—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Vine
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The day after the academy incident, as soon as I opened my eyes in bed and checked the internet, the whole world was in an uproar.
[Trauma, the culprit behind the academy disaster. What is his objective?]
[18 dead, numerous injured. Even top heroes and staff couldn’t escape death…]
[Villains growing stronger day by day… Countermeasures still sluggish]
An unprecedented incident with 18 deaths—three top heroes, four staff members, and eleven students.
[The International Hero Academy’s complacency, is this acceptable?]
Naturally, the media was bombarding the academy with criticism.
[Hero Minor Gallery]
[Title: Trauma’s actions yesterday, summarized] (1214)
[Title: Mutant monster activity scene.jpg] (874)
[Title: Great Order princess carry.gif] (619)
[Title: Vice principal’s past actions exposed again!] (357)
[Title: News about our lord’s danger level assessment] (212)
However, the reactions in the online communities Pandora showed me were a little different.
[Did Trauma really kill all three top heroes?]
ㄴ [I heard his subordinates killed them]
ㄴ [What the hell? A mere subordinate is on the level of a Villain League executive?]
Quite a few people were interested in Trauma, the main culprit of the incident.
[Weren’t the heroes just weak?]
ㄴ [Are top heroes a joke to you?]
ㄴ [Heroes are weaklings (×) Our lord is fucking strong (o)]
[Damn, it feels like crazier bastards are popping up every day]
[We should be careful for a while…]
Of course, most reactions were wary or fearful of the newly emerged supervillain, but
[But isn’t it kinda cool that he took down the vice principal?]
ㄴ [Fr lol]
ㄴ [I became a villain because of that bastard’s bullshit at the academy lol]
ㄴ [This bastard’s a villain lmao]
…there were some who felt differently.
[But why did he save Great and the students?]
ㄴ [Seriously, no one knows lol]
ㄴ [Wasn’t he the one who released the monsters in the first place? lol]
ㄴ [But the investigation results said the monsters were unrelated to this incident?]
In any case, the supervillain Trauma seemed to have made quite an impression on everyone from his debut day.
“So, what’s going on?”
The problem was that the supervillain ‘Trauma’ was
…none other than me.
“Why are you guys my subordinates?”
As I lay in bed, blankly scrolling through information about yesterday’s incident, I asked the executives gathered around me.
“We all fought with your mask on, hiding our identities.”
“…You startled me.”
However, the one who answered wasn’t the executives, but Paradise, who was sitting next to me with a smile.
“A rookie who will become the ultimate weapon of the Villain League needs this level of name recognition.”
“…”
I felt like if I didn’t ask now, I would miss my chance forever.
“Hey, I have a question.”
“Yes?”
So, after taking a deep breath, I looked into Dice’s eyes and started asking everything I’d been wondering about.
“What are those monsters? It seemed like you guys could see them too.”
“That’s…”
“And that’s not all. How do you know about Lumia’s true identity? Why are the Villain League executives fighting monsters?”
Then, silence fell over the room.
“Explain.”
“…Alright.”
Dice, who had her eyes closed for a moment, opened them and took my hand, pulling me up.
“Follow me.”
“…”
“I’ll tell you everything.”
Supported by her and the executives, I arrived at an old archive on the lower floor, a place I’d never been to before.
“This is a record left by the first leader of the Villain League. Read it through.”
Dice snapped her fingers and retrieved an old record from the vault and handed it to me.
“…Huh?”
And then, everything I knew began to change.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
To all villains of the future who will read this.
We have a secret. You probably know it too. The translucent window that appeared before you at the moment of corruption. You probably read the unknown instructions written on it and chose the path of a villain. And you’re probably confused right now. Because you can now see things you couldn’t see before.
Yes, there are unknown beings in our society. Those unidentified monsters that have blended in with people, who knows since when. Beings with reason and purpose, like humans, different from ‘monsters,’ which are born from the mutation of non-human creatures. Therefore, I decided to call these beings ‘Grotesqueries.’
Do you know our purpose, the purpose of villains? You probably don’t. The reason you became a villain was probably because of revenge or despair. But I know. I, the ‘First Villain,’ was directly assigned a role by the ‘System’ that briefly appeared before you.
‘Join forces with the Grotesqueries and destroy the world.’
It was a very simple command. To carry out that simple command, we villains were given the ability to distinguish Grotesqueries. Then, I’ll ask you a question. Why are we fighting Grotesqueries instead of heroes?
The reason is actually quite simple. Because I, the First Villain, and my comrades, gathered together and rejected fate. Think about it. Why should we follow the absurd command of a being who shows up with a status window, something out of old novels or comics, and tells us to destroy the world?
Didn’t you decide to become a villain because you wanted to be free? A powerful, god-like being, or someone with similar power, turned our normal world into their playground overnight. As long as that being exists, as long as that world continues, we will never be free.
So we decided to resist. We rejected the roles assigned to us, and we decided to hunt Grotesqueries instead of heroes. If you are reading this, it means our will has been passed down to your time.
So, I urge you, who has newly joined us. Use your revenge and despair as weapons, and overcome the false nature and malice created by ‘Villainization.’ Kill the Grotesqueries that have seized the established order of society, and resist those who try to steal our freedom. Even if it’s quickly covered up, inform as many people as possible about the existence of Grotesqueries.
Until the ‘protagonist’ who can use the System I received without any price appears, the one who will end this false era.
Let’s make the self-proclaimed god who dared to underestimate humanity pay the price.
Ps. But let’s not try to become heroes. Villains are free because they are villains.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Looking away from the old paper that seemed to have passed through many hands, I asked Dice, who was standing next to me.
“Is this… all true?”
“Yes. There are no lies.”
She answered, taking my hand again.
“The First Villain. As the record says, he chose to fight, not to submit to fate.”
“…”
“But it seems the being who made our world this way didn’t like that very much.”
Her expression darkened slightly.
“Instead of the villains who turned their backs on him, that being started contacting heroes. And he started turning numerous heroes to his side.”
“Then, what I saw yesterday…”
“Yes. They were all corrupted heroes.”
Only then did I realize.
That Justitia’s and my continuous downfall wasn’t a coincidence.
That this era wasn’t the peaceful era where heroes had won.
The hero world I knew was fake.
I was living in a dark age, full of lies and deceit.
“We’re going to have an all-out war from now on.”
As I was still in shock, unable to process the information, Dice spoke in a serious voice.
“We’ve been trying to reveal the existence of ‘Grotesqueries’ to the world for a long time, but it’s all been covered up. It’s the Grotesqueries who control society.”
“That’s…”
“But now we have Pandora and you.”
Pandora? And me?
What did that mean?
“We’re no longer losing the information war. With Pandora’s skills, they won’t be able to conceal information anymore.”
That made sense. Pandora’s skills were unparalleled, a once-in-a-century talent.
The proof was that she managed to keep yesterday’s live broadcast going until the servers were physically shut down.
“And you are the only one who can defeat the corrupted protagonist.”
However, her next words didn’t make sense.
“Who is the corrupted protagonist anyway?”
“Lumia Obse. He’s one of the protagonists of this world.”
So, I tilted my head and asked, and she gave a shocking answer.
“What…?”
“The record of the First Villain is true, Haneul. Our world really has become a playground.”
It was hard to believe. I was also curious how Dice knew all this.
“…”
But in this world where supernatural abilities that couldn’t be scientifically explained existed, questioning such things was a bit ridiculous.
“Our objective is to find the other protagonist.”
“There’s… another protagonist?”
“Yes, and we have to help him grow. Of course, the same goes for all the children in Class 1, Year 1.”
So, I nodded silently, and Dice, who came out of the archive with me, spoke again in a solemn voice.
“I know the future. The final battle will take place within a few years.”
“You… know the future?”
I was startled by her words.
Knowing the future?
How was that possible?
“The academy is one of the few institutions that hasn’t fallen to the Grotesqueries.”
“Hey…”
“I’ll explain about myself sometime when I have the chance.”
Dice whispered so as I quietly broke out in a cold sweat. It seemed she had no intention of explaining right now.
“So, Haneul.”
My head was throbbing from the influx of new information, so I figured it was for the best and as Dice, who was holding my hand, suddenly stopped walking,
“Do you still want to be with us?”
…an emotion appeared on her usually enigmatic face for the first time.
“As you know, we practically tricked you.”
“I don’t care about that.”
It was an expression like a puppy afraid of being abandoned.
“Dominating Hands isn’t a hero group. We’ll do anything, no matter how dirty, to kill Grotesqueries, and we’ll kill countless lives, beyond redemption.”
“Is that so?”
It was truly surprising that she could make such an expression.
“Even if everything is over, no one will recognize us.”
“Just like black ops agents.”
“We will be forgotten by everyone, forever.”
“That’s what I want.”
And it was a little funny.
Because I was the one who couldn’t live without her, like a puppy.
“But, but if that’s what you want.”
As I quietly approached her, leaning against the railing, Dice gently stroked my left eye, which had become squinted due to blindness.
“Welcome.”
With her arm around my shoulder, she leaned her head against mine and whispered.
“To our family.”
In the massive situation room below us, the villains who had just become family were busily moving around.
“It’s an honor.”
In a place I’d fled to without hope,
…I regained my reason for living.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Meanwhile, at that time.
“Ha.”
Great Order, sitting on a chair in her hospital room, quietly stared at the document in her hand.
[Genetic Test Results]
It was the result of a genetic test.
She had taken a sample of ‘Trauma’s’ blood from her clothes and requested a test to determine their family relationship.
“I knew it.”
And the result was
[Probability of blood relation: 00.03%]
…a mismatch.
“A bastard like you… there’s no way you would save me, right?”
A cold smile spread across her lips.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Maybe he is not her blood brother?