The Hero is Hunting me!

Chapter 132: A New Mask

Damn it... there was no news that she’d be arriving today!

Lightnova stared at Indigo with a serious expression.

Indigo swallowed nervously.

Ugh... for some reason, I can tell she’s in a really bad mood.

The king standing beside Indigo looked furious.

He opened his mouth and shouted at Lightnova.

"Hey!! Who are you!? How dare you destroy someone else’s property!!"

Indigo glanced at the king in panic.

Has this idiot gotten tired of living? I need to get out of here...

Indigo slowly began activating his power.

But in the next instant, Lightnova moved.

She appeared right in front of him and grabbed his arm.

Indigo’s eyes widened.

She’s... even faster than before... Looks like she’s been training really hard.

"You’re not going anywhere."

Lightnova said with a stern gaze.

"O-Okay!!"

Indigo blurted out instinctively in panic.

The king beside him stared in disbelief.

He threw a punch at Lightnova.

Without even looking at him, Lightnova casually kicked him away.

The king was launched into the wall, cracking it upon impact.

She never even glanced in his direction.

Indigo looked stunned.

"My goodness... You’re really angry. What made you this upset?"

"Couldn’t you wait until I got back before carrying out your crimes?"

"Eh...?"

Indigo blinked in confusion.

"W-Why would I have to wait for you?"

Hearing that, Lightnova immediately turned her face away.

A faint blush spread across her cheeks.

"Uhm..."

What exactly does this beautiful woman want...? Maybe I should tease her a little.

"Hm~? Are you jealous because another hero might deal with me instead of you?"

Lightnova’s face instantly became even redder.

She looked back at Indigo with an embarrassed expression.

"A-As if!!"

With one hand still gripping his arm, Lightnova effortlessly lifted Indigo into the air.

His eyes widened in shock.

The next moment—

She slammed him into the floor.

BOOM—

The impact shattered the floor beneath them.

"U-Ugh..."

Lightnova froze.

She stared at what she had just done.

She had acted entirely on reflex out of embarrassment.

"Oh my goodness! I’m so sorry!"

she exclaimed, immediately kneeling beside Indigo.

At that very moment—

Massive tree roots burst through the hole Lightnova had created.

Floral and Sword Ink arrived, standing atop the roots.

"Lightnova!"

Floral called out.

Lightnova turned toward them.

"Ah! Floral! Sword Ink!"

The two heroes hurried over.

"How’s the situation here?"

"Well... everything’s under control. I also managed to capture— huh?"

Lightnova turned back toward where Indigo had been lying.

He was gone.

"Hm? What’s wrong?"

"E-Eh... it’s nothing... I captured the owner of this aircraft... but Indigo managed to escape."

"Hah... I see. As expected, you’re the only one who can fight Indigo. The two of us aren’t capable of facing him."

"Hahaha..."

Lightnova let out an awkward laugh.

Tch... He escaped again... Next time, I definitely won’t let him get away!

---

At Yoo Jinhoo’s house.

Indigo teleported back home.

He rubbed his head with a pained expression.

"Ugh... My head hurts so much... I shouldn’t have done that earlier..."

He removed his mask.

Looking closely at it, he noticed a crack running across its surface.

"Seriously... Just one slam was enough to crack my mask like this..."

He placed it on the living room table.

His eyes wandered around the house.

Where is everyone?

He walked toward the hallway where all the bedrooms were.

Every light was off.

However, a faint glow leaked from beneath one of the doors.

"Hmm?"

Jinhoo looked toward it.

Min-seo’s room.

He walked over and slowly opened the door.

Everyone was gathered inside, enthusiastically playing CraftMine together.

Eh...? They’re all playing in here? I couldn’t hear anything from outside the room...

Jinhoo glanced at the walls.

They were completely covered with soundproof panels.

"Huh... No wonder I couldn’t hear anything..."

Hearing the door open, everyone turned toward him.

"Ah! Oppa!!"

Min-seo called out.

"Oppa! Come over here! We’re playing!"

"Ah, no, you guys go ahead. I’m going to take a shower first."

"Alright then!"

Min-seo replied.

"So-ah!! Stop blowing up my base with TNT!!"

Min-seo shouted.

"So what!? You’re the one who killed my pet dog first!"

"I already told you! It was an accident!"

So-ah stuck out her tongue at Min-seo.

Min-seo pouted in frustration.

Jinhoo smiled faintly.

Alright... time for a shower.

He quietly closed the door behind him.

---

A few minutes later.

Jinhoo finished showering and relaxed on his favorite sofa.

"Ah... Finally, I can relax for a bit."

He picked up the TV remote and turned it on.

Then he grabbed his black mask from the table.

"Hmm... I can’t keep making new masks like this... They’re way too expensive..."

Ah! I’ve got an idea.

---

Inside a sewer.

Jinhoo walked through the tunnels.

"Ugh... Why did the author make this blacksmith’s shop hidden down here? This place stinks."

he muttered with annoyance.

Eventually, he arrived at the main underground chamber.

He opened the door.

Inside was a fully equipped blacksmith’s workshop.

A man with messy ash-blond curly hair stood there.

He looked around twenty-nine years old.

His tired eyes immediately turned toward the visitor.

"Hmm? Oh! A customer. It’s been a long time since anyone came here."

he said.

Jinhoo gave him a faint smile.

Renald. A supernatural blacksmith. His power allows him to create materials and fuse different kinds of materials together. Despite possessing such an incredible ability, he never wanted to become either a hero or a villain. He chose neutrality instead, crafting equipment for both sides. In the end, he became a blacksmith hidden away in a place like this. That’s everything I know about him from the webtoon.

"Hm... This is my first time seeing you. How did you find this place? Only a handful of people even know I exist."

Renald asked.

Jinhoo smiled awkwardly.

"Uh... I just took a guess."

"Amazing! You actually guessed that a professional blacksmith like me would be hiding here!"

"Well... I’d also heard a few rumors about someone like you, though nothing was confirmed. Luckily, my guess turned out to be right. By the way..."

"Could you help me?"

"Of course!"

Renald replied as he walked over.

Jinhoo took his mask from inside his clothes.

"Can you make another mask exactly like this one?"

"Absolutely! That’s incredibly easy for me."

"Oh, and I also want you to fuse it with another material."

"Of course. What material do you want me to fuse into it?"

"Graphene."

"..."

Renald fell silent for a moment before speaking again.

"You do know what graphene is, right?"

"Of course. That’s exactly why I want you to fuse it."

"Huh... It may sound simple to you, but not to me. Producing graphene drains ninety-eight percent of my power for an entire day, and that’s only enough to create twenty-seven percent of the required material! It’s incredibly difficult!"

"I’ll pay extra."

"Deal!"

Renald answered without a second thought.

’Huh... This guy really is obsessed with money.’