Dominating Hands
Ever since I was caught trying to use my hidden ability on Lumia, security had tightened by an order of magnitude.
Naturally, all visitation rights were revoked.
The number of restraints clamped onto my body multiplied several times over, and the moment I so much as shifted my weight, the surveillance camera mounted on the ceiling flared to life with a red indicator light. To make matters worse, fully armed guards now took turns standing watch outside my solitary cell, keeping their eyes glued to me in real time.
Because of this, about the only thing I could do while lying there like a corpse all day was one simple action.
Insight (Lv. 1)
Testing the ability that I presumed Justia had passed down to me on the guards stationed beyond the iron bars.
I wondered if this power might offer some kind of clue, or whether I might be able to unlock other abilities as well. But it was an exercise in futility. No matter how many times I repeated the process, the only skill that responded was Insight, which merely pulled up personal details about the designated target.
Conditions required to activate this skill have not been met.
A new message had surfaced only once, when a burning urge seized me to shatter every last one of these wretched shackles to pieces. But after that single flash, no matter how desperately I strained my focus, nothing ever showed up again.
Right around the point where I had involuntarily memorized every shred of the guards' private profiles, the iron door creaked open.
"Shift change."
A visitor appeared—someone I hadn't anticipated in the slightest.
• [Currently Disguised]
A heavy, awkward silence stretched between us.
"...Ahem. Cough."
When I tilted my head and gave her a pointed glare, she shifted her eyes sideways and let out an artificial cough. What on earth was she thinking, walking into a place like this?
Her true identity was none other than my sidekick. Endowed with the Concept of Disguise, she was an ability user capable of altering her form into that of any living person. While she regrettably couldn't replicate the superpowers of whoever she mimicked, her transformation was entirely impenetrable so long as she kept up the act. It was a formidable ability, yet here she was, using it just to sneak in to see me.
"Meal delivery, Prisoner 10156."
As I stared blankly at her, Ira spoke in a clipped, clinical tone and shoved a food tray through the bottom slot into my cell.
"A portion of your restraints will be released for the duration of the meal. Finish eating within five minutes."
With that, she backed away against the solitary cell's wall and stood stiffly at attention.
"This is..."
Picking up the tray with deliberate nonchalance, I looked it over and immediately recognized her intent.
...Braille.
Along the side rim of the tray, minute, encrypted braille bumps had been embossed. It was an old communication method frequently utilized between myself, a Black Agent, and her, my trusted assistant. Through this, I could decipher her message in plain view without arousing suspicion.
Slowly, my fingertips traced the raised impressions.
[TRUTH] [KNOW] [SELF] [WITNESS]
As I read through her cryptic shorthand, my pulse began to hammer violently against my ribs.
[SOMETHING] [WRONG] [TESTIMONY] [NO ONE] [BELIEVES]
[SO] [THIS TIME] [I] [HELP]
Pausing there, I glanced up at her. Ira caught my eye and offered a faint, reassuring wink.
[JUST LIKE YOU] [BACK THEN]
Only now did the gravity of her arrival click into place.
[AT THE COST OF MY LIFE]
She was planning a prison break.
Have you lost your damn mind?
It was an act of sheer madness. Capable though she was, pulling off an escape past the ironclad surveillance of Karma was outright impossible. And more than anything else, I couldn't bear to drag her into this firestorm. I was already trapped at the epicenter of an unfathomable catastrophe. If anyone discovered that a rookie with such a bright future had aided me, her fate would be sealed without mercy.
The moment that realization solidified in my chest, I gripped the food tray and flipped it over with every ounce of strength I had left.
Clatter—Crash!
Food splattered across the cold floor. Her eyes widened into saucers as she stared at me in shock.
"Get out," I muttered, my voice sinking into an icy rasp, praying with all my soul that she would understand the plea beneath the cruelty. "I don't need garbage like this."
Past the iron bars, heavy footsteps thudded as guards rushed forward with electrified stun batons drawn. Between their armored silhouettes, I caught a glimpse of her wavering, heartbroken gaze.
What would happen if I begged for her help right here and now? No. That was unthinkable. I couldn't afford to lose anyone else.
Even so, I had a parting duty to fulfill. Before the baton tips crashed through the bars, I marshaled my remaining breath and roared at the top of my lungs:
"Go back and kiss Lumia's ass some more, you pathetic dogs!"
I prayed Ira caught the name. I prayed that somewhere down the line, people would rise up to halt Lumia's rampage. That desperate shout was my final act.
Crack!
A heavy blow struck the back of my skull, and the world plunged instantly into blackness.
How much time had passed?
"Prisoner 10156, you have a visitation."
I was staring blankly at the wall, unable even to raise a hand to soothe the throbbing knot on my head because of the heavy cuffs, when the door swung open and guards announced the visit in freezing tones.
...Shit.
My head was still dizzy and clouded from the beating, but I knew the truth at once. This wasn't a visitation. It was an execution. It had been roughly two days since Lumia's visit, and above all, the demeanor radiating off the guards was utterly divorced from their usual routine. Having spent my life parsing human emotion and reading subtleties, the shift was unmistakable.
Is this really how it ends?
The cold realization that my life was drawing to a close sent a wave of icy sweat cascading down my spine. Framed for an absurd, fabricated atrocity, to die like a dog in the dark?
Fear clawed at my throat. An animal instinct screamed at me to wrench free of their grip and bolt from this place right now.
"Stay still."
Yet my bound limbs refused to obey, anchored down by dense metal, and the guards' gauntleted hands were an unbreakable vice. Like an ox being hauled to the slaughterhouse, I had no choice but to let myself be dragged along the corridor.
"Get in."
"Ugh."
After a long trek through reinforced tunnels, they shoved me roughly into the back of a compartment. A rough, black canvas sack was pulled over my head, completely blinding me.
"Prisoner secured. Moving out."
"Excuse me... Where are you taking..."
"Quiet."
Naturally, questions were not permitted. In the suffocating pitch-black, the only sensations left were the rhythmic vibration of the transport vehicle and the occasional jolt over uneven terrain. After an agonizing passage of time, rough hands grabbed my biceps and yanked me back out into the open air. Again, I was hauled forward across cold tile.
"Sit."
We had finally reached the destination.
Clack—Clank!
Before my mind could even process the surroundings, heavy metal clamps snapped tight around my wrists, ankles, and chest, pinning me rigidly to the seat. The dreadful geometry of the chair told me everything.
"Fuck... You have to be kidding me..."
My execution method was the electric chair.
As I shuddered against the frigid metal backing, a rustle sounded from behind, and the sack covering my head was drawn away.
"...Noona?"
A familiar face came into focus.
"Why are you...?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Standing before the array of executioners and guards, she replied with a face carved from stone. "By protocol, a Hero must oversee the execution of an ability user."
"........."
"Especially in your case, where the true nature of the Concept dwelling within you remains unidentified. A Top Hero's presence is mandatory."
Her eyes treated me like a stranger—a vile, irredeemable felon. The gentle, warm sister of my childhood was nowhere to be found in this room. In her place stood a global Top Hero, coldly staring down an A-Class Villain scheduled for termination.
"Before the sentence is carried out, we shall proceed with the final protocol," she said flatly.
"........."
"Do you have any last words?"
That single prompt snuffed out the last ember of resistance in my heart. Struggle though I might, scream and weep as I could, nothing would alter the verdict. It was time to settle what little remained of my earthly existence.
"...There's an orphanage I sponsored every month," I began, my voice trembling as I entered into this final formality. "Donate all of my remaining assets to them. Don't say a word to the kids about where it came from."
I swallowed the lump in my throat and continued.
"And... the progress reports on the students of Academy Class 2-1, the ones I was responsible for, are stored in the third drawer of my office desk. Make sure whoever takes over refers to them during handoff."
"All the combat equipment I purchased out of pocket... give it to Ira. There are a lot of customized pieces that will help keep her safe."
"Keep an eye on the West Coast sector. The recent readings have been abnormal. According to my analytical models, something is definitely—"
Once the words started spilling, there seemed to be no end to them. I had never realized how many attachments I still had to this world. The children at the orphanage who always beamed, bragging that they'd grow up to be great heroes. The troublesome, rowdy students of Class 2-1 who were just beginning to find their footing. Ira, who had squabbled with me every single day in Justia's office. And...
"...Eat properly, Noona."
As my voice dropped to a quiet whisper, her eyebrow twitched upward.
"You always skip proper meals and live off convenience store lunchboxes whenever work gets busy. I taped simple side-dish recipes to the refrigerator door... so please, cook for yourself once in a while."
There were two other people I desperately wanted to leave words for, but my stamina was running on empty.
"And I'm begging you... don't put too much faith in Lumia—"
Just as I squeezed my eyes shut to finish the sentence, her voice sliced across the chamber.
"Are you quite done stalling for time?"
"What?"
Her bizarre, frigid interruption caught me off guard. As my head tilted in confusion, the heavy double doors at the side of the room flew open.
"Pardon the intrusion!"
"Agh!"
Two figures crossed the threshold.
"Did you truly think you could deceive the Child of Prophecy?"
"...!"
I didn't need to trigger Insight to grasp what had transpired. One of the figures crisply saluted my sister.
"Mission accomplished."
"Well done, Lumia. You've distinguished yourself once again."
The smiling girl exchanging honors with my sister was Lumia—the serpent who had robbed me of everything. And the bloodied, broken figure rolling across the cold tiles was Kim Ira, my sidekick.
"You..."
"Cough... hack... Oppa..."
As I stared at her in horrified disbelief, Ira spat a mouthful of dark crimson and forced her head upward. Then, without warning, she rounded on my sister and the guards, screaming at the top of her lungs.
"Y-You fucking bastards!!"
"Oh dear," Lumia cooed softly.
"I was there at the scene from the beginning to the very end!" Ira shrieked, every eye in the room snapping onto her. "Haneul oppa isn't the culprit!! Right before I lost consciousness, I saw it with my own eyes! I saw Justia-ssi trading that final strike and falling! So why... why on earth..."
Tears carved trails through the dried blood on her cheeks as she poured out her fury.
"Why did I wake up to find Kang Haneul branded as Justia's murderer?! You people don't even know! You don't have a single clue what kind of relationship those two had!! And yet... and yet...!!"
She fought like a wild animal, thrashing against the guards who lunged to pin her down.
"Why does everyone believe that lying bitch, while nobody listens to me—?!"
Crack-crackle!
"...Urgh."
With a casual flick of my sister's hand, a burst of blue-white current surged forward, leaving Ira's entire body paralyzed and limp as she slumped unconscious to the floor.
"Honestly," a familiar voice purred from behind the execution chair, snapping the last thread of my sanity. "Justia's disciples are simply terrifying, aren't they?"
Lumia, the monster who had beaten Ira into the dirt and dragged her here, was staring down at me, wearing a discreet, profoundly satisfied smirk.
I want to kill her.
Faced with this grotesque nightmare, the thought roared through my mind.
I want to tear that smiling face into bloody ribbons. I'll hunt her to the absolute ends of hell and take my revenge... no matter what price I have to pay...!
As if waiting for that very declaration of malice, a sharp static tore through the air before my eyes.
Bzzzt!
This is the inescapable destiny granted unto you.
Upon acceptance, the [Path of the Villain] system will become fully accessible; however, Villainization will simultaneously commence.
Unlike the pale, translucent window from before, this interface was completely drenched in an ominous, blood-drenched scarlet.
"Ha."
A hollow chuckle slipped past my lips the instant I read it. So, this was how it was meant to be all along. This power was a bequest from Justia herself. If that was the case, what possible reason did I have to refuse it?
"We shall now carry out the sentence," my sister commanded.
The term 'Villainization' gave me a momentary pause, but it no longer mattered in the slightest.
"Everyone, step back..."
In the eyes of the world, I was already the most detestable villain alive. Becoming an actual one wouldn't change a single damn thing.
With every scrap of willpower left in my bruised body, I forced my chin downward and struck the prompt for acceptance.
"...Finally. At last, at last, at last!"
Watching Lumia shiver uncontrollably, unable to conceal her ecstatic delirium, I curved my lips into a gentle smile and whispered softly to her for the very first time.
"Don't worry. Since I'm taking this path, I'll make sure you regret it right down to your marrow—"
KABOOOOOOOM—!
"...Huh?"
Before the final syllable could leave my tongue, a cataclysmic blast tore through the execution chamber, and the world dissolved into blinding fire and smoke.
"Cough... Hack...!"
I choked on the thick billows of dust, blinking my burning eyes open to a landscape of sheer ruin.
"Ughhh..."
"M-My leg...!"
Half the room lay buried beneath massive slabs of reinforced concrete, the facility's ceiling having collapsed in its entirety.
"Gah!"
"Who the hell are these guys?!"
"Lumia, get behind me—!"
The surviving half—including my sister and Lumia—were locked in frantic combat against an incursion of masked, heavily armed assailants. Still strapped to the reinforced chair, unable to fully grasp the situation, I stared at the unfolding chaos as if viewing a fever dream.
"Hey there. Looks like you're in a bit of a tight spot, aren't you?"
A calm, teasing voice drifted in from my flank. I turned my head—and froze solid.
"Conveniently enough, we happen to have an open seat among our executives."
Dominating Hands.
The apex syndicate presiding over the entire Villain League, feared as the most catastrophic villain organization in history.
"How about we work out a win-win for both of us?"
The leader of the very organization I had spent my entire career tracking down was standing beyond the shattered partition, casually extending a hand toward me.
"Even if you drop that on me out of nowhere..."
The suddenness of the offer made me draw back reflexively, but as my eyes drifted across the rubble, my thoughts pivoted.
"...Well, there's no reason to say no."
Resolving my mind, I leaned forward and stepped out toward the gap.
"......What?"
Far across the debris, shielded behind my sister's defensive barrier, Lumia stood frozen. For the first time since I had met her, she wore an expression of sheer, unadulterated panic.
"Why on earth are you showing up now?!"
Seeing that look on her face, I was certain. Taking this hand was entirely the right thing to do.