I had screwed up badly.
Even if the Heavenly Eye was warning me of danger, it was danger toward a member of an evil organization — not toward the peace or safety of ordinary people. Looking back, it was such an obvious thing, yet I hadn't understood it at all. Why had I rushed off to play hero?
To the forces of justice, an evil organization's danger was exactly what they existed to fight.
"This area is off-limits..."
Fresh Girl's words suddenly stopped.
"...You're not an ordinary person, are you?"
Her skin had a glossy silver sheen, with pale green patterns that emphasized her body lines. A star-like emblem glowed at the center of her chest. Her large eyes held a strong will despite her expressionless face. Even though she had no visible pupils, I could tell exactly what she was looking at.
She was staring at the doorknob I had just twisted off.
"Did you follow me here?"
"!"
I had no choice but to run.
"Wait. Let's talk."
Just two steps.
The moment I tried to dash back down the stairs, Fresh Girl had already circled around and appeared right in front of me. I knew about this ability. She could instantly teleport anywhere within her line of sight. She could fly through the sky and even into space. She fought giant monsters with her punches and kicks, and ultimately finished them off with a beam attack.
I was going to die.
"You must not cooperate with an evil organization. You can still turn back. Turn yourself in to the police. Then think about how to use the power you've gained for the good of society. Okay?"
She gently placed a hand on my shoulder.
*Crackle.*
"!?"
*Zap!*
I hadn't done anything. The moment I felt something like electricity run through her hand, I was violently shoved backward. I crashed through the rooftop fence and was sent flying into the air.
Had some kind of defensive function activated?
"You—!"
She caught up to me before I could even fall to the ground.
"That outfit… You're a combatant from S.H.O.T.E.N.!"
"SEEEED!"
What the hell?
I had meant to say "What's going on?", but what came out of my mouth was a strange, high-pitched battle cry. I couldn't understand the situation at all. Wait, hold on. If we could talk, then let's calm down and talk. Sure, I broke the doorknob, but I hadn't actually done anything as an evil organization member yet.
"SEEEED!"
Help me!
I tried to shout that, but no other words would come out of my mouth. Was this some kind of restriction function to prevent me from panicking, surrendering, or begging during battle?
So that's why they allowed me to move freely so easily?
"Fighting here would—"
Fresh Girl threw me through the air.
*Zap!*
I took another electric shock and staggered, only to be hit with a perfect, beautiful hip throw from the heroine. My altitude shot up instantly. The station area below became tiny and disappeared beneath the clouds. Yet I didn't feel any sudden change in air pressure.
I really had been modified.
"...Seed."
Calm down.
I had no choice but to fight.
Even if I surrendered, what would happen to Jun? If I revealed everything about her, a large group of heroes would completely erase that tiny recycle shop without a trace. That couldn't be allowed.
I didn't want that.
She had definitely done things bad enough to deserve the death penalty. She talked about selling my organs like it was the most normal thing in the world to cover the remodeling costs. There was no telling how many other crimes she had committed. She was clearly a bad person. There was no room for doubt about that. But still… I…
"SEEEED!"
I had fallen in love with her!
I screamed toward the blue sky as I fell, breaking through the clouds. When I looked at my own body, I saw I was now wearing a pitch-black suit. It was a lame, full-body tights-like outfit with "S.H.O.T.E.N." written in large white letters across the chest. Anyone who saw it would immediately know I was a combatant.
Even my face was covered by some kind of mask.
It must have been a function that hid my identity when entering combat mode.
*Splash!*
I landed in the sea. Carried by momentum, I almost plunged straight into the muddy seabed, but when I frantically kicked the water, I shot upward with far more force than expected and even leaped out of the sea surface. I had only ever swum during school classes, yet my physical abilities had clearly been enhanced.
"Seed..."
There was an island nearby — I didn't know where exactly.
I crawled up onto the rocky shore.
"What are you planning?"
Fresh Girl was already floating above my head.
"...Seed."
But what now?
While realizing I had simply been carried to a battlefield, I stared hard at my opponent, betting on the chance that the Heavenly Eye might give me some useful information. From the way Jun had spoken, it sounded like they had put up a decent fight before.
"Do you want to rescue your captured comrades? It's useless, you know? They've already been handed over to H.E.R.O.S. Or is this revenge? I think it's pointless, but why do you people keep challenging battles you can't win?"
No, I was being completely pitied.
Although her expression wasn't visible, Fresh Girl's words were those of someone lecturing a much weaker opponent. Only I had experienced it as a desperate fight to the death. For her, it was probably just another routine task. That was the atmosphere.
The Heavenly Eye showed nothing useful.
It kept spitting out detailed numbers — thigh thickness, hand size, neck length, and so on — based on what I could see on the surface, but none of it seemed like information I could actually use in combat.
A battle I couldn't win.
Even I knew that much.
She was, after all, Japan's first female hero. In the fictional world she came from, she fought giant monsters that destroyed entire cities. There was no way a human-sized combatant like me could possibly match her.
But she was supposed to have a weakness.
What was it again?