The Monster Aspires to Be a Hero!

A giant monster appeared in South Korea.
Something that was only seen in movies happened in reality.
The incident that caused numerous casualties was just the beginning.
After that, monsters appeared and disappeared all over the world.
In the midst of this, people who awoke to new powers began to emerge.
People who could use superpowers that only appeared in stories.
At first there was a lot of social chaos, but they began to use their power beyond that of humans to exterminate monsters and save humanity.
Before long, such supernatural phenomena became part of daily life.
The profession that every boy once dreamed of revealed itself in reality.
And I, too, admired ‘that’ profession as a little boy.
“Awesome…”
It was awesome, after all.
I rewatched the video I had already seen several times.
The scene where the monster appeared was truly horrific.
A monster with a huge body that looked to be around 20 stories tall appeared in the middle of the city.
Its size and weight were beyond imagination, and each step it took caused tremendous damage.
The asphalt roads cracked open, apartments were smashed, and overpasses were torn apart.
Cries for help echoed through the catastrophic scene.
There was a man walking straight into the chaotic crucible.
The sight was so thrilling that I don’t know how many times I rewatched it.
The man who strode alone against the torrent of people, like a giant tidal wave, looked really cool.
He charged at the monster and stomped the ground.
The man leapt into the air and threw punches at the monster, and in the next moment, the monster’s head exploded and it fell backwards.
The people who had been screaming and fleeing from the monster stood frozen with their mouths agape at the sight.
He was the first Awakened One.
The man who brought the profession of ‘Hero’ into this world.
The hero known by the nickname ‘First’.
“Awesome…”
I don’t even know how many times I’ve watched it.
Yet I kept unconsciously pressing the replay button.
That’s how awesome it was.
The hero movies my dad enjoyed watching were cool.
This video, mixed with the sounds of things being smashed and people screaming, was a shoddy video that couldn’t compare to movies.
But strangely, there was something that touched my heart.
The sight of him defeating the monster, saving people trapped in the rubble, and smiling – it stole my soul.
I wanted to become like him.
I wanted to become a hero and save people too.
That’s what I thought.
Mom said that monsters were appearing all over the world and people were awakening to superpowers.
I asked my worried mom with an innocent expression, “Can I become a hero too?!”
I remember mom giving a wry smile and stroking my head, telling me that I could too.
…Of course, that never came true.
A boy’s dream is bound to be futile.
In elementary school, along with future dreams like doctor, scientist, judge, prosecutor, police officer, etc., the supernatural dream of becoming a hero was added.
It was added, but that’s all there was to it.
Just like most elementary school students don’t achieve the dream they announced in first grade, I couldn’t achieve it either.
It’s just that I clung to my attachment a little longer than others, in such a pathetic story.

“Good work today!”
“Thank you!”
A lot has changed since heroes emerged.
The work I do is also a kind of by-product of that.
The remains of monsters are worth money.
Information obtained from the bodies of monsters can be used to research equipment and countermeasures to fight against them.
So subcontractors to dispose of those bodies were created, and people like me doing part-time work for them exist.
Huh?
It looked like the body twitched for a moment just now…
I stared blankly at the body.
But the body showed no further movement.
Was it just my imagination?
“Here’s your pay for today. You worked hard!”
“Thank you, old man.”
“Hey… call me bro!”
Whack!
Hyunsung, now in his 40s, laughed heartily as he patted my back.
“Not much money today?”
“There didn’t seem to be any hot spots, so it can’t be helped. I’ll make sure to give you more next time.”
“Okay.”
I politely said goodbye to the old man, changed clothes, and started walking home.
The 8-year-old boy has become 23 years old.
It’s been 20 years since monsters first appeared in this world.
I’m still a loser who clings to the idea of heroes.
If my parents back home knew, they’d probably nag about why I’m doing such a dangerous job.
But I can’t let go of this job.
There’s a rumor that superpowers come from monsters.
So if I spend more time at the scenes where monsters appear, who knows what might happen?
That’s why I couldn’t quit.
As I walked along, I eventually arrived at Buwon Hospital that I usually visit.
This is also the only place where my ‘attachment’ shines.
Haah…
I let out a long sigh internally while waiting for the elevator.
I wanted to become a hero.
Heroes who defeat monsters and save people in danger looked so cool.
And an ability manifested within me.
I felt like I had conquered the world.
But my power wasn’t suitable for becoming a hero.
The ability to slow down the rate of decay.
That was the superpower that manifested in me.
In simple terms, the ability to prevent objects from rotting easily.
When I had my ability examined by a national agency, they praised me, saying it was a special and rare ability, and told me to work hard on it.
I remember my heart pounding so much that I couldn’t sleep well that night.

The memory of calling my mother and proudly boasting about it is still a cringeworthy memory that makes me want to kick the blankets even at this age.
Because of this ability, I still haven’t been able to let go of my dream of becoming a hero.

1st floor.
The elevator that had gone down to the basement stopped in front of me.
I got on the elevator and pressed the already familiar 10th floor button.
10th floor.
As I got off the elevator, a peculiarly still air greeted me.
From the 10th floor, Buwon Hospital has a rather special space, different from the other floors.
With the emergence of monsters and heroes, many strange phenomena have also arisen in the world.
One of them is the disease afflicting the patients admitted to this ward.
A new type of illness that turns people who have awakened their powers into a vegetative state.
It’s called the Superpower Syndrome, a new disease.
No cure has been found, and those who contract this disease slowly meet their death.
Sometimes patients spontaneously recover, which only plunges their families deeper into the hell called ‘hope’ – a cruel disease.
“Oh, Jinwoo. Welcome.”
“Hello.”
I greeted the nurse whose face I’ve become familiar with over the past 2 years.
“Again today?”
“Yes.”
“You’re working hard.”
“No, it’s a power that has no use anywhere else anyway.”
“But there are still people being saved by that power.”
“…Thank you.”
And there are indeed people being saved by this power.
I went around the ward on the 10th floor, using my ability one by one.
The power to slow the rate of decay.
Unexpectedly, this ability was also effective for those suffering from Superpower Syndrome.
I don’t receive anything in particular.
It’s more like volunteer work.
Some patients offered to pay me, but I had no intention of accepting it.
…Because that wouldn’t be very heroic.
Even at this age, I still haven’t been able to give up on being a hero.
I no longer say out loud that I want to become a hero in front of people.
I’ve grown up enough to say that I’ll study normally, get a normal job, and live a normal life.
And yet, I’m still behaving this way.
I’m still a fool who can’t let go of my attachment.
If I had never awakened an ability in the first place, I wouldn’t have this attachment.
If there is a God, you’re really too much…
If you gave me the desire, you should have given me the talent as well.
After going through the 6 rooms on the 10th floor, I headed to the last remaining room.
Unlike the other wards, it was a private room, and I knocked on the door.
Knock knock.
Come in.
I opened the door and went inside, greeted by a woman whose face had a few wrinkles.
“I’ll leave it to you again today.”
“Not at all.”
This has been going on for a year now.
The woman relying on this room seems to be from a rather wealthy family.
Apparently, while looking into treatments for her illness, she came across information about me and came to this hospital.
I was quite flustered when we first met.
She had told me with an anxious expression that she would give me as much money as I wanted, so please prioritize her daughter.
“Whew…”
Of course, I didn’t accept it.
It’s not like I don’t know how precious money is, but this was like a hero’s stage for me.
I slowly reached out my hand.
Toward the woman who looked similar to the slightly anxious lady next to me, hoping she would quickly overcome her illness and open her eyes.

As I took the elevator down to the 1st floor again, the setting sun could be seen outside.
I absentmindedly watched the sky while walking, feeling that idiotic sense of self-satisfaction as if I had lent a hand as a hero to someone in need of help today.
March is right around the corner now.
It’s about time for me to start preparing for employment as a fourth-year university student.
I can’t stay like this forever.
The time is coming when I have to face reality, leaving my childhood dream as just a dream.
I know enough by now.
My ability is a little special, but that’s about it.
My nickname in middle and high school was ‘preservative’.
For someone like me, being a hero is an unreachable mirage.
I’ve already known this, but I’ve just been dragging on due to my attachment.
I should probably quit at this point.
…But it won’t be that easy.
If it were that easy, I would have given up a long time ago.
It would have been better if this world had been a little more cruel to me.
Then I wouldn’t have dreamed of being a hero in the first place.
It would have been better if this world had been a little more generous to me.
Then I would have been satisfied with achieving that dream, no matter the rank.
As I walked along with those silly thoughts, I found myself standing in front of a crosswalk.
On a slightly chilly February evening.
Next to me, a kid who looked around elementary school age was restlessly shifting his feet, as if in a hurry for some reason.
I guess old memories keep coming to mind because of this kid catching my eye.
I absentmindedly played with my smartphone while having those thoughts.
As I fiddled with my smartphone, a slightly lewd image suddenly popped up.
I felt a pang of guilt and carefully put my smartphone back in my pocket while looking around.
At that moment, the traffic light changed, and the kid who had been anxiously shifting his feet while only watching the signal started dashing forward.
Baaang!
There was a loud noise, and the car that had been approaching from a distance suddenly came right in front of me.
The kid, who had been eagerly running across the crosswalk, froze in place at the sound, dazedly watching the approaching car.
I don’t know why I did it.
Maybe it was the influence of my dad, who enjoyed watching hero movies.
Or maybe it was because of my lingering admiration for heroes that I still can’t let go of.
Or maybe it was just a shallow thought that I might awaken a new ability in a crisis.
Before I knew it, I was reaching out towards the kid.
This is going to end in death.
I realized that as I pushed the kid away.
It felt like the world had stopped.
And soon, the world started spinning around.
Ah… so this is how I die.
“Don’t… lose… consciousness!”
I wonder if the kid I pushed away is okay?
I hope they’re okay.
It wouldn’t be right to die such a dog’s death…
They must have survived, right?
Still, my last moments felt somewhat heroic, at least.
Ah…