"Sorry, I'm late."

"Gasp, gasp... You're late...!"

Though I could feel a dazed gaze fixated on me, I didn't have time to waste. I ignored it and hurried to join them. The familiar face I hadn't seen in a while was drenched in sweat.

...Having talent isn't always a blessing. It can lead to such hardships.

The old me, who was jealous of those more talented, seemed foolish now.

If talent leads to a place where death is a constant threat, maybe it's better not to have it at all.

Though, for some reason, I was here too.

"Are you alright?"

"No...! I feel like I'm dying...!"

"You must be fine. If you were truly struggling, you wouldn't be able to say that."

I relayed the words I often heard from the investigator who used to beat me, and she gave me a look that said she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

I met Amelia's gaze head-on.

Having experienced it myself, I knew it was true.

When Arakne forced me to train, saying I needed to be strong, I learned that when you're truly on the brink of death, you can't think of anything.

"...Alright. We don't have time to argue. Help me quickly. Can't you see she's about to die?"

"No. She'll be fine for a bit longer."

"What? She's on the brink of death! Isn't she your comrade?!"

"She's just overreacting."

"Kyaaa! Save meeee!"

Watching the snake woman, who was always playing the victim, scream and run away, Amelia seemed to truly think she was in danger, but that wasn't the case.

If she were really about to die, she wouldn't even be able to scream.

For once, she was actually useful.

Though she might regret coming here.

It was obvious just from her expression.

But I didn't really care. I'll just buy her some snacks she likes next time.

"...Alright? Then we can rest for a bit."

"You're not going to lie down here, are you?"

"So what? You said it's fine."

"Nevermind..."

Yeah, that's how she was.

I hadn't been at the academy long, but her personality was infamous from the start.

Watching the guys who had fantasies about her get their dreams shattered was quite amusing.

"By the way, what were you talking about so seriously?"

"Nothing important."

"Nothing important? You're having a long conversation in this situation."

It really was nothing.

I just snapped our leader out of her guilt-ridden stupor.

She was feeling guilty, thinking she had ruined my life.

It was funny.

But explaining it all wouldn't make her believe it, so I just waved off further questions.

Luckily, she didn't press any further.

"...So? Thanks for coming, but do you have any ideas on how to take down that monster?"

"Not really. I don't know."

"What?!"

"We were called here by the investigator. We were secretly brought in and suddenly told to come here, which was quite shocking."

The reason was also laughable.

It was something like, "It looks like something dangerous might happen, so come quickly."

There was someone willing to use a criminal's help even before anything had happened.

...Not that I could talk, being here myself.

"The investigator? Oh. Teacher. Where is he now?"

"Here."

"Oh, hi."

"Long time no see."

When did she get here?

I thought the surroundings were a bit blurry because of the dust.

Was it because of her ability?

"We can't defeat that thing. We're just holding it off."

"What?!"

"When Siwoo said a few days ago that we needed to bring in a free superhuman, I wondered what was going on..."

She seemed so calm despite saying there was no way to resolve this situation.

Amelia was understandably flustered.

"We can't beat it? Even with so many people?"

"Of course. Our attacks don't work. What else can we do?"

Hyul pointed to where Spira was fighting.

She was screaming and running, but despite the gaps she managed to find, the monster kept moving without a scratch, like a tank against infantry.

"I tried putting some water in its lungs... But it seems to breathe fine. It must have gills."

"Gills? Then it's not even human anymore, is it?"

"Yes, it seems so. That's why it can run around like that."

The monster, which had been charging at Spira in a straight line, failed to hit her again and crashed into the wall.

"For some reason, it seems to have a lot of abilities. It's causing a processing overload. It's just a high-spec empty can."

"Indeed. Its movements have been too simple."

"If it has too many abilities, it's worse than having none. Its skill proficiency seems low, so we can still manage."

Sure enough.

If it were human, it would try different methods when the same one fails multiple times.

But this monster just keeps using the same method endlessly.

As if its intelligence had regressed.

"It's like a beast."

"We should call it a beast. It's hard to call it human anymore..."

"What could have caused it to end up like that?"

"...Ah."

At Hyul's musing, Amelia seemed to remember something and jumped up.

"The Crucible!"

"...The Crucible?"

"The thing the Übermensch aimed for when they attacked the academy! I heard it was lost, but maybe...!"

"Now that you mention it, two of the Übermensch leaders are unaccounted for."

"One is here. So that means..."

Is that thing a mix of human and monster one of the missing leaders?

Can't the snake woman even recognize her old comrade?

...No, she couldn't.

Imagining that thing as her old comrade would be hard.

"It looks like it's melted down and fused various creatures together."

"Right?!"

The Crucible, the Crucible...

If I think of it that way, the multitude of abilities makes sense.

If it fused many lives together.

Then its appearance makes sense too.

"...Then we need to destroy the Crucible to solve this."

"But how do we find it? There's nothing that looks like it."

"It's the heart."

A low voice resonated.

As we turned towards the voice, Siwoo had somehow joined us.

"...The heart?"

"Yes. The Crucible is inside its body, where the heart is."

"How do you know..."

I stopped myself from asking.

This guy had some kind of intuition ability, right?

He knew even that?

Isn't intuition supposed to be a sixth sense? This doesn't seem like a sense at all.

"But we still need to retreat first."

"What? Why?! If we defeat it now..."

"Did you forget? The main force is in danger too."

"...Ah."

He was talking about the swarm of spiders.

They seemed to be barely holding them off, but there were a lot of injured.

"To defeat it, we need a big hit. Not small attacks."

"But what if there's no one in the main force who can do that..."

"It doesn't matter. There may not be someone who can deliver the big hit, but there's someone who can help make it happen."

"...Dorothy."

Seeing the three of them nod in agreement made me feel left out.

She must be one of our companions.

Is she important?

I decided to assume so.

"...By the way, where's Arte?"

"I sent her ahead. She needed healing and wasn't much help here."

"Isn't that dangerous?"

"She'll be fine."

Seeing the certainty in his eyes, we didn't ask further.

We figured it was because of that intuition ability or whatever.

There was no other reason for him to be so sure.

"...Alright. Helping the main force is fine, but we can't all go."

Amelia glanced at Spira, whose screams were getting weaker, and spoke.

"That thing seems to target whatever it sees, but..."

"Which means it will relentlessly chase us."

"Exactly."

...Someone had to stay behind.

We had to leave someone behind to help the others.

"It doesn't seem to tire, so helping the main force won't be quick. There's some distance too."

"I'll stay. I have ways to survive attacks..."

"It used fire earlier. The mist will evaporate quickly."

"..."

"I'll stay. I'm really fast, so it won't catch me easily."

"No."

In the midst of everyone volunteering, the boy quietly declared.

"I'll stay. You go ahead."

"Hey! I said I'll..."

"You're fast, but you need to move a lot to dodge each time. You'll tire quickly."

"...Ugh."

"Compared to that, I don't need to move as much, so I'll be fine."

"But..."

Amelia couldn't continue.

She realized he wouldn't be swayed.

"You once told me. How can someone who abandons their friends aim to be a hero?"

"Yeah! So I should..."

"That's why I'll stay."

The boy who once dreamed of being a hero stepped forward.

"If anyone else stays, they'll die. I know it."

Siwoo knew.

Thanks to an ability that was no longer just intuition. Even if he couldn't fully understand it himself, he knew.

He was the only one who could stay and survive.

"So I'll stay."

It would be tough.

He might die if things went wrong.

It wasn't just about holding out for an hour or two.

He might have to spend the whole day with that monster.

A moment of distraction could cost his life.

But the boy decided to stay.

"Hurry up and go."

Because he knew that if anyone died because of that monster, the girl he loved would be heartbroken.

The girl who had finally found a chance to see the world might shut herself off again.

So Siwoo decided to stay.

"Come back quickly. I don't want to deal with muscle pain for too long."

"...Alright. Stay alive."

"Don't worry."

As Amelia quickly gathered the injured woman and fled, the monster's gaze naturally turned to Siwoo.

The human form it had shown earlier was almost gone.

If left alone, it would eventually become a horrifying beast.

Siwoo's face twisted with pity.

The only way to save this person, who was losing their sense of self, was to put them out of their misery.

"...Alright, let's do this."

The boy who once dreamed of being a hero, no.

The young man who had become a hero, stepped forward.

Towards a happy ending for everyone.