Chapter 39 - Clown

This place where countless people huddled together, paralyzed by fear.

With so many people gathered here, it was almost miraculous how quiet it could be—silent as a tomb.

The trembling hostages, the terrorists gripping their guns, even the figure standing proudly atop the tower of chairs.

Everyone was silent.

And in that silence, one man rose from the crowd and began to clap.

Clap clap clap clap clap clap.

This was different from those pathetic, half-hearted claps where people barely touched their palms together.

These were clear, resonant claps—as if he'd devoted serious effort to researching how to make the loudest possible sound.

For something produced by just one person, it echoed far too well.

And far too effectively, it drew everyone's attention.

And so, watching this man clapping in the silence.

The mastermind behind this entire terrorist operation and A-Rank Villain, Monkey Spanner.

He opened his mouth.

"Who the hell is that lunatic?"

It was an apt description.

With terrorists gripping their guns, eyes sharp and ready to shoot at the slightest wrong move.

For someone to suddenly stand up, clap, and draw aggro—what else could he be but a lunatic?

And looking at his bizarre face only reinforced that impression.

A man who'd appeared wearing a mask covering his entire face.

Bright yellow—or was it slightly orange? Either way, an unbalanced yellow mask. The mask even had slightly smiling eyes, and stars beneath them, making it look like something a clown would wear.

With that grotesque appearance, even the terrorist lackeys—and even the seasoned villain Monkey Spanner who'd been through hell and back—couldn't help but hesitate.

First, he gestured to the cameraman with his eyes to cut the video. There was nothing to gain from broadcasting an unexpected situation like this.

Who was Monkey Spanner?

His ability was actually nothing special. Weak superhuman strength. Well, his power was easily guessed from his bulging muscles that showed even through his clothes.

However, unlike other villains with similar abilities, despite his weak power, the Association had designated Monkey Spanner as an A-Rank Villain.

Even accounting for how the Association tended to rank villains excessively high compared to heroes, this was truly exceptional.

The reason he received such a high rank lay in his outstanding organizational skills.

He didn't know exactly how, but he commanded hundreds of subordinates beneath him like his own limbs.

Together with what was called the 'Jumping Monkey Club,' they operated in South Korea's underworld, robbing banks and dealing drugs.

That is, until Boss Monkey Spanner suddenly decided to play in bigger waters and led his subordinates to Mexico.

Those who'd departed boldly declaring they'd take over the Mexican drug cartels ended up getting thoroughly crushed by those very cartels instead.

The hundreds of subordinates he'd commanded were now barely over a hundred.

The money they'd frantically earned through terrorism had all been blown.

And so he trudged back to his homeland.

Feeling that he'd go under at this rate, he came up with a clever plan.

Pull off one really big terrorist attack in Korea to squeeze out money, then go to Mexico one more time!

And so he smuggled into Busan Port, biding his time and waiting for the right opportunity.

Originally, he'd planned to act mindlessly as soon as he returned, but his plans were thwarted when that Legostick or whatever pulled off a terrorist attack first up in Seoul.

Terrorism lives and dies by aggro—if you launch a terrorist attack while someone else is drawing attention, the government pays less attention. Less attention means less money you can extract.

...And so, to him who'd been waiting for an opportunity, did victory come to those who persevere? The perfect opportunity arrived.

The Ruler of Darkness, Shadow Walker, had fallen.

For the first time in history, it became possible to commit terrorism at night.

And the seasoned Monkey Spanner didn't miss that opportunity—faster than anyone else, differently from everyone else, he was the first to launch a terrorist attack.

To summarize.

Though he'd failed in Mexico, Monkey Spanner was fundamentally a quick-witted and capable villain who'd commanded hundreds of subordinates.

And his intuition, honed over several years, reached a conclusion—that masked man was no ordinary threat.

"...You bastard, what the hell are you!!"

He spoke those words first, buying time.

If, just if, this were a world without supernatural abilities, he would've simply shot him without hesitation.

But in this world, not knowing what kind of ability that bastard possessed, he had no choice but to be cautious.

'Damn it, why is someone like that popping up?'

Ability users were rarer than winning the lottery jackpot.

At least lottery jackpots happened every week.

For one to pop up among just this many people was a rare occurrence.

However, who was Monkey Spanner?

He was someone who'd tenaciously survived while maintaining his power even among the many ability-wielding heroes.

He believed he could easily overcome this degree of abnormality with his own strength.

...At least, so far.

*

"...You bastard, what the hell are you!!"

That bastard standing atop a tower made of chairs, shouting at me.

If you're asking who I am, it's only human decency to tell you.

Standing there calmly, I shrugged my shoulders and opened my mouth.

"My name is..."

I paused mid-sentence.

Wait a minute, wouldn't it be bad to reveal I'm Egostic here?

I hate to say this about myself, but I'm quite a famous figure in South Korea.

I'm a man whose face has appeared on the news about five or six times.

...Though of course, I didn't even need to go as far as the news since I'd streamed my terrorist video live in the first place.

Anyway, there was nothing to gain from revealing my name here.

The moment I said my name, they'd realize I could use telekinesis and teleportation.

And so, I had no choice but to U-turn from revealing my name.

"My name is... not important. Let's just say I'm a passing citizen."

I spoke with a smirk.

The bastard's face twisted at my words. From my relaxed attitude and completely untensed, calm tone, he seemed to think I was a stronger opponent than expected.

Well, even I would be flustered if some guy in a clown mask came up beside me and mocked me while I was committing terrorism.

And this was my strategy.

Make the opponent overestimate me!

While the strong lull their opponents into complacency before striking at their weakness, the weak fight differently.

The weak must inflate themselves, packaging themselves to appear far more capable than they actually are.

Only by doing so would the opponent stay on guard, and the longer they stayed guarded, the more time I could buy.

That's why I drew aggro with that opening applause.

Honestly speaking, I don't really know what this Monkey Spanner guy or whatever does. No, I only know about the enemies fighting Stardus in Seoul—I have no idea what happens down there in Busan. That's Ice Maiden of the North Sea's territory to handle.

So basically, I only just learned about this guy's ability by secretly searching it up earlier. Superhuman strength—weak superhuman strength, at that.

...Superhuman strength is a bit troublesome. Sure, if he charges at me trying to fold my spine in half, I can just dodge with teleportation, but the problem is my attacks.

Superhuman strength itself implies physical enhancement, meaning ordinary guns or bombs won't even scratch him. For someone like me without any special offensive means, he's a teeny bit difficult to deal with. His internal organs are probably tough too, so poison gas might not even work. Though if I set off poison gas here, everyone would be wiped out anyway.

So then, let's start by taking care of what I can handle.

Thud, thud.

Pushing through the crowd, forward, forward—I kept going.

All the way to the base of that bastard's chair mountain.

No one stopped me.

Because when the other masked minions aimed their guns at me, Monkey Spanner sitting atop the chair mountain stopped them with a raised hand.

He didn't know what might happen if they shot.

Finally reaching the base where he sat above, I looked up at him and opened my mouth. Mockingly.

"Oh my... oh my. I heard some interesting incident was happening here, so I dragged my heavy body all the way out here myself. But it turns out to be nothing more than the antics of a nobody. Is sitting up there with your fat ass glued to that spot all you're good for? You baldy."

At my sudden verbal assault and provocation, I could see him genuinely pissed off.

"You bastard, do you think this is some safe zone! I'll make you regret this!"

Having observed the situation until the very end, he jumped from atop the chair mountain and charged at me.

Besides being angry, he probably also judged that being looked down upon in front of so many subordinates and citizens wouldn't be good for him.

However, the moment he lunged at me and stomped where I had been standing.

I was already gone.

He didn't know it, but my ability is teleportation, after all.

Just before he noticed, I was already sitting cross-legged atop the chair mountain he'd been sitting on earlier—right at its peak.

"Truly... pathetic."

I yawned as if bored, as if tedious, and from up there, looking down at him, I quietly snapped my fingers.

At that moment, the firearms held by the surrounding minions slipped from their hands and floated into the air.

They all simultaneously turned their muzzles in the opposite direction.

Toward their own masters who had been holding them just moments ago, now suddenly disarmed.

And fired their bullets.

"Kyaaaaaaaaaah!!!"

Blood sprayed.

And so dozens of terrorists, in a single instant. In such a brief moment, before they could even notice anything.

All at once, died instantly.

"Phew..."

No one's filming this with a camera, right?

If the Association sees this, they'll probably promote me straight to S-rank...

Separately from that, I just used up all the telekinesis I'd been stockpiling for months with that one move.

Ah, why is my ability so pathetic?