## Chapter 2 – It’s Not Shameful to Run Away From a Hero
“Stop right there! Or I’ll just roast you.”
‘What should I do? Should I just ignore her and jump?’
I was planning to escape to a place where no one would recognize me and relax with the money I got from selling the jewels.
But of course, the world isn’t that easy.
A-Rank Hero Ignition was looking down at me with an arrogant expression.
“W-Well, I mean…”
“You mean?”
“I’m just trying to live… trying to make a living! It’s hard to get a job these days… right? Haha…”
“Don’t make excuses and get out of there quietly. Or you’ll really get hurt, you hear?”
I tried my best to put on a friendly smile to survive,
but it didn’t seem to be a very effective action.
Because sparks were already flying from her fist again.
“Aaaaaah!!!”
I turned around again and jumped into the hole.
If I had stayed there, I felt like I would have peed my pants.
I slid down the iron escape route for quite a while.
My butt was about to catch fire from the friction, but that didn’t last long either.
– Crash!!
“Aaaaaaack!!”
Maybe the hideout building was heavily damaged by the heroes’ attack,
but the escape route was suddenly cut off as if someone had chopped it off.
“Pfft.”
Hero Ignition was already standing in front of the escape route hole, waiting for me.
“Ah! Ugh…”
I must have broken the jewel in my pocket when I fell from the escape route,
because something that seemed to be a shattered fragment was sharply stabbing my leg.
“I told you that you’d get hurt, didn’t I?”
She sneered at me with a pathetic look on her face.
How pathetic must I look to that great hero?
A nobody like me, like a fly compared to her, trying to survive like this.
“Just come along quietly, okay? Don’t make a fuss.”
It’s a hopeless situation.
Am I really going to be dragged away and locked up in prison?
Or will I receive an even more terrible punishment than that?
What did I do so wrong?
It’s true that I came here with the bad intention of becoming a villain, but I’ve suffered a lot too!
I’m wronged!
– Keeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-
Suddenly, a tremendous noise came from the pants pocket containing the broken jewel fragments.
“Ugh! What is that sound?”
“Ughhhhhh…!”
A sharp noise that seemed like it would burst my eardrums rang for a while,
and when the noise subsided, a light so bright that it was blinding poured out.
A light that made a dark warehouse as bright as a street in broad daylight.
The light blasted both me and her, and then quickly faded away like the noise from before.
“Ughhhhh…”
“Ugh… my eyes hurt…”
The jewel fragments that were stabbing my thigh disappeared without a trace after emitting the light,
and when I raised my head, Ignition was lying on top of me.
“What!”
“Aaaaaah!”
In a position where I was supporting her chest.
“Y-Y-You pervert!!!”
“It wasn’t on purpose! First! Calm down first!”
Ignition seemed to feel extreme shame and stomped her feet with a reddened face.
I was taking a sigh of resignation, thinking that I was really dead now,
but I saw something like an opaque screen floating next to her, who was very angry.
[ Target Information: A-Rank Hero ‘Ignition’ Yoon Do-hwa ]
[ Ability: Ignition ]
[ Status: Engraving Stage 1 (Infestation 0%) ]
[ Available Commands: Body Control / Ability Nullification / Heat ]
I’ve definitely seen something like this somewhere.
A status window that commonly appears in RPG games or comics with the theme of reincarnation into another world.
To be exact, it seemed like I could see the information of the other person, not myself.
‘Could it be that this ability was created because of the light from the jewel?’
Hero rank, hero name, and even ability.
When I compare it with the information in my memory, it’s definitely showing that hero…
I don’t know exactly what ‘Engraving’ in the status and the available commands are.
[ ‘Engraving’ can be engraved on the target’s body upon direct contact. ]
[ ‘Commands’ can only be used on targets with ‘Engraving’ engraved. ]
As soon as I thought I didn’t know, the status window kindly displayed a guide message.
It’s quite kind to tell me what I’m curious about right away.
But have I ever directly contacted Ignition?
…Ah. That chest from before.
Anyway, the important thing is to get out of this situation.
It was clear that ‘Commands’ could be used on targets with ‘Engraving’ engraved…
For example, that ‘Ability Nullification’.
[ Applying Ability Nullification to Target: ‘Ignition’ Yoon Do-hwa. ]
As soon as I thought about the available command, a message was displayed at the bottom of the screen.
‘But this. Is it really being applied…?’
“If you don’t come with me willingly… I’ll just have to burn you and take you while you’re cooked.”
“W-What?”
It’s terrifying how she can say such gruesome things so casually.
Is that the kind of guts you need to become an A-Rank Hero?
If I’m destined to die anyway, I can just burn to death here,
and if that status window is really a sudden ability, then I’ll live.
ㅡ Thinking that, I closed my eyes the moment Yoon Do-hwa reached out to me and tried to fire a flame.
“Huh?”
“Wh-What? Why isn’t the fire coming out…?”
Nothing happened in Yoon Do-hwa’s right palm that was extended towards me.
Ability Nullification really worked as the message said!
“Eit! Eiiiit! The fire won’t come out!”
Yoon Do-hwa kept shaking her hand, but not even a small spark flew out, let alone a flame.
“Pfft…”
I couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
The sight of a hero who’s not even a newbie, but an A-Rank, saying ‘Why isn’t it working?’ and being flustered.
I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Eit!”
– Thwack-!
Her kick hit my head after hearing the mocking laughter.
“Ugh!”
“You… you dare laugh at me?”
I’ve been enduring getting hit in combat training for years and going out to countless battles,
so I thought that punches and kicks were attacks that I could naturally endure.
But that kick, which made me float and be pushed back, was not something I could endure.
‘Oh crap… did I really break my neck or something?’
Fortunately, this sturdy body of mine endured the kick.
As expected, A-Rank Heroes aren’t just made of ability.
– Whoosh-
Before I could even get up, Yoon Do-hwa came flying at me again with a whooshing sound.
I saw her flying for a moment, but I didn’t have time to react.
“S-Stop!”
[ Applying Body Control to Target: ‘Ignition’ Yoon Do-hwa. ]
“Aaaaaah?!”
When ‘Body Control’ worked as soon as I said stop,
Yoon Do-hwa, who was flying towards me, suddenly dropped and sat down on the spot.
“Suddenly, my body won’t move as I want…!”
“I barely survived. Whew.”
As I approached her, who was lying down and unable to move, a message popped up.
[ Status: Engraving Stage 1 (Infestation 13%) ]
The infestation increased from 0% to 13%.
So that means the more I use that command, the more the infestation increases.
“…Do you think anything will come of this?”
“Wouldn’t something come of it? At least I won’t die, I guess.”
Wait a minute.
This situation right now…
Even though I’m a low-level combatant, I’m still a villain,
and that Ignition girl is spouting those lines in front of me, incapacitated.
This feeling that’s welling up from deep inside my heart.
This dream of making a hero kneel before me even once!
I feel like I’ve finally become a villain, and it’s sending shivers down my spine.
“Kuhhhh…!”
I lift Yoon Do-hwa’s chin with my finger and look her in the face.
I’ve seen villains do this a lot in dramas and movies.
Hehehe.
“D-Don’t touch me! Let go of me!”
She has a considerable appearance that would make her a celebrity or an idol singer, right?
She has a style that seems to be a good mix of a cat and a dog.
– Thump thump-
At that moment, when I was admiring her appearance for a moment.
The sound of someone coming up the stairs from below echoed.
‘It would be better to leave this place for now…’
No matter how OP the ability is, I have to live first.
Yoon Do-hwa has an engraving on her, so I can somehow subdue her with commands,
but that’s not the case with other heroes.
Besides, the condition for engraving is direct physical contact.
It was possible just now because I accidentally touched Yoon Do-hwa’s chest,
but with other heroes, I might not even be able to get close and get beaten to a pulp.
I want to play with the A-Rank Hero a little more since I gained power, but I can’t help it.
“Wait a minute. I wonder if this will work?”
I get a good idea and whisper in Yoon Do-hwa’s ear.
“Today at 6 PM. In front of the back gate of Sunnam University.”
A command that specifies the exact time and place.
It’s questionable whether something so specific and limited can be executed.
But you won’t know unless you try.
Above all, it’s a waste to throw away the opportunity to test the ability on an A-Rank Hero.
“It doesn’t seem like you’ll die if you fall here. And it seems like there’s no one around.”
I give her a kind of suggestion and jump out the window as is.
