The Unawakened’s Lament and the Villain’s Spark

Su Mu woke up.

He was twenty-six, a man of a certain age, and had yet to awaken any superpowers.

“I wonder if it’s true that if you’re still a virgin at thirty, you’ll become a wizard?” Su Mu muttered, referencing an ancient meme.

He gazed at his cluttered rental apartment, where it was now nearly impossible to find a place to step.

“If that’s the case, another four years of holding out, and I’ll have something to look forward to, won’t I? And that condition isn’t difficult for me at all~”

Su Mu lived alone.

He laughed, and then, truly, tears began to fall.

“Ah, superpowers, the ultimate step to rise above all others…”

“Just give me spatial manipulation, and I could become a multi-millionaire with my own two hands! Not by robbing banks, but wouldn’t delivering packages be a much sweeter deal?”

Su Mu retrieved a can of Black Island beer from the mini-fridge.

He popped the tab with a single hand, a cool trick he’d once admired. Perhaps this was the culmination of growth and effort.

He constantly spoke of superpowers, yet he dismissed them as the pathetic delusions of a failure escaping reality. Yes, one could certainly put it that way.

Despite this, superpowers did undeniably exist in this world.

Just as all unreliable incidents were attributed to traffic accidents or gas leaks, the emergence of superpowered individuals in this world was reportedly linked to a grand Gamma-ray meteor shower.

Who knew where the Gamma constellation was? And what did it have to do with Saint Seiya?

He didn’t care; it wasn’t necessary!

The key was superpowers!

Possessing superpowers!

No one knew what ability the first superpowered individual had awakened.

By the time people became aware of their existence, they were already everywhere.

‘Why did that sound a bit like cockroaches?’

‘Haha~’

‘Just a delusion!’

‘Not envious or jealous in the slightest.’

“Gulp~”

Su Mu believed in cause and effect, and the conservation of luck.

This was an upbringing, an influence passed down through his elders’ words and deeds.

Consequently, he always tried his best to help others. In his childhood, this, combined with his good grades and decent looks, often led to him being praised as ‘the child from another family.’

“A true hero doesn’t boast of past glories!” ‘Were those past glories just childish things? Should he laugh or cry?’

‘Of course, he should laugh!’

‘At least he *had* been glorious back then!’

However, precisely because he was ‘the child from another family,’ Su Mu’s childhood was almost devoid of playmates.

‘Damn it, didn’t he even have a childhood sweetheart who would blush and call him ‘Blockhead’?’

He shook his head. Truly, these emotions surged and then subsided.

Such dramatic ups and downs.

While others spent their time playing, he spent his reading. While others dated, he was engrossed in books.

The praise from teachers and parents made him feel that he didn’t need to associate with those snot-nosed brats to find satisfaction.

But…

This excellent version of himself, however, had failed to awaken any superpowers.

Just like the foreign language classes suddenly introduced in elementary school, these supernatural ability courses were also abruptly implemented.

Young Su Mu had been apprehensive then, yet still brimming with ambition. He was nothing like his current self, consumed by negativity.

Little Su Mu believed he would awaken powerful superpowers and remain exceptional.

In reality, he never awakened.

‘Well, not awakening once was actually normal, statistically speaking. Most of his classmates hadn’t awakened either…’

Later, he became part of a small minority in his class, then the only one.

The world had changed everything, but it couldn’t change him; he still hadn’t awakened.

The top student became a poor one, and now even parents and teachers found him irritating.

‘You should learn from so-and-so, get closer to them~’

‘You’re standing so close to him; aren’t you afraid of catching bad luck?’

“When you’re strong, everyone around you is good. When you’re weak, those good people will turn into villains and stab you in the back in an instant.”

Before he knew it, the beer bottle was empty.

As an honor student, drinking and smoking were unthinkable.

But being forced to drink and smoke, he realized it was just another thing.

Alcohol was truly a good thing. Once he drank himself into a daze, all the world’s problems, all the slights, simply vanished.

Heh heh~

Su Mu could already feel it.

He swayed as he stood up, opened the window, and let the wind blow over him.

He wasn’t sober, but he was incredibly excited.

He even seemed to hear strange voices.

“Hmm? Superpowers, they’re sending me a superpower gift package! Yay!”

“Transform?”

“Transform! Henshin!”

Su Mu crossed his arms, flipped up his jacket, and struck a super classic Kamen Rider transformation pose.

****

“Captain, will the legendary villainous ability user, Number One—Su Mo—really appear here tonight?”

The speaker was a young man, a member of the C-rank super-powered team, ‘Shadow of War.’

Though only C-rank, most disasters occurring in a city could typically be resolved by a C-rank team.

However…

The young man swallowed hard. While their team operated on a city level, this Su Mo was a dangerous individual of national—no, global—concern.

Years ago, as super-powered individuals proliferated, many became lost to their own desires, wielding their immense powers for evil.

They used their strength solely based on their whims, disregarding or rather, trampling upon the law.

They were known as villainous ability users.

Numerous clashes, both minor and major, ensued.

Eventually, these skirmishes escalated into a full-scale war. The battle concluded with the victory of a united front of ordinary people and ability users who stood with them.

Records of that great war were now untraceable, reportedly due to all participants signing non-disclosure agreements to maintain peace and justice, preventing public disclosure.

Afterward, even though the war had subsided, its lingering shadow remained. The United Nations then convened all thirteen precognitive ability users.

Through their foresight, a list of villainous ability users was compiled.

These were individuals destined to commit heinous acts in the future, malevolent existences of extreme depravity.

Their identities and photos were publicly disclosed worldwide, relying on the collective power of humanity to nip these criminals in the bud.

And this time…

Their team had received orders from above to apprehend precisely the Number One on that villain list. This was the ultimate antagonist, Su Mo, who had yet to reveal their face until now.

He couldn’t help but swallow, growing increasingly nervous as time passed.

Having only recently joined the team, he had only managed to glean this scant information due to the mission involving such sensitive details.

Their team was C-rank, but this was an S-rank boss!

“It’s alright,” an elder reassured him warmly, noticing his apprehension.

“Even the strongest abilities are fragile when first awakened. Besides, it’s just a little girl, seemingly thirteen or fourteen. She might even be scared to tears by her own powers after just awakening~”

“Yes, I’ll be fine.”

‘Although she’s a big boss, she’s only Level 1.’

“Someone… someone’s coming. It’s a little girl. Everyone, be on alert.”

The female member with a detection ability issued the warning.

Everyone’s hearts instantly tightened.

Hidden in the shadows, they watched the figure slowly approaching.

A petite figure was clad in oil-stained work overalls, their long sleeves dangling and swaying like a dancer’s ribbons. In one hand, she held a liquor bottle.

‘Minors aren’t allowed to drink alcohol!’

“Hic~” She even hiccupped, completely lacking any decorum.

“Now!”

Almost instantly, sparks and lightning illuminated the dim alley, making it brilliantly bright.

“Is she… dead?”

“No! She… she’s still there! Her clothes aren’t even… She’s coming towards us!”

The young man was terrified, trembling, clearly sensing the vast disparity between her and them. It was like adults against children, or elephants against ants.

Everyone was consumed by fear. Not one of them fled, not out of courage, but because fear itself paralyzed them, making them unable to move.

“Fireworks~ hic~ pretty~~

……

The group watched in a daze as she approached, then simply stared as she walked past them.

“……”

“Heh heh~ I can make fireworks too~”

!!!

“What? Stop her quickly, she’s going to attack…” the captain cried out urgently.

“Boom!”

A firework burst in the sky, followed by another.

“Heh heh~ pretty~ hic~ pretty~”