Chapter 73

‘Dizzy…’

Just before the drunkenness tore his body apart, he barely managed to create a wind barrier to protect the Village Chief, coughing as he got up.

The hardware store was a mess.

The noisy outside.

An untimely commotion had erupted, and the Maze Shopping Mall must be in chaos.

But Si-woo had no time to assess the situation.

“Damn it! Die! Just die!”

For some reason, Jung-woo, who had lost his sanity, was relentlessly pounding on the wind barrier.

‘I have no idea what’s going on…’

An opportunity, but a bit of an awkward situation.

He quickly checked the unconscious Village Chief, who was bleeding from his nose.

‘He doesn’t seem seriously injured, but he’s an old man…’

Unlike a young man who still hasn’t shed his boyishness, even a small wound can be life-threatening for an elderly person. He needed to get him to a doctor immediately.

But he couldn’t ignore Jung-woo’s relentless attacks, so Si-woo had to make a choice.

‘There might be collateral damage, so if possible, minimize the range…’

No, just…

Si-woo began layering the wind barrier.

Though it collapsed rapidly with each explosion, it rebuilt itself instantly.

When the speed of rebuilding surpassed the speed of collapse, Si-woo pushed the barrier forward.

“Damn it…”

Without any physical enhancement or weight-increasing abilities, he was pushed out of the store.

“Sir! Can you hear me?!”

“Ugh…”

‘I need to get him to a safe place as quickly as possible!’

Carrying the Village Chief, he was pushed out by a wind filled with the metallic smell of blood.

In an instant, he was outside and handed the Village Chief to Sang-ah, who had come running after noticing the commotion.

“What happened?! Why is the Village Chief hurt?!”

“There’s no time to explain. Please take him to a doctor immediately. His life might be in danger.”

“Ah, got it!”

As Sang-ah carried the Village Chief away, Si-woo immediately turned towards the direction where he felt a murderous intent.

‘Can I subdue him?’

An unexpected real-life battle at an unexpected time.

Not some petty thief or pickpocket, but a notorious villain.

Classified as a top-tier ability user, he was no easy opponent.

So, Si-woo couldn’t hide his tension as he gathered wind in his hand.

‘If possible, capture him alive.’

Even if it meant taking some injuries, he couldn’t just kill him outright.

While terrorism can sometimes be indiscriminate, this one had a clear purpose, as revealed in the investigation.

So, to uncover the mastermind, he had to capture Jung-woo alive.

‘Should I consider it lucky that he came to me like this?’

Why did he suddenly attack?

Si-woo couldn’t understand.

It’s not like he didn’t look like a hero at all, but attacking out of nowhere was strange.

As Si-woo pondered these questions, a flame ignited in the darkness.

“Damn hunting dogs… drop dead!”

Si-woo instinctively flung his body to the side.

Just as he dodged the incoming object, it exploded behind him.

‘Is his ability to turn objects into explosives?!’

Chapter 1 of the Hero’s Criminal Apprehension Manual.

Identify the ability user’s ability.

If possible, confirm beforehand; if not, figure it out during the fight.

‘Is the medium only inanimate objects? Or can it be organic too?’

A difficult question.

He could only know if living beings could be turned into bombs by experiencing it himself.

But he wasn’t crazy enough to offer his body for that.

Si-woo extended his hand like he was forming a blade.

‘While deflecting incoming objects, subdue his legs and arms.’

If done wrong, limbs could be severed, but as long as he’s alive, it’s not excessive force in this era.

After all, it’s already humane that terrorists aren’t shot on sight.

Si-woo swung his hand blade as soon as he spotted the incoming object in the darkness.

An elliptical trajectory.

Following that path, the wind blade scattered through the air, slicing a hidden glass bottle in half. Simultaneously, a vivid explosion obscured Si-woo’s vision.

‘The explosion is bigger than I thought! Can he control the size of the explosion?!’

Si-woo’s eyes shifted from the explosion back to the darkness.

Multiple bombs were thrown at him.

Objects of varying sizes and speeds.

But that made them even more threatening.

Si-woo cut down each bomb with his wind blade before they could reach him. The consecutive explosions relentlessly assaulted his eardrums.

The pain felt like his eardrums were being torn apart.

But he couldn’t retreat.

If he let him escape here, it would be a disaster, and the damage could spread uncontrollably.

So, he took a step forward.

‘If I close the distance…’

He would have the advantage.

No matter how powerful his ability, he couldn’t spam it at close range.

Si-woo began to steadily close the distance.

Meanwhile, Jung-woo was growing impatient with the hero who just wouldn’t go down.

“Damn it! Why won’t you die?!”

Suddenly, no contact from his comrades.

The alert message that only comes when the hideout is compromised.

Realizing the situation had gone awry, he attacked the hero out of revenge for his comrades, but upon regaining his senses, he realized it wasn’t the time.

“Damn it…”

His eyes quickly scanned the alley.

With the terrorism and the plan both in shambles, he had to escape somehow.

“Ha…”

He turned and fled down the alley.

He knew the area, and the chances of the other guy knowing it were slim, so he probably wouldn’t be caught.

Yeah, probably.

“Stop! If you don’t stop, I’ll have to injure you!”

“Damn it, a flying ability user?!”

Even though the Maze Shopping Mall has a complex layout, if the opponent can fly, it’s a different story.

After all, the sky above the Maze Shopping Mall was crimson.

If it were just a normal entry and exit, flying would make it hard to reach the desired location, but now the distance was less than 15 meters.

At this distance, shaking off a flying opponent wouldn’t be easy.

“Get lost! Just get lost!”

Fireworks burst in the sunset sky. People strolling through the Maze Shopping Mall hid in nearby buildings with annoyed expressions at the sudden fireworks display.

It was common for villains hiding in the area to lose their temper and start fights.

So, no one was particularly shaken.

Regardless, the hero and villain dashed through the shopping mall, now turned into a dazzling festival.

Jung-woo moved through the complex alleys, trying to confuse his trail, while Si-woo used his abilities to track Jung-woo’s movements.

Since Jung-woo was identified, tracking him with his abilities wasn’t too difficult.

After running for about an hour, Jung-woo leaned against a wall, gasping for breath.

“Damn it…! I’m dying!”

Despite his training and robust physique, running at full speed for an hour had drained his stamina.

Si-woo landed casually in front of him.

“Surrender quietly.”

“You think… I’d do that…?!”

Jung-woo’s hand went into his pocket and came out holding a bunch of small glass marbles.

You couldn’t expect lethality from glass marbles…

But with his ability, it was a different story.

His ability was to turn inanimate objects into bombs.

As long as they were small enough to hold, it was a highly useful ability within the organization.

Except for one limitation… once an object became a bomb, it couldn’t be turned back.

“Get lost!”

He scattered the glass marbles.

Si-woo instinctively flew into the air to avoid the explosion.

“Uh…”

If he hadn’t spotted a child nearby.

‘Damn it!’

Si-woo urgently flew towards the child, who gave him a strange sense of déjà vu.

At a distance where he couldn’t escape the explosion, but saving the child was the only option.

As he hugged the child, the alley was engulfed in an explosion.

“…Did I get him?”

Seeing the chaotic alley, Jung-woo immediately turned to find an escape route.

“Stop!”

If he hadn’t been hit by an unexpected dropkick from a girl.

Jung-woo’s body rolled clumsily on the ground and hit the wall.

‘Damn… it…’

Already exhausted and disoriented from the sudden impact, his consciousness faded.

“Yuha!”

“Nu, Nuna!”

“Yo, younger sibling, was it…?”

‘No wonder they looked alike…’

“Thank you for saving my sibling!”

“…No, thanks to you, we subdued the attempted terrorist.”

Si-woo, with a tired face, staggered up and approached Jung-woo to handcuff him.

It was a villain-specific handcuff that delivered an electric shock if the wearer tried to use their ability.

‘One case resolved… though it leaves a lot to be desired.’

Si-woo sighed as he looked at the darkening sky.

——————-

“…He’s caught? Already?”

What?

I tilted my head at Mina’s call as soon as I left the hideout.

Damn it, what’s going on.

I sighed at the mangled original work and dragged the once-promising thing along as I walked.