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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Vine
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The day after I safely escaped the scene with Great Order’s help.
– …A-rank villain Trauma has now attacked District 17. With 12 dead and 5 injured…
Disguised once again as a temporary professor at the academy with the help of my sidekick, Ira, I walked down the street, listening to the news on my smartphone.
– …Hero ‘Miracle Shine,’ who was dispatched to the scene, is currently out of contact, and her agency has not released any statement…
“She’s obedient.”
The hypnosis I placed on Miracle Shine should have weakened by now. Hypnosis, other than the ultimate move ‘Common Sense Alteration,’ weakened over time.
The fact that she was still hiding and hadn’t appeared meant she heeded my warning to be careful of the heroes.
I was worried about her mental state when we parted ways, but as expected of the Rank 2 hero.
– …Amidst the growing anxiety of citizens due to the increasing damage, the girl who directly confronted Trauma has become a hot topic…
[New notification!]
As I was putting my smartphone away with a satisfied expression and about to quicken my pace, a message suddenly appeared in the air.
[New chapter unlocked!]
[Chapter 1: Two Protagonists]
“Wait, I have a question.”
I hurriedly spoke to the system window that was about to disappear after its brief appearance.
Then, the fading system window tilted slightly. It seemed like it could understand me.
“What are you?”
Realizing that, I became even more curious.
The System before my eyes was something out of a comic or novel, a very foreign ability even in this unknown age.
And yet, it didn’t force me to do anything. It only lent me abilities in exchange for a price when I wanted to use them. And it even let me use low-level skills for free.
Then how did Justitia come to possess such a suspicious ability?
Did she inherit it from someone else, like me?
If not, then where did this strange System come from?
[Unanswerable question!]
I asked, putting all my questions into it, but the System’s answer was firm.
It seemed determined not to reveal its identity easily.
“Then I’ll change the question. Tell me about ‘Skills.’”
My curiosity doubled, but I wasn’t wary. It was the ability Justitia passed down to me, using the last of her strength. I intended to use it to its fullest extent to avenge her.
[Loading help…]
Asking that question, I learned new facts.
[‘Skills’ are abilities provided by this System for you, walking the path of a villain. A total of 15 skills can be stored and used.]
[If you exceed the maximum storage of 15, you can add new skills by deleting existing ones.]
First, the maximum number of skills I could possess was 15. I had 13 skills, so it seemed I could add two more.
[Skill level increases with frequent use and proficiency.]
“Okay, I understand. But how do I add new skills?”
[New users are given two <Skill Creation Tickets> to load skills from the database.]
[User Kang Haneul has used up all his tickets by creating ‘Insight’ and ‘Defense.’]
The System’s explanation told me the background of how ‘Insight’ and ‘Defense’ were created.
‘That’s a little disappointing…’
If I’d known there was a limit, I would have been more careful. Perhaps I could have gotten overpowered abilities like instant death or physical immunity.
‘No, I thought about all sorts of things back then.’
But come to think of it, I had imagined all sorts of abilities while I was imprisoned in Karma.
So, these two must have been the best options.
[Currently, there are 13 skills stored in the System, and 1 skill is pending application.]
As I was clicking my tongue, still feeling a bit disappointed, I tilted my head at the message that appeared below.
It was strange. I had 13 skills. What did it mean that a skill was pending application?
[Pending Skill: Recovery]
[Description: Restores physical damage. (Cannot be used on yourself due to Plunder Penalty!)]
I checked the details and widened my eyes in surprise.
‘Recovery?’ It was quite a useful skill, although the penalty of not being able to use it on myself was a shame.
But how did I get this? And what was the ‘Plunder Penalty’?
[When a ‘Villain’s Path’ System user defeats a Concept Possessor, they can acquire the opponent’s concept as a skill.]
A timely message answered my question.
[However, plundered abilities have no level and become downgraded versions.]
Well, this made things interesting.
Since most Grotesqueries were heroes, it seemed I wouldn’t be short of abilities in the future.
“Ah, and…”
[Exceeded question limit!]
As I was about to ask another question with a satisfied expression, the System displayed that message.
[Automatically shutting down System.]
“W-wait…”
[User Kang Haneul, good luck.]
Then, leaving that message behind, it disappeared in the blink of an eye.
“Its way of talking is similar somehow.”
It was quite annoying, but for some reason, I didn’t feel any resentment.
Perhaps it was because it reminded me of Justitia, who always wished me good luck.
“Since we can communicate, it might be nice to get closer…”
I felt attached to it, as it was practically Justitia’s memento.
However, since it didn’t reappear no matter how much I tried to call it, it seemed it wasn’t ready to be friends with me yet. So, I postponed befriending the System and headed to my destination, passing by the people who were giving me strange looks for talking to thin air.
“…I never thought I’d be going here like this.”
To my sister’s office, the place I was kicked out of several times when I tried to visit.
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“Excuse me.”
“Oh, welcome?”
“What? A visitor at this hour?”
As a man wearing a fedora entered, the atmosphere in the office became restless, surprised by the unexpected guest.
“What, I’ve never seen this face before…”
“Can you even see his face? I can barely see it…”
Since he was wearing his fedora low, the man’s appearance was obscured.
However, the sidekicks in the office, sensing the unusual aura he exuded, started getting up cautiously.
‘I never thought he would come so unguarded.’
Great Order, resting her chin on her hand at her desk behind them, frowned in thought.
‘He calmly agreed to the absurd condition of meeting at my office.’
It was a half-joking suggestion for a meeting place, but Trauma readily accepted her condition.
Normally, she would have dismissed it as a villain’s childish act, but her opponent was Trauma, the supervillain already being considered for an ‘outlier’ designation.
He was the one who single-handedly destroyed half the academy, defeated Danger Level 1 and 2 monsters with a single blow, and completely subdued Miracle Shine, the Rank 2 hero.
It would be a piece of cake for someone like him to escape her office.
“Please come this way and have a seat, Mr. Oh Ji-seok.”
Realizing his strength anew, Great Order took a deep breath and gestured to the sofa in front of her desk with a calm expression.
“Mr. Oh Ji-seok?”
However, Trauma remained standing still.
“Excuse me…”
Just as Great Order frowned at his unusual behavior and was about to get up,
“Great Order.”
…Trauma glanced at her and whispered in a low voice.
“Please step outside.”
“Huh?”
“I’m asking you to leave this office for a moment.”
Great Order awkwardly got up.
“Alright, but why…”
Then, reading the atmosphere, she frowned and headed for the entrance.
‘What is he up to?’
Through various verifications, she knew that Trauma wasn’t the evil villain he was portrayed to be.
And above all, since they were now in a cooperative relationship, he wouldn’t do anything reckless.
– *Crack, crack…!*
“…!”
However, that thought shattered as chilling sounds came from inside the office.
“You can come in now.”
“What was that sound…?”
As she re-entered the office with an anxious expression, what she saw was
“Your office was a bit messy.”
“…”
“So I cleaned it up for you.”
…her sidekicks collapsed on the floor with broken necks, and Trauma wiping the blood off his face with an impassive expression.
“What… what did you do…”
“They were all Grotesqueries.”
Great Order, staring at the grotesque scene in a daze, flinched at Trauma’s words.
“Did you know they were planning to kill you soon?”
“…”
“Well, don’t worry too much. I put the ones who weren’t Grotesqueries over there.”
As he said, the few surviving sidekicks were sitting in the corner, their eyes unfocused.
“What are you doing? Sit down.”
“This is too much, Trauma.”
Great Order, grinding her teeth, raised her voice, glaring at Trauma, who was calmly pointing at a chair.
“You should have at least told me first.”
Trauma tilted his head as if he didn’t understand.
“I understand they were Grotesqueries. But if you kill them like this without saying anything, what about my position…”
“Position?”
He cut her off in a low voice.
“Why should I consider your position?”
Great Order stared at Trauma, speechless.
“My objective is to hunt Grotesqueries. That takes priority over everything else.”
“But still…”
“Are you worried about the aftermath?”
Trauma’s eyes, hidden under his fedora, gleamed quietly.
“I’m sorry, but I have no intention of cooperating with someone who struggles with this level of cleanup.”
Saying so, Trauma stood up.
“Alright, alright.”
Great Order, clutching her throbbing head, closed her eyes tightly and walked forward.
“I’ll take care of it, so just sit down.”
Trauma wasn’t simply a righteous crusader fighting in the shadows, as she thought.
He was twisted, like a time bomb that could explode at any moment.
‘But the problem is, no one can defuse this time bomb.’
“Then, I look forward to working with you.”
Great Order, quietly revising her assessment of Trauma, sat down, and Trauma, with a grin, sat next to her on the sofa.
‘Then I’ll at least be the one who decides where it explodes.’
She took a sip of the coffee she had prepared to calm herself.
“I’m planning to infiltrate the International Hero Academy and the Hero Association.”
“…*Cough!*”
However, at Trauma’s bombshell declaration, far from calming down, Great Order started coughing, choking on her coffee.
“*Cough, cough*… What… what are you planning…?”
Trauma, staring at her, took a photo out of his pocket and waved it.
“There’s a student I want to protect at all costs.”
Great Order’s face froze as she saw the photo.
“And you have someone you desperately want to kill, don’t you?”
Her younger sister, clearly captured in the photo, wearing the Villain League uniform.
“You’ll cooperate, won’t you, Great Order?”
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“Of course, I’ll cooperate.”
“Good, then…”
As I was about to leave the office, leaving my sister burning with zeal,
“…”
…I stopped dead in my tracks, my eyes catching the contents of the trash can.
“What’s wrong?”
The recipe I had written down was torn to shreds and thrown away.
Well, I could overlook other things, but this was a bit annoying.
Lost in thought, I walked past my sister, who was looking at me with a puzzled expression, and headed towards the back.
“Hey…?”
Wasn’t Great Order my partner, who would help me in every way?
“That’s the kitchen.”
Then, it was only polite to treat her to a meal I cooked myself before she killed me.
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