Chapter 45: I will find you

{Lupingo, if you are doubting if there is truly explosive in the hotel, I can assure you that there is. And if you still choose not to believe me, trust me, I can prove it to you if you don’t arrive in the next 5 minutes.}

{If you don’t arrive in the next 5 minutes, the hotel room explosive will go off. Boom! And everyone in this hotel room will go bye-bye. They will die, and their loved ones will miss them, and it’s all going to be your fault.}

The man of the hour, who was being invited, remained completely unaware.

....

Watching the Livestream, I am starting to feel that Lupingo was not that bad.

He wasn’t a psychopath that plays with other people’s hearts.

She couldn’t believe she was that wrong. She only judged him by his name. She literally judged a book by the cover.

Lupingo wasn’t this anti-human or this psychotic.

She honestly believes that if Lupingo could hear her thought process right now, that he would be extremely shocked. Or maybe she is thinking wrong this time.

Maybe Lupingo is truly an egotistical maniac she truly believes he is.

Maybe instead of being shocked that she had a change of mind about his behavior, he would be insulted that she didn’t believe he could come up with the idea.

I don’t even know why they are Lupingo fans, or why his channel has many views. It’s very obscene to see a villain with that large amount of fan base. It’s very wrong.

Like because of his image or fan base, his name was used to stage a bank heist.

They are all madmen in the literal sense, because that would be the only explanation for them to be following a madman like Lupingo.

Like what the frickin F. When did Lupingo even start his criminal stage? It was like the followers of Lupingo were already in wait. They were waiting before Lupingo even arrived. It was like they were waiting for someone to follow, so as soon as Lupingo came along, they immediately became his followers.

The hero association of Ireland even had to put up a policy. A policy to prevent copycat villain crimes like Lupingo’s to not happen again.

And yet that did nothing to stop their fanaticism. Yeah, fanaticism. They are crazy fanatics.

She wanted to do something, something to stop the act of fanaticism of those fans, but what can she do? Her options are so very slim, so she could hardly blame herself. She is just a B-class hero, for goodness’ sake.

But sometimes Lupingo always steps up. He always steps up and fixes any mistake that’s related to him. An act that some heroes can’t do. I meant fixing their own mistakes.

She was a little scared, a little worried and unsettled about Lupingo.

The villain Lupingo is the kind of villain that are always unpredictable. He is very unpredictable. His actions are always unknown, and he seems to know things that shouldn’t even be possible sometimes.

She is not sure if Lupingo would even come to the villain’s calling. He is also a villain, by the way, even if sometimes his actions feel like the ones of heroes sometimes. And the fact that there are also a lot of hostages in this. Hostages that their lives depend on Lupingo to survive.

And she is literally worried about that fact, to be exact.

This is the kind of thing she hates most especially. The kind of situation that leaves her hands tied. And she isn’t the only one whose hands are tied. The other heroes’ hands are also tied. We all could only just watch the situation on the edge of our seats, while also holding our breath, and praying that Lupingo would arrive to save the hostages.

Maybe it would be like when his identity was being used in that bank heist. Maybe he would arrive, fight off the villain, and send the hostages home packing.

I think I heard he gave money to the people that died, or are involved in the bank heist incident. The hero association tried to track the transaction IP address, but they couldn’t track it at all.

He is just one of a kind. She doesn’t even know what to think again. Is he bad or good? What is he exactly?

This is a rare case that rarely happens, at least so far that I know. Maybe there are villains like this out there, but she wouldn’t know that.

Ding!!!

A sound interfered with her. It brought her out from her thought process.

A bicycle almost hit her. She had left the cafe minutes ago. She was just walking back to the association building.

Although she might have been distracted by her thought process.

But now that she’s conscious of her surroundings, she could feel that the atmosphere felt serene today. If only a psychopath is not about to make a building filled with people go boom. The day would be so much better if that wasn’t happening.

Her mind couldn’t help but go back into her former thought process. She can’t help it. The crisis at hand won’t allow her to focus on the beautiful surroundings.

When the crisis is done, she can then appreciate the surroundings and its sceneries.

Her mind couldn’t help but go back to Lupingo. She somehow felt that Lupingo won’t disappoint them. That he would arrive at the location before anybody dies.

She doesn’t know why she has that kind of trust for a villain. But she just felt she won’t be disappointed at all. And because of this belief of hers, she just became more interested in who Lupingo truly is.

She knows one thing already about Lupingo. She knows that he is rich. A poor person couldn’t spend money on all those hostages.

But that’s only one piece of the puzzle. But soon, she believes—no, she would make sure to find all the pieces of the puzzle. Then she would finally find out the question of the hour. Who is the villain called Lupingo?

Whether he is good or bad, she is going to find out the truth the day she knows his identity. And it wouldn’t matter at all.

But before all that, she has to find him first.

.....

A sneezing sound sounded in the room.

"I am sneezing. Who is talking about me?"

"Friesian, listen. I know that you want to listen to what the villain is saying on the Livestream, but it could be a trap," Vivian said.

"A trap? Why would he want to trap me? I don’t know him at all, and I am sure that I have never seen him before. So why would he trap me?" Lupingo replied.

Vivian raised her hand to rub her fire head.

"Sometimes you act like you don’t understand the world at all. What if you don’t know him, or you have not seen him before? How does that matter in this? It can still be a trap, maybe for reasons unknown to any of us. Avery, support me," Vivian said.

Avery nodded along.

"See? She also thinks that it could be a trap also," Vivian quickly said before Lupingo could say anything.

"Okay, if it’s a trap, and so what? That won’t stop me. He is calling my name on live TV, so I have no choice but to listen to his demands. If I don’t do that, I would look like a coward in the people’s eyes, and that would be bad for my villain aura. And they are also hostages there. I can’t let another villain taint my name. I can’t let the villain paint it the color I dislike. I would not stand for it," Lupingo said.

Vivian sighed and said, silently enough for Lupingo and Avery to hear, "Ah, man pridefulness, the thing that would bring them down."

"Did you say anything?" Lupingo asked.

"Yes, I said something. I am not saying you shouldn’t go. I am just trying to tell you to be prepared, and you should be careful. I can’t let you go off to die, all because you didn’t even consider that there might be a trap," Vivian said.

"Don’t worry, I will be careful. And don’t worry, I won’t die. I don’t think I can afford to awaken little Miss Crybaby. I don’t think a woman crying her eyes out on my grave would be a nice thing," Lupingo said.

Vivian’s head fumed and she said,

"Never mind. Go and die for all I care. I don’t even care again. You can go and die out there. Just don’t say I did not tell you anything. And be rest assured, I won’t be the one crying at all."