episode_0025

To Hyun-sang, a hero was nothing more than a good job.

To save people?

No. He would run away without a second thought if he had the chance.

He hated fighting, and he hated fighting crazy villains even more.

The well-being and peace of society?

He didn’t want such a thing, and he couldn’t even find a reason to protect such intangible, meaningless values.

In the first place, that’s what heroes are.

Few start with a sense of duty.

To do good for society?

No.

Being a person with abilities is like winning the lottery.

Among them, those who scratch a decent lottery ticket become heroes who can make a lot of money.

And he was a really good lottery ticket.

His ability was to move quickly.

He could rescue people when necessary, but more importantly, when influential figures called, no one could come faster than him.

That way, he could win the favor of city council members or politicians, and later, he could retire from being a hero and start a hero academy, or if not, he could become a bodyguard for the head of a large corporation.

“…”

But what is going on right now?

Hyun-sang looks at the man smiling in front of him.

The face of an evil spirit gave him only fear that he was plotting something, rather than anything good.

“Plea, please. Have mercy…”

“Anyone would think I’m about to annihilate an entire family. That would be unfair to me, wouldn’t it?”

Isn’t that what you’re trying to do?

He turns his gaze away from him, uttering a desperate cry in his heart.

His life has been twisted since he met this man.

He was supposed to just close the orphanage once as the hero told him to, and then come in after the incident was over and clean up the mess, and then he would become a hero.

Without even realizing what kind of disaster he was about to get caught up in, Hyun-sang was just grumbling about his unfortunate life.

“A, alright.”

Even after the incident was over, he went, relieved that no one had accused him, only to see that man playing happily with his younger sister.

And from the moment he looked at him and said, with that terrible smile, “Your sister is cute,” he realized.

He was no different from being leashed by him.

Since his family was held hostage, there was nothing he could do.

“…”

He looks at his clothes with a somber expression.

A dove, symbolizing peace, was deformed and attached to his clothes, and the overall design of the costume was neat without being too excessive.

And the person who made those clothes was,

“It only took me an hour to make.”

“This took an hour? Are you human? Is your ability sewing or something?”

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

Hyun-sang rubbed his temples as he watched Eclipse and Badface having a casual conversation.

Why are those two so close?

And why, of all things, are my clothes so well-made?

And regardless of his worries, Badface was nagging Eclipse.

“Hey, why don’t you make one for me too? I’m disappointed.”

“…I’m making it, so don’t rush me.”

“What is it? If you can make it so quickly, make it faster and give it to me. It’s hard for me to go around with my face exposed, you know?”

“I’ve been working on it for a long time? I’ve been staying up late every night making that, you know.”

“Oh, how touching. What can I do for you?”

“It’s your turn to do the dishes.”

“You should do that. Don’t you have any conscience?”

“…”

An idea flashed through Hyun-sang’s mind as he listened to the two of them talking.

Right. Wouldn’t it have a huge effect if he revealed that the two of them were close?

“…”

Hyun-sang is lost in thought.

The man said he would use him as a symbol of peace.

He doesn’t know what that means, but if he thinks about it the other way around, wouldn’t it work if he became a symbol of peace and then said he would kill Badface?

“…”

You foolish fellow.

He muttered in his heart, smiled, and began to put on his costume.

You’ve misjudged people by a long shot.

A symbol of peace?

Fine, I’ll do it.

It’s never too late for a nobleman’s revenge, even after ten years. After that, I’ll issue an order to assassinate Badface and make sure he’s eliminated from this world-

-Click!

“…Huh?”

A mechanical sound is heard from the cutely deformed dove.

“Oh, it’s me.”

Badface raises his hand, hearing his puzzled voice.

He continues speaking as if it’s nothing.

“There’s a bomb planted there, so if you do anything stupid, it’ll explode.”

“…Ye, yes. What am I going to d-do? Don’t worry.”

You heinous bastards. Someday, I will definitely run away.

That’s what he’s thinking,

“…Why…?”

Standing in the middle of a demonstration.

Everyone was looking at him.

*

A true villain fulfills his role only when he doesn’t reveal his face.

Originally, the villain who appears later and acts like a mastermind is more impressive and stronger than the villain who harasses the protagonist from the beginning.

More than that, I think I’ll get too much hate if I show my face.

My purpose is only to remove dangerous events in advance so that I can live, and to secure connections, so there’s no point in being more noticeable.

I need someone to take the heat for me.

In that sense, this guy Hyun-sang is just the friend I need.

A good-looking impression and a not-so-good personality.

“…Hoo, hooo…”

And he’s fidgeting ever since he heard the word bomb.

Of course, it’s a lie.

If you could get a bomb that easily, life would be easy.

What wealth and ability does a small-time local villain like me have to put a bomb in someone’s costume?

But he doesn’t seem to know that, so let’s use it as a fake card.

I look at the guy who’s getting everyone’s attention from afar.

Hyun-sang. And from now on, his hero name is-

Hero Peacemaker.

Since it’s a protest against heroes, no one came wearing a hero costume, even though it’s a protest by people with abilities.

So, it’s inevitable that Peacemaker, who’s talking so enthusiastically over there, is getting more attention from other people.

“E, everyone.”

He opens his mouth.

His gaze is directed at the script I wrote.

“We must stop this foolish fighting!”

He shouts, and of course, the people’s reactions were not good.

Well, according to the laws of the world I used to live in, it’s like a bill to re-enlist has passed and people are protesting, and a person wearing a military uniform comes and tells them not to fight.

Receiving the gazes of countless people, he makes a troubled expression.

“Hey! You! Are you on the hero’s side?”

“N, no!”

“What do you mean no! Then what’s that costume for!”

“F, fighting is wrong…!”

Hyun-sang, no. Peacemaker, is faithfully reading the script I wrote.

“Do you really think this will work?”

“What do you mean?”

“The method you talked about.”

I talk to Eclipse, huddling together and looking at a smartphone from afar.

“It will work.”

“What worries me is that we’ll get involved and end up uniting the two teams.”

“Ah, you’re wondering if we’ll be providing an opportunity for heroes and people with abilities to unite and criticize villains, right?”

“…That’s right.”

Eclipse nods.

“You’re right. If we get involved like this, we’ll definitely become the punching bag.”

“…Then why are you doing it?”

Eclipse looks at me with a puzzled expression, and I slowly begin to explain to her.

“Because it’s obvious that we’re going to be the punching bag even if we don’t do anything.”

From the heroes’ point of view, there are no guys as easy to blame as villains.

Once something happens, they can just blame the villain.

In other words, if things continue like this, it will inevitably become the villain’s fault.

Maybe if this ends here, Peacemaker will become a fool, or else his personal information will be exposed by the angry heroes and he’ll be branded as a villain by the media and netizens.

Of course, that’s only if we don’t mess things up here.

“I’m going.”

“Now?”

“Yeah. We’re going to make this a three-way battle.”

“…Be careful.”

Eclipse mutters and reaches out her hand.

Darkness covers my eyes, and I quickly organize my thoughts.

We intervened to prevent bloodshed, and there have been many changes since I threw the ledger.

First, signs of division began to appear within the heroes. That’s why it’s become impossible to suppress the protests with a ruthless public opinion campaign or force.

But if things continue like this, the heroes will win anyway. They’re the ones who hold the power.

So, someone has to step in here and change the direction of this protest.

The corrupt hero group, and the protesters. The hero who aims for absolute good in between.

-Whoosh…

The darkness covering my eyes disappears,

“…It’s Badface.”

“It’s Badface!”

“Who’s that?”

“You don’t know even after seeing that face? It’s Badface, Badface!”

People scream, and I spread my arms, give a pleasant smile, and open my mouth.

“I found you! I couldn’t find you in the hero database, it took me a lifetime to find you.”

People’s gazes turn to me and then to Peacemaker.

The best way for that hero to reveal himself?

-Pow!

I run to Peacemaker and punch him, and he blocks my attack.

“Die! You fake Hero Peacemaker!”

The villain denies the hero’s legitimacy right in front of his eyes.