Chapter 1
Chapter 1
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: True Evil of Humanity (1)
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There are no bad villains in the world.
How absurd yet sweet those words were.
The book I'd pulled out, drawn by its title, was impressively good for something published eight years ago. It was good enough that I wanted to recommend it as required reading for everyone coming to the interrogation lodge.
I liked everything about the book overall, but what really struck me was how well it captured the mindset of a villain forced into villainy by unavoidable circumstances. I was thinking it would be great if a few more books like this became steady bestsellers when a coughing sound came from below. Sa-yoon set the book he was holding down.
"Ugh!"
The man who'd been smacked in the face by the falling book let out a groan. With trembling hands, he grabbed at Sa-yoon's foot planted firmly on his chest. Inside the gate, only the man's groans echoed.
"Why..."
"......"
"Why do this...!"
The man grimaced and spat out his resentment. Meeting his grudge-filled gaze, Sa-yoon glanced at the system window that obnoxiously took up a huge chunk of his vision.
"Well..."
A lazy voice overlaid the groans.
"Does doing something like this really need a reason?"
The brazen retort left the man speechless. Sa-yoon's gaze shifted to the corner.
"Why'd you kill those guys?"
...Those guys?
Following the question, the man turned his head and spotted the pile of monster corpses in one corner of the gate. It was a common sight anywhere in a gate.
Why those?
As he asked with his eyes, Sa-yoon stomped on the man's wound. "Kuhk!" The man vomited up dark red blood, coughed a few times, and shivered finely.
"When someone's asking, you answer."
His tone was soft but devoid of any mercy. His eyes, as if looking at a corpse rather than a living person, made the man's gaze travel up above his head.
"Hic."
Locking eyes with his dead comrades, the man hiccuped and desperately clutched Sa-yoon's foot out of survival instinct. His pleading posture naturally brought a crooked smile to Sa-yoon's lips.
Look at those desperate hands. Just like grasping a lifeline.
It was a pity.
Not knowing the lifeline he'd grabbed was rotten.
"Qu-quest...!"
"Hm?"
"Because of the quest... I had to clear the gate... Th-they attacked me, and I wanted to live..."
The man gave his pathetic excuse and checked Sa-yoon's reaction. He'd answered quickly, fearing he'd end up like his dead comrades if he didn't, but his mind was filled with endless questions.
How could a guy who looked like a ranker infiltrate a beginner gate? Why kill his own comrades? Why even ask such a question?
Nothing made sense—it was terrifying.
Who in the world asks why you kill monsters?
They were creatures that would overwhelm humans if not dealt with, causing gate saturation. Monsters had to be killed to clear gates and for the future. Was he really asking because he didn't know that?
As if.
This murderer just wanted to toy with him. For a bit of amusement.
Once the fun was gone, he'd end up like his departed comrades.
As the man paled at the thought of his future, Sa-yoon leaned down and brushed the dirt off his chest. Grind, grind. The threatening sound of the knife tip scraping away the dust made the man squeeze his eyes shut.
"See? You killed the monsters because they'd threaten you if you didn't."
"Y-yes...!"
"Same for me."
"...Yes?"
"If I don't kill you guys, I'll be in danger."
"......?"
The man, who had groveled shamelessly just to survive, shut his mouth. The killer in front of him was spouting nonsense with utmost sincerity.
No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't imagine what harm they could do him while alive. He was still a new awakener, while the man before him was clearly a skilled ranker. Three comrades had died at his slightest gesture—how could he possibly be a threat?
"What do you..."
He tried to question back, unable to understand or empathize, when suddenly—crack—something snapped.
"Gaaah!"
Had he put weight on his foot? A rib had broken. As the man screamed in agony, Sa-yoon grimaced and fiddled with his ear.
"Why make such a fuss over a broken bone?"
"Kuhk, ugh!"
The man writhing in pain couldn't even speak from the injustice. Truth be told, he was too scared of immediate repercussions to say anything if he objected even slightly.
Even D-rank awakeners lived comfortably, and he was C-rank. Clearing a beginner gate would get him respect anywhere—he desperately wanted to live.
Swallowing the pain, the man looked up at Sa-yoon with teary eyes.
"Please spare me... I won't say a word after we leave. I'll keep the secret, forget everything. So..."
"The monsters you killed probably said the same before dying."
How would you know that?
Even in his fear, his annoyingly rational thoughts drove the man mad. Why was everything this guy said so absurd? It wasn't like he'd heard the monsters' inner thoughts. What, was he some monster lover?
He'd gotten thoroughly tangled with a lunatic, he thought—
His confused thoughts didn't reach their end.
"Guh...!"
A choked groan barely escaped.
In his carelessness, his vital had been struck. The man stared at Sa-yoon in shock with wide eyes, twitched a few times, and soon went limp.
Crackle. The corpse began to freeze. Sa-yoon straightened up and scanned the surroundings.
One, two, three, four.
There were four frozen corpses in the gate total. That filled the missing numbers completely.
"Tch, with that annoying grin."
Sa-yoon sneered at the system window popping up right on cue.
Finally, the hundredth. With the tedious repeating quest done, he wiped the blood splattered on his face with a relieved expression and walked to the fallen man to retrieve his dagger.
For the unlucky ones who'd crossed him, leaving it as a keepsake would be a waste—the item's value far exceeded their worthless lives. He shook off the blood from the SS-rank dagger and slid it back into the sheath at his waist.
Suddenly, the book's title on the floor caught his eye.
There Are No Bad Villains in the World.
It was sweet, but honestly, not quite right. The perspective of not viewing villains purely as evil was fresh, but villains were still villains.
It would've been better as There Are No Villains Without a Backstory. With that small regret, the system window for achieving gate clear conditions and ejecting entrants appeared. As expected, no clear reward.
Sa-yoon wasn't a beginner, so it was natural.
Rumble rumble rumble.
As he retrieved his dagger and picked up the book, the space vibrated. Like an earthquake, in response, Sa-yoon pulled a fireball from his inventory.
Plop.
He tossed the fireball half-heartedly and dispelled the skill; the ice melted, setting the four corpses ablaze.
Finishing what some might call hypocritical funeral rites, Sa-yoon glanced at the burning bodies before turning away. Flash! The vibrating gate emitted bright light, covering his vision.
-Breaking news. Last night, the leader of the criminal group Night Rat engaged in a terror war with a Russian guild...
Right after exiting the gate, a large screen was broadcasting what seemed like urgent breaking news. It was an old incident, but reported as if it happened yesterday. Sa-yoon clicked his tongue and called someone.
"Yeah, Jong-sik. It's me. ...Yeah, got called in again, so come pick me up. Where? Uh..."
His phone whined with complaints about the frequent summons lately. Jong-sik grumbled about not wanting to go, but being so loyal, he'd drive the sedan here eventually.
While waiting for Jong-sik, he caught whispers from people who'd heard the news, picked up by his sensitive hearing.
"Night Rat again?"
"Man, the world's so dangerous everywhere."
"What are the cops doing, not catching Night Rat?"
"They're like foreign mafia. Catching them would mean war, so they just mildly sanction them."
"It's scary, honey. Can't we just move abroad?"
Hah.
As if fleeing overseas would make me disappear.
Listening quietly, a laugh escaped him. No need to hear more—he shrank his detection range, and the noisy voices faded until the surroundings quieted.
"The system's loving this."
The world's worst criminal intelligence guild, Night Rat.
To its leader Sa-yoon, no praise rivaled being called the ultimate villain.
The system forcing him to become the villain of villains would dance for joy if it heard. Sure enough, a blue window appeared.
What a tactless bastard.