episode_0002

―Life, it seems, has a tendency to endlessly plummet once bad things start happening.

Some say that the sum of happiness and misfortune in any life eventually converges to zero.

That if bad things happen, good things will surely follow, so there’s no need to worry.

And if good things happen, bad things could just as easily occur, so be prepared in advance.

But am I the only one who feels that, in reality, it’s not like that?

It feels as if once misfortune begins, new misfortunes arrive endlessly, and no helping hand of salvation descends from God-nim.

It’s funny, anyway, that I, a villain, would even wish for God-nim’s salvation.

Or should I say, conversely, I’ve received divine punishment for all the bad things I’ve done so far….

‘I thought I’d lived quite virtuously, for a villain.’

‘A good villain, that is.’

I called myself the worst villain, but I never crossed the line.

Even if I did some bad things, I never crossed the line of respecting children and the elderly – a line that should never be crossed.

There are so many worse guys in the world than me!

Even villains who commit crimes on a larger scale are living high and mighty!

So why is this happening only to me?!

I lived so hopelessly that I had no choice but to become a villain,

And even after becoming a villain, I was pushed around by this damn boss of a shitty small organization, barely scraping by on a pittance, struggling to survive.

My subordinates had grown in number, my name’s value had risen, and I finally thought I could breathe a little and live comfortably!

I was expecting to be scouted by some other organization,

Secretly anticipating a salary five times what I was getting now, my heart pounding as I waited!

But then!

Why did things suddenly turn out like this?!

This is ridiculous!

* * *

“…That’s the kind of appeal letter I wrote.”

“So what do you want me to do about it?”

The office space in the hideout of the villain organization [Abyss].

Number 13, who had been wandering away from the organization for a while, returned early this morning.

As soon as he quickly washed up, Number 13 received a private summons from the Boss. With the momentum of wanting to preempt any harsh words from her, he immediately handed the Boss an appeal letter he had written with all his heart just moments before.

‘Please, read this first before you say anything,’ he pleaded.

When he made such a serious request, the Boss, sitting opposite him across the desk, accepted it, albeit with a displeased expression.

Boss Violet.

The woman before him, younger than Number 13, slowly read it while wearing thin-rimmed glasses, then looked back at him with eyes that seemed to ask what he was thinking.

That gaze was very uncomfortable. He had written this so seriously, with all his sincerity…

“No, it’s not that, it’s just that I was wondering if you could use your ability, Boss. I thought that with your omnipotent-like ability, my current situation might somehow be resolved.”

“You’re really cornered, aren’t you? Your head’s completely gone crazy in the short time I haven’t seen you.”

No, I’m not just saying this without thinking.

Even though I’m cornered right now and desperately grasping at straws.

Still, I’m seriously asking because I thought it might somehow be possible with the Boss’s ability.

It’s already been two months since I lost my ability.

Since then, I’ve tried all sorts of things: secluding myself in the mountains to train, or even visiting churches and temples that were never in my destiny… but my vanished ability still hasn’t returned.

No, to be precise, my awakened self remains… but my magic power is completely empty, so to speak.

It’s like my MP bar won’t fill up no matter how much time passes.

I’ve tried everything I could think of.

So now, there’s no one left to rely on but the Boss.

I’ve placed my last hope on the Boss’s ability.

“First. My ability is not omnipotent at all. There are definitely things I can’t do.”

“Can’t you just… somehow… with persistence and effort…?”

“Second. Seeing you act recklessly, relying only on your strength, I had anticipated that you’d end up like this someday.”

“Wha…!”

At Number 13’s reaction, Boss Violet sighed.

“It’s just, there’s a certain feeling, isn’t there? That guy lives like that, and someday divine punishment will fall upon him. Isn’t this just that?”

“Divine punishment? Even so, I’m your subordinate, Boss.”

“You’re a villain, aren’t you? You deserve divine punishment. And if I were God-nim and you were the target, I would have dropped divine punishment on you dozens of times a long time ago.”

“That’s too much…”

Violet sighed, looking at Number 13 who was muttering dejectedly.

“…By the way, Number 13. This appeal letter, is this ‘damned boss’ here referring to me?”

“No, well, it could be someone else.”

“Is there another boss above you, the organization’s Number 2, besides me?”

“……”

“And you were ‘secretly anticipating a scout with your heart pounding’… No, never mind. It’s fine. You’re probably not in your right mind right now, so I’ll just pretend I didn’t see it.”

Had he written such words? He couldn’t remember. He had just frantically written down whatever came to mind with the sole intention of somehow convincing the Boss.

And well, even if he was the Number 2,

In the two months he had been in hiding after losing his power and falling, the organization was already in disarray.

The organization’s assets seemed to have mostly remained, but all those numerous members had vanished.

They had either been arrested by the heroes or had left the organization of their own accord.

As a result, only four remained, including the Boss and Number 13.

“Still, Boss! Even if I go to another organization, I never intended to abandon you! I only had the commendable intention of supporting you once I became financially stable!”

“Who said I’d let you support me? You idiot. And I earn more than five times your salary.”

“……Aren’t I, the organization’s Number 2, being exploited too cheaply?”

“Hmph. Just be grateful I’m still paying you.”

Violet frowned and tapped the table with her finger.

Her face looked annoyed, but it was slightly flushed.

*(What kind of proposal is this…)*

“Boss, I couldn’t hear that well just now, it was too quiet. What did you say?”

“Be quiet. Shut up. …More importantly.”

Violet handed a piece of paper to me across the desk.

“Read it.”

It seemed this was the reason for today’s summons.

“…From the [Villain Alliance]…”

‘Villain Alliance’.

A massive group composed of large and small villain organizations within the country, including ‘Abyss’, the villain organization to which Number 13 belongs.

No single organization specially dominates all; rather, all affiliated organizations possess equal rights, and the leaders of each organization gather regularly to hold meetings for the alliance’s maintenance.

Villain organizations belonging to the alliance can receive many benefits.

From financial flexibility to preparing hideout buildings, because the alliance gathers various types of villain organizations, each organization can dedicate itself to its specialized tasks.

Besides that, they can create false identities, or be protected from having their location pinpointed through information manipulation….

In any case, a villain would find it difficult to live a proper life without the help of this alliance.

The ‘Villain Alliance’ is an indispensable gathering for this organization.

And yet.

“Expulsion… you say?”

It was written thus in the letter. He looked again in surprise, but the content did not change.

“It’s just a plan for now, but… unless we do something by the next meeting, it will surely happen.”

The alliance’s protection would vanish.

That would be a huge problem.

“It’s natural. Our organization, from the start, has a short history and hardly any connections. …Even the achievements we had, it’s hard to expect anything more now. More than anything――”

Those intellectual eyes, visible through her glasses, glanced in his direction.

It wasn’t hard to understand the meaning of that gaze.

He simply had nothing to say and could only remain silent.

“The next meeting is in a week. If we don’t achieve something by then, we’ll probably be unanimously expelled right there.

In this current climate, with the heroes’ influence growing stronger, there’d be no reason to specifically embrace a useless organization.”

“Then.”

“I just said that. I’m not specifically telling you to take responsibility.”

Violet took off her glasses, swept back her violet hair, and replied as if it were nothing important.

As if he didn’t need to feel burdened, in her usual calm tone.

“Within this week, I plan to risk my life and pick a fight with the 7th Squad. Anyway, if we lose the alliance’s protection, there’s no future, so I’ll just die, coolly taking at least one hero with me as a companion.”

―You, do as you wish.

―You don’t need to follow me.

Saying that, Boss Violet, without specifically forcing or asking for anything,

Simply sent Number 13 out of the office.

* * *

He felt stifled and frustrated in many ways.

He felt like he knew the reason, but the fact that he couldn’t do anything was overwhelmingly heavy.

To think that things had turned out this way while he was going around to shamanic rituals, praying at churches, buying power stones, or standing under waterfalls.

To think that things had come to this just because he alone lost his power made him feel wronged in many ways, but there was nothing he could do.

More than that, he needed to think about what he could do now.

Number 13 genuinely thought that he wanted to save the Boss, no matter what.

“So that’s how it is, please help me, Dorothy-emon!”

“Who’s Dorothy-emon? I thought some beggar had come to visit, but not only have I seen you for the first time in a month, you start saying such things as soon as you arrive?”

A woman in a white coat with short, curly bob hair. Most notably, she had deep dark circles under her young-looking eyes.

Dorothy.

Her name wasn’t because she was a foreigner;

Rather, with the surname ‘Do’ and the given name ‘Rosy’—a name that cautiously made one doubt her parents’ naming sense—she was our organization’s excellent doctor and scientist.

She was also an awakened one, just like Number 13 and the Boss.

Most of her abilities were concentrated in her genius, allowing her to create numerous inventions centuries ahead of their time with her intellect… yet her physical specs were on par with or even inferior to a normal person’s.

Not all awakened ones are monsters suited for combat.

Similarly, the Boss’s ability, which seems to be cheat-level, isn’t actually suitable for combat either.

“More than that, don’t cling to me! You suddenly left for the mountains a month ago, saying you’d ‘receive the energy of the heavens,’ and now as soon as you see me, you grab onto my leg and cling on! Aren’t you ashamed?!”

“Please, please save me~~~!! You’re the only one left! The Boss said no too! So there’s no one else to rely on but you, the genius scientist with a strange brain!”

“Who said I have a strange brain?”

Dorothy stomped on my face with her slipper-clad foot, telling me to get off.

But I couldn’t let go.

“Please… please, I beg you, Dorothy! We’re close, you and I! Now, there’s no one else I can cling to but you!”

Fumbling and stroking her slender leg clad in thin denim stockings, Number 13 desperately cried out.

That it couldn’t go on like this.

That he couldn’t let the Boss die!

“Don’t sexually harass me while pretending to have a serious conversation! Don’t grope someone else’s leg! I’ll really kill you, you know?!”

“Please help me before I lick your leg through your stockings! Please help me!”

“You’re truly disgusting, like a dog!”

*Thump thump!*

Clinging to the genius scientist in the white coat, who was now my last lifeline, I desperately clung on, whether it looked disgraceful or not.

“Alright! I’ll help you! Get off, you pervert! Get off!!”

Only after words of surrender fell from Dorothy’s lips, did Number 13 finally release her leg.