NOVEL NEXT Ch. 16
Chapter 16 - Hero is born (5)
What is justice?
In a comic book, the concept is simple.
The hero is good, and the villain is evil.
A very simple logic.
But reality isn't that simple.
Everyone lives with both a good and a bad side, to varying degrees.
Unless one is a heinous, atrocious criminal.
It's rare to find a person in whom the line between good and evil can be clearly drawn.
In my past life, I hired a private Hunter to catch the Villain who had killed my younger brother.
I gave him money and begged him to get my revenge.
I had commissioned a contract killing.
If so, am I also an evil person?
Or a good one?
The lanky guy was a member of a gang.
Judging by his conduct up to now, he was closer to being evil.
However, the lanky guy had a minimum of good in him.
When our one-on-one duel was over, he cleanly admitted defeat and backed down.
I don't know if he repented for his sins, but.
He decided to quit the gang and no longer harassed the factory workers.
And yet.
'Cha Chi-do.'
This man standing before me lacked even that minimum of decency.
He sucks the blood of the factory workers and cuts off the body parts of people who are of no use to him without a moment's hesitation.
From the start, he didn't seem to have the slightest concern for the suffering of others.
Cha Chi-do tilted his head.
"An apostle of justice, you say?"
Although I had burst in unexpectedly.
The bastard wasn't particularly flustered.
On the contrary, he stared at me with eyes full of curiosity.
"If you're an apostle, you're someone who devotes their body to a holy cause. It can also refer to the twelve disciples chosen by Jesus. Peter, Andrew, Jacob, John..."
This madman was rambling on leisurely in the middle of this situation.
But Cha Chi-do was not a man to be taken lightly.
Originally, there were over five gangs in the Ilsan Hunter Industrial Complex.
At that time, when the various factions were engaged in petty power struggles.
The Chi-do Faction appeared.
Cha Chi-do unified the gangs in an instant.
The factory workers who saw him fight with a sashimi knife never dared to challenge the gang again.
Because Cha Chi-do was a bastard who enjoyed the act of killing itself, rather than just fighting.
"...and finally, the traitor Judas. What kind of apostle are you?"
I still don't know what justice is.
But for now, the standard I've set for myself is this.
"I'm the kind of apostle that hunts down and beats the shit out of bastards like you."
There's no point in dragging this out.
I'll end it in one blow.
I gripped the sashimi knife and raised my other fist to use
FWASH!
In an instant, Cha Chi-do created distance between us.
The sashimi knife that had been in my hand was now retrieved by Cha Chi-do.
'I missed.'
I looked down and saw one knife slash on my palm, and two more near my wrist.
If I hadn't been wearing the suit, my wrist would have been severed.
"......"
This is dangerous.
If I look away for even a moment, that bastard will collect a part of my body, too.
Cha Chi-do pointed to the scar by his eye with the tip of the sashimi knife.
"Hoh. That armor. It's quite sturdy."
The bastard smiled viciously and continued.
"I was trying to sever your artery."
The lanky guy, with a bewildered expression, was still kneeling as he looked up at me.
I looked at him and said.
"Hey. Get up."
Belatedly, the lanky guy got to his feet, limping on one leg.
"...Who are you?"
I'm wearing an armored suit and have my face covered, so he probably doesn't recognize me.
"Why are you saving me?"
Right, why am I?
No one asked me to, yet I jumped into a gang fight.
Having died once and returned to the past, there's something I've come to realize.
Whether someone is a bad person or a good person, it's all the same.
All humans make mistakes.
Just as I am living my second life and correcting my mistakes one by one.
I wanted to give the lanky guy a chance.
Unlike Cha Chi-do, I could see a hope of rehabilitation in this man.
"Because I hate the sight of a grown man sniveling."
"...What?"
I glanced at the blood-soaked ears lying on the floor.
"Hurry up and pick these up."
When you work in a factory, getting your fingers cut or severed, just like what happened to Kkalkki, is a common occurrence.
If a part of your body is severed, you have to retrieve that part.
It's common sense, but when you're in a panic, you tend to forget even that.
The golden time is crucial for reattaching a severed body part.
"You have to reattach your subordinates' ears, don't you?"
The lanky guy swallowed hard, then finally nodded.
"...Thank you. Lads, hurry up!"
"Yes, Hyungnim!"
His subordinates picked up the fallen items while putting pressure on their own bleeding ears.
The lanky guy turned back towards me.
"What are you going to do?"
Now what's left is...
I left the lanky guy and his subordinates behind me and walked forward.
"Wait. I'll be back after I take care of that pasty bastard."
Cha Chi-do shrugged his shoulders.
"Indeed, you are an apostle of justice. To think you would try to fight all of us alone. Reckless—no, very brave of you."
"Us? Cut the bullshit. You come out alone. I'll peel that pasty skin right off of you."
"Ooh. How scary!"
Cha Chi-do cowered and feigned being scared.
The bastard hid behind a fat subordinate and peeked his head out.
"By the looks of it, you're an Awakened."
The closer I got, the further Cha Chi-do backed away.
I had naturally assumed we would fight one-on-one, but.
Cha Chi-do flicked his sashimi knife in the air and gestured with his chin toward his subordinates.
"Let's see what you've got."
His underlings began to slowly close in on me.
I thought for a moment.
My Awakened Talent is Purchase.
It was the ability to buy skills of comic book heroes and replicate them in reality.
It was an ability that worked against most powerful opponents, but it had clear limitations.
'I can't use it infinitely.'
I sized up the number of enemies with my eyes.
'...Nineteen, twenty, twenty-three.'
Even if I only used
'Expensive.'
No matter how I thought about it, it was inefficient from a cost perspective.
If that's the case.
'Should I use that?'
A secret weapon came to mind.
I still had the special move I received as a reward last time.
As I hesitated, three of Cha Chi-do's subordinates charged straight at me.
'Let's test it.'
I clicked it and then threw my fist.
Immediately, a notification rang in my ear.
Ding.
[
Mana erupted, and the three men who were charging at me were sent flying like tattered rags.
"Kkeueuk!"
"Ugh!"
"Eueuk!!"
It was a wide-area attack, as if mana had been fired from my fist like a shotgun.
'...This is incredible.'
Cha Chi-do, who had been watching, opened his mouth in an exaggerated gesture.
"Wow! Apostle of Justice-ssi. You're pretty good."
The bastards who were hit by the mana shotgun writhed on the ground.
[
'9 uses left.'
Cha Chi-do issued a new order.
"Everyone, draw your weapons."
At his single command, his subordinates moved in perfect unison.
They each drew Bowie knives, axes, and long machetes.
Cha Chi-do put his subordinates in front of him and sat down on a cement sack as if watching a fire from across the river.
The bastard pointed at me with the tip of his sashimi knife.
"I'll give a gift to the person who cuts off the head in that purple helmet and brings it to me."
His subordinates surrounded me in a circle, tightening the encirclement.
Have I ever in my life fought this many people at once?
My throat went dry with tension, and the sound of my heartbeat pounded in my ears.
A sticky killing intent was transmitted through the air to my skin.
Am I afraid?
I wonder.
I can't say that I'm not at all, but.
The honest feeling I have right now is...
'I finally feel like I'm alive.'
Ever since I was reincarnated, I sometimes felt like I was dreaming.
But now, placed in a life-or-death crisis, reality felt vivid.
'That's right. A one-versus-many fight is essential for a hero.'
Therefore, this is not a trial.
It is simply a necessary story for the protagonist.
Cha Chi-do gave a signal to his subordinates.
"Go kill him."
His subordinates answered with a powerful cry.
"Yes! Big Hyungnim!"
"Lads, get him!"
From the front, both sides, and from behind...
The bastards charged from all directions.
I focused mana in both hands and unleashed it on my right and left sides in succession.
BOOM! BA-BA-BOOM!!!
As
"Th-This is...!"
"What the hell is that!"
"...A bomb?"
Riding the momentum, I lifted my right foot and kicked the bastard in front of me.
There was no need to only face the enemies with the 'Special'.
I appropriately mixed in my own base strength, using normal punches and kicks.
And whenever it seemed like several opponents were rushing me, I would boldly use another shot.
KABOOM!!!
A fiery roar echoed out as the mana shotgun exploded.
This time, a whopping 5 people collapsed at once.
The upgraded Super Kid's ability truly shone in a one-versus-many battle.
At this point, the fight was on the level of a professional fighter versus a group of preschoolers.
There was nothing holding me back anymore.
I ran wild as if I'd become a madman.
"...Ugh."
"Aahh."
"Kkeueuk.”
Cha Chi-do's subordinates rolled on the ground.
The weapons they had been holding were scattered here and there, rendered useless.
'One, two, three...'
Of the more than twenty subordinates Cha Chi-do had, only four remained.
Even the ones left had lost their will to fight and didn't dare rush at me recklessly.
The subordinates, like children looking for their mother, glanced around and backed away toward Cha Chi-do.
Cha Chi-do, who had been sitting on the cement sack, let out a long sigh.
"Hah. There's no one useful here. To think Yeong-cheol-ssi was the sharpest one all this time..."
Before Cha Chi-do could finish his sentence, I sprinted.
'I'm done dealing with the small fry.'
I rushed at Cha Chi-do to take down the final boss.
Just like when I had shattered Big Lava.
The moment I tried to slam my fist into the bastard's face with all my might.
"Hup! Come over here."
Cha Chi-do grabbed a subordinate by the neck and pulled him in.
And then he put him in front as a shield.
"...Big Hyungnim?"
The cement sack burst, and the Black Pearl powder inside scattered.
The drug poured down like rain, and slowly, the forms of two people were revealed.
Cha Chi-do, having used his subordinate as a human shield, was unharmed.
However, the subordinate caught in his hand had his clothes torn to shreds and was knocked out standing.
And.
Cha Chi-do took advantage of the confusion to shove his sashimi knife into my side.
It was a perfect gap between the plates of my armor.
A chilling sensation ran through me, and the hair on my head stood on end.
"Keuk!"
I clutched the area around my ribs and staggered.
In an instant, warm, thick blood filled my hand.
"So close! It was a little shallow. I was trying to stab deeper."
I grit my teeth as I looked at Cha Chi-do, who was fooling around innocently.
"Hup. Thanks for the use!"
Cha Chi-do carelessly tossed aside the subordinate he had used for defense.
My eyes fell on the face of the man who was rolling on the ground, a bloody pulp.
"......"
I already knew.
I knew that Cha Chi-do was the type of bastard to treat humans like tools.
But why am I so angry?
Cha Chi-do approached me, twirling his sashimi knife.
"Does it hurt? I wonder what kind of face you're making inside that helmet? I'm so curious I can't stand it."
I had been thinking about this the wrong way.
I've been too concerned with cost-effectiveness.
There was no need to spare any expense when it came to defeating a villain.
I summoned the blue window and boldly clicked on the second hero skill once again.
Ding.
[ Purchasing the Speeder's
Like a short-distance runner, I lowered my body and put my center of gravity forward.
With that, I was ready to shoot forward at any moment.
"Hmmm?"
Cha Chi-do tilted his head to one side.
"What are you doing? Are you trying to run away?"
I stared at Cha Chi-do as if looking at the end of a marathon track and said.
"Don't worry."
From Super Kid to Speeder.
"Because this won't end until one of us is dead."
As the hero was swapped, the rhythm of the mana flowing through my entire body changed to something much more nimble.