“Damn it, of all times for my body to change! If it hadn’t, I’d have caught that goblin myself and dragged it back!”“Oh, you idiot. If it weren’t for that guy, you’d be shredded by a hurricane right now. Do you not get that?”“Shredded, my ass! My body’s made of iron.”When it became known that the villain who attacked Seonghwa Hero University was a goblin, people remembered a name they’d long forgotten—Aengak.Only six years ago, it had annihilated an entire village. A wooden spirit, a calamity, a Dongti—the forest wraith Aengak.Among all awakened spirits in recent years, Aengak was the only one the Hero Association had never captured. Its power was overwhelming, and its movements were unpredictable.Phantom Thief Kill flicked a Joker card into the air. As Hyde’s gaze followed it, the card twisted into the shape of a weeping face. It foretold a great calamity ahead.“Ah… an ill omen. Seems this will be a tangled and difficult journey. For the Joker to cry—I’ve only seen that once in my entire life. Doesn’t feel good.”“The item’s interesting, yes—but there’s no reason to clash with goblins over it. In the Hell will sit this one out.”“What?”“You’re serious?”Everyone looked at Hyde in shock, including Uichan. In the Hell had never once withdrawn from an operation like this.But as Hyde said—the opponent was Aengak. There was no need to stir a hornet’s nest and invite unnecessary danger.Besides, this time too many hero groups and organizations were already entangled. If In the Hell joined in, Seoul itself might be reduced to rubble.But for Uichan, this mission was a once-in-a-lifetime chance.If he missed it now, he might never again get close to Aengak’s trail.“We don’t know what Aengak’s true objective is, so there’s nothing to gain by rushing in blindly. Don’t forget our end goal. Aengak is our final adversary. We all know it’s too soon to face it now.”Aengak was the worst calamity known, and In the Hell was the most infamous creation of evil. The two powers stood in balance, always at a tense parallel. Hyde valued that balance deeply—because as long as it held, Aengak couldn’t move recklessly.Chirp—chirp!Unlike the brothers’ hardened faces, Podo squirmed and giggled happily in Uichan’s arms, oblivious to the tension.Since no one knew Aengak’s current power, there was no point in picking a fight and risking a bloodbath. The others glanced at one another, then nodded in reluctant agreement with Hyde’s decision.But Uichan—he couldn’t. He clenched his jaw and stayed silent, unable to nod.The white eyes marked by the Big Dipper fixed on him, unblinking, as Hyde’s gaze bore down.And another set of eyes watched too—those of the child in Uichan’s arms.Podo’s playful expression vanished. He simply blinked, quietly watching Uichan until the man finally managed to gather his emotions and nod faintly.***The past few days had been slow—so peaceful it bordered on dull.With June came the first wave of summer heat, but the weather was still perfect for eating lunch in the park.If only Park Rion hadn’t been clinging to him like a barnacle, begging nonstop, it might’ve been an ideal afternoon with a breeze and sun.“I’m telling you, my plumbing burst! Huh? The room’s a flood. How am I supposed to sleep there? It’s a basement half-room already—damp and stinking.”Uichan sat on a park bench, eating his lunch calmly. Across from him stood the Non-Hero office, quiet and familiar. Through its open window, he could see Director Song Ojun occasionally wiping the glass.Uichan picked up a rolled omelet with his chopsticks—only to drop it. Thankfully it landed back in the lunchbox, and he picked it up again.“So, Uichan… can’t I stay at your place for a couple of nights?”“Just sleep at the office.”“No way! What if a ghost shows up? It’s creepy here at night! The streetlights don’t even work!”Uichan sighed, setting down his chopsticks. Rion’s watery eyes trembled like a chick staring at its mother hen.“…How many nights?”“Two! Just two! They said the plumbing will be fixed by then.”Two nights, huh.Uichan calculated in his head, then nodded in reluctant defeat.“Only two days. You mean it?”When he got home, he’d have to hide the prenatal booklet and lay out bedding in the spare room. Still, Rion was so oblivious that even if he saw something, he’d probably never notice. Just in case, Uichan decided to tell him not to come out at night.“Our Uichan’s the best!”Rion threw his arms around him in a tight hug.At that very moment, three dark shapes stirred among the green forest surrounding the park—one behind a withered tree, the others hidden in the bushes to the left and right.Neither Rion nor Uichan noticed them—nor that the watchers were three of the busiest heroes in the world.“Hey, I brought my stuff already! I’ll just run back to the office real quick, okay? You keep eating—and don’t pick up whatever you drop again!”He dashed off like a bullet, his bulky hiking backpack bouncing as he ran. In moments he was just a dot in the distance.Uichan, shrugging, decided to finish his lunch quickly—cherry tomatoes, a bit of pan-fried meatballs, a piece of pickled white kimchi. Soon, the lunchbox was empty.‘You two, behave today, okay? I’ll give you chocolate milk later.’He gently rubbed his stomach, praying the twins would stay quiet for once. But Hyde’s words from a few days ago echoed faintly in his mind, leaving him a little despondent.In the Hell had decided to stay out of the Aengak affair. Which meant, naturally, that Uichan should too.…Maybe that was for the best.He needed to take care of himself now, to rest.But his heart refused to settle.He’d been chasing Aengak for five years.If only I’d gotten the Regression ability sooner…If he had, maybe he could’ve saved his family—and everyone else.After the Seolhyang Village massacre, Uichan had wandered like a vagrant. Disillusioned by the government’s inaction, he’d become a delinquent, lying about his age to get day labor work.He could do that thanks to his ability, Pickpocket.It let him steal others’ powers through physical contact and use them as his own.But one day, he stole something he never should have.He brushed shoulders with a passerby and took their ability—but the man died in a car crash right before Uichan’s eyes.The ability he’d stolen that day was Regression.Wracked with guilt, Uichan tried to purge it from his body.—Why… won’t it disappear?It didn’t. No matter how many times he used it, Regression clung to him like a carved brand.From that day on, Uichan possessed two abilities.At nineteen, while drifting through the city, he met Song Ojun—the current director of Non-Hero.The man had once saved Uichan’s life, and perhaps out of guilt, began giving him odd jobs. By twenty, he’d officially recruited Uichan into the office.At first, Ojun tried to make him a clerk. But somehow, he’d discovered Uichan held a hero’s license and secretly registered him with the Labor Bureau as a hero.In the end, Uichan was sent on fieldwork—like tracking runaway pets.“Uichan!”Rion’s shout snapped him from his thoughts. The man came running back, a hiking backpack as big as himself strapped to his back.He stopped in front of Uichan and grabbed his hand eagerly.At the same time, the bushes rustled again.“Since I’m freeloading, let me treat you today! What do you want to eat? Or should I make you some support gear?”“What are you talking about… you don’t need to. You’re only staying two nights.”“Mmm… then I’ll just make something anyway. You never ask for anything yourself.”As Uichan tried to wave him off, Rion gripped his hand even tighter.The three hidden figures clenched their jaws, veins bulging.That damn otaku bastard.Why wasn’t he wearing his glasses? Seeing Rion giggle like that over Uichan’s uncovered face made their blood boil.To top it off, he said he’d be staying two days—sharing a bed, probably the same bathroom.Over their dead bodies.The three dark silhouettes each began plotting how to interfere.Then Rion pulled a sausage from his pocket and offered it.“Hey—what the? What the hell?!”Sensing something strange, Rion turned around.His backpack was floating in midair.Eyes wide, he screamed.“G-ghost! Let go! Let go of my stuff!”He shoved the sausage into Uichan’s hands like a peace offering and grabbed the bag tight, pulling hard.The bag jerked forward—and Rion was dragged with it.“No way! Do you know how many matching items I bought to use with Uichan?!”Uichan, frozen on the bench, watched in disbelief.When Rion was yanked completely out of the park, Uichan jumped up in alarm—just as something black flew toward him and stopped right in front of his face.A pair of horn-rimmed glasses, floating midair.Blinking, Uichan glanced around. There was ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) no one.The glasses wobbled impatiently, as if telling him to hurry and take them.“…You want me to wear them?”When he hesitated, the glasses snatched the sausage out of his hand in irritation.A floating pair of glasses stealing a sausage—no one in the world would’ve believed such a thing.

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