Chapter 135: Do Ji-hwan's Ambitious Project (12)
“Anyway, people are diligently searching for Solar Platina. Just like when the Goblin first appeared, and everyone tried to uncover his actions and identity, the whole world is now focusing on Solar Platina.”
Since the topic of the Goblin came up, it was the perfect moment to mention something related to him.
“What do you think is the reason? S+ class combat power? Or abilities? The Golden Priestess costume?”
“The ability to purify demons into humans.”
Baek Seol-hee answered.
She was right.
“Yes. Yumir has the power to purify demons. Until now, demons had to be killed, but now the story is different. It’s like finding a cure for a disease that was thought to be incurable.”
Demonic corruption was a disease.
It was incurable, and those who became demons ended up as killing machines driven by mental derangement.
At first, they showed rational behavior.
They made logical decisions to resolve the reasons for their fall, but after that, only resentment and hatred for the world remained.
“All demons eventually try to kill humans. There has been no exception. The only difference is how long they can maintain their sanity. Everyone thought killing a demon was the only way to save it.”
“Is it different now?”
“Yes. Since Solar Platina can save demons, even they will seek him out.”
I opened the ‘demon’ entry on Villain Wiki.
Specifically, the demons listed there.
“Some demons might want to return to being human.”
This actually appeared in the original work.
It was an episode that came out in the latter part, an unpleasant theme of a sticky and unpleasant episode that had already made it hard for readers to follow.
“A demon who falls in love with a human, or a being who wants to turn a demon back into a human after giving birth to it.”
“…….”
“Yes. For an ability user, giving up their abilities is like a normal person amputating their limbs. It’s even worse. They’re losing something they were born with.”
“But still, there could be beings who need to be human again despite being demons.”
Yumir heavily echoed my words.
She must have met such a demon and felt a lot while purifying them.
It was a rare case, one in 6 billion, but such a case could change one’s outlook on life.
“Everyone values different things, and that’s true for demons too. I’m not condoning killing, just saying that among demons, there could be such beings.”
Yumir must have wanted to save demons because she had seen such cases.
“If I can save such people, I’ll go anywhere.”
Baek Seol-hee softly closed her eyes at Yumir’s strong will.
“Yumir, you’re choosing a difficult path.”
“Even if it’s hard, if I can save even one person from death, a little hardship is okay. Hehe.”
Just as I confirmed Yumir’s determination, Baek Seol-hee reaffirmed her mindset.
“It’s going to be tough for a hero not officially recognized by the government. You won’t get tax support, and you’ll have to walk the path of both a normal person and a hero.”
“That’s why I’m getting help now, right? From you, teacher. And if possible, I’d appreciate it if Seol-hee would pretend not to know too much about me.”
“Of course. I’m not the kind of person who would report Yumir to the government without tact. I’m very perceptive.”
“…….”
“Why no response? Is there something I don’t know?”
“It’s not that you’re tactless. It’s just that I wanted to mention one more thing.”
I quickly changed the subject.
“This.”
“Disappearing?”
“Yes. Like the Goblin, Solar Platina has this ability to suddenly disappear after a battle.”
Their abilities were fundamentally different.
But the result of vanishing from the battlefield and escaping people’s eyes was the same.
“People will think. Isn’t this obviously spatial movement? It actually is.”
A being that suddenly appeared out of thin air?
Anyone would think they have teleportation abilities.
“And they’ll think. Huh? Spatial movement? Then Solar Platina could suddenly appear anywhere in the world in a crisis?”
“That ability is….”
“Whether it’s possible or not, people will think. Since he appeared out of nowhere in Ulleungdo, they might think he could appear anywhere on the other side of the globe without any logical reason.”
The very thought of physical travel time would be erased.
“People will think that as an individual if they were suddenly in crisis, Solar Platina would appear out of nowhere and save me.”
When a demon tried to kill someone.
People might start expecting her to appear, shouting, “Save me, Solar Platina!!” in such situations.
It was understandable.
If Solar Platina could save even an adulterous fallen man in Ulleungdo, why wouldn’t she save a more righteous person like themselves? It was ‘only fair’.
If you were a just hero, you should fairly protect anyone in a crisis.
“Well, that’s good. Hoping that a hero will protect you is what anyone in crisis would think. But the government thinks differently.”
I brought out some documents.
“The government wants ability users who can be deployed anywhere at any time. Whether it’s a dangerous scene or not, they want ability users who can be immediately deployed. If Solar Platina could teleport anywhere in the country and deal with villains? If that happens…”
“… They’d want to use her 24/7, speaking in extremes.”
Baek Seol-hee hesitated with a bitter expression, then sighed deeply.
“The government had planned a project. The ‘Hero Designated Residence System.’ They planned to place S-class heroes in each metropolitan city and A, B… heroes in each city and neighborhood, like legislators.”
“They planned something like that?”
“Yes. Student Yumir, you might not know since you’re from abroad, but there was a major legislative discussion about this just 3 years ago. It was withdrawn due to a lot of controversy.”
Baek Seol-hee bitterly smiled and displayed a map of the Korean peninsula, splitting it into north, south, east, and west.
“If heroes are forcibly assigned to regions, those in the west would strongly protest. Especially…”
“Nobody would want to be in Seoul.”
Seoul was less popular than the Chungcheong and Jeolla provinces.
For ability users, what was important was being as close as possible to Sejong Island, whether it was on the mainland or at sea, more than infrastructure.
“Either go to a place where there are no people and thus no villains to deal with while still getting paid or stay in a populous place that’s closer to Sejong Island to enhance magical power or develop abilities.”
For ability users, magical power was most important.
In this era, being near other ability users, or in a ‘HeroSphere’ - Hero Sphere, was considered more important than being near subways or schools.
“At least the old capital region… the area around Seoul has become the most meaningless place for ability users in this country.”
That was why Seoul failed.
As heroes left Seoul; naturally, those in Seoul also moved closer to where the heroes were.
“In the midst of this, a spatial movement ability user appears. An ability user who can appear anywhere? Someone who can respond immediately to crises? Oh, what’s the use of talking about it.”
“If spatial movement ability users exist, there’s no need to send people to provinces.”
“The heroes will be happy. They told me to go to Seoul and be a hero, but now there’s no need to go to Seoul! Thinking like that.”
“That means dumping everything on Yumir.”
“That’s what I’m saying. Because she’s S+.”
Selfishness wasn’t exclusive to humans.
Correction.
Since ability users were also human, all humans were selfish.
“That’s why I’m helping Student Yumir. No matter what adversities she faces in the future, I want to protect her from those who try to exploit her. That’s why I called Seol-hee here.”
“…….”
“I know asking Seol-hee like this is the same as those disillusioned higher-ups’ disgusting requests and methods. Making an irresistible offer and then asking something like this.”
And I, too, was selfish.
“But still, Seol-hee. Will you help? So that Student Yumir doesn’t have to live 24 hours as Solar Platina, but can at least sometimes live as the human Yumir.”
“That’s sneaky. How can I refuse when you put it that way? I also want to be human Baek Seol-hee beside Ji-hwan.”
Baek Seol-hee extended her hand towards Yumir with a warm smile.
“Please take care of me, Yumir.”
“…Me too, please take care of me, Seol-hee…unni? Can I call you unni?”
“Yes, of course.”
Yumir clasped hands with Baek Seol-hee.
“…Please count on me in the future. Both of you. I’ll listen if you have any concerns, so feel free to talk to me anytime.”
I was confident in mental care for women more than anyone.
I, Do Ji-hwan.
Would protect these two women from all the cynicism of the world, ensuring they didn’t go berserk or insane.
Even if it meant sacrificing myself.
For the world.
For a world that would be safe and peaceful under the control of the alliance.
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