Being a Villain is My True Calling

Accompanied by a sudden explosion, a villain appeared.

“Why! Why only me!! Why, why are you doing this to only me!!”

He roared thunderously while venting rage at the people around.

“I also!! I also want to date someone, you dumbass bastards!!”

‘I’d gladly let you get a date if I could.’

Watching him partially roll his eyes back as he bellowed, an involuntary sense of disgust welled up within me.

Kung! Kwaaang!

To make matters worse, some shops began exploding one after another, likely from triggering something unintended.

“…What should we do, Mr. Gahn?”

Chise regarded me with a look of trepidation, as if ready to bolt at any moment.

‘truthfully, my instinct is just to kill the bastard…’

The villain had lost all reason, rampaging uncontrollably.
While demolishing buildings, the way his body flinched with each explosion suggested it wasn’t his intention.

‘Not to mention his utter lack of combat experience, based on this unpremeditated act.’

Uncertain about his abilities, but it would likely be easy to eliminate him outright.
But…was it really necessary?

“Let’s get out of here quickly!”

With a tense expression, I firmly grasped Chise’s hand.

‘There’s no particular need for me to personally deal with that guy.’

It would be more trouble than it’s worth to dispose of him over such a trivial nuisance. Even if Chise tried to intervene, it would only cause issues.

If our identities were exposed in the process, that would create its own set of complications.

‘In the end, that fellow is utterly useless trash.’

There was no need for Chise or I to directly handle such a complete non-factor.

“Everyone, please evacuate! I’m a hero!! Follow the villain response protocol!”

Places like this were bound to have heroes routinely patrolling.

“Let’s leave the villain to the heroes and evacuate quickly. In this situation, Ga-yeon could be in danger too.”
“Ah…okay!! Got it!”

Nodding at my words, Chise followed as I led the way.

‘We’re quite a distance away, so we should be able to evacuate safely for now.’

And we could search for Ga-yeon’s whereabouts after this sudden disappearance.
Truthfully, I wasn’t too concerned about her.

If I wanted, I could escape at any moment, and with her continuous training, she could likely hold her own against an A-rank hero for a brief period at least.

‘When assessed by the Association, Ga-yeon was rated as a B-rank villain, wasn’t she?’

Perhaps due to her young stature and subordinate status under me, her ranking emphasized influence over sheer combat prowess, resulting in a lower villain rating than I expected.

However, solely evaluating her combat abilities, she would undoubtedly be an upper B+ or even bordering on A-rank.

‘So there’s no real need to worry about her now.’

She was likely taking a secret break somewhere.
Or tormenting some other poor soul, possibly.

Regardless, we should leave that fool to the heroes and prioritize locating Ga-yeon before evacuating.

“Um…Mr. Gahn?”
“My apologies, Ms. Tsukino. For such a villain to suddenly appear…”
“Huh? No, no! It’s not your fault a villain showed up out of nowhere!”
“Still, thank you for understanding. For now, let’s withdraw and find Ga-yeon quickly. It could be dangerous.”
“Well…about that…”

Momentarily tightening her grip on my hand to halt me, Chise met my gaze with unwavering resolve.

“What is it?”
I looked at her quizzically, as if questioning why she was delaying us in such a pressing situation.
In response, she awkwardly pointed in a specific direction with her finger.

“…Over there.”
Precisely where she indicated, Ga-yeon was present.

“You pathetic old man, that’s just overkill.”
“Ah,aahh!! Pl,please just stop already!!!”

And she was openly taunting the villain, no less.

“……”

Why was she over there?

“I’ve heard that excessive greed can make your hair fall out.”
“Stop it already!!”
“Did your greed make you go bald too, old man? Is wanting a girlfriend too greedy for you?”
“No!! I’m not greedy at all! And me not having a girlfriend isn’t my fault, it’s those women’s fault!!”
“Those women?”
“Y,yeah!! If it weren’t for those sluts only after money and looks, I’d have found a girlfriend too!!!”

Upon the villain’s rant, Ga-yeon scanned him from head to toe.

“…Who would like a baldy though.”
“……”

Her blunt, sincere remark left the villain speechless, a vein protruding on his forehead.

‘…Ga-yeon.’

Swallowing the sigh that nearly escaped me, I observed the unfolding situation.

But why…?

“Why in the world are you taunting a villain like that…”

The incoming migraine prompted me to massage my temples firmly.

‘…This has become troublesome.’

Dealing with the villain himself wasn’t an issue. I could simply take aim with a sniper rifle and eliminate him with a well-placed shot if I wanted.

‘The real problem is…the civilians.’

“Everyone, please evacuate!!”
“This is a real situation! Act according to the villain appearance protocol!”

Despite no further incidents occurring after the initial chain of explosions, some civilians remained, whipping out their phones to film the villain instead of fleeing.

The current scene was being streamed live on their devices and uploaded to the internet.

Garnering an excessive amount of undue attention.
With Ga-yeon present, we couldn’t simply evacuate either.

Inevitably, any attempt to intervene would only draw more scrutiny, regardless of the role I assumed.

‘If Narin was here, she could have at least disabled all the phones and CCTV cameras.’

But seeking her assistance from Eclipse headquarters was unrealistic.
To manually locate and delete the data from each individual civilian’s phone, not to mention the live footage being uploaded in real-time?
I might as well start wailing for death first to save the trouble.

“What should we do?”
This was truly a vexing predicament.
I had inadvertently stumbled into a bothersome affair.

“…Should I try explaining things to those hero officers?”
“You, Ms. Tsukino?”

While Chise was a hero participating in the exchange program, she was still a B+ rank hero at her core.
As a fairly high-ranking hero, she did possess some authority to direct others during emergencies.

“Do you think hero officers would listen to a civilian like me…?”
“…Don’t worry, Mr. Gahn! Heroes are always on the civilians’ side! I’ll go make my case!”

As if feigning ignorance about her true identity, Chise fidgeted briefly before meeting my gaze with unwavering confidence.

I was admittedly skeptical about entrusting this to them, but Chise seemed determined to try…

“Haah…where did that kid even come from…”
“Heheh, it’s a demotion. A demotion…”
“So how do we apprehend her?”
“Is this for real?”

Perhaps due to the hastily assembled patrol team, there seemed to be a lack of coordinated leadership.

In the initial aftermath, civilian evacuation and villain containment had been mishandled, resulting in the villain effectively taking a hostage (the one he was tormenting) and restricting their engagement options.

“So in summary, the old man is saying he has no greed, no hair, and no one around him.”
“……”
“Old man, maybe you should wear a hat? Your shiny bald head is blinding.”
“Hick…”

…Wait, we could just apprehend him now, couldn’t we?!
Didn’t anyone notice him crying?!!

“What can lower-ranked heroes like us even do?”
“We’re useless. Go get some popcorn, buddy.”

These utterly incompetent fools…
The shambolic mess left me at a complete loss for words.

“Then I’ll go persuade the hero officers!!”
“Well, that might not be necessary…”
“We have to hurry and save Ga-yeon! Just imagine how scared she must be!”

She seemed to be enjoying herself from what I could tell.

“Don’t worry! The heroes won’t ignore a civilian’s plight!”

Didn’t you hear that ‘popcorn’ comment earlier?

“Just trust me, Mr. Gahn!”

Yah!!! Kkangpungggg!! Nunaman midda!! Haegyeoljwotgge!!!

As she spoke with such conviction, something seemed to briefly overlay her appearance.

“……”

Before I could dissuade her, Chise had already slipped through the crowd.

A villain committing an act of terror, tormenting his own hostage. Heroes passively observing the spectacle. And civilians refusing to evacuate, adamantly filming the ongoing events.

Was I suffering from a mental breakdown?
I pinched my cheek, feeling the familiar sting of pain.

‘…Is this reality?’

A senseless, disorienting pandemonium.

“……”

At this point, I had no idea anymore.

Uuwoong-

‘…I might as well just roll with it.’

Donning a hat and mask I had created with my abilities, I prepared to make my own debut as a new character.

“So as I was saying! I’m the B+ rank hero Phantom Luna!”
“Making such claims without any hero identification is preposterous!”
“I filed for leave today, that’s why!!”
“Then present proof that you’re a hero!”
“I don’t have any!”
“Then get out!!”

Chise and a hero officer exchanged heated snarls, growling at each other.
Holding her ground confidently with a straight posture, Chise pointed a finger at the man.

“You! As a hero, you should rescue citizens in peril!”
“I will! But it could also be dangerous, so we need to proceed cautiously…”
“Excessive caution could cost lives.”

Amidst their bickering exchange, a distorted voice laced with static cut through.
Both turned towards the source of the unfamiliar sound.

Their gazes fell upon a man wearing a maskresembling a sharp, monstrous maw, coupled with a jacket blending black and crimson hues.

“Who are you…?”
“Consider me a ghostly presence.”

Slinging a long baton over his shoulder, the man sauntered over nonchalantly.

“Stop it! Stop it already, please!!”
“Denying reality won’t change a thing. You’re already friendless and without a lover.”
“Aaahh!! Enough already!!!”

Perhaps due to his sudden appearance, nobody attempted to impede the man’s approach as he ultimately stood before the villain.

“…? Oppa?”

The man readied his baton in a combat stance, and…

“…Wait! Hey! Stop him!!”

Paaaak!!

Without the slightest hesitation, he swung upwards, delivering a solid strike to the villain’s head.

“Kuheck…!”
“I don’t understand why you didn’t just do this simple task.”

Finally feeling a sense of relief, Gahn Yi-an smiled satisfactorily as he readjusted his grip on the baton.