Chapter 357 – The Secret Life of a Sidekick (3)

Before going to bed, I used the skill link and used Yeonyeong Shinkong (連影神功) to accumulate some mana in my body.

The efficiency is very poor and the effectiveness of combat sleep seems to have decreased as I am tired when I wake up early in the morning.

Does it really feel like you’ve gained about 10% of your original power? Baekyeom and Shadogi seemed like they couldn’t even dream of it.

“It’s okay even if you don’t have that.”

When I woke up in the morning and checked my smartphone, I saw that the villain I killed yesterday was called Gunman.

Although he was a villain who died without living long anyway, it was a disposable name given because he had to be listed as a dead person.

The slayer is the Blaze King, and my reputation seems to have increased slightly.

“If it were infamous, it would be quicker to kill the hero.”

When I went into the bathroom and took a shower, I looked at my body and saw that many of the bruises from being hit by a bullet yesterday had been removed.

This was at a level where I would be completely cured when I woke up, but I never thought it would be so uncomfortable to lose the effectiveness of combat sleep.

There is a little red mark left, but should I say I’m glad that it doesn’t hurt when I touch it? After washing myself cleanly, I took Shadow Fang’s suit and went to work at the Hero Association.

*

The association in Hero City has level 4 heroes.

Strength is determined by grade: S, A, B, C, but except for grades B and C, there is no significant difference.

Class C can be thought of as people without special abilities or aspiring heroes, and from Class B onwards, everyone has an ability.

Speaking of S-class, it feels like someone who transcends another class, but is a little stronger? I felt that way because I had seen an insurmountable wall a few times, but this was an opponent that Choi Sian could not defeat.

A world where it seems possible to conquer the world on your own if you can fully use Yu Xian’s power.

I took my pass, sat in the tiered auditorium, and waited for the morning briefing.

“Xian, isn’t Yuna coming today?”

At that time, a man approaching me while drinking coffee spoke.

When I traced Choi Sian’s memories, I found out that it was Kim Ji-ho, who could be considered a friend.

He is a B-level hero like me, called Flashman.

“I went running last night.”

“Oh, I guess so. I rested yesterday.”

He had the ability to shoot light from his fingertips, and used his power to disrupt the opponent’s vision by concentrating the light.

So he was almost called the night manager, and he definitely showed outstanding skills at night.

“The sidekick is B-class, so working at night will be a little difficult.”

“I’m sorry about that. Well, Mr. Yeon, you should still split up, right?”

As Kim Ji-ho said, night shifts were usually handled by B-class heroes, and A-class heroes took a break before heading out.

Originally, you had to take turns like I said, but somehow it became a bad habit that became entrenched.

Of course, that guy was much stronger at night, so he was absorbing the night allowance like a black hole.

A few A-class heroes sat in the front, followed by B-class and many C-class heroes.

And when it was time for the briefing, an executive from the association came and turned on the screen.

-Whoa!

-Tduduk!

“Ugh.”

“Mr. Ha.”

What was shown from the beginning of the briefing was a scene where I, in my guise as Blaze King, broke the gunman’s neck.

“That bastard took it again. Do you think it makes sense to let go of that idiot who would have taken down a B-class hero?!”

And the executive screamed.

“That civilian…”

Jiho Kim, sitting next to me, muttered softly.

As Kim Ji-ho said, A- and B-class heroes did not listen even if they screamed like that.

Except for one row of Class A, two rows of Class B, and those three rows, all the people in the auditorium are Class C or civilians.

It’s not for nothing that heroes with slightly lower performance like me get paid a lot of money to work for the association.

“Do you understand that the more villains like that run amok, the lower the status of our Hero Association?”

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

After hearing the reluctant answer, the executive frowned and turned to the next page.

There were eight villain incidents that occurred yesterday, including Gunman and Concrete, and the amount of civilian damage and loss that occurred in those incidents continued to be mentioned.

In some ways, it can be said to be insincere, but even if villains appear with the same abilities, the methods of dealing with them are different because the abilities of the people they are dealing with are different.

So, the current briefing is to give up on forcing people to learn and explain the cases in detail while shouting to reduce civilian casualties.

After the 8 cases were finished, I moved on to the next page.

“There is a story that a seed seller appeared in Area E.”

The A and B class heroes who were listening to the briefing as a way to kill time also opened their eyes and listened to the executive’s voice.

“In the case of hero suits, you can obtain them through various channels, and it is not a crime, but selling seeds is a serious crime, and you must capture them to obtain information.”

Seeds are substances that use people’s negative emotions to bloom and give them abilities while preventing them from making rational decisions.

Because they bloom negative emotions, most of them become villains, killing people and destroying cities.

Of course, villains like me who hunt villains but do not belong to the association are classified as dark heroes, but they are different from villains who appear as seeds.

There was a growing trend on the Internet that it was okay to become a villain if you could develop your abilities by eating seeds, and that was the biggest problem for the association.

“I will send you a message about the area you are responsible for today, so please check. This concludes the briefing.”

When the executive said that, everyone started leaving the table, and Kim Ji-ho, who stood up with me, spoke.

“Take care. I have to go to sleep anyway because it’s nighttime.”

Jiho Kim extended his fist towards me, and I clenched his fist and bumped him slightly.

“Yes. Please stay overnight.”

Kim Ji-ho, who is confirmed to work night shift, will probably go to sleep right away.

I came out of the auditorium, passed the hero looking at his smartphone, and went outside.

District A, where the Hero Association is located, is a neighborhood with tall buildings and many wealthy people.

There are areas B, C, and D surrounding area A, and areas E, F, G, and H surrounding the outside.

I thought it would be a good idea to enable Shadow Jump while patrolling the E area, which is adjacent to the D area where yesterday’s incident took place, so I decided to walk before the message was sent.

‘If only the mana consumption was less, I would have just jumped.’

It is true that Shadow Jump is an incredibly good mover, but I could use it at most twice with my mana.

Should I say that it consumes 40% of mana for one use? There are times when I need to use it during battle, so I always like to have extra mana left, so I tend not to use my abilities when patrolling.

At that time, a message came from the association.

[Shadow Fang. Patrolling in Area C in the morning, and patrolling in Area E after joining Impact Girl in the afternoon.]

“I write. Because without Impact Girl, there’s nothing I can do on my own.”

In the morning, I will quietly go to area C and spend some time.

At that time, another text message arrived.

[Shall we eat lunch at my house?]

Yuyeonah, text message from Impact Girl. Since my house is in area C, I thought it would be a good idea to meet there.

[Okay. What should I pack?]

[You don’t mind eating what you want for two, right?]

[I’ll patrol and buy something to eat nearby when I have time.]

[Okay. That would be nice too.]

Rather than talking to my boss, I exchanged text messages with Yuna that were more like lovers and took the bus to Zone C.

*

As you pass through Area A, which can be said to be safe because the association is closest, the building becomes slightly lower. Since it included areas B, C, and D, the three areas are sometimes called B-class areas, and a few villains tend to appear here.

The man I killed yesterday was on the outskirts of District D, so villains often appear in Class B areas as well.

The next region called the E~H region the integrated C region.

There were more people living there than in class B areas, and commerce was more developed as there were more people, so the smell of people living there was better.

Even the C-class areas had relatively good security, but the industrial areas, which were next in line, were a bit lacking in security.

Starting from Area I, the remaining areas are called industrial areas, but they were the widest in scope as they also included resource extraction areas.

As the area managed was large compared to the number of people, the problem was that the small number of heroes could not arrive on time when an incident occurred, but Shadow Fang, the only hero who could arrive on time, received a lot of criticism because he could only ‘arrive’. .

It would be great if he could take out the villain on his own, but Shadow Fang is known to be an unremarkable hero, aside from his overwhelming movement ability.

That stress also plays a role in living a double life as Blaze King.

I thought about making it public after I connected with Yeon-ah, but I already killed a few people, so it was a no-brainer.

“It will be quiet today.”

I boarded a quiet bus a little after rush hour and got off at Zone C.

Since I had to wear Shadow Fang’s suit and move around, I looked for a nearby association building and went in.

When an employee of the association saw me coming in, he stood up from his seat, looked at my face closely, and said.

“Uh… You’re Shadow Fang, right?”

“Yes. This morning’s patrol is in Area C.”

“The locker room is empty.”

I bowed my head and entered the dressing room.

After changing into Shadow Fang’s suit inside, I stamped my association pass in the cabinet and put the clothes I wore in the morning.

Now I need to spend some time wandering around Area C.

There was no need to advance the relationship because I looked good, and there was no quest to tell me to work hard as Shadow Fang.

Let’s patrol leisurely while thinking about the lunch menu.