Chapter 4: Only city people and dogs

If you’re someone who’s grown tired of the blue sky and fluffy white clouds, you might want to see a psychiatrist sooner rather than later.

Even though this wasn’t my first time falling from the sky, this scenery never gets old. The simple sensation of air accelerating against me clears my mind and heightens my spirits.

If the brain had an F5 key, this must be it.

BOOM!

I landed on the ground.

I’d sworn never to do that nauseating hero landing again.

The landing site was a wasteland, a massive crater surrounded by uprooted trees.

In the distance, Seoul came into view.

This world’s version of Seoul was a bit more futuristic—and a lot messier—than the one I had lived in.

It was that time of day when the sun set, and darkness crept in.

The vibrant rainbow-colored lights of countless skyscrapers lit up the city.

I began walking toward it.

Maybe it was the wind, but my head felt a little cooler.

But nothing could ever cool my heart again.

Morgan’s words echoed in my mind.

A life for desire.

Sure, defeating the evil organization and clearing the scenario was part of my desire too.

But that wasn’t primal.

It was a rational desire, born of my brain’s calculations.

Not my brain. I questioned my heart.

What do I want right now?

Thump, thump, thump.

The red mass of muscle, filled with blood, answered immediately.

Revenge.

It demanded that I find those women immediately and rip their spinal cords from their bodies.

But…

Would killing them bring me satisfaction?

Would tormenting those flesh bags until they couldn’t speak or feel bring me joy?

Maybe a rush of adrenaline for one or two seconds.

What a waste.

Such a terrible waste.

Then what should I do?

What kind of revenge would suit me best?

All I know is justice and battle. I don’t have much knowledge about cruel methods.

Still, after some thought, a rough blueprint began to form.

While preparing for the Galactic Empire—the next scenario’s enemy—I’d also find a way to ruin the Dragon King Squadron.

It’d be helpful if I could find a place where villains gather.

Without realizing it, my aimless wandering had brought me to an alley in the slums.

Nothing unusual—it wasn’t rare for slums to outnumber normal areas in this city. The odds of ending up here were just high.

From here, I’d start encountering civilians.

In this appearance, they might mistake me for a monster. But I couldn’t show my face either. After all, I was supposed to be dead.

I covered my eyes and nose with a mask-like piece and deactivated the rest of my transformation. With no clothes to wear, I scavenged some from a nearby trash bin.

The bin reeked of sewer rats, and the stench of rotting food waste marinated for a week.

『Citizens, please rest assured. The Dragon King Squadron has successfully destroyed the Dark Kingdom, ApocaMelot.』

Hearing the familiar voice, I looked up.

Far off on the giant billboards of the skyscrapers, a familiar face appeared.

Silver Mirror, Shin Yu-gyeong.

Seeing that face made me clench my fists unconsciously.

『Is it true that Red Dragon betrayed you?!』

A reporter’s question. The words made my blood boil.

『As you may have read in the reports, yes, it is true. When the battle turned unfavorable, Red Dragon cooperated with Dark Arthur, and the four of us took them both down.』

Those filthy pieces of trash.

I’d expected this. After going this far, they were intent on burying me completely.

There’s no need to protect the honor of the dead.

It’s undoubtedly the most efficient way.

The chairwoman.

This was obviously her scenario.

She intended to strip away all the merits I had fought for.

『The Dragon King Squadron has successfully recruited a new Red. We’ll introduce them to the public soon. Rest assured, citizens. Your peace will always be protected by the Dragon King Squadron.』

I felt nauseous.

Seeing Shin Yu-gyeong’s shameless face spewing blatant lies made me want to pull my stomach out and wring it dry.

A new Red?

Who in this world could possibly replace me?

The Dragon King Squadron was my creation. The name itself was my idea.

Even if they discarded me, they didn’t want to lose the value of my name.

But there had to be people who still believed in Red Dragon.

The actions I’d taken and the things I’d protected wouldn’t be meaningless.

“Dragons don’t cry!”

I turned my head and saw a group of children, probably around six years old, huddled together playing in a dirt lot without a single blade of grass.

On their wrists were toy transformation devices of the Dragon King Squadron.

“Transform!”

“Red Dragon Kick!”

“Blue Saber Slash!”

They were playing so joyfully, unaware of the time. Despite the chilly weather making their noses run, smiles never left their faces.

Even in a slum like this, children’s laughter blossomed.

Yes.

This was what I had wanted to protect.

“How many times do I have to tell you brats to come inside?!”

A man who seemed to be drunk approached the children, yelling at them. He was likely their father.

“Huh? A Red Dragon toy? Hey, woman! Why haven’t you thrown this away yet? Stupid woman. Buying worthless garbage like this. It can’t even be resold, damn it. Are we rolling in money or something?”

The man ripped the Red Dragon transformation device from the child’s wrist, snapped it in half, and tossed it away. The child began wailing loudly as if the world had ended. Grabbing the crying child by the arm, the man dragged them back into the house.

So, even in the slums, Red Dragon was no longer welcome.

I kept walking.

Nearby, a group of men sat warming themselves around a drum fire.

“At least ApocaMelot is gone now. That’s one less thing to worry about.”

“What’s that got to do with us? We don’t even have money for next week’s rent.”

“Peace is important. Thanks to taxes paid by the rich, we’ve got the Dragon King Squadron, and they beat ApocaMelot in the end.”

“Then why don’t we see any of those taxes, huh?”

“Tsk.”

“They should confiscate Red Dragon’s wealth and share it with us. Don’t you think?”

“They say he had nothing left. Spent it all on drugs.”

“Didn’t expect that kind of guy. He must’ve been getting high and calling in prostitutes for fun.”

“He’s an S-class hero. Even if he spent a billion won a day, he’d still have money to spare. Bet he had every beautiful woman in the world.”

“Man, what a life. That bastard lived it up properly. Wish I could live like that.”

“The squad’s all women, right? Isn’t it obvious? Silver and Yellow are gorgeous. Bet the recruitment requirement was to ‘please’ Red Dragon.”

“Obviously. Even the former Pink—”

Something in my mind shattered.

What exactly had I been protecting all this time?

Training without rest, enduring the side effects of the Switch, constantly bearing injuries from fighting monsters.

All those hellish years of effort, all to protect people like this.

Thump, thump, thump.

My heart pounded loudly.

Before I knew it, the power of the dragon surged through my arm.

Step, step.

I took one step, then another, toward them.

All I had to do was swing my arm, and they’d be torn apart, their bodies split in two like prey mauled by a beast.

It wouldn’t even be difficult.

The moment my deltoid and bicep contracted—

“Hey! I told you not to say bad things!”

Someone dashed in and smacked the men on their heads with the edge of her hand.

“Ow!”

“Ah, my head!”

“Where’d you come from, showing up like a ghost again?”

The grumbling men looked at the woman standing before them, arms crossed.

She had long brown hair and wore a mass-produced hero suit and helmet.

A red scarf around her neck made her stand out.

“Red Dragon isn’t that kind of person!”

“Jeong-hye, your hearing’s as sharp as ever.”

“It’s work time! Call me Cheolsango!”

“You’re just a D-class hero.”

“A hero is still a hero!”

“I get it, I get it. I understand Jeong Hye’s love for Red Dragon.”

“It’s not love, it’s fandom! There has never been a more righteous hero in the history of South Korea than him!”

“Okay, okay. The old guys messed up. You know how it is when men get together, they talk trash about things they don’t care about. Sorry about that.”

“We’re just ignorant fools. Sorry!”

“That’s enough. I can’t believe Red Dragon would… betray us. I don’t believe that!”

Cheolsango, the D-class hero, slumped his shoulders.

“It must have been a misunderstanding. The Hero Association is going too far. Don’t you think we should investigate more?!”

“Why are you getting mad at us? We don’t know. The news said so.”

“But you’re working. Are you allowed to chat with us?”

“Ah, right! Returning to patrol duty!”

Cheolsango took brisk steps. It seemed he was a local hero.

The Association couldn’t directly dispatch heroes to these slums, so they just assigned capable residents from the area for patrolling to give the appearance of action.

For a D-class, he wasn’t bad.

He had just saved those men’s lives.

They seemed to be reflecting on their actions, so I decided to let it slide.

Then, a scream rang out.

“AAAH!”

“A monster!”

The scream came from a distance, about a block away. Cheolsango sprinted toward the source, and I, intrigued, followed him on foot.

“Retreat!”

Cheolsango had entered combat. The monster was one of the remnants of Apocamelot. It must have been hiding in the sewers, then came out hungry and attacked people. A mid-level monster, probably B-class as a villain.

“Retreat!”

Cheolsango was using martial arts, charging into the monster with his whole body, but he wasn’t having much effect. It seemed his ability involved generating energy from his body, but it was far too weak.

Slash!

Instead, Cheolsango’s arm was ripped open by the monster’s sharp claws, and blood began to spill.

“Ugh…! I can’t give up! If it were Red Dragon, he would never kneel…!”

Covered in blood and sweat, Cheolsango kept recklessly charging at the monster.

What a foolish woman.

It would be wise to think about the limits of her abilities and call for backup, but she was throwing her life away.

“Ha, ha…! HAAAAA!”

The members of the Dragon King Squad were all excellent. They knew every strategy and tactic, so they would never engage in such reckless fights. I taught them that.

Rushing in blindly and throwing away your life is foolish—I’d emphasized that many times.

So this was just whim.

“Transformation.”

[Up a blind alley]

The red dragon flowed from my heart, and a red exterior enveloped me. I casually walked and positioned myself between Cheolsango and the monster.

“What, who…?!”

The monster charged at me.

It didn’t even recognize the difference in power between us. It was a mindless beast.

I didn’t need this level of skill to defeat it, but I was curious to test something.

“Apocalypse.”

[R■VEL-TO_N]

“Red of war.”

[BEL-M■UBR]

Each joint in my fingers was imbued with power. A vicious glove formed around my hand.

The monster bared its giant teeth, opening its jaws wide enough to chew through rebar and rushed to shatter my skull.

No need to even make a fist.

I simply placed my index finger on its skull and gently pressed downward.

KOOOOWAAAAAANG!!

The ground shattered as if an explosion had occurred, and the monster’s body was torn into hundreds of pieces.

Hmm.

So this is the effect of my stat increase.

I turned my head.

Cheolsango was frozen in shock.

It wasn’t surprising. Seeing that display of power, he must have been completely despondent.

He probably thought I was an S-class villain or higher.

Surviving was out of the question.

Cheolsango immediately bowed to me.

Was he begging for his life?

But what came out of his mouth was something a bit unexpected.

“Master! Please take me as your disciple!!”

Oh. That was a surprise.

He was an interesting one. It seemed he truly respected Red Dragon.

I decided to acknowledge his purity and responded.

“Get lost.”