Chapter 27 - Her Determination

"Unnie... should I just carry it?"

"No! I won it, so I should carry it. I can do it."

Shin Haru watched anxiously as her senior precariously held an enormous three-scoop ice cream cone.

That's going to spill.

And her prediction wasn't wrong.

The ice cream cone finally lost its balance and began to topple.

"Ah, ah, ah... No!"

With Unnie Chaehyun's scream, the ice cream fell toward the man standing beside her.

Just as it seemed the ice cream would inevitably splatter on the man next to them—

Something unexpected happened.

"Whoa!"

The instant the ice cream fell, the man dodged it with incredible speed.

His reflexes were truly remarkable. Even she was startled.

"Oppa!"

"Da-in!"

Two women standing beside the man rushed over to him in alarm.

So the man's name was Da-in.

Though he was now covered in dust, the man stood up brushing off his clothes with a calm expression, as if nothing had happened.

"Ah, I'm fine. I'm fine."

Of course, only his expression was calm—his clothes looked far from fine.

His body was covered in dust.

"Oh my... Are you alright? I'm so sorry. I was, I was so clumsy..."

Unnie Chaehyun approached him with tears welling in her eyes. Since she was part of their group too, Shin Haru was also flustered and approached him.

As they drew near, the man smiled and waved it off.

"It's fine. Anyone can make mistakes. I overreacted a bit. Haha, I should have just dodged slightly."

"But, but still..."

"It's fine. Really."

A strange situation unfolded where the man ended up comforting her as she began to cry. Shin Haru felt unnecessarily guilty too. If she had stepped forward to hold it, this wouldn't have happened.

And she thought it was fortunate they'd run into such a kind man. Most ordinary people would have been furious in this situation, yet here was someone who brushed it off so calmly.

...Well, only the man was calm. The two women beside him looked extremely displeased. That was actually the normal reaction. It was the man who was unusual for letting it slide so smoothly.

"Come on, Seo-eun. Shall we get going...?"

The man acted as if no compensation was necessary, gathering his companions to leave. In a way, he even seemed to be hurrying...

But Unnie Chaehyun wasn't one to let this go. Just as she reached out her hand to somehow offer compensation—

Boom—

A thunderous roar echoed.

"Kyaaaaaaah!"

Screams erupted from all directions.

Though Shin Haru was an ordinary university student, she was also the hero Stardus.

Her situational awareness was swift.

A terror attack.

Most likely, a villain's terror attack.

Boom—. Boom—.

Sounds that shook heaven and earth rang out.

Her assessment was quick, and so was her action.

First priority: evacuate Unnie Chaehyun.

"Unnie, follow me!"

"Huh? Wh...?"

Grabbing the hand of her senior, whose mind was half-gone from the successive sudden events, she ran in the opposite direction from where the sounds came from.

Currently, she had partially released her powers as Stardus, so unlike others, she could escape the scene at a faster speed.

Of course, Chaehyun, being dragged along by the hand, was having a terrible time.

"Kyaaaaaaah!"

Among the people all running in the opposite direction, they too joined in and ran together.

And a voice heard from far away.

Despite the considerable distance, it was a tremendous roar that reached even here.

"Stardus!!!!! Come out, Stardus!!!!!!!"

In that instant, her running body stiffened slightly.

Kim Chaehyun, whose eyes were half-glazed from being dragged along by the hand, couldn't feel it at all—Shin Haru's body freezing for that brief moment.

Of course, after hesitating for just a second, she immediately started running again, but her inner state was chaos itself.

What? Why are they suddenly calling out for me?

However, for now, she decided to set everything else aside and get Unnie Chaehyun to safety first.

"Huff... huff..."

The two of them had now arrived at a place far from the scene.

Around them, people who had evacuated like them gathered, catching their breath.

It was quite far from the festival site, so this was a safe enough distance.

"Oh my... What on earth is happening..."

Kim Chaehyun, whose eyes had glazed over and who had been drooling, finally opened her mouth after standing still and calming down.

"Haru, you're really fast. Haru... Haru?"

But Chaehyun couldn't finish her sentence.

Because Haru's expression was remarkably hardened.

"....."

With her mouth closed, she stared at the place they had fled from.

Her mind was already bursting with complexity.

Heroes had an unwritten rule.

'Never appear at a scene without recognition interference.'

This was a principle that applied equally even in the past when recognition interference technology didn't exist.

Never remove your mask.

Before heroes could walk around showing their faces like now, the heroes of the past—the 'champions'—all wore masks.

The moment your identity is exposed, a terrible life begins.

A single principle adopted by all Hero Associations worldwide.

No matter what terrible terror attack occurs, if your face is exposed, do not intervene.

Heroes are incredibly rare.

Especially powerful heroes.

Abilities that suddenly appeared in certain people several decades ago.

Commonly called superpowers, or in another sense, paranormal abilities.

Countless debates have raged about why these abilities suddenly manifested in humanity, but nothing has been properly clarified yet.

Hypotheses range from the idea that these abilities were always in our genes but only expressed themselves in certain individuals, to theories about cosmic magnetic fields, or even claims that they were gifts from God...

Those who are born with abilities, or develop them later in life, fall into three broad categories.

First, those who simply live relatively normal lives.

In fact, the vast majority fall into this category. Many have an ordinary citizen mentality, and besides, most paranormal ability users possess abilities that aren't particularly useful.

For example, the ability to reverse plant growth. Aside from putting a botanical garden out of business, there's not much you can do with it. Or a resilient stomach—you can digest anything, but so what? The person with this ability still prefers chicken over eating rocks.

In other words, most people just blend into society and live their lives.

For them, their superpower serves no purpose beyond showing it off at gatherings with a "Hey, you know I can do this?"

And in fact, even those with powerful abilities often just live normal lives. Someone has superhuman strength—does that mean they must become a hero? The country doesn't exactly force them to. Even with superhuman strength, they might want to become an artist, a photographer, an office worker, or a designer. They too just live ordinary lives.

However, those with somewhat strong abilities and a sense of justice choose to become heroes. They go to the Hero Association, take an ability test, and register.

But heroes are exceedingly rare. Those who take the ability test with grand dreams can't accept that they're merely B or C-Rank. When they protest, asking why a villain with the exact same ability is A-Rank while they're only B-Rank, the only answer they get is the fundamental response that the hero grading system is stricter than the villain grading system.

The standard itself is designed so that only those with the rarest dual abilities or overwhelming power can achieve A-Rank. To reach S-Rank, you'd need something on the level of time-stopping abilities. Being moderately strong at best gets you B-Rank.

On top of that, heroes are essentially soldiers who constantly risk life and limb in combat, despite the name. Because of this brutal reality, most give up halfway through. No matter how much money they're offered.

Add to that the fact that the public is extremely strict about heroes' moral integrity, and the slightest flaw brings a flood of hateful comments—South Korea's hero ratio is much lower compared to other countries.

Yet despite the scarcity of heroes, villains are countless.

The reason is simple. Those with powerful abilities almost always choose the path of villainy.

Actually, the proportion of villains who commit terror attacks against the public is quite small. That's part of why Egostic makes such headlines.

Most villains quietly hide in the shadows, pursuing their own gains.

And they remain unknown to the public in their daily lives. They operate in secret, living while concealing their identities.

But what if a hero's personal information is exposed?

They immediately come to the forefront to eliminate that hero. Because heroes are potential threats they want to dispose of quickly.

So, heroes must never expose their faces. That's common sense.

Common sense, but...

Does that mean she should abandon these suffering citizens?

"Stardus!!!!!!!"

Crash—. Crash—.

The sound of buildings collapsing.

The screams of people.

Should she abandon all of this?

If she went to the Hero Association now to get recognition interference treatment, it would take too long. By the time she returned, the situation would likely already be over.

Did she choose to become a hero just to run away in situations like this?

"Haru...?"

She stepped forward with a hardened expression. Right, there's no choice.

For the citizens, rather than her own safety.

Just as she was about to launch herself forward, the man beside her who'd been looking at his smartphone shouted.

"It's Egostic!! Egostic is here!!!"

For a moment, her foot nearly slipped.

Wait, why is that bastard suddenly showing up here?