VWO Ch15

Soon, as the citizens who saw Se-jun screamed and panicked, the heroes closest to the restroom arrived. The hero was none other than Wolfgang, the S-class hero who had just encountered Se-jun.

Wolfgang, with a face of great shock upon seeing Se-jun, rushed into the restroom. Soon, after confirming the dead students, Wolfgang’s face, as he emerged from the restroom, was distorted with shock and anger.

Wolfgang’s wing feathers fell out one by one and gathered in the air. They formed a shape reminiscent of a fist.

Barely dodging the attack that flew with a hardness unbelievable for feathers, the Red Wings next to him stretched out his wings like ropes and bound Kang Se-jun’s entire body.

“How could you kill innocent friends just because you were being bullied?”

“…You were strong from the start.”

Wolfgang’s ability manifested when he was ten years old. The ability to strengthen his wings was enough power to overcome the bullying around him, knowingly or unknowingly.

But Se-jun had no ability until yesterday and had been bullied because he was weak. He shed tears and tightly grabbed the wings of the Red Wings binding him.

“Red Wings!”

Dozens of feathers flew and pierced Red Wings’ chest. Wolfgang cried out in anguish and lunged at Se-jun. In response, Kang Se-jun laughed heartily.

That day, Wolfgang was found in the restroom, nearly dead. And Kang Se-jun was in a similar state, unable to take another step, but a hand that emerged from some door dragged him away.

Thus, the Birdman, the mass murderer, was born.

‘…The students were said to have been kind and got along well with their classmates, even if they were a bit playful. They had some conflicts with the perpetrator, but they tried to resolve them well. But instead of reconciliation, they were found as cold corpses. Why did innocent students have to die! I will never forgive Birdman.’

‘Birdman was born into an ordinary family and, since childhood, resented his environment as a harpy, causing frequent troubles with his peers. His parents tried to comfort their son, but after apologizing to the parents of the victimized students, saying they had raised their son poorly, they fled overseas and disappeared.’

‘The father of the victimized student, A-class hero Needle Man, is sharpening his blade of revenge, vowing never to forgive the villain who killed his son. His sorrowful cries echoing in the funeral hall brought tears to the eyes of many mourners. Meanwhile…’

“Sigh.”

Shin Jae-eon, who was listening to the news on his phone with earphones plugged in, sighed and threw the cigarette butt he had been holding in his mouth onto the ground.

Misguided Faith

“A new collection is coming out, and suddenly I have to go overseas for a shoot. And of all things, I’m one of the project leaders, so I won’t be able to see the musical we were supposed to go to this time. I’m really sorry.”

Having barely finished work and arrived home, Shin Jae-eon checked the time after showering and realized it was already 11 PM. If he didn’t go straight to sleep, he wouldn’t be able to go to work in the morning in good condition.

It was the same everywhere, but the luxury clothing brand company Shin Jae-eon worked for would hire models and shoot commercials whenever a new collection came out.

Cha Min-jae, who had previously worked as a model, didn’t get angry at Shin Jae-eon’s sudden cancellation of their plans, but rather soothed Jae-eon with a kind tone.

– It’s okay. If you’re busy with work, there’s nothing you can do. I don’t think I’ll have time either because of a request I received from the association this time, so we’re even.

“Min-jae…”

There were occasional voices in the world criticizing Red-Hell-Fire as a psychopath and murderer disguised as a hero. But Shin Jae-eon thought that it was all a fabrication by evil forces to slander him.

If he had the personality they described, Rehell would have kicked him, saying, “How dare you cancel our plans!” But he made an excuse about a request to avoid embarrassing Jae-eon and brushed it off casually. He was an angel-like person who generously smiled and forgave.

The location chosen for the shoot of the new collection was a small island named Ruben, located on the southwestern coast of South Africa. It was said to be a very secluded place, so it was very difficult to secure.

Although it belonged to South Africa, it was hardly under the control of the government, and the islanders lived by their own culture, so it was quite far from modern civilization.

As a result, the island seemed to have been constantly refusing, but the photographer insisted on this place, saying that the atmosphere of the island suited the new collection.

Eventually, after persistently requesting to secure the filming location and persuading them that they would fulfill the island’s demands as much as possible, the filming schedule was suddenly set. This was because they had to go quickly once permission was granted.

Because of that, he had no choice but to cancel the plans he had made with Cha Min-jae to see a musical and have a light drink this weekend.

Still, he could take a long vacation once this project was over. He wanted to do the big cleaning he hadn’t been able to do, and travel to the mountains or the sea.

“This is A-class hero Big Farm. He’s the hero in charge of security for this overseas shoot.”

Big Farm, wearing black tights and a pink scarf, adjusted his black eye patch and bowed his head.

He wanted to ask what kind of profound fashion that was. His eyes kept going to the waist with the gold belt. He definitely seemed young, but it was hard to guess his age because of the eye patch.

If he was A-class, Jae-eon should have known him, but seeing as he was a face he had never seen before, he seemed to be a rookie who hadn’t been registered with the Hero Association for long. If he was a rookie but A-class, his skills would be guaranteed, so he felt a little relieved.

Jae-eon shook hands with Big Farm and looked at each of the team members who would be traveling with him.

It was a small group of about fifteen people, including Department Head Park, who was in charge of the overall project, Employee Choi, who had been called in for experience, and the filming team and staff hired from outside companies.

The photographer was an Italian named Berteo, who had been hired directly by the head office. He was the photographer who had praised Rehell when he was a model.

Shin Jae-eon greeted each person lightly and boarded the plane last. It was a difficult journey that required two layovers and a flight of over 4 hours on a private plane to finally arrive.

Excluding the time spent in transit, the people who had been on the plane for over 20 hours were almost dead when they arrived at the airport.

In particular, Jae-eon felt even more exhausted because he couldn’t use the Chairman’s ability to go back and forth through a door. Employee Choi’s legs were also wobbly, and his face was pale as he looked around the airport.

“Don’t worry, we’re not taking a private plane right away. Why are you guys so weak when you’re so young? We’ll get a good night’s sleep at the hotel and then leave for the island.”

Mr. Park, a veteran who had been on more overseas business trips than the employees, patted their shoulders and passed by.

The hotel was small, but the room he was assigned was a single room with a wide bed that was clean and quiet, which he liked. After flying for over 20 hours with his large body curled up, there wasn’t a place that didn’t ache.

He didn’t have the energy to go sightseeing, so Jae-eon took a long bath, lay down on the bed, blinked his eyes, and fell asleep.

The next morning, carrying the remaining fatigue on his shoulders, he ate a hearty breakfast and arrived on the island by private plane, where sweltering heat awaited the group.

“Wow, it’s really hot.”

“Be careful with the equipment over there. Hello, Shin Jae-eon. I’m MD.”

A woman with rather exotic brown curly hair approached the group. She was from Ruben Island and would be the group’s guide. She was a person hired from an outside company. A large pair of glasses stood out.

“Nice to meet you.”

She greeted the group, shook hands, and began to guide them, saying that they would need to explore the area. Traces of people living were found everywhere on the seemingly deserted island.

Several statues that seemed to be carved in the form of women were also visible here and there, perhaps with religious significance. What was unusual was that the heads of the statues were all missing, but no matter how he looked at it, they weren’t naturally broken, but seemed to have been artificially cut off.

“Ruben Island worships the goddess of abundance and fertility. But who could have done this… They’ve all been beheaded. Ominous…”

MD swept her hair behind her ears and muttered unpleasantly. Certainly, the headless statues made him feel a little eerie.

Frowning, she stopped and gathered the heads and bodies of the statues together on the floor and offered a prayer. Watching her reverent appearance as she prayed, someone came to Shin Jae-eon’s mind.

The surrounding exploration was stopped, and MD led the group to the only village on Ruben Island. Jae-eon, who had thought that the natives would be living in huts, soon regretted having such an absurd thought.

The group, who had entered a more modern wooden building than expected and put down their luggage, exchanged greetings with the villagers. They spoke their own language, not English, so MD translated for them.

“This is the village chief of our village, his name is Ross. He says that this is the sacred land of the goddess, so outsiders should be especially careful when walking around. And he says that the temple cave in the mountains is off-limits to outsiders, so you must never enter.”

“We will be careful. Thank you so much for your cooperation with the filming.”

The person who appeared as the village chief was a man who seemed quite young to be the head of the village. Jae-eon, who was looking at the islanders who were sending curious glances, noticed that they were all wearing small statues that were the same as the goddess statue he had seen earlier as necklaces around their necks.

Incidentally, a large statue of a goddess was erected in the center of the village. People were bowing and praying in front of it. They seemed to be very devout.

“This is amazing. The whole village must be devout believers.”

“I guess so. Shall we unpack and start filming?”

As Jae-eon watched the staff chatting amongst themselves, he suddenly felt a strange energy and tilted his head. There was nothing suspicious to the eye, so he assumed it was his imagination and moved to the filming location with the team.