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That old geezer head.

Association President Jeong Ho-min was, as usual, being a total boomer today.

Having to work under such a president… I pitied the association staff.

Even though they cursed out their boss, instead of glaring, they gave him double thumbs up.

You could feel just how deep Jeong Ho-min’s popularity had sunk without even asking.

On the contrary, only Jeong Ha-yul stood by him, saying he shouldn’t be treated like that.

Our Ha-yul is just too kind for her own good.

Jeong Ha-yul sat right next to the president, while I sat as far away as possible, next to the youngest staff member.

It was a strong statement: “I’m already annoyed to be dragged here, so don’t even think about involving me in the meeting.”

“Since these two are here, let’s briefly recap and start.”

“…I’ll brief you. The initial incident was the U.S. hiding a time-manipulating hero…”

The youngest staff member stood up and began the presentation.

The president clearly didn’t like the lengthy presentation, but thanks to our Demon King sitting right next to him, he couldn’t say a word.

He seemed a bit nervous, but he was doing well.

Even if he’s the youngest on the committee, he’s at least a team leader in some department.

If he couldn’t present properly, he wouldn’t have made it this far.

But regardless of how the association’s personnel are arranged…

I think I sat in the wrong spot.

Half the staff’s eyes were on the screen, and the other half were on the youngest staff member.

This way, I can’t even slack off.

I had no choice but to focus on the youngest staff member’s presentation.

The villain’s alias is Chronos.

His name is Alexander William Harris III, blah blah blah.

It’s too long to bother remembering.

Let’s just call him Chronos.

Chronos is a Titan god from Greek and Roman mythology.

He’s above the 12 Olympian gods and is the god of time.

As a kid, I loved reading the most scandalous magazine, Greek and Roman Mythology.

Since then, I’ve played various games and became quite knowledgeable about that mythology.

But…

‘First the Demon Realm, Immortal Realm, Monster Realm, and now the Heavenly Realm where myths come to life? Are we really going to have to deal with that?’

Can we even survive against the 12 Olympian gods?

‘…Maybe we can survive?’

Thinking about it, both the Demon Realm and Immortal Realm have myths come to life.

The Monster Realm has guys like Son Goku and the Demon King, so it’s the same.

I’ve pretty much conquered the Demon Realm.

The Immortal Realm… I defeated the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, who was smashing the Immortal Realm, so I guess I’ve conquered that too. Of course, I’m never going back.

I have no intention of going to the Monster Realm either.

The Great Sage Equal to Heaven and the Immortal Realm’s generals are busy beating up monsters, so it’s unlikely the Monster Realm will invade anywhere.

As long as the Cthulhu Realm doesn’t show up, we’re good.

Dealing with our gods is hard enough.

If foreign gods invade?

I’d rather drown myself in a pot of noodles that day.

“He’s currently crossing the sea… We just received information that he’s entered Japanese waters.”

“That’s fast. How is he moving? Last we heard, he was at an air force base. Did he steal a ship or a plane?”

“Well… It seems he’s running across the sea.”

Just as Jeong Ho-min was about to nod, someone else spoke up.

“…Ha, is that something the committee should be discussing? Even if he’s an S-Class hero, running across the sea from the U.S. to Korea? Does that even make sense?”

What kind of boomer is this?

An S-Class hero could totally do that.

They just choose not to.

This guy knows nothing but still talks down to others.

This is the worst.

There’s an even bigger boomer hiding here.

Well, if the upper echelons are clean, the lower ones will be too. It’s no surprise that a boomer like this exists under a boomer president.

“…I’m sorry.”

“Are you done with just ‘sorry’? This is the committee, not some random place. How can you confidently bring in wrong information?”

“…I’ll investigate again and report back.”

“Are we supposed to wait here until then? How nice and leisurely of our association.”

“…I’m sorry.”

Seeing the youngest staff member’s drooping eyes reminded me of my past self, and I felt sorry for him.

But neither Jeong Ho-min nor any other staff member stepped in to stop this boomer’s outburst.

The staff might be wary of Jeong Ho-min’s reaction, but why is Jeong Ho-min just sitting there? Ugh.

I don’t know why Jeong Ho-min keeps looking at me.

It’s not like I’ve been scolding him for being a boomer, making him too depressed to discipline his subordinates. That would be ridiculous.

Anyway, I decided to help.

“What’s the big deal? Running across the sea isn’t that hard.”

“…Hero Jeong Gyeoul?”

They probably never expected me to step in.

The eyes of the staff member who was berating the youngest sank.

Looking at the nameplate in front, his name is…

Kim Yong-sik, Department Head.

“Department Head Kim Yong-sik. Have you ever run across the sea?”

“…I’m not an Awakened One.”

“Then why are you so confident?”

“…Excuse me?”

“S-Class heroes don’t run because they can’t. They choose not to. You’re underestimating heroes.”

He must be pissed that a middle schooler who luckily got an Awakening spoon is challenging him.

But since even Jeong Ho-min can’t mess with me, he must be even more pissed.

I really hope he gets so angry that he lashes out.

This is definitely not me venting about being dragged here.

Really.

“Common sense says crossing such a long distance to the U.S…. It’s impossible…”

“Ah, so I’m not common sense? Ah, my sister could probably cross the sea too. So are you saying the Jeong sisters are not common sense? Is that what you’re trying to say?”

“…That’s not what I meant. I’m sorry. My mistake.”

Sweating profusely, his eyes rolled, and he finally apologized.

“You shouldn’t be apologizing to me.”

“…I’m sorry. Team Leader Han Yu-jin.”

“…It’s fine.”

It’s not entirely satisfying, but at least I stopped one boomer.

The youngest staff member gave me a look and continued the briefing.

“This is the closed-circuit footage from Groom Lake Air Force Base.”

A man in what looked like a patient’s outfit was smiling at the CCTV.

The military corpses around him…

‘…Old men?’

What kind of air force base is this, filled with old men?

They were even wearing military uniforms.

“According to the IHB’s data, Chronos can exploit time.”

“…Exploit? Like Life Drain?”

Some staff members, who must have played games in their youth, mentioned similar skill names.

“Similar. He’s a villain who uses time as his primary energy source. By exploiting time, he can manipulate other times to some extent.”

What kind of bizarre ability is that?

The ability to bend time within a specific range, making it flow faster or slower.

Using time, he can draw a sword and cut his opponent’s timeline.

Meaning their lifespan shortens.

I still don’t fully understand this.

If an arm is cut and its timeline collapses, shouldn’t the arm just necrotize?

Why does the whole body age?

He can also lock time.

Duplicate time.

Distort time.

All these abilities sound similar.

They’re abilities that are hard to activate without exploiting time.

With the time he stole from the air force base, he can probably use them freely for a while.

Instead of causing trouble in this small land, why not go to a densely populated area and live comfortably by exploiting time?

He could even go to Japan and make adult videos.

“What’s our countermeasure?”

“…Basically, our heroes have to stop him.”

“The military is useless, right?”

“Yes. Since he can stop time itself, even if we launch a missile, he could stop time and redirect it back at us.”

…So he can change the direction of an object’s force within stopped time?

I thought it was just stopping time, dodging, and restarting, like a typical time-stop.

I must have been influenced by Japanese media, having preconceptions about time abilities.

But.

With such a cheat-like ability, even I might struggle.

“Can we even win? No matter who attacks, he can stop time, exploit it, and cut with his sword. That’s it.”

“If you maintain enough magic power, you can resist the effects. Those with magic power beyond S-Class might not be affected.”

“…So it’s not certain?”

“…Yes. It’s not certain.”

Silence filled the meeting room.

Sending us based on uncertain information…

What if we just lose all our time and die?

It’s ambiguous whether to send us or not.

“Did the Prophet say anything?”

“No, she’s just attending the Academy as usual…”

If Serena isn’t reacting, it probably means there’s no major issue.

This is really…

A troublesome villain has appeared.

 

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