The Tough Guy Hides the Villainess

Chapter 31

031 – The Third-Class Calamity Ability User #1

Duksuni had once compared a third-class ability user to a company-level force.

Turning a third-class ability user into an enemy was like turning the entire 3rd-year Class D into an enemy.

I had found a ‘fatal flaw’ in that analogy, but I didn’t explain what it was at that moment. I thought it would be more efficient to show it through actions rather than words.

Now was the time to show the flaw in that analogy.

“Ultimate, Namjin Kiiiiick!!!”

Thwack-!!!

The love kick, running at 120km/h, accurately hit Yeom Hoon’s groin, whose posture was already disturbed.

When a person is in too much pain, they can’t even scream.

“━━──!!!”

Yeom Hoon let out a silent scream as if he didn’t even realize what had happened to him and collapsed to the ground.

Instead, the mantis guy who had fallen next to him screamed as if the sky was falling.

“aaah! Damn it! It hurts just watching! Hey! Han Namjin, you psycho b*stard! Are you even human? Are you a man? You b*stard!”

“This is the flaw in equating a third-class ability user with Class D. There are about 14 male students in Class D, so there are a total of 28 balls. But a third-class ability user only has 2 balls.”

To defeat a third-class ability user, I just needed to target those 2 balls.

“Ugh, ugh!”

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

It was a pain that wouldn’t be strange if he died from the shock, but he endured it?

“Hey, you b*stard! Why do you keep appearing in front of me!

Bang-! The sudden noise was followed by a wave of heat in the air.

It was an explosion.

The force reminded me of the time I blew up a butane gas canister in a shanty.

If caught in it, thin bones would break easily.

Clap-clap-!

Boom, boom-!

Samajun kept clapping his hands, causing explosions in the air.

Although I was dodging left and right, his accuracy was terrible.

“You b*stard! Why can’t I hit you!”

「Name: Samajun

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

State: 《Decreased Cognitive Ability》 – Due to excitement, panic, and tension, rational judgment is lost. He is filled with the thought of killing you to eliminate the witness.”

Wants to kill the witness?

Well, since I found out that an elite like him is connected to terrorists, it’s only a matter of time before his life gets tangled up.

He probably thinks that if he can just shut my mouth, everything will be fine.

“Why can’t I hit youuu!”

But his attitude was weak.

If his aim keeps missing, does he really intend to kill me?

It was clear that a moral safety device deep inside him was still working, telling him not to kill people.

No matter how much he acted like a mad dog, he was still just a minor in a peaceful world.

“Why… can’t I… hit you….”

Taking advantage of the moment when his breathing was rough and his posture was disturbed, I quickly jumped into the air.

“Idiot! You can’t dodge in the air!”

His ability had the restriction that he had to clap his hands to use 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.

Clap-!

When his palms met, I kicked off the air again, avoiding the explosion while still airborne.

Whoosh, boom-!

“What? What is that! How is that possible!”

What is it? It was an application of the “Air Leap” I used when kidnapping Seo Ga-eul.

And if you apply a little more ingenuity here, you can do things like this.

“Fly like a bee─.”

Swoosh-!

I kicked off the air once again.

This time, I spun my body and leaped towards the ground.

Right now, I am literally a missile plunging into the ground-.

“Shoot like a butterfly!”

“Guueeek!”

Samajun, who was hit in the chest by a swift kick, finally exhaled all his breath and collapsed to the ground, spitting out a handful of blood.

Clearly incapacitated. But it’s too early to let my guard down.

“Namjin Kick! Namjin Crush!”

“Ugh! Ack! Stop! Ack! Eek! Gaaah!”

Determined to obscure his gender identity this time, I was kicking his groin when I felt a strange heat on the back of my neck.

It was a purpose I had never felt from Samajun’s attacks.

A ‘purpose’ to thoroughly annihilate and kill me. It could be called murderous intent.

Swoosh-!

I kicked off the ground to widen the distance. Then, a hot fireball quickly passed by where I had been and exploded.

Boom-! Fwoosh-!

When I turned my head, “Yeomra,” holding a lit cigarette, was glaring at me. I thought he wouldn’t be able to get up for a few days after being hit in the groin by the Namjin Kick, but he’s tough.

“I know who you are. You, ugh-. Are you the department store survivor? Or the bereaved family? I can tell at a glance. You want to kill me for revenge, right?”

“What do you know. You’ve got me all wrong.”

Sss-.

Yeomhoon answered by putting the cigarette in his mouth instead.

When that small flame left a grayish soot and burned all the cigarette butts, he spewed hot flames from his mouth.

Fwoosh-!

It was literally the flames of hell, and the callsign “Yeomra” wasn’t attached for nothing.

The problem was that the flames spread to the surrounding empty houses and started burning and melting everything.

The hot heat engulfed everything around.

The range in which I could move naturally narrowed.

“Yomra” Yeom Hoon rummaged through his pockets for a cigarette, only to find the pack completely empty. He threw the trash on the ground and stomped on it with his foot.

“Damn it, this is why living in a neighborhood that’s more than 20 minutes away from a convenience store is unbearable. Ugh.”

Yeom Hoon had the ability to exhale cigarette smoke like flames.

I knew him well.

Without cigarettes, he wouldn’t be able to use his ‘flames.’

Shhh-

Now, he took a gas mask out of the bag that had fallen on the ground, put it on, and assumed a strange combat stance, beckoning me with his hand.

As if daring me to come at him.

I heard from Yoo Yeoreum that the subjects “Hand-to-Hand Combat” and “Sparring” were removed from the regular curriculum at Yeongsa High because of the actions of the first-year students.

They had learned thoroughly how to beat and kill people, and as they grew uncontrollably strong, they used that power for malicious purposes, just like Yeom Hoon in front of me.

In other words, Yeom Hoon in front of me was a top-tier terrorist who had learned bare-handed killing techniques, in addition to the unique strength and stamina of an awakened one, even without superpowers.

Do I stand a chance?

I thought I had about a 120% chance.

“Hanamjin!!!!”

# # #

“Hanamjin!!!!”

Someone shouted loudly.

It was a crazed voice.

“We’re here! We’ll help you!”

“Friend! We came because we saw the explosion! Are you still unhurt?”

“…To still be alive against a third-class ability user… This is a miracle….”

It seemed that the friends from “No Leftovers Day” had come after seeing the commotion and explosion.

“This is the weakness of flame ability users. They’re too noisy and flashy. They attract all the attention, so in the 21st century, where laws and systems are in place, their abilities are heavily restricted.”

Soon, fire trucks and police, alerted by the commotion, would swarm this place. Even Yeom Hoon, a third-class ability user, wouldn’t be able to overcome the numerical disadvantage.

“In other words, I have the power of the state behind me now!”

“……”

Yeom Hoon’s combat stance, which had been full of determination to fight me, loosened a bit. Had he sensed the sirens blaring from all directions?

“Name: Yeom Hoon

Possession: 《Flame Lv.3》 – Can exhale flames like napalm.

Status: 《Embarrassed》 – Flustered by the current situation, he has decided to flee.”

Escape? What happens if he escapes like this?

He’ll hide even deeper.

We might never find him until a year after the world ends.

We must not lose him.

But, he will also try to escape desperately.

Knowing well that a cornered beast is the most terrifying, I hesitated in many ways.

“Hey, you b*stard!”

At that moment, Baek Yeoul shouted.

He aimed the “Unlucky Peak” forward and shouted as if he would charge at any moment.

“You wicked b*stard who burned people alive! Scum like you should be castrated!”

“Friend! That guy is definitely going to try to escape! We have to catch him!”

“……”

It wasn’t just Baek Yeoul.

Even Changsik and the usually quiet Deoksun showed a will to fight.

Were these the same guys who were scared in front of the “Monster Dog”?

Baek Yeoul poked my side.

“He’s the enemy of your family! If you miss him now, you might never catch him again! And, Hanamjin, you must have a plan we haven’t thought of! Right? Say you do!”

These guys, they don’t seem to be afraid of getting hurt.

They’re all out of their minds.

Maybe it’s because of the heat of this fire, or the dye that invaded their scalps and turned their minds pink─.

They were truly unlucky friends.

But to me, they were also the greatest luck.

“If it’s a plan, I have one. From now on, Baek Yeoul will start cooking.”

“Cooking? Me? Suddenly!?”

“But this plan must not be known to that guy. In that sense, Deoksun, can you create a veil of silence around him?”

“A, around him and not us? My ability is to block sound within a 10-meter radius around me….”

Deoksun trembled.

It seemed too much for the usually quiet Deoksun.

Baek Yeoul shouted again.

“I! I have two concert tickets that I luckily got! I’ll give them to you, Deoksun! One for Taesung! You two go watch it together!”

“… … !”

Deok-soon trembled violently.

Through the long strands of her hair, a strong will began to form in her eyes, and finally, she clenched her fists tightly and began dancing towards the arsonist, Yeom-hoon.

Seizing the moment, I shouted.

“Bbang-daeng and Chang-sik! Listen carefully, we don’t have much time! Do you see that guy wearing a gas mask? He’s a pyrokinetic, but he’s definitely vulnerable to the smoke produced by burning things!”

Even now, I sometimes dream of the laughter I saw on the day the department store burned down.

The laughter of the arsonist Yeom-hoon, curving like a crescent moon behind the gas mask.

I always thought about that day.

Why did he laugh?

I was so curious that I even wondered about the manufacturer of the gas mask he was wearing.

And suddenly, questions like “Why was he wearing a gas mask?” arose.

The reason he was wearing a gas mask was simple.

Even for him, toxic gas was fatal.

This operation’s key is to use that.

“That’s why it’s the Bbang-daeng Cooking Operation.”

I explained to everyone why this operation was called the Cooking Operation.

After hearing my explanation, Chang-sik and Baek-yeoul’s expressions changed colorfully, and they held their heads.