I Became a Likable Villain
I Became a Likable Villain
I really liked Stardus.
Stardus. The protagonist of the manhwa [Stardust!].
Why did I like Stardus?
Well, first and most obviously: she was pretty. The artwork had made her beautiful.
But beyond that, I loved the gap between her everyday self and her hero persona.
In daily life, she was just an ordinary, slightly blunt girl. When she was on duty, though, she put on that uniquely awkward tone—'You villain! What do you think you're doing?!'—and honestly, it was hilarious to watch.
I wasn't sure whether she did it to separate her normal life from hero work or to hide the way she normally spoke. Honestly, I suspected she simply thought it sounded cool...
Still, the thing I liked most of all was her sense of justice.
After her parents died in a villain attack when she was little, she nurtured a relentless hatred and desire for revenge against villains.
That was the girl who dreamed of becoming a hero.
But she had no superpower, no ability whatsoever.
So she could only pray to the stars.
Please let me awaken a power.
Please let me take revenge on those villains with my own hands.
Did the stars answer her plea?
A superpower came to her like a miracle.
When her power awakened, her hair began to turn a starlight gold—something no one else experienced.
That was the name she chose for herself: Stardust.
Rumor had it the Hero Association had said five syllables was too long and shortened it to Stardus.
Anyway, her hero career began with revenge, but after countless incidents she came to realize the truth.
A hero wasn't someone who simply beat up villains. A hero protected civilians.
And so she became a true hero.
When I was a kid, I got completely absorbed in her story.
Honestly, there were plenty of heroes with more impressive narratives or moral philosophies, but I thought she'd become my favorite character because she was Korean. Her story had resonated with me.
...Why am I rambling on like this?
Because my favorite character suddenly appeared right before my eyes.
"Egostic!"
"Stardus?"
No.
What the hell is this?
I was in a crowded place.
I'd accomplished my goal of eliminating Teleporter and was about to head home.
I'd meant to do it quietly, but I'd drawn way too much attention, which was awkward.
And then—ta-da! Stardus showed up.
How long had I even been there for her to show up already...?
Because of the crowd, she hadn't even managed to land yet and was hovering pathetically, so I watched her for a moment.
Sweat was pouring off her like rain. She must have flown here in a frantic hurry. She'd probably taken off the second she heard I was here. Still, she'd at least managed to get into her trademark red latex suit.
"Egostic, you—!"
"Yes, yes. I'm listening."
[Bro, what are you doing? Get back here!]
Hang on, Seo-eun.
My favorite character literally flew all the way here just to see me. I should at least hear what she has to say.
With this big a crowd watching, how humiliated and embarrassed would she be if I suddenly went poof and vanished?
"You. What did you just do?"
Stardus glanced at Teleporter lying crumpled at my feet, then fixed a glare on me.
The crowd had already decided we were about to fight and watched with eager anticipation. Seriously, what if they got hurt? Wow, they were actually pulling out their phones and recording too. Had they already been recording? That might have been even worse...
In front of these citizens with no sense of danger, I decided to play along with Stardus a little longer.
"What did I do? I merely eliminated a parasitic villain. I simply did the work that heroes ought to do—the kind of work people like you should be doing. Well, you don't have to thank me. I didn't do it to be thanked. Haha!"
"You—"
I could see a vein bulging on Stardus's forehead from where I stood. Her face went bright red—she was genuinely furious. Uh, what was wrong? Had I said something that bad? Her whole body was trembling as though she might throw her act out the window at any second... I hoped it wouldn't become a real problem.
Before she could erupt in anger, I hurriedly spoke first.
"Of course! Of course it's true that I took the law into my own hands instead of relying on the authorities! But I believe there are mitigating circumstances. Teleporter was designated A-rank because of the danger posed by his ability and the risk that he'd flee, wasn't he? And heroes are allowed to carry out summary executions in the field against A-rank villains at their discretion, aren't they?"
The moment I finished, she shot back as if she'd been waiting.
"Yes, it's possible. But—does that make you a hero?"
From her expression, she clearly wanted to pounce and deck me right then and there. But she also knew that the moment she did, I'd run, and nearby civilians could get caught up in it, so she held back. Hm. Staying here any longer didn't seem likely to help. It was time to start looking for an opening to escape.
"Well, I understand what you're saying, Stardus. Even scum who deserves to die can only be killed by a hero—if a villain like me does it, there's no meaning. A truly uncompromising sense of justice. Exactly what I'd expect from you."
For the moment, I'd basically defended Stardus.
Phase one of my plan to make Stardus the most beloved hero: praise her.
If Chulsoo says, "I'm great at studying," it sounds kind of suspicious. But if his rival Yeonghee says, "Say what you will about him, I have to admit—he really is a great student," then people finally think, "Ah, so Chulsoo really is that good." Nothing works better than praise from your rival!
Seemed the crowd saw it differently, though.
"What, are only heroes allowed to take down villains?"
"Who does she think she is... Ugh, so obnoxious."
Suddenly, murmurs spread all around me... Had they lost their minds?
Seriously, one thing I'd noticed since ending up in this world was that the people here were a little off. A complete lack of danger awareness was only the baseline, and now, when a hero and villain were in a standoff, they started siding with the villain. Were they actually out of their minds?
"She shows up after everything is already done and then acts like that. Unbelievable."
"Honestly, what did Egostic even do wrong?"
As I kept hearing those reactions from the public, I nearly lost it.
Was this conversation I was hearing even real?
The louder the murmuring around us grew, the more both our expressions hardened.
The target of the criticism shifted from me to Stardus, and the innocent hero began taking abuse instead. It was bizarre.
What the hell was going on? Had seeing blood simply driven people insane?
Anyway, this wasn't what I wanted. I wanted me to get the hate and Stardus to get the praise. I never imagined it would turn into this.
Why on earth are civilians taking the villain's side? What is this?
Stardus's expression was also growing stiffer as the public sentiment took a strange turn. I felt the urgent need to do damage control. So I hurried to speak.
"I didn't—I didn't say I did anything good either! I merely asked if that wasn't the case! I'm going to keep committing all sorts of... um, misdeeds from now on, so I hope you, Stardus, will do your utmost to stop me! Well then, uh... I'll be off!"
I fired off the words in a rush, swept my cape forward, and teleported. Something felt off. It was time to run.
The moment I teleported, my vision spun and my stomach heaved. I couldn't even stand properly and ended up collapsing. I'd already pushed myself too hard catching Teleporter, and another long-distance jump was more than my body could take.
"Huff... huff..."
While I lay there barely managing to breathe, the door burst open and someone rushed in.
"Big bro!"
It was Seo-eun. She dashed over and started struggling to grab hold of me and lift me up.
"Ugh, why are you so heavy! Big bro, snap out of it! I can't do this—Soo-bin, help me!"
"Yeah! I'm coming!"
A moment later, Soo-bin rushed in. At least I guessed it was Soo-bin, since I was lying there unable to even open my eyes. Man, at this rate I might actually die.
"Okay, one, two! Lift!"
Soon the two of them were straining to move me. Honestly, Seo-eun wasn't much help—it felt like Soo-bin was carrying me on her own—but I didn't say anything. Couldn't say anything, really.
Watching two girls drag my body along, I did feel kind of sorry. And embarrassed. Except right now I truly couldn't move a single finger.
"Haah, from now on, please teleport right in front of the fatigue recovery machine, big bro."
After finally managing to get me into the fatigue-recovery capsule, Seo-eun wheezed those words at me. Yeah, I'd have to do that from then on. I'd been out of it earlier.
"...Th... anks..."
"If you get it, then hurry up and rest. You look half dead."
Seo-eun grumbled as she took care of me, then left.
Soo-bin, who'd been beside her, clenched her fist in a cheering pose and called, 'Get well soon!' before heading out too. Cute.
And there I was, collapsed.
I needed to sleep deeply and recover, but my mind wouldn't let me rest because of one worry.
Because of those voices—the ones murmuring about Stardus earlier.
***
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