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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: All-Star Game
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They say that when a person experiences something truly shocking, their mind goes numb in an instant.
Right now, that was precisely the case for the A-rank villain, Monkey Wrench.
With all his years of experience, he had fought countless Awakened individuals.
While he had never encountered an S-rank Hero, he had certainly clashed with A-ranks more than a few times.
And escaping from them was, by his standards, quite manageable.
No matter how powerful the opponent, Monkey Wrench always operated with a large group. Taking them all down in one fell swoop was no easy feat, even for a Hero.
Especially since, with a few exceptions, Heroes only subdued villains rather than killing them, making it even easier to slip away.
In short, while Monkey Wrench had certainly faced defeat before,
he had never experienced anything like *this*.
Never.
His subordinates.
These were, in essence, his comrades—men who had traversed treacherous paths with him, sharing hardships and triumphs.
When he'd suggested going to Mexico, hadn't they all followed him without question?
Of course, they'd lost a fair number of men there, but precisely because of that, the ones who remained now were the absolute elite.
And *those* men,
now, in a single instant—
Monkey Wrench looked around him.
The hostages had been seated, his subordinates standing, guns leveled.
Now, no one stood.
What had just happened?
He'd lunged forward, intent on crushing that masked bastard.
The moment he lunged, the man wasn't there.
And somehow, impossibly, he was now seated in the very chair Monkey Wrench had occupied moments before.
Then, the man snapped his fingers, as if utterly bored.
In an instant—
The guns his subordinates had been holding flew through the air.
Before anyone could even register what was happening,
simultaneously—
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat.
Dozens of guns discharged at once.
Amidst the screams of the hostages,
blood splattered across the room.
Those who had been standing were no more.
Not a single one remained.
The sudden barrage of gunfire and the terrorists collapsing onto their side sent the hostages into a full-blown panic.
Monkey Wrench, staring blankly at the chaos that had erupted in mere moments, also—
succumbed to panic.
All those men,
vanished so meaninglessly?
All of them. Dead?
Was this… reality?
"Aaaahhhhhhh!!!"
Only the piercing screams of the hostages echoing through the room served to remind him that he was, indeed, in reality.
With vacant eyes, he stared blankly at the corpses of his subordinates, as if denying the reality before him.
He slowly, stiffly turned his neck to look behind him.
Perched atop a mountain of stacked chairs, the man sat.
Even with the mask obscuring his features, an unsettling aura emanated from him, somehow palpable.
The man who had just wiped out subordinates he'd shared years of hardships with, with a mere flick of his hand, was now idly picking his ear.
As if he'd merely swatted away a few annoying gnats.
A posture that suggested no effort had been expended, only a mild annoyance.
It was then that Monkey Wrench finally understood.
Ah, that bastard wasn't a Hero at all.
The casual way he'd extinguished lives, as if squashing insects.
He was a Villain. Just like Monkey Wrench himself.
And even with his mind reeling from shock, he managed to piece something together.
The ability that allowed him to instantly appear behind Monkey Wrench was Teleportation.
And the power that had manipulated his subordinates' guns to annihilate them was Psychokinesis.
There was only one known Villain in South Korea with both Teleportation and Psychokinesis.
The notorious Villain responsible for three major terror attacks.
Egostic. Yes, that was the bastard's name.
Frankly, Monkey Wrench had never paid much mind to Egostic.
He simply disliked that some clown with a ridiculous name kept causing a ruckus, stealing public attention just when Monkey Wrench was about to launch his own terror attacks.
He'd taken a slight interest when he learned the man was a rare dual-ability user.
But after hearing the Association's press release that Psychokinesis and Teleportation, as standalone abilities, were considered quite weak, he'd promptly dismissed him.
He'd heard rumors that the bastard had even killed three other Villains, but… what did that have to do with him? He certainly wasn't going to die to some weakling like that.
And now, it seemed, it very much *was* his business.
He felt a subtle tremor run through his body.
Damn the Association, that worthless, good-for-nothing Association! They wouldn't be worth the dirt on his shoes even if he boiled them alive!
How could *that* be considered weak Psychokinesis?
Controlling the objects of so many people, with such precision, all at once—and they called that *weak*?
And why in the hell was this bastard in Busan, of all places?
Then, a sudden thought flashed through his mind.
This bastard had been killing other Villains. Hunting them down, in fact.
For no apparent reason.
What if, by some twisted chance, *he* was the target now?
What if the bastard had been targeting him from the very beginning?
What if he'd known Monkey Wrench would stage his attack today?
A shiver of dread ran down his spine.
That bastard was hiding his true abilities.
He didn't know why he was wearing that ridiculous yellow mask instead of his usual one.
He was dangerous.
Who knew what else he might be hiding?
Monkey Wrench felt it instinctively.
This, perhaps, was the greatest crisis of his entire life.
Subordinates could be replaced, as long as he himself survived.
First, he needed to crush that bastard here, and survive.
As he rapidly racked his brain,
Egostic's voice, tinged with palpable disappointment, drifted down from above Monkey Wrench's gleaming head.
"Is this… all of it?"
The arrogant man's tone was utterly dismissive, as if profoundly bored.
Hearing those words, Monkey Wrench felt a single bead of sweat trickle down the back of his neck.
Egostic.
What in the world was that bastard thinking behind that mask?
***
Hmm.
I surveyed the carnage I had wrought.
The armed robbers, scattered among the chaos, lay sprawled in bloody heaps. The hostages shrieked.
Haha, what a mess.
Watching the hostages scream and tremble in a state of panic from the sudden turn of events, I managed a weak laugh behind my mask.
I could see sparkling silver hair in the distance. Seoeun, I presumed. Squinting, I saw she didn't seem particularly scared, just watching me from beside Ms. Soobin. Okay. That side was safe too.
Using the Psychokinesis I'd accumulated, I'd taken out all those numerous grunts in one go.
I mean, just lifting a gun and going 'bang!' was something even I, weak as I was, could easily do. How heavy could a gun possibly be, anyway?
Hmm… turns out they were pretty heavy.
And how many dozens of guns did I manipulate simultaneously? It felt like nearly a hundred. No, how *did* I do that?
I did it, but it was truly astonishing. Could I actually possess some hidden power I wasn't aware of? What if my abilities were evolving, like Stardus's?
What if *I* was the protagonist? Was a manga called [Egostick!] about to be released?
I'd like to say that, but I don't think so.
Because… I couldn't move a muscle right now.
Sitting in the chair, leisurely crossing my legs, and snapping my fingers—up until that point, everything was great.
It felt like I was some kind of transcendent being. Was this how Thanos felt after collecting all the Infinity Stones?
But the crucial part was what came after.
Getting all those men's guns to accurately fire 'bang!' all at once was fine and dandy,
but unlike other powerful ability users, my Psychokinesis was absolute garbage.
Doing just that one thing had drained every ounce of my strength.
...
Which was why, right now, I couldn't twitch a single finger.
No, this was a bit of a serious problem.
Honestly, I probably could move somewhat in a few tens of minutes, but this was a battlefield. Every single second determined the outcome of a fight.
What was I supposed to do if my body suddenly froze up for a few minutes?
I knew my ability was trash, but I hadn't realized it was *this* bad.
...
Seriously, snapping my fingers and wiping out the grunts was great, but the aftermath was the real issue.
How was I supposed to kill that Monkey Dance King, or whatever he was called?
To be honest, what had just happened was half-impulsive.
I mean, someone wakes me up and shoves a gun in my face—was I just supposed to sit there? I had to teach them a lesson.
I needed to make an example of them, so they wouldn't dare mess around again.
...But now, it looked like *I* was about to get messed up.
What now?
The good news was, that bastard seemed utterly terrified.
Yeah, if I were him, I'd probably be a little scared too, if some masked lunatic snapped his fingers and wiped out all my subordinates right in front of me.
That a mustachioed old man, twice my size and bald to boot, was cowering before me—it was truly a laughable situation.
...Wait a minute.
Maybe, just maybe, I could bluff my way out of this situation?
Only I knew I was completely drained of power; that bastard had no idea.
Which meant there was a chance to get through this with sheer bravado and deception.
Yes, I had a plan all along.
First, eliminate all the grunts who might cause unexpected trouble.
Then, maintain a standoff with that Monkey Wrench bastard and just hold out. Until when? Until another Hero arrived.
Honestly, I hadn't intended to get involved in this situation. What did that Monkey Wrench bastard have to do with Stardus? He'd never crossed paths with her, so I generally didn't care as long as he didn't impede her progress.
But he'd thrown the first punch, so I just had to teach him a lesson. I wasn't the type to just take it. If I got hit once, I had to hit back ten times.
In that sense, wiping out his subordinates in one go could be considered a rather 'spicy' taste of what I could do.
So now.
I'd hold out until my body recovered and the Heroes arrived, then bolt.
Since this was Busan, North Sea Ice Maiden would surely arrive soon. It was a shame Shadow Walker wouldn't be showing up, though.
"Is this… all of it?"
I opened my mouth and just blurted out something, anything. Time to go informal.
The key was bravado, intimidation, and exploiting the opponent's anxiety that there might be something more.
Yes, that Monkey Wrench bastard was agitated. I knew it.
Alright, time to unleash my Hellish Silver Tongue.
"Monkey Wrench, was it? I'll pose a question to you. Answer it, and I'll overlook your tediousness. You…"
Just as I was warming up my grand speech,
BOOM!
Suddenly, a resounding explosion ripped through the hotel's entrance.
What the hell?
"Hyaaaah!"
Then, with a tremendous battle cry, a woman with sky-blue hair burst in.
Wait, that was North Sea Ice Maiden! She got here incredibly fast, what was going on?
But then, abruptly and simultaneously, the lobby plunged into darkness.
Shadows suddenly enveloped the entire area, and something *surged* up from the floor.
That ominous black hair.
...No, goddammit, that was Shadow Walker! Wait, wasn't she supposed to be in a coma? Why was she here?
Then, from somewhere else, someone else suddenly *streaked* in.
Seriously, was this an All-Star game now? What the hell?
And from the newly exploded wall, a figure with flowing yellow hair soared in.
Stardus? No, why were *you* here too?
"Monkey Wrench!! Order your subordinates to drop their weapons and surrender immediately! You are surrounded!"
She appeared, her voice booming, seemingly out of nowhere.
And what she saw upon her dramatic entrance was this:
Monkey Wrench's subordinates, already fallen and lying in bloody heaps.
Monkey Wrench standing awkwardly, frozen in place.
And me, sitting cross-legged atop a tower of chairs, masked, looking down on everyone.
...No, what the hell. What kind of mess was this?