Olivier enters her home.
The stalker watches her enter from the 1st floor.
‘He’s not following her, just watching?’
‘Is it a relief that he doesn’t follow her all the way to her door?’
He watched from below as Olivier took the elevator and got off. After seeing her open the door and enter, the stalker began to move again. Toward the officetel where Olivier lived.
I couldn’t leave it alone any longer, so I deactivated my Camouflage and grabbed the stalker’s shoulder. A jolt of surprise traveled through my fingertips as his shoulder flinched at the sudden contact.
“W-who are you?”
“My, who are you following so persistently?”
“W-who am I following? Wh-what is with this guy? Wearing such suspicious clothes!”
The stalker, who had fallen in surprise, actually scolded me. This was ridiculous. Calling my Justice Armor suspicious? He was the suspicious one.
“I saw everything. You’ve been following that woman.”
“W-who did? Me?”
“Of course. I’ve been watching the whole time. I’ve even recorded your crimes. It’s regarding Kim Min-ah, right?”
The stalker’s face filled with panic at my words.
“Regardless of your intentions, it’s a nuisance and a threat to the other person. Do you understand?”
“I-I’m truly sorry!”
At the mention of evidence, the man immediately fell to his knees and bowed his head.
‘At least he’s not a complete psychopath, judging by his behavior.’
“First, let’s see your face.”
Without resisting, the man took off his hat and sunglasses.
“Oh.”
A square jaw showing stubble, barcode-style hair, and unsettlingly long eyelashes.
“Sir, by any chance, how old are you…?”
I felt like something was wrong.
“I-I’m 27.”
‘He’s in his 20s?’
“Did a time machine run over your face by any chance?”
“What?”
His appearance naturally commanded respect. He was that kind of man.
“I-I’m ugly, aren’t I…?”
“Pardon?”
“I know. I know how hideous I look…”
Wait, I didn’t say anything, but he’s suddenly spiraling.
“But I like her so much. I fell in love at first sight… Every time I close my eyes, her face appears, and I can see her smile.”
“Ah, I see.”
“I know I shouldn’t be like this, but…”
The man wailed while staring at the ground. I patted the sobbing man’s shoulder. It seemed he was just a devoted man who purely liked Olivier. A naive young man who couldn’t even muster the courage to confess.
‘Still, this can’t go on.’
“I’m sorry. Never… I will never even look at her again.”
That barcode hair keeps flickering before my eyes; it’s a bit much.
‘How hard has his life been for him to look like this at 27…?’
‘Suddenly, my own hair follicles feel itchy. I need to be careful. I need to take preventive measures.’
“How pathetic.”
The man’s shoulders slumped further at my cold remark.
‘His self-esteem must have hit rock bottom because of that barcode hair.’
Appearance isn’t everything. A person is made of many things: personality, speech, behavior, and so on. One’s face is just one factor.
“Was your heart really that shallow?”
“N-no, it’s not like that…”
“If a man draws his sword, he should at least try to cut a radish.”
“…!”
The man’s eyes widened in surprise at my words. But only for a moment. He soon murmured self-deprecatingly with a somber gaze.
“Just like my thinning hair, my will has thinned out too. Sir, how could someone like me even try to talk to her?”
‘Honestly, he’s not Olivier’s type.’
‘In the other world, the Demon King was bald. That’s why I remember Olivier didn’t even have a hint of a romance with him.’
‘It’s certain that this man’s confession will fail with Olivier, who hates baldness. But he likes her this much. Is it really right to just hide such stifling feelings?’
‘Wouldn’t it be better to confess clearly and be rejected cleanly?’
“If your hair is thinning, you can plant more.”
“…!”
“If a hair transplant isn’t an option, you can wear a wig.”
“!”
“If your spirit is weak, you simply have to make it strong.”
“!”
The stalker looked up at me with moved eyes at my words.
“I will remodel your mental state. Come with me.”
“Sir…”
“I will turn you into a true man.”
The stalker took my hand and stood up.
‘It’s a bit of a cringey line, but it comes out naturally when wearing the Justice Armor.’
‘I declare, this suit must be the most perfect substance in existence.’
—
3 days passed.
I decided to rehabilitate the stalker. Conveniently, there was a Training Room I operated with the Star Center Director. Of course, you can’t change a person through short-term training. He still had barcode hair and a square jaw. But he was no longer a man without courage.
The 2 nights and 3 days of hellish training had changed him.
“Who is the Trash?”
“It’s me!”
“What day is today?”
“It’s D-Day!”
“Right. It’s finally D-Day.”
“Yes, it is!”
The stalker—no, the reborn lover—looked at me while standing at attention with discipline. The gloomy, insecure man from just a few days ago was gone. Now, his gaze was strong enough to face even rough waves with steel-like conviction.
“You were a Bug until now.”
“Yes, I was!”
“But now, you will emerge.”
“Yes, I will!”
“Are you ready to become a butterfly?”
“I am ready!”
‘He’s prepared.’
“Go.”
It would soon be time for Olivier to get off work.
—
Olivier felt that something was strange.
‘Is it possible something happened?’
She had asked him to catch the stalker, but then he had simply vanished. She had tried calling, but he didn’t pick up. She had sent messages as well, but there was no response. It didn’t seem like he had fainted or that anything was wrong with his body, though.
‘What is he up to?’
She didn’t think anyone could harm the great Hero.
‘But Villains have been active lately, so maybe…’
No matter how much of a Hero he was, it could be dangerous if Villains used dirty tricks. Just as she decided she needed to search for traces of the Hero—
“Oh?”
A call came in from the Hero.
“Hello?”
“Are you on your way home?”
It was the Hero’s voice. His voice sounded perfectly fine. Olivier’s worries had been for nothing. Dumbfounded, she laughed softly and scolded the Hero.
“What the? Where did you disappear to?”
“I was giving the stalker some education.”
The stalker had indeed disappeared since the Hero vanished. She had thought that might be the case.
“Good grief. Then you should have said something. I thought you might have been attacked by the stalker or something.”
“Me? Please.”
‘Well, that’s true.’
Olivier chuckled at the thought.
“I guess it was handled well.”
“Of course. It’s been perfectly taken care of.”
For once, it seemed he had handled things well on his own. It seemed she wouldn’t have to worry about her commute anymore. To think there were times when the Hero was actually useful. Olivier was about to express her gratitude.
“Where are you? Since you helped me this time, I should buy you a meal.”
“A meal? No, it’s fine. It’s not over yet.”
‘It’s not over yet?’
Olivier wondered what the Hero meant.
“He’ll be there soon.”
“Pardon? What do you mean?”
“If he liked you, he should at least confess before backing off.”
“Huh?”
Olivier felt that some weird switch had been flipped in the Hero. At that moment, she saw someone’s silhouette in the distance. It was the stalker.
“Don’t worry. He’ll just confess and leave.”
“I don’t think so. It looks like a switch has been flipped in his eyes too.”
“A switch? Yeah, it’s on. The switch named ‘Manhood’.”
“W-what are you talking about?”
The chubby man with the square jaw and barcode hair began to charge toward her like a tank.
“Oh my god!”
The scream escaped Olivier’s lips automatically. Before she knew it, she was running away.
“Don’t run, Olivier. Accept the man’s confession.”
“You crazy bastard!”
This was no time to be casually talking on the phone. The man was faster than expected. Olivier ran at full speed. She could feel the man chasing her from behind. She would be caught at this rate. Olivier called out to passersby for help.
“You in the white shirt! You in the jeans! Please help! He’s a molester!”
At Olivier’s plea for help, the man in the white shirt and the man in the jeans turned around. Seeing the stalker charging fiercely toward Olivier, the two men burned with a sense of justice and duty.
“I, a 3rd Dan in Judo, am here!”
“What luck that I, a 4th Dan in Kendo, was here as well!”
It seemed the people she had asked for help happened to be martial arts experts. Olivier was relieved. However.
“Ugh, how frustrating. I can’t do a throw because this is asphalt.”
“If only I had my wooden sword…!”
Having suppressed the two experts, the stalker was charging like a Terminator.
“Oh, mother!”
Terrified, Olivier started running again. She took Caltrops out of her Inventory and threw them behind her. The stalker quickly dodged the Caltrops as he ran. In desperation, she threw a Smoke Bomb. Even so, the stalker burst through the smoke like an unstoppable runaway train.
“Just what did you do to make a person change like that?!”
Olivier vented her sudden anger at the Hero. She barely reached the Entrance of her officetel. She quickly locked the reinforced door and ran toward the elevator, repeatedly hitting the button.
‘Quickly, quickly.’
The stalker arrived. He tried to open the reinforced door, but Olivier had locked it. He pressed his face against the door. Then, he licked the glass with his tongue.
‘N-no, stop.’
Olivier felt a horror that made her skin crawl. Although she had been part of the Demon King’s Army, she had previously transferred to a Special Forces unit composed of Succubi because she hated being in the same unit as the creepy tribes.
The stalker turned around and walked away as if giving up. Seeing that, Olivier let out a low sigh.
At that moment.
The man spun around and began to run. Olivier hoped it wasn’t what she thought, but her fears were confirmed. The man curled his body into a ball and slammed into the reinforced door.
*Crash!*
The door shattered, and the stalker walked toward Olivier, stepping over the glass fragments.
*Thump, thump.*
She didn’t know why the elevator was being so slow today. Looking at him, his eyes were completely gone. He looked like he was ready to do anything. Olivier gulped. Next to her, a plump woman was staring at the stalker with a terrified face.
‘First, I shouldn’t let others get hurt.’
She had to run away again. However, she was worried that someone nearby might get hurt. Having thought that far, Olivier swallowed and forced an awkward smile.
“U-um…”
“I wasn’t manly enough to speak to you directly, so I only stepped on your shadow from behind.”
It was starting.
“When I first saw you, I fell in love at first sight. When I saw you a second time, I fell in love with both eyes.”
Olivier felt her skin crawl at the cringeworthy words. She had no idea what would happen if she rejected him here. The stalker was confessing with madness in his eyes.
“I love you, Ms. Kim Min-ah.”
“Ah, uh…”
Was it because of her unique Succubus charm? Even now, having been born as a human, there were many men around her. Whether in school or at work. Sometimes men fought over her, and women were jealous of her. Olivier thought it would be best to respond honestly to a man who said he liked her.
“I’m sorry, but…”
“I-I’m so happy.”
Suddenly, Olivier saw the plump woman next to her tearing up and covering her mouth. The stalker lifted his face as if moved.
“Huh?”
Olivier blinked. The woman next to her, who shared the name Kim Min-ah, and the stalker grabbed each other’s hands and began to laugh joyfully.
Olivier searched her memory carefully. Now that she thought about it, she remembered there was a woman in the officetel with the same name as her. And thinking more about it, that woman seemed to be her neighbor. Upon further reflection, the plump woman looked very familiar. As someone who worked in the same office area, their commute times were similar. Even the direction of their workplace was the same.
*Ding.*
The elevator reached the 1st floor. Quietly, Olivier let the elevator door close and walked outside.
Outside, the Hero was standing there in his Justice Armor with his arms crossed. He was nodding his head.
Olivier pulled a Kitchen Knife out of her Inventory.
“Olivier?”
“Hoho.”
“Olivier?”
“Hohoho.”
Olivier approached the Hero with a laugh. As the Hero took a step back, she took two steps forward. When the Hero turned his back and ran, she began to Dash.