Two days ago, thanks to villain Ji-hwan’s rampage, my favorite place to hang out had been destroyed.
Because of that, I could no longer see the part-timer who once saved me…
“…….”
Just when I felt like one of the few joys in my life had been forcibly taken from me…
I found myself desperately in need of something… or someone to take my anger out on.
—
– Villain attack reported on the 3rd floor of the Saebit building.
– The villain’s ability is currently unknown. Requesting support from high-ranking heroes.
After receiving the support message calling for a high-ranking hero, I immediately put on my perception-blocking hero mask and flew toward the Saebit building.
Hope it’s a tough villain.
Honestly, at that moment, I really needed something to vent my frustration on.
I decided I’d take this opportunity to blow off some steam while capturing this villain.
Boom! Thud— Thud—
“Aaaaargh!”
Since I happened to be nearby, I arrived on the scene right away. And then I saw something completely unexpected.
Villains fighting each other?
Whether it was due to a disagreement or something else, the two villains were in the middle of a fight.
How cute.
If I wanted to, I could’ve subdued them both in an instant with my powers.
But watching villains fight each other was a surprisingly entertaining sight, so I decided to just observe for now.
And then…
Bang!
“Hii… sh*t…”
“I’m only letting you off this time because I’m busy.”
The fight ended in a one-sided victory for the masked villain.
And as soon as I saw him begin to pull cash out of the safe—
Knock knock knock
“Looks like you’re pretty busy, huh~?”
I stepped out, no longer hiding my presence, and moved to arrest him.
Of course.
The fact that I could no longer go see that part-timer in person…
And the fact that all I could do was wait endlessly until he decided to become a hero…
The stress from all of that was something I’d intended to take out, just a little, on the villain in front of me.
Sliiide…
“Let’s see now… I wonder how much your arm can endure.”
When I lifted the villain’s sleeve, wanting to watch his arm bend with my own eyes—
I saw it.
“…Huh?”
Last night…
The man who had gotten injured while trying to protect me…
There was a scar in the exact same spot on this villain’s arm.
…
I let the villain get away.
Hero Mobia. Someone who had never once let a villain escape—
And yet, I could do nothing but blankly watch as this one ran away.
“Wh-What are you doing… you… need to… catch him… quickly…”
As I stood there stunned, watching the man with the bag of money fleeing beyond the shattered wall—
The man who had been collapsed on the floor spoke up, asking why I wasn’t hurrying to catch the culprit.
Normally, it was a given that a hero wouldn’t lay a hand on a civilian.
And I too didn’t touch innocent people.
“What’s that knife in your hand then?”
“Th-This is…”
“I wonder how many victims you’ve made while running your illegal loan business.”
The moment I realized this place was the office of a loan shark running an illegal loaning operation—
And that the man was holding a long, very sharp knife in his hand… I understood.
He was someone whose actions were no different from a villain’s.
“People think Hero Mobia is a compassionate woman.”
“Ugh… S-Stop…!”
“That’s right. I am a compassionate woman. But only to those who aren’t villains.”
To keep the man from testifying that I had deliberately let the villain go, I subtly pressed down on his body, causing even more blood to pour out.
“Please just hurry up and die from blood loss. Even the oxygen you breathe is a waste.”
“Khh…huff…”
To be honest, if that part-timer became a hero—
It wasn’t like I had never imagined a life that began from a relationship between a senior and a junior.
Somehow… even though he had this ability, he never registered as a hero, so I thought he was just hesitant…
But the reason he hadn’t become a hero despite having that power—
It wasn’t because he was hesitating to walk the path of a hero.
He was… a villain…
It was, in a way, shocking.
After all, he was the man who had once saved me when I was a child… I had naturally assumed he would walk the path of a hero, but he had chosen to walk as a villain instead.
Why…?
My mind grew incredibly tangled.
That day… the child who saw the back of the man who had protected her dreamed of becoming a hero.
That day… the man who had protected the young girl had become a villain.
…I need to look into this.
I had only faint memories of hearing about the masked villain, so for now, I decided to head back to the Association and dig into the information about him.
Rustle… shuffle shuffle…
But… if he’s a villain, why did he fight other villains? …And why did he attack a loan shark company instead of a bank… …If it was about money, there’s way more to get from a bank…
***
There was a saying that “Money that was easily earned was easily spent”.
“Two hundred and twenty million…”
However, I had earned this money through sheer struggle while surviving against Mobia, so I was determined not to let it go easily.
“Let’s start with just one pizza… extra toppings… and of course, cheese spaghetti’s a must.”
Hmm…
I wasn’t going to let it go easily.
[National Loan Sharks on High Alert]
– As soon as the news broke yesterday that a villain had hit a loan shark’s office, loan sharks across the country started getting hit by villains one after another, loll.
– Serves them right~~
– Honestly, charging 1% interest a day. Are they even human?
– For real, serves them right~~
– Feels so damn satisfying~~~~
– To all the villain hyungs and noonas!! Fighting!!
– Just this once, we’re cheering you on~
– Thank you to the villain who, for the first time, hit back at loan sharks!!
[Comments]
– : For real, just this once, I’m actually rooting for the villains, lol
– : Hahaha this is the good kind of villain cycle, lol
– : You call this satisfying? Are you crazy? You think villains just take money when they hit places? They kill people and destroy buildings while stealing money. And you’re cheering that on? Are you even human?
ㄴ (OP): And you think loan sharks just take money? They beat people and trash their homes before leaving.
ㄴ : And doing the same to them makes it justice?
ㄴ (OP): Since when were villains ever about justice?
ㄴ : Oh, I see.
ㄴ : Don’t let yourself be convinced, lol
– : Yeah, honestly, hitting a loan shark company is better than robbing a bank.
: Are we sure a villain hit it first? What if it was actually a hero taking down illegal operations and then running off?
ㄴ : For real, it felt more like a hero acting like a vigilante if you ask me.
While eating my pizza, I habitually browsed the Villain Forum.
Seeing how there were quite a few posts thanking the villain who had attacked a loan shark company for the first time,
I started to wonder if people were finally beginning to take an interest in me as a villain…
“But no one even knows I was there…”
It was a situation that only made me sigh deeply.
I had hoped that I could finally reveal my existence to the world and bring attention to my younger sibling’s unjust death…
Well, I’ll just make sure to draw all the attention in the next attack.
I resolved to make a real impact with the next terror attack.
I turned on my phone and logged into Telegraph. This was a platform where anonymity was strictly guaranteed.
There it is.
This time, I made up my mind not to worry about civilian casualties.
I tracked down a seller who specialized in homemade explosives and started a conversation.
Me: I’d like to make a purchase.
MBYHW: Villain verification is required.
Me: How do I go about getting villain verification?
MBYHW: First, please wait at the location I’ve sent. (map)
“Damn, that’s far.”
I didn’t know how they were going to verify whether I was a villain or not,
But the fact that they wouldn’t sell to unverified buyers made me feel a bit more trust in the seller.
Well…
“Intercity bus economy seat….no, forget that. What economy seat? Of course I’m going with a premium seat.”
Because villains, by nature, couldn’t report being scammed, there were people on Telegraph who specialized in scamming villains.
So I decided to take it as a good sign that I was meeting a seller who actually wanted to verify my identity.
I immediately started heading to the location where the homemade bomb seller “MBYHW” had told me to go.
I was wearing a mask and carrying a duffel bag stuffed with a whopping 200 million won.
I had bought a ticket on-site with cash and was now waiting for the intercity bus.
Out of habit, I stayed in a CCTV blind spot while I waited for the bus to arrive.
“How much should I buy?”
The only time I had ever used an explosive was during grenade training in the military.
Not knowing how much homemade explosive would be enough, I was still debating how many to buy when—
I saw a woman enter the intercity bus terminal with her hat pulled low over her face.
…No way, right?
Lately, there had been frequent terrorist attacks near wherever I happened to be…
So I started to get anxious that something might happen this time, too.
Ah… Please no… Please, please not now…
Right now, I was carrying a bag with 200 million won in cash.
The last thing I wanted was to get caught up in some random terrorist attack and lose the money.
It’s here…!
Just then, the bus I needed to take arrived.
Go ahead and bomb the place! It’s fine! Just wait until after I’ve left. That’s all I ask.
So I quickly scanned my ticket and got on the bus, praying for it to leave as soon as possible.
Hmm… maybe I was too quick to judge her based on her looks.
Unexpectedly, the woman with the pulled-down hat just sat there quietly and did nothing.
Feeling a bit guilty, I silently apologized to her in my head and tried to gather information about bomb attacks during the ride.
Screech—
“?”
Just as the bus had started moving, it suddenly came to a stop…
I could see someone climbing onto the bus.
“Apologies. We’re from the Hero Association. We received a report of a suspected villain here and were dispatched immediately.”
Ah… please, no…
“Is the person who made the report here? Even if not, please remain patient. The search will be completed within ten minutes.”
Such dutiful, report-loving citizens…
Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who had suspected the woman with the hat pulled low might be a villain and reported her.
Ten minutes, huh…
There wasn’t really anything to be anxious about.
Not to brag, but… I wasn’t exactly some notorious terrorist that everyone knew by name.
Whenever I carried out an attack, I always wore a mask, so my face had never been exposed.
There was absolutely no reason I’d get caught here…
Ah, but the bag has both the cash and the mask in it…!
If they decided to search personal belongings, even for a moment…
It was obvious they’d discover I was a villain right then and there.
So I quickly placed the bag I was carrying under the seat, took off the outerwear I had on, and draped it over the bag…
Please don’t come this way… Please don’t come over here…
I started praying the Hero Association staff wouldn’t make their way toward me.
While lying back in the premium seat and gazing out the window,
I saw one of the Hero Association staff questioning the woman with the hat pulled down low.
People really do think alike.
Well… to be fair, anyone would’ve found her suspicious…
Looks like she was just a regular person.
Whether it was unfortunate or fortunate,
The woman turned out to be completely innocent, so the inspection should have ended there…
“We’re sorry. Just one quick search. It’s standard procedure.”
Saying it was standard protocol, they began inspecting with a bomb-sniffing dog, and I had to sit there watching it sniff around here and there.
If I’d been on my way back from buying the bomb, I’d have been in serious trouble.
Luckily, I didn’t have a bomb on me…
Woof! Woof woof!
Why are you barking?
…I haven’t even bought the bomb yet.
Have you seen the future or something?
Are you a hero too??
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