2) Chapter 1 - Hope...... is there any? (2)

I couldn’t recall it right away for no particularly grand reason.

It was just one of the countless web novels I had read.

Some web novels leave a strong impression, but maybe this one simply hadn’t struck me deeply enough for me to remember it clearly.

If I had to guess, its tags were probably light novel, harem, academy. A harem story where the protagonist accidentally awakens superpowers, transfers late into an academy, and gets entangled with numerous heroines.

I don’t remember the title. Only that it was a sentence-style title. Most of the novels I read had titles like that anyway, so recalling it precisely wasn’t easy.

But at least I managed to remember my own name.

Seo Rua.

A character who starts as an early antagonist in an academy story, then becomes a heroine… I think that was it.

Of course, she had superpowers too. I don’t remember exactly at what age she awakened them—

But my thoughts were cut off by the sound of the man coughing.

Cough—each time he coughed, blood spilled from his mouth. As if embarrassed, he wiped it with his arm.

Then he smiled at me.

As if, even in this situation, my reassurance mattered more than his own injury.

“Sir…?”

“Sorry.”

He moved his body as he spoke. Blood didn’t gush out like before, but I couldn’t tell whether that was because of his ability or simply because there was no blood left to spill.

Behind us, I heard snickering laughter.

The metal shard embedded in his chest slid back into his body and disappeared.

Ah, so he was stabbed from behind.

I realized it belatedly.

“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you.”

He looked like he was in his mid-thirties. But judging by his face alone, it was hard to guess his age. His features made him look much younger—early thirties at most, maybe even late twenties.

The reason I could still estimate his age fairly accurately was because I thought I knew who he was.

In web novels, unless the author intentionally avoids character illustrations, appearances are described only in text. Even with detailed descriptions, each reader imagines something slightly different. But I could recognize this man because I had managed to recall my name, Chae‑yi’s name, and this situation.

A tight-fitting blue suit. The kind of outfit a Hollywood superhero might wear.

There were many characters in the story who wore blue uniforms, but the reason I remembered this man was—

Ah. Right.

He’s the heroine’s father.

The one who had already died long before the story’s timeline.

The exact reason was described too. Something related to another heroine—ah.

Right.

It’s me. Of course it’s me. And Chae‑yi too.

There are two heroines here. So of course this must be that moment.

Seo Rua wasn’t someone who moved alone. More accurately, she was part of a “popular group,” and in the beginning she was the type of heroine who bossed around the protagonist, whose powers were considered weak.

The two heroines who followed Seo Rua around were Chae‑yi and, probably, this man’s daughter.

“No.”

I muttered without realizing it. He must have thought I was just scared, because he smiled gently again.

“Don’t worry.”

He reached out and lifted me into his arms.

“I’ll protect you.”

The wind whooshed again. But this time he dodged properly, even while holding me.

So in the original story, did he get fatally wounded and die while trying to protect Seo Rua?

I stared blankly up at his face, thinking.

None of this felt real.

No—my entire situation was unreal compared to the world I had lived in.

I had thought it was too early for the story to begin. So I had let myself feel safe.

Should I have thought harder? I remembered nothing after the orphanage was attacked. The teacher grabbed Chae‑yi’s and my hands and ran, the building collapsed, I rolled across the ground, and then I couldn’t see Chae‑yi or the teacher anymore.

If I had remembered sooner, would things have been different? If I had told the teacher we needed to run, terrified as I was, could we have escaped?

I felt something warm soaking my body and turned my head—then gasped.

There was a large hole in the man’s body. It wasn’t like in comics where you could see straight through, but blood was pouring from the long wound where the blade had pierced him.

Instinctively, I tried to cover it with my hands, but they were far too small. A child’s body had no strength, and my hands were too tiny.

Besides, it was a wound stabbed from behind. Covering the front wouldn’t help.

Whoosh, whoosh. Even so, he kept moving quickly.

I didn’t know why the villain who attacked the orphanage was targeting me. There was no description in the story of some great villain invading.

But anyone who could inflict a fatal wound on a hero wasn’t ordinary.

…In a world like this, of course villains like this existed.

In a society where superhumans lived, not all of them chose to become heroes, nor did all villains follow some deep philosophical code.

Becoming a superhuman was no different from suddenly gaining an endlessly reusable bomb.

If someone had lived oppressed before awakening, it was natural that some would want revenge.

So the reason he targeted me was probably just because he wanted to.

Knowing that, the man couldn’t simply leave me behind.

Pow!

His fist slammed into the villain’s face. More blood spilled from his wound. Even a hero couldn’t endure forever.

“…Ah.”

Right.

My power.

If it was my power—Seo Rua’s power—couldn’t I do something?

Seo Rua’s power was stronger than the protagonist’s early on, but objectively weak. Enough to enter the academy as a superhuman, but not enough to fight villains as a true hero. Just a minor telekinesis ability.

But telekinesis was still the power to move objects.

I couldn’t lift a person and throw them, but maybe… I could at least block a wound.

…But so what?

I didn’t have that power yet. If I did, I would’ve been fostered or adopted by a hero family and receiving professional training.

People awakened at different ages. Most awakened young, but some awakened even past thirty.

My future self might have that power, but who knew when that future would come?

Until now, I hadn’t felt even a hint of telekinesis—

“…”

But still.

Isn’t it a bit wrong?

To be nothing but a burden to someone trying to save me?

If I hadn’t known anything, I would’ve just trembled quietly, trusting him to handle it. He was a professional at fighting villains, after all.

But he was going to die.

If someone asked whether this was the moment, I couldn’t answer with certainty. But if not now, then when?

There was no mention of Seo Rua or Chae‑yi being attacked and rescued as elementary or middle schoolers.

And above all, this man was risking his life to save me. How could I just sit still?

I squeezed my eyes shut and placed my hands over his wound.

Then, with a “whatever happens, happens” mindset, I focused. In the story, superpowers were described as being as easy as moving a finger or toe.

I had no idea what that was supposed to feel like. The author probably just wrote something that sounded plausible.

But doing something—anything—felt better than doing nothing.

“…Ah.”

And then, I felt something.

A sensation I had never noticed before, suddenly stirring.

So simple that I wondered why I hadn’t tried it earlier.

Was it because I remembered what kind of world this was? Or because the situation was so urgent that my terrified mind stumbled into it?

Either way, it didn’t matter now.

What mattered was this power.

I couldn’t let go of it.

“Kid, you…?”

He must have felt the bleeding from his front and back wounds being blocked by something, because he sounded startled.

Clang!

But he had no time to question me. The villain was right in front of him.

Blocking the blade—whatever it was—with his forearm, he smirked.

“So that’s how it is.”

He must have realized I had a superpower, and that I was trying to help him however I could.

“If I lose now, I’ll never live it down.”

He hugged me tighter with one arm and muttered that.

I don’t really know what happened after that.

I clung to his chest, hands pressed over his wound, focusing only on stopping the bleeding.

It felt like I had been holding on with all my strength for a very long time.

Children can run and play endlessly, but superpowers were different. Even after everything ended, I don’t think I got off his body as he lay on the ground.

Then I heard a belated scream.

Someone calling him “so‑and‑so’s dad”—so it must have been his wife.

A scream from above, then the sound of someone landing beside him.

Then gentle arms lifting me away.

“No…”

I murmured without meaning to, clinging to his clothes.

My whole body was drenched in blood. Far too much to call “a little.”

The metallic smell was so strong it numbed my nose.

Honestly, my power hadn’t been very successful. I had just awakened, and even in the original story it was a weak ability.

I tried hard to block the bleeding, but some blood inevitably leaked through.

“…It’s okay.”

Even though her fallen husband must have been her biggest concern, she carefully separated me from him.

“People are here. Everything will be okay.”

But her voice trembled.

No matter how tightly I held on, I was just a child. I couldn’t hold on for long.

“It’s okay.”

She turned me toward her and held me in her arms.

Only then did I see her face.

I had thought the man looked young for someone with a daughter, but she looked even younger. Whether she was actually younger or just looked it, I couldn’t remember clearly.

All I remembered was that she was beautiful.

Ah. It’s her.

One of the greatest heroes of her time, beloved by everyone.

People often said judging by appearance was wrong, but seeing her, I understood instantly why people adored her.

“It’ll be okay.”

It sounded like she was saying it to herself more than to me.

Someone shouted, people rushed around, sirens wailed, children cried.

Was Chae‑yi okay?

What about the teacher?

Later, I heard the whole incident lasted only about ten minutes from start to finish.

From the moment the peaceful orphanage ceiling collapsed, to the panic, to the man flying in and subduing the villain—ten minutes.

Thankfully, no one at the orphanage died.

But there were casualties on the way to the orphanage. And some were injured inside too.

I heard all of that the next day.

At the scene, I couldn’t even stay conscious properly.

After everything ended, I fainted.

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Pub: 01 Mar 2026 22:11 UTC

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