CH 9

{ Episode 9 – The Possessor And The Regressor }

“Grrrrrrrrrr…!”

Lumia, who had thrust her sword into the head of the monster, exhaled a heavy breath and stepped back.

“Ha ha ha...”

The monsters who had stopped their movements piled around her like a mountain.

“This isn't it. This isn't it....”

Despite she was about to collapse from exhaustion after the fierce battle,  she stood straight and kept her eyes fixed on one spot.

[Villain Name ＜Trauma＞ Debut (LIVE)]

[605000 viewers]

It was a smartphone covered in blood which she didn't let go of even after defeating countless monsters.

[No, what is this? Is it real?]

[It’s the first time I’ve seen Absolute commander crying lol]

[Academy’s half faction is destroyed...]

A live broadcast was being played in real-time on that small screen, which had already crossed 600,000 viewers.

[Who the hell is that hero who saved the Absolute Noona? It's the first time I've seen him...]

[Hahah, not hero. He's the villain who debuted this time lol.]

[But why is the villain saving the hero and the students? (I really don't understand)]

Lumia, who was looking at the comments that went by quickly, gnashed her teeth and muttered.

“This isn’t… Trauma-sama…”

A voice of bewilderment and anger erupted from her mouth.

“Trauma-sama is an absolute evil... not such a clumsy dark hero...”

Just like that, her voice became louder and louder.

“Only my own… my own villain…”

“It's still bullshit.”

“……!”

Something sharp brushed her cheek.

“Hey~”

“You, you…!”

Lumia shifted her gaze forward and raised her sword with her eyes wide open.

“Blonde hair!!”

“Call me Dice.”

"..."

Paradise, who was giggling, slowly walked towards Lumia with hundreds of cards floating around her.

“Last time you were running from me, so why did you go out on your own this time?”

“What?”

“Are you afraid that the plot will go wrong and Ha-neul will die? You are also very sincere.”

As Dice flicked her finger lightly, the cards floating in the air began to resonate lightly.

“You, no way…”

Lumia stared blankly at that figure, then opened her mouth with a long and brooding expression on her face.

“Aren't you talking like a possessor?”

Dice, who intercepted the words midway, answered with a smile.

“But you’re the possessor, Lumia.”

And the since followed.

“…Nonsense.”

Lumia, who opened her mouth in shock, muttered involuntarily.

“You, an extra like you… How could you…”

“It's so funny, Lumia.”

Then, before Lumia could say anything, Dice opened her mouth again with a cold smile.

“Why are you just pretending to be the main character?”

Hearing those words, Lumia’s face turned pale.

“You know that there are two main characters in this world, right?”

After looking at that figure, Dice quietly stopped her steps.

“The other one is a student in Class 1 of the first year, right?”

“That's…”

“Fortunately, in this episode, all of the first-year class 1 are surviving.”

To the speechless Lumia, Dice whispered in a low voice.

“And the few monsters hiding inside the academy, we just cleaned them all up.”

“Ah…”

“It's only us, the villains who can tell the difference between ordinary people and monsters, right?”

And at that very moment.

– PABABABABABAK!!!!!!

Countless cards began to attack Lumia all at once.

“………..”

However, for some reason, not a single card harmed Lumia.

“As expected, your ability is a headache.”

“Uh…”

“At this point, I thought your ability would be weak. Now killing or kidnapping would be impossible..”

Dice, who had unnaturally missed and looked at the cards stuck on the wall behind her, looked at Lumia who was still in shock, and said:

“Well, it doesn’t matter. I’m here to declare war today.”

“Declare war...?”

“I mean, with that great knowledge of the original work, try hard for once.”

Seeing Lumia’s trembling hand which was holding the sword, Dice whispered while raising the corner of her mouth slightly.

“Like last time.”

Upon hearing that, Lumia began to tremble and mutter.

“Give him back.”

“Hmm?”

“Give him back...”

Then, suddenly, she began to show a violent reaction.

“Seonbae is mine!! He is only mine!!”

She rushed to Dice like lightning and swung her sword with all her might.

“Only I can understand him!!”

– Bang!!!

“Only I can save the Seonbae of the future!! The only one who knows how to do that is me…”

However, Dice easily dodged those attacks.

“Unfortunately, not anymore.”

Her blonde hair radiated beautifully.

“Now I will be his companion.”

At the same time, her cards that had been pinned to the wall started coming back to her.

“I’ll send you a mysterious videotape soon.”

“Wait…!”

As soon as the cards wrapped around the Dice, Lumia hurriedly stretched out her hand.

“Just consolation yourself with that, please.”

It was futile.

– Slowly…

Dice, who had left those words, disappeared somewhere in an instant.

“……..”

The only card with a funny clown on it was stuck in Lumia’s hand.

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“A villain…?”

After hearing my words, noona tilted her head with a puzzled expression on her face.

“Ha, but. You saved us, right?”

“……Tsk.”

“I don’t know what your story is, but first…”

Then, she slowly started coming towards me again.

“……..!”

Then the noona's eyes suddenly turn round.

“Wait, are you okay?”

“…Ugh.”

As I did that, I began to feel a terrible pain in my chest.

‘Is it a penetrating wound?’

Apparently, when I blew up the Resurrection, his tentacle stung me near my heart. 

The wound wasn't that deep, but the blood wouldn't stop coming because I was in a state where the durability of my body was at the bottom.

“Ahh, you're bleeding too much. First of all, I'll help you...”

I was gritting my teeth for a while, so noona reached out to me while saying that.

“…..ah?”

However, the face of the noona, who froze in that state, turned white.

“That eye…”

She must have seen my eyes exposed through the broken mask.

Well, I changed my eyes while transforming, so I didn't have to worry.

Still, seeing that she was staring at my eyes, which were still bleeding, it seemed that she had a sense of debt that I had become blind. 

Would she have reacted like this even if 'my' eyes were blind?

Of course not.

“This is no big deal, don't worry about it.”

I didn't want to brag about losing my right eye while protecting her. So after answering that, I tried to leave quietly. 

– Sreuk…

For some reason, she hurriedly grabbed my arm and stopped me, then started caressing my eyes with her trembling hands.

“………”

Her hand reached the unfocused eyes.

“What are we going to do with this…”

Thanks to that, I felt very offended and tried to push her again, but she suddenly sits down as she was.

'I wonder if her legs have lost strength from being beaten so badly.'

“You…”

“……?”

“Why are you… me…? What does that look like…”

Since she was tilting her head, she now looked like she had seen a ghost and even spoke nonsense that I could not understand.

'Did she hurt her head too?'

Either way, I didn’t want to give her any more attention, so I turned and headed toward the students.

“Why, why are you…?”

“Hup.”

Then, the guys backed away with a slightly frightened expressions.

“Has anyone seen where Lumia is?”

When I asked that question, the students quietly shook their heads.

“Then where is the vice-principal?”

I couldn’t help but ask a question again, and someone raised his hand and answered.

“He told us that he would be on the roof too.”

“Well...”

“I actually saw him go up to the roof!”

Justia’s younger sister was answering me with twinkling eyes.

“Is that so.”

My ultimate goal was Lumia.

However, now that the top-ranking heroes had flocked to her, it was impossible to find her whose location was unknown.

If so, I should change my purpose.

“Thank you.”

Having decided on my destination, I looked at the students for a moment and then opened my mouth.

“Wait here until the faculty and staff arrive. Don’t listen to the orders of the heroes.”

“Yes?”

“Only follow the instructions of the staff.”

I didn't know why, but most of the heroes had suspicious tentacles wriggling on their bodies.

However, only a few faculty and staff members had tentacles planted.

Since even they were attacked by the 'executives' earlier, the safest beings right now were the faculty members.

“Thank you.”

After I finished talking, I was about to walk upstairs, but Justia’s sister, who was looking at me, muttered in a low voice.

“By the way, Are you a villain?”

“………”

“No matter how I looked at it, you’re a hero. You...”

For a moment, it felt like my mind went blank.

A hero.

It was something I had never heard before, even when I was working as Agent Black.

'Justia, except for her... She always...'

“Haah.”

Bitter laughter erupted.

After all, the person who said that was a being who resembled her very much.

“You are the hero.”

Unknowingly, I put my hand on her head and whispered in a slightly trembling voice.

“Not a guy like me.”

There were many things I wanted to share with her.

Because she was the child that Justia always bragged about, saying that she looked like the main character of a boy’s anime.

“Watch out for Lumia.”

“Yes?”

Having said that in the hopes that she would not go through the same situation as her sister, I began to hasten my steps-

“...There is a proverb that you got to use chicken instead of pheasant.”

-towards the person that should be on the roof by now.

[TL: 'Chicken instead of pheasant' is a Korean saying to describe a situation where something is replaced with another something similar thing when the former is not found.]

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– Tad-tad-tad-tad…

“Well?”

As I was climbing the stairs, something that looked like a drone flew right next to me.

[ No attack. ]

As I tried to put my hand in my pocket, thinking it was an attack from the enemy, it quickly turned around and displayed text on the monitor.

[ It’s me! ]

“Who are you?”

[ Genius pretty girl. The mascot of the Dominating Hands. ]

Seeing her talking nonsense, I understood it was Pandora.

[ Ahjussi, why did you save them earlier? ]

After confirming that it was an ally, I silently started to climb the stairs again. It turns around and flew in front of me and asked questions.

“Are you filming?”

[ I’ve turned it off for a while now. Calm down. ]

After finding the camera on the drone, I frowned and asked a question, and she answered that way.

“…For a while now?”

It piqued my interest, but I didn’t have the energy to worry about that.

“I just wanted to give 'her' some trouble.”

I answered Pandora's question that why did I save them.

[ To whom? ]

“To the person who made me this way.”

I gave a rough answer because I was thinking about something completely different.

‘I’m a fool.’

First of all, I lost all my precious colleagues.

Because of 'her', I lost the girl I admired.

I was even pushed to the edge of the cliff under the absurd accusation that I had killed her.

And eventually, I became a villain, blinded by my revenge.

But I was really stupid; despite being like this, I still liked helping.

The idiot who became a hero because he just liked to help and save someone, still remained in me.

‘Now I don’t know.’

The moment I lost my eyes after saving everyone by forcefully using the attack skill, I burst out laughing without even realizing it.

“I have to take revenge.”

[ Revenge? ]

Mumbling like that with a somewhat refreshed heart, Pandora spun the drone and asked questions.

[ What revenge… ]

“Shh, be quiet.”

Acknowledging that it was still good to save others and revenge was a different matter, I was still full of heart to take revenge on those who brought me and Justia to this level.

“Hey, you useless bastard…!”

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”

I arrived on the roof and peered quietly through the crack in the door, and saw two figures in the distance.

“It was a chance to end the war with the villains... no, with those disgusting bastards wearing the villain's skin! but you...! but you...!”

“Grrrruk…”

I confirmed the owner of the figure and opened the door with a quiet smile.

“Who, who are you?”

“…!”

Then, the sympathizer took a step back, and beside him, another guy as well as looked at me with a surprised expression.

“I tore you to pieces with my comrades, but as expected you managed to crawl back.” I said to the second guy.

“Yes... He...”

His true identity was none other than Resurrection. 

“Looking back, it must have been a fatal blow?”

As his name suggested, Resurrection's power was resurrection and revival, the concept that dwelled in him was the concept of 'regeneration'.

It was a pretty useful ability that could heal any kind of damage.

“Hey, take care of him! Take care of him!”

“Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…”

When the sympathizer who found me screamed with a bluish face, Resurrection came up to me with a body full of wreckage.

If it had been someone else, there would have been no way to fight against the guy with invincible recovery ability and powerful attacks.

But, unfortunately, his opponent was me.

– Ugh…

I didn't know if it was because his reason was already broken but he, who was extremely vigilant before walked up to me without thinking twice.

Using hypnosis to subdue him would be a matter of time.

“Stay still. Let’s see…”

So, I took out my smartphone from my pocket and tried to run the hypnosis app.

“……?”

I stopped and tilted my head when I saw the guy staring at me blankly.

‘What?’

It was a familiar situation.

“Get down.”

– Seruk…

When I quietly gave instructions, the guy knelt down and bowed his head.

“What, what are you doing! Hurry up and take care of him!!”

“…….”

The vice-principal, who seemed to be the guy’s superior, gave the order in contemplation, but he was unsteady.

‘It’s the same situation as Spade.’

I could understand it intuitively that this situation was very similar to what happened with Spade yesterday.

Apparently, I hadn't hypnotized her even then, but I was able to be the master of Spade.

And, for some reason, sadism was springing up.

Looking at it, I didn't think it was my fault.

‘Maybe, it’s the ability I didn’t know about.’

A person with a ‘concept’ in their body was usually able to freely use the abilities related to that concept.

However, this concept was still in the realm of mystery.

There were many cases in which the ‘concept’ of a person who had undergone a major change of heart was suddenly overturned, or he had just mistaken his ‘concept’.

Of course, it was very common to not fully understand one’s abilities.

‘I’ve already defeated Resurrection once. then…’

Thinking from that perspective, this phenomenon was also my ability.

If so, there was one thing to point out.

'Could it be that I can hypnotize people I have defeated indefinitely?'

Not sure yet. But if that was really true, I wouldn’t have known about it until now.

If I wanted to defeat someone, I had to be accompanied by ‘hypnosis’, so it was probably no different.

But if that was true, does that mean I had defeated Spade in the past?

When the hell did I meet her?

“Hey, you.”

I shook my head for a while, but there was no clear answer, so I decided to finish what I had to do first.

“Tell me your true identity.”

“Greek…”

Now was a good opportunity to discover the identities of the bizarre monsters. So, when I investigated Resurrection, who was lying face down, he cried for a while and then started to open his mouth.

“We… are blessed by him… the chosen ones…”

Those were the last words he had left.

– Whoops… Thudum!

“……!”

The guy who was about to say something, exploded.

“…This.”

After that, the droopy body of him did not regenerate again.

“It’s a shame.”

Quietly licking my lips, I couldn't help but look away from him and move forward.

“Hey, hey…!”

The vice principal sat down and began to tremble.

“Sa, save me…!”

He looked quite pitiful, but according to the data that Dice gave him, he did not deserve any pity at all.

Embezzlement of Academy funds, encouraging fraudulent admissions under the pretext of additional admission, sexually harassing 5 female students, and the number one contributor to the Justia expulsion case...

In addition, the connection with the Resurrection that was just revealed. 

“Ah, my wife and daughter are waiting for me. Please let me go. Don't kill me!!…”

“Hey, when did I say I would kill you?”

Still, I had no intention of killing him.

“Really?”

“Absolutely.”

It had been a question since ancient times-

“Well, by the way… what is that thing you’re holding in your hand…?”

-Why is the death penalty the highest punishment in court?

In this world where there was no such thing as a god or an afterlife, the death penalty was such a kind and humane treatment.

“Okay, how can I change common sense?”

It was time to become his trauma that would last for the rest of his life.