Chapter 9

“Whoa…”

“You seem really nervous.”

“Ah, M-Maker-san…”

Inside the organization’s helicopter heading towards District D.

A modified military transport helicopter, larger than usual and capable of carrying dozens of people, had only me and her as the sole passengers.

Swoosh.

“…? Ah! Th-thank you, 42…”

“Combat Unit 6th Squad, 42. It’s nothing.”

…Let me correct that.

There was also 42, another person I had included for this mission.

‘One last thing, I’d like to add one more person to this mission.’

‘A person?’

‘Yes, looking at the mission, I need to stop the researchers from deleting the data. That means I’ll have to split up and find the control room.’

‘Right?’

‘Until the Training Officer cracks the code, we’ll be defenseless, so I thought it’d be good to have someone to protect the Training Officer.’

‘Hmm… That makes sense. Do you have someone in mind?’

Swoosh.

The guy with a stoic expression handed the Training Officer a bottle of water and even passed me an iced tea.

“Thank you, 42.”

Nod.

After a brief greeting, he went to the corner and sat down again.

‘He probably went to the corner so we could talk comfortably.’

Even during the last terrorist attack, he was incredibly quick-witted, so I really like him.

Turning my gaze away from 42, I looked at the Training Officer, who was sipping water.

“Training Officer.”

At my call, the Training Officer turned her head.

But as if pondering something, she pursed her lips, straightened her back, and then slightly opened her mouth.

“…ri.”

“Huh?”

“A-Ahn Yeri… my name…”

“?”

I was puzzled by the sudden mention of her real name.

‘Why is she suddenly saying her real name? Is she asking me to call her casually?’

“J-just call me casually…”

Got it.

It must have been her way of signaling that she wanted to get closer.

I smiled and looked at her.

“Unfortunately, I can’t do that right now. After all, we’re on a mission.”

“Ah, right…”

Her back, which had straightened with courage, slumped again at my words.

“…When we’re not on a mission, I’ll call you Yeri. It’s not like we’re only meeting this once.”

“…!! Yes…!”

At my words, Ahn Yeri’s eyes widened, and she smiled brightly.

“B-but why did you call me…?”

“Ah, it’s nothing major. I just thought it was important to accurately understand each other’s abilities before the operation.”

“Ah, I see…!”

Actually, knowing the original story, I roughly know her ability.

‘When I first decided to join the villain organization, I thought a lot about how to efficiently use abilities.’

Like taking potions to increase mana or finding items and people who could complement my abilities.

I tried to use my knowledge of the original story to gain the minimum necessary strength.

And among them, I also thought about contacting the Training Officer, Ahn Yeri.

“…My ability is K-Knowledge Sharing…! I can connect with the desired target and share my knowledge… and also…”

Knowledge Sharing.

The ability to share the knowledge possessed by the ability user with others.

The more I understand the target and the more knowledge I have, the less mana is consumed to create objects, and the maintenance time can be drastically increased, perfectly complementing my Creation Ability.

‘But there’s a reason I didn’t seek her out.’

“…B-but if I transfer too much knowledge at once, the recipient’s brain might overload…”

The more knowledge transferred, the greater the strain on the brain of the recipient who didn’t have that knowledge before.

Moreover, what I want is knowledge of complex weapons or machinery, so the overload from receiving her knowledge would be immense.

‘That’s why I gave up on seeking her out.’

But if you ask if she’s useless, that’s not the case.

“…So, I thought about a way to control the output of my ability.”

“Control the output? Instead of reducing the amount of knowledge transferred, you’re making the effect of the ability disappear over time, right?”

“Y-yes…! That’s right… You really know a lot… Wow.”

Well, I’ve seen the applications of your ability in the novel.

I smiled at Ahn Yeri, who was looking at me with sparkling eyes.

“We seem to be more compatible as colleagues than I thought.”

I’ve been thinking about ways to use your ability to strengthen mine.

“Let’s do our best.”

“Yes… I’m lacking, but… let’s do our best…!”

She clenched her fists, taking on a cheering posture.

Yeah, just trust me, Yeri!

I’ll give you a ride with my help!

“We’ll… be able to do it, right?”

“As a high-ranking member of Eclipse, I can’t fail at something like this.”

‘But it’s a bit nerve-wracking.’

I feel like there’s a big variable in this otherwise perfect plan.

…Is it just my imagination?

***

“Ah! Heroes! Over here!”

A research lab in District D.

A man in shabby clothes greeted the heroes with a bright smile.

“Are you perhaps from the research lab we’re assigned to protect?”

“Ah! Yes! Nice to meet you! I’m Choo Seo-ho, the research team leader at the Regener Research Lab in District D!”

Regener.

A research lab with the dream of restoring people who have lost limbs or bodily functions due to accidents or injuries back to their original healthy state.

It was the name of the research lab where Ice Queen and a dozen other heroes were assigned to protect today.

“Is it okay for someone of your rank to come out like this?”

One of the heroes, surprised by the man’s rank, looked at him with wide eyes.

“Hey! I’m human too, so of course I need a break! This is a chance to take a break, so of course I’d come out first.”

Hahaha!

The heroes burst into laughter at Choo Seo-ho’s comical attitude.

With a more relaxed atmosphere, they followed Choo Seo-ho into the research lab.

“Welcome to our research lab, heroes!”

The heroes were amazed by the size of the research lab up close.

“Wow.”

“It’s this big?”

“Haha, since the area is a slum, we could buy it cheap and expand.”

The man chuckled, pleased with the heroes’ reactions.

“Now, let’s divide into teams and assign tasks…”

Ice Queen, who had been watching them, was about to gather the heroes to start the mission.

“Ice Queen, are you already going to work? You can take a break for a bit!”

“Huh? But…”

“Don’t worry! I’ll guide you!”

Ice Queen was stopped by Choo Seo-ho’s words.

Reluctantly, she turned to the heroes to ask for their opinions.

Honestly, she wanted to prepare a strategy in case of an attack.

Location awareness is important, but if we’re all together and an attack happens, our response time will be delayed.

It would be better to pair up and memorize the layout while moving at intervals.

“Sounds fun!”

“Looking forward to it!”

But the newbie heroes, unaware of her concerns, eagerly followed Choo Seo-ho.

“……”

Ice Queen had no choice but to join the research lab tour.

“This is our office. We mainly use it to send or receive necessary documents, but honestly? It’s also where the researchers secretly play games, so it’s a headache for me.”

“This is the break room. When we have to work late nights, this room is a big help. Haha!”

“This is our research lab’s…”

“Ah, I can’t skip this part when introducing our research lab!…”

“This is…”

“Ah, that’s…”

After being dragged around by the research team leader for a while…

“…Sigh. Let’s end the tour here, Research Team Leader Choo Seo-ho.”

Ice Queen finally stepped in, unable to bear it any longer.

“Huh? But…”

“We’re here to protect this research lab, not for a field trip.”

I understand you’re proud of the research lab, but please restrain yourself a bit.

Her blunt and direct words left Choo Seo-ho speechless.

“The same goes for all of you. We’re not here to play.”

“……”

“At first, I went along to lighten the mood, but do you really think it’s okay to be this defenseless when we could be attacked at any moment?”

“……”

Ice Queen turned her gaze and shared her thoughts with the other heroes.

The once lively atmosphere quickly turned cold.

‘Was I too harsh…? But someone had to say it…’

Ice Queen felt a bit guilty but quickly composed herself.

Her mission today was to supervise safety, ensuring that the newbies could perform their duties safely and grow into proper heroes.

That’s why she didn’t hesitate to give tough love.

“Ice Queen… wasn’t that a bit too much?”

“…Huh?”

She never expected such a ridiculous response.

“He’s kindly introducing the research lab, and you say something like that…”

“You’re being too serious.”

“Nothing’s happened yet, why are you overreacting?”

“Knowing this stuff could be useful later~ Why are you like this?”

Ice Queen was speechless at their lack of any sense of crisis or heroism.

“Are you seriously saying this right now?”

“Hey, what’s with you, Ice Queen?”

While she was dumbfounded, a man called her familiarly.

He was Iron, a B+ rank hero assigned to the same mission as her.

“Being too stiff will make you stiff when something really happens.”

“…Iron, do you realize we’re on a mission right now? We’re here to train and supervise the newbies.”

“Well, what’s wrong with this atmosphere? The villains didn’t announce they’re coming, so they might not even show up.”

“On the contrary, they might come at any moment. They didn’t call us here for no reason.”

“Man, you’re so uptight~”

No wonder you got beaten by Maker.

Jerk.

Ice Queen’s face hardened as she glared at Iron.

“What did you just…”

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