Being a Villain Is My Calling
The world isn't fair.
That's what I realized the moment I opened my eyes in this body.
Damn it. Of all the bodies to possess, why did it have to be this trash?
I stared at the mirror, taking in the face that definitely didn't belong to me. Kang Ian. Twenty-two years old. The third son of a once-prominent hero family that had fallen from grace. A pathetic loser with no powers, no talent, and a mountain of debt.
In this world where heroes and villains clashed daily, being powerless was basically a death sentence. The Hero Association ruled everything from behind their shiny facade of justice, while villains lurked in the shadows, waiting for their chance to strike.
And here I was, stuck in the body of a guy who was about to get himself killed in the stupidest way possible.
At least the original owner had good looks. That's something, I guess.
The face in the mirror was sharp and handsome, with cold eyes that seemed to pierce right through you. If this were a normal world, he could've been an idol or an actor. But in this messed-up place, pretty faces didn't mean jack if you couldn't throw a car with your mind or shoot lasers from your fingertips.
I sighed and turned away from the mirror. The small, dingy apartment was a far cry from the luxury I'd known in my previous life. Back then, I'd been a corporate slave, grinding away at a soul-crushing job until a heart attack took me out at thirty-two. Now I was in the body of a twenty-two-year-old failure with nothing but a mountain of problems.
The memories of the original Kang Ian flooded my mind. His father, a fallen hero who'd drunk himself to death. His older brothers, both dead in some pointless villain skirmish. The massive debt left behind. And the worst part—the reason this body was about to die.
He'd tried to join a villain organization. Not because he had some grand ambition, but because he was desperate. The Hero Association had rejected him (no powers, after all), and the loan sharks were closing in. So he'd reached out to the Shadow Veil, one of the major villain groups operating in the city.
Bad move. The Shadow Veil didn't take in weaklings. They tested their recruits. Harshly.
Tomorrow was the test. And the original Kang Ian was supposed to die during it, his head smashed in by some low-level villain thug who thought it would be funny.
Not if I have anything to say about it.
I wasn't about to die again so soon. Not after getting a second chance at life, even if it was in this garbage body.
The real question was—how was I supposed to survive in a world like this?
Heroes were glorified celebrities who answered to the corrupt Association. Villains were the ones who actually did what they wanted, but they lived short, violent lives. Neither side appealed to me. But if I had to pick one to survive...
Being a villain might not be so bad.
The thought came naturally. In my previous life, I'd always played by the rules and ended up dead in a cubicle. Maybe this time, I should try breaking them instead.
But first things first. I needed power. Or at least the appearance of it.
I sat down at the rickety desk and opened the laptop. The screen flickered to life, showing the homepage of the Hero Association's public database. With a few clicks, I pulled up information on the Shadow Veil.
Low-level organization. Mostly involved in smuggling, protection rackets, and the occasional assassination. Their leader was a guy called Black Serpent, an A-rank villain with the power to manipulate shadows. Not someone to mess with.
The test for new recruits was simple and brutal. Survive a fight against one of their existing members. No rules. No mercy. Most applicants died. The ones who survived were usually the ones with useful powers or exceptional cunning.
I had neither. At least, not yet.
But I have knowledge. And strategy. That's worth more than raw power in the right hands.
I spent the rest of the night researching. Villain organizations, hero rankings, power classifications, known weaknesses. By the time the sun rose, my eyes were burning, but I had a plan.
It wasn't a good plan. It was risky as hell. But it was better than dying with my skull caved in.
I stood up and stretched, cracking my neck. The face in the mirror looked different now—still the same features, but the eyes had changed. They weren't the desperate, cornered eyes of the original Kang Ian anymore.
They were the eyes of someone who had decided to become the villain of this story.
"Fine," I muttered to my reflection. "If the world wants a villain, I'll give it one they'll never forget."
I grabbed the cheap coat hanging by the door and headed out. The test was at an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the city. I had just enough time to make one stop first.
A small electronics store in a shady part of town. The owner, an old man with suspicious eyes, didn't ask questions when I bought what I needed. A few wires, a small battery pack, some cheap LED lights, and a voice modulator. Total cost: barely enough to buy a decent meal.
Stage props for my debut performance.
As I walked toward the warehouse, I could feel the weight of my decision settling on my shoulders. This wasn't a game. This was real. If I screwed up, I would die for real this time.
But strangely, I wasn't scared. If anything, I felt... excited.
Maybe I really was meant to be a villain.
The warehouse loomed ahead, its broken windows like empty eyes staring down at me. Two thugs stood guard at the entrance, their muscles bulging under cheap leather jackets. Low-level villains with minor enhancement powers. Nothing special.
"You the new meat?" one of them grunted, looking me up and down with obvious disdain.
I smiled. It wasn't a nice smile.
"Yeah. I'm here for the test."
The other thug laughed. "Hope you don't die too quick. Boss hates when the new guys scream too loud."
They led me inside. The warehouse was dimly lit, with a large open space in the center where a crude fighting ring had been marked with spray paint. About twenty people were gathered around—mostly rough-looking men and a few women who looked even more dangerous. All of them villains or villain hopefuls.
At the far end, sitting on a makeshift throne of stacked crates, was a man I recognized from my research. Black Serpent. His presence was overwhelming, like a coiled snake ready to strike. Shadows seemed to writhe around him even in the dim light.
Next to him stood a woman with long silver hair and piercing red eyes. Silver Witch, his second-in-command. An S-rank villainess known for her illusion magic and ruthless efficiency. She was scanning the room with bored disinterest until her gaze landed on me.
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
She senses something.
I kept my expression neutral as I stepped into the ring. The thug from earlier—the one who was supposed to be my opponent—grinned as he cracked his knuckles. He was a big guy, easily twice my size, with the power to harden his skin like steel.
"Try not to cry too much, pretty boy," he taunted.
I didn't answer. Instead, I reached into my coat and pulled out the small device I'd prepared. A simple voice modulator connected to a speaker hidden in my collar. With a flick of my thumb, I activated it.
My voice came out distorted, deep and menacing, echoing through the warehouse.
"My name is Kang Ian. From this moment forward, I will be the shadow that devours your so-called justice."
The entire warehouse fell silent.
Even Black Serpent raised an eyebrow.
The big thug laughed. "What the hell is this? Some kind of performance art?"
I smiled again and activated the LED lights sewn into my coat. They glowed with an ominous purple hue, casting strange shadows across my face.
"Performance?" My modulated voice boomed. "No. This is your introduction to true villainy."
The thug charged.
I didn't move. Not at first.
As he swung his massive fist, I stepped aside at the last second—barely. His hardened knuckles grazed my cheek, drawing a thin line of blood.
The crowd jeered.
But I was calculating. Measuring. Learning his pattern.
Left hook. Right straight. Slow on recovery.
On his next swing, I ducked under his arm and drove my elbow into his side. Not hard enough to hurt him through his steel skin, but enough to make him flinch.
"What the—"
I pressed the advantage, moving with precise, economical movements. Not the desperate flailing of the original Kang Ian, but the calculated strikes of someone who had studied martial arts in his previous life for self-defense.
It wasn't enough to win. Not against his power. But it was enough to make the crowd stop laughing.
The thug grew angry. His attacks became wilder, more predictable.
That's when I made my move.
I pulled a small flashbang from my pocket—one of the few things I'd managed to scrounge up with my limited funds—and tossed it at his feet.
BANG!
The explosion of light and sound disoriented him for a crucial second. I used that second to grab the wires from my coat and wrap them around his thick neck, using his own momentum against him.
As he stumbled, I activated the battery pack. A weak electrical current—nothing lethal, but enough to make his hardened skin tingle unpleasantly—shot through the wires.
He roared in surprise and pain, swinging wildly. I let go at the perfect moment, letting his own strength throw him off balance. He crashed into the concrete floor with a thunderous impact.
The warehouse was dead silent.
I stood over him, breathing hard, the purple LEDs on my coat still glowing like malevolent eyes.
My voice, still distorted by the modulator, cut through the silence like a blade.
For a long moment, nobody moved.
Then Black Serpent started laughing. A low, dangerous sound that seemed to slither through the air.
"Interesting," he said, his voice smooth as oil. "Very interesting. You've got guts, kid. And a flair for the dramatic. I like that."
He stood up, shadows coiling around him like living things.
"Welcome to the Shadow Veil, Kang Ian. Or should I say..." His lips curved into a predatory smile. "Director Kang?"
The title hit me like a truck. In villain organizations, 'Director' wasn't just a rank. It meant I'd skipped the grunt level entirely and jumped straight into a leadership position.
Jackpot.
I bowed slightly, the LEDs on my coat dimming to a subtle glow.
"I look forward to working with you, Boss."
As the other villains stared at me with a mixture of respect, suspicion, and hostility, I felt something stir inside me.
This... this feels right.
Maybe being a villain really was my calling.
And if the Hero Association thought they could control this world with their fake justice...
Well.
They were about to meet a villain who understood the art of the performance all too well.
I smiled in the darkness, and for the first time since waking up in this world, it was a genuine one.
Let the games begin.