It's not easy to feel discomfort or similar negative emotions when meeting someone for the first time.

A normally educated person wouldn't be rude from the first encounter.

But I said it wasn't easy to feel negative emotions, not that it was impossible. There are exceptional situations far from ordinary.

Some people can be rude from the very first meeting.

And right now seems to be that situation.

And that person seems to be her.

"...You're quite rude for someone I just met."

My insides were boiling, but I held it in.

Though she was rude, she hadn't openly picked a fight or insulted me.

Above all... she's Hyun's colleague.

Yes, she's what you'd call a friend of a friend.

I don't want to create an awkward situation.

And well, she's just someone I'll see today and never again.

Thinking that, I looked ahead.

Seo Ha-Young merely checked the time on her wristwatch, ignoring my words.

When our eyes met, she finally apologized, clasping her hands together like an Outstagram emoticon.

And even that was an apology that didn't seem like an apology at all.

"Sorry. Was I being too friendly? I'm really sorry~ I tease Hyun like this all the time, so I unconsciously treated you the same way."

What is this, really?

Is she deliberately trying to make me angry?

How did someone like her become an S-Class Hero?

Is heroism purely about ability, with no regard for character?

"I am sorry, but I have a CM shoot after this, so I need to finish quickly. Could you hurry up and transform into a monster? I came because Hyun begged me, but I'm a busy person too, you know?"

"If I could control it at will, we wouldn't be doing these experiments."

"Why can't you? Don't you have trauma or something? Or something that makes you angry when touched?"

Surely everyone has something like that?

How could she not have any...?

"Excuse me. You've been speaking quite offensively."

"How is this offensive? I talk to Hyun exactly the same way, and he just laughs it off."

"...He and I are different."

"Different indeed. Quite a lot?"

Though she pretended to be looking at me while speaking, I could tell from facing her directly.

Her eyes, pretending to meet mine, were actually fixed precisely above my head, at my horns.

"Oh come on, I'm just joking. Don't glare at me like that. Hmm? I'm sorry, I was just curious about what kind of person Hyun spent ten years suffering and struggling so hard to save."

Though she claimed it was a joke, she was still looking at me with contemptuous eyes.

You dare look down on me?

Dare?

A mere human?

"..."

"Wow, look at those fierce eyes. Scary, scary. Are you really Hyun's friend?"

She kept grating on my nerves.

Now she was provoking me so blatantly that I could tell she was deliberately trying to irritate me.

If at first I thought, well, some people are just like that...

Now I was starting to get... seriously angry.

"I came on Hyun's behalf to see who this friend was that he spent ten years struggling to find, but I didn't expect such a scary kid."

"Please don't bring Hyun into this."

"Poor Hyun. After all that suffering to save you, all he gets in return is a huge claw mark that won't even heal."

...Claw mark?

A claw mark, could it be... from that time?

When I scratched his back?

The area under my eyes trembled.

"He can't even change clothes properly because of you. Says his back stings."

"Ah..."

Guilt washed over me.

But that wasn't my fault.

"Still, he says he's happy to see you. Says you're a friend he's meeting after ten years. How could he be angry when a friend he thought was dead has returned? Do you know how frustrated I was then?"

It's not my fault.

I didn't choose to become like this.

"Now I see you really are Hyun's friend. You're just as frustrating."

Why is she doing this to me?

I covered my face with both hands and fell to my knees.

"Augh... ugh... ah..."

Why me.

Why.

* * *

S-Class Hero Seo Ha-Young bit her lip as she watched the small girl writhing with guilt.

What was needed for monsterification was an emotion intense enough to cross the threshold.

The emotion that could cross the threshold fastest was none other than anger.

For that purpose, Ha-Young deliberately spoke harshly and roughly, in a tone that would make anyone watching angry.

"Augh... ugh... ah..."

But...

*Is this really okay...*

She was an S-Class Hero.

A position for the top 0.1% who had to satisfy everything: character, skill, a clean past, accumulated achievements.

She was someone who normally didn't even curse—the worst she'd say was "you dummy."

A person who lived frugally, donating half her salary.

The reason such a person came for Yu Sia's monsterification experiment was truly because of Choi Hyun's request.

—Noona, please! That kid doesn't listen to my scolding at all!

—But Hyun... no matter what, asking me to do something like that... you know I can't say mean things.

—You watch dramas often! That one, what was it? Blooming Under the Moonlight or whatever!

Twitch. Remembering it again made her furrow her brow in indignation.

—Why are dramas suddenly relevant!? Don't tell me you're asking me because you saw a villain female lead in a drama who gets under people's skin!?

—Please, I'm begging you. The only ways I can make her transform are either violence or bringing up her parents.

I absolutely refuse to do that. How could I do such a thing?

...Well, we used to punch each other's arms when we got angry in the old days, but I can't do that now.

—So please, I'm begging you. Among the current S-Class Heroes, you're the only one who can handle her.

—I've already retired... Sigh... Fine. I have no choice.

Remembering it again, she let out a deep sigh.

She really didn't want to do this, but what could she do? He had bowed his head so deeply while asking...

*I'm doing this because Hyun asked, but...*

Finishing her thought, Ha-Young looked up and widened her eyes at the sight of Sia kneeling and suffering.

The problem wasn't that she was kneeling.

Sia was now gripping her own head tightly with her claws.

According to reports, those were hands with sharpness and grip strength that could easily crumple and tear steel frames.

What would happen if such hands gripped a fragile child's head?

In a split second, making her judgment in a fraction of a second, Ha-Young abandoned the bad posture she'd been mimicking from drama villains and rushed toward Sia.

"No!"

Grip!

Ha-Young grabbed Sia's wrists, not too strongly, and lifted them up to prevent the claws from touching Sia's head.

After putting Sia in a hands-up position, Ha-Young immediately examined Sia's head.

Checking if there were any tears from the claws, any wounds that might be bleeding.

With over seven years of experience rescuing citizens, a visual inspection was sufficient for Ha-Young.

And her assessment of Sia's condition was...

Strangely fine.

"Huh?"

After making an uncharacteristically dull sound, she drew in a sharp breath at the eerie feeling that came over her.

Like someone had placed a knife tip against her neck.

That intuition that she could die at any moment.

The most intense and terrifying sensation she'd felt in her 32 years of life.

*I've felt this before.*

It was the feeling she had at humanity's final line of defense, before the Gate was completely closed.

The sensation she felt when a dragon they thought they had captured broke free from its chains in rage.

Ha-Young immediately let go and leaped backward.

Sia was standing on both legs but remained motionless with her arms and head hanging down.

The small girl didn't look dangerous at all, but Ha-Young instinctively knew.

That was merely a dragon crouching to gather strength before it went berserk.

*Bare hands? No. Bare hands won't be enough.*

...I didn't expect to use this in the experiment.

Ha-Young bit her lip and shouted to her Sidekick standing nearby.

"Chae-Ah! Get my weapon out! Now!"

"What!? Suddenly!?"

"Hurry!!"

Though her Sidekick was confused by the sudden situation, she followed orders and took out Ha-Young's weapon.

It was a large shield made from the carapace of a whale-like monster called Behemoth that had emerged from a Gate.

"Director! Here!"

The primary target for monsters is none other than the person holding a weapon.

And right now, the only one holding a weapon was Ha-Young's Sidekick, Chae-Ah.

"Throw it from there! Don't come closer!"

"What?"

At Ha-Young's words, Chae-Ah immediately stopped walking, but it was already too late.

Seeing Sia suddenly raise her head, Ha-Young gritted her teeth and rushed toward Chae-Ah.

"Hold tight!"

"Wha-!?"

Ha-Young gripped the shield firmly with one hand and braced her shoulder against it to prepare for the incoming impact, while wrapping her other arm around Chae-Ah's waist.

*Here it comes...!*

Almost simultaneously, Sia kicked off the ground and lunged forward, striking Ha-Young's shield with her enormous hand.

——!!

A thunderous sound like lightning striking nearby erupted as Ha-Young's body was pushed back significantly.

"Kyaaak!!"

"Kuk...!"

An S-Class Hero is superhuman.

With the right posture, they can block even a collapsing two-story building.

But even such an S-Class Hero was helplessly pushed back by a single arm swing.

And that was from a blow delivered in mid-air, where proper force couldn't even be applied.

*What strength...!*

The fortunate thing was that there was no immediate follow-up attack.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Ha-Young grabbed Chae-Ah by the scruff and threw her far away.

"Chae-Ah! Go get Hyun for me!"

I think this might be a bit much for me alone.

Nodding, Chae-Ah immediately retreated with the security guards and doctors who had been observing the experiment.

Confirming their departure, Ha-Young breathed a sigh of relief.

Her shoulder, which had blocked the blow, was throbbing.

*I'm going to have a serious body ache tomorrow.*

From her long experience, she realized her shoulder was cracked, but she deliberately didn't show it.

"Alright, preparations complete! Come at me, little one. I'll take everything you've got!"

At the sound of her banging the shield, Sia raised her head.

Ha-Young gritted her teeth at the eerily glowing eyes.

"Retiring only to end up doing this... Next time that idiot asks for a favor, I swear..."

With a strained smile, she looked ahead and adjusted her grip on the shield with her other hand.

The dragon, enraged after having its reverse scale touched, charged forward.