· · ────── ꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ────── · ·
Translated by BiasNil
· · ────── ꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ────── · ·
Yeah, I have to admit it.
I'm not superhuman.
"Stardust!" was my favorite comic, and I read it dozens of times until I could quote every line—but that's it.
I can't say I know everything about this world.
"Haa… shit…"
I hurriedly packed the mask and the cape.
Oh yeah, the guns, too.
I have no choice now. Nothing's going to stop me.
I rushed out.
Hmm… where did it go wrong?
The biggest problem must be my poor timing.
I knew the year and season when X-Saint's brother died, but not the exact date.
So I just guessed: "Wouldn't it happen around now?"
So, uh… I think I miscalculated.
In this event—where the terrorists kill Lee Ha-yul and her brother—she turns bad.
I thought it would happen about a month from now, so why is it happening today?
But it's too late to whine. If I don't take them down now, there's no fixing this.
I changed into my outfit and headed for the scene.
I hope I'm not too late.
***
Lee Ha-yul
She was living her worst moment.
"Oh, what should we do with these little kids?"
"Hmph! Hmph!"
In their little shack.
Small and shabby, but it was the only home she and her brother had.
Their precious home was packed with unwanted guests.
"Hey, maknae—what d'you want me to do?"
The man who talked down to the others stood at the front.
Men crowded the home of the two siblings, filling the space.
They'd stormed in without even taking off their shoes, tying up Lee Ha-yul and her brother so tight there was no room to resist.
They even taped over their mouths; the two of them were completely restrained.
A muscular man with a shaved head and knife-scars across his face
spoke.
"Brother, is this the little brat who tried to steal your wallet?"
"Yeah… that's right…"
The one they called "Brother"—a typical thug, blond hair slicked with wax and sunglasses—squatted down, looked at her, and said,
"This cute little kid… you tried to steal my wallet without being scared?"
"Hmph! Hmph!"
Arms and legs tied, mouth taped shut.
She couldn't move—but she still twisted her body to cover her younger brother.
Even in the worst situation, she protected him.
And the terrorists felt that resolve.
Ah.
This bitch—she cares about the kid behind her, huh?
"Hey, hey. Move her. Bring the kid from the back."
"Yes, sir."
"Hmphhhh!! Hmphhh!"
Ignoring her desperate struggle, they dragged out the boy behind her.
What they picked up was a little boy shaking with tears.
"Sob… sob…"
He, too, was tied with rope and tape over his mouth.
He looked elementary-school age. The terrorists leered at the trembling child.
The man called Brother spoke again.
"Take the tape off his mouth."
"Yes!"
The bald maknae ripped the tape away.
Like that.
Now able to speak, the boy worked his lips, voice shaking.
"P-Please don't kill me… don't kill me…"
As he begged through tears, the terrorists laughed.
"Hahahaha! Look at this little thing."
"Hmm… should I spare you? Or not?"
"Brother, let's just get rid of them both."
Another creep drew a finger across his throat.
The boy went pale, and Lee Ha-yul lost it.
"Hmphhhh!!! Hmphhh!!"
"Hmmmmm… hey, hold her."
"Yes."
"Yes!"
Two men pinned the thrashing girl.
Brother smiled, oily and mean.
"Hey, you bitch… looks like he means a lot to you?"
He pulled a knife and pressed it to the child's neck.
"If you're guilty… you pay it back, right? Huh? Let's see… looks like the younger one."
"Hmphh! Hmphhhh!!"
"Oh? I must be right—look at you fuss."
"P-Please don't kill me…"
"Yeah, well. Should I spare your life?"
Brother smirked.
At the same time, he raised the knife high.
"I'll spare your sister's life. You die for her sin. Hey—he's dying because of you. Got it?"
"Hmph! Hmph! Hmph! Hmph!!!"
"Sob…"
"Goodbye."
The knife poised to strike.
And then—
Thump, thump, thump.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHH!"
"Fuck—what the hell?!"
The front door exploded inward with a deafening roar.
"…?"
The man with the knife shoved the boy aside and stood.
"Who the fuck busts in while we're having fun?"
"Brother, I'll check!"
The maknae grabbed the boy and headed for the door.
"Which brat did this?!"
He shouted, fearless, striding forward.
Bang.
A bullet punched his head.
He dropped on the spot.
"Shit!!!"
"Everyone, guns out! The youngest got shot!"
In the cramped room, pistols came out of pockets all at once.
They leveled their guns at the door, ready to fire.
Blink—blink—
The room lights began flickering on and off.
"What the hell… what is…"
The flicker ended in darkness.
They were blind.
Gulping, they aimed at the door.
In the suffocating silence, the only sound was the boy whimpering behind them.
They braced for a fight.
Footsteps approached from the doorway.
"Everyone, shoot!!!"
The leader's voice cracked in a hysterical scream.
On command, they fired wildly from wherever they stood.
Bang, bang, bang, bang—
Gunfire swallowed the room.
The racket was as great as the earlier blast.
The door was chewed to splinters as dust filled the air.
"Ugh… is it over?"
One lackey muttered.
The dead lights blinked on for an instant.
Blink.
In that split second, they saw—
Black clothes and cape covering the body.
A black magician's hat.
A man grinning behind a mask that hid half his face.
They recognized him in a flash.
That villain from the news.
The light that came on vanished again at once.
A strange man stood unfazed after all that lead.
The captain shrieked.
"Shoot!!!!!!"
In the darkness, gunshots thundered anew.
They couldn't see forward—or even to their sides.
"Ugh!"
One gunman cried out and dropped.
"Geun-chul! Damn it…!"
The leader bared his teeth and thrust his gun forward, firing harder.
But as he kept shooting, his men crumpled one by one with strangled screams.
Soon, the last of them fell.
The only gun still roaring in the silence was the one in the leader's hands.
"Ugh… fuuuuuckkkkkk!!!"
He kept firing, teeth clenched.
Click, click.
No matter how many rounds he'd spat—
He was empty.
"F-Fuck…"
He snatched up the knife from before.
Staggered backward.
"F-Fuck. Back off, bastard! I said back off!!!"
He shouted, eyes wild.
Blink. The lights came fully back.
The room was awash in blood.
The men who'd been debating whether to kill the siblings just a moment ago lay dead all over the floor.
And in the middle of the carnage, a man stood quietly.
He dusted blood from his black clothes with one hand; in the other, he held a single pistol.
"F-Fuck. Don't come near me, you brat!"
Screaming, knife raised, the leader backed away from the man in black—then spotted something.
He lunged, faster than anyone.
"D-Don't move! If you move, I'll kill him!"
He hauled up Lee Ha-yul's younger brother, still bound on the floor.
The knife kissed the boy's neck.
It worked—the man in black stopped where he was.
"Yeah! Stay still, drop the gun—now!"
Slowly, Egostic set the pistol on the floor.
When he'd fully let go and stood again, the leader's face lit with hope.
"Fuck, yeah! And then fuck—"
Before he could finish—
Behind Egostic, a gun materialized out of nowhere.
Before the leader could notice, it fired.
"…off…"
A neat hole bloomed in the center of his brow.
He collapsed where he stood—boy still in his arms.
"…."
All the terrorists who invaded Lee Ha-yul's home were dead.
Lee Ha-yul lay bound and gagged to one side, her little brother sat on the floor, and a man in black stood quietly.
Behind him, the house dripped red.
"….."
In the awful silence, no man, no girl, no child spoke.
The girl on the floor started to move—
And in the quiet house, the boy suddenly spoke up.
"M-Mangostic…?"
His words couldn't have clashed more with the scene.
***
"Huh…?"
I doubted my ears for a second.
In the house I'd just kicked in and painted in blood.
Lee Ha-yul, lying to the side, looked at me like I was a serial killer.
This is not what I pictured…!!
While I was wondering how to dig out of this awkward mess—
Lee Ha-yul's little brother, who I never expected to speak first, piped up.
You're really bringing up Mangostic right now?
I stared at the kid.
His eyes shone at me—even though the room was bloody enough for a content warning for the elderly and pregnant.
Huh?
What… should I do?