Being a Villain is My True Calling

‘Just how far have those damn tentacles spread?!’

Yun-hee felt her insides boiling with rage.
She had enjoyed such a blessed reprieve from those tentacle jokes during the exchange program!

“…Where did you even hear about that from?”

How could it have spread all the way to Lily living in America?!

Huh? You didn’t know, unnie?

Lily’s bewildered tone implied Yun-hee should have been aware, sending chills down her spine.

“H,how could I know? Did it spread through some illegal site or something?”

I saw it on your fan cafe though?

“What…?”

Yun-hee’s mind went blank at Lily’s innocent remark.

“…You must be mistaken.”

Lily claimed to have seen it on the ‘Ice Garden’ fan cafe dedicated to Ice Queen?

Ice Garden.
A fan community created by admirers captivated by Ice Queen’s lovely visuals and heroic prowess.

Ice Queen is always so beautiful!

Our Queen! Thank you for protecting us today as well!

While a bit embarrassing, it had always been a remarkably positive space devoid of any insults, filled with fans who genuinely adored her.

“Lily, you must have seen something else by mistake…”

Yun-hee refuted Lily’s claim.
She must have gotten it confused with a different community…
Or perhaps misunderstood a post sharing content from elsewhere.

‘Otherwise, it simply doesn’t make sense, right?’

With trembling hands, Yun-hee searched for and accessed her fan cafe.
For a moment, the loading screen displayed a penguin mascot holding a ‘Welcome!’ sign.

“Wh,what is this…”

Yun-hee was appalled by the posts plastered all over her fan cafe.

Truthfully, she didn’t frequent it very often.
Not out of ingratitude toward her adoring fans, but simply because she lacked the time to indulge such niceties.

However, on the rare occasions when she felt fatigued or dispirited, Yun-hee would visit her fan cafe to recharge her spirits.
But it had clearly changed dramatically since her last visit…

[All praise the almighty Maker, may his eternal light protect me. All praise the almighty Maker, may his eternal light protect me. All praise the almighty Maker, may his eternal light protect me…]

[Dammit Maker again. Now I must worship him too! Dammit Maker again. Now I must worship him too! Dammit Maker again. Now I must worship him too!…]

[O Lord Maker, grant us our daily bread…please! Please!! Please!!! Pleeeaasse!!!]

Just what was the meaning of this?

Unnie?

“…Eh.”

Shaken by the distressing posts, Yun-hee barely registered Lily’s subsequent voice calling out to her.

“…So about that…tentacle thing?”

It’s in the best posts section!

That it had even made the ‘best posts’ list…
Her eyes trembled violently, but after taking a deep breath, Yun-hee clicked on that dreaded thread.

[Our Queen’s Legendary Scene Revisited avi.]

At first glance, it seemed to depict one of Ice Queen’s heroic feats, but the sheer number of comments was unusually high.

‘Nngh…aahh…eeek…!!’

Upon opening the video, sure enough, Ice Queen’s moans immediately began playing.

Our Queen’s tears are so beautiful too!!

Ahh! Is Maker a god? Is he a god? Is he a god?

A side of our Queen we’ve never witnessed before…so nonchalantly displayed toward a strange man who’s seeing it for the first time. Even as it was broadcasted live, our Queen had such a dreamy, rapturous expression…huhihi. Hihihihi. Uhuhuhuhuh.

Defile our Queen further! Utterly desecrate and ravish her!!!

“Insane!”

THWACK!!

Chilled to the bone after reading those comments, Yun-hee shot up and hurled her phone across the room.

“Kughh…haaah…phew.”

Unnie?

Shuddering involuntarily, she brushed her arms as if to wipe away some invisible taint.

‘That bastard Maker, what has he done to my fan cafe?!’

And once she had calmed somewhat, the emotion that welled within her was sheer fury.

Thinking back, it was all because of Maker.

The spread of those tentacle videos that had caused her so much grief.

The outrageous rumors labeling her a masochist, simply because she had flinched when he insulted her!

Her prior mental turmoil as well!!

‘And now the total desecration of her fan cafe too, all his doing!!!’

“……”

U,unnie…?

Sensing her silence, Lily grew apprehensive and cautiously called out to Yun-hee once more.

“Lily.”

…Yes?
“There’s been this villain giving me a really hard time recently.”

A villain…?
“Yeah, a villain. An incredibly vicious one who can’t do anything but run away.”

Yun-hee’s tone carried an uncharacteristic tenderness, one that felt rather eerie coming from her.

‘What’s this feeling…’

While her voice sounded warm and even tinged with laughter, Lily inexplicably found the current Yun-hee rather unsettling.

“Because of that bastard, the damage to my public image is just…”

…….
“Why must he keep tormenting me so? Haha. Hahaha…haha. Ha.”

‘Should I try consoling her somehow…?’

That laughter, or rather, that unhinged cackle.
Just as Lily debated attempting to comfort her, suddenly:

KRASH!

The sound of something being violently struck rang out from Yun-hee’s end.

“I’ll catch him. Maker. I’ll definitely catch him…”

…….
“I’ll definitely apprehend him, and make him pay for this humiliation…”

Erm. Best not to say anything at all!
Deciding to wait for Yun-hee to calm herself, Lily fetched some cola and popcorn from the fridge.

“What seems to be the matter, Astra?”

On an ordinary day while tending to the cafe, Maker received Astra’s sudden summons to her office.

“You’re here, Maker.”
Astra greeted me with a somewhat grave expression.
What could it be? She seemed quite serious.

“The reason I called you here today is to assign you a new mission.”
“A mission, you say?”
“Yes. I thought it would be best to have someone who has handled this before take it on again.”
“If it’s something I’ve done before, which mission are you referring to?”

I had undertaken more than just one or two missions before.
She would need to be more specific for me to understand.

Nodding, Astra retrieved an item from her drawer.

“Take a look at this?”
“This is…”

It was a plastic packet.
Containing a pure white powder, no less.

‘A white powder, and a mission I’ve handled before…’

Combining those two clues, there was indeed one particular instance that came to mind.

“An ability enhancer, I take it?”
“Correct.”

A drug that not only amplified one’s abilities, but also induced intense euphoria and carried a high addictive potential.
It seemed that drug had begun resurfacing in the slums once more.

The ability enhancer.
The first mission I handled as a newly appointed Eclipse executive.

‘I distinctly recall eliminating the entire Blue Scorp syndicate that was distributing it, so it seemed resolved.’

Could there have been a separate manufacturing source operating behind the scenes?
Even so, I couldn’t fathom their reason for resuming distribution now.

“What are the effects of this new batch?”
“The effects are identical. Heightened abilities, intense euphoria, and highly addictive.”

Levitating the plastic packet with her aura, Astra swirled it around before fixing it in mid-air and regarding me intently.

“However, this new version is said to be even more potent and intense in its effects.”
“I see. Then there are roughly two possibilities.”

Logically considering the circumstances, two likely scenarios emerged.

“First. Someone siphoned off the original supply, then developed an enhanced reformulation of the drug.”

Even for me, retrieving the already dispersed drugs would be nigh impossible.
Dismantling the distribution syndicate to prevent further sales had been the best I could do.

If someone had instead diverted the supply for research purposes rather than personal use, I would have no way to know.

“Second. The initial release in the slums was merely an experimental prototype.”

A sort of pilot test, using the slums as their testing grounds.
The Blue Scorp gang may have simply been receiving and selling product, unaware of its true origins.

‘If that’s the case, it could get rather troublesome.’

It would imply the existence of powerful backers, making it difficult to uproot the drug completely.
Moreover, if they were associated with Blue Scorp to the extent of potentially creating a future S-rank villain, their backers were highly likely to be existing organizations or individuals from the original storyline.

Hmm…

“I take it refusal isn’t an option, is it?”
“Why, whatever gave you that idea? Here’s this month’s authorization clear as day.”

As I had expected.
I offered her an understanding smile in response.

“What level of harm has our side sustained so far?”
“No addicts among our ranks have been identified yet, it seems.”
“So you intend to take preemptive measures this time?”
“Yes. We can’t afford to have addicts among our members like last time.”

I casually sipped my tea as I listened to Astra’s explanation.

“That previous incident was quite the ordeal. Who could have foreseen a drug confined to the slums suddenly spreading within Eclipse itself?”

“…We were fortunate to have detected it early. Had it come to light later, the situation could have escalated significantly.”

“Indeed, if Maker hadn’t exposed the underlying drug issue back then, it truly could have spiraled into a catastrophe.”

Remembering that prior incident, Astra unexpectedly expressed her gratitude toward me.

“……”

Er…well.
Her words did provoke a slight pang of guilt.
I maintained my composure and nonchalantly took another sip of tea.

Then I reflected back on those events.

Well.

‘The truth is, I was the one who got our members hooked on that drug in the first place.’

More accurately, I facilitated and encouraged their addictions, but still.

“…It was nothing, really. Even as a newcomer back then, I was still an Eclipse executive.”

“Maker…”

Did Astra truly need to know?
Concealing my wavering gaze behind a wry smile, I continued our conversation uninterrupted.