Being a Villain is My True Calling

“How exactly are you handling this situation?!”

At the Korean Hero Association Headquarters.
The middle-aged men seated at the long, extended table lowered their heads at the shouting of a well-dressed middle-aged man.

“I can understand the heroes losing! But why are they being called incompetent? Why?!”

“…That’s because… the villain suddenly revealed the heroes falling into his trap live…”

“Ha…”

After abruptly venting his anger, the middle-aged man let out a deep sigh.
Holding his head with one hand, as if suffering a headache, he plopped down onto his chair.

“Incompetent fools… unable to control even the media…”

“…I’m sorry, Chairman.”

The words ‘Then how were we supposed to control the media?’ lingered in their minds, but the middle-aged men could only bow their heads before their superior.

“Those hero bastards! What the hell were they doing!”

“…They were trying their best…”

“What ‘trying their best’?! At the very least, they should have apprehended the villain! If it hadn’t been recorded on video, it would have been fine!!”

If they had apprehended the villain, their mistakes during the terrorist attack could have been forgiven.
If it hadn’t been recorded on video, they could have claimed it was an accidental terrorist incident caused by a mentally ill villain.

But this? What is this?!
For heroes, especially the few high-ranking ones, to be mocked by such a lowly villain!
The chairman felt there was no greater humiliation.

“Think it through! Think!”

“…I’m sorry, Chairman.”

As he glared at the middle-aged man who had said the heroes were trying their best, the man simply apologized and lowered his head.

“And that guy. Macon or Bacon or whatever. Have you not obtained any information on his identity?”

“……”

Seeing the executives remaining silent in response to his question, the chairman’s face reddened.

“Why don’t we have that?!”

“…I’m sorry.”

“Can’t you say anything other than ‘I’m sorry’? Isn’t he an ability user?”

The executive nodded in response to the chairman’s words.

“Then shouldn’t we have been able to look up his ability?!”

Ability Search.
One of the special ability user laws established by the nation.

From a young age when abilities cannot be concealed, their abilities are identified, and the search is completed. Since individual abilities vary, similar abilities are grouped and classified together, and their information is collected.

Based on the terrorist attack, he was undoubtedly an ability user.

However.

“There were no results.”

“…What did you say?”

“We conducted a search, but there was no one matching the suspected ‘Maker’.”

The executive had people search among summoning-type ability users for Maker, but they failed.

“Excluding the elderly and middle-aged, as well as school-aged children who haven’t undergone secondary sexual characteristics, and lastly, even excluding females, there were no results.”

“…Did you perhaps search under a different classification?”

“We considered that possibility as well… but the result was the same.”

From the footage, he had produced a gun from his empty hands.
It was reasonable to assume he was a summoning-type ability user who could summon objects or contracted entities.
Yet, for the ability search to yield no results…

“It means Maker is either truly a summoning-type who has concealed his ability, an undocumented ability user, or an acquired ability user.”

“…Since it’s unlikely he concealed his ability from childhood, he must be an acquired ability user who awakened his powers later in life.”

While it felt like forcing an ill-fitting puzzle piece, it was the most plausible answer.

“Phew… what kind of person is he?”

The chairman already felt a headache coming, sensing a busy period ahead.

“…In any case, the one who made the mistake this time will hold a press conference to apologize. We’ll also issue a statement.”

The chairman’s directive implied that the heroes had misunderstood his instructions.
He had ordered them to carefully investigate the 15th floor, where civilians were suspected to be, while also thoroughly checking the other floors.

And that they had fallen into the villain’s plan from the very beginning.
That villain clearly never intended to keep his promise in the first place.

The chairman instructed them to issue a statement that solely blamed the heroes and the villain, absolving the association of any fault.

While a few executive members felt uncomfortable with this, they soon had to suppress their feelings as the majority of executives praised the chairman.

“Within a week, we will make sure this incident is forgotten by the citizens.”

This was a week before Maker carried out his next terrorist attack.

Busy organization members.
And me, leisurely enjoying tea time while observing them.

-Honestly… I don’t understand what you’re trying to do.

Astra’s voice, laced with exasperation, came through the speaker of my phone.

-Isn’t this just the same kind of terrorist attack, just moved from B District to another location?

“That’s correct.”

-But why? Normally, there would be a two-month interval between terrorist attacks, which is an efficient timeframe for people to remember them, isn’t it?

“You make a fair point. However, what people will remember is ‘an executive of Eclipse’, not necessarily ‘Maker’, don’t you think?”

While Eclipse has been around long enough for everyone to be familiar with them, the newbie villain Maker is a different story.

If I were to conduct a terrorist attack two months from now, people would simply think, ‘Maker? Oh, that Eclipse executive?’, and hardly anyone would remember what I, as a villain, had actually done.

In other words, this terrorist attack serves to reinforce the previous one while simultaneously showcasing what kind of villain I am in terms of personality and tendencies.

“Not to mention, it being a New Year’s terrorism will make it even more memorable, won’t it?”

-…Sometimes, it seems you have an obsession with revealing yourself.

Astra grumbled, as if finding it ridiculous that I would request something like this as a reward.

But I have no choice.
This is how my influence will grow, and how I will draw the attention of the top heroes, the protagonists of the original story, with my every action.

“But you’re not revealing my personal information, right?”

-If I could help it…

I need to immediately erase my identity and disappear once the original characters become strong enough to defeat the final boss.

‘Come to think of it, would it be too late if I waited until the end of the original story? With all the money I have, maybe I should buy a building in advance and open a cafe or something.’

Deciding to ponder it again later, I ended the call and focused on the terrorist attack.

“In any case… it seems it’s about time to start the terrorism. Don’t you have work to do as well, Ms. Astra?”

-Yes, but I have one final thing to say before that.

Ahem
Astra cleared her throat, then spoke in a serious tone.

-It’s a message from the ‘President’.

At the mention of the President, I listened attentively.

‘I heard she’s been resting continuously since our last conversation.’

Having suffered severe injuries in the past, her health had deteriorated significantly, and she had been dedicating herself to recovery without any external activities.
In fact, making me an executive was her first external activity in nearly 10 years.

-She says to show her what she expects from you.

“…Is that all?”

-Yes.

While a bit curt, perhaps it was her way of cheering me on to the best of her ability?
Since making me an executive, she hadn’t provided any support, so maybe she felt obliged to at least offer encouragement?

“Relay to her that I’ll show her more than she expects.”

…Or maybe not. Never mind.

-Alright. Then, good luck, Maker.

“I wish you the best as well, Ms. Astra.”

After the call ended, the organization members seemed to have finished their preparations when I looked at them.

“Well then, shall we greet our guests?”

And so, I began my second terrorist attack.
And…

“Your wicked deeds end here, Maker!!”

“Ah, you’ve arrived. As promised, I’ll release the civilians.”

“?”

As soon as the heroes arrived, I immediately released the civilians.

The heroes glared at me as they slowly escorted the civilians to safety.
They were the B-rank heroes of E District, where I had carried out today’s terrorist attack.

“What’s your game?”

One man glared at me with piercing eyes, questioning my intentions.

‘Ooh, scary.’

I looked at him, took a sip of tea, and then spoke.

“I’ve simply kept my promise.”

“Promise… right, you did say you’d release the civilians if we came.”

“I kept my promise. Unnamed hero. And now, it’s your turn to keep yours.”

“Ha.”

The man scoffed in disbelief.
As the last of the civilians were handed over to the heroes, I stood up from the desk.

“Well then, I’ve upheld my end of the bargain. Enjoy the game…”

Wheeeek!!!

Before I could finish speaking, an attack came flying at me.
Despite his bulky frame, the man charged at me with considerable speed and threw an uppercut.

His form was good, but his attack flow was far too straightforward, so I simply leaned backward to evade it.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“The civilians are released, so why should we play along with your games?”

“Hmm~ So that was the reason.”

‘Well, I did expect this would happen.’

Not everyone is a fool or someone who obeys a villain’s every demand.
Moreover, with the potential hostages no longer in danger…

‘But I’ve already shown what I wanted to show.’

“Now, enough talk and come at me…!”

“Organization members.”

Interrupting the hero’s taunting as he pounded his fists together, I raised one hand.

“Knock him out.”

“What? Wait, urk!!!”

At my command, the organization members instantly incapacitated one of the B-rank heroes.

‘It’s a good thing I ordered them to stay put during the previous terrorism.’

‘If I hadn’t, my impact would have been ruined.’

Pondering this, I briefly observed the unconscious B-rank hero.
Sensing the growing murmurs from below the building, I realized it was time to depart.

I turned and boarded the waiting helicopter.

“Let’s go now.”

“”Yes!””

At my order to evacuate, the organization members swiftly gathered their belongings and boarded the helicopter.

Weeeeeng-
With that sound, the propellers spun, and the helicopter soon took to the air.

Having realized we were leaving, the commotion below the building grew more intense.

‘Catch them! Catch them this time, no matter what…!’

Click
Kwaaang!!!!

As I watched the building collapse, I discarded the switch.

‘It ended a bit too abruptly.’

It seemed to be over even faster than the previous terrorism.

I had released all the civilians and didn’t kill any heroes.
While I had to demolish the building right before our departure, ultimately, there were no casualties.

With no tangible achievements, one might question if this could even be called a terrorist attack.
But for me, it was beneficial.

‘I showcased my character’s personality.’

There will undoubtedly be those who analyze this terrorism in comparison to the previous one.
Analyzing my tendencies, the actions I dislike, and the actions I desire.

A gentlemanly villain. A villain who avoids casualties as long as his words are heeded.

‘Wait, in the previous attack, he definitely didn’t release the civilians and fought, but why did he release them this time?’

‘The only difference was that the heroes this time obediently followed the villain’s instructions from the beginning.’

‘Does he really keep his word as long as his words are followed?’

Ultimately, it created a situation where the heroes had no choice but to follow the villain’s words.

More precisely, it made them feel that following the instructions was more advantageous.

If those who managed to analyze me, however uncertainly, widely disseminated that information on the internet…

Things would get interesting going forward.