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Peacefully taking down villains suits my nature…

Suddenly, a monster outbreak occurred.

After receiving an urgent call from the Association, I stepped outside and saw heroes evacuating citizens.

At least the citizens’ safety didn’t seem to be an issue.

‘This isn’t a wave, what’s going on?’

Infinite Cheongdam, being an expensive area, had ultra-strong walls that even monsters couldn’t breach, so there wasn’t much damage… but other places were a problem.

Right now, a monster was about to crash into the pork belly restaurant I went to with Gyeoul.

That place holds memories with Gyeoul and me… I can’t let it be destroyed.

“Oppa, give me your strength.”

“Huh? Ugh!”

I held Kang-woo oppa under my arm, channeled magic power into my legs, and ran—no, flew would be more accurate.

He flailed like a freshly caught fish, but that wasn’t important.

“Wait, wait! You can put me down! Aaaah!”

Before I could finish speaking, I landed lightly in front of the monster and gently let the passenger off.

“How was the ride?”

“Ugh! Ugh!”

I brought him along because I thought he’d become monster food if left alone, but he repaid my kindness with dry heaving.

‘Sigh.’

What use is a man who’s so weak?

He’s dry heaving after just running 300 meters.

Who would even take someone like that? The bride would be so pitiful.

I often think about how pitiful Eun-chae unnie’s future husband would be… Maybe I should just marry her off to Eun-chae unnie? That might not be so bad.

“…Wanna grab me and set the mood?”

“Greeeek?”

“Ah, sorry, I should grab you first.”

A strange monster that looks like a monkey but makes pig noises.

It’s a species I’ve never seen before.

The scientific name should be Pig Monkey.

“Greeeeek!”

The armored monkey started spinning a club above its head while making pig noises.

This is a groundbreaking discovery for the monster academia.

A common species that uses tools.

I think there’s a decent reward for reporting undiscovered species.

Would they give more if I caught it myself?

Suddenly, I started feeling a sense of self-loathing.

An S-Class hero giggling over reward money.

I’m not usually like this…

But lately, I’ve been obsessed with money.

I doubled my workload, and it’s killing me.

‘I still have a bit over 10 billion left…’

I don’t even know how many days I got scolded after gifting Gyeoul a 200 billion won glove.

Is it really that stingy to give a kid a gift?

If only I hadn’t said I’d refill the 200 billion myself…

Refilling 200 billion was a self-inflicted disaster.

It was utterly exhausting.

Back when disasters were as common as meals, it might have been different, but in these peaceful times, refilling 200 billion is tough even for me.

But I didn’t want to do commercials.

‘Too cringy.’

Still… I think I can make a lot of money today.

Ah, of course. Saving citizens is the main goal.

The money is just a bonus.

Really.

“Greeeeek!”

How many seconds have passed?

The Pig Monkey started charging at me without even waiting for me to finish my thoughts.

Thud thud.

Since I came out without warming up, my body isn’t fully loosened yet.

I can’t stretch in front of this guy, so I just loosened my waist.

“Get ready.”

I threw a spinning punch matching the monkey’s speed.

“Shoot!”

Boom!

“Greeeeek!”

The armor shattered, and the Pig Monkey was instantly naked.

I didn’t hit it that hard…

Does sexual harassment apply to monsters too?

This is… awkward.

“Uh… sorry, I didn’t mean to… Hey! Where are you going!”

The monkey, hearing my apology, got up and ran.

The problem is, it’s running in the opposite direction.

“Oppa, snap out of it, it’s running away naked, we need to arrest it for public indecency.”

“…I’ll stay. I’d rather fight monsters.”

“What nonsense.”

I started running with the passenger who refused to ride, tucked under my arm.

“Greeeek!”

Come to think of it, the sound is similar to the Pig Monkey’s.

I’ll call him Pig Baek Kang-woo for now.

‘By the way, what kind of monster runs away after one hit?’

Still, it’s a monster.

No way it can outrun me.

Ten seconds is enough to catch the perverted monkey.

Boom!

I knocked it out with a hit to the back of its head.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

I smashed its head a few times into the ground.

If it were any other monster, I’d just kill it, but this one seems valuable for experiments, so I decided to spare it.

“I’ll come get you when I’m done.”

“Greeeeek!”

Yeah, yeah, unnie will take care of herself. You better not get stepped on by a passing monster and die.

While saying tearful goodbyes to the perverted monkey, Kang-woo oppa rudely interrupted.

“Please, let’s take the car. I’ll drive, I’ll drive, that’s what a manager does.”

“Fine, judging by the looks of it, we’ll be running around all day, so it’s better to move by car.”

If it were just me, I’d prefer to go on foot, but the problem is dragging around a weak man.

I thought about leaving him at home, but communication with the Association is easier with Kang-woo oppa around.

The staff stutters every time they talk to me, making it hard to understand.

Reluctantly, we decided to take the car and returned to Infinite Cheongdam.

On the way, I took down four more monsters as a bonus.

“Wow, all new species? Today must be the day I make 10 billion.”

How many times can I get the first reporter’s reward?

It feels like it’s going to be an exciting day.

“Just catching monsters should get me 10 billion, right? Even during monster waves, it wasn’t this much.”

“Really? Well… we might need to rescue citizens too, so let’s take a sturdy car. How about a Hummer?”

“Fine, let’s take Leon.”

I bought a rugged-looking Hummer because it’s supposedly a man’s dream car, but he gave it a weird name and personified it.

Sometimes, when he acts like this, I feel sorry for his future bride…

But Eun-chae unnie also acts weird sometimes, so I think I should somehow get them together.

Just as I was envisioning the perfect future, an overwhelmingly large car stopped in front of me.

I jumped onto the roof and knocked on the car.

“Let’s go! Leon!”

***

“Thank you!”

“Um… can you take a photo with me…?”

“You want to do that in this situation? We’re busy rescuing others.”

Bringing Kang-woo oppa was the right decision.

Cold-blooded and ruthless Kang-woo oppa cuts off photo requests like a knife.

I’m too kind by nature, so it’s hard for me to refuse such requests.

…Anyway.

I’ve already caught 42 monsters and rescued 5 citizens.

Those 5 weren’t in critical condition either.

Emergency response has definitely improved compared to before.

The new Association head, the new bald guy, is doing a great job, huh?

I wish he had done this well when I was in charge.

Putting aside my regrets, I climbed onto Leon’s roof.

Tap! Tap!

“Let’s go! Leon!”

“Hey, stop hitting it! You’ll dent the car!”

You’re worried about the car in this situation? I’m out here covered in monster blood and guts!

Out of spite, I hit it two more times, and oppa got out of the car.

He looked really serious.

What a petty man, and I bought this car for him.

But just as I was about to apologize…

“…Jeong Ha-yul! Go to the Academy now!”

“What?”

Suddenly, he must have thought of Gyeoul.

I hadn’t forgotten about Gyeoul either, but in this situation, the Academy and the Association are the safest places.

And our Gyeoul isn’t weak enough to be taken down by these weak monsters…

“Check your phone on the way! Run to the Academy now! Gyeoul is in danger!”

Kang-woo’s expression was still serious.

This is no joke.

“What is it, what’s going on!”

“An emergency signal went off, check your phone for details. Run!”

“…What about you?”

I wanted to run to the Academy immediately.

But I can’t just abandon Kang-woo to save Gyeoul.

“I have Leon, it’s not my first time, I’ll be fine. Go home and wait, you go save Gyeoul.”

Oppa’s driving is top-notch. And since we took down all the monsters on the way here, it shouldn’t be a big problem, but still…

“Stop thinking and just go!”

“…Don’t go home, go to the shelter. There’s a shelter we passed on the way, right? That’s Daehyun’s, Park Seol-hwa would definitely have heroes stationed there. Go there.”

As soon as I finished speaking, I channeled all my magic power into my legs.

I didn’t even wait for Kang-woo’s response.

The moment the magic power flowed, I kicked off the ground and ran.

‘Gyeoul…’

Since childhood, Gyeoul has been involved in so many close calls that I gave her an emergency signal watch.

Gyeoul has always been fiercely independent.

She’s not the type to ask for help over trivial matters.

Even when she was taken hostage, she told me not to worry about her and just take down the villain.

She always showed a bright face during training, even when her bones were broken and she was bleeding, just so I wouldn’t worry.

That Gyeoul was crying out for help, begging to be saved.

I prayed and prayed to arrive before it was too late.

But since we had moved to the opposite side, the distance was farther than I thought.

Even running at full speed with all my magic power, it wasn’t enough.

At this speed, it would take about 15 minutes.

In an emergency, that’s too late.

I kept running towards the Academy, redirecting my magic power.

362 circuits that I had forcibly stopped.

‘Open them.’

As far as we know, no one has ever opened all 365 circuits.

I thought maybe Helena unnie had done it, but that’s just speculation.

The word “first” always carries risks.

I might transcend humanity.

Maybe opening all 365 circuits turns a person into a demon.

That fear kept me from opening them, but…

‘I’ll do anything to save Gyeoul.’

363.

364.

Finally, I opened all 365.

Since everything was already prepared, there was no pain.

Maybe I was too tense to feel it.

I didn’t have time to check my body’s condition.

I just ran towards the Academy at a much faster speed.

‘Wait for me, Gyeoul.’

 

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