So, What Kind of Guy Is Maker?
So, what kind of guy is this Maker anyway?
“How the hell do you handle things!!”
Korean Hero Association Headquarters. The middle-aged men seated around the long, wide table lowered their heads at the outburst from a middle-aged man wearing an expensive suit.
“I can understand a hero losing! But why are people calling the heroes incompetent? Why!!”
“...It’s because… the villain suddenly broadcast the heroes falling into a trap in real time…”
“Ha…”
The middle-aged man, who had been shouting in rage, let out a deep sigh. He clutched his head as if it hurt and sank heavily into his chair.
“Useless bastards… can’t even control the media…”
“…We’re sorry, Director.”
The words How are we supposed to control the media? hovered on the tip of their tongues, but the middle-aged men swallowed them and could only bow their heads to the superior before them.
“Those hero bastards! What the hell were they even doing!”
“…They were doing their best…”
“Best at what!! At the very least, if they’d caught the villain! Or if the video hadn’t been taken!!”
If they had caught the villain, the mistake during the terror could have been forgiven. If the video hadn’t been taken, they could have spun it as collateral damage from a psychotic villain’s impulsive attack.
But what was this? A hero—moreover, one of the few high-ranking heroes—being toyed with by a low-tier villain! The Director thought there could be no greater humiliation.
“Think before you speak! Just think!”
“…We’re sorry, Director.”
When he glared at the middle-aged man who had claimed the heroes were doing their best, the man apologized and hung his head.
“And that guy. Whether it’s Maker or Bacon or whatever the hell his name is. Haven’t you dug up any personal information on him?”
“……”
Seeing the executives fall silent at his question, the Director’s face flushed red then purple with fury.
“Why is there nothing on that either!!”
“…We’re sorry.”
“Is ‘sorry’ the only word you people know? Isn’t that bastard an ability user?”
The executive nodded at the Director’s words.
“Then just look up his ability, you idiots!!!”
Ability lookup. It was one of the special laws for ability users established by the state.
They identified children’s abilities during the age when they couldn’t hide them, and since each person’s powers were unique, similar abilities were grouped into categories, classified, and their information collected.
Having watched the terror, the Director was certain the man was an ability user.
But.
“There was nothing.”
“…What?”
“We ran the search, but there was no individual estimated to be Maker.”
The executive had ordered a search among summon-type ability users for anyone matching Maker, but it had failed.
“We excluded elderly and middle-aged individuals, elementary and middle school students who have not yet undergone secondary sexual characteristics, and finally ruled out all females. The result was the same. There was no one.”
“…Did you check other categories?”
“We considered that possibility as well… but the outcome was identical.”
From the footage, the man had drawn a gun from an empty hand. It was reasonable to assume he was a summon-type—someone who could retrieve objects or call forth contracted entities. Yet no results appeared in the ability registry…
“Whether Maker is truly a summon-type or belongs to an entirely new category, it means he is either a negative inquirer who hid his ability or an acquired ability user.”
“…It’s unlikely he concealed his power from childhood, so he must be an acquired ability user who awakened later in life.”
It felt like forcing mismatched puzzle pieces together, but it was the most plausible answer.
“Hoo… Just what kind of guy is he?”
The mere thought of how busy things were about to become gave the Director an instant headache.
“…Anyway, have the ones who screwed up this time hold a press conference and apologize. We’ll release an official statement as well.”
The heroes had completely misunderstood the Association’s instructions. They had been told to thoroughly investigate the fifteenth floor where citizens were presumed to be, while also making certain to check the other floors.
They had fallen for the stage the villain had prepared from the very beginning. The man had clearly never intended to keep his promise in the first place.
The Director ordered them to issue a statement that completely absolved the Association of blame and placed all fault on the heroes and the villain.
A tiny minority of executives felt a flicker of discomfort at his words, but the majority who immediately began praising the Director forced them to swallow their objections.
“Within two weeks, make the citizens forget this incident entirely.”
This was the story from one week before Maker carried out his next terror.
Organization members moved about busily. I watched them while leisurely enjoying tea time.
The voice coming through my phone speaker carried a distinct note of exasperation.
“You only changed the location from Area B. Isn’t this exactly the same kind of terror?”
“It is.”
“You’re correct. However, that would only make them remember the ‘Eclipse executive,’ not ‘Maker,’ don’t you think?”
Eclipse had been active for so long that everyone knew them, but the rookie villain Maker was different.
If I committed another terror two months later, people would only think, Maker? Oh, that Eclipse executive? Almost no one would remember what I had done as a villain.
In other words, this terror served as both a review of the previous one and a crucial demonstration of what kind of villain I was.
“Besides, a New Year’s terror will be even more memorable, won’t it?”
To ask for something like this as a reward… Astra’s voice was practically grumbling. Still, it couldn’t be helped. Only by doing this would my influence grow, and the top heroes—the main characters of the original story—would start paying attention to my every move.
“You are still keeping my personal information hidden, correct?”
Once the kids from the original story became strong enough to defeat the final boss, I would immediately launder my identity and disappear.
Come to think of it, waiting until the original story ends might be too late. I have more than enough money—maybe I should buy some buildings in advance and open a café.
I decided to think about it again later and ended the call, choosing to focus on the terror at hand.
“In any case… it seems it’s about time to begin. You must have work to attend to as well, Astra?”
Astra cleared her throat, then continued in a serious tone.
At the mention of the Boss, I listened carefully.
I heard she’s been resting ever since our last call.
Having suffered severe injuries in the past that left her body in poor condition, she had devoted herself entirely to recovery without any external activities. Appointing me as an executive had been her first external action in nearly ten years.
“…Is that all?”
It was a rather curt message, but perhaps this was her way of offering encouragement to the best of her ability. After all, she had provided no support after making me an executive—maybe her conscience was pricking at her.
“Tell her I will show more than she expects.”
…Or maybe not. Whatever.
“I wish you well too, Astra.”
After the call ended, I looked at the organization members. They appeared to have finished all preparations.
“Then. Shall we greet our guests?”
With that, I began my second terror. And then—
“Your evil deeds end here, Maker!!”
“Ah, you’ve arrived. As promised, I will release the citizens.”
“?”
The moment the heroes arrived, I immediately freed the citizens.
The heroes glared at me even as they carefully moved the citizens to safety. They were the B-class heroes responsible for Area E, where I had carried out today’s terror.
“What are you planning?”
A man asked my intentions with eyes that burned like flames.
Whoa, scary.
I looked at him, took a sip of tea, and answered.
“I simply kept my promise.”
“Promise… Right. You did say you would release the citizens if we came.”
“I kept my word, nameless hero. Now it is time for the heroes to keep theirs.”
“Ha.”
The man wore an expression of utter disbelief. Once the last citizens had been lowered to safety by the heroes, I rose from my desk.
“Well then, since I’ve provided the compensation, let’s enjoy a fun little game—”
Whoosh!!!
An attack flew at me before I could finish speaking. An uppercut delivered with surprising speed for the man’s size.
His posture was decent, but the attack’s trajectory was far too straightforward. I simply leaned backward to dodge it.
“What exactly are you doing?”
“The citizens are already safe. Why should we play along with your little game?”
“Hmm~ So that’s how it is.”
Well, I knew it would turn out like this.
They weren’t complete idiots. What villain would expect others to obediently follow every instruction? Especially now that there were no hostages left to put in danger.
Besides, I’ve already shown everything I wanted to show.
“Alright! Enough talk—just take this—!”
“Organization members.”
I cut off the hero who was cracking his knuckles and shouting, then raised one hand.
“Knock him out.”
“What? W-wait—ugh!!!”
The moment my order fell, the organization members instantly incapacitated the B-class hero.
As expected, it had been wise to tell them to stay still before the previous terror.
If I had messed up back then, all the impact I built would have vanished.
While I observed the unconscious B-class hero, I sensed the growing commotion rising from below the building. It was time to leave.
I turned and boarded the waiting helicopter.
“Let’s go.”
““Yes!””
At my command to withdraw, the organization members swiftly gathered their gear and climbed aboard.
With a loud whirring sound, the propeller spun and the helicopter lifted into the air.
Realizing we were escaping, the area beneath the building erupted into even greater chaos.
Catch them! Catch them! This time we absolutely must—!
Click.
Kwaaaaaang!!!!
I tossed the switch aside while watching the building collapse.
It ended a bit too anticlimactically.
It seemed to have concluded even faster than the previous terror. I had released all the citizens, refrained from killing any heroes, and only collapsed the building right before leaving. Ultimately, there were zero casualties.
Some might wonder what kind of terror this was, since I had achieved nothing. But for me, it was a clear gain.
Because I successfully displayed my character.
People would surely compare this terror with the last one. They would analyze what kind of tendencies I had, what actions I disliked, and what actions I desired.
A gentlemanly villain. A villain who caused no casualties as long as his words were followed.
‘Last time he didn’t release the citizens and fought, so why did he release them this time?’
‘The only difference is that this time the heroes actually obeyed the villain’s instructions and stepped forward.’
‘Does he really keep his word if they simply follow what he says?’
In the end, I had created a situation where following the villain’s words became the only rational choice.
More precisely, I made them believe that obeying would be far more beneficial.
If those who finished their analysis—however uncertain—spread that information widely across the internet?
The future was going to become very interesting indeed.