“So you’re telling me someone tried to ruin me socially?”
“Can’t say for certain, but that’s probably it. I’d say one hundred percent.”
Honestly, I couldn’t argue with that either.
If a civil servant, of all people, was accused of sexual assault? It wouldn’t just end with extreme pressure at work.
Reporters would jump on it like a pack of wolves, and it would make massive headlines. I even heard they planned to spin it into something beyond harassment—actual sexual violence.
That’s nothing like a simple drunk driving. It wouldn’t just end my civil-servant career. It would end my entire life. They were trying to destroy me behind the scenes, plain and simple.
“What a strange big brother you are. Why do you attract all these weirdoes? Are you releasing some kind of protagonist pheromone?”
The real protagonist is Lee Hyeonwoo, not me. It’s so unfair. Why can’t Elders chase after him? Why can’t you go find him too?
My skin felt prickly. Hyeon Sujin was one thing, but Irina was even more terrifying. At least she wasn’t a Villain. If she were, the world would probably…
It would have turned into a place overflowing with mint-chocolate.
Her vibe was so unpredictable, and her love of mint-chocolate was brutal. The Villains really nailed it with their nickname for her.
“Handsome oppa, do you have any idea who might be holding a grudge? It seems like you might have more enemies than you think.”
“I’m not sure. There might be people I hold a grudge against, but I can’t think of anyone who’d hold a grudge against me...”
Turns out I do have someone. Thinking back on recent events, there’s a good candidate.
Someone who would totally stoop to that kind of plan. And someone who had the backing to pull it off, so it’s not just a wild guess.
“From the look on your face, I guess you’ve got someone in mind, huh?”
“Yes, apparently so.”
“Who is it? And why are they doing it?”
“Well, just recently, I demoted a student at the Academy from Gold to Bronze.”
“Ehh? A, aha! Pwahahahaha!! Ahahahahah!!”
Irina suddenly burst out laughing and clutched her stomach.
Her laugh was so loud for someone who claimed to be a bombshell. She sounded like she had lost it, cackling like a lunatic.
“Ahaha! Oh man, that’s so hilarious!! Hyehehe! Demoted to Bronze! Bronze, of all things! Hahahah!!”
It felt strange hearing her say “so hilarious” so naturally in Korean, even though I knew she was basically Korean on the inside. Yet it sounded so fitting in its own way.
“Wha—! Ahaha! How on earth did that happen? Hahaha! Gold straight down to Bronze?”
“He was acting so cocky that I fought him in a spar, with a condition. If he won, I’d do whatever he wanted, but if he lost, he would be demoted from Gold to Bronze.”
Irina looked like she was about to roll on the ground, howling. She laughed so loudly that passersby glanced over to see what was going on.
Before long, a small crowd began to form, since Irina hadn’t bothered with any disguise. She even wore the uniform reserved for S-rank Superhumans. Not recognizing her at this point meant you weren’t a citizen here at all.
“Irina, people are gathering.”
“Oh, the price of fame. What can you do?”
I wondered if she also had some sort of Chuunibyou condition. While I thought about it, she started telling people to snap pictures and even struck a pose.
“Anyway, hearing that makes sense. Wow, from Gold down to Bronze. If it happened to me, I’d want to kill you too.”
“Is it really that bad?”
“I graduated from the Academy myself, even if I did so way too quickly. Usually, you never see someone get knocked down a rank unless it’s by their own choice. It wasn’t even Gold to Silver, it was Gold to Bronze. Who wouldn’t feel murderous?”
Suddenly, a car pulled up, slamming its brakes. Someone jumped out, running toward us in a hurry.
“Irina! You have to head to the Association right now! We don’t have time for this!”
“Don’t nag me. I’ll go when I’m ready. Keep pushing, and maybe I won’t go at all.”
“B-but then the Association President will kill me!”
“That’s not so bad. At least you wouldn’t die by my hands.”
What on earth was going on? She could switch from a seasoned superhuman, to an edgy teen, then back to an unapproachable top-level powerhouse in the blink of an eye.
“Handsome oppa, I’m basically being dragged off to the Association now.”
“I told you, I had a ‘chat’ with those guys yesterday. I guess I was too intense with them, because they ended up really messed up. Now our Association President is furious.”
By “messed up,” she likely meant half-dead. I could guess why the President was upset.
They were nasty, but not quite Villains, so there was no clear justification for a superhuman to step in. Not only did she interfere, but she turned them into a pile of pulp, which must have caused trouble.
“So I decided to wear this uniform for once. I find it old-fashioned, so I never wear it. But I’m on my way to be scolded, so I thought I might as well. How does it look on me?”
Irina’s black uniform was only given to S-rank Superhumans. It might appear simple, but the material was anything but. It was crafted from top-tier monster parts.
I heard it could fend off ordinary weapons or spells without trouble. Which meant an already powerful S-rank Superhuman became even stronger wearing it. Producing such uniforms in bulk to distribute would have been great, but the cost was absurdly high.
I heard one set cost almost as much as the Academy’s entire annual budget. The Academy was no stranger to lavish spending, but that uniform was on another level.
That was proof of how vital and precious S-rank Superhumans were.
Irina, however, saw it as embarrassing, bulky, and uncomfortable. She treated it like a dull black outfit.
“Irina, please, I’m begging you! Only twenty minutes left!”
“Ugh, you realize if I run, it’ll take me five minutes? Quit nagging me! Can’t you see I’m talking with this guy?!”
Maybe I should slip away. The crowd was growing by the second. Soon I’d make headlines not as a sex offender, but as “the civil servant with Irina.”
I felt something odd, like the ground trembled for an instant, too brief to be sure.
“What was that? You felt it too? Knew you weren’t ordinary. Are you hiding something?”
She said that right before whipping off her uniform and tossing it to her aide.
“Wear that and run. Even if something happens, you won’t die.”
Cars that had been driving without trouble stalled, the streetlights and screens went dark, and a ghastly sound rumbled as the world lurched.
I recognized it from the moment I got pulled into this world.
“W-what? A Gate?! But we have a suppressor here!”
“Aren’t you running? If you get swept up, I’m not responsible.”
Hearing that, her aide threw on the uniform and bolted. That was the right move. A non-superhuman couldn’t do a thing about a Gate or the monsters spilling out.
Some might ask why we don’t just use guns or missiles, but if it wasn’t an ability-based attack, it was useless.
That was why “superhuman” was the best job in the world, which in turn let stronger superhumans look down on the weaker ones.
I thought there was still a year to go. Why did we have Gate signs already? I tried to recall if the novel mentioned anything , but nothing came to mind. Maybe the story omitted it because the focus was on the Academy.
Cities had Gate Suppressors installed, that much was obvious.
Their range might be limited, but the effect was certain, as research proved they reduced Gate formation probability to under three percent.
It meant Gates almost never showed up in crowded areas.
“Irina. Has anything happened before?”
“Nope, first time for me. Maybe there’s a power failure at the suppressor?”
That was definitely possible. The suppressor devoured enormous amounts of electricity. Villains kept it high on their list of targets, though they usually didn’t dare risk it.
They’d get torn to shreds by the monsters themselves.
While we spoke, a pitch-black void opened not far away.
That huge maw was a Gate. Its appearance turned the whole world upside down. It was like the descent of hell for humanity, or a turning point to a new age.
“How many times do I have to say, I’m Baek Seojin?”
“What’s wrong with that nickname? Most men love it. Are you secretly a woman?”
I really might keel over if we talked any longer.
“Anyway, Seojin. Looks like it’s not just one Gate. That big one seems interesting, and the smaller one looks like an easy appetizer. How about this? I’ll handle the big one, and you take the other.”
“Yeah. You’re a superhuman, aren’t you? Step up.”
“Hold on. I’m not field-certified, and I don’t even know the Gate’s rank!”
Rank exists for a reason among superhumans. Each one fights the matching Gate and monsters.
If you’re D-rank, you take on D-rank Gates. If you’re A-rank, you fight A-rank Gates. That’s why rank supremacy thrives. Nobody can say much against it.
“Relax, I’m sure you’ll do fine. You look like you’ve got it in you!”
“What are you even talking about?! That makes zero sense!”
Irina didn’t listen. She shot into the sky.
“Did she just stomp once and tear the ground up?”
Was she even the same species as me?
Meanwhile, the Gate Irina had called an “easy appetizer” fully revealed itself, and monsters were about to spill out any second.
I wondered if maybe I could actually pull this off. I felt a sliver of hope and tried activating The Third Eye, thinking it might help somehow.
Not a single trait showed up. Great, I was doomed.
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