The Transmigrator and the Regressor
Meanwhile, at the Academy Annex.
"Gurhhhk...!"
Driving her blade clean through the skull of the violently thrashing Kaijin, Lumia exhaled a ragged breath and staggered back.
"Haa... haa..."
All around her lay heaps of slain Kaijin, their grotesque bodies twitching into permanent stillness.
"This is wrong. This isn't how it was supposed to go..."
She had every reason to collapse from sheer exhaustion, yet she remained planted where she stood, her gaze locked onto a single point.
Her smartphone was caked in blackish blood—she had refused to let go of it even while butchering swarms of Kaijin.
Across the tiny cracked screen, a live broadcast was playing in real time, its viewer count having already smashed past six hundred thousand.
Skimming through the flurry of chat messages scrolling past, Lumia ground her teeth.
"This... this isn't Lord Trauma..."
Confusion and fury bled through her trembling voice.
"Lord Trauma is absolute evil... He's not supposed to be some half-baked dark hero..." Her muttered words grew louder, edging into hysteria. "He's mine... He's my villain and mine alone—"
"Still spewing nonsense, I see."
"—?!"
A razor-sharp whisper sliced the air, grazing her cheek.
"Hello there."
"Y-You're...!"
Lumia snapped her head up, eyes going wide as she raised her sword.
"The blonde girl...!"
"Call me Dice."
Stripped entirely of her usual playful smile, Paradise strode forward at a leisurely pace, hundreds of spectral cards orbiting around her like a constellation.
"You slipped away all by yourself last time, so what made you step onto the stage in person this time?"
"What did you say?"
"Don't tell me you were terrified Haneul might die because the plot went off the rails? My, how utterly devoted of you."
With a languid flick of Dice's fingers, the floating cards hummed in sharp resonance.
"You... don't tell me..." Staring blankly at the spectacle, an uncertain, dawning realization crept onto Lumia's face. She parted her lips. "Are you... a—"
"A transmigrator, you ask?" Cutting her off mid-sentence, Dice let out a soft chuckle. "Too bad. The only transmigrator here is you, Lumia."
A heavy silence fell over the ruins.
"...That's impossible." Shock parted Lumia's lips as the words slipped out unbidden. "How could a... an extra like you... possibly know that...?"
"You really are hilarious, Lumia." Dice's lips curved into a frigid smile. "Why do you act like you're the only protagonist?"
Lumia's face drained of every drop of color.
"You know full well there are two protagonists in this world, don't you?" Watching Lumia's expression crumble, Dice came to a quiet stop. "The other one is a student in Class 1-1, isn't that right?"
"That's..."
"Fortunately, every single student in Class 1-1 survived this episode." To the struck-dumb Lumia, Dice whispered in a low, chilling cadence, "And those few Kaijin lurking deep inside the Academy? We took care of all of them just a moment ago."
"Ah..."
"After all, the only ones who can tell the difference between ordinary humans and Kaijin... are us villains."
In that very heartbeat—
Th-th-th-th-thump!
A cloud of cards shot forward in unison, hurtling directly toward Lumia.
"............"
Yet, inexplicably, not a single card struck her flesh.
"Tsk. That ability of yours really is a pain in the neck."
"Ugh..."
"I figured your concept might be a little weaker at this point in time, but I guess killing or kidnapping you is still out of the question."
Glancing at the cards that had unnaturally curved off-course to bury themselves deep into the concrete wall behind the girl, Dice shifted her gaze back to the thoroughly rattled Lumia.
"Well, whatever. It doesn't matter anyway. I only came here today to deliver a declaration of war."
"A declaration... of war...?"
"Go ahead and struggle with everything you've got using that precious knowledge of the original work." Watching the hand gripping Lumia's sword twitch, Dice tilted the corner of her lips up into a razor-thin smirk. "Just like you did in the last regression cycle."
The girl began to shake violently.
"Give him back."
"Hm?"
"Give... Sunbae back to me."
Without warning, her composure snapped entirely into explosive fury.
"Sunbae is mine!! He belongs only to me!!"
Lunging like a streak of lightning, Lumia swung her blade with all the strength in her body.
"I'm the only one who can understand him!!"
Crack-crackle!
"I'm the only one who can save the Sunbae of the future!! The only one who knows the way is me, only—"
Dice pivoted aside, effortlessly slipping beneath the furious arc.
"Unfortunately, not anymore." Her golden hair caught the light, gleaming as it fluttered through the draft. "Because from now on, I will be the one at his side."
Simultaneously, the cards embedded in the far wall tore free, sweeping back toward her in a rushing vortex.
"I'll make sure to send you a mysterious videotape sometime soon."
"Wait...!"
As the flurry of cards enveloped Dice, Lumia lunged forward with an outstretched hand, desperate to catch her.
"Feel free to comfort yourself with it all you want."
It was utterly futile.
Whoosh...
With those parting words, Dice vanished into thin air, leaving behind only an empty gust of wind.
"............"
The only thing left resting in Lumia's trembling palm was a single playing card—staring up at her with the mocking grin of a jester.
"A villain... you say?"
Hearing my response, Great Order tilted her head with an utterly dazed expression.
"B-But... you saved us."
"...Tsk."
"I don't know what kind of circumstances brought you to this, but first..."
She began taking slow, cautious steps back toward me, only for her eyes to widen abruptly.
"A-Are you alright?!"
"...Ngh."
Before I could wonder what had startled her, a searing agony ripped through my chest.
A penetrating wound.
One of Resurrection's tentacles must have pierced near my heart when I sent him flying earlier. It wasn't fatally deep, but because my physical condition was already scraping absolute rock bottom, the blood simply refused to clot.
"Y-You're bleeding too heavily! Let me support you for now—"
I gritted my teeth against the pain as she reached out to steady me, but the moment her gaze locked onto my face, she froze completely, her expression draining of color.
"...Ah?" She stared in sheer disbelief. "Those eyes..."
She had caught sight of my eye through the fractured seam of my mask. I had already altered the color of my irises through the Disguise skill, so there was no reason to worry about my identity being exposed. Even so, the way she stared fixatedly at the blood running down my ruined socket made it clear she felt a crushing sense of guilt, believing I had been blinded on her account.
Would she have shown this kind of reaction if she had known who I really was?
Of course not.
"It's nothing serious, so don't bother yourself over it."
I had no intention of boasting about losing my left eye to protect her. Giving that curt reply, I turned to walk away, but—
Grab.
Her fingers caught my arm, pulling me to an abrupt halt. With a trembling hand, she reached upward, gently brushing against my blinded eye.
"............"
Against my clouded, lifeless pupil, the warmth of her trembling fingertips registered clearly.
"What do you think you're—"
Irritation surged through me at the unwanted contact. I moved to shove her hand away, but right then, her knees buckled and she collapsed straight to the floor. Had the beatings she took finally caught up to her legs?
"You..."
"...?"
"Why did you... save me...? That appearance... just what..."
I looked down at her, bewildered. Now she was staring at me as if she were looking at an apparition, rambling incoherent nonsense. Did she take a blow to the head?
Either way, I had zero interest in lingering around her any longer. I spun around on my heel and approached the huddled students instead.
"Wh-What's going on...?"
"Eek!"
Catching sight of me, the kids stumbled backward in terror.
"Has anyone here seen where Lumia went?"
At my question, the students quietly shook their heads.
"Then what about the Vice Principal?"
"H-He should be on the roof!"
Unable to conceal my disappointment, I pressed further, and one of the students shot her hand straight up into the air.
"He told us that's where he'd be waiting!"
"Is that so?"
"Yes! I saw him heading up to the rooftop with my own eyes!"
It was Justia's younger sister, answering me with wide, sparkling eyes.
"I see."
My ultimate target was Lumia. But with Top Rankers already converging on the scene, scouring the grounds for a girl whose coordinates were completely unknown was an impossible errand. In that case, I had to pivot my objective.
"Thank you."
Having locked in my destination, I held the students' gazes for a brief second before speaking.
"Stay put right here until the Academy faculty arrive. Do not follow any orders from the heroes."
"Pardon?"
"Comply only with instructions given by the regular school staff."
For reasons I couldn't yet fathom, suspicious parasites had taken root inside the bodies of a vast majority of the heroes. By contrast, only a microscopic fraction of the faculty had been infected—and those few had already been wiped out by our executives. Right now, the unpowered school staff were the safest people on this campus.
"Thank you so much..."
I turned to head for the stairwell, but Justia's sister spoke up in a soft, earnest whisper.
"Still... calling yourself a villain?"
"............"
"No matter how I look at you... you're a hero."
My mind blanked for a fleeting second.
A hero.
In all my years operating as a Black Agent, not a single person had ever uttered that word to me.
Except for Justia. Only her.
"Hah."
A self-deprecating laugh slipped past my lips. Of all the people to say that to me, it had to be the girl who looked so painfully like her.
"The hero is you," I murmured, my voice trembling ever so slightly as my hand moved on instinct to rest gently atop her head. "Not someone like me."
There was so much I wanted to say to her. After all, Justia had constantly bragged about this kid, proudly boasting that her little sister looked like a protagonist who had leaped straight out of a shounen manga. But I was out of time.
"Be careful around Lumia."
"What?"
Leaving those words behind in the hope that she wouldn't walk the exact same tragic path as her older sister, I broke into a brisk run.
"...There's an old saying about settling for a chicken when you can't have a pheasant."
My target was waiting on the roof: the Vice Principal.
Whirrrr...
"Hm?"
As I took the stairs two at a time, a small device resembling a miniature drone darted in from the landing, hovering right beside my ear.
Thinking it was an enemy ambush, I reached toward my pocket, only for the machine to spin in a frantic circle and project fresh text across its tiny display.
"And who's 'me'?"
Seeing her spout her usual brand of utter nonsense, it was definitely Pandora.
Confirming she was an ally, I resumed my climb in silence, prompting the drone to pivot around and hover directly in front of my face.
"Are you filming this right now?"
Noticing the lens mounted to the chassis, I frowned, but her prompt answer eased my suspicion.
"...For a second?"
The phrasing rubbed me the wrong way, but I didn't have the spare energy to dwell on it.
"I just wanted to stick it to someone."
"To the one who turned me into this."
I brushed it off with a half-truth, but deep down, entirely different thoughts were churning through my mind.
I really am a fool.
The comrades who meant more to me than anything had been stripped away. Because of that, the woman I respected above all others was lost in the most hollow, tragic way imaginable. On top of that, I was framed for her murder and driven straight off the edge of a cliff. In the end, blinded by vengeance, I threw away everything to become a villain.
Yet, like an incurable idiot... even after being reduced to this state, I still liked helping people.
The moron who had become a hero purely because he wanted to rescue and protect others was still breathing inside me.
I don't even know anymore.
The proof was right there: the moment my fist shattered the monster to save those lives, even as my vision in one eye was wiped out forever, a genuine smile had broken across my face.
"Time to finish what's left of my revenge."
As I muttered the words with an oddly lightened heart, Pandora tilted her drone back and forth in curiosity.
"Shh. Quiet."
Accepting that I still enjoyed saving people was one thing; vengeance was an entirely separate matter. My desire to exact ruthless retribution upon the bastards who had dragged Justia and me into this living hell hadn't diminished by a fraction.
"Y-You useless piece of trash...!"
"Grrrk... I-I am... so sorry..."
Reaching the final landing, I peered through the crack of the rooftop door to see two silhouettes standing in the distance.
"This was our golden opportunity to end the war against those villains—no, against those abominable creatures wearing the skins of villains! And yet, and yet...!"
"Gurrrk....."
Confirming their identities, I cracked a quiet smile and shoved the door wide open.
"Wh-Who's there?!"
".........!"
The portly Vice Principal stumbled back in sheer fright, while the battered figure beside him snapped his head toward me in utter disbelief.
"I could have sworn my comrade and I pulverized you into pieces, but you actually managed to crawl your way back."
"Y-You bastard..."
It was none other than Resurrection.
"Seeing how sluggish your healing is, that last hit must have been a fatal blow."
Befitting a moniker synonymous with revival, his Concept was 'Regeneration'—a ridiculously broken ability that allowed him to mend virtually any mortal wound. But against the combined might of my strike and my executive's assault, even his cellular recovery was crawling.
"K-Kill him! Kill him now!!"
"Grrrroooaaarrr..."
At the Vice Principal's pale, hysterical screeching, Resurrection dragged his mangled body forward, closing the distance between us. Against an ordinary combatant, an immortal regenerative tank wielding the parasitic tentacles of a demonic beast would have been an insurmountable nightmare.
Unfortunately for him, his opponent was me.
Slide.
Had he been on extreme guard like earlier, it might have taken some effort. But stripped of his sanity and staggering blindly toward me, subduing him with Hypnosis was only a matter of seconds.
"Hold still for a moment. Let's see here..."
Pulling my smartphone from my coat to launch the Hypnosis App, I paused.
".........?"
I tilted my head. The monster had abruptly stopped in his tracks, staring blankly straight at me.
What is this?
An eerie sense of deja vu washed over me. Was it just my imagination?
"Prostrate."
Thud.
Testing the waters with a soft command, Resurrection immediately dropped to his knees, pressing his forehead flat against the concrete.
"Wh-What are you doing?! Hurry up and tear him apart!!"
"............"
Though the Vice Principal shrieked in white-faced horror, the kneeling hero didn't budge an inch.
This is the exact same thing that happened with Spade.
My instincts flared with clarity. This situation mirrored yesterday's encounter with Spade down to the smallest detail. Back then, I hadn't activated Hypnosis either, yet she had succumbed entirely to my command. And right now, just like yesterday, a strange surge of sadistic pleasure was bubbling up from deep within my chest.
It wasn't a fluke.
Could this be an aspect of my ability I didn't know about?
Ordinarily, those who harbored a Concept could freely manifest abilities tied directly to that Concept's domain. Yet supernatural powers remained an enigma. There were plenty of recorded cases where a traumatic shift in mindset inverted someone's Concept, or where an individual spent their entire life fundamentally misunderstanding what their Concept actually was. Failing to grasp the true extent of one's power was astonishingly common.
I already defeated Resurrection once. If that's the trigger...
Looking at it from that angle, this phenomenon was undoubtedly my own power. That brought a plausible hypothesis to mind: Could I possess the authority to unconditionally hypnotize anyone I have previously defeated?
It wasn't confirmed yet, but if that were true, it explained why I had never noticed it before. In my line of work, defeating an opponent always required using Hypnosis in the first place, so the distinction had never come up.
Wait. If that's true... does that mean I defeated Spade in the past?
When on earth did I ever cross paths with her?
"Hey. You."
I racked my brain, but without a clear answer in sight, I decided to handle the business right in front of me first.
"Spit out the truth about what you really are."
"Grrrk... Gurhhhk..."
This was a golden opportunity to uncover the true nature of these bizarre Kaijin. Pressing down on the groveling Resurrection, I demanded answers. The monster shuddered, letting out a low, guttural moan before parting his lips.
"We are... blessed by His grace... the chosen ones—"
Those were the last words he ever spoke.
BANG!
"—?!"
Before he could utter another syllable, Resurrection's head detonated into a shower of gore.
"...Tsk."
His headless corpse collapsed limp onto the concrete, showing zero signs of regeneration. A built-in curse to silence him.
"What a waste."
Clicking my tongue in quiet regret, I tore my eyes away from the corpse and took a slow step forward.
"H-Heeek...!"
The Vice Principal scrambled backward on his rear, shaking like a leaf.
"S-Spare me...!"
His trembling, tear-streaked face was a pathetic sight, but according to the dossier Dice had handed me, there wasn't a single shred of sympathy this man deserved.
Embezzlement of Academy funds. Bribery for illicit admissions. Sexually assaulting five female students under the pretense of supplementary enrollment. And the primary architect behind Justia's expulsion.
Not to mention his freshly revealed collusion with Resurrection and the Kaijin.
"M-My wife and daughter are waiting for me at home! Please, I beg you, just spare my life...!"
"Excuse me, but when did I ever say I was going to kill you?"
I had no intention of granting him the sweet release of death.
"Y-You're... not?"
"Of course not."
I had always wondered about it, even in the past.
"Th-Then... what is that thing in your hand...?"
Why was capital punishment considered the absolute harshest sentence under the law?
In a world devoid of gods, justice, or an afterlife, death was far too gentle, far too merciful an end.
"Now then... how should I rewrite your common sense?"
It was time to bestow upon him a trauma that would haunt him for the rest of his natural life.