The Truth Revealed
The morning after the Academy incident, I opened my eyes in bed and checked the internet, only to find the entire world turned upside down.
[Trauma, the Mastermind Behind the Academy Catastrophe: What Is His True Objective?]
[18 Dead, Countless Injured: Top Heroes and Faculty Fail to Escape Death...]
[Villains Growing Stronger by the Day... Countermeasures Remain Woefully Inadequate]
Three top-ranking heroes, four faculty members, and eleven students dead. It was an unprecedented, historic catastrophe.
[The Incompetence and Negligence of the International Hero Academy: Can We Really Leave Things as They Are?]
Naturally, the press unleashed a relentless barrage of criticism against the Academy.
▷ [Post] Yesterday's Trauma Actions & Timeline Breakdown (1,214)
▷ [Post] Footage of the Mutant Magical Beast in Action.jpg (874)
▷ [Post] Great Order Bridal Carry.gif (619)
▷ [Post] Another Expose on the Vice Principal's Past Just Dropped! (357)
▷ [Post] Coverage of Our Gallery Lord's Official Threat Assessment (212)
The community chatter Pandora pulled up for me, however, struck a noticeably different chord.
An astonishing number of people were fixated entirely on the mastermind behind the incident: Trauma.
"Our Gallery Lord is absurdly cracked" (O)
Granted, the vast majority were either dreading or frantically wary of this terrifying new supervillain. Yet scattered among the fearful cries were completely unexpected voices.
More and more people were looking upon him with strange fascination.
Whatever the public's theories were, the supervillain Trauma had unquestionably succeeded in leaving an indelible, staggering impression upon the world on the very first day of his debut.
"Excuse me... what on earth is all of this?"
The only slight problem was that this very supervillain, Trauma, happened to be none other than me.
"Why are you guys suddenly listed as my underlings?"
Lying dazed in bed while skimming through the debriefing files from yesterday's madness, I directed my question to the executives clustered around the room.
"Because all of us wore your signature mask into battle, masking our own identities while fighting in your name."
"...Whoa, you scared me."
The one who answered was Paradise, who had perched on the edge of my mattress without a sound, flashing me a teasing grin.
"For our newest recruit, destined to become the ultimate weapon of the Villain League, you need at least this much brand recognition, don't you think?"
"........."
A gut feeling told me that if I didn't ask now, the chance would be lost forever.
"Listen. There's something I need to know."
"Hm?"
Taking a slow, steadying breath, I looked straight into Dice's eyes and began pouring out every single question that had eaten away at me.
"What on earth were those grotesque monsters? It looked like all of you could see them too."
"That..."
"That's not all. How did you know Lumia's true identity? And why are the executives of the Villain League fighting those monsters in the first place?"
A heavy silence fell over the bedroom.
"Explain it to me."
"...Very well."
Dice gently closed her eyes for a fleeting second, then took my hand and pulled me upright.
"Come with me."
"........."
"I'll show you everything."
Supported by her and the other executives, I was led down into an ancient, subterranean archive on a lower floor I had never once set foot in. Stopping before an imposing safe, Dice lightly snapped her fingers, effortlessly retrieving a weathered manuscript stored within, and handed it over to me.
"These are the records left behind by the First Leader of the Villain League. Take your time and read through it."
"...What?"
And with that, every piece of common sense I had ever known began to crumble.
To all future villains who read this:
There is a secret we share. A truth you surely already know.
At the precise moment of your fall into corruption, a translucent window materialized before your eyes. You read the mysterious prompt inscribed upon it, and you chose the path of a villain.
And right about now, you are likely bewildered. Because things that were once completely invisible have suddenly come into plain sight.
Yes. Unfathomable entities walk among our society. Unidentified abominations that have blended into humanity's ranks since time out of mind. Unlike 'Magical Beasts'—which are mere mutated animals—these beings possess cold reason, deceit, and distinct purpose, just like men. For that reason, I chose to call them 'Kaijin.'
Do you know the true objective assigned to us villains? Most likely, you do not. You embraced villainy driven solely by vengeance, or crushed beneath absolute despair.
Yet I know the truth. As the 'First Villain,' I was assigned a direct role by the very 'System' that flickered before your eyes.
'Join hands with the Kaijin, and bring about the end of the world.'
It was a chillingly simple command. And in order to carry it out, I and every villain who followed were granted the unique ability to perceive the Kaijin.
So let me pose a single question to you now. Why is it that we fight not the heroes, but the 'Kaijin'?
The answer is profoundly simple.
Because I, the First Villain, gathered my comrades and chose to reject destiny.
Think about it. Why should we bow our heads and obey the commands of some preposterous entity that thrusts status windows—straight out of old pulp novels and comic strips—before our faces and orders us to destroy our own world? Did you not resolve to walk this path because you yearned to be free?
A colossal, god-like being—or an entity wielding power of that scale—turned our peaceful, ordinary world into a playground for its own amusement overnight. So long as such a creature exists, so long as this artificial reality persists, we can never be free.
And so, we chose resistance.
We cast aside the roles assigned to us. Instead of hunting heroes, we resolved to exterminate the Kaijin.
If you are reading these words, it means our resolve has successfully crossed the eras to reach your hands.
Therefore, I make this plea to you, our newest comrade.
Wield the vengeance and despair smoldering in your chest as your blade, and conquer the artificial malice and twisted dispositions forced upon you by 'Villainization.' Slay the Kaijin who have seized the reins of high society, and resist those who would strip us of our freedom. Even if the truth is smothered in the dark, expose the existence of the Kaijin to as many people as you can reach.
Endure until the day a true 'Protagonist' appears—one who can wield the System without paying its price, and bring an end to this era of lies.
Let us force the self-proclaimed god who dared look down on humanity to pay the ultimate price.
Tearing my gaze away from the yellowed parchment, worn smooth by the hands of countless predecessors, I quietly turned to Dice standing beside me.
"Is this... really the truth?"
"Every word. There is no lie."
She reached out, gently clasping my fingers as she spoke.
"The First Villain chose struggle over submission, just as the record says."
"........."
"Naturally, the being that reshaped our world was thoroughly displeased by that defiance." A shadow drifted across her face. "Having been abandoned by the villains it created, it began reaching out to the heroes instead, turning countless champions of justice to its side."
"Then... what I saw yesterday..."
"Yes. They were all corrupted heroes."
A staggering revelation washed over me like icy water. Justia's gruesome murder, my own endless descent into ruin—none of it had been a tragic stroke of bad luck. The world of radiant heroism I had believed in was an utter farce. We were living in a pitch-black age of deceit and masquerade.
"From this moment on, we are waging total war," Dice declared, her tone turning grave. "For generations, we attempted to expose the Kaijin's existence to the public, but every single revelation was systematically covered up. The Kaijin rule society from the shadows."
"How could that..."
"Except now, we have Pandora. And we have you."
Pandora? And me? What did that mean?
"We will no longer lose the information war. With Pandora's genius, not even they can conceal the truth anymore."
That part made sense. Pandora's hacking capabilities were a once-in-a-century anomaly, an unprecedented force of nature. Keeping yesterday's livestream broadcast operational until the Association's physical server rooms had to be pulled offline was proof enough.
"And you," Dice continued softly, "are the only existence capable of striking down the corrupted Protagonist."
Her next words completely lost me.
"Who is this corrupted Protagonist in the first place?"
"Lumia Obsé. She is one of the Protagonists of this world."
I tilted my head in bafflement, but her response was a lightning strike to my chest.
"What...?"
"The First Villain's writings are true, Haneul-ah. Our world really was reduced to a piece of cheap entertainment."
It was an absurd notion, almost impossible to swallow. I couldn't fathom how Dice could possibly know such cosmic secrets.
"......."
Then again, in a world overflowing with supernatural abilities that laughed in the face of science, demanding logical explanations felt a little ridiculous.
"Our objective is to locate the other Protagonist."
"There's... another one?"
"Yes. And we have to nurture them, along with every single student in Class 1-1."
I gave a slow, silent nod. Escorting me out of the archive and back into the corridor, Dice spoke again in a hushed, reverent voice.
"I know the future. The final battle will arrive within a few years."
"You know the future...?"
A jolt ran down my spine. Precognition? How is that even possible?
"The Academy is one of the few institutions that hasn't fully fallen into the Kaijin's clutches."
"Wait, Dice..."
"I'll tell you everything about myself when the time is right," she whispered, noticing the cold sweat prickling my neck. She clearly had no intention of elaborating today.
"So, Haneul-ah."
My skull throbbed from the sheer overload of information, making me almost glad she postponed the explanation. But suddenly, Dice stopped in her tracks, still holding tightly to my hand.
"Do you still want to stay with us?"
For the very first time, raw, vulnerable emotion surfaced upon her perpetually enigmatic face.
"As you can see, we basically deceived you to bring you here."
"I don't care about that."
She looked like a frightened puppy, terrified that its master was about to abandon it on the curb.
"Dominating Hands is no heroic syndicate. To slaughter the Kaijin, we'll sink our hands into unspeakable filth, and we'll butcher so many lives that atonement will be impossible."
"Is that so?"
It was genuinely startling to see her wear such an expression.
"Even when all of this is over, no one will ever praise us. No one will ever acknowledge what we did."
"Sounds identical to being a Black Agent."
"We will be forgotten by everyone. For all eternity."
"Honestly, that's what I prefer."
A faint, self-deprecating chuckle escaped my lips. If anything, I was the stray who couldn't survive without them.
"Still... if you truly wish it..."
Stepping closer to the railing where she leaned, I felt Dice's slender fingers gently trace my ruined, half-closed left eye.
"Welcome."
She rested her arm lightly across my shoulder, resting her head against me as her breath brushed my ear.
"Welcome to our family."
Down below, sprawling across the colossal command center beneath our balcony, the villains who had just become my kin moved with purposeful, relentless haste.
"The honor is mine."
Here, in the abyss where I had fled without a shred of hope, I found a reason to live once more.
Meanwhile, at that very moment.
"Ha."
Sitting rigid in a chair within her hospital room, Great Order glared down at the document clutched in her trembling hands.
[Kinship Match Probability: 0.03%]
Conclusion: Absolute Biological Non-Match
It was a genetic test report. She had collected traces of Trauma's blood splattered across her uniform during the battle, rushing it into immediate testing to verify any familial relation.
"I knew it."
The result was unequivocal. An absolute mismatch.
"There's no way a piece of trash like you would ever come back to save me."
A frigid, self-mocking smile crept onto her lips.