Confining activities to evening hours earns one a top-tier spot among world-class heroes, even by global standards. In fact, this person has come the closest to being the only S-Class hero in South Korea. But it was due to this very weakness that they could only ever reach A-Class.
They are incredibly weak during the day. Be it teleportation or immortality, the presence of light renders their powers useless. At night, they may exhibit superior motor skills, but strangely, their body weakens drastically during the day. In fact, they struggle so much that they can hardly stay awake, spending the day mostly asleep.
Of course, that’s not to say they’re utterly useless in daylight. As long as there’s sufficient ‘darkness,’ their powers, including teleportation and immunity to death, can be somewhat utilized, though with severe repercussions. Consequently, the Korean Hero Association established basements below their branches in Seoul, Busan, and Jeju to create artificially dark environments. This enables shadow teleportation to move other heroes when necessary.
That’s why the Shadow Walker, Kim Ja-hyeon, was woken up not in the dead of night, but during the bright day, moving from Seoul to Jeju Island with Stardust through shadow teleportation. Though it seemed to be greatly against his own will.
“Ugh… Gosh… Do we really have to do this? I feel like I’m dying…”
“Yes, it was necessary. But I’m sorry, you should get some proper rest.”
“Ugh… It’s killing me…”
Upon arrival, Stardust dashed off somewhere promptly, leaving Shadow Walker alone, awaiting the staff coming to support him as he caught his breath.
“Please… you damn villains. Please, just commit your crimes at night…”
His monologue dissolved into the depths of the darkened basement. Villains these days had a particular penchant for operating during daytime.
***
[…The answer to our ninth question was Deoksugung Palace!]
“Ah, damn it.”
[Oh! Did someone just curse? Folks, folks. I’ll just cut one of these wires. There we go! Now only two remain.]
A high school girl’s impulsive swear word in response to the correct answer resulted in one of the bomb wires being cut—two remaining from the three. Passengers glared at her, but she merely muttered quietly to herself.
‘I shouldn’t have relied on that kid.’
Luckily, her words were almost a whisper, going unnoticed by the other passengers and the villain ‘Egostic’ toe.
Despite the passengers’ shared sense of dread, the high school student and even the child whom they had put their hopes in were both mistaken.
A mother quietly comforted her child who wore a pout, regretting the wrong answer.
Now, only one remained.
Drenched in sweat like a waterfall, a middle-aged man sat in the center. He was the last hope.
Egostic’s sneering laughter echoed through the speakers.
[Oh! Now just one person remains. Are we witnessing the famous last-standing contestant? Let’s see… Mr. Kim Deok-bae! Yes, Mr. Kim Deok-bae, you’re the one who correctly answered all nine previous questions.]
Startled by his own name, the middle-aged man jerked in surprise.
[As such, you’re the only one eligible to attempt the tenth question! Imagine, the lives of all 80 passengers on this flight hang on Mr. Kim Deok-bae’s fingertips. The weight on your shoulders must be immense. Mr. Kim Deok-bae, how do you feel right now? Please, share your thoughts with us.]
Already on the brink from all the pressure, being asked to speak was too much for the forlorn Mr. Kim Deok-bae, whose face flushed as he struggled to articulate his response.
“Ah, well…”
✧˚·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥·̩̩̥͙✧·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥˚·̩̩̥͙✧ 𝑔𝓇𝒶𝓋𝒾𝓉𝓎𝓃𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁𝓈 ✧˚·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥·̩̩̥͙✧·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥˚·̩̩̥͙✧
