Oh My Hero – Episode 3

    3. Cha Woojin (2)

    Our mission to exterminate seven giant monsters ended in three days. And I arrived at Headquarters and submitted my Statement of Circumstances.

    ‘I’m depressed because I caused an accident. In times like these, I need to soothe my mind and body by seeing and hearing good things.’

    I went to see Woojin, who is good for my mind and body. As expected, being handsome is the best. Beauty saves the world!

    When I went to the Medical Bureau, good news awaited me. Woojin had finally regained consciousness.

    “Wow! As expected, Woojin is the best.”

    My gloomy mood from just a moment ago completely vanished, and I hurriedly went to see Woojin.

    “Oh my god! Woojin’s awake and sitting up in bed!”

    His white skin visible through the hospital room window, jet-black hair, grey eyes like a winter lake, and melancholy expression looked like something out of a photoshoot. Amazing! You’re the best, Cha Woojin! Overcome with emotion, I flung open the hospital room door and greeted him loudly.

    “Woojin, hello!”

    “Who are you?”

    Woojin looked at me, who greeted him cheerfully, with a strange look.

    ‘Oh? Oh, right. Actually, Woojin is seeing me for the first time, isn’t he?’

    While investigating the background of a patient who was unconscious and constantly visiting him, I single-handedly raised my inner intimacy level to MAX, so I forgot that Woojin was meeting me for the first time.

    “Oh, um, I’m the person who saved you.”

    “Ah, I see. Thank you for saving me.”

    Wow, his voice is amazing, with a moderately low tone and a soft timbre. Look at how he slightly lowers his eyes and makes that mournful expression. Awesome, really.

    I was admiring him mindlessly when the sorrowful handsome man spoke to me.

    “Um, now that you’ve saved me, there’s something I’d like to ask of you.”

    “Yes? Yes, what is it? Please, speak comfortably.”

    “I have a younger sibling. They were born after the Gate Break and their birth hasn’t even been registered. Could you find my sibling for me?”

    “Oh, first, if you file a missing person report at the Central Center, an official dispatch team will be formed.”

    “…Yesterday, as soon as I woke up, I filed a report, but they said it would take several days to form a dispatch team. It’s been over two weeks since I last saw my sibling…!”

    “Ah… but we also have procedures we need to follow…”

    “They’re only six years old… I just want to know if my sibling is still alive! Please… help me… Ugh.”

    “Ugh, Woojin, don’t be in pain!”

    Woojin became emotional and raised his voice, then clutched his stomach as if it hurt, and gradually collapsed.

    I, who was trying to handle things by the book, promised to find them right away when Woojin was in pain. I already wrote a Statement of Circumstances, so I might as well write a Report as a set.

    *

    To write a perfect Report, I filmed the scene with my Smartwatch while going to look for Woojin’s younger sibling. Because the sun was setting, I turned on the flashlight and headed to the address Woojin gave me.

    “Come to think of it, this is near where I saved Woojin.”

    The day is getting dark, so it reminds me of that time even more. There’s no sign of people, just like back then.

    “Ah, wait, could it be that they were also captured by a monster?”

    I shook my head to shake off the ominous thought and walked down the street. Anxiously, there wasn’t a sign of people, just like back then.

    “No, don’t think bad thoughts, Gang Hana! They’ll be alright! Let’s think positively.”

    Woojin’s sibling’s name was Wooreen, right? A six-year-old girl. Black hair like Woojin, and blue eyes. If they’re Woojin’s sibling, they’ll look alike, right? They must be really cute. Like a little Woojin? I wonder if they’ll have the same mole under their left eye?

    While wandering through the ruined Alleyway with positive thoughts, I suddenly felt a presence and turned my head.

    And there, where the collapsed wall was, was a small figure.

    “Um, hello? Are you Wooreen?”

    “…Uh, wh-who are you?”

    “I’m Woojin’s friend. Do you want to go see your brother with me?”

    When I heard the faint voice of the child, I immediately responded. It sounded like something a kidnapper would say, but I had to ease Wooreen’s wariness. Just taking them without a word seems more like kidnapping.

    ‘Um, but are they really Wooreen? There aren’t likely to be two or three kids here.’

    To check accurately, I moved forward a little more and shined the flashlight on the figure.

    The small, grimy girl frowned as if the light was blinding, and covered her face with both arms.

    ‘Hmm, black hair and a six-year-old girl. I think it’s them.’

    I asked again to confirm their identity.

    “Are you Wooreen?”

    “Yes… are you really my brother’s friend? My brother told me not to follow strangers…”

    Woojin gave them a good education. Watching Wooreen act according to the FM of children’s safety education, I wondered how to appease them and take them.

    It would be the most effective to call Woojin, but Woojin is a civilian and doesn’t have a Smartwatch.

    ‘How can I prove that we’re friends? Ah, right. I have a picture of Woojin that I took!’

    I searched for Woojin’s picture in the camera album on my Smartwatch.

    ‘This is a picture from the rescue site, so it’s a little much to show a child… Showing them the picture I took to match his identity and the one I took with flowers because he looked so pretty sleeping should do the trick! They’re both sleeping pictures, but whatever, they’ll recognize their own brother, right?’

    I made the picture into a hologram and enlarged it to show Wooreen.

    “That’s your brother, right? I know your brother.”

    When I showed Wooreen the picture of Woojin on the Smartwatch, they were very happy to see it. I think I’ve gained Wooreen’s trust with this much.

    I took advantage of this moment when Wooreen was in a good mood and asked again if they wanted to go to their brother. Wooreen, excited to see the picture of their brother, naturally said yes and hugged me.

    As soon as Wooreen arrived at Woojin’s hospital room, they got out of my arms and ran straight to their brother. Wooreen and Woojin, who finally met, hugged each other tightly and shed tears of reunion.

    And I recorded this whole scene. This will perfect my Report.

    But I should have washed Wooreen before bringing them.

    Wooreen, who had survived alone in the ruins for over two weeks, was as grimy as a runaway cat. Wooreen’s dirt and grime rubbed off on me, who had carried them, and also on Woojin, who was having an emotional reunion with Wooreen.

    Besides, Woojin is still a patient who can’t move, so he’s lying in bed, and because Wooreen came up, the bed was also covered in dust.

    ‘Who’s going to clean this…’

    The bedsheets all have to be changed, and Woojin can’t get out of bed, so he needs to be changed and washed. Wooreen is a baby, so of course, someone needs to change and wash them…

    The thought process led me to separate Wooreen and Woojin, who were still in a reunion hug.

    “Um, could you not look at me like I’m a bad person? Wash up and meet again with a clean look, you two.”

    After explaining the importance of hygiene to Woojin, I tucked Wooreen under my arm and went to the Medical Center shower room to scrub them clean. As expected, a never-ending stream of black grime poured out of this little one.

    After washing up…

    “You really look a lot like Woojin, don’t you?”

    Their snow-white face and black butterfly-like eyelashes are identical. They don’t have a teardrop mole on their left eye like Woojin, but they do have a mole under their right lip, which is different.

    ‘And Woojin is more handsome, though.’

    Woojin looks more composed and delicately beautiful, like a transparent gemstone flower crafted in a snowy field?

    I was thinking of Woojin in my head while diligently washing and drying Wooreen with my hands.

    The clothes Wooreen was wearing were so old and dirty that it was impossible to put them back on. I just sent Wooreen’s worn-out clothes to the Incinerator and took out and put on a patient gown for children.

    When I brought the cleaned-up Wooreen back to the hospital room, Woojin was sleeping.

    ‘Our Woojin, he must have been tired from crying.’

    Someone must have come while Wooreen was washing because the bedsheets were changed to new ones and Woojin was also fresh. It’s good that the work I had to do was reduced, but it’s a little disappointing.

    I looked at Woojin’s sleeping face. Now that I’ve found his sibling, I wanted to see him looking a little happier…

    ‘Woojin is a patient, so there’s no helping it. Woojin also needs to rest, so I should get going now.’

    I left the hospital room, entrusted the newly rescued refugee Wooreen to the Civilian Protection Shelter, and submitted the Report.

    *

    After finishing morning training and eating lunch, Kim Sanghyuk came with his lunch tray and sat next to me again today.

    Kim Sanghyuk is also a Enhancement-Type B-grade Esper like me, but we’re in different teams, so we don’t have much overlapping training. Still, Sanghyuk, who cares about me as a former teammate, opened his mouth to worry about me.

    “Hey, Gang Crazy! I heard you caused another accident?”

    Kim Sanghyuk called me the nickname I hate and acted like he knew me. If my teammates call me ‘Gang Crazy,’ it means ‘Enhanced-Type Crazy,’ which can disperse the shock, but if you call me that, it means ‘Gang Hana Crazy’!

    “Don’t call me Gang Crazy. Then you’re ‘Sang Crazy.’ Sanghyuk is crazy, Crazy Kid Kim Sanghyuk.”

    I was upset that I wrote a Statement of Circumstances and a Report in a row for no reason, so I was more annoyed than usual.

    “I roughly heard about you writing a Statement of Circumstances, but why did you write a Report too? The staff evaluation period is coming up soon, are you okay living like this?”

    But my friend Sanghyuk ignored my nonsense and worried about my future.

    “Actually, I’m a little worried too.”

    That’s why I wasn’t going to listen to Woojin’s request, but Woojin was crying. It was an irresistible force. Am I going to get kicked out of the Great Monster Extermination Team? I really like my current team, so I didn’t want to get kicked out.

    The Great Monster Extermination Team is made up of elite Association members, and they go on a lot of missions, so the salary is high. I’m worried that I might get kicked out. I should poke around and apply to several teams in preparation for the worst.

    Sanghyuk tempted me with the Life Saving Team he belongs to, but I refused.

    There aren’t many living people outside the Central Center anymore, so there aren’t many dispatches now, and it’s closer to a debris disposal team. If there are fewer dispatches, the salary is also low. We get paid in proportion to the number of dispatches.

    Sanghyuk insisted that wasn’t the case in response to my question, but in fact, Sanghyuk also has more days working as a mercenary for other teams because he has no dispatches.

    I gave Sanghyuk, who has no work, the realistic advice that he should move teams, and Sanghyuk gave me the encouragement to take care of myself first.

    After talking about this and that, we came to the conclusion that we should increase our value in this upcoming Martial Arts Tournament.

    The Martial Arts Tournament, which starts next month, is a competition where Espers compete against each other to rate their performance. The performance rating is naturally reflected in the staff evaluation, and the higher the rating, the more difficult the mission they’re assigned to. The more difficult the mission, the higher the pay.

    The Martial Arts Tournament we’re participating in is a tournament where Espers hit and fight each other, so applicants are recruited through voluntary application.

    ‘Not all Espers are combatants, and there are also Pacifism Espers.’

    But I participate every year and get good results. That’s why I’m in the Great Monster Extermination Team, which is made up of high-ranking veteran Espers, even though I’m a B-grade Enhancement-Type.

    There are many people who think that I can’t compete with higher-grade Espers because I’m a B-grade Esper, but thinking that S-grade Psychokinetics are unconditionally the best fighters is a big misconception.

    Of course, Psychokinesis is a convenient Ability, but convenience doesn’t create judgment. Binding and Magnetic Fields are a little difficult to deal with, but that’s prohibited in the Martial Arts Tournament anyway.

    Anyway, the Martial Arts Tournament is the best stage to show my abilities. Sanghyuk and I, dreaming of a stable staff evaluation, went to the Central Center and submitted our applications for the tournament.

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