The 100-Point Villain -1-
Cheongang Special City. One of the subsidiary cities ruled by the mysterious megacorporation Noah, which dominated the corporate nation of Minos. Discrimination against non-Origins ran rampant throughout the city, and medical technology had advanced to an extreme degree. Examples of this cutting-edge medicine included Chromeware, the technology that remade the body into something beyond human, and Cold Sleep, which could put people into suspended animation. On top of that, drugs that forcibly awakened the pituitary gland were readily available on the market. Among them all, Chromeware technology formed the very foundation of Enhanced Humans.
Superhuman strength to lift rebar with bare hands, leg power to leap over buildings, skin tough enough to deflect bullets, and even the special abilities possessed by only a select few Enhanced Humans—every last one of them was a blessing granted by Chromeware. It was no exaggeration to say that nearly all the Enhanced Humans in Minos were born in Cheongang. That was why so many of them still lived here. Whether out of homesickness or something else, those who had left for places like Unhwa or Nago often failed to adapt and eventually returned to Cheongang.
Nostalgia my ass. It’s the same as old people crowding into places with good senior welfare.
I let out a quiet sigh as I recalled the status window’s explanation of Cheongang Special City. I had come to the right place, right? The map had definitely marked this area as the bustling district.
“Hey, miss. What are you doing standing there spacing out in the middle of the road? You alone?”
“First time here? Want us big brothers to show you around properly today?”
No matter how you looked at it, this was a fucking red-light district.
“S-sorry! I’m waiting for my b-boyfriend right now!”
When I refused with a bright smile, the two men who looked unmistakably like Enhanced Humans backed off with gloomy expressions. The muttered “Yeah, no way a girl like that wouldn’t have a boyfriend…” was just the cherry on top.
“Haa…”
My sigh doubled in weight. What? Big brothers? Waiting for my boyfriend? Like hell. You bastards.
Still, if I didn’t reject them this firmly, I’d end up tangled in something even more annoying. The place I stood in was unmistakably that kind of place.
Cheongang’s bustling district. The mecca of Enhanced Humans and the pit of the most primal desires a person could feel. All around were nothing but restaurants, bars, hotels, massage shops, and sports centers. This was the ultimate paradise, the universe, the dreamland granted to Enhanced Humans.
The more Chromeware they installed in their bodies, the thinner the neural pathways for emotion became. As a result, they sank into one-dimensional, intensely stimulating pleasures—the pleasure of eating, the pleasure of moving, the pleasure of sleeping. In simple terms, it was a gathering of miraculous gluttons who never gained weight no matter how much they ate, miraculous sex machines who never tired no matter how much they fucked, and miraculous Snow Whites who could sleep all day and still sleep more.
Just as the status window had said, it made sense that Enhanced Humans struggled to adapt to other cities. Could someone who drank soda like it was water suddenly survive on nothing but plain water?
I pulled my mask up to cover half my face and rose from my spot. There was only one reason I had come here today.
To stack up villain points until I reached one hundred.
After earning my first villain points, I had used my psychokinesis to commit all sorts of petty crimes. Pickpocketing, defacing public notices, spraying unauthorized graffiti on building walls. When I thought back on those days filled with unspeakable atrocities, guilt brought tears to my eyes. The one I felt especially sorry about was the bald uncle whose wallet I had stuffed with five hundred thousand won in cash. Who told him to throw flirty glances at women in such an obnoxious public place? It was all his own fault.
Anyway, after committing various illegal acts that had never been in my destiny, the villain points I currently possessed were a whopping—
Marking time…!!
That was why I had come to Cheongang’s bustling district, where every kind of Enhanced Human gathered. I figured I should at least collect the “100 villain points” the guide window had suggested.
Why this particular bustling district? There were reasons. First, this area was home to Haedream, the detective agency and vigilante group that Last belonged to. And the second, grander reason—according to the article I had read last time, public opinion toward Enhanced Humans had soured badly because of the string of rampage incidents. If you traced the root cause, it was the bastards who openly discriminated against them, trusting in the nanomachines planted in their brains. Still, I planned to ride the wave of that public sentiment, seduce one Enhanced Human, and spark an incident. I would jam the nanomachines in their brain and let them vent all the rage accumulated from years of discrimination. Since I would simply be slipping my foot into the door of already ongoing events, the risk of my involvement being traced was low. A truly perfect plan.
I would dedicate all this glory to the nameless prologue villain from the original work who had given me the idea.
“Ehehe…”
Leaving the inexplicable sense of pride behind, I opened the door to the store before me.
A famous brand restaurant on the thirty-seventh floor of the Cheongang Department Store. With an entire wall made of glass, it was known for its somewhat dizzying night view and was popular enough on social media that even ordinary people came here to dine.
“Are you dining alone?”
As I entered, a man in a crisp, immaculate dress code asked in a polite voice.
“If you’re with a party, please write your name on the waiting ticket here. If you don’t mind joining another table, you can be seated immediately.”
“I’ll join a table!”
“Are you sure? A woman by herself… There are quite a few Enhanced Humans here.”
“It’s fine!”
In fact, that’s exactly why I came during peak hours. And technically I was an Enhanced Human too, so could he please choose his words more carefully? Or I might just smack him in the head.
The waiter asked me a few more questions before guiding me to a seat about a minute later.
“I’ve seated you at table thirteen. Please enjoy your time at Noir Blanche.”
With one last courteous bow, the waiter withdrew.
Right, then…
Time to get a look at the faces of the sacrificial lambs who would commit a magnificent crime in my place today.
I sat down with a completely brazen expression and greeted the table’s original occupants.
“Hello! Thank you for letting me join you. It’s my first time here—there are so many people!”
“Oh, it’s a girl.”
“Ugh, shut up. You’re embarrassing yourself.”
The bold woman who had started swearing from the very first sentence scooted toward the window, making space for me to sit beside her.
“Hello! We’re regulars here, so we join tables all the time. No problem at all. By the way, you’re really beautiful, miss.”
“He-he, thank you for the compliment.”
There were two of them. A gray-haired man and woman who looked so alike they could have been blood siblings.
“Are you two family?”
“Who the hell said this rude gorilla was family?”
“Pardon?”
“Aish, that gorilla… There’s one more person. He said he was going to the bathroom and still hasn’t come back… Ah, there he is!”
The bold woman waved her hand in the air.
“Senior! Over here!”
When I turned to look, I felt my entire body freeze.
There stood a man I knew far too well.
My fated nemesis.
The little hero destined to shine brilliantly one day.
Last.
“Who is this woman?”
“Ah, she’s the one joining our table. We were just introducing ourselves. You should greet her too.”
“Ah…”
We stared at each other in silence for a moment.
Blue eyes that seemed to pierce through everything. Golden hair that gleamed brilliantly even beneath the night sky. It was him. The person I had only ever seen through a screen was standing right in front of me.
“......”
“......”
“Um… excuse me…”
The silence stretched on until even the cheerful siblings from earlier grew quiet, reading the heavy atmosphere.
“…He-he.”
What broke the silence was me, unable to contain the overwhelming exhilaration that bubbled up into laughter.
“I’m Chae Yuha. Thank you for letting me join you.”
When I smiled sweetly, the siblings—who had been holding their breath in the icy tension—finally let out sighs of relief. Last kept his gaze fixed on me as he sat down. In a voice far deeper and heavier than before, he spoke.
“I’m Jinhyun. I work with the vigilante group in this area.”
And so.
My first meeting with Last—the encounter I had left half to chance—took place right here.
What now?
Regret began to surge as I questioned my decision to come here. If I borrowed a certain famous expression, it would be this:
I was fucked.
That was the conclusion I reached after careful consideration.