First Subordinate
I looked at Astra with a polite smile.
“If you’re short on money, shall I give you some?”
“I’m not doing this to earn money.”
My money was already increasing in real time. Why would I bother?
“Then why?”
“I simply want to try a hobby activity. Since it’s on the outskirts near the slums, I thought it would be a relaxed place to work, wouldn’t it?”
Wanting to run a café as a hobby was accurate. I had experience working part-time at cafés in the past, and after arriving in this hero-filled world, I had even gone out of my way to obtain the relevant certifications.
‘Once things reach the point where I’m no longer needed, I wanted to open a café by myself.’
In any case, my interest in café work ran that deep. Of course, if someone asked whether that was my only purpose, the answer would be no.
“Besides, who knows? Maybe a valuable talent will emerge from those slums.”
“Finding someone suitable for our organization would be quite difficult…”
“Then I’ll simply enjoy my hobby in peace.”
I had said it half-jokingly, but I already knew. That in those slums lay an absolutely enormous treasure.
“Hmm. Well, alright. How you use your reward is entirely up to you, Maker.”
Though she seemed slightly doubtful, Astra nodded as if deciding to let it go since it was just a hobby.
“However, I can only provide basic support. If it fails later, I won’t be able to help you.”
“That goes without saying.”
I nodded at her following words.
Honestly, I wasn’t particularly interested in whether the café succeeded or not. If I had wanted it to thrive, I would have chosen a more bustling area.
‘Instead, I’m confident I can bring in talent.’
The first official member of my faction—and the one who would become my personal transport shuttle in the future.
Several days had already passed since I asked her to prepare the café.
“I heard you called for me.”
While I had been resting in my room, Astra’s summons brought me to her office.
“Ah, you’re here, Maker?”
The moment I entered, she wore a strange expression.
‘What’s going on?’
Seeing her face, I felt a flicker of doubt.
If this were about the café, she wouldn’t be making that kind of expression. And there hadn’t been any missions recently that would require an executive to move. So the only thing left was…
“The analysis of the Regeneration Drug is complete.”
So that was it.
The Regeneration Drug. The data I had stolen from the lab in the hopes it might heal the Boss.
But judging from Astra’s expression, the results didn’t seem particularly good.
“A complete miss?”
“If we’re calling it a miss, then yes. It ended up completely misaligned with the original purpose of the mission.”
The original goal had been treating the Boss. Saying it no longer matched that purpose meant the Regeneration Drug had failed.
‘But what does she mean by “if we’re calling it a miss, then yes”?’
Had they found some other use for it?
“Sigh… The researchers there did something rather interesting.”
With a heavy expression, Astra placed something on the desk. When she withdrew her hand, a glass vial containing a red liquid was revealed.
“The Regeneration Drug. As you know, Maker, it was created with the goal of restoring the human body under any circumstances.”
She floated a smartphone in the air and showed me a video.
“This ordinary man lost his right thumb and left index and middle fingers in a factory accident years ago.”
A man with a somewhat haggard face. The moment he drank the drug, new flesh rapidly sprouted from the severed areas and began regenerating.
“Impressive.”
The video ended with the wounds completely gone without a trace. Just from the footage, it truly seemed like a discovery of the century—the only means to heal the Boss.
‘But if that were truly the case, Astra wouldn’t have added those extra words.’
“It certainly produced meaningful results. For ordinary people, that is.”
So there was a flaw somewhere.
“It had no effect on ability users?”
In other words, it was either ineffective or only weakly effective on ability users.
“Effect… Well, there is an effect. It’s just that calling it a ‘regeneration drug’ has become ambiguous.”
“What do you…”
Astra looked at me with a slightly serious gaze.
“The sealing of abilities. That is the side effect of taking this drug.”
At her following words, I couldn’t help but be shocked.
‘There’s a drug like that?’
No matter how much I recalled the original story, there had never been a drug with such an overpowered ability.
“…Is the seal permanent?”
“No. It’s not permanent. It’s closer to temporary suppression. During the last battle, there was testimony that the training instructor was doused with the substance and couldn’t use his abilities.”
Since there had been no report of the instructor permanently losing his powers, it was highly likely the effect wasn’t permanent.
Even so, it was still ridiculously overpowered. No matter how strong an A-class—or even an S-class hero or villain—might be, if they used the Regeneration Drug, they would be reduced to nothing more than an ordinary person who could fight decently for a short time.
“It won’t work as a treatment for the Boss, then.”
“It seems not.”
The Boss’s recovery meant returning to her prime. Losing her abilities would make that impossible.
Her explanation continued.
To summarize, while there was some healing effect during the period when ability usage was suppressed, the moment the ability was used again, the healed wounds would reappear with excruciating pain.
“This issue appeared even in ordinary people.”
In the end, it was nothing but a fancy piece of trash. The researchers hadn’t solved any of the problems they had hoped to resolve.
“We ended up bringing back a far more dangerous drug than expected.”
“…It’s dangerous beyond measure.”
However, if one considered the drug not for treatment but purely as a tool to neutralize ability users, there could be no more dangerous substance than this.
“It would be best to dispose of it.”
“I agree.”
As powerful as it was, it was equally threatening—to our enemies and to us.
‘Just possessing it would draw aggro.’
“If the world learns that this drug is in our hands, everyone will try to eliminate us.”
The global Hero Association, other villain organizations, and every individual and group in between would all strive to wipe us out.
Who wouldn’t want to check an overpowered ability that could neutralize any ability user?
‘Eclipse is a villain organization that survives until the mid-to-late stages of the story, but whether we can withstand a worldwide beatdown is questionable.’
If the Boss returned to her prime, maybe. But in her current state, it seemed impossible.
“Let’s dispose of it without regret. It’s better that it doesn’t exist in our hands at all than risk any leaks.”
“I’ll do that.”
After saying she would update me on the café matters later, Astra began focusing on her documents. I gave her a polite farewell and left the room.
“Hmm.”
I took the ‘Regeneration Drug’ out of my pocket.
‘I already roughly know the manufacturing method from when I checked it during the mission.’
…Using it secretly wouldn’t be so bad, would it? I would only use it when I truly felt it was necessary. I mustn’t use it otherwise.
Fifteen days later.
I headed toward the café Astra had prepared for me.
“Ah, are you Mr. Kang Ian?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
As I approached the building, a man called out to me. The name he used—Kang Ian—was my real one.
It wasn’t a fake identity. It was my true name and status when I wasn’t acting as a villain. The reason was simple.
‘A twenty-one-year-old man who had lived without any records suddenly appears and opens a café near the slums with a huge sum of money? That would stand out way too much.’
I didn’t know how long I would run the café, but using a fake identity meant that even a simple background check could expose me easily. In that case, even if there was some risk of identity exposure, my real identity—with twenty-one years of life records—was better.
At the very least, it would prevent anyone from being certain that Kang Ian is definitely Maker, and there’s something suspicious about him!
“…And so this section was made as a single unit to emphasize the overall sense of unity.”
While I was lost in thought, the man had already led me inside the shop and was explaining various features of the building.
“It’s wonderful.”
The interior had a strong old-fashioned feel rather than a modern one. It gave the impression that a café had been built inside a giant tree.
‘She put in more effort than I expected.’
I had worried that because of the sudden request and short deadline, it would be done sloppily. But the building showed clear signs of far more care than I had imagined.
After listening to the man’s explanation and looking around for a while longer—
“Then I hope you run a wonderful shop.”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
Once I had heard all the necessary details, the man bowed and left.
“Oh, all the cooking equipment is here too.”
Stepping behind the counter, I saw a coffee machine and refrigerator. Next to them was a small kitchen with cooking utensils hanging neatly.
“I was planning to bring her over and feed her too. This is perfect.”
Now then. When would be the best time to go pick her up?
“Huff… huff… huff…”
“Find her!”
“Where the hell did that bitch go?!”
In a place lined with abandoned buildings, a girl was curled up and hiding from the men in ragged clothes.
“Please… work… please…”
The girl clutched her right wrist tightly with her left hand, muttering desperately.
“Fire, lightning, or control… anything… anything, just come out…”
“Found you, you damn girl!!”
One of the men finally spotted her. The startled girl thrust her arm toward him, but nothing happened.
“Do you know how much trouble you’ve caused us?”
The man reached out roughly to grab her arm. The girl swung with all her strength and knocked his hand away.
“Please… please, just let anything come out…”
“She’s so scared she’s gone crazy.”
The man looked at the girl with an incredulous expression.
Yet his face still held a lewd, obscene look that should never be directed at a girl.
“Come on, you need to come quietly. Hm? If you behave now, we’ll treat you nicely too.”
“D-don’t come near me!!”
A small pebble flew toward the man. But the weakly thrown stone only fueled his anger further.
“This bitch has lost it!”
The man, now furious beyond reason, reached for the girl once more. At that exact moment—
Vrrrr—
“…Huh? What the? Where did the girl go?”
The girl had vanished without a trace.