I Became an Illegal Cheat User

60 – Villain Response Training (4)

A hero is someone who instills courage and hope in people.

A person who possesses the tenacity and will to endure pain.

Someone who is nobler and more virtuous than anyone else.

In essence, a hero is a beacon of light piercing through the darkness.

What is it that a hero needs the most?

Justice? That goes without saying.

Honor? That’s secondary.

Altruism? A fundamental virtue.

So what is it?

“Submit willingly, villain!”

“If you surrender, I’ll give you a knee pillow.”

“Yes! If you surrender, I’ll give you a knee pillow… w-wait, a knee pillow?!”

It is, in fact, bold decisiveness.

‘…It feels like the dialogue got weird halfway through.’

Anyway, a hero must not hesitate when facing a villain or a fallen one.

Even if it’s just acting for the sake of practice.

…This is the perspective of the villain ‘Crow.’

As for the perspective of ‘Lee Yoo-jin,’ an academy student and aspiring hero:

‘Ah, I’m really going to die!’

It was truly a matter of life and death.

I wanted to scream for my life.

Though Lee Seoyeon, Arthur, and Asuka might not see me because I’m wearing a coat and a mask,

cold sweat was streaming down my face and back.

It was no wonder, considering the swords they were wielding.

‘They call it capture, they call it capture!’

Each blade, gleaming in shades of gold, dark red, and crimson, emitted a vivid light.

Swoosh! Swoosh, swoosh!

‘Gah, huff! Hwaaak!’

Four swords (two practice swords, two wooden swords) brushed past my body.

Rustle! Rustle, rustle!

With every swing, the ground cracked like tofu.

Each time I witnessed that scene, my insides chilled, and my heart raced wildly.

But outwardly, contrary to my inner turmoil,

『Heroes, is this all you’ve got!』

I was thoroughly maintaining the persona of the fictional villain ‘Crow.’

Yet, perhaps I seemed too immersed in my villain role,

Asuka, with a worried expression, kept swinging her sword and said,

“…Seong-suk, um, are you okay? You seem too caught up in the villain role…”

『…….』

…I know.

I’m aware that a dark history is being built in real-time.

But it was too late to abandon the concept.

If that’s the case, I must maintain… no, enjoy this moment, even if I end up kicking the blankets later.

That way, I won’t have to feel ashamed!

‘I am Crow, I am Crow, I am Crow…’

I began to hypnotize myself while dodging the kids’ sword strikes.

From this moment until the practice ends.

‘I am Crow.’

While wearing this raven mask.

‘I am…, Crow.’

As I continued to repeat this, it felt as if I truly entered a trance, and the shame that had been boiling within me began to ease.

No, it had gone beyond mere comfort; it had turned cold.

‘Hoo…’

“…Seok?”

Feeling something was off, Asuka called out to me… no, to Yoojin.

In response, I spoke to Asuka in a voice that was devoid of emotion, yet felt extremely cold.

‘You’re mistaken.’

“…Huh?”

‘I am not the Seok you know.’

Whether she was startled by my voice or the change in atmosphere, Asuka looked at me with a momentarily bewildered expression.

She even stopped swinging her sword.

‘Villain Crow.’

Seizing the opportunity, I pulled the trigger at Asuka.

Bang─!

“…Hik!”

She hadn’t expected me to attack after only dodging.

With a look of shock, Asuka deflected the bullet that was hurtling toward her.

But that was a grave misjudgment.

Clang─, Bzzzzzzzz─!

What she deflected was not a regular bullet, but a special round known as a ‘sound grenade.’

……!

…! ……!!

A deafening noise that drowned out all surrounding sounds.

Amidst that chaos, I deployed a shock mine beneath their feet through teleportation.

──!

“”……!””

As the shock mine exploded, the shockwave sent everyone, including myself, soaring into the air.

Perhaps caught off guard by the mine’s shockwave, the three of them grimaced in pain.

In contrast, I had wrapped my body in magical energy since the moment I set the mine, so I felt nothing at all.

In exchange for 30% of my magical power disappearing, I was able to escape from the one-sided predicament. It was a cheap price to pay.

I thought to myself as I fired the “shock bullet” at the three of them.

There was no gunshot sound.

No, to be exact, it couldn’t be heard.

The loud noise from the flashbang grenade still lingered around us.

“……!”

“……!!”

It was because there was no gunshot sound that they didn’t realize I had fired until the shock bullet reached right in front of them.

The three of them tried to draw their swords belatedly, but the shock bullet had already made contact with their bodies.

…! …! …BOOM!

The effect of the flashbang grenade wore off, and the shockwave from the shock bullet became audible.

The three of them were blown away in different directions – left, center, and right – by the shockwave.

Of course, the pain from the shock bullet was excruciating, as if my internal organs were being torn apart.

But I gritted my teeth and endured the pain, sending out “sticky threads” in the direction they were blown away.

And to prevent them from using the method I saw earlier, where they would stomp on the ground, I sent out shock grenades on top of them as well.

Bang, bang, bang!

Three gunshots.

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!

Three explosions.

“…Ugh!”

“…aaah!”

But only two screams could be heard.

I turned my head towards the direction where no sound could be heard.

And there, I saw Lee Seo-yeon, who had drawn her sword and was using it as a shield to block the shockwave from the grenade.

As if she had expected this to happen.

Thud.

As soon as I landed on the ground, I fired my dual pistols at Lee Seo-yeon.

I mixed in special bullets with regular ones, firing them intermittently.

But Lee Seo-yeon suddenly injected magical power into the ground, momentarily hovering in mid-air, as if she had anticipated this.

Cha Jae-jae-jae-jaejaeng─!

With an almost unbelievable level of visual acuity and reflexes, I swung my sword, deflecting bullets.

And now, perhaps having recognized that the special rounds were a different color from the regular ones, I did not deflect the gray shock rounds as they approached.

Instead, I wrapped my body in magical energy moment by moment, allowing the shock rounds to hit me.

Bang, bang bang!

Using the shockwave from the rounds, I escaped the area coated in sticky goo.

In contrast, Arthur and Asuka were—

“Cough… to be caught like this again….”

“Yikes… it’s so sticky…!”

Like Lee Seo-yeon, they seemed unable to block the shockwave from the grenades.

Stuck fast to the sticky goo on the ground, they were unable to move an inch.

I pulled the trigger of my gun towards them.

Puff!

The two, caught completely off guard, fell silent as rubber bullets struck their foreheads.

As soon as I confirmed that, I searched for Lee Seo-yeon.

‘…Huh?’

But the Lee Seo-yeon who had just been flying through the air was nowhere to be seen.

I quickly scanned my surroundings.

At the same time, I wondered why my talent, ‘Sharpshooter’s Keen Sense (A+),’ had not activated.

However, that question was resolved as I recalled the effect of the talent.

‘…No killing intent?’

While I could visually perceive the direction of the attack, real-time tracking and action detection only activated once ‘killing intent (殺氣)’ was sensed.

But Lee Seo-yeon was merely fighting due to the practice; she held no ‘malice’ towards me, which is why the effect of my talent did not trigger.

Moreover, she was someone with exceptional combat sense.

‘…Did she notice?’

Well, I had reacted immediately every time she attempted to attack.

Even without a combat sense, she was observant enough to have roughly grasped the effect of my talent.

With that in mind, I set up mines around me through teleportation, sharpening my senses.

And I maintained a state of tension, ready to fire the moment she appeared.

Time flowed for a brief moment.

Zing—.

I felt a sharp sensation at the crown of my head.

I immediately lifted my gaze.

There, I saw a sword hurtling toward me.

…It was none other than Arthur’s skill, ‘Meteor Fall.’

But right now, Arthur was unconscious.

That means this ‘Meteor Fall’ is a mimic skill of Lee Seoyeon’s….

‘…Wait a second.’

If that’s the case, then Lee Seoyeon is….

Kwahwahwahwahng—!

As soon as I grasped her plan, the sound of a landmine exploding reached my ears.

‘…Oh no.’

I lowered my head to confirm, and there was Lee Seoyeon, enveloped in magical energy, charging at me like a bulldozer, plowing through the landmines.

Of course, with each explosion, the effect of Super Accuracy activated, causing her magical energy to penetrate and significantly diminish.

But like Arthur, Lee Seoyeon had an enormous amount of magical energy, and each time her magical armor was stripped away, she replenished it anew.

Seeing her like that, I fired a shock grenade at the sword hovering above me.

There was still a bit of distance, so it was safe to fire the shock grenade.

Kwahng—, clang!

The sword struck by the shock grenade was sent flying away, its skill canceled due to the magical penetration and shockwave.

As soon as I witnessed that scene, I stomped the ground and jumped back.

With the sensation of my body flying backward, I unleashed a barrage of gunfire toward Lee Seoyeon.

And I thought.

This time, I didn’t have much money, so I could only make special rounds for the pistol.

But next time, when I have more money, I’ll definitely make rifle rounds and shotgun shells.

Tatatatatatang—!

The sound of gunfire echoed continuously.

Simultaneously, flames erupted from the muzzles of the two pistols as the special rounds were fired.

Starting with shock grenades, followed by incendiary rounds, freeze rounds, lightning rounds, binding rounds, and many other special rounds surged toward Lee Seoyeon.

However, it seemed that she had also mimicked Arthur’s talent, ‘Exceptional Fighter,’ as she deflected the special rounds with the magical gauntlets wrapped around her hands.

Every time that happened, the shock grenade detonated its shockwave.

The fire, ice, and lightning grenades triggered elemental explosions.

The binding grenade restrained her body.

But armed with magical power, Lee Seo-yeon was, quite literally, a bulldozer—no, she was no different from a tank.

Tap.

As her body, which had been floating in the air for a moment, fell to the ground.

The instant my feet touched the floor, I jumped back and continued firing at Lee Seo-yeon.

But the distance between us was closing rapidly.

When I was almost within reach, I threw off the grenade belt that was wrapped around my body.

And just as I was about to pull the trigger on the grenade belt—

I hesitated.

Lee Seo-yeon, who had been approaching menacingly, suddenly stopped in her tracks.

Seeing that, I too halted and asked.

“Why did you stop?”

As I asked that,

“I won.”

Lee Seo-yeon replied that she had won.

“…You won? Who did?”

“We did.”

As soon as I heard that, I raised my wrist, which was wearing a smartwatch.

And when I checked the hero team’s mission objectives:

[Hostages 3/3]

All the hostages had been rescued.

In a voice filled with disbelief, I asked her,

“…When did you rescue the hostages?”

The moment I asked that,

“While you all were fighting, I rescued them.”

From the sky, Noah descended, bathed in a brilliant light.

On Noah’s back, the hostages were tied up.

I looked at Noah and asked.

『No alarm sounded, so how did you find us?』

“Mr. Park Sung-woo told me. He said there were traps everywhere where the hostages were, so be careful.”

Thud.

Noah, who had climbed down to the floor, carefully laid down the hostages he had on his back and continued speaking.

“So I set up a perimeter. I checked every building where the hostages might be.”

『…….』

It was Noah, after all.

And it was a method that only Noah could pull off.

Because there was no one else with his divine power.

『…Huh.』

I let out a sigh of frustration, putting away the guns in my hands into the holsters on my tactical vest and inventory.

And then I plopped down on the floor, saying:

『I lost.』

Then, Lee Seo-yeon approached me and swiftly removed the mask I was wearing.

“Ah.”

The mask was off.

The concept that had been stuck in my head like hypnosis was released.

I was no longer the fictional villain “Crow,” but “Lee Yoo-jin” again.

At the same time,

“Ah… damn it…….”

The shame that had been suppressed for a moment erupted like a cola with mentos.

I couldn’t help but hang my head in shame.

I couldn’t bear to look up.

I wanted to hide somewhere, feeling like I was going to die from embarrassment.

But Lee Seo-yeon, who didn’t know how I was feeling, grabbed my chin and gently lifted my head, wiping the sweat from my face with a handkerchief.

Then, holding my two hands, she said:

“Villain ‘Crow’ captured.”

…She said she had caught Crow.

I hung my head again, feeling defeated.

&

&

&

After the villain response training ended.

We returned to the classroom.

And shortly after.

Kang Cheol-soo entered, shouting.

“Alright, this time we’ll review the practical training we just did by watching the video.”

With that, he fiddled with his smartwatch.

Suddenly, the classroom darkened like a movie theater, and a large holographic screen appeared in front of us.

At the same time, the villain response training video began to play.

And what appeared in the video was….

“I am not the top student you know.”

“What’s here now is Crow.”

“…a villain who hunts those who don’t seem like heroes.”

…my dark past.

Kang Cheol-soo pointed at me and said.

“The MVP of today’s training, no matter what anyone says, is Lee Yoo-jin.”

“So let’s all give a round of applause to Lee Yoo-jin for playing the villain so excellently!”

At those words, applause erupted from all around.

And I, in that moment.

Thud.

Banged my head against the desk.