Being a Villain is My True Calling

“Phew, that was really fortunate.”
“You reverted to your usual speech patterns.”

After dispersing the smoke grenade and fleeing, I swiftly changed back into my regular attire before naturally rejoining Chise.

Despite the brief separation from our evacuation, when Ga-yeon teleported to retrieve me, Chise seemed preoccupied assessing the heroes’ condition, oblivious to my disappearance.

‘…But is it really okay for her to be so obvious?’

“Ms. Tsukino.”
“Ah, Mr. Gahn! Ga-yeon!”
“Yes…but what were you doing?”

“……”

Chise beamed brightly at me. When I questioned her, she pursed her lips tightly.
Clearly, she had been acting without considering the consequences, only now realizing her carelessness.

‘…I suppose there’s no helping it.’

“You were trying to assist the hero officers, I presume? It can’t be helped. It would be better if we cooperated as well.”
“Y,yes…? Yes…”

“By any chance, are there any heroes here with physical enhancement abilities? We might need some help clearing the rubble!”

“Ah, I can assist!”
“The one over there with the purple dyed hair drinking tteokbokki, the blond woman beside her, and the individuals wearing deer masks – could you contact the police, hospital, and Association respectively?”

Unable to conceal her identity, I naturally joined in assisting the heroes as well.
With kindhearted individuals pitching in organically, many others soon followed suit.

Contacting the police, Association, and hospital, verifying any missing persons or casualties…
With everyone’s collective efforts, the amusement park was swiftly brought under control.

On our way back from the amusement park, we took the subway to return to our respective homes.

“Still, it’s fortunate everything was resolved quickly!”
“Indeed.”

Chise smiled contentedly, swinging her legs beside me.

‘Does assisting others truly bring her such joy?’

Watching her cheerful demeanor, heroism truly did seem like her calling.
Briefly regarding her with that thought in mind, I lowered my gaze and turned on my phone.

[Terror at Amusement Park in District C!!]
[Thanks to Mature Citizen Response, Damage was Minimal.]
[“We Can’t Always Rely on Receiving Aid…” Citizens Who Became Heroes Themselves.]

While assisting her had been a bit of a nuisance, the outcome wasn’t entirely unfavorable for me either.

‘Thanks to that, I was able to slip away unnoticed.’

Who would suspect a villain among the kindhearted citizens voluntarily handling the aftermath?

‘Just give a brief name, age, and summary of how you assisted, nothing more.’
‘…Any other questions?’
‘Since everyone else will be reporting the same anyway, just give a rough account and you’re free to go.’

With a simple question-and-answer session, I was able to leave the scene.

‘Oh, Mr. Gahn, you’re back?’
‘Yes, how about Ga-yeon?’
‘From what I heard, she’s still being questioned…’

Unlike me, Ga-yeon likely underwent more thorough questioning as the former hostage.
However, as a victim and a minor no less, she would be swiftly cleared.

‘The organization had already prepared new identities for us, so there won’t be any issues with our pasts. And there weren’t any particularly suspicious circumstances either, so she’ll be released shortly.’

True to my expectations, Ga-yeon too was able to rejoin me without incident before long.
Which brought us to our current situation on the subway together.

“…So as I was saying!…Mr. Gahn? Were you listening?”

Lost in thought for a moment, I found Chise chattering away beside me, puffing out her cheeks indignantly upon realizing my inattention.

“Ah, my apologies, Ms. Tsukino. What were you saying?”
“…About that person. That Akaoni!”
“…Akaoni?”

I pondered the meaning behind her words for a moment.

‘Ah, she’s referring to me.’

Akaoni.
Translating to ‘Red Demon’ or ‘Crimson Ogre’, perhaps.

With my overall red and black attire coupled with that sharp, monstrous mask, not to mention wielding a baton – it was understandable for her to perceive me as some form of oni or goblin.

‘Though it’s fortunate I wore red clothing.’

Had I donned blue instead, I might have come across as some lecherous fiend that ‘devours the pure’, given my ensemble’s resemblance.

“You saw it too, right Mr. Gahn?”
“Yes, I witnessed you recklessly attempting to intervene.”

She grumbled petulantly, prompting me to seize the perfect opportunity to scold her by shifting the blame.

“……”

“If that Oni hadn’t escaped, I might have directly confronted him while trying to stop you, Ms. Tsukino.”

I regarded her with a wry smile.
In response, she averted her gaze sheepishly.

‘Too easy.’

“Ah, anyway! What do you think that person was? What’s your opinion, Mr. Gahn?”

She swiftly changed the subject, as if she hadn’t heard anything.

‘…I suppose I’ll let it go for now.’

There was no point in probing further, and I had already avoided her intended scolding – a satisfactory outcome.

“This Akaoni…while not exactly a good person, he might not have been outright malicious either? Thanks to him, Ga-yeon was kept safe.”
“But it was still a dangerous situation! We’re fortunate it resolved safely, but if the villain had noticed mid-way, it could have been disastrous!”
“Even so, I’d say he was better than the heroes who did nothing.”
“That’s…!”

She couldn’t refute that point.
The heroes’ incompetence this time had been undeniable.

Online reactions I had briefly checked reflected the same sentiment – that the mysterious newcomer was preferable to the utterly useless heroes.

While details were limited due to my identity as Maker, regarding this particular amusement park incident, that was the consensus.

‘Well, there were likely some contrarian trolls mixed in just looking to bash heroes, so not everyone shared that view.’

“Mmm…I suppose you’re right…no, but still…no, those heroes were definitely…but still…”

Chise mumbled contemplatively at my remark before regarding me briefly.

Tiriririri-

[The next station is…]

“Ah, looks like we’re arriving.”
“Ah, already!”

As my stop approached, I rose and gathered my belongings along with the few items Ga-yeon was carrying.

Chiiik-

The doors slid open momentarily.

“Mr. Gahn! Today was…nice!”
“I enjoyed myself as well, Ms. Tsukino.”

With a brief farewell, Ga-yeon and I disembarked.

“”……””

A momentary silence.

“…I’ll go get some sleep then.”
Tuk.
“Use your teleportation quickly. We need to talk.”
“…Okay.”

As I grabbed her by the collar, Ga-yeon dangled limply, nodding her head in resignation.

You’re not getting away that easily.
You’re getting a proper lecture today.

Immediately upon returning to the cafe, I seated Ga-yeon and commenced a lengthy scolding session.

“Why in the world did you do that?”

While Ga-yeon often exhibited peculiar behavior, she rarely acted outright foolishly.
Causing me such vexation was even more unusual.

I was curious about her motivations behind these actions.

“…This.”

With a slightly dejected expression, she handed me a fox-shaped badge.

“…I wanted to give it as a gift.”

The badge appeared well-worn, hardly resembling a new item.
What should have been a pristine white fox was marred by distinct shoe prints, while the ends were chipped with noticeable scratches and discoloration.

“…That’s why I did it.”
“I see…”

Ga-yeon’s abrupt confrontation with the villain stemmed from a surprisingly simple reason.

The initial location of the villain’s appearance was precisely the souvenir shop.
Thus, Ga-yeon, who happened to be inside the shop at the time, immediately became embroiled in the villain’s terror incident.

Having her first attempt to purchase gifts for close acquaintances disrupted, coupled with the damaged memento, enraged Ga-yeon to the point of tormenting the villain.

“Specifically, how did you torment him?”
“…I destroyed buildings with my abilities like the old man did, and controlled him with telekinesis?”
“Hold on. So you were controlling him from the moment those buildings started exploding?”
“…I guess?”

When I had tried leaving the amusement park to search for the missing Ga-yeon, he had already been under her control from the very start.

“Then the villain’s ramblings were…”
“He said he’d kill me if I didn’t cooperate.”
‘So she had him puppeteered from the beginning.’

There had been numerous anomalies surrounding his behavior.

Despite causing the terror incident himself, he had flinched excessively even for intentional explosions.
Not to mention failing to pose any threat whatsoever towards Ga-yeon right beside him.
And most glaringly, he neglected taking any precautions against my sudden appearance – a rookie mistake unless he was utterly brainless.

If it had all been one of Ga-yeon’s elaborate puppet shows, those perplexing irregularities made sense at once.

‘…Tch.’

So an unfortunate soul had suffered relentless torment simply for provoking the wrong individual before meeting his demise.
A tinge of pity surfaced, but had he truly been pitiable, Ga-yeon likely wouldn’t have flown into such a rage.

‘Come to think of it, was Ga-yeon’s ability always this powerful?’

Her telekinesis alone had previously only allowed levitating and restraining lightweight objects, never outright immobilizing human bodies.
Yet this incident suggested otherwise.

‘Could it be…?’

A notion struck me, prompting me to pose a question to Ga-yeon.

“Ga-yeon.”
“…Yes?”
“Did you perhaps experience a sensation of being ‘unshackled’, coupled with your abilities growing stronger once you became enraged?”
“…Hold on.”

At my words, Ga-yeon briefly closed her eyes.

“Ah?”

She soon reopened them with a startled expression.

“…My telekinesis and pyrokinesis grew stronger.”

Extending her palm skyward, Ga-yeon activated her ability.

Hwararuk-!

A flame manifested in her hand, far larger than the lighter-sized flickers she had previously demonstrated – sizable enough to be considered a modest campfire.

‘She has grown.’

Ability users could indeed cultivate the growth of their powers.

From simply mastering them through repetitive utilization to deliberately injuring and regenerating one’s body to fortify it, akin to strengthening muscles.

However, the most rapid path to growth stemmed from ability usage fueled by intense emotions.

‘Just how enraged must she have been to trigger such advancement…’

Well, it did lead her to instigate this entire ruckus, so there was that.

“I’m glad to see your growth, Ga-yeon.”
“Yeah…”
“But you’re aware of your mistake, correct?”

While fortunate that Ga-yeon had been in control from the start, preventing her face from being broadcast, the fact remained that it had still been exposed online.

Naturally, mainstream outlets would censor it, and I had already requested Narin to scrub any footage to the best of her abilities.

But once one’s face was out there, it couldn’t be fully undone.

“What if you had openly engaged without concealing your identity? If you had operated without any loss of anonymity?”

“……”

“You would have instantly been branded a villain, unable to enjoy a single peaceful day. You wouldn’t even be able to visit the cafe.”

“!!”

Certainly, our organization Eclipse would mitigate any loss of anonymity, but instilling proper fear was necessary at times to ensure she acted more cautiously going forward.

“Not only that, but my own safety could have been jeopardized by being so closely associated with you.”

“…I’m sorry.”

Upon concluding my stern words, Ga-yeon lowered her head dejectedly.

‘It seems she has reflected on her mistakes to some extent.’

I carefully pulled her into an embrace.

“You understand where you erred, correct?”
“Mmm-hmm…”

She buried herself in my arms like Irene often did.

“Will you refrain from such behavior in the future?”
“…I won’t do it again.”
“Good girl. And thank you for the gift.”

With one hand stroking her head and the other patting her back soothingly, I continued:

‘Yeah, having a reliable shield that has only grown stronger, what’s an amusement park incident in comparison?’

While Ga-yeon’s exposed face was mildly concerning, it wasn’t mine, and this instance had served as a sobering lesson – she likely wouldn’t repeat such rashness.

“You didn’t leave any traces behind, did you?”
“No. It won’t be apparent I even used my abilities.”
“Well done.”

I patted her head affectionately.

‘…Considering the growth she displayed from this single amusement park visit, I wonder how much stronger she could become by touring and demolishing a few more nationwide?’

For a fleeting moment, I seriously contemplated scheduling a national amusement park demolition tour before ultimately shaking my head, narrowly resisting the impulse.