He wanted nothing more than to run away. If fleeing was not possible, then he wished he could faint on the spot. Irina’s secretary had simple wishes like that.
“What did you just say?”
However, that woman did not allow either running or fainting.
He could not do it. He could not lose consciousness or leave his seat. Gazing at that terrifying look in her eyes, he found himself unable to do anything at all.
He almost wished she would beat him, the way she did to villains. The pain in his body might have been severe, but at least his mind would be more at ease.
“What did you say?”
Irina rose from her chair and ca closer with determined steps. His heart felt frozen. Fear burrowed into his bones. It felt like death was standing right in front of him.
“One last ti. I will ask one last ti, yes?”
When Irina said that, the secretary’s face turned completely pale. He knew too well how dangerous she beca when she switched from informal speech to polite forms. Whenever a person who usually spoke casually suddenly used honorifics, it ant Irina was truly upset.
“Just now. What did you say?”
He needed to answer. That was the only way to survive, yet his mouth would not open because of fear.
He worried that he would be crushed on the spot if he said the wrong thing, or vanish without a trace. The possibilities stuck to him like tar and kept his lips shut.
Would an ordinary superhuman do such a thing? Maybe not. But this was Irina. The crazy blonde. The Association barely managed to rein her in. If not for that, she would have gone around ripping villains to shreds. And if soone annoyed her, she could turn on them just as easily, even if they were not villains.
Her recent stomp on the Jinhan Group was a pri example. She suddenly talked about creeping into back alleys, and though the secretary tried to stop her, she brought back random n she caught sowhere and was livid with rage. The next day, she marched into Jinhan Group and caused an uproar.
The secretary had no idea what triggered her anger this ti.
He was called a “secretary,” but in truth, he acted as a ssenger who reported her movents to the Association. He tried to calm her down when she seed about to lose control. Those tasks were the extent of his job.
One thing was certain. The Jinhan na had nearly been wiped from the world. The man was not talking about forced takeovers or abrupt liquidation. Irina was ready to remove them physically, leaving no traces behind.
“S-so… villains caused chaos in the heart of the city… and, and….”
“And? Do not stop there.”
“Ah, yes. Kim Suhyeon, the granddaughter of Kang Minseong, happened to be there….”
“When did I ask about that? About that old man’s granddaughter living or dying? That is not what I asked.”
Sssss―
Irina’s unrestrained powers made the air around her burn. Or maybe she was not even trying to restrain herself. The enormous pressure crushed the secretary’s entire being. It was the raw, primal fear of standing before an overwhelmingly powerful foe. He wanted to speak, but the words stuck in his throat.
“Th-that Examiner you t before… nad Baek Seojin, was there as well….”
Driven by the need to survive, he overca his fear enough to finish his words.
“….”
Irina said nothing. Not a single word.
Given her habit of blurting out whatever she felt, this was shocking. People joked in the Association that “Irina not talking is as good as Irina being dead.” The secretary found it horrifying to see her go completely silent.
“…They touched him. My handso oppa.”
After an unknown amount of ti, Irina finally spoke, murmuring those words in a quiet voice.
“They ssed with soone I already marked as mine.”
“M-Miss Irina?”
“So random fools tried to scuff him up earlier, which annoyed , but now the villain rats are getting involved?”
She let out a snort and suddenly whirled around, walking away with heavy footsteps.
“Miss Irina! Where are you going!?”
“Gonna smash the ones who wrecked my stuff.”
“What? Ah, no! Please hold on! If you just leave right now, then what about…?”
They were not in South Korea. Irina and her secretary were in a certain Russian port city.
Reports had surfaced that certain Russian-flagged vessels were sneaking drugs into other countries, so top officials arranged a joint investigation between nations. Normally, Russian and Korean agencies would handle it, but so problems arose.
A few of these drug syndicates were rumored to include villains, and that area was considered an unofficial territory of one of the Elders. Ordinary investigators would be in danger. On top of that, there were issues with the Russian side’s internal situation.
“Currently, most of our S-rank superhumans are dealing with a giant Gate near Saint Petersburg. We only have one available, so if the Korean side can send support, our governnt will be very grateful.”
That ant they wanted an S-rank superhuman from Korea. Korea agreed, and the Association sent a team of staff and an S-rank bodyguard. That was Irina.
She had actually volunteered to go. She was bored and thought it might be fun, especially if an Elder turned up. Normally she detested bodyguard work, but this ti she claid she would enjoy it.
“…So that fat pig is scaring them, huh.”
“What do you an?”
“He only gropes won, so what is there to fear? If I stop him from showing up, I am done. Then they can do whatever they want, yeah?”
When Irina asked that, the secretary instinctively nodded without thinking. If soone had watched from the future, they would have scread that the secretary should not have done that or told her such a thing.
“Miss Irina? Where are you going?”
“To clear away the problem.”
She said so, then turned and lightly kicked off the ground. In a blink, she beca a gold streak soaring beyond the sky.
Before long, there was a massive explosion far away.
It was the fight between an S-rank superhuman, Irina, and the Elder nad Aleksei, known to so as a half-god or demigod.
“What the hell, why is that crazy woman picking a fight with ?!”
The Elder never intended to get involved, yet got blindsided anyway.
*
[Our next update: The governnt, in a joint investigation with Russian authorities, has successfully dismantled an overseas organization that was smuggling drugs. The Russian governnt has expressed imnse gratitude for our country’s assistance….]
Wicked scum. If they want to do drugs, they should keep it in their own country. Why haul it here?
“They are terrible, all right. They tried to sneak narcotics into drug-free Korea.”
Since earlier, Kang Hana had been next to , chattering away.
She was the student council president. I was just a governnt employee. Yet she was there, striking up a cheerful conversation as if there was nothing else to do.
“All this leads to more work for public servants.”
“That is true. But it does not actually involve personally. They will handle it themselves.”
Yes, it was not my departnt. If anything, it was beneficial for us that we owed Russia a favor. Or maybe they owed us. Whichever the case, I was not directly involved.
“Uh, by the way. Kang Hana. Aren’t you going to class?”
“Today is a free day. You don’t have to worry.”
“Then what about the student council work?”
“It was all done in the morning. There wasn’t anything special on the agenda.”
I wanted her to go away, but she was not budging.
“I read that article a few days ago: ‘A public servant who stopped the Gate crisis, now battles villains to protect the city!’”
“It was not really a big fight. I just traded a few blows, that is all.”
“But witnesses say otherwise. They claim you handled everything, Examiner.”
It was impossible not to notice the sparkly look in Kang Hana’s eyes. She wanted sothing. She kept glancing at , but she did not say it outright. She was feeling out my reactions.
‘Maybe it is about the Silver rank evaluations? Possibly she wants to address so student concerns.’
The synergy of Ma Hakjun’s support, plus my rhetorical appeals to the Silvers, had caused positive changes. Yet there were definitely so who disliked the new system.
I rember thinking more than once:
Are they trying to act as a group or sothing? Are they giving a heads-up, trying to find so kind of compromise?
“You really amaze every ti I see you.”
But Kang Hana showed no signs of that whatsoever. At this point, I was starting to wonder if she just had nothing better to do—if she was coming here simply out of boredom.
“Examiner!”
Off in the distance, Kim Suhyeon cos running over with a bright smile.
She was no longer “the genius consud by inferiority.” Instead, she had awakened as the “Crimson Witch.” That was not ideal, but at least she had escaped her previous crippling Trait. Also, it had not happened through villainous brainwashing. There was so relief in that, though I was still worried.
‘We must live with it now. Maybe it was her fate to beco the Crimson Witch, and the question was how.’
“Oh, Suhyeon!”
Kang Hana, who was standing next to , waved when she saw Kim Suhyeon running over.
I’d learned earlier during our small talk that the two of them knew each other. Apparently, they used to call each other "sister" so they must’ve been pretty close.
“Senpai, what are you doing here…?”
“I was just having a quick chat with the examiner. Are you feeling better now?”
“Ah… yes. Thank you for your concern.”
For reference, Kim Suhyeon had been forced to take two days off by Kang Minseong. He’d said she was probably pretty shaken and absolutely needed rest to recover ntally and physically.
When Ma Hakjun heard about it, he grumbled, ‘The doctor says she’s fine, so why is he the one making such a fuss? Seriously, just strip him of that “hero” title already.’
“I’m so glad. Really.”
Kang Hana pulled Kim Suhyeon into a gentle hug with a bright smile. From that alone, it looked like a touching mont between affectionate sisters…
So why did her face suddenly go stiff?
Co on, Suhyeon. Smile a little. You’re scaring .
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