh!!”

Just as the solemn meditation was turning into a nap…

Bam!!!

“Boss!!”

“Ugh!”

A young man burst through the door, startling the man awake.

Realizing it was the young man who entered his room, the man frowned.

“…Who barges in without knocking during meditation?”

“Come on, meditation? You were clearly about to take a nap.”

“Ugh, ugh!”

Embarrassed by the young man’s words, the man coughed and changed the subject.

“…So, what brings you here, Secretary?”

“Take a look at this, Boss.”

The young man called Secretary pulled out a tablet and showed a video.

“This is?”

“It’s a video that’s been circulating recently. There’s an interesting guy in it.”

Interesting.

That’s a term the boss’s secretary only used for people worth recruiting into their group.

“Really?”

Intrigued by the secretary’s words, the boss took the tablet and started watching the video.

The location was an amusement park.

A villain and some heroes were in a standoff.

The hostage looked like a middle schooler?

“The villain seems distracted by the hostage, so a sneak attack would’ve easily taken him down…”

But the heroes in the video didn’t do anything.

More than being cautious, they seemed scared.

The heroes in the video didn’t act recklessly, fearing they might be in danger.

“Ugh, what’s with these heroes nowadays? Back in my day… ugh.”

“Stop with the old man talk and keep watching, Boss.”

At the secretary’s scolding, the boss focused back on the video.

As the standoff between the villain and heroes continued, a guy appeared.

– If you hesitate twice, people will die.

A man with a mask shaped like a monster’s teeth and a sturdy bat resting on his shoulder.

“Hoh?”

The guy walked over nonchalantly and, without hesitation, swung the bat at the villain.

“Much better than those frustrating heroes.”

He had decent form, probably trained somewhere.

His situational judgment and execution were far better than the heroes trembling in the corner.

– If you hand him over to us, we’ll clean up the aftermath neatly.

– No thanks.

And when they tried to steal his credit, he flat-out refused.

– Right now, you guys really piss me off.

“Pfft!! This guy’s really entertaining!”

Whether it’s heroes or villains, he eliminates anyone who gets in his way!

Yet, he saved the kid and left the citizens alone, showing he has at least the minimum morality we pursue.

Satisfied with the secretary’s find, the boss smiled and got up to open a bottle of wine, replaying the video.

– One. I’m not part of any vigilante group or whatever.

“Yeah, you’re not a vigilante now.”

But you could become one, right?

“Secretary.”

“Yes, Boss.”

“Can you find that guy?”

“I’ll look into it even if you’re napping, Boss.”

“Hah! Then I’ll leave it to you. Seems like a good find for once.”

Chugging the wine, the boss stood up.

The boss of the illegal hero group, Vigilante, gave a fierce smile to his secretary.

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