In the blink of an eye, I was moved to the interrogation room of the Hero Association located in City A.
This was a sealed space with not a single ray of light coming in.
The only source of light in the small room was a single lamp hanging from the ceiling.
And in front of me, sitting at the desk, were two investigators with fierce appearances.
But they…
“Uh…”
‘…Would you like some candy?’
“I’m fine…”
They looked just as flustered as I was.
Well, considering they were used to dealing with criminals all the time, having an elementary school boy in the room must have been quite the sight.
It was only natural for them to react this way.
Whispering.
“Seriously, this isn’t a classroom, so why is a little boy here with us?”
“I don’t know. I heard an S-Class hero personally brought him in, but isn’t this the wrong place for him no matter how you look at it?”
“Exactly. If we’re not careful, we might get charged with child abuse.”
The investigators, despite their intimidating appearances, quietly placed a piece of candy in my mouth, showing a surprisingly timid attitude.
In the awkward atmosphere, only an uncomfortable silence filled the interrogation room.
After a moment.
Clank.
“He is a monster.”
“…!”
“Salute! Hero Yoon Ha-eun, you’ve arrived?”
“Yes. You two, step out for now.”
“Yes, ma’am!!”
The interrogation room door opened.
Yoon Ha-eun, clad in her usual bulletproof gear, entered and dismissed the two investigators.
“Uh… teacher?”
The awkward atmosphere became even more awkward.
No, perhaps it would be more accurate to say it had become heavier.
Despite my calling out to her, Yoon Ha-eun simply sat in front of me without a word.
And then, as she looked into my eyes, her gaze was…
Still filled with heart-shaped pupils of desire.
But at this moment, rather than seeming affectionate, her trembling pupils resembled those of a predator that had found its prey.
“Jang-hoon.”
“Yes, teacher…”
“Answer my questions properly from now on. If you don’t, I can throw you into the underground monster detention center of this building right away.”
“Ah, yes…”
Where did her suspicion start?
Even in the original story, it was rare to see Yoon Ha-eun this serious.
And for her to show this kind of demeanor now…
That could only mean one thing.
‘She has proof!’
It wasn’t just mere suspicion anymore—she had something concrete.
“First, when we were returning to our original world, what were you doing?”
“Uh, I was just… inside the restroom you made for me?”
In truth, I had gone beyond the mist and eliminated the mosquito monster.
But of course, I didn’t reveal that.
Besides, I had a solid alibi with two reliable witnesses.
Carmilla and Miss Hoshino.
Thinking that, I felt somewhat reassured.
But then—
Smack!
Yoon Ha-eun slammed her palm onto the desk in front of us, pressing forward with her argument.
“That part is true. Jang-hoon, you went to the restroom, and the two kids who are always with you can confirm it.”
“Then that settles it…”
“But! There are a few inconsistencies in your story.”
First,
“Jang-hoon, you said you were in the restroom for about 30 minutes, right?”
“Yes, that’s right…”
“Then why was there no waste at all in the container I had set up for you?”
“?!?”
Ah, I see.
That’s a good point…
I had been sitting on the toilet for 30 minutes, but without a phone, it would be strange to just stay there for that long.
“Maybe I was constipated…”
“Even if you were constipated! Normally, when someone sits on a toilet, they at least urinate. But the toilet you used was completely clean—there was nothing in it.”
“T-That’s because! I was too nervous, so nothing came out!”
But I wasn’t about to give in.
I defended myself desperately.
“It was a terrifying situation, and honestly, I just wanted to be alone for a while, so I went into the restroom!”
“…!”
“Besides, I was the only boy in there! I felt even more isolated, and it was scary!”
At this age, kids tend to feel lonelier based on gender differences.
I used that fact to my advantage, making it seem like I never even intended to use the restroom.
That way, I successfully got through the first question.
But then came the second.
“Hmm~. Alright, if that’s the case, then I suppose it makes sense that the temporary restroom was clean.”
“R-Right?”
“Then how do you explain this?”
“…Explain what?”
“The fact that as soon as you went to the restroom, a human-sized hole appeared in the restaurant’s window.”
“!!”
Right, that hole.
I didn’t have a way to patch it up, so after returning, I just wedged the broken piece back in and left it.
So she noticed it after all.
And it wasn’t over yet.
“Jang-hoon, as an S-Class hero, I have physical abilities that ordinary people can’t even comprehend.”
“Uh… do you?”
“Yes, I do.”
Was she bragging about herself all of a sudden?
As I tilted my head at her sudden boast—
“The Horned Masked Monster.”
“?!?”
“I saw him. Beyond the mist, fighting a giant bug-like monster. I saw it all with my own eyes.”
Crap…
She actually saw that?
Was it because I got distracted checking for any remaining mosquitoes after wiping them out?
I hadn’t realized Yoon Ha-eun had been watching the entire fight from start to finish.
“Ordinary people—and even most heroes—wouldn’t have been able to see that if it weren’t for me.”
“Oh… I see.”
“But isn’t it strange?”
“…What is?”
Gulp.
“The moment you went to the restroom, the Horned Masked Monster appeared and conveniently took down the creature that trapped us.”
“Uh….”
“Well…”
That does sound pretty suspicious when you put it that way.
Simply put, the timing was just too perfect.
But that was still just a suspicion, without any solid evidence.
“Objection!”
“?!”
If I stayed quiet, I would lose based on the flow of the conversation.
So, just like Yoon Ha-eun did earlier, I slammed both hands on the desk to take control of the momentum.
“And how does that prove that I’m the monster?”
“Th-That’s…”
“Wait… are you seriously thinking that I might be the Horned Mask Monster?”
“I never said that!”
“But in other words, you’re about to say it, aren’t you?”
“Ugh…!”
Don’t panic.
They don’t have any concrete proof anyway.
I thought I had managed to counter Yoon Ha-eun’s unexpected reasoning quite well…
“Objection!”
…or so I thought.
Thud!
Just like I had done earlier, Yoon Ha-eun slammed the desk again, raising her own objection to my objection.
“Alright, I’ll be honest. The teacher does suspect that you, Jang-hoon, might be the Horned Mask Monster.”
“I’m not a monster!”
“Sure! If we only look at this restaurant incident, that might seem true.”
I was flustered for a moment.
But she quickly returned to her usual calm demeanor as an S-Class hero and pulled out another piece of evidence.
“But how do you explain this?”
“W-What is that…?”
“These are all the reports containing records of the Horned Mask Monster’s appearances.”
“W-What?!”
Did she really investigate this far?
The documents Yoon Ha-eun handed me contained a detailed record of all the traces I had left behind ever since I was reincarnated into the <Monster Frontline> world.
In other words, every monster I had defeated while transformed, and the exact locations—it was all written out in disturbingly meticulous detail.
“The first appearance was in Y City, which was left in ruins by the Monster of Violence.”
“…!”
“The moment that monster was defeated, a single child was rescued from the scene within just a few hours. A boy named Kang Jang-hoon!”
“Urgh!”
A mysterious boy who appeared right after the Horned Mask Monster vanished.
And when asked why he was there and how he survived all that time?
Nothing could be learned, thanks to the ‘convenient setting’ of his so-called amnesia.
“H-Hey, but that’s…!”
“I know, I know. I’ve heard that excuse plenty of times before.”
But you see,
that could still be a coincidence.
There have been real-life cases of nomadic tribes surviving for years in monster-infested areas, after all.
“But I wonder if you can object to what I’m about to say next?”
Shrugging her shoulders as if challenging me, Yoon Ha-eun continued with even more damning evidence.
“The deeper I investigate, the more inconsistencies I find.”
“…For example?”
“The second time the Horned Mask Monster appeared was in E City, which is managed by the Okami Clan.”
“!!”
“The public believes that the Horned Mask Monster killed Lord Okami Makoto.
But strangely enough, the clan itself has remained completely silent on the matter.”
Of course they would.
A prestigious hero family admitting they were helped by a monster?
That would be an absolute disgrace.
And as if she had caught on to that fact, Yoon Ha-eun’s heart-shaped pupils sparkled even more excitedly.
“Not to mention… you were also there, Jang-hoon.”
“N-No, that’s…!”
“Sure, maybe it was just another coincidence that you happened to cross paths with that monster twice.
But then…”
The third time the Horned Mask Monster appeared…
It was the day Yoon Ha-eun and I formally encountered each other for the first time.
She was certain of what she saw.
“A few days later, the Horned Mask Monster appeared in C City.
But Jang-hoon, you were in D City at the time, weren’t you?”
“Y-Yes! I was in D City that day!”
“Right! In D City, where the Horned Mask Monster first appeared…
And you were inside the exact same restroom as it!”
“?!”
Crap.
Did she investigate that far too?
With that, Yoon Ha-eun opened her laptop, playing a CCTV recording from the chaos in D City caused by the monster alarm.
It showed me sneaking into a public restroom to transform into a monster while chasing Carmilla.
Gulp…!
“Look at this! Jang-hoon, you walked into the restroom, and just a few seconds later, the Horned Mask Monster walked out!”
“Urgh!!”
“Can you still object to this evidence?”
At this point…
I had no choice but to invoke my right to remain silent.
“I-I demand a lawyer!”
“We’ve come this far—just confess already!”