The Thug Hides the Villainess

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031 – Disaster’s Level 3 Ability User #1

Once, Deok-soon had compared a Level 3 ability user to a mid-level power.

Turning a Level 3 ability user into an enemy was akin to turning the entire 3rd grade class D against us.

I discovered a ‘fatal error’ in that analogy, but I didn’t explain what it was at the time. I thought it would be more effective to show it through action rather than words.

Now was the time to reveal the error in that analogy.

“Ultimate move, Nam-jin Kiiiiiick!!!”

Bwahhhhhh-!!!

At a speed of 120 km/h, my love kick hit Yeom Hoon squarely in the groin, upsetting his posture perfectly.
When a person is in too much pain, they can’t even scream.

“━━──!!!”

Yeom Hoon fell flat on the ground, silent, as if he couldn’t even realize what had just happened to him.
Instead, the mantis next to him screamed as if the sky were falling.

“Ahhh! Damn it! Just watching hurts! Hey! Hanam-jin, you psycho! Are you even human? Man? You bastard!”

“The error of equating a Level 3 ability user with Class D is exactly this. There are about 14 boys in Class D, totaling 28 balls, while a Level 3 ability user has only 2 balls.”

This meant I only needed to target those 2 balls to take down the Level 3 ability user.

“Ugh, uuugh!”

Because it was such an effective attack, Yeom Hoon was foaming at the mouth from the delayed shock, grinding his teeth.

It must have been a pain severe enough to cause death, yet he was holding on?

“Hey, you bastard! Why do you keep showing up in front of me? Do you find satisfaction in making me this miserable? Huh? Why!”

As I was about to finish off Yeom Hoon, Sa Ma-jun started making noise. Honestly, I didn’t want to listen to his ramblings, but I felt I should correct just this one thing.

“You have no idea what real misery is.”

“What? What are you saying! Let’s settle this here and now!”

Clap-! Sa Ma-jun applauded loudly while spouting vulgar insults.

Boom-! With a sudden noise, heat rushed through the air.

It was an explosion.
The power reminded me of when I blew up a butane gas tank back at the shanty.
If caught in it, even thin bones would snap like twigs.

Clap-Clap-!

Boom, boom-!

Sa Ma-jun continued to clap, causing explosions in the air.

Even though I was dodging left and right, my hit rate was atrocious.

“Damn it! Why can’t you hit anything!”

「Name: Sa Ma-jun

Ability: 《Explosion Lv.2》 – Possesses explosive power comparable to butane gas. Can cause explosions from a distance, but aiming is difficult.

Condition: 《Impaired Reasoning》 – Panic, fear, and tension have led to the loss of rational judgment. All he thinks about is killing you to eliminate witnesses.」

He wants to kill witnesses?
Well, considering that an elite like him is linked to terrorists, it was only a matter of time until his life went downhill.

If I managed to shut my mouth, he’d probably think he could work things out somehow.

“Why can’t you hit meeeee!”

But his attitude was faltering.
With his aim constantly missing, did he really intend to kill me?
Deep down, his moral compass reminding him not to harm others was surely still functional.

Even though he acted like a mad dog, in the end, he was just a minor in a peaceful world.

“Why… can’t you hit me…”

Taking advantage of his deep breaths and the instability in his stance, I quickly leaped into the air.

“You idiot! You can’t dodge in the air!”

His ability required him to clap when using it. That was both the “recoil” and the trigger.

In other words, I could tell when the explosion would happen just by watching his palms.

Slap-!
As his palms collided, I leapt into the air and then kicked off the air again to dodge the explosion.

Whoosh, bang-!

“What? What was that! Where did that come from?”

What was it? It was the application of my “Midair Leap” used when I abducted Seoga-eul.
And with just a little more creativity, I could do this too.

“Like a bee flying—.”

Bam-!

I kicked off again, this time spinning my body and leaping towards the ground.
In that moment, I was like a missile aiming straight down—.

“Shoot like a butterfly!”

“Kwheeeek!”

With a swift kick to the chest, Sa Ma-jun finally exhaled all his breath and collapsed to the ground, coughing up a handful of blood.

He looked incapacitated. But it was too early to let my guard down.

“Nam-jin Kick! Nam-jin Crush!”

“Ugh! Ack! Stop! Ack! Ugh! Agh!”

As I kicked, determined to make his sexual identity ambiguous, I suddenly felt a strange heat creeping up my nape.
There was a purpose in the attack I’d never felt before.
A purpose of complete annihilation to kill me, even the term intent to kill would fit.

Smash-!
I kicked off the ground and gained distance. As soon as I did, something hot flew past my position and caused an explosion.

Boom-! Fire-!

Turning my head, I saw “Yeomra” glaring at me with a lit cigarette in hand. Having taken a hit to the groin from my Nam-jin Kick, I thought he wouldn’t be able to stand for a few days, but he was tough.

“I know who you are. You, uh-. Are you that department store survivor? Or a family member? I can tell at a glance. You want to kill me and take revenge?”

“Know what? You’ve got me all wrong.”

Swoosh-.
Instead of answering, Yeom Hoon put the cigarette in his mouth.
As that small spark left soot in a gray mist, it burned out the entire cigarette.

Whoosh-!
That was truly the flames of hell; the call sign “Yeomra” was not given for nothing.
The problem was that the fire began spreading to the nearby empty houses, setting everything ablaze.

The scorching heat covered the area.
The space I could maneuver naturally shrank.

Swoosh-.
Yeom Hoon rummaged through his pockets for cigarettes, but as he discovered the cigarette pack was empty, he tossed the trash to the ground and stamped it down.

“Damn it, I tell ya, a neighborhood over 20 minutes from the convenience store isn’t worth living in. Ugh.”

Yeom Hoon was an ability user who could spew cigarette smoke like flames.
I already knew a lot about him.
Without cigarettes, he could no longer use his “fire.”

Swoosh-.
Now he pulled a gas mask from a bag on the ground and donned it, striking a strange fighting pose while beckoning me with his hand.
As if to say, come at me.

According to Yu Yeoreum, the “Human Combat” and “Duel” subjects were removed from the general courses because of the actions of the first batch students at Yeongsa High School.
Those who learned to kill people professionally and grew strong-minded, used that power in bad ways, like in front of me with Yeom Hoon.

Was there a chance for me to win?
I thought I had about a 120% chance.

“Hanam-jjin!!!!”

# # #

“Hanam-jjin!!!!”

Someone shouted loudly.

It sounded like a deranged voice.

“We’re here! We’re here to help!”

“Friend! We saw the explosion! Are you injured yet?”

“…Still alive against a Level 3 ability user… this is a miracle….”

It seemed the friends from “No Leftover Day” had come after witnessing the commotion and explosions from earlier.

“This is the weakness of a pyromancer. It’s too loud and flashy. It draws all the attention, so in the well-regulated 21st century, it’s a limiting ability.”

Soon, fire trucks and police, drawn by the ruckus, would be rushing here. If that happened, even a Level 3 ability user like Yeom Hoon wouldn’t be able to overcome the numerical disadvantage.

“So clearly, behind me, the national authority is present!”

“…….”

Yeom Hoon’s fighting stance, which had appeared filled with the will to fight me moments ago, relaxed slightly. Did he sense the sirens from all around?

「Name: Yeom Hoon

Ability: 《Fire Lv.3》 – Can spew flames like napalm.

Condition: 《Embarrassed》 – Panic from the current situation has made him consider fleeing.」

Flee? If he runs away now, what will happen?
He’d definitely hide better from now on.
By the time the world is destroyed a year later, we might never find him again.

I can’t let him get away.
But it would also mean he’d desperately try to escape.
Knowing well that a cornered beast is the scariest, I hesitated quite a bit.

“Hey, you bastard!”

Just then, Baek-Yeoul shouted.
She aimed her “Misfortune Bow” forward, practically ready to charge.

“You evil bastard who burns people alive! You deserve to be castrated!”

“Friend! That guy will definitely try to run away! We need to catch him!”

“…….”

It wasn’t just Baek-Yeoul.
Choi Chang-sik and the gentle Deok-soon were also showing a willingness to fight.
Were these the guys who were scared stiff in front of the “Monster Dog”?

Baek-Yeoul poked me in the side.

“He’s your enemy! If we let him go now, we might never get the chance again! Plus, Hanam-jin, I’m sure you have some plans we haven’t thought of! Right? Say it!”

These guys, seemingly unafraid of getting hurt.
They were all out of their minds.
Maybe it was due to the heat of the flames or the dye from the hair colorant creeping into their minds—
What unfortunate friends they were.
But for me, that was a stroke of luck.

“I do have a plan. From now on, Baek-Yeoul will start cooking.”

“Cooking? Me? Suddenly!?”

“But he mustn’t find out about this plan. So, Deok-soon, can you create a silence barrier around him?”

“W-we can’t make it around us but only around him? My ability blocks sound within a 10-meter radius…”

Deok-soon trembled.
It seemed like an unreasonable task for the gently Deok-soon.
Baek-Yeoul shouted.

“I have! I miraculously got two concert tickets by chance to give you, Deok-soon! One was gifted by Tae-seong! You two go and enjoy it!”

“……!”

Deok-soon trembled violently.
Through her long, flowing hair, a strong will began to glimmer in her eyes, and finally, she clenched her fists and began to dance towards the arsonist Yeom Hoon.
Taking that moment, I shouted.

“Baek-Yeoul and Chang-sik! There’s no time, so listen closely! You see that guy wearing the gas mask? He’s a pyromancer, but he’s definitely vulnerable to the smoke generated by burning things!”

Even now, sometimes the laughter I saw on the day the department store burned down appears in my dreams.
The firebug Yeom Hoon laughing with a crescent moon-shaped gas mask.

I always thought about that day.
What could have been the reason for his laughter?
I became so curious I even wondered about the manufacturer of the mask he wore.
And suddenly the question arose, “Why was he wearing a gas mask?”
The reason was simple.
For him too, toxic gas was lethal.
The key to this operation was to exploit that fact.

“So this is Baek-Yeoul’s Cooking Operation.”

I explained why this operation was called the cooking operation to everyone.
After hearing my explanation, the expressions of Chang-sik and Baek-Yeoul changed color before they began to nod.

“Friend, that sounds insane!”

“I’m in! I’m Baek-Yeoul of the Baek-dang! I’m confident in cooking!”