Being a Villain is My True Calling

Phantom Luna began to explain her situation slowly, in a slow but emotion-filled tone.

In the process, she filtered or subtly changed explanations that might expose her personal information or family.
Even in the midst of her mental turmoil, he was still clearly a villain, and one wrong word could put her family in danger, so this was natural.

“So, you’re saying you lost your mental composure because you lost important money.”

“Yes…”

The more she spoke, the more comfortable she felt, but separately, as her head started to work properly again, embarrassment flooded in.

‘Even so, to show such a side to a villain..’

Should it be called shameful beyond embarrassing?
Surely it was herself speaking, but somehow, the more she opened her mouth, the more she felt like she was digging her own grave.

“Hmm. So that happened.”

By the time she finished speaking, her head was bowed deeply, unable to lift it.

“..That’s all.”

If she could, she wanted to go back to the past right now and sew her own mouth shut.

A hero confiding worries to an enemy they’re dealing with..!
And not only that, but to cry and whine..!

‘Ugh..!!’

It definitely wasn’t behavior befitting a hero.
But.. on the other hand, she was also looking forward to what he would say.

‘..What will he say?’

Even if one says they don’t expect much, people are like that.
Even if you only hope for them to listen to what you’re saying, at some point you start hoping they’ll offer solutions and comfort too.

Honestly, Phantom Luna hoped Maker would take her side.
Despite having been severely beaten by him before.

He was somehow different from ordinary villains.
That’s why she ended up confiding her circumstances to him.

“Phantom Luna-ssi.”

With that strange feeling in her heart, she lifted her head.
But.

“You are quite a pathetic person.”

“What?”

At his words, different from what she expected, Phantom Luna couldn’t help but freeze coldly.

I looked at Phantom Luna in front of me.
Honestly, I didn’t expect her to confide her circumstances to ‘Maker’.

‘Don’t people usually tell this kind of thing to someone they trust?’

For example, someone like that guy in the original story.
At least, I don’t think it’s something a hero would say to a villain like me.

‘If you’re going to say it, say it when I’m an ordinary person, why are you doing this now when I’m a villain?’

I am clearly a villain.
Although I often act a bit unusually, it’s still clearly known that I’m a villain, so it was curious in a way that she was acting like this.

Is it because I saved her when we first met?
Or maybe it’s a big variable created by that guy’s disappearance from the original story.

Either way, the fact that I needed to detach her remained unchanged.

‘If I want to make her grow while doing that, I think I need to point out her chronic problems while criticizing her.’

Comfort? Honestly, I could give her as much as she wanted if asked.
I could melt her heart with sweet words, and listen to her childish complaints to the point of boredom.

From my position where I can see at a glance what she wants, I could easily indulge her.

‘But, I don’t want to raise a pet.’

If I just say nice things to her and soothe her, developing feelings for me, it would be easy to handle her.
I could probably use her in some ways while pretending to be her lover.

But then, what about Phantom Luna’s growth?
Ability users grow stronger by clashing and breaking.
It’s similar to muscles, but the difference is that abilities occupy a larger part of the mental realm.

‘If Phantom Luna trusts and relies on me, will she truly feel the terrorism I create?’

She seems to be half-doubting even now.

If it were ‘Kang I-an’ the cafe owner instead of ‘Maker’ the villain, it might be different.
If she relied on Kang I-an, at least she could surely consider Maker as an enemy.

Anyway, that was the point.

“You are quite a pathetic person.”

“What?”

“You are an arrogant person. You.”

Right now, it was correct to pick a fight with Phantom Luna.
So that she would break and shatter, and correct her own mistakes and grow.

“..What do you mean by that?”

“I mean exactly what I said.”

Phantom Luna couldn’t understand the current situation.
What on earth was he talking about?

Arrogant?
Where exactly? Was there any reason to be called arrogant in the conversation up until now?

‘Did I..’

Do something wrong?

Thump.
She felt as if her heart was sinking.

“..If I made some mistake..”

“Are you not only arrogant but also suffering from good child syndrome?”

By this point, a surge of anger welled up.

“What do you know to say such things? Where exactly am I arrogant!”

“Phantom Luna’s arrogance was proven from the moment you confided your worries to me.”

The cynical meaning of his words contrasted with his kind tone.
Maker smiled while throwing harsh words at her.

“What is the reason for confiding your worries and circumstances to a villain?”

“Th-that’s..!”

I trusted you..

“When I thought about it carefully, there was only one reason.”

Maker smiled while cleverly twisting her thoughts.

“You arrogantly didn’t trust those around you. Didn’t you think no one could help you?”

“What are you saying!”

“At the same time, you don’t want to cause trouble for others. You don’t say anything, but stress builds up because it’s hard.”

Snap.
He snapped his fingers and pointed at himself.

“I think you vented your inner turmoil to the villain in front of you. After all, I don’t have any hero friends to go around talking to.”

“No! That’s not it!”

No, is it not.. not it?
Phantom Luna suppressed her shaking insides and denied it.

Maker continued speaking, disregarding Phantom Luna’s words.

“You could have spoken to others besides me. You could have confided the truth to others instead of shedding tears in front of me.”

She was confused.
Why on earth was he saying these things?

At his continued words, Phantom Luna squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head from side to side.
Even at this sight, Maker did not stop speaking.

“You could have certainly asked for help.”

“I don’t want to hear it!”

“Do you hate causing trouble for others that much? Even to the point of letting your precious things fly away?”

“Shut up!”

“You don’t seem to know how arrogant that behavior is.”

Puhah.
A laugh filled with obvious mockery.

Phantom Luna, filled with anger, grabbed his collar.

“Didn’t your friends give you chances? Asking if you needed help?”

“I said be quiet!!”

“Or didn’t your colleagues ask? If something was wrong?”

Her fingertips were trembling.
It was visible that she was scared because something seemed wrong, but she couldn’t be certain.

The strength in her hand gripping Maker’s collar gradually weakened.

“We call someone who endures on their own for fear of causing trouble to others a pushover. However.”

Maker grasped Chise’s hand.

Then he brought her hand to his neck.
As if to say, if you want to strangle me, strangle my neck.

“Throwing away opportunities that others are giving you is a sickness. A pitiful psychopath trapped in obsession and arrogance, considering yourself wretched.”

“..You!”

Thud!
Phantom Luna immediately straddled Maker’s body, pinning him to the floor.

“What do you know to spout such nonsense! What do you know!”

Without knowing anything.

‘Always go around helping people, our daughter. Our daughter is kind and strong, after all..’

Without knowing with what heart she’s being a hero.

‘Unni! Look at this! Yui drew a picture with Ren?’

‘Don’t worry, noona! Ren will get healthy soon! I’ll protect our family like Mom and Dad did!’

Without knowing with what feelings she earned money.

Reducing food, clothes to buy, living expenses, appliances, rest time, sleep time.
How she’s been living.

Tears falling from Chise’s eyes dropped onto Maker’s cheek and continued to flow.

“..I’m not saying your dedication and efforts were wrong. I’m asking if you absolutely had to do those actions.”

Maker stared directly into her eyes without wavering.

“Shouldn’t you have asked your friends for help? Didn’t they say they would help?”

‘What’s wrong, Chise? Is there something difficult going on?’

‘Shouldn’t we chip in too? It would ease your burden and make you more comfortable.’

“Your fellow heroes, didn’t they say anything when they saw you struggling?”

‘I’m worried she might collapse at this rate.’

‘..You.’

At Maker’s calm questioning, Phantom Luna couldn’t refute.
After all, it was none other than herself who had rejected their offers to help.

“But..”

“If you just put down your pride and the desire to not cause trouble for anyone, you can get what you want. Are you saying you won’t do that?”

“..What if everyone leaves because I’m a bother?”

That was a statement born from experience.
A child who lost her parents in an accident, left with only two siblings who don’t have much life left.

‘Sweetie, won’t you come live with us?’

There were many people who extended helping hands to her.
With her uniquely pretty appearance and strong ability that promised a bright future.

There wasn’t an adult who wasn’t tempted by the child’s external charms, and in a way, it could be seen as a natural result.
Except for one thing.

‘But, we’ll have to put Yui and Ren in an orphanage.’

If only it weren’t for the single ‘catch’ from their perspective.
Chise was conflicted.

Between comfortable guardians and her only blood relatives, her siblings.

‘Please! Let Yui and Ren stay with me too! I’ll do anything, anything..!’

And unable to abandon the two children, she begged and begged.

Chise herself had even gone to them directly to speak.

That it didn’t matter what happened to her, but to please adopt her siblings.
If they would just do that, she would do anything they asked.

‘..I’m sorry, but that seems impossible.’

In the end, no one appeared who would accommodate her stubbornness.

“..It’s better not to rely at all than to rely once.”

For this reason, Phantom Luna didn’t easily accept others’ goodwill.
Especially unconditional goodwill.
While hidden conditional goodwill might be understandable, unconditional goodwill didn’t exist in this world.

“……”

Maker didn’t push her any further in response to this.
He had said all he needed to say, and although she was speaking cynically, confusion was swirling inside her.

-Oppa. Heroes are starting to arrive for support now.

At that moment, Polia’s voice came through the communicator.

“It seems it’s time for us to leave.”

Maker extracted himself from under her, who was still straddling him, and stood up.

Thud thud.
Swish.

With the wall melting like liquid behind him, Maker turned his head to look at Phantom Luna.

A face in a mess, covered in tears, and dazed-looking eyes.
It clearly didn’t look like a normal state.

‘..What did that guy do again?’

At this sight, Maker recalled the content of the original story.

First of all, he remembers that trust was given.
He would have supported Phantom Luna whose mental state had collapsed, and given her complete trust.

Like that, without any problems, he would have turned her trust and heart solely with affection and warmth.

“Trust the people around you. There are probably more people willing to indulge your childishness than you think.”

Then he said it. To trust the people around her.
Although the process was a little? very different, in the end, isn’t it fine as long as the intention and result align?

Maker smiled brightly.

‘Well, you might be struggling because of my words now, but endure it a little. It’s all tough love for your own good, kid.’

Although he pressured her to the point of almost gaslighting, it was true that it was for her own good.

Still, well.. Kang I-an, not Maker, will choose only the sweet words you want to hear, so you probably won’t get worse from there.

“..Let’s go, Polia-nim.”

With that, Maker disappeared from the terrorist scene with Polia as always.

After the terrorist attack ended.
When Maker was taking a short rest, looking a bit tired after taking off his outer clothes, a phone call came in.

-Hello, Maker-nim? This is Doctor.

“..Yes, Doctor. I’ve received your call.”

The caller was Doctor.
He called regarding the matter Maker had asked about before.

-About the scammers we ‘used’. They say they caught them trying to run away. What would you like to do?

“Well, they’ve served their purpose, so it’s about time to discard them.”

-Do you have any particular way you’d like them disposed of? Or, the guy who caught them said he’d like to use them for experiments.

Is that why he called?
Maker smirked, then nodded and opened his mouth.

“You can do as you please. As long as no traces remain, it doesn’t matter how you dispose of them.”

-I understand. Then, about the money..

“It’s like we’re giving back what we stole, but we’ll use it again for its original purpose. It’s just pocket change anyway, right?”

“That’s true. Understood, Maker-nim. I’ll contact you again when everything has been taken care of.”

“Yes, Doctor. And please tell that person who’s working hard to hang in there a little longer.”

With that light greeting, Doctor and I ended our conversation.

“It really is tiring after all.”

The incident of Phantom Luna’s surgery fund theft was definitely something that existed in the original story.
If there’s one difference, it’s that I directly controlled the scammers to prevent other variables from occurring?

To put it simply, it means I’m the culprit who told them to skim off the money.

‘..Well, in the end I was planning to return it as surgery funds anyway, so there’s no big problem, right?’

I can feel the triangle of conscience that has already become a circle rattling as it rotates, but it’s been a long time since I felt guilty about anything, so I didn’t think much of it.

Rather, I even gave her mental training, so in a way, you could say I only helped.

“……”

Of course, the moment Phantom Luna learns the truth, she might try to kill me..

But that part will work out somehow.
It’s fine as long as I don’t get caught, right?

After entrusting the aftermath to my future self like that, the very next day, I listened to Chise’s lamentations as Kang I-an.

Unlike Maker, I soothed her with only kind words and comfort,
and a few days later, as planned, Chise’s money was moved back to its original intended use.

Chise, overjoyed, came to our cafe again and chattered for hours, but that’s a side story that doesn’t need to be known.
In the end, no matter how the process goes, isn’t it fine as long as the ending is good?

At least that’s what I thought.