Chapter 25

Chapter 24

The scene had entered a lull.

The villain Lilith, who had become a demon, was annihilated by the Grand Cross technique of the goblin, and the mysterious platinum knight who appeared on the scene vanished in a flash of light.

"......."

Baeg Seul-hee clenched her fists as she watched the Hero Association personnel who were now cleaning up the debris.

Isn't it absurd to just watch and get angry?

If it had been Busan instead of Jeju Island, she would have rushed over to help the people.

She had approached to within 200 meters, but Baeg Seul-hee couldn't get any closer to the scene.

"Kyaa! It's you, my idol!"

"It's Snow White! It's really Snow White!"

"Wow... Look at the white. I feel like I could die without any regrets now."

The sounds of the crowd that had gathered to see the accident scene reached her ears.

Beep.

-Snow White.

-But I must clearly state, do not 'act rashly.'

-Leave the cleanup to the underlings and maintain the dignity of an S-Class. Understand?

Due to the instructions from some old, strict elders who kept sending messages.

"......."

Baeg Seul-hee remained silent.

If she said anything, she would just get more angry, so she stayed quiet, maintaining her concept—once known as the 'Ice Princess.'

Just dealing with the crowd was complicated enough, but there were too many factors that made her mind even more complex.

The platinum knight.

Well, the platinum knight could just be an unregistered hero.

He might have suddenly awakened his powers before enrolling and appeared to take down a villain at a restaurant.

If he continued to check the freshmen, someone would surely reveal their ability, and his identity would be exposed.

So, she wasn't really worried about it.

What really worried her was the 'goblin.'

"Still, how did the goblin appear?"

"Goblins can appear anywhere. It's not just a one-time thing."

"But they've never appeared on Jeju Island before."

"Who knows? Maybe the stalker goblin came in here."

The words that seemed to irritate her echoed in Baeg Seul-hee's ears.

She also had a part of her that thought the same, so she couldn't outright deny it.

Currently, Snow White and the goblin had formed a kind of 'rival' relationship.

Not only because Snow White always missed the goblin, but also because they had clashed several times, and the public had already framed them as the typical hero and villain—good versus evil.

"Was that platinum knight really that strong?"

"Facing the goblin in close combat, that might be the first time for any knight. Snow White fights from a distance, after all."

"Wow. Even though S-Class heroes seem to fight casually, they're really terrifying. I wish I could fight like that. Really."

"...So, is the goblin's rival now the golden knight? Haha."

But another presence had taken that position.

Someone who fought the goblin more aggressively than she did, and even threatened the goblin without backing down.

Most importantly.

"Look at this photo. Is this the goblin's second form?"

"Shouldn't we call it a combat form? He was wearing a suit before, but this is a completely tactical combat suit."

"Creating a powered suit to look like the goblin would result in something exactly like this. And it's the first time he's held something like a police baton in both hands."

"Maybe he was just showing half his skills before. The goblin, a terrifying existence...!"

The new form the goblin had shown.

It was much stronger and faster than the goblin in a suit.

Even the crude bat he usually wielded had been replaced by a sleek, sharp rod that felt more sophisticated than menacing.

"Was the goblin's combat form enough to show how strong the golden knight was...."

"So, is the goblin's rival now that knight?"

"Who knows? How can we tell if that knight is a hero or not?"

"Hey, this is going to be interesting. If Snow White fights without transforming into her combat form, it would just make her look like a fool, right?"

"......."

The sounds around her made Baeg Seul-hee's blood boil.

Should she just tear it apart?

No.

Thud, thud.

Baeg Seul-hee pushed through the crowd and moved forward.

She stretched out her hand toward the destroyed restaurant building.

Beep.

[What are you doing! You just need to maintain your presence from the back! Do you know how much the lower heroes suffer when an S-Class hero goes out to save people?!]

The loud voice of a high-ranking official echoed.

Of course, the people couldn't hear it; it was only transmitted to the in-ear communicator in Baeg Seul-hee's ear, but the noise was loud enough to potentially spread in all directions.

"Excuse me."

Baeg Seul-hee placed her hand on the Taeguk watch.

"...Go to hell."

She cut off the mana flowing through the Taeguk watch and stretched out her hand toward the debris.

Sss.

The ice magic that extended toward the debris quickly shattered and broke it, starting to clean up the chaos.

No one could casually say, "Isn't this the job of an S-Class hero?"

Because Snow White's expression as she cleared the debris was so fierce.

* * *

"Hmm. I didn't expect such a variable to appear."

A little distance from the scene, a young man wearing a red and black checkered改良韩服 (improved hanbok) scratched his cheek and smiled faintly.

"I finally gave a fairly strong demon seed as a gift, but it exploded before it could even sprout properly."

The young man reviewed the numerous videos recorded by the Taeguk watch.

"Grand Cross. At least 17 different angles."

The goblin, holding the batons in both hands, infused them with powerful magic and swung them widely, instantly annihilating the demon without a trace.

"Interesting. Using 'Grand Cross' on Jeju Island. I would have named it something like 'Midsummer Night's Southern Cross.' Tsk. So, the saying that the goblin is a 'foreigner' is true? It's difficult to assume they're American or British just because they use English, but...."

The young man looked at a statue in one corner of the square and curled his lips.

"Using an English-named technique on an island named after King Sejong, who created the Korean alphabet. Mr. Ju Si-kyung would be in despair. Their organization's name is 'Imae Mangnyang,' but their techniques are in English. Tsk, tsk."

The young man kept clicking his tongue and shaking his head.

Suddenly, his Taeguk watch started ringing.

"...Ah, right. It failed. I won't take responsibility."

[Responsibility? Just bringing out the goblin was a huge achievement. Moreover, the 'Unknown'—]

"What?"

[...The unknown ability user was also a good achievement. A completely new variable has appeared that we didn't know about.]

"Right. A new variable. ...It seems to be at least at the Special Class level."

[S-Class.]

"Special Class."

[Hey, you stubborn bastard. There are international standards, you know. Using your own grading system like that—]

Click.

The young man covered his Taeguk watch.

The phone rang again, but the young man ignored it completely.

"What a sad thing. That a language other than Korean is used in Korea. And most of all, what's most regrettable is...."

The young man glanced at a book in his pocket and twisted his lips.

"The yokais on our land are all without 'absolute evil'.... Tsk, in the end, do we have to bring something from abroad to properly unleash them? Sigh."

The young man sighed as if truly regretful.

"Golden knight, goblin, and Snow White. ...Haha. Yes, a bit of adversity is necessary to make the game interesting."

The young man turned and left the scene.

"A game. A decisive one. I, the two-faced one, will show who the true pinnacle of evil is."

Grip.

Wearing the improved hanbok and pulling his hat down, he disappeared into the darkness.

* * *

At that moment, in a certain room of the dormitory.

"Aaaah!!"

The blonde girl buried her face in the pillow and thrashed around.

"Aaaaah!!"

She was trying to scream, but to avoid being heard by others, she was making noise silently. Her voice, however, filled the room sharply.

Bang!

Yumir kicked the blanket off.

She wasn't kicking it from the bottom up but rather stomping on the neatly folded blanket, hitting the pillow with her fists and tearing at her hair.

"Ugh...! How could I make such a mistake...!"

Yumir, now with a red face, was crying.

Not out of sadness, but out of shame, she was shedding tears.

"Nobody ever saw me...! Nobody ever saw me! Ah, I can't get married now...!"

She had been seen naked by a man.

Worse, by a man she was at odds with, a villain executioner.

"......."

Yumir lay flat on her back.

Hugging the black robe that was on top of her body tightly, she fiddled with it and bit her lower lip.

"From now on, I won't transform to save people. Hmph...."

Why did she transform?

Even though she hadn't resolved this 'side effect' yet.

The side effect where her clothes don't return after transforming—

Beep.

Her Taeguk watch started ringing.

Yumir soon realized why she had transformed, reaffirming the reason.

"Teacher!"

[Student Yumir, are you okay?]

A man's voice filled with worry.

Yumir flipped over and brought the Taeguk watch close to her face.

"Yes...! What about you?!"

[Still at the scene. I've been looking for you, Student Yumir.]

"......!"

Yumir was about to run out, but then she looked inside the robe and made a pained expression.

"Um, um."

Yumir frowned deeply.

"...Teacher, can we continue our meal next time?"

[Student Yumir? Is something wrong?]

"No, no! Nothing like that, but, well, maybe something is...."

[Are you safe right now?]

A very serious voice.

"...Yes."

Yumir, though embarrassed, spoke the truth and soon let out a relieved laugh.

[That's good. If you're safe, that's all that matters. And Student Yumir, no matter what, I just want you to be safe. I'm on your side.]

"......Yes. Thank you."

[Hehe. See you next time.]

Yumir.

"...Auto-record."

She took out her smartphone, quickly manipulated the app, and closed her eyes while a phrase was repeated.

"Teacher is on Yumir's side."

"......Hehe."