Chapter 12 - Teleportation

A mansion as vast as a painting.

With its white exterior and modern, refined elegance, this imposing place exuded grandeur. As if refusing entry to the common folk, this neighborhood was reserved exclusively for the wealthy.

...And somewhere near here, I was hiding.

My current target was an A-Rank Villain named Teleporter.

His main specialty was instant teleportation.

Unlike my flawed teleportation ability, his was far superior. In other words, he was a true 'instant teleportation' ability user with no side effects after moving. Though it seemed he had some distance limitations.

In a way, this could be considered a cheat ability. No, it was definitely a cheat ability. But whether this Teleporter guy was cowardly or just stupid, he was using this level of power merely to rob banks.

Yeah, at least for now.

If I had to place the current period of my activity in terms of the original comic, it would be around Issue 5? The very beginning. Just five issues out of a comic that ran for hundreds.

Actually, that was fortunate. If I'd been transported into the middle or late stages of the original, it would already be a complete disaster. The author couldn't balance the power scaling, so the villains who started out pathetic disappeared, replaced by ones capable of bringing about world destruction.

In the first place, our Seo-eun, who appeared as the final villain in the Great Depression episode of Part 3, only ended up that way because she tried to conquer just Korea—if she'd wanted to, she could have brought down the world's information and communication networks.

This Teleporter. He was a truly persistent bastard too. Early on, he ended up fighting Stardus. After Stardus somehow managed to knock out the careless guy, she sent him to prison soaked in anesthetic. Since he'd teleport away the moment he regained consciousness.

This guy, caught as a petty criminal in the early stages, made a spectacular comeback in the 'Great Escape' episode where all the villains broke out. He rose to become the enemy who tormented Stardus the most.

Originally a villain who lived by extorting money and pursuing small happiness among villains, but after being imprisoned for years, soaked in anesthetic by Stardus, and then escaping...

He lived solely with the obsession of taking revenge on Stardus, the one who locked him up. The kid went dark.

Instant teleportation in the first place—what a perfect ability for hitting and running cheap shots. In later episodes, whenever something happened, he'd suddenly pop out, land a hit and run, hit and run...

If [Stardus!] had been a webtoon, there would've been hordes of people complaining about sweet potatoes and demanding they kill him off quickly. Since it was published as a comic book, I couldn't check real-time reactions, but there must have been many readers fuming as they read.

And naturally, I was one of them.

So this bastard needed to be killed while I still could.

Back in front of the mansion.

Having parked my car nearby and waiting, I contacted Seo-eun through the earphone plugged into my earpiece.

Normally I wouldn't need to bother Seo-eun and could handle it alone just fine, but this guy was particularly tricky.

"Seo-eun, should I head in now?"

[What, you still haven't gone in? Hurry up and go in.]

"Wait, is it really okay to just teleport straight into the living room? What if he's in the living room!"

[Haa. I've told you multiple times. Then just throw the tracking device while simultaneously shooting the gun. He'll probably teleport to dodge the gun, but just in case. Even so, the tracking device uses spider web technology so it's faster than a bullet—it'll definitely stick.]

"What kind of tracking device uses spider webs to be faster than a bullet... I don't understand."

[The bullet was made in a factory, and the tracking device was made by me personally, so of course mine is faster. The thread-shooting hole attached to the tracking device has less physical resistance... But anyway, you're a humanities major so you won't understand even if I explain, right? It's better if you just don't question it...]

"Hey... even humanities majors understand most things. Probably. Anyway, I still don't get it. In spy movies and stuff, don't you just naturally bump into someone on the street and go 'oh?' and that's it?"

[...In the first place, that guy uses teleportation so he doesn't walk the streets, and if you get caught on CCTV doing that, it'll be more troublesome, so do it this way. This is the most accurate method. I investigated his daily routine and movement patterns to plan this. This guy almost always leaves his house by teleportation and where he'll move is unpredictable, so right now, eliminating him this way is correct.]

"But still... there's got to be a better way to attach a tracking device than..."

[There are many more reasons I haven't told you besides what I've mentioned, so please do it this way. Haa.]

At Seo-eun's words, spoken as if I were pathetic, I deflated. This disrespectful... I'm almost ten years older than you, you brat...

"......Fine. Got it...."

When I spoke in a noticeably deflated tone, I could sense Seo-eun getting slightly flustered.

[Ah, Oppa. What's wrong. Don't suddenly get all gloomy. We already had a similar conversation once, and now you're doing it again...]

Mid-sentence, I heard murmuring sounds from her side and Seo-eun's words cut off. It seemed Subin said something to her from the side.

After hearing sounds of "yes... yes...," Seo-eun spoke to me again.

[...I'm sorry. So stop stalling and go in now, Oppa! There's no time to waste.]

"Yeah, got it."

I wanted to tell her to pick one way to address me since she kept switching between 'hyung' and 'oppa,' but it didn't seem like the right timing, so I just held back.

...And because if I told her to pick one, she'd probably keep calling me 'hyung.' Judging from the circumstances she showed me the day we first met, she seemed to have a slight fear of men, so she deliberately called herself male and called me 'hyung' too. Did it have something to do with all the researchers in the lab being men?

Still, I was glad she'd improved somewhat after living together for a few months. She was probably opening up a bit after realizing I was harmless. No, even without knowing the original work, she was obviously female at a glance... She seemed to think having short hair made her look like a man. That was kind of cute.

Actually, the best approach would be to sneak in at night and assassinate him, but that wouldn't work because of that guy.

Because of 'Shadow Walker,' one of the few A-Rank Heroes in South Korea alongside Stardus.

Because of his ability, if you tried anything at night, you'd get caught immediately.

Almost all terrorism in Korea happening during the day was because of this bastard.

Evil guy. If it weren't for him, I could really easily and conveniently dispose of villains one by one. But it pricked my conscience to just eliminate him since he was a hero. And if I actually removed him, the problems would only grow bigger, so I just operated during the day.

Hmm, now that I was about to take action, all sorts of stray thoughts were coming to mind. Kind of like how random thoughts would pop up whenever I sat at my desk during school days?

I adjusted the mask covering half my face.

Right, now was the time to act.

[You didn't forget the plan, right?]

"Yeah."

From somewhere nearby, teleport to his living room.

If he's not in the living room, quietly search and secretly assassinate.

If I get caught? Even so, I'll have planted the tracking device, so I can go with Plan B.

"Starting now."

I took a deep breath and prepared to teleport.

It was time for assassination.

***

I teleported into Teleporter's living room.

The moment I teleported, what I saw was...

That bastard's face..?

"Ah, shit."

"Hyeok!"

[Hyung, shoot!]

As we both startled each other, I immediately fired the gun with my right hand while throwing the tracking device with my left.

- Bang!

After firing the gun, the guy was already out of my line of sight.

I wasn't sure if the bullet hit.

Ah damn, why was he in the living room causing a fuss. He ran away immediately.

Now that it had come to this, Plan B it was.

"Seo-eun! Did the tracking device attach?"

[Yes! Subin Unnie, call out the location!]

[Okay! Right now... 500 meters to the east!]

[You heard that, right? Hyung, hurry!]

"Wait, hey, if I keep teleporting like this, the aftereffects will..."

[Hurry!]

"Fine, fine."

I teleported quickly.

***

I moved roughly 500 meters forward.

Wait, this is downtown?

"Kyaaah!"

"Wh-what?"

Having suddenly teleported into a crowded area, I found myself flustered.

No way, this is a busy shopping district...?

People looked startled as someone dressed head-to-toe in a black robe and mask suddenly appeared out of thin air.

"Uh, who's that person...?"

"Oppa, isn't that Egostic?"

"Huh? It really is!"

Citizens began recognizing me.

Just as cold sweat was about to break out from my panic, I heard Seo-eun's voice in my ear.

[Hyung! To your right!]

Right?

When I turned to the right, I saw him in the distance—

A man clutching his stomach, blood dripping from his body.

Oh, there you are.

He's already been shot, too?

I felt a grin spreading across my face without realizing it.

Right. Sometimes things should be easy.

Just as I raised my gun and was about to teleport toward him, the bastard saw me, staggered, and vanished again.

"Alright, let's do this, shall we?"

And so, an unexpected teleportation chase unfolded in the middle of Seoul City.

***

"...Yes. This is the Korean Hero Association. How may I help you?"

"What? Egostic appeared in the middle of downtown?"