Prologue - The Day the World's Strongest Hero Fell
The worst always strikes without warning.
That simple, self-evident truth had once been the defining maxim of a darker age, an era crawling with vicious magical beasts and depraved villains. Yet in recent years, as heroes ushered in a world of restored order and stability, it had faded into little more than a distant platitude.
Who could have known? Who could have imagined that the cost of neglecting that age-old wisdom, of taking peace for granted, would be so steep?
"...What?"
I had been quietly decorating Justia's office, humming to myself as I prepared for her birthday party. That catastrophe spared no exceptions, least of all me.
A few hours after the nationwide evacuation sirens wailed.
"Kang... Haneul...?"
Arriving far too late, I stumbled through the leveled wasteland, frantically digging through the rubble until I finally uncovered her broken, blood-soaked form.
"I told you... cough... not to come..."
"Justia."
"This was designated a containment zone... How did you even... get through...?"
The Rank 1 Hero, Justia. The world's strongest champion, the woman who had brought an end to an age of despair. She was the beacon of hope for all civilians, the ultimate deterrent against every villain under the sun—and my irreplaceable partner.
"...I used my ability."
"You idiot... You absolute fool..."
"Stop talking. Please, just stop. Your wounds are reopening."
This towering figure, the person who meant everything to me, was dying a wretched, gory death right before my eyes.
"I'll call a healer. Just hold on a little longer. Please, Justia, just hang in there."
"...Haneul."
"You're the strongest hero alive. You can't just die like this, not over nothing! So please... just..."
"Kang Haneul."
I spoke with a desperate pretense of composure, trying to swallow the sickening dread that felt like the sky itself was caving in. But she only called my name in a faint, trembling voice and shook her head.
"It's useless."
"What?"
"I poured every last drop of my power into bringing that thing down."
Behind her battered frame lay the carcass of a mountain-sized Magical Beast, utterly neutralized. She had expended the very last ember of her life to fell a calamity that defied all human comprehension. She truly was the world's strongest hero. And that was precisely why she couldn't fall here. She wasn't supposed to die here.
"Don't waste your breath on pointless things... Just listen to me."
The moment I gathered her into my arms, the grim reality sank in. As the price for shielding the world, every ounce of her life force had burned to ash. No healer on Earth could save her now. Today was the day the world's strongest hero fell.
As I looked down at her in wordless shock, her hand drifted upward, trembling.
"There's something... I have to tell you."
I gently took her hand. I had never once thought of her as fragile, yet in my grip, her fingers felt impossibly frail. A faint, strained smile touched her lips as she began to speak.
"The Child of Prophecy... said you would become the worst villain in history."
Her final words were so absurd, so unbelievable, that my breath hitched.
"They said... that one day, you would destroy the entire world."
"Ha."
The Child of Prophecy. A rising star hailed as the future Rank 1 Hero, who had flawlessly foreseen and thwarted countless crises big and small. Even before enrolling in the Hero Academy, that person had become the darling of the masses, showered in adoration and reverence. Unfortunately, none of that charade had fooled my eyes.
"How many times did I tell you?!" I cried out. "That bastard is—"
"Hush, listen to me."
I wanted to scream that everything that fraud said was a brazen lie. Couldn't she see that behind that innocent, harmless mask, they had been slowly isolating us from the rest of the world? If she had enough breath to repeat that nonsense, she should save it to stay alive!
"I never believed a word of it."
"...Ugh?!"
"Because when the end came... you were the only one who stayed by my side."
Her grip suddenly tightened with surprising force, snapping my jaw shut in astonishment.
"Ah? A-Aaaagh...?!"
"I'm sorry. This is going to hurt a little."
A searing surge, like high-voltage electricity coursing through my veins, erupted throughout my flesh. As I writhed under the sudden agony, I pulled her closer, desperately clinging to her fading voice.
"Because it's you, I can entrust this power to you without any fear."
"Just... ia..."
"Even when I'm gone from this world, this power will remain by your side."
By the time the tearing agony throughout my limbs gradually subsided, cold sweat was drenching my brow. When I forced my eyes open, her hand had slipped limply to the earth, but she was looking at me with a soft, radiant smile.
"Kang Haneul."
"My eternal partner."
In that moment, I could do nothing.
"I love you."
All I could do was watch her in paralyzed silence.
"If I'd known this would happen... I should have told you much sooner..."
With those parting words, Justia left my side forever.
With that serene smile frozen on her face, she closed her eyes. For a long, motionless time, I held her in my arms. A storm of grief, fury, and confusion threatened to swallow me whole as her body turned cold against my chest, but I fought desperately to clear my head. That wasn't what mattered right now.
With her dying breath, Justia had transferred something into me. The searing sensation that had scorched my nerves and the lingering tremor in my arms were proof enough. What on earth had she bequeathed to me?
"Target acquired. All units, halt."
Before the thought could take shape, a voice rang out from behind. I turned my head.
"...You."
Into my sight marched faces that provoked an instant, burning hatred.
"H-Hands in the air, Kang Haneul."
The childhood friend who had once smiled bashfully, promising that she would marry me when we grew up.
"Don't move."
The ex-girlfriend who had begged me to just stay by her side, promising to give me the world if only I wouldn't leave.
"Lethal force is authorized upon any sign of resistance. Do not let your guard down."
And my older sister, who used to tell me that I was the person she was proudest of in the entire world.
Once, they had been my most cherished comrades. But now, they were nothing more than three wretched traitors who had turned their backs on Justia and me to fawn over that fraud.
"With what face do you dare show yourselves here?"
How could I possibly keep my composure looking at them? A towering, incandescent rage I had never experienced before welled up from the pit of my stomach.
"Look at what your pathetic games have done!" I snarled. "She's dead! Justia is dead!"
The moment those words left my throat, something deep inside snapped.
"Everyone's hope is gone! The world's greatest deterrent is dead, and now the dark age will return! Is this the outcome you wanted?! What in the hell were you people even fighting for—?!"
"A-Rank Villain Kang Haneul."
The cold declaration from my sister, commanding at the front of the formation, choked the breath right out of me. I froze, staring at her in sheer disbelief.
"You are under arrest for the murder of Justia."
"...What?"
Arresting who? Me? The man who had stayed by Justia's side until her very last breath, under arrest for her murder? There had to be a mistake. A massive misunderstanding.
"What kind of nonsense are you—"
I took a single step forward, trying to demand an explanation.
Crack-crackle—!
"...talking..."
A blinding flash erupted at the back of my skull, and darkness swallowed my consciousness whole.
Some time later.
"..."
When I opened my eyes, I found myself locked away in the deepest subterranean solitary unit of Grand Prison 'Karma', a penitentiary reserved only for the world's most monstrous villains.
"...Fuck."
And just like that, I became a framed villain.