Chapter 43

Chapter 042

I am bewildered.

I haven’t done anything wrong, yet I feel as if I have.

'What is this?'

While running after Yun Eui-seon, I blamed myself for my actions.

'I should have known better than to transform just because the mood struck me!'

I ended up creating a strange atmosphere by transforming into my secondary form, which confused everyone around me.

-We are now living in the Great Rider Era.

'Don’t do that!'

Through Yun Eui-seon, I realized that the students' minds were completely absorbed in the characters from old tokusatsu shows.

Among them, the most obsessed ones...

Vroom!

A horn blared from behind.

"What’s that noise?"

"Teacher! It’s dangerous!"

I turned my head to see Yun Eui-seon grabbing my wrist and pulling me towards her.

Bang!

The thing that passed by with a whizzing sound was definitely a motorcycle.

Not a bicycle or a scooter, but a smoky motorcycle.

"Sorry! In a hurry!"

And on that motorcycle was a Doki Rider, flapping something like a cloak.

"Is that...an insect?"

"It’s a stag beetle."

The Doki Rider, who seemed to be inspired by an insect, continued to ride the motorcycle in a steel suit.

Seeing him speed off with just a word of apology, I found it absurd, and even more so because he was a hero trying to stop a rampaging entity.

'They don’t just criticize heroes in the media for nothing.'

There is a hero who runs incredibly fast.

For some reason, he runs at an incredible speed, and due to the aftereffects of that speed and the impact, pedestrians on the street were obliterated, leaving not even a trace of bone.

More than being hit by a train, they died as a bloody mess.

A similar situation almost happened just now.

"Did you get a shock? It’s okay?"

"Ah, yeah."

"I’m sorry. It’s because of me."

"No, no. You saved me. And it’s also the job of the faculty to evacuate civilians."

The faculty of Sejong Academy have the duty to protect and safeguard the vulnerable when a villain appears or students go out of control.

"I’ll have that student disciplined through the student council later."

"That...would be very helpful."

Vroom.

Just as I was about to compose myself and move forward, the sound of another motorcycle echoed from behind.

"Whoa!"

This time, a young man on a bicycle, wearing a motorcycle helmet, pedaled past us.

His speed wasn’t particularly fast, but it felt faster than a car driving through the city.

"Is he riding a bicycle because he doesn’t have a motorcycle license...?"

"It seems to be more than that."

Yun Eui-seon pointed behind us, where five psychics, each dressed in a matching outfit, were running in a line.

"What are you guys doing?"

"We are!"

"For the country!"

"For the people!"

"Protecting!"

"Patriotic heroes!"

"Five Special Forces!!"

Each dressed in red, blue, yellow, white, and black, they wore tight-fitting tights and helmet-like gear as they ran forward.

"Is this also the influence of the Doki?"

"Yes. Everyone has been influenced by the Doki’s appearance."

"Good grief."

I didn’t expect my actions to lead to such results.

'I apologize, world. I’ve unleashed a poison upon this country.'

I casually suggested to Ymir that we try transforming the armor into a new form, and now this situation has arisen.

'This is terrifying.'

I felt like I needed to apologize to the public for causing this chaos.

"Student Eui-seon. Are you going to transform like that? Huh?"

"How can I transform without a suit?"

"Of course, you can’t..."

Oops.

I almost revealed the Doki’s secret, 'the mana suit.'

"...Don’t heroes wear suits under their clothes?"

"There are some who do, but I don’t. Unfortunately."

"Then..."

"We’re going to check the scene. It’s not the student council’s job, but as a hero aspirant."

What a noble mindset.

It seems that her years of leading students as the student council president on Sejong Island weren’t for nothing; she already possessed the qualities of a hero.

"President!!"

While running, a male student with glasses appeared from the opposite end of the alley.

"Are you okay?!"

"I’m fine. Why are you here?"

"I heard the president was coming to this area for lunch, so I rushed over! ...Who’s the lady next to you?"

"This is Teacher Do. She’s a librarian who works in the library."

"I’ve never seen her before..."

"She works on the second basement floor."

"Oh."

He gave a rather arrogant look, as if saying, 'Of course, that makes sense.'

"President, I’ve already contacted the police. You don’t need to get involved."

The vice president, a typical bespectacled male student, blocked our path.

"Those Doki knockoffs will be handled by the police. The president doesn’t need to get involved. First of all—"

"Are you an idiot?"

Yun Eui-seon pushed the vice president aside.

"An academy student can’t just stand by and watch when a monster threatening public safety appears. We can’t just wait for the authorities to handle it."

"President!"

"I’m going. Not because I’m in the student council, but as a hero aspirant."

Yun Eui-seon firmly rejected the vice president’s attempts to stop her.

"Teacher, let’s go!"

"...Okay."

"Wait, why...?!"

"You?"

I pointed at the vice president, mocking him with my Taeguk Watch.

[Emergency. All faculty members, please do your best to evacuate the students. Prompt support is required according to the manual.]

"It’s the duty of the faculty, the 'adults,' to be deployed at the scene of an accident. Kid."

"Kee...?!"

After informing the vice president of the duty of an adult, I immediately followed Yun Eui-seon.

"Adult... It has a nice ring to it."

"Student Eui-seon is a college student, so she’s an adult, right?"

"Technically, college students are considered adults. But the world doesn’t quite see psychics that way yet."

As Yun Eui-seon said, the world still views psychics as troubled teenagers, if not children.

After all, even if the oldest among them were born in the 2000s, by 2025 standards, they would be in their early twenties, just starting their careers and still considered the youngest in society.

"Still, seeing them like this makes them seem a bit childish."

Now that I’m becoming an adult, or even adults themselves are still under the spell of those special effects shows—

Roar!

A loud noise echoed from behind.

I turned my head to see—

"Sorry! Please move aside!!"

A 2.5-meter-tall pile of scrap metal was walking.

Not just scrap metal, but the mechanical tyrannosaurus from a movie I saw recently, walking on two legs.

And inside the mechanical tyrannosaurus was definitely a person.

"What is that...?"

"It’s a masterpiece created by the students of the Mechanical Engineering Club. They get a lot of funding, but they produce results like this."

Thud, thud, thud!

The mechanical tyrannosaurus moved forward.

Although its speed didn’t match that of a motorcycle or a person, the sight of the mechanical tyrannosaurus moving forward without destroying the road was—

"...I think I understand."

I somewhat understand why they are so enthusiastic about the Doki.

To me, their behavior seems like madness, but that madness can also be described as—

"It’s a form of romance for the students."

"Romance, huh."

Romance, literally.

Becoming the hero from the content I watched as a child, or the one that left the deepest impression on me.

That is the true secret to becoming a powerful psychic, and pursuing romance is the ideal for a hero.

"Seeing the Doki’s appearance made us think again. Who is really the devil? Who is the villain? Just because someone looks like a villain, does that make them one?"

"Of course not."

While running with Yun Eui-seon, I understood their feelings.

Yeah.

That’s how it feels.

When a science teacher appears in a pro-level game and gets a pentakill, I’d want to try being a science teacher at least once.

'Think positively.'

After all, I just mixed and matched designs from the original world.

'Once they start wearing suits, everyone will be safer. Think positively.'

The national pride, or rather, the 'Doki fever' that has spread across Sejong Island is just a temporary phenomenon.

Everyone is just temporarily absorbed by the Doki Rider’s appearance, and they will likely change their stance when another S-class hero or villain appears.

It’s just a temporary trend, like how dalgona lattes spread across the country when dalgona became popular.

Then...

"Student Eui-seon. Are you going to transform...out of romance?"

"Let’s see the situation first."

We arrived at the scene.

Several transformed heroes were already confronting the rampaging villain, and it might look like overkill if Yun Eui-seon joined in.

"What’s the villain’s goal...?"

"Kukukuku! Now, this appearance is mine!!"

The monster, who looked like a Doki Rider with a palette swap (red), shouted with madness.

"Now, no one can imitate this appearance! Why?! Because...!"

The monster continued.

"I am the copyright holder and patent holder of this design!"

"...Crazy."

He was a terrifying villain.

"Now, this design is no longer called Doki Rider! It belongs to me, Yook Gi-bong!"

"..."

Wait.

Can’t be.

"From now on, everyone will call this design 'Gi-bong Rider'! If you want the costume of this design, pay the copyright fee to me, Yook Gi-bong! Otherwise...it’s all plagiarism!"

"Stop talking nonsense! This is Doki Rider! It belongs to the Doki!"

"Doki? Ah, that guy?"

Yook Gi-bong spread his arms wide in the Doki Rider’s form.

"Do villains have human rights? Without human rights, they obviously don’t have other rights. I ask you, do villains...have copyrights?"

Flap.

"I’ve already registered the copyright! Faster than anyone! I’ve even reported it to the patent office, and the only thing left is the patent review! In five minutes from now, when the patent review is complete, you will no longer be Doki Riders...!"

Yook Gi-bong flapped his cloak with mana, taking on a somewhat convincing pose.

"You will be... 'Gi-bong Riders'! Kukukuku!!"

Ah.

I feel like transforming.