Chapter 66
Chapter 66
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: Villain's Destructive Power
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"Next up is the agility test."
Dr. Dark Circle's voice filled the laboratory. What new way was she going to humiliate this body of mine this time?
"Agility, you say? You mean testing a villain's agility? Then I'll score beyond S-rank—straight to SS-rank! This body overflows with innate villainous talent!"
Instead of answering, Dr. Dark Circle hammered away at the computer keyboard. Countless holes opened up in the ceiling and walls of the circular space nearby.
"Step into that space. Dodge or deflect as many balls as you can from all directions."
What? That was easy. Dodging incoming balls was child's play!
I strode confidently into the circular space. Darkness and White King watched from outside with worried eyes.
"Fear not, my loyal minions! This body shall return with the highest score in history! Kakakat!"
Squeak squeak!
Beyond the glass wall, the two rats clasped their tiny paws in cheer.
"Go Grimoire!"
Goldie even made golden cheer sticks and waved them around. Who was this "our" she was talking about?
Beep—
With the signal tone, balls began flying from the wall holes.
This body nobly twisted to dodge the first ball! The second and third were easily evaded with a light jump!
"What is this? Too easy, isn't it?"
But...
"Oof!"
A second ball suddenly came from behind and slammed into my waist! It didn't hurt, but the fact that I'd been hit bruised this body's pride!
"Argh!"
Another ball smashed into the back of my head!
"Striking a villain from behind? Is this how heroes fight?"
And these weren't rubber balls—they were hard tennis balls! One even lodged right into my horn!
I reached up to pull the ball out of my horn, but in that instant, another struck my back.
"Ah! You rude balls! How dare you attack this body!"
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—!
More and more balls flew from every direction. Dozens at once!
The speed increased, and they even curved mid-flight! This was unfair! Fight me one-on-one!
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
They hit my face, my arms, my stomach... The physical pain was nothing compared to the ache in my villainous pride!
"This... this body is... invincible..."
I panted, barely standing on two feet. But I couldn't dodge anymore. Every time I evaded one, balls swarmed from another direction!
"Time! Time out!"
I screamed in panic. The signal tone rang, and the machine stopped.
This was hopeless. To think this body would fall to mere rubber balls before conquering the world!
"Darkness! White King! Formation Trinity!"
Squeak!?
The two rats scampered over and climbed onto my shoulders. Darkness on the right, White King on the left.
"Now behold the true power of a villain! A first-rate villain always has a hidden card!"
Squeak squeak!
The rats squeaked softly by my ears. Their voices rang clearly in my mind like precise instructions.
Squeak squeak!
Two balls incoming from 3 o'clock—evade at a 45-degree angle!
Following the rats' intel, I moved without hesitation. It was like I could see where the balls were coming from ahead of time!
Squeak squeak squeak!
In 3 seconds: six from the ceiling, two from the floor! Roll forward while spinning clockwise!
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
This time, it wasn't me getting hit—the sounds were balls colliding with each other in the spots I'd dodged!
This was the perfect synergy between villain and minions!
"Kakakat! This is a villain's true power! Heroes fight alone, but villains always battle alongside their loyal minions!"
Beyond the glass, I could see Lee Ji-ah's shocked expression. Her mouth hung open as she stared at her tablet, unable to look away.
"Th-this can't be... That pattern analysis is supercomputer-level? Calculating dozens of variables simultaneously?"
As I kept dodging, the rats' squeaks grew even more precise. Our movements were perfectly synchronized.
"Right now!"
Squeak squeak squeak!
I jerked my head aside, and three balls whizzed past where it had been.
Perfect timing! How did the rats calculate all this? Darkness and White King—truly amazing minions!
The test continued for another three minutes or so, and with the rats' help, I dodged nearly every ball. A great villain doesn't accomplish everything alone—he triumphs with his loyal minions!
"Kakakat! Easy, too easy! Crank up the difficulty next time!"
"Test complete. Solo: C-rank. With rats: A-rank..."
The signal tone sounded, and the balls stopped. I exited the glass wall with the rats.
But Dr. Dark Circle's gaze was unsettling. She narrowed her eyes at the rats.
"How did you train these rats? Their computational power is abnormal for their size... Like countless processors linked in parallel... With two of them, we can't dissect just one, right?"
"Eek! How dare you threaten to dissect this body's loyal minions?!"
Squeak squeak!?
The rats hid behind my head. I could feel their tiny bodies trembling.
"Absolutely not! Both are precious minions! I can't spare a single one!"
The Association Chairman raised a hand to intervene.
"Doctor, let's continue the measurements."
"Fine... Next is strength testing. Over there."
Strength test... This was my chance to show my true power! The mediocre results so far didn't matter—this time, I'd unleash a real villain's might!
"Kakakat! Finally, a test worthy of this body! Destructive power is the most fundamental quality of a villain!"
We headed to one side of the lab. There stood a massive machine straight out of a sci-fi flick. A metal pillar at least three meters tall, with a glowing red circular pad in front. It was surrounded by dense wiring, sensors, and dials measuring energy output.
"Punch Machine 3000. The Association's top strength tester. It even holds the punch bowl records from S-City."
A large monitor on the wall listed past S-rank heroes' records.
"What?! S-rank Park Cheol-gon: 3457? S-rank Titan: 2713? Hmph, just this much? Then this SSS-rank villain body can easily hit 5000!"
"Use any ability or your fists—show your maximum power."
The doctor pointed to the red pad.
Standing before the huge machine in my small body felt intimidating. But this body's villain spirit wouldn't break!
The bald chairman, Goldie, the suited cow... Everyone gathered to watch.
They all looked expectant. Yes, time to show them what this body was made of!
"Alright! Channeling all this body's dignity... Villain Punch!"
Bam!
I struck with my tiny fist as hard as I could. The pillar shook slightly, and a number appeared on the display.
[B-rank Strength: 254]
"...B-rank? B-rank? That's all? This body only rates this much?!"
Something was wrong. This body carried the King's DNA!
"Again! One more! Hero-Crushing Punch!"
I hit harder, but...
[B-rank Strength: 261]
"Again! Heinously Wicked Punch!"
[C-rank Strength: 191]
"What?! It dropped?!"
This made no sense! My villain energy was infinite! Rage and frustration whitened my mind. Something boiled inside me.
"This body... is the strongest villain!!"
My heart pounded like a runaway locomotive, and my horn burned hot.
B-rank? Me? The ultimate villain with the King's DNA?
"I absolutely, absolutely won't accept this! Underestimating this body's power! Tremble in fear right now!"
Destined to rule the world, yet rated average? Heroes wouldn't acknowledge me as a villain, and now machines mocked me too?
Something surged inside. Heat like lava flowing through my veins.
Suddenly, gray energy poured from my forehead horn. A faint glow spreading like mist in the air. My hands wrapped in the same light.
This rage, this energy—all of it...
Every cell from toe to tip awakened for this moment.
Suppressed anger, pent-up frustration, and above all, the burning desire to show my 'true self' fused into one.
"Take this! Grimoire Punch!"
BOOM──!!!
The roar shook the laboratory.
The machine stood firm. At first.
The display rapidly calculated numbers.
[B-rank Strength: 302]
[B-rank Strength: 415]
[A-rank Strength: 527]
[A-rank Strength: 689]
[A-rank Strength: 802]
"What's going on? Why is the machine acting up?"
[S-rank Strength: 1004]
[S-rank Strength: 1228]
[S-rank Strength: 1592]
[S-rank Strength: 1875]
[S-rank Strength: 2038]
The machine creaked and vibrated. Gray energy seemed to course through its circuits.
"What? It just surpassed Titan's 2713!"
"It's approaching the chairman's top record!"
Then the display numbers went haywire.
[S-rank Strength: 3524]
[S-rank Strength: 5217]
[S-rank Strength: 7896]
"Danger! The machine's overloading—"
Beep!!
Before the doctor's warning finished, [9999+] flashed on the display.
Whirr—Boom!
The Punch Machine exploded in a deafening blast.
The metal pillar bent, internal parts flew everywhere across the floor. Smoke billowed endlessly, and the display flickered before dying completely.
"Ah!"
I, I had to run! If the bill went to Everlin, she'd confiscate a week's worth of snacks!
"I didn't do it! The machine was broken to begin with! Th-this body has no money! Can't pay repair fees!"
Squeak squeak—
Darkness and White King covered their faces with tiny paws, averting their eyes. As if they had nothing to do with me! You cowardly traitors!!
Then Dr. Lee Ji-ah shrugged indifferently.
"The machine was old. I've submitted budget requests so many times—should've replaced it ages ago. All the equipment here is over ten years old. Of course it'd blow up.
"Doctor, we can discuss that later—"
"Money for new cars and golf trips, but no budget for research equipment? That's why the K-Hero Association sucks. I should've gone to America... But I got food poisoning the day of my flight..."
The doctor glared at the bald chairman. Her dark circles looked even darker.
"Ah, since it exploded, that auto-approves the budget. Research Division Rule 8-17, emergency handling. Finally, I can get a new machine. Next time, I'll add explosion-proofing."
"Ahem, research budget will be discussed at the next quarterly board meeting."
Luckily, no one demanded repair fees from me. I exchanged joyful glances with the rats.
"Uh... so how strong is this body? S-rank? SS? SSS?"
"Strength estimated B-rank. Exact upper limit unconfirmed."
"What?! B-rank?! After that insane destructive power?"
"That was a machine malfunction. Outlier. Error due to breakdown. Evaluated based on prior measurements."
"Malfunction?! This body was too strong for it to read! Over 9000! It's over 9000!"
"Error. Final value unreliable."
I couldn't accept it. Why was my power capped at B-rank? Something had definitely changed at the end...
"King's DNA, awaken! Great power flowing in this body, respond! ......It won't!"
I pounded other machines, but that intense energy from before didn't surge again.
Seo Jin-ho cautiously interjected.
"Doctor, if that final value was accurate... then..."
"Scientifically impossible. Some other variable intervened. Perhaps..."
Her gaze flicked to my horn, then quickly away.
What was that gray light from my horn? For a moment, this body felt... tremendous power.
Maybe... I haven't fully awakened as a true villain yet?
Still, one thing was certain. Someday, this body would surpass S-rank as a great villain. And then I'd return to smash every one of Dr. Dark Circle's machines! Kakakat!