Everything that needed to be done at the Hero Academy had been taken care of.
But then a terrorist attack broke out at a large shopping mall nearby.
It happened to be led by a named villain, of all things.
For safety's sake, we decided to wait at the Academy for the time being.
As it turned out, though, that villain was someone I knew well.
Since the Association had almost no information on him, I extended a helping hand to build goodwill with the heroes.
The response was far better than I'd anticipated.
"Is that… truly the case?"
"Of course, this would be my personal assistance — not Black Cell's."
The moment Dean Baek So-a heard this, she lit up like a person who'd stumbled upon an oasis in the middle of a desert.
I paused to think about why, and then I remembered the value this body of mine carried.
From the Dean's perspective, the odds of finding a breakthrough had just risen dramatically.
Naturally, she had some reservations, and she voiced the question on her mind.
"I'm truly grateful that you're willing to help, Maxwell, but why on earth would you…."
"Think of it as the lament of a salaryman who just wants to clock out early."
It was an answer anyone could relate to, and the Dean couldn't find a single word to argue with.
After that, Dean Baek So-a decided to take my hand.
Her authority also turned out to be considerable — through her, I was able to access every piece of information and every record the Association had collected on Air Bomb.
"There's quite an extensive archive of past records here."
"I'd appreciate it if you understood that this reflects how hard we work to deal with villains."
Seeing the videos and documents organized so neatly, it was clear that the Hero Association — the cornerstone of the forces of good — was genuinely competent.
The Dean then pulled up CCTV footage of Air Bomb on her laptop and walked me through it.
"This is footage from when a pro hero was dispatched to apprehend Air Bomb."
"A Transformation-type ability that turns the body to steel… That would be Titanium Man."
He was a formidable hero capable of enhancing even his physical abilities.
Yet even Titanium Man, with his vaunted defensive power, could do little more than endure Air Bomb's indiscriminate carpet bombing.
The explosions spread outward in an instant, and he was forced to abandon the pursuit, letting Air Bomb slip away.
Just from this footage alone, I could confirm this was the Air Bomb I knew.
That said, he didn't appear to have full control over his abilities yet.
Now that I had a reasonable read on Air Bomb, I moved on to reviewing the CCTV from the shopping mall where the attack had taken place.
"A great many people have died."
"………………"
Across most of the mall's sections, rivers of innocent blood were flowing.
Dean Baek So-a and Secretary An, who were watching the footage alongside me, kept their silence.
I immediately skipped ahead and checked a different location.
In one area, my eyes landed on the mutants who had taken part in the attack.
[ GUARANTEE THE SOCIAL RIGHTS OF MUTANTS!! ]
[ HAPPINESS FOR THE NON-HUMANS!! FREEDOM!! ]
[ HAHAHAHA!!! THIS IS OUR RIGHTEOUS FURY!! ]
The terrorists were celebrating as though they'd pulled off some kind of revolution.
It's because of people like them that mutants who were just minding their own business end up suffering for it.
I was clicking my tongue inwardly when, at last, the bat mutant appeared on screen.
Air Bomb.
He carried himself as though he were some kind of messiah.
[ THE AGE OF MUTANTS IS FINALLY UPON US!!! ]
[ AIR BOMB!! AIR BOMB!! AIR BOMB!! ]
It looked like something out of a cult.
I'd thought I was past being affected by this, having seen so many bodies already.
But watching this massacre play out directly in front of me, revulsion surged up from somewhere deep.
'So this is what they call internecine hatred.'
It was a bitter situation, and I let out a sigh — but the circumstances were more serious than I'd expected.
With every passing moment, the civilians and hostages barely managing to hide would keep dying.
I turned to the Dean and asked what I needed to know.
"Dean, do the terrorists have any demands?"
"A ransom for the hostages, and military armored vehicles to ensure their safe escape. They've even declared that if we refuse, they'll kill all the hostages and blow up the city's gas lines."
Air Bomb's ability was limited to compressing air and detonating it, so that threat about the gas was obviously a bluff.
The problem was that the Association currently had far too little information. As a result, Air Bomb had managed to escape even after carrying out this attack.
It seemed the scenario where the future protagonist — who possessed the Ability Seal — would be the one to subdue Air Bomb was now playing out.
In a way, I was stealing one of the protagonist's minor achievements, and that did give me a small pang of conscience.
But then the footage caught a child on the floor, desperately shaking their fallen parents and pleading for them to wake up — and that pang vanished in an instant.
With my mind made up, I borrowed the Dean's laptop, pulled up every piece of recorded footage, and made a show of speed-reading through all of it.
As I continued to look the part of someone who knew exactly what they were doing, everyone in the office was staring at me with curious eyes.
"Air Bomb is both a Manifestation-type and a Manipulation-type."
What would only be confirmed after this incident was over came spilling out of my mouth.
"Specifically, the Manifestation-type appears to be telekinesis, and the Manipulation-type appears to be compression."
"Is that truly the case?"
"I can't say for certain, but these two seem the most probable. In any case, it's a remarkably powerful combination of abilities. The limitations, however, appear to be clear."
I showed the Dean and Secretary An footage of every instance where Air Bomb's explosions originated from directly in front of him.
Naturally, it seemed the Association had already noticed this.
"The explosions do only occur in the direction he's facing, but I understand the Association has already attempted to obstruct Air Bomb's line of sight."
"That's reassuring. But have you considered Air Bomb's mutant characteristics?"
Mutants tend to follow the traits of their corresponding animal to some degree.
Air Bomb is a bat-type mutant.
Contrary to what most people assume, however, bats don't necessarily have poor eyesight — it varies considerably by species.
On top of that, they use ultrasound for echolocation.
In other words, they can perceive their surroundings through sound waves.
"Air Bomb's air explosions currently occur only within his perceptual range — specifically, within his line of sight. To subdue him safely, you'll need to block both his vision and his hearing. And lastly… would you take a look at this?"
This was footage of Air Bomb starting a fire inside the building.
The villain clashed with armed police in a smoke-filled corridor.
But he was using only a strangely weak level of telekinesis.
It could be dismissed as nothing — he seemed to be trying to slip away without causing a scene.
Yet the moment Dean Baek So-a saw it, she paused.
Having faced countless villains over the years, she appeared to immediately grasp what kind of constraint Air Bomb was operating under.
She reached over and took the laptop from me, then reviewed every single moment of Air Bomb using his abilities.
Her expression shifted into one of understanding.
"…His chest expands significantly just before he uses his ability."
"He must be able to activate his compression ability only when he takes a deep breath and exhales."
In other words, if you prevent him from breathing properly, Air Bomb's abilities weaken drastically.
That covered all of Air Bomb's weaknesses.
A concrete plan to apprehend the named villain began to take shape.
*****************
I arrived at the large shopping mall where the attack had taken place, alongside Dean Baek So-a.
The area was already crowded — reporters hungry for a story, countless civilians who'd come to gawk at the disaster, armed police, and heroes holding their positions.
There were a few heroes I recognized among them.
"Oh?! Maxwell?!"
"What brings you here?!"
"We meet again. Good to see you, Solar Flare, Sunray."
Given the scale of the incident, it seemed some of the more powerful heroes had been assembled.
Deploying Solar Flare, who was practically invincible, would have been the obvious best move here.
But the attack had taken place in a large shopping mall, of all places.
"If only there were no sprinklers…."
"Haha, Solar Flare's weakness is rather well known."
In a large, open space like the front of Black Cell's building, Sunray's flame manipulation could prevent the sprinklers from activating. But the ceilings in a shopping mall were far too low — even a small flame would set off a downpour.
And as I'd always said when talking about Solar Flare — she wasn't just weakened by getting wet. Getting soaked broke her invincibility entirely.
In the end, it seemed the Association had given up on deploying her.
In any case, the moment Dean Baek So-a arrived on the scene, the police and heroes visibly relaxed.
We went straight into the command center and briefed them on Air Bomb's abilities.
"I thought something was off — so he had exceptional eyesight all along."
"That's why the tear gas didn't stop him from using his ability. The ultrasound."
"Even knowing Air Bomb's weaknesses, there are still significant complications."
There was the considerable challenge of figuring out how to seal a named villain's abilities.
Then there was the gunfire from his followers, and the matter of rescuing the hostages.
On top of that, there was the variable of potentially having ability users among the followers.
It was, by any measure, a daunting large-scale operation.
But Dean Baek So-a told everyone not to worry and rallied the room.
"As it happens, there's a young girl here who can be of tremendous help."
As all eyes turned toward her, the Dean smiled and glanced to the side.
Standing there, hiding behind me, was Victory.
Everyone's faces demanded an explanation, so I gave them one.
"This is Victory. She has the Acceleration Ability."
"What?! The Acceleration Ability?!"
"Ah! So that's why the Dean—!"
I had never intended to involve Victory in this operation.
But back in the office, she had kept insisting she wanted to step up, refusing to back down.
It was probably because she wanted to earn my praise.
Still, a bullet once fired was essentially a love letter to Victory asking her to kill it — it stood no chance.
Honestly, the strange one was Gloria for being able to keep up with Victory's speed.
In an actual fight, even pro heroes would lose to Victory as she was now, without exception.
Of course, unlike Gloria, Victory still couldn't control her strength well.
And entrusting everything to a ten-year-old girl was genuinely insane.
Dean Baek So-a had been firmly opposed to Victory participating in combat.
Instead, the Dean proposed a different approach.
In the operations room, she produced a star-shaped sticker and laid out the plan.
*******************
While Maxwell was speaking with Dean Baek So-a.
A great tragedy descended upon a large shopping mall.
It was a catastrophe that looked like a sea of blood and mountains of corpses, and the hostages were gripped by overwhelming terror.
Air Bomb, the ringleader of the attack, and his followers were riding high on their momentum.
"With this, mutants will become the backbone of society!!"
"Damn non-powered scum!!"
"Hahahaha! Weak as you are, you dare defy us? In the end, you're just slabs of meat that bleed when you die!!"
Thud!!
If the government simply gave in to Air Bomb's demands, countless mutants would flock to him.
A massive organization would naturally form, and Air Bomb could become a true messiah for the mutants of Korea….
That was the delusional fantasy Air Bomb had sunk into.
Unfortunately for him, there existed ability users far more powerful than he was.
Ping────!!!!
"Huh?"
"What?"
"Eh?"
Something suddenly passed through the midst of the terrorists.
Moving at a speed invisible even to the enhanced eyesight of mutants, something sprinted through the shopping mall in a blur.
Air Bomb, capable of using ultrasound, did sense someone approaching him.
Slap!!
"Ugh?!"
Sadly, by the time he registered it, Victory had already stuck something on him and was gone.
Having completed her task, Victory smashed through a second-floor window and leapt out.
She flew straight into Maxwell's arms, where he was waiting in a safe location.
"Maxwell! Maxwell! Did Victory do good?!"
"Of course. You were absolutely perfect."
"Hehehehe!!"
Dean Baek So-a had mapped out a route for Victory that avoided as many bodies as possible.
The sticker Victory had just placed on Air Bomb was one the Dean had created through magic.
Whoever it was attached to would have their vision and hearing disrupted, and a curse causing breathing difficulties would take hold.
It only lasted ten minutes.
The moment the Dean confirmed the curse was working, she launched the operation immediately.
Seizing the window when Air Bomb was at his most weakened, the heroes and armed police moved into the shopping mall.
But the mutants were physically powerful by nature.
And they were armed — the department store descended into chaos in an instant.
On top of that, when their leader Air Bomb began writhing on the ground for reasons they couldn't fathom, his followers moved to execute the hostages on the spot.
Click!
"Wh— what?! Why won't the gun—?!"
"I'm afraid I can't allow that."
"Huh?!"
"Sh— she's insane!! A magic user—!!"
Boom!!
The possibility of an additional massacre unfolding in an instant was eliminated entirely.
Thanks to that, Dean Baek So-a, who had entered the department store through magic, shut down the firearms in the vicinity.
She cut through the villains and pulled the hostages to safety.
And Maxwell, watching all of it from outside, let out a breath of relief alongside the command staff.
"Phew… Thank goodness…."
"Thank you so much for your help this time, Maxwell."
"I merely offered the Dean some advice."
"Haha, I'll have to keep buying Black Cell stock."
The remaining variable was whether any of the terrorists had ability users among them.
The reports coming in indicated the terrorists were being subdued quickly with no significant casualties.
The command staff must have judged that things were largely under control.
Emergency responders were about to move in to treat the injured inside the department store.
Crash!!
Someone burst through a window from the upper floors.
They had a distinctly unusual appearance, and everyone outside recognized them immediately.
"Air Bomb?! And that's…."
"Likely his closest subordinate."
Severely weakened, Air Bomb had taken heavy damage from the heroes' attacks.
His follower had thrown himself out of the building in a desperate bid to escape.
But falling from that height, their fate was easy to predict.
Then something no one had anticipated happened.
BOOM!! I HAVE TO SURVIVE!!
Air Bomb's closest subordinate was a teleporter.
The ability appeared to have significant limitations — only Air Bomb vanished into thin air mid-fall.
The subordinate plummeted straight down and died on impact.
Through a pointless act of camaraderie born from the terrorists' misplaced loyalty, Air Bomb had escaped somewhere.
The heroes and police on standby outside were stunned.
Maxwell rubbed his face with one hand.
'Normally, they never negotiate with terrorists… Right, something felt off about this….'
Giving in to a terrorist's demands only invited copycat hostage situations or funneled resources into further attacks — it was a recipe for a second and third incident.
In the original timeline, the Association and police had taken heavy losses but managed to bring this attack to a close regardless.
Maxwell realized that Air Bomb had escaped by the exact same method as in the current timeline.
He let out a long, slow breath, then looked at the head of his security detail standing beside him.
The man read the meaning in that gaze, gave a single nod, and disappeared somewhere.
And so the terrorist attack at the large shopping mall came to an end.
Of course, the unprecedented situation of the ringleader, Air Bomb, having fled sent the scene spiraling back into frantic activity.
But amid all the chaos, time flowed more slowly for Victory than for anyone else.
The girl looked up at Maxwell's face.
The warm gaze he had turned on her just moments ago was nowhere to be found.
In its place was something cold and ruthless.
Even so, the white rabbit stared at her guardian's unfamiliar expression — and felt her heart begin to race.