Chapter 0

“So, where was I again?”

In a building where not a single ray of sunlight entered.

A man dressed in a luxurious black uniform, wearing a half-mask that covered the upper part of his face, smiled gently and tapped his thigh with his finger.

“……”

“Are you going to keep silent like that?”

“……”

“I’m bored.”

Despite the man’s urging, his conversation partner remained silent, dripping with cold sweat.

“Hmm.”

*Click.*

“Y-Yes! You said you were possessed by a novel you read before! Ahem! A-And that the world we live in is actually a fictional world! A world where it’s hard for citizens to survive!!!”

Feeling the heavy weight of the gun barrel on his head, the conversation partner shouted with all his might.

Seeing this, the man seemed pleased. He placed the gun on the desk and tapped his thigh again with his finger.

“That’s right. A fictional world. Isn’t it absurd? Not only were you kidnapped and turned into a baby, but you were also possessed and ended up in a place like this…”

The man, who had been maintaining the conversation, was lying face down, his arms and legs restrained. He thought about the half-masked man sitting on top of him and broke into a cold sweat.

“Every day, villains cause chaos multiple times, and the heroes who are supposed to oppose them are negligent. The citizens bear all the pain.”

*Sip.*

The man picked up a teacup on the desk and took a sip.

As he lifted the teacup, red liquid dripped down. But since it didn’t spill inside, the man didn’t pay much attention and put the cup back down.

“Sigh… The citizens really have no way to survive. If they’re unlucky enough to run into a villain, it’s over for them.”

“……”

“The heroes always show up late, and as the story progresses, the citizens’ suffering only grows. And by the later parts, oh boy…”

The tired expression he had just moments ago vanished in an instant. The man smiled again and crossed his legs.

“The reason I became a villain? That’s why. If I kept living as an ordinary citizen, I’d just be a shrimp caught in a whale fight.”

“…D-Did you ever consider working as a hero?”

“I did think about it once. But things happened…”

*Beep beep beep!*

In the middle of their conversation, an alarm interrupted the man.

The man sighed regretfully and stood up from his chair, which had also been his conversation partner.

“Ah, it seems it’s time for me to go.”

“..O-Oh! That’s too bad. But if you have to go, then I guess I’ll just…”

As the man spoke, the young man lying face down quickly brightened up and looked at him.

*Click.*

“…Huh?”

“I’m really going to miss you.”

The man suddenly pointed the gun barrel at the young man.

“W-Why, why, why…?”

“Ah, it’s been a while since I’ve poured my heart out like this, and I really liked you.”

For a moment, time seemed to stop.

The young man’s trembling eyes met the man’s golden eyes, which had now turned a golden hue.

“W-Why, you bastard…!! I-I listened to everything you said!! You said you’d spare me if I listened to you… spare me!!!!!”

Perhaps due to extreme excitement, the young man trembled and screamed. Seeing this, the man scratched his cheek as if embarrassed.

“Sorry, B-class villain, Blue Scope. I have no choice if I want to survive.”

“W-What does me dying have to do with you living…!!! What does it have to do with anything!!!!”

“Hmm…”

The man hesitated for a moment, then smiled and answered.

“You, a B-class villain, were supposed to accidentally consume an S-class elixir in the future. An elixir that explosively increases the amount of mana in your body… Even if you were just a B-class, getting close to S-class is a big deal, right?”

“Y-You bastard, then…”

“Yes, I really wanted that elixir. Weak villains like me need to consume things like that to survive.”

The man smiled nonchalantly, and the villain, Blue Scope, turned bright red with anger.

“Stop talking nonsense!! D-Damn it!! You killed all my subordinates! What do you mean you’re weak! What do you mean weak!!!!”

“I barely managed to kill a few C-class villains while draining all my mana. If I used up all my mana just to take care of a few C+ class villains, wouldn’t that make me weak?”

“S-Stop talking nonsense, you bastard!!!”

As the man gradually moved his finger to the trigger, Blue Scope began to twist his body violently.

Perhaps because he was genuinely facing death, his anger burned fiercely. But when he met the man’s emotionless eyes, his face gradually paled, and he began to beg again.

“P-Please spare me. I-I’ll give you the elixir…”

“Goodbye, villain Blue Scope. It was nice to finally reveal my secret to you after so long.”

“…You crazy bas-”

*Bang!!*

A loud gunshot echoed through the empty building.

In response, Blue Scope fell, blooming a red flower.

The man, who had been watching him, turned around and picked up his smartphone to make a call.

“‘Maker’ here, Chief. The drug trafficking organization Blue Scope has been successfully annihilated. I’ll take a few items as evidence and burn the rest.”

-…Good job, Maker.

“For you, Chief, I can do anything.”

-…Stop talking nonsense.

“Nonsense? Chief, you know how much I like you…”

*Click.*

As the call ended abruptly, the man who called himself Maker clicked his tongue in disappointment.

“It’d be so much easier if I could just woo the Chief, right, Scope?”

“……”

“Ah, you’re already dead.”

The man, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly, slowly walked forward.

“Sorry, Scope. I told you, didn’t I? I had no choice if I wanted to survive.”

In the shining world of hero comics, the sacrifice of citizens was always inevitable.

And now, the man who was destined to become one of those citizens hated that fate.

“Sigh, if it means surviving, I’ll do anything. Even if it means becoming trash.”

That’s why the man chose the path of a villain.

Because it was the best way to survive in this world he knew.

“Ah, found the elixir.”

The man, whose only goal was to live as long as possible, would do anything.

Whether it was wooing women, committing terrorism, or seizing opportunities from novels.

No matter what.

The man walked forward.