The Monster Aspires to Be a Hero!

Since it was an ambiguous time, everyone on the bus was seated.
Currently, including me and the bus driver, there were 10 people on the bus.
“Everyone, hold on tight!”
At the driver’s scream-like shout, the passengers gripped their seats or handrails tightly and crouched down.
“Mister! Change gears!”
A brave-looking guy around my age shouted to change gears.
“That… that’s not working either!”
But the bus driver yelled, having likely already tried that.
“What do we do! What do we do!”
“Mom… Mom…!”
“Kyaaaahh!”
The bus was filled with screams and cries.
The bus was already traveling at around 80 km/h.
Currently, it was still on a relatively deserted road, but not for much longer.
No matter what, this bus had to be stopped.
“A… A hero?!”
“Save us!”
People’s mouths spilled cries for their parents and heroes amidst screams.
I, too, was dazed by this surreal situation.

You don’t need to worry, you’ll survive.
What?
I’m saying your body won’t die from just this much. Kuhuhuhuhuh.
The moment I heard those words, my heated mind quickly cooled down.
It was only then that I could survey the surroundings with a slightly wider view.
And I noticed it.
Something attached to the chest of the man who had been shouting next to the bus driver.
“A hero?”
“Huh? Yes.”
When I looked at him and spoke a bit louder, he nodded reflexively.
It was at that moment.
“A… A hero?”
“Save… Save us!”
“Please!”
“Mom…!”
“I’ve called for an emergency hero! Stay calm!”
The hero says he made an emergency call for nearby heroes.
Meaning help will arrive soon, so he told everyone to stay calm.
Upon hearing that, the passengers on the bus calmed down a bit and started sobbing in lower voices compared to before.
They were fortunate.
They would survive.
That slight relief helped settle the panicked minds of the passengers.
But it was only momentary.
“I… I have Telekinesis, but for a bus like this…!”
The man tried using his ability to stop the bus but broke out in a cold sweat.
I looked at him, then glanced sideways at the bus driver gripping the steering wheel with an anxious expression.
And in that moment,
Something caught my superhuman eyes.
It was… an elderly woman and a lady waiting at a crosswalk.
By the time this bus, ignoring all traffic signals, reached that area, wouldn’t it hit that elderly woman and lady?
Or in trying to avoid that, it might swerve and flip over, killing or injuring the people here.
That’s what I thought.
“Can… Can you pop the tires?!”
If he could use Telekinesis, maybe he could pop the tires.
If the tires blew out, even a runaway bus might stop.
Shouting that idea, the hero who had briefly panicked nodded his head.
“I… I can do that much!”
“Then qui-”
“No! If we pop the tires now!”
The bus driver said popping the tires in this situation risked flipping the bus entirely.
In that brief argument, we missed the golden opportunity.
The bus carrying us was still speeding down the road, and the elderly woman and lady I had spotted were about to cross the walkway.
The lady might survive if she hurried across the crosswalk.
But the elderly woman wouldn’t make it.
I doubted this speeding bus could avoid hitting her.
“Pop the tires!”
Just like before, I was acting impulsively again.
Well… I guess that’s just how I am.
‘Awesome…’
‘Can I become a hero too?!’
‘Jinwoo, thank you… You really were like a hero!’
‘Hey, Mr. Preservative!’
‘I get it now. It was just a childhood dream anyway…’
‘I’ll just graduate with a business degree and get a good job.’
‘Thank you, bro.’
What a shameless brat I am.
Am I Spider-Man or something?
I might get shredded into a tomato ketchup smoothie on this asphalt road…
Maybe the monster residing in me sparked some sense of heroism.
Or maybe I thought I could do something, like a famous scene from the Spider-Man movies my dad enjoyed.
I just had a vague feeling that I might be able to do it.
Of course, waiting for a hero to arrive would be the natural thing to do… but I didn’t want to hide behind that shield called ‘natural’.
Craaaash! Crunch!
I shattered the front windshield of the bus and leapt out, clinging to the front.
“Hey!”
“Ugh!”
“Kyaaaahh!”
Have you lost your mind?!
I’ve gone insane, goddammit!
I’ve gone insane, so I’m doing this!
This monster said you are me, and I am you.
In this life-or-death moment, I instinctively understood the meaning behind those words.
For some reason, an unfounded confidence that I could do it overwhelmed my entire body.
That’s right, I have this idiotic body with an eyeball and tongue sprouting from my hand.
So I should also be able to transform into a tough, sturdy body capable of stopping this bus, right?!
With that reckless thought, I gripped the bus tightly.
I took a deep breath.
Like lifting weights, I tensed my abs and tightened my whole body.
This is the key to squatting.
Push up on the bus like lifting a barbell and stop it!
I don’t know if it will work.
If it doesn’t… I might get shredded into a tomato ketchup smoothie on the asphalt.
I’m scared.
I’m scared, but I don’t even know why I’m doing this myself.
Kuk! You madman…
I felt my body transforming in real-time into something inhuman.
My skin hardened and grew rough, and my entire body felt heavier.
I don’t know the exact structure, but it felt like my body’s mass had increased.
Do it!
“Pop the tires!”
I shouted that and braced myself, planting my feet on the asphalt.
Scccrreeeeeeech!
The sound was like scraping against steel as I scraped the asphalt.
“Uwaaaaaahhhh!”
It’s hot.
It felt like my legs were burning.
The soles of my barely worn shoes had already been shredded, and my pants were in vintage ripped style.
I felt nauseous.
My vision turned reddish, and the winter wind that hadn’t felt cold before now felt piercingly sharp.
Bang, bang, bang, bang!
Whoooooooosh!
Successive explosion sounds rang out, and I felt the speed of the vehicle trying to crush me slowing down.
The hero on the bus must have used Telekinesis to pop the tires.
Screeeeeeech!
But the bus still showed no signs of stopping.
My legs felt so numb that I couldn’t tell what the sensation was.
Clenching my jaw tightly enough to shatter my teeth and tensing my buttocks, I pressed down on the bus.
Squinting my stinging eyes against the cold winter wind, I slowly opened them to see the stopped cars right in front of me.
The distance between the bus and cars was about 5m.
It seems… I managed to stop the bus.

I poured out all my strength.
It felt like my consciousness could cut off at any moment.
But not yet.
There was still one more thing to confirm.
I opened my trembling mouth.
“Are… the other people… okay?”
I stopped the bus through such an uncivilized method.
There might be people who got flung out of the bus and got injured.
“Everyone… is safe.”
The person holding me up told me that in a trembling voice.
“That’s… really… fortunate…”
Aah… I see.
The strength left my knees.
I couldn’t feel any sensation, as if my knees weren’t even properly attached.
“Are you okay?! Hey?!”
Ah, my body… is gradually… feeling heavier…
I want… to rest… a bit now…