Being a Villain is My True Calling

“It’s about time, I guess.”

While normally watching over the cafe, Kang I-an suddenly muttered something incomprehensible while lost in thought.

“? What’s about time, oppa?”

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

Narin, who was visiting the cafe, asked curiously, but Kang I-an only showed a calm smile.

“Just need to do some groundwork for something.”

“Should I help?”

Narin, the genius hacker.
Her skills were excellent, as self-proclaimed and recognized by others.

Kang I-an also knew this well, having often asked for her help.

“It’s alright, this time I need connections.”

“..Tch. Can’t help with that.”

However, this task wasn’t quite suitable to ask her.
Unlike her cheerful and bright personality, she didn’t have many friends or connections to speak of.

Kang I-an watched her slouch and trudge towards a table, then picked up his phone.

“Yes, Doctor. It’s me, Maker.”

The recipient of the call was none other than Doctor, the physician affiliated with Eclipse.

“Do you happen to know any doctors in Japan?”

Kang I-an then made an inexplicable request to Doctor.

The hero team Hound, belonging to the Hero Association and in charge of tracking Alpha.
Currently, they were sweating over a certain incident within the team.

“..Phantom Luna-ssi. Hasn’t she been acting strange lately?”

The cause was none other than Phantom Luna.
It wasn’t that she was causing trouble for the team or had conflicts with others.

“I wonder if she might collapse at this rate.”

Rather, her atmosphere and condition looked very serious.
This naturally made the Hound team members feel uneasy.

Recently, Phantom Luna had been looking worrisome to anyone who saw her.

She had sunken eyes, or would suddenly tremble and turn pale.
She looked abnormal to anyone who saw her, which led to worry for her.

“She seemed so bright just a few days ago…”

They hadn’t heard the details, but for someone who had been acting even brighter than usual to change so drastically in such a short time. They could only vaguely guess that some personal misfortune had occurred.

“..Let’s stop. It feels a bit like we’re gossiping about someone.”

At Ice Queen’s rebuke, the team members finally realized they had been talking something akin to gossip.
They began to disperse with awkward expressions.

“..Hah.”

Ice Queen quietly looked at the dazed-looking Chise before turning her head away.

The next day.
It was when Ice Queen returned to the association after doing early morning patrol.

-How.. a way..

“Hm?”

A familiar voice suddenly coming from the break room.

‘This is.. Phantom Luna’s voice?’

Ice Queen stopped in her tracks and quietly focused on listening.

-If you say that.. what am I supposed to do..!

-What? What do you mean by that!.. Then we.. heard..!!

Her voice was somewhat different from usual.
While raising her voice and expressing her frustration, she couldn’t hide the anxiety in her trembling voice.

‘..What’s going on?’

She couldn’t fully understand the situation because the words were only partially audible.
But entering the break room would be too much, as just eavesdropping on the call was already sufficiently guilt-inducing.

‘..Hah.’

After that, no matter how much she strained her ears, she couldn’t hear the voice anymore. Just as Ice Queen let out a light sigh and was about to walk away…

Bang.
As Phantom Luna opened the door of the break room and came out, she bumped right into Ice Queen.

“..You.”

Ice Queen’s gaze was directed at her eyes.
Her clearly reddened eyelids and slight bloodshot eyes. Anyone could see she had just been crying.

“I’m fine.”

Phantom Luna, feeling Ice Queen’s gaze.
She spoke first before Ice Queen could stammer anything.

“I said I’m fine.”

There was no bright smile or confident tone like usual.
Her lips were trembling.

She had a precarious smile on her lips that could disappear at any moment.

“……”

How could one interrogate her in this state?

“..Tell me if you need help. Even if we don’t get along well, we’re still colleagues.”

In the end, Ice Queen uttered a few words in place of comfort or concern and turned to leave.
In the spot where Ice Queen left, Phantom Luna crouched down and bowed her head deeply.

It was while Chise was carrying out her hero activities as usual, bearing listlessness and depression.

“Terrorist attack currently occurring in District B! The culprit is reported to be Maker!”

Maker’s terrorist attack after a long time.

“Phantom Luna, the assigned hero in the vicinity, please respond immediately!”

Originally, since the position of assigned hero between Ice Queen and Phantom Luna hadn’t been properly decided yet, there should have been a discussion about deployment.

However, since Ice Queen was currently located in a far-off district, Phantom Luna, who was nearby, was automatically deployed.

Phantom Luna headed to the scene of the terrorist attack as instructed by the association staff.

“Phantom Luna-nim. It seems like it’s been a while since we met.”

Maker greeted Phantom Luna warmly as soon as she arrived at the scene.

Unusually, he wasn’t filming.
That sight was quite strange.

Normally, whether wanted or not, he would hack into broadcasting stations to show the terrorist scene directly.

Phantom Luna found Maker’s appearance momentarily puzzling, but soon erased her concerns and looked at him with a tired expression.

“What kind of terrorist attack have you brought this time?.. No, whatever it is, let’s just get started quickly. I want to rest a bit right now.”

“You seem to be in particularly low spirits today?”

As Phantom Luna wondered, Maker was also puzzled by her unusually strange state today, but soon began his explanation without any particular reaction.

“Well, that’s fine. Today I’ve brought a classic method. You see this cute subordinate of mine, Polia-nim? Phantom Luna-nim, from now on, you just need to battle with Polia-nim.”

In simple terms, it meant to fight and hit each other.
Roughly understanding it as an unregulated fight, Phantom Luna began fighting with Polia as soon as Maker’s explanation ended.

And then…

Boom!!

“Weak.”

After a long exchange, the match was decided with Phantom Luna being slammed into a wall.

“Bug cut.”

“..That’s not a nice thing to say, Polia-nim.”

“Glitch unni taught me.”

Despite the banter between the two, Phantom Luna, sprawled inside the building, showed no signs of getting up.
Maker entered the building with Polia’s help.

“You’re very different from usual. Did something happen?”

Phantom Luna gave no answer to Maker’s question.
She didn’t want to answer, nor could she.

‘..It’s hard.’

But on the other hand, not being able to say that it was hard was even harder.

Others were only people she had to protect, and she couldn’t possibly lean on her colleagues or friends.
She was the eldest daughter and a hero, and a cheerful friend.

She couldn’t break down and shouldn’t break down.
She couldn’t cause trouble for others because of herself.

Right, it was just money that was stolen, wasn’t it?
Just money…

‘..The money to save our kids.’

Along with a surge of emotion, tears welled up in her eyes.

‘The money was stolen..’

She had been robbed of money by a broker from a company she trusted and used frequently.
It was something she had checked multiple times.

The brokerage firm drew the line that it was solely an individual’s misconduct, and even the doctor who first informed her about the treatment said no money had ever come in.

Everyone claimed they were not at fault and distanced themselves, and in the middle, only one victim remained.
Of course, she asked the police to investigate, but naturally, it was beyond their capabilities.

‘Will I be able to get the money back intact? The surgery.. there’s only a month left for the chance to save my siblings?’

Apart from everything else, there was an absolute lack of time.
A tear dropped from Chise’s eye.

“Oh my.”

Maker, unfazed by this sight, wiped away her tear.

“It seems something has indeed happened.”

Maker looked around.
A building enclosed on all sides.
There were no cameras, and since it was made of opaque glass, it seemed unlikely that anyone could discern what was happening inside.

“Polia-nim.”

Having assessed the situation, Maker immediately gestured to Polia.
As if understanding his gesture, Polia left the building alone.

And the hole in the building started to close up again.
As if to hide her tears from others.

Plop.
Maker carefully wiped away another tear that had fallen.

A gentle touch.
Chise rolled her eyes and looked at him.

The person before her was not a friend.
He wasn’t a citizen to protect, nor a reliable hero.

A villain.
An enemy to fight and a mysterious evildoer.

But perhaps because of that, it wouldn’t matter if she confided her worries to him.
It might not be without risk, but he was the type of person who would use Phantom Luna’s weakness for himself, not someone who would tell others about it.

Her mouth opened as if enchanted at that moment.

“..Hic. Hiccup.. I, I’ve been scammed.. Wh-what should I do..?”

She finally confided her worries to a villain who was neither a colleague nor a friend.