Finding the kidnappers was as easy for Lea and Maya as slaying a single zombie while wielding Excalibur.

This was a kidnapping case targeting superhumans.

Which meant the masterminds were naturally superhumans as well.

And given the scale of the operation, they estimated at least two or more perpetrators.

Naturally, superhumans in Seoul didn’t roam around in groups of two or three.

So the sight of no fewer than four superhumans huddled together was practically a billboard proclaiming, “We’re the kidnappers!”

“…….”

In a secluded alley somewhere in Seoul.

Four corpse-like lumps and one burly superhuman lay unconscious.

“We can leave the rest to Slave No. 1.”

“That would be cleaner.”

They had already instructed Yoon Changdae to head there in person.

The kidnapped superhumans were reportedly being held in a container at the Incheon docks.

The two were currently in northern Seoul, while Yoon Changdae was positioned in the west, making him geographically better suited to handle it.

If they claimed Yoon Changdae had dealt with the bodies here as well, no one would suspect Shin Jungho or Mirinae yet.

Lea and Maya now wished for Jungho to reveal his identity in earnest and command the world, but his prudence was more thorough than they had anticipated.

So for now, they intended to follow Jungho’s wishes and credit this achievement to Yoon Changdae.

Just as the two were about to return to Jungho’s studio apartment—

“……Looks like we’ve been spotted.”

“……Yes, they’re coming straight this way.”

They noticed a superhuman approaching them.

The two exchanged glances, then waited for the newcomer to arrive.

A short while later.

“My, my. What could possibly be going on here?”

From above.

Park Soyul slowly descended.

She had used her Ring of Levitation to carefully survey the area she was responsible for, and upon detecting an unfamiliar presence, she had come to cut off their escape route.

Though she maintained a calm exterior—

—she had to fight back goosebumps rising all over her body from the ominous aura emanating from the blonde woman and the purple-haired girl.

Behind the two women, she could see mangled lumps of flesh scattered about, barely recognizable as having once been human.

Her pupils dilated at the gruesome sight, but that was the full extent of her outward reaction.

Compared to Yoon Changdae, who had vomited on the spot, she certainly had nerves of steel.

“So…… aren’t you going to introduce yourselves?”

Park Soyul asked, feigning composure.

Inwardly, she was looking for an opening to unleash every skill and item at her disposal to escape this crisis.

But…….

Was escape even possible?

As Park Soyul was thinking this—

“Good instincts.”

The blonde woman said.

The confirmation of her thoughts inexplicably stirred a sense of defiance in her.

Hah, fine.

You only die once, right?

“By any chance…… Mirinae?”

A meaningful reaction emerged from both women.

Which one of them was Mirinae.

She felt that if she dug deeper, she could figure it out for certain.

Unfortunately, that opportunity never came.

The purple-haired girl extended her hand.

Kwagwagwagwang!

An unexpected blade wind swept through, forcing her to hastily deploy a defensive skill.

And in that brief moment when her attention was diverted—

Puk!

—the blonde woman, who had somehow moved behind her, landed a single blow.

“Ghk……!”

As her consciousness faded, the blonde woman’s voice pierced through to her mind.

“Remember this…… the price of curiosity…… is your life…….”

That’s expensive…….

Our dear Mirinae…….

Teolssak.

* * *

Iron Heart had saved the Seoul Tower once again!

Last time, he had turned the tables on the Russian assassins and saved Seoul’s rankers.

This time, he had rescued the kidnapped superhumans and was suddenly being hailed as a hero.

Of course, he had no such intentions whatsoever—it was entirely the result of being forced into it!

‘Me…… the hero of Seoul?’

Yoon Changdae felt momentarily dizzy as he watched the media and superhuman communities spin the narrative.

He had merely done what he was told in silence—how on earth had things come to this?!

He found people’s attention nothing but a nuisance!

└ So Aha was Seoul’s hidden hero all along damn. Caught the kidnappers this time, dealt with the assassins last time, absolutely insane?

└ Go further back and he also snatched the 60th floor special privilege from Soma

└ He just barely shows his face like some stealth superhuman, but turns out he’s the true patriot representing Seoul’s superhumans

└ But his hands are pretty heavy damn. Heard he turned the assassins into rags last time, and this time he sculpted four gruesome horrors damn. Everyone who saw them threw up without exception, apparently?

└ I was near the agency building at the time and saw it by chance…… urgh! Just thinking about it makes me want to throw up;;; First time I realized a human body could be transformed like that damn

└ Heard that’s impossible without Sapae?

└ Whatever it is, best not to make eye contact with Aha damn. Nobody knows what kind of beast is hiding inside that huge frame damn

└ Someone posted those corpse photos online and civilians have seen them too damn. Everyone was horrified—no, they literally fainted, apparently?

└ The greatest corpse artist of our era?

└ Not a joke damn. If he’d done that to corpses, at least it’d be understandable. But he did that to living people, so that’s not something a normal mind could do

……I didn’t do it!

I said I didn’t do it!

His fingers trembled with the urge to protest, but there was nothing he could do.

– Stand by until further instructions.

Because that was the exact order he’d been given!

All he had done was receive the location of the kidnapped superhumans, take out two civilians standing guard, and rescue the abducted superhumans. That was it.

He couldn’t use skills outside the Tower’s domain, but his physical abilities already exceeded the realm of ordinary humans, so dealing with two adult men simultaneously was trivial.

After that, he reported the incident and the case was resolved.

He had thought that would be the end of it and he could return to his peaceful routine.

– Hello? This is Lee Hyunwoo, a reporter from Fact Press. Mr. Yoon Changdae, Iron Heart sir, could we get a brief interview regarding the recent superhuman kidnapping case……?

“I refuse.”

The endless stream of interview requests was the first thing to annoy him.

He could simply turn off his phone if he didn’t want to deal with it.

But he had to respond to any communication from Lea within one second, anytime, anywhere!

……So he couldn’t do that.

Every time his phone buzzed, his heart would sink, wondering if it was a message from Lea!

Moreover, at the superhuman-only gym he occasionally visited to maintain his tanker facade, everyone seemed unable to meet his eyes for some reason.

All he had to do was sweep his gaze around the room.

Puk! Pubububuk!

Everyone caught in his line of sight would lower their heads, refusing to show even their faces, let alone make eye contact.

As if they believed he could kill with a glance alone.

Furthermore, less than five minutes after he started his workout—

Slowly, inch by inch.

Hudadak!

Every single member vanished in an instant.

“……A man who enjoys solitude, huh…….”

He had no memory of swallowing a blue pill, that was for sure.

It felt as though the world around him had completely turned upside down at some point.

On his way back after a light workout.

He encountered a young boy and his mother in the elevator.

“P-Please be grateful!”

……What country’s greeting etiquette was this?

The mother hugged her child tightly and pressed herself flat against the corner of the cramped elevator.

The boy, curious, made eye contact with Changdae, who flashed his usual grin and slipped his hand into his jacket.

Ding—

At that moment, the doors opened, and the boy’s mother caught sight of Changdae’s appearance and recoiled in terror.

“S-Sorry!”

Then, summoning strength from who knows where, she scooped up the boy and bolted.

When the elevator reached the first floor, all that remained in Changdae’s hand was—

—a single lollipop, the kind children loved.

Tak.

The elevator doors closed.

* * *

Once again, action had preceded reporting.

Still, things had worked out reasonably well.

First, all the information obtained from the kidnappers had been passed on to Yoon Changdae.

And Yoon Changdae had reported everything to the Superhuman Management Agency.

The kidnappers who could have served as witnesses were all dead, and the captured guards were all low-level grunts, so there was no solid evidence.

But revealing Lea and Maya’s identities was out of the question, so leaving the kidnappers alive was never an option he was willing to compromise on.

The two Shanghai superhumans who had crossed into Seoul were cleared of all charges.

Liu Xiaolong had no involvement whatsoever.

They had obtained information that Jin Taiyang had provided assistance, but since the information exchange had been conducted through surveillance agents acting as secretaries rather than direct contact, it was difficult to find a definitive link.

So despite the Superhuman Management Agency conducting an intensive investigation, they couldn’t uncover anything substantial.

And how did China, who had orchestrated this whole affair in secret, respond?

– Our great nation would never do such a thing. Isn’t this simply a fabricated story by Korea to slander China?

Naturally, just as Russia had done.

They too shamelessly played dumb.

After all, having committed misdeeds in secret, there was nothing more foolish than admitting to them.

So once again, it was Seoul’s superhumans who were left seething with indignation.

└ Russia and now China too? How little do these bastards value Korea?

└ Shouldn’t the government step up and say something about this?

└ Sigh, what’s the point? The law is way across the Pacific, and their fists are right across the Yellow Sea. Korea gains nothing from starting a war with China and Russia

└ This. If war breaks out, it’ll just be Japan and the US reaping the benefits like during the Korean War

└ Ah…… the sorrow of a small nation;_;

└ Since when did Korea become everyone’s punching bag;;;

└ They’ve been bringing in foreign powers to unify since the Three Kingdoms era lol

└ Still, if we just protect the Seoul Tower properly, that’s our revenge. They pulled all that crap to collapse the Seoul Tower!

└ If anything, we need to climb higher and breathe some upper-floor air out of sheer spite!

└ Kaaak! Ptooey! Filthy bastards! May both the Moscow and Shanghai Towers crumble to dust!

└ I’d feel so satisfied if Lee Seoah smashed another national treasure-grade weapon from China this time

└ lololol Can’t we send Webseoah on a business trip to Shanghai and have her wreck all their weapons? lol

Jungho’s sentiments weren’t much different from theirs.

Of course, he acknowledged that there were likely innocent superhumans within Moscow and Shanghai as well.

But Russia and China were nations where freedom wasn’t guaranteed, and in such countries, wouldn’t the lives of decent superhumans only be more miserable?

Well.

That was another country’s problem, anyway.

Still, it was a relief that the situation had been resolved without major damage as soon as it arose.

The kidnapped superhumans bore signs of beating, but their lives weren’t in danger.

Thanks to him, Yoon Changdae was now receiving unexpected hero treatment.

Not that Jungho was particularly envious of him.

He had never intended to draw attention even if he became a ranker.

Was Changdae enjoying his current situation?

Even though he hadn’t done anything for him lately, gaining people’s admiration in this way must feel nice, right?

He hoped Changdae would stop worrying about him and enjoy the hero treatment to his heart’s content.

└ By the way, wasn’t Mirinae among the kidnapped?

└ I’m curious too. Maybe that’s why he hasn’t been climbing?

└ No way. Would Mirinae really get kidnapped that easily?

└ Nah, you never know. Even you become a regular civilian once you step outside the Tower’s radius, no matter how skilled you are

└ Aha seemed like a superhuman even outside;;;

└ Hey, don’t talk about that person so casually

Somehow, the discussion had evolved to the point where Mirinae was being listed among the kidnapped superhumans.

Hmm…….

It was probably time to start climbing again, right?

The noisy incident had been resolved.

The Grace of Evasion had less than fifty days remaining.

So how about starting a climb after his shift today?

With that in mind, Jungho spent his time alone at the Prestige War Cafe.

With only three members so far, killing time alone like a watchdog guarding an empty house had become his daily routine.

……Was this really okay?

Just as he thought he’d wrap up another day without a single customer—

Ding—

The elevator doors opened, revealing the first member.

Or rather, the cafe owner herself, Park Soyul, made her appearance.

“Jungho! Big news! Big news!”

Why was she suddenly so hyped up?

He’d heard she’d had a rough encounter with Lea and Maya.

Jungho knew the details but showed no outward sign of it as he asked.

“What’s going on?”

Park Soyul rushed over to him in one breath, thrust her face forward, and said:

“Me! I think I saw Mirinae! I was even threatened by Mirinae, you know?”

……Was it really okay to say that with such a happy smile?