-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: An Unexpected Spectacle
-----------------------------------------------------------------
In this place, countless people huddled together in fear.
It was eerily quiet, so silent you could hear a pin drop, strange given how many people were gathered here.
The trembling hostages, the armed terrorists, and the figure standing imperiously atop a tower of chairs.
In this moment of universal silence.
A man rose from the crowd and began to clap.
*Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap.*
This was no weak, half-hearted applause, merely a perfunctory gesture.
It was a clear, resonant applause, as if he had meticulously studied how to produce the loudest possible sound.
It reverberated far too well for a single person.
And it drew everyone's attention, perfectly.
The man who had been watching the clapping figure in the quiet space,
the mastermind behind this entire act of terror and an A-rank villain, Monkey Wrench,
opened his mouth.
"Who's that crazy bastard?"
It was exactly as he said.
With terrorists, guns in hand, their eyes glinting menacingly as if ready to shoot at the slightest misstep,
what else could you call someone who suddenly stood up, clapped, and drew attention to himself, if not a madman?
This thought was only reinforced upon seeing his bizarre face.
The man had appeared wearing a mask that covered his entire face.
A vivid yellow—or perhaps slightly orange?—an unbalanced yellow mask. Even the mask's eyeholes seemed to be slightly smiling, with stars beneath the eyes, making it look like something a clown would wear.
His grotesque appearance made even the terrorist lackeys, and indeed the seasoned villain Monkey Wrench, who had seen it all, pause in their tracks.
First, he gestured with his eyes for the cameraman to turn off the video. There was no benefit to broadcasting an unexpected situation.
Who was Monkey Wrench?
His ability was actually quite unremarkable: weak superhuman strength. One could easily infer his power from the bulging muscles visible even through his clothes.
However, unlike other villains with similar abilities, Monkey Wrench, despite his weak power, had been designated an A-rank villain by the Association.
Even considering that the Association tended to rank villains disproportionately higher than heroes, this was truly an exceptional case.
The reason for his high rank lay in his exceptional organizational skills.
He commanded hundreds of subordinates as if they were his own limbs, though no one knew how.
Along with those known as the 'Jumping Monkey Club,' they operated in the shadows of South Korea, robbing banks and selling drugs.
That is, until Boss Monkey Wrench suddenly decided to play in a bigger pond and led his subordinates to Mexico.
These individuals, who had boldly set out to take over the Mexican drug cartels, were instead thoroughly fleeced by them.
The hundreds of subordinates he once commanded were now barely a hundred.
The money he had frantically earned through terror was also completely squandered.
And so, he trudged back to his hometown.
Feeling that he would fail if things continued as they were, he came up with a brilliant plan.
He would extract a large sum of money from a major terrorist act in Korea, then go to Mexico one more time!
And so, he smuggled himself into Busan Port, biding his time and watching for an opportunity.
He had originally planned to act mindlessly upon his return, but some 'Legostick' or whatever in Seoul had launched a terror attack first, putting a halt to his plans.
Terror thrives on attention; if someone else is drawing all the attention, the government pays less heed to your own attack. Less attention means less money.
...So, was it a victory for him after patiently waiting for the right moment? The best opportunity had arrived.
The ruler of darkness, Shadow Walker, had fallen.
This meant that, for the first time ever, terror could strike at night.
And Monkey Wrench, ever the seasoned strategist, seized this opportunity, launching his attack faster and more uniquely than anyone else.
In summary:
Although he had messed up in Mexico, Monkey Wrench was fundamentally a quick-witted and capable villain who had commanded hundreds of subordinates.
And his intuition, honed over years, led him to the conclusion that the masked man before him was no ordinary individual.
"Who the hell are you?!"
He said that, buying time.
If this were a world without superpowered individuals, he would have simply shot him without a second thought.
But in this world, he couldn't be sure what abilities that man possessed, so he had to be cautious.
*'Damn it, why did a guy like that have to show up?'*
Superpowered individuals were rarer than winning the lottery's top prize.
At least the lottery's top prize came out every week.
For one to appear among such a small group was a rare occurrence.
But who was Monkey Wrench?
He was someone who had tenaciously survived, maintaining his influence even amidst countless superpowered heroes.
He believed that he could easily overcome such an unusual situation with his own strength.
...For now.
*
"Who the hell are you?!"
That bastard, standing atop a tower of chairs, yelling at me.
If you ask who I am, it's only natural to tell you.
I, standing calmly, shrugged and opened my mouth.
"My name is..."
I paused mid-sentence.
*Wait, shouldn't I reveal myself as Egostick here?*
It's a bit awkward to say this myself, but I'm quite a celebrity in South Korea.
I've appeared on the news about five or six times.
...Though, of course, there's no need to even go to the news, since I livestreamed the terror attack myself.
Anyway, there's no benefit to revealing my name here.
The moment I say my name, they'll realize I can use telekinesis and teleportation.
So, I had no choice but to backtrack from saying my name.
"My name is... none of your business. Let's just say I'm a passing citizen."
I said with a sly smirk.
The bastard's face crumpled upon hearing my words. Judging by my relaxed demeanor and calm, un-nervous tone, he must have thought I was a stronger opponent than he expected.
Indeed, even I would be flustered if I were staging a terror attack and some clown-masked guy came up next to me and started mocking me.
And this was my stratagem.
To make my opponent overestimate me!
A strong person lulls their opponent into a false sense of security before striking, but a weak person's fight is different.
The weak must inflate themselves, presenting themselves as far more formidable than their actual abilities.
Only then will the opponent be cautious, and that caution buys time.
That's why I drew attention with applause at the beginning.
To be honest, I didn't really know who this Monkey Wrench guy was.
No, I only knew about the enemies fighting Stardus in Seoul; I barely knew what was happening down in Busan.
North Sea Ice Queen would handle things there, I assumed.
So, I had only just secretly looked up his abilities. Superhuman strength, weak superhuman strength, he had.
...Superhuman strength is a bit problematic. If he charged at me to fold my spine in half, I could just teleport away, but the issue is my own attack.
Superhuman strength itself implies physical reinforcement, meaning ordinary guns or bombs wouldn't even scratch him. For me, lacking special offensive means, he's a tiny bit difficult to deal with.
His internal organs are probably tough too, so it's uncertain if poison gas would even work.
Besides, if I unleashed poison gas here, everyone would be wiped out.
So, maybe I should take care of what I *can* take care of first.
*Thump, thump.*
Pushing through the crowd, I kept moving forward, forward.
Until I finally reached the front of his chair-mountain.
No one tried to stop me.
That was because Monkey Wrench, sitting atop the chair-mountain, had motioned with his hand to stop the other masked thugs from pointing their guns at me.
He didn't know what would happen if they shot.
Finally, having reached the base of his chair-mountain, I looked up at him and spoke, a sneer on my face.
"Oh... oh dear. I heard some interesting incident was unfolding here, so I dragged my heavy body all the way here myself. But it seems it was just a trivial prank by someone insignificant. Is sitting up there with your heavy butt all you're good for, you bald man?"
My sudden outburst of insults and provocation clearly infuriated him.
"You bastard, do you know where you are?! I'll make you regret this!"
He, who had been observing the situation until the very end, jumped from the top of the chair-mountain and charged at me.
Besides being enraged, he probably also judged that it wouldn't look good to be disrespected in front of so many subordinates and citizens.
But the moment he charged at me and stomped on the spot where I had been,
I was no longer there.
He wouldn't have known, but my ability is teleportation.
Just before he realized it, I was already sitting cross-legged on the very top chair of the chair-mountain where he had been moments ago.
"Truly... pathetic."
I said, as if bored, as if uninterested, letting out a yawn from above, looking down at him, and quietly snapped my fingers.
Simultaneously, the firearms held by the thugs surrounding us slipped from their hands and floated into the air.
All at once, they turned their muzzles around.
Aiming at their former owners, who had just been disarmed in an instant.
They fired their bullets.
"Aaaahhhhh!!!"
Blood splattered.
And just like that, dozens of terrorists, in an instant. In such a short time, before they could even realize what was happening,
they were all instantly killed.
"Whew..."
No one's recording this with a camera, right?
If the Association saw this, they'd probably promote me straight to S-rank...
Aside from that, I just used up all the psychokinesis I'd stockpiled for months with that one move.
Ah, why is my ability so pathetic?