CH 28

{ Chapter 28 – All-out war }

"I wonder what are you hiding inside..."

“...”

“Ah…!”

Kang Ha-neul, who was disguised as Oh Ji-seok, took out the mask that had been carefully stacked on Lumia’s stomach.

His gaze narrowed as he examined it.

“...”

Then, silence began.

“Ah, Professor. That’s…”

When Oh Ji-seok, who was staring blankly at the mask, quietly snaped his fingers, Lumia hurriedly approached forward.

“Stop.”

Then, with the sound of snapping his fingers, Oh Ji-seok’s cold voice flew toward her.

“What is this, student Lumia?”

“…a mask.”

“This is not what I asked about?”

Lumia, who was paused for a while, responded in a cold sweat, and Oh Ji-seok, who started snapping his fingers again, began to whisper coldly.

“Stop playing games.”

“…….”

“Isn’t that the mask of the A-class villain Trauma, the most dangerous supervillain to have emerged recently?”

When Oh Ji-seok said that and looked at Lumia, her complexion became even more darkened.

“Where did you get this?”

“That is…”

“Is the student somehow related to Trauma?”

Oh Ji-seok raised his head and asked in a low voice.

“No.”

“Then why are you carrying this?”

Lumia, whose breathing had become erratic, looked at the mask with a pitiful expression and answered in a trembling voice.

"…I picked it up a few days ago at the academy."

Lumia couldn't bring herself to say that she had bought it at the store using all the 10,000 won she had in her wallet.

“Stop making excuses, and tell me the truth.”

Oh Ji-seok, who was flipping the mask back and forth while raising the corners of his mouth, began to press his fingers leisurely.

“Does it make sense to just pick up the mask worn by an A-class villain on the street?”

“Perhaps it was left behind after the incident at the academy and couldn't be collected?”

“Possible. But why did you keep it without telling anyone?”

Naturally, Lumia couldn’t answer anything.

“The mask will be confiscated.”

“…!”

A cruel sentence passed on her.

“It's enough for you to be referred to the disciplinary committee, but since it's your first time, I'll let it go.”

“Ah…”

“But in addition to that, you'll receive 20 demerit points.”

Despite receiving a harsh penalty of 20 demerit points on the first day, Lumia's gaze was solely focused on the mask.

“It was just obtained a moment ago...”

She murmured while looking at the mask that completely left her with a blank expression.

“Now I don't even have enough money to pay for the internet anymore…”

The stomach, which was warmly covered with a mask, felt empty for some reason, and a forgotten feeling of hunger rushed in.

“Student Lumia?”

“Ah yes.”

Thanks to that, Lumia stood idly in her seat for a while, but at the call of Oh Ji-seok, she managed to calm her mind and adjusted her posture.

“Can we start the match?”

A moment after losing the SSS-class rare item, a smile appeared on Lumia’s downward lips upon hearing that words.

“…Sure.”

As the top-ranked student and the most promising candidate, she had confidence in herself.

“Let’s get started right away.”

Confident in her perfect defeat.

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“Who do you think will win?”

“Well, obviously that white-haired guy.”

To be honest, in the fight between Oh Ji-seok and Lumia, there weren’t that many students who expected Oh Ji-seok’s victory.

“That guy, he’s never allowed a single hit until now.”

"Yeah, even during the entrance test it was the same."

It was because of Lumia’s ability, which had been engulfed in the unknown until now.

“The attack doesn’t work? how do you even win against him?”

In all of the mock battles and actual battles that took place so far, there was not a single battle in which Lumia was defeated.

It was because all the attacks on Lumia didn't work or missed their mark.

While former No.1 hero, Justia, was known as the "invincible hero" for her overwhelming attack power that crushed anyone, Lumia, the "child of prophecy," was called an "invincible hero" because of her unparalleled defense that no one could penetrate.

On the other hand, Professor Oh Ji-seok’s ability known to students - ‘Barrier’ - was a good defense measure, but compared to Lumia, it was a strictly inferior ability.

– Bang…!

However, all the students' thoughts were shattered at once when Oh Ji-seok's full-fledged fist pierced Lumia's lower abdomen.

“…Huh!?”

Lumia, who was trembling and shivering with a fist stuck in her stomach, let out a groan and fell to her knees.

"Uh, ugh..."

Then, trembling and raising her head, Lumia looked up at Oh Ji-seok.

"My ability... doesn't work?"

As Lumia muttered in fear, the students who were watching her began to exclaim in unison.

“Isn't its too much?”

“Crazy. What the hell is it?”

"Did he deceive her ability?"

“…what kind of place is the Secret Service?”

Oh Ji-seok, or Kang Ha-neul, looked down at Lumia, who was trembling in front of him in such a state of chaos.

‘What are you doing?’

Desperately hiding his bewilderment, he maintained a poker face.

‘I haven't even started yet.’

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A few minutes later.:

“I lost, Professor.”

Lumia, kneeling on her feet, grabbed her stomach and opened her mouth with a trembling voice.

“For the first time in my life, I was completely defeated by you.”

Then, she bowed down and admitted defeat.

“……..”

The atmosphere of the students, who saw that tragic scene with their eyes, became dark.

‘This wasn't what I intended to do.’

Of course, Kang Ha-neul's goal was to defeat Lumia, possibly to the death, but he knew she wouldn't go easy on him. So, he had thought earlier and made a plan.

When she was about to reach for the mask, he snapped his fingers to tell her to stop, and to stop playing with puns and making excuses, and then lightly flicking his fingers again were all the basis of allusions.

Kang Ha-neul's hypnosis didn't solely depend on the 'hypnosis app.' While it was essential to induce a trance state, a simple degree of hypnosis could easily be induced through verbal suggestion.

If the other person was paying attention to him, making a simple suggestion that combined the action of ‘stop’ and flicking his finger was obviously a piece of cake.

‘It’s strange…’

If the hints he gave to Lumia had worked without any problems, he would have been able to limit her use of her abilities by flicking his fingers when she used them.

For some reason, she didn't seem to have fully complied with his hypnosis, though it appeared to have had some effect momentarily.

“Heh heh… Heh heh…”

However, for some reason, Lumia didn't use any of her abilities until his fist pierced right into her lower stomach, leaving her in a completely defenseless state.

The result, of course, was, as she just admitted, the first defeat of her life.

‘Why does she look excited?’

But something was off.

He wondered if her blushing and drooling face were a result of her mood as she clung to her messy stomach.

“This doesn’t change the route…”

“……?”

“Still, you attacked me for the first time… There’s still hope…”

As he was quietly looking down at Lumia, she raised her head slightly and looked around at him, muttering something and lowering her head again.

‘…what was the good thing?’

He didn't know what happened, but things weren't that bad.

The students who looked at him with dissatisfied eyes completely disappeared.

It would probably be difficult to find students who would object to his education in the future.

But the fear in the eyes of the student was a bit heartbreaking.

If possible, Kang Ha-neul wanted to be a kind teacher.

'I’m really sorry.'

“Before we seriously start the class, I want to say this to you all.”

With that thought in mind, he stood in front of the table and opened his mouth, looking at the children who were still sitting in a somber mood.

'If I were to teach someone.'

“My father told me not to be a hero.”

'The words I wanted to hear.'

“So did my mother. So did my colleagues and friends. No one told me to be a hero.”

That was true.

All the past owners of the concept of hypnosis were ‘villains’.

Even though he was considered to be at the top of the list in terms of his mental abilities, he had no choice but to be rejected by everyone.

To him, who had many other flaws, a hero was like an elusive star.

“Except for one.”

Kang Ha-neul quietly recalled the things of the past, then smiled and told everyone.

“Why did you become a hero?”

Even these 13 students in front of him would have a moment when they choose to become heroes.

“Please don’t forget the reason.”

'Don’t forget that moment and move forward.'

“As long as you don’t forget, you will be able to become the greatest hero.”

That was what he wanted to say to them and to Ariel.

“Then, let’s start class soon."

By the time he finished everything, it was already halfway through class.

“What I will teach you from now on.”

It was a little tight on time, but it was okay.

“It’s about a humanoid monster that’s often been seen lately.”

To tell the truth of the world to the future sprouts.

“Everyone.”

The all-out war against the monsters had already begun.

“Did you know that a person can turn into a monster?”

From this moment on.

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Meanwhile at that time:

“…I have something to report to you.”

Beijing, the former capital of the People’s Republic of China, was now classified as a first-class occupied area.

“What is it?”

“This is the result of analyzing the ingredients of drugs recently developed by Dominating Hands.”

For some reason, the president of the Hero Association, who was walking underground there, frowned upon accepting the documents from the secretary.

“This…”

"Yes, when the drug is administered to a human who carries the 'truth', it causes excessive awakening, making it impossible to maintain their human form."

“Will it be possible to maintain a human form any longer?”

Then, after muttering like that, the president handed the documents back to the secretary and began to hasten his steps.

"If this is mass-produced, we're done for."

“That’s right.”

“Has the mass production of drugs started?”

"We don't have enough information to know for sure, but it's estimated that it has just started."

“We will have to stop it somehow.”

Then, in a cold voice, he gave orders to the secretary.

“Summon all the top-ranking heroes.”

“Understood.”

“…except for the 2nd and 3rd places in the rankings.”

A huge experimental space spread out in front of them.

“Child of prophecy, Lumia. Call him too.”

Looking intently at the giant incubator in the center of the space, the chairman suddenly turned to his secretary and asked a question.

“By the way, how’s the contact with Trauma going?”

“We are trying to mobilize all our manpower.”

"Good, that's what we need to do."

After hearing those words, the chairman quietly nodded his head.

“That was the case with the child of prophecy a few days ago.”

“……..”

“He will definitely be our strong ally.”

As long as there was the child of prophecy, he believed that everything would be okay in an instant. 

Believing that fact he smiled contentedly.