CH 15

{ Chapter 15 – Belated Discovery }

Finding a hiding place to have a secret conversation with Miracle Shine turned out to be surprisingly easy.

The place where we were now was Navarre, a huge artificial island where the International Hero Academy was located.

It was said to be the safest place in this strange world where monsters were infested everywhere.

However, even in this supposedly secure location, it appeared that the Villain League's influence still loomed largly, as they had established shelters all across the globe.

But, at Miracle Shine's request, the area had been closed off, allowing us to move to a nearby hideout without any interference.

“Now, please sit down on your chair and disarm yourself.”

“Uh, hey… If I take all this off, I'll only be in my underwear.”

“…I'll cover you with my cloak.”

With that issue resolved, we easily prepared to have our conversation.

“Okay, tie yourself up with this string.”

“Is this good?”

“Okay, nice work. Now take a seat. I’ll tie up the rest.”

Just like the actors and staff ahead of filming, Miracle Shine and I quickly completed the preparations to have our conversation.

“Mr. this is quite tough.”

“Yes?”

“Even if I try my best… I don’t think I can endure it…”

“…”

“Well, let's give it a try anyway...”

After all the preparations were done, Miracle looked at me for a while, then muttered while holding back her laughter.

‘The effect is good.’

To be able to capture the second-ranked hero with such a lax method that involved her pretending to be hypnotized was surprisingly easy

“Well then, shall we start?” I asked, eager to move forward.

Okay, so now it was the time to act quickly and efficiently before the hypnosis wore off.

.

.

.

.

.

“Now, look. This is the most common form of monster...”

“…….”

Several hours after that.

“Isn’t it different from normal monsters? It’s a bit more intelligent, and its shape is similar to that of humans.”

“yes…”

“Have you ever seen this form while dealing with witch beasts?”

“I’ve been there a few times…”

Miracle Shine, who was listening to Trauma's lecture with her eyes wide open, endured the bursting yawn with her superhuman mental strength and quietly gnashed her teeth.

‘How long is he going to show that…’

The video which was playing by trauma was the video she had seen several times.

It was a video that had been circulating on the Internet for quite some time, in which a person turns into a beast-like monster.

There was a time when a popular story circulated about the existence of monsters hiding in society, with a video supposedly showing a person transforming into a beast.

‘It's been several years since it was discovered to be a hoax... not even a child's story now.’

At one time, it was a famous ghost-child story that many people believed in. However, after several experts revealed that the video had been tampered with, it declined considerably.

‘Is he tainted by the Villain League?’

But despite the revelation that the video was fake, some young conspiracy theorists continued to spread fake stories and rumors about it and Villain League was a,also found to be involved in it.

For example, during a recent incident, a major community including the hero community was occupied by Pandora, a hacker belonging to the Villain League, for a whopping 5 hours.

During that time, the videos the Villain League sent were all about ‘monster fake stories’, adding fuel to the conspiracy theories.

‘Then my ability to react, maybe…?’

As she considered the situation, she began to wonder if her magical girl ability to find people in need was somehow reacting to Trauma.

If Trauma was deceived or brainwashed by the Villain League, it explained everything about him and his actions of killing and messing around with normal people and saying they were monsters to her.

‘Poor man…’

Miracle Shine, who looked at Trauma with pity for a moment, closed her eyes tightly and shook her head.

‘No, I can’t be sympathetic.’

No matter what the story was, the things he did were evil.

Trauma in front of her eyes was an outright criminal.

‘Help what you can, but make sure he pays for his sins…’

Because of that, she had to organize her mind and immerse herself in acting again.

“Ummm… it doesn’t work at all. Pandora...”

Then, an unusual name came out of Trauma’s mouth.

“Pandora, are you listening?”

‘Pandora? Is he talking about or to that Pandora of the Villain League?’

Miracle Shine, with her eyes wide open, began to listen quietly.

‘Well this is not surprising after all, he had a relationship with the Villain League.’

“I think we going to have to do some broadcasting soon. Please prepare.”

‘And if I look at how he is talking, they look pretty friendly…’

And then, she quietly started reasoning.

‘Then, perhaps, the new executive of the Villain League, about whom information was recently obtained…’

Eventually, the reasoning came closer to the answer, and right at that moment.

– My heart…!

“Ugh!?”

She suddenly became contemplative and then vomited a screamed.

“Ah, uh… uh…”

“Well?”

Then she lowered her head and started to sweat in a cold sweat, and then she tightly closed her eyes.

“What's wrong? Where are you sick?”

Trauma, who was communicating with Pandora, looked at Miracle Shine with questionable eyes and began to approach her slowly.

“Ah, don’t come near me!”

Then Miracle Shine hurriedly shouted that, shaking her whole body and taking a deep breath.

‘Damn… I guess it is the time…!’

Every ‘concept’ user inevitably had one weakness.

Even Miracle Shine, called 'The Guardian of love and justice' or 'The Magical Girl', was no exception.

– Magical girl, it doesn’t make sense.

“Oh no!”

Her weakness was that she could occasionally hear her inner voice while transforming into a magical girl.

Of course, if that was all, there would be no problem, but there was another scary aspect of this penalty.

– You fell for the enemy’s trap in a nice way, as expected of you.

She was well aware of the dangers of succumbing to the inner voice that had caused previous magical girls to disappear, and was determined not to fall prey to it.

“This, this is what I chose. It’s not a crisis situation.”

Despite her hands shaking with fear, she resisted the voice inside, determined to stay focused.

– You’ve already been hit by the enemy’s ability.

“…What?”

– Didn’t you crawl into the enemy’s hideout yourself and tie yourself up?

However, the inner voice, as always, began to tease her with flamboyant language.

“That…”

– Your plan? That was the enemy’s goal. To make you believe that he is not bad. Hehehe. You looked really good.

“Oh, no.”

Even as she shook her head, Miracle Shine began to doubt herself more and more.

“No…”

Did she really need to take the risk to get here?

Wouldn’t it have been better to arrest and interrogate Trauma?

Even if that wasn’t the case, wouldn’t it be more comfortable to secretly chase after Trauma who ran away?

“No way…”

As soon as such questions came to her belatedly, her face turned pale as she wondered if her mind was really being manipulated.

– But why are you like this now? You always said you could hold on to yourself.

“Everyone, just shut up!”

– Stop rejecting it...

At that very moment, the inner voice began to penetrate.

– You can’t figure out whether you’re normal or not.

Hearing those words, Miracle Shine’s eyes slowly began to shake.

‘Huh, it’s dangerous to go on like this.’

Then, she bit her lip to the point where blood leaked out and started to straighten her mind.

‘I need to release the transformation right now…’

She had been in this situation a few times in the past, but she always managed to get out of it.

It was because her inner voice no longer bothered her once she had released her transformation.

‘I have to release it…’

However, there was Trauma in front of Miracle Shine, who was trying to unravel the transformation of monsters.

After that, a drone equipped with a camera came upon her.

The thing that he asked Pandora was about that drone, no matter how much she thought about it, it was a big deal.

‘I can’t reveal my identity…’

If the true form of herself who had been transformed was exposed to Trauma, or if it was taken by that camera.

It was the end for her as a magical girl,

She would probably lose all her powers and become a normal person.

‘Well, then… what should I do…’

And even if a miracle happened and her identity was not discovered, she could not escape from this place in a normal state.

Absolutely perfect bad situation for her.

In such a gloomy situation, the inner voice began to be heard even louder.

– Magical girl, stop rejecting...

Hearing that voice, Miracle Shine started to look hazy again.

– ...The darkness within you…

‘ah…..’

At the same time, her whole body began to tremble.

‘I’m sorry… everyone…’

That was when a single tear fell from the corner of her eyes.

“…here.”

The annoying, traumatic voice began to be heard in front of her.

“Do you know in front of whom are you trying to brainwashing her?”

Having said that, he took out his smartphone and started tapping the screen lightly.

“It’s a little uncomfortable.”

And then, the next moment.

– Ahaa…

“uh?”

With a refreshing feeling, her mind began to clear.

“What, what? Why are you…”

Miracle Shine, who asked in a bewildered voice at the refreshing feeling she had experienced for the first time in a transformed state, soon realized something.

‘I can’t hear my voice anymore?’

The hateful voice that had been whispering to her just before was no longer heard.

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

To Miracle Shine, who blinked her eyes in such a mysterious situation, Trauma answered by scratching his head.

“There is no treatment function yet, so I tried to combine the aphrodisiac effect, addiction effect, and pleasure effect properly.”

“…yes?”

“Thanks to me, are you in a good mood now?”

Upon hearing that, she felt her whole body itching for some reason and began to tremble again.

“What have you done to my body…”

“And that.”

Trauma, who was looking at her like that, suddenly picked up a cane and jumped out at high speed-

– Kwajik…!

-and striked the cane with all his might toward her

“Ahh…?”

Miracle Shine, who closed her eyes unknowingly at the sight, shuddered and opened her eyes when an unknown liquid started dripping down her lap.

“……!”

And then, she was startled.

-Greuk… extremely…

An unidentified tentacle-like creature was bleeding, clinging to the Staff of Trauma.

“Can you see it now?”

“Uh, what is that…?”

Then Trauma began to speak in a kind voice to Miracle Shine, who gazed at the bizarre figure in contemplation.

“Haven’t I told you all along?”

Her ability to detect people in need of her help was more responsive than ever.

“The monster actually exists.”

Wearing a black mask-

“Welcome to the truth of the world.”

-a man in front of her was smiling at her with the mask slightly removed.

.

.

.

.

.

After calming down the shocked Miracle Shine, I promised to meet her again in a few days. 

While I wanted to talk more and prove the existence of the monster, I had to leave as I received a call that top-ranking heroes were coming to the hideout. 

‘I thought I’d have a little more time…’

I had hoped for more time, but it seemed like the situation had been discovered. 

How did they find out about the situation here? Since all broadcasting helicopters were also withdrawn, the information could not have been known.

Could it be that they realized what their colleagues were doing?

– Grrrr…

“You shut up...”

While thinking that, I smashed the moaning guy clinging to the cane on the floor.

‘Anyway, he’s an unlucky one.’

Although this guy was not inside Miracle Shine’s body, it was nested in her combat uniform.

That was why I disarmed her.

As I began to tell her the truth, he squirmed and crawled out of her battlesuit and clunge to her.

What would happen to Miracle Shine if she had been left alone? Just imagining it was terrible.

‘Anyway, I have to get out of here…’

I was a little worried about Miracle Shine, who seemed to be shocked by what happened today. But since I told her to be wary of the heroes around her, nothing should happen.

Well, she also won’t be easily defeated because she was the 2nd ranked hero.

She had also been dealing with those nasty tentacles that ate her mind, all the more.

- Jiying…! 

“……?”

While I was thinking about that, I was about to leave the hideout, when Pandora’s drone flew next to me and started spinning round and round as if it was happy to see me.

'What? why is this here.'

[ Is this enough for a live broadcast? ]

While I was looking at the drone for filming with a puzzled expression, a message popped up on the drone.

“What?”

[ Please tell me this is enough? I have to also play Elden ring. ]

'A live broadcast?'

'What the hell is she talking about?'

“What?”

I looked into my smartphone while thinking about that, and when I saw the live broadcast notification floating on the screen, I had no choice but to open my eyes wide.

[LIVE! Magical Girl Abduction Brainwashing Training.mp4]

[Highest number of viewers: 506,945]

'What the hell is this again?'

I looked at the smartphone blankly and trembled as I entered, and I saw myself in the thumbnail of the broadcast that had already ended.

“What did you do?”

[ Did you tell me to prepare for a live broadcast? ]

“……..”

[ All the drones were damaged in the previous battle, so it was broadcast as a good thing. ]

So, does that mean that all the scenes from the time I told her to prepare until now were all live?

[ The microphone is broken and no sound is transmitted. But the scenes were recorded in high-definition! ]

When I looked back at the replay with a miserable heart, the scene where Miracle Shine was convulsing while looking at the suspicious video was very vividly contained.

And from the scene where I hit her with the wand, and the scene where red liquid driped from the wand...

Unfortunately, the broadcast was cut off there.

[ Low battery and it ends there. It takes an hour to self-charge. So… ]

“Damn it, people will misunderstand me like this!”

Tentacles were not recorded in the broadcast.

If a third person saw it, he would certainly be misunderstood as it was.

“Are you crazy? Why are you suddenly broadcasting live?”

[ Did you tell me to prepare? ]

“The monsters I locked up in my hideout! Relay them!!”

I raised my voice because it is really unfair this time, and the drone flinched.

[ Wasn’t that for tomorrow’s live broadcast…? ]

“I sent a text message to say let’s do it today while they were dispatched.”

[ ……….. ]

“You didn’t see it because you were playing Tekken.”

In response to my chilly question, the drone that had been floating in the air quickly began to fly somewhere-

[ xx ]

-just leaving that message.

It seemed like I could hear the sound of my evaluation somewhere.

Well, since I was a villain now, it didn’t really matter anyway.

To thoroughly trample on a magical girl and become a scumbag in one day was a bit embarrassing.

[ Still, the reaction was explosive. ]

“You’re dead when we go back…”

In response to the text that the drone poked on its head from the distance, I sighed and began to walk.

“…Ugh.”

However, the body soon began to tingle again.

“Is it time for the self-hypnosis to slowly dissipate…?”

Just as all abilities had weaknesses, my abilities also had weaknesses.

That was, every time I used my ability, my mental power was also consumed.

The more mental power was consumed, the shorter the duration of hypnosis gets.

Thanks to that, the self-hypnosis, which was used to stop feeling pain, began to come to a limit.

[ Ahjussi, are you okay? Would you like to ask for support from other villains? ]

“No… it’s okay.”

The Pandora’s drone that flew over and fluttered was trying to support me, so I waved my hand and moved forward.

Top-ranking heroes were coming here.

If I made a request for support and even ran into them, things would get bigger.

[ Then you are going to die! ]

“But if I survive, I will become stronger…”

Because of that, I continued to move forward believing only in the ‘refining’ skill.

“Class A Villain, Trauma.”

I stopped walking at the appearance of an unexpected existence that appeared through the iron door of the hideout.

‘The one outside… was Noona.’

The one who appeared before my eyes was none other than the Absolute Commander.

I could feel the presence outside the hideout from earlier. But I thought of that presence as a hero or a monster, but I never thought that it would be Noona.

“It’s okay, I have no intention of antagonizing you.”

Grinding my teeth, I was about to raise my staff, but noona raised her hands and said that.

“I heard all the stories from before.”

“……..”

“As expected, you were what I wanted so much.”

I wondered what was going on, so I listened quietly to her, and she walked over to me with a quiet smile.

“By the way, do you know Kang Ha-nuel?”

Then her eyes lighted up quietly.

“…what do you want?”

“Let’s make a deal, Trauma.”

“...”

And the next moment, at words which came out of her mouth...

“I will help you unconditionally in the future.”

“Okay for what”

“Let me kill the kang Ha-nuel with my own hands.”

-I couldn’t help but smile and nod my head.

It was because she was planning to do whatever I wanted for killing me.

.

.

.

.

.

Meanwhile at that time.

Kang Ha-neul’s childhood friend and irreplaceable partner, currently, the 17th-ranked hero Lee Se-ah, who was on the verge of success as an investigative partner of the Secret Intelligence Agency and the Police Department-

“…….”

-was staring blankly at the contents of the file that had just arrived at the office.

[ Nursery School Student File]

What was in her hand was a picture of a white-haired girl smiling while wearing a V-sign.

“Lumia, you.”

Se-ah, who was looking at the picture, murmured in a crawling voice.

“…what the hell is this figure?”

The screams of her childhood friend who had told her not to trust Lumia seemed to be vaguely heard in her ears.