June 22 — The day my cri finally began.
I stood at the edge of a skyscraper, the wind brushing against my coat.
On both sides of stood So-ah and Min-seo, their gazes fixed on the city below.
In my hand, I held my black mask.
We looked down at Seoul in broad daylight.
No matter how many tis I looked at it, the view was undeniably beautiful.
The sunlight reflected off glass buildings, streets filled with people, life moving forward without a care in the world.
My eyes didn’t lie.
This city was beautiful.
I opened my mouth.
"Are you two ready?"
They answered at the sa ti, their voices filled with excitent.
"Of course, Oppa!"
"Of course, Oppa!"
I cleared my throat.
"Ahem... For this mission, don’t call Oppa. Call Boss, okay?"
They froze for a mont before nodding.
"Yes, Boss!"
I let out a quiet sigh of relief.
I still rembered the last ti Min-seo accidentally called Oppa in front of Lightnova.
For so reason, Lightnova had looked irritated... no, more than that—she beca noticeably more aggressive.
I didn’t want that to happen again.
Just thinking about it made chills run down my spine.
I touched the earpiece in my ear.
"Lee Donghyun, are the preparations complete?"
"Yes, Hyung! Everything is ready!"
"Good... display the feed."
*Downtown Plaza — Seoul*
Pedestrians were busy with their daily lives.
So people hurried to work.
So couples walked hand in hand, laughing softly.
Students chatted while checking their phones.
To them, today was just another peaceful day.
None of them realized that misfortune was already descending upon them.
Huge public screens displayed advertisents—fashion brands, drinks, promotions.
A group of high school students ran across the plaza, laughing loudly, before stopping beneath one of the massive screens.
Then—
The screen glitched.
A harsh buzzing noise echoed through the plaza.
The sudden distortion made people stop and look up.
The glitch vanished.
A live broadcast appeared.
On the screen stood a man wearing a black mask and a black fedora tilted forward, shadowing his face.
A familiar voice echoed from the speakers.
[Hello everyone! Did you miss !? Of course you did!]
Gasps spread through the crowd.
[It’s —Indigo Reign. And today, I’ll be committing another cri. Because, frankly, I think it’s ti.]
People froze.
"Huh? What’s going on!?"
Murmurs spread rapidly.
Fear began to creep into their minds, though they didn’t yet understand what was about to happen.
"Hey, calm down! Let’s hear what he has to say first!"
Soone shouted, eyes glued to the screen.
My voice continued calmly.
[This ti, I plan to create a fireball... one as large as an entire city.]
Silence fell.
[This is your warning. I hope you all run while you still can. The fireball should be visible any mont now—oh? Looks like it’s already here!]
People instinctively looked up at the sky.
And then—
They saw it.
A massive fireball, so enormous it dwarfed the skyline itself, floating ominously above the city.
Panic erupted.
Screams echoed everywhere.
[Hmm... it seems the fireball’s descent is a bit slow.]
My tone sounded almost bored.
[So we should probably add sothing to speed it up, right? In that case—Thunderwitch, do your job.]
On the screen, a woman appeared.
A tight villain suit.
Golden hair.
A beautiful yet dangerous face.
The people of Seoul recognized her instantly.
Thunderwitch.
[Yes, Boss!]
Blue lightning surged from her hands.
She stretched both arms toward the fireball.
The lightning shot upward, wrapping around the massive sphere of flas and rging with it.
The fireball trembled.
Its slow movent suddenly accelerated.
[I hope you all escape in ti!]
[By my calculations, in five minutes, that thing will hit the city and trigger an unstoppable explosion!!]
Panic exploded across the plaza.
People scread and ran.
Cars screeched to a halt.
So drivers made illegal U-turns.
Others abandoned their vehicles altogether.
[Well then! See you later, citizens of Seoul!]
The broadcast cut off.
*Back to *
So-ah staggered slightly, breathing heavily.
"Ugh... Boss... that fireball is really draining my strength..."
I turned toward her.
"Ah... I’m sorry, So-ah. But we have to do this. Besides—this is one way for you to grow stronger, right?"
She nodded slowly.
"...Yeah. That’s true."
I looked toward Min-seo.
She was still channeling lightning into the fireball, her hands trembling.
"Min-seo, are you okay?"
"U-ugh... Boss... it feels like that fireball is pulling all my power out of ..."
"Hang on just a little longer."
She hesitated before asking quietly.
"...Are we really going to destroy the entire city?"
I shook my head.
"Of course not. How could I destroy a city this beautiful?"
She sighed.
"Hah... You’re always like this."
At that mont—
A golden light streaked through the sky toward us.
I smirked.
"Heh... looks like our hero has arrived."
Min-seo clicked her tongue.
"Ugh... I don’t know why, but I get annoyed every ti I see her."
So-ah nodded.
"Sa here."
The golden light stopped in front of us and took form.
A beautiful woman with pale golden hair, blue eyes, and flawless skin.
Wearing her hero suit.
Lightnova.
—or rather, Ji-hye.
As always, I couldn’t deny her beauty.
She glared at .
"Indigo... stop that fireball!"
I tilted my head.
"Oh? You want to stop it? That’s unfortunate—I can’t."
I smiled beneath my mask.
"Wouldn’t it be better if you stopped it instead? Look over there."
Her eyes followed my gaze.
The massive fireball was rapidly descending toward the city.
"You should do sothing before it hits your beloved city~"
"Tch!"
She transford back into golden light and shot toward the fireball.
Reaching a position directly beneath it, she poured light into her arms.
She clapped once.
Golden light expanded from her hands, forming massive glowing constructs that wrapped around the fireball.
Then she pushed.
"U-ugh!!"
It was absurdly heavy.
Like holding back hundreds of cargo planes at once.
"This... is... so... heavy!!"
Her body was slowly forced backward.
She gritted her teeth.
"Ugh!!"
Light flared from her legs.
The glow intensified, pushing her forward.
The fireball moved—just slightly.
But then—
Her earpiece crackled.
The director’s voice rang out.
"Ji-hye! Push it into space imdiately! Satellite data confirms a teor is heading this way!"
Her eyes widened.
"W-what!?"
She looked back toward .
I was standing calmly, one hand raised toward the sky.
Controlling the teor.
"Ugh!! You bastard!!!"
She scread and pushed harder.
Her entire body glowed blindingly bright.
Even though the weight was unbearable, she refused to stop.
She scread again, forcing every ounce of power she had into her arms—
And kept pushing.
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