Chapter 45: Goblins Don't Do That (1)
To be honest, I had half a mind to intervene, but I was hoping the situation would resolve itself without my involvement.
Even while hiding in the alley, I considered not taking off my clothes and just enduring it. But the moment I saw Yoon Iseon, my body moved on its own.
[Are you okay?]
“Ah, yes…!”
Yoon Iseon’s gaze at me was a bit overwhelming.
While I did save her, her looking at me as if I were a hero who saved her from danger, really put pressure on me.
After all, I was a villain, not a hero.
[Heh, hehehe, you finally showed up, fake!!]
[I wonder who is calling who a fake.]
[You look like a fake because I think you’re a fake!]
Yook Gibong laughed at me as he swung his cane.
[Look, this very appearance is proof that I am the real ‘Rider’! You also knew that, that’s why you appeared in that form!]
He was not making sense.
In a conversation, there should be a back-and-forth, but Yook Gibong was just talking, immersed in his own world.
[So, you’re saying I appeared in this form because I acknowledge you as the real deal?]
[Of course! I don’t know what you did, but now I am the master of this form! The image of a helmeted rider is mine, Yook Gibong, the original!]
[I see.]
I extended my hands slightly forward.
Clap, clap, clap.
[Congratulations.]
[What…?]
[Whether you’re Gipong Rider or whatever, as an ability user, bringing your delusions to reality is your power. I don’t care what ability you had before, but the power I see coming from you now clearly reveals a tremendous ‘ego’.]
[Cut to the chase!]
[…In simpler terms.]
I lightly tapped my temple with my index finger.
[It’s frightening to think about how much your delusions have to escalate for your power to manifest this strongly.]
[Wha, what…!!]
The crowd in the square burst into subdued laughter.
Whether they understood my words or not, everyone agreed that Yook Gibong’s delusion was excessively overboard.
[Ha, haha! That’s right! I am scary! I would be because I’m the real deal! Because I’m the true Rider!]
But Yook Gibong was already beyond the brink of madness.
His failed patent seemed to have been the trigger, and demonic wings appeared to be fluttering behind his back.
“Aaaargh!!”
Upon seeing his transformation into a real demon, people started to scream and flee.
Even with several heroes gathered, and even with the Goblin present, standing close to a real demon could end up with you being killed.
[Look at them! They’re running away from me! This proves that my power is even stronger than the Goblin’s!!]
[If even your self-delusions reach this point, it’s a serious condition.]
Well, that severe condition turned him into a demon.
[Yook Gibong. You’re a villain with a headache right now. Let me treat your head with this club.]
[No way!!]
Yook Gibong swung his cane at me.
[Transform! I am Yook Gibong! Today, we must determine who the real Rider is right here!]
[What did you say?]
[You came here to decide that, too, didn’t you? Transform, now!!]
[…….]
He wanted me to transform again in such a crowded place?
As in my Dodjirider form?
[If you don’t transform, I’ll start killing these people here, one by one!]
Now, he was even threatening murder.
[These worthless bugs without any abilities! Ha-ha-ha!]
The student who, just a day ago, was determined to walk the path of a hero had now lost all reluctance to kill people. This must undoubtedly be the influence of a demon.
Demons could reside anywhere, anytime, in anyone.
In martial arts novels, it was referred to as the “inner demon”. In the East, it was called Mara, and in far-off Western religions, it was called Satan.
[There’s no limit to your arrogance.]
If we’re considering one of the seven deadly sins, the demon that now possessed Yook Gibong was the demon of pride.
He was deluded into believing he was the ‘strongest’, ensnared by the illusion that he was the ‘real deal’. He saw those without abilities as ‘incompetents’, thinking highly only of himself.
[No matter how the world perceives you, I have made up my mind right here. You are.]
After I pointed the end of my club towards Yook Gibong.
[A villain not even worth punishing.]
[What… did you say…?]
I lightly shook the club, making it disappear into a mist.
Although it was more of a reverse summoning than a disappearance.
[I came to see the villain who claimed to be me, only to find a waste of time. It would be better to use this time to catch villains who are actually killing people and running away.]
[Ha, haha…! Are you scared?!]
I didn’t fall for the provocation.
[Rather than being scared, it’s beneath me to argue whether your transformed self is real or fake.]
Executing someone like him would be an insult to the villains I’ve punished so far.
This imbecile couldn’t even become a villain properly.
[This form is more fitting to face you.]
[What…?]
This was working out quite well.
There was no better way to wean people off their excessive Dodjirider ‘high’.
[Transform.]
There was no belt.
Instead, in my hand appeared a fan filled with traditional elegance.
[I told you, I’m a passing Scholar Goblin.]
As I unfolded and folded the fan and started to transform-
“Wait, wait!!”
Someone called out to me.
When I slightly turned my head to the side, it was the vice-chairman who had stopped me and Yoon Iseon from running off earlier.
“You’re not going to transform into another form, are you?! Goblin!”
[…….]
“That fan is part of our tradition! Don’t tell me you’re going to transform into a scholar wearing a Durumagi here!!”
Why was he suddenly spouting such nonsense?
No, more importantly, how did he know?
“Transform into Dodjirider! If you don’t transform into Dodjirider in this situation, it’s a betrayal!”
[Betrayal?]
“Yes! Everyone is watching! Transform into Dodjirider!!”
[……What a crazy thing to say.]
Though I said that, to be honest, I was too flustered to transform as I had planned.
“Transform….”
“Eh, don’t tell me, he’s transforming into a scholar?”
“Wow, that would really be a disappointment… After being the first to become a Dodjirider….”
The stag beetle-shaped Rider, the cyclist, the Five Special Force Rangers, and those who had rushed here wearing the Mech-Tyranno suits were all looking at me with expectant eyes.
‘No, you guys, I’m a villain.’
What on earth did they want from a villain?
Even if they were pursuing romance, there should be a limit to it, right?
‘Well, their enthusiasm is understandable.’
In front of the fake claiming to be real, the real one appeared.
The real one outright denied the fake and provoked the fake by claiming to be the real one.
[There’s a story in a traditional folktale. A mouse eats a tiger’s claw and transforms into the tiger, driving the real one out of the house. Do you know how that story ends?]
Whirring.
I reached out my hand.
[The transformed fake mouse was killed by the real one.]
A belt appeared in my hand, and I took a stance while sighing deeply inwardly.
When I stealthily looked back, Yoon Iseon was pointing her Taeguk Watch at me and swallowing her saliva.
It was not like she was doing a fancam…
‘Is it a real fancam?’
A fancam, there?
It was a bit absurd, but it was somewhat understandable if she had been active in the fan club since I was a C-class.
‘Let’s think of it as fan service.’
Those gathered here came to suppress the villain’s rampage, but they were also the ones who gathered because the villain claimed to be the Dodjirider.
In other words.
Half of those gathered here were followers of Dodjirider—more precisely, followers of Dodjirider’s design.
[READY—!]
A sonorous voice rang out as soon as I pressed the belt.
Waaahhhh——!!
I wanted to ask why they were so thrilled, but I leisurely strapped the belt around my waist.
[Trans-]
At the moment when I was about to call out the final phrase.
[Ha-ha-ha!]
A six-chambered revolver was…
[Die, you fake!!]
raised.
No.
He attacked me while I was transforming…?
Bang!
The gun barrel was aimed precisely at my forehead.
Yoon Iseon was an aspiring hero.
Therefore, she had no intention of advocating for the Goblin’s killing of villains.
But even though she couldn’t support his actions, she found herself rooting for him, albeit a little, in her heart.
Watching him take revenge on behalf of those who couldn’t even avenge their murdered families, Yoon Iseon felt an indescribable catharsis from the figure of the Goblin.
Yoon Iseon, the average person, not the aspiring hero, was a fan of the Goblin.
She had no intention of interfering in a hero’s job, but she couldn’t forgive those who claimed to be the Goblin and tried to take away his rights.
She couldn’t even forgive the ‘old men in the back’ who provoked a student into causing this situation.
Still, as a hero, the first thing to do was to persuade.
But when persuasion failed, and she was in danger, the Goblin appeared and saved her.
Although there was no need for him to save her, he kicked away the light post and appeared in front of her.
Not just because of her fandom but because she was moved by the Goblin’s actions.
She fell for him once again, for his actions of executing the guilty under the name of punishment and saving the innocent as if they were not guilty.
Although it was a bit disappointing that he appeared in the form of a suit-wearing gentleman, not as the Dodjirider, the Goblin seemed helpless and was about to transform ‘for her.’
However.
How could he do such a thing?
Even if the opponent was a villain, even if the villain was the Goblin.
‘Attacking during a transformation!’
She understood academically.
Heroes also learned this in the academy.
Villains had no rights, and there was no reason to show mercy to a villain.
“Danger-”
The moment Yoon Iseon was about to shoot a bead of mana that had gathered in her hand.
[Heh.]
Along with the Goblin’s scoffing laughter, golden mana spread forward from the Goblin’s belt.
Ka-gang!
[What, what?!]
The golden mana spreading around the Goblin obscured his figure in an instant. The bullet shot by the six-chambered revolver did not bounce off the mana but ‘split’ and disappeared into the air.
[Transformation.]
Flutter.
As the mana-induced wind died down, the Goblin revealed his figure by spreading his right hand to the side.
[Now, you foolish one who can’t even become a villain.]
As the Goblin flicked his right hand lightly to the side, a black club was created in his hand, along with a bunch of lights.
[It’s time for retribution.]
The Goblin began approaching the six-chambered revolver and its holder, pointing his club at him and tilting his head lightly to the side.
“Ah.”
Yoon Iseon was genuinely regretful.
‘I can’t see that from the front!’
Because the place where she was standing, of all places, was behind the Goblin.
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