-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: The Final Question
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Alright! Time's up for the second question. The hottest fruit in the world is... a nectarine! Because 'cheon-do' sounds like '1000 degrees'! Hahahaha!"
"Then let's move right on to the third question. What's the three-syllable word for what a vassal says when parting ways with the king?"
"The answer was 'Viking'! As in, 'Bye, King'! Hahahaha!"
"Fourth question! What's the five-syllable word for a country without beef?"
"The answer was 'Sogogi-muguk'! As in, 'beef-no-country'! Hahahaha!"
As the questions continued, the passengers' expressions grew progressively darker.
Even those who had been quite good at first started getting questions wrong, one by one, as the quiz went on.
And in this game, one mistake meant instant elimination.
Consequently, by the later stages, only a few people remained.
Truth be told, a good number of people were still left. Egoistic himself had honestly expected no one to remain by the eighth quiz.
However, surprisingly, three people were still in the game.
A little boy who seemed to have read a lot of joke books since childhood, as he got every question right as soon as it was asked.
A high school girl chewing bubblegum, who seemed completely unfazed.
And an older gentleman who looked like he'd thrown quite a few dad jokes at his subordinates during company dinners back in his day.
The passengers' gazes were fixed on these three, who were still holding their smartphones.
They were the passengers' last hope. Everyone watched them with a desperate hope, more fervent than anyone else.
As desperate, suffocating gazes flew at him from all directions in the tense situation,
the balding gentleman nervously glanced around, sweat pouring down his face.
Of course, the little kid, still unaware of the world's ways, didn't grasp the situation and merely waited for the next question, seemingly thinking it was just a game. Only his mother, beside him, watched with an anxious, burning expression.
And then there was the high school girl, wearing a red baseball jacket and chewing bubblegum.
It was unclear why she was on a plane alone in her school uniform at this hour, but she rested her chin on her hand, casually watching the video playing in front of her.
At the same time, someone on the ground was looking up at the sky where they were.
"...Stardust. Have you arrived?"
"Yes, I've arrived. For now."
At the Jeju branch of the Hero Association.
Deep within the building's basement, Stardust responded to the communication.
"Ugh, bleh. Ughhhhh."
"...Kim Ja-hyun, are you okay?"
"Do I look okay to you—ughhhhh."
The one retching beside him was Kim Ja-hyun, Hero Name: Shadow Walker.
He was one of the three A-class heroes in South Korea, alongside Stardust, and in specific situations, he was the strongest of the three.
Yes, he was the strongest, but 'only in specific situations.'
Shadow Walker. A hero purely strong only at night.
Restricted to nighttime, he could melt into shadows and move anywhere without any strain.
He was unlike Egoistic, who would likely die of a heart attack if he moved more than 100km, or the Teleporter, who would barely manage to teleport 100 meters, whimpering after being shot once.
If his current location was dark enough, and if the destination was equally dark enough,
theoretically, he could move to the other side of the world. Of course, he wouldn't be able to move to the other side of the world since it would be daytime there.
And most importantly, at night, half of his body virtually becomes shadow, making him invincible.
Meaning, he couldn't die. Whether it was physical attacks or biochemical attacks, he was virtually immune.
Furthermore, he could pull opponents into his shadow and move them anywhere.
Truly, the King of the Night. This is why criminals in South Korea don't commit crimes at night, and villains never carry out terror attacks after dark.
People have nicknamed it 'Shadow Kidnapping.'
As soon as a report is received, he moves to the location and instantly teleports the criminal to prison.
In other words, if you limit the time to evening, he can be considered top-tier among heroes, even on a global scale.
In fact, he was virtually the only person in South Korea who came closest to being an S-class hero.
However, because of his weakness, he was destined to remain A-class.
Namely, his extreme weakness during the day.
Whether it was teleportation or his immortality status,
if there was light, all were useless.
His body, which clearly had excellent athletic abilities at night, would strangely and drastically weaken during the day.
No, it wasn't just weakening; he found it difficult to even stay awake, so he always slept during the day.
Of course, he wasn't entirely useless during the day.
Whether it was teleportation or his immortality status, if there was enough 'darkness,' he could use them to some extent even during the day. Though severe side effects would follow.
That's why the Korean Hero Association built basements beneath its three branch offices in Seoul, Busan, and Jeju.
To create an artificially very dark environment so he could use shadow movement to transport even other heroes.
For this reason, Shadow Walker Kim Ja-hyun, who had been sleeping soundly, woke up in the middle of the night—no, rather, in the middle of the day—to shadow-teleport Stardust from Seoul to Jeju Island.
Though he seemed very, very displeased about it.
"Ugh... Haa... Hey, did we really have to do this? I feel like I'm dying..."
"Yes, it was absolutely necessary. Still, I'm sorry. Get some good rest."
"Haa... This is killing me..."
As soon as Stardust arrived, he dashed off somewhere.
Left alone, Shadow Walker caught his breath, waiting for the staff members who were coming down to assist him.
"Haa... Please, you damn villains. Please, just commit your crimes at night..."
His monologue simply settled deep within the dark, sprawling basement.
Because the characteristic of villains these days was to always operate during the day.
***
"...The answer to the ninth question was Deoksugung Palace!"
"Ah, damn it."
"Oh! Didn't someone make a sound just now? Now, now. I'll cut one wire~ Oh dear! Only two left now!"
At the high school girl's sudden curse after checking the answer, one of the bomb's wires was cut. One out of three was cut, leaving two.
All the surrounding passengers glared at her, but she didn't care and merely mumbled quietly.
'...I shouldn't have trusted that kid.'
Fortunately, she had mumbled it mostly to herself, so no one, not even Egoistic, noticed what she said.
Of course, the passengers were far from fortunate. Both the high school girl and even the little kid had gotten it wrong.
The child, making a tearful face and expressing regret, was quietly hugged by his mother.
So now, only one person remained.
The balding gentleman, sitting in the middle, sweating profusely like a waterfall.
Egoistic's playful laughter flowed from the speaker.
"Oh dear! Only one person left now. Is this the famous last man standing? Let's see... Mr. Kim Deok-bae! Yes, Mr. Kim Deok-bae! You are currently the only one who has answered all nine previous questions correctly."
The gentleman startled at the mention of his name.
"Therefore, you are the only one! Who can attempt the tenth question. When I think that the lives of all 80 people currently aboard this plane depend on Mr. Kim Deok-bae's finger, your shoulders must feel incredibly heavy. Mr. Kim Deok-bae, how do you feel right now? Say a word."
To ask someone who was already dying from tension to speak, the sad middle-aged Kim Deok-bae looked like he was about to faint.
His face flushed crimson, receiving the gazes of everyone around him, Mr. Kim Deok-bae stammered as he opened his mouth.
"Ah, well. Really, really, the re-re-responsibility is immense and—"
"Unbelievable! Didn't I clearly say earlier that if anyone made a sound, I'd cut a wire? So why are you opening your mouth? I'll cut one more wire."
And then, indeed, a wire attached somewhere on the plane snapped and was cut.
The passengers, who saw that sight in real-time on the screens in front of their seats.
"!!!.....!"
Dumbfounded for a moment, they wanted to burst out in anger.
But now that only one wire truly remained, they couldn't utter a single word and could only express their fury through their expressions.
"Wow, seriously, he's a demon."
"Isn't this just like saying, 'Move and I shoot! Hands up!' and then, 'Oh, why are you moving your hand?' and shooting them, haha?"
"Is this... Egoistic? Where's the Mango Stick I knew?"
"???: Coming to your senses?"
Even the chat window, which was usually favorable to Egoistic, was now dumbfounded by his maliciousness.
Only Egoistic, as if it were obvious, simply raised his voice.
"Why use words for a single remark? You can use body language. Like sign language. Honestly, what a lack of sense."
At Egoistic's words, delivered as if he were the one dumbfounded, the people, boiling with rage, suddenly calmed down.
They had all been about to explode in fury, only to realize something.
That having only one wire left to prevent the bomb's explosion was meaningless.
Because if they got the last quiz wrong, the bomb would explode anyway.
In this place filled with suffocating coldness,
only the speaker's voice, cheerfully, posed the final question.
"Alright! Finally, the 10th, the last question! If you get this right, you can all safely disembark from the plane. If you get it wrong... you know what happens, right? Alright, here's the question. What's the oil that children like the most? Countdown, begins now!"
[3 : 00]
[2 : 59]
[2 : 58]
...
Thus, the final question was thrown out.
Everyone's attention focused on the sweating middle-aged gentleman.
Even those who couldn't guess the answer at all,
Even those who had some idea of the answer,
Even those who were certain of the answer, couldn't bring themselves to say a word.
They just stared at the middle-aged gentleman, desperately. More desperately than ever before.
"...."
The man, his face flushed, agonized for a long time.
[0 : 03]
[0 : 02]
[0 : 01]
In the final moment, he wrote down his answer.
"Three, two, one. Ding! Alright, let's check the answer. Let's see, you wrote 'IU.' Now, let's see, let's see. Yes! The answer is..."
A suffocating tension.
The passengers on the plane.
The people watching the broadcast on the ground.
After everyone swallowed hard and waited, the answer was announced.
"The oil that children like the most is... May 5th (May Oil)! IU was not the answer!!! What a pity. Well then, *tsk*."
Egoistic thought for a moment, then continued.
"That's it. Farewell!"
BOOM.
"Aaaaaaah!"
With the sound of something exploding,
the plane began to plummet.