Backstabbing
Backstabbing
"....What?"
"Yes. I knew that disaster would happen, so I destroyed the bridge in advance."
She stared blankly at me after my answer.
Right. She didn't expect me to admit it so readily.
She was probably planning to pressure me by finding flaws in my excuses if I tried to dodge around it.
Not a chance.
"But so what? Now that you know, what exactly are you going to do about it?"
I challenged her instead.
An Ego-Style Secret Technique: the So-What Strategy.
"....No, wait."
She pressed a hand to her forehead as if my brazen admission was giving her a headache.
What, you weren't expecting that answer? Didn't see it coming, did you?
A professional villain knew how to go completely off the rails.
"....Then how did you know that incident was going to happen?"
"Ah. I suppose I must tell you that."
I crossed my arms, looked into her eyes, and said seriously.
"The truth is, I have precognition. I knew what would happen, so I destroyed the bridge in advance."
"...Really?"
No, don't believe that...
"The fact that you believed that tells me you still have a long way to go before you become a hero who can pull her own weight."
I snickered derisively, and she frowned.
"...So it isn't true?"
"Of course not. Where should I even start with this... Just consider it a triumph of modern science."
I took a breath for a moment.
"Weeks ago, my ‘colleagues’ and I hacked Han-eun Group and learned that they were cultivating an uncontrollable giant monster beneath their headquarters. We ran simulations and analyzed what would happen if it escaped, then prepared everything in advance."
"Destroying the bridge was only one of the many safeguards I prepared. I had plans in place for all sorts of contingencies. The bridge just happened to be the one that paid off."
What other contingencies?
Obviously, the monster crossed that bridge in the Original Work, so destroying it was the only thing I had actually done.
But that was how I had to phrase it if I did not want to be treated like a prophet.
....Though, honestly, it was almost the same as seeing the future.
Anyway, that excuse seemed to work well.
She looked slightly confused. Good. Accept it!
Think about all the hacking I had pulled off: hijacking broadcast signals, using macros to transfer money into accounts across the country...
Honestly, with this level of skill, cracking a corporation's security to run simulations? Isn't that obviously possible?
She considered my answer for a moment, then asked, still looking confused.
"No, it's strange."
"What's so strange about it?"
"Why would you care whether other people live or die enough to stop it? You're a villain who toys with civilians and commits terror attacks in the first place."
She glared at me like she couldn't understand it.
I could simply answer it this way.
"Because something like that happening would steal my aggro."
"Aggro?"
"Attention. What defines villains? We do all this for attention. The greatest misery for the greatest number, was it? We want to spread despair to even more people through terror attacks, but if a disaster like that happened, would anyone still pay attention to me? People who had already lost their family and friends wouldn't care whether some stranger on television lived or died. That is why I stopped it."
At my calm words, she looked dumbfounded.
What, it's true.
In reality, when one villain drew attention with a terror attack, no other villain caused one for the next few weeks.
Because the amount of attention they'd receive decreases.
Actually, there were even statistics showing that crime rates had been dropping lately thanks to me going around causing large-scale attacks.
"...So you stopped it to avoid losing the attention?"
"Yes. Precisely."
"........"
"What kind of answer were you even expecting? Did you think I suddenly realized the goodness within me and awakened as a hero who goes around saving people? The truth is usually blander than you think."
I just smiled and said that.
....But honestly, the real truth was that I had done it to save people and keep this world from turning into a bleak tragedy.
But if I told her that, what would she think of me? Her Hyper Sense might let her uncover the truth about me outright.
The fact that every attack I staged and every other villain I killed indiscriminately were all meant to protect this world.
The fact that I didn't actually enjoy tormenting people and was only doing it for her.
The fact that all of this is solely to ensure this world's peace and to prevent her misfortune.
Of course, I didn't think she would deduce all of this.
On the surface, I was an outlaw who acted above the law, a terrorist who tormented the weak.
Still, there's no harm in being careful in advance.
And right when I finished talking, the Shield Barrier at the door began to rise back up to the ceiling.
I lifted my head and checked the time; three hours had passed before I knew it.
The door finally opened.
Escape from this awkward room, at last!
She still had a puzzled look on her face.
Haah. I supposed I had to say this one thing too. I couldn't stand it; it was too frustrating.
"....And whether I save people or do anything else, I'm still an outlaw and a terrorist who plays above the law. In other words, I'm a villain. I'm adding that because you seem to be getting strange ideas."
So stop suspecting me.
I was definitely a villain! It felt like she had been trying to force me into the Black Hero category for a while, and it was bewildering. I had never heard that Stardus believed people were inherently good. Why did she keep trying to whitewash me?
Her expression seemed to fill with even more suspicion at my words, so I gave up thinking about it.
Fine. She would understand once it happened to her.
Still, for now she didn't really refute my words and just quietly stood up.
Well, my explanation was logically consistent enough. What more was there for her to question?
...But how had this suddenly turned into her interrogating me while I made excuses? I had only come here for a power-up event. How had I gotten tangled up in this...?
And so, we continued forward.
Well, after that we didn't say much to each other. We just advanced, defeating the monsters that popped out one by one.
...No, I really don't know what kind of situation this is.
A hero and a villain stuck together, exploring the underground. I had suggested it, but it was a truly strange sight.
She knew I could escape instantly, so she didn't attack me. She just watched me, as if determined to figure out what I was trying to do.
I did not attack her because I had no intention of doing so. Villains mindlessly attacking heroes might have been common sense in this world... but why would I?
So we maintained this awkward companionship.
Especially after that back-and-forth in the room earlier, it seemed even more awkward.
Sometimes she would just stare at me, and it was creepy. What on earth was she thinking?
I walked like that, following behind her.
I absolutely didn't take the lead. The possibility of being backstabbed and dragged to the bottom of the Association was far too high.
Neither of us attacked the other, but neither let the other go their own way, so we traveled together under the strange title of temporary allies.
We had taken out practically every monster we saw along the way, so it felt as though we had dealt with all of them by then.
Though I hadn't seen that teleporting monster. Had it already escaped? Well, the other heroes would deal with that one.
I just wanted to grab Behemoth and get out of there.
...No.
Before she realizes my true nature with that intuition of hers.
Maybe I needed to educate her about what a real villain was.
In the first place, huh? Does it make sense for a hero to have a villain right next to her, doing nothing and letting her guard down?
Is she out of her mind or what?
Anyway, we finally arrived at the end.
A large space in the deepest part of the underground, with a broken water tank there.
"Behemoth...?"
She muttered, looking at the letters written in front of the tank.
Right. She finally knew the monster’s name too.
The space was empty, filled only with sticky green slime that had leaked from the tank.
Broken computers and papers were scattered everywhere.
The researchers must have fled in advance. They really were good at running away.
Anyway, we also went into the room next to it.
The next room had a high ceiling. It was smaller than the chamber with the tank, but still spacious.
In the middle of this room, there was something like an incubator.
A small black tentacle inside it.
Hah. I had finally found it.
Now I only had to grab it and run. I only had to run, but...
I glanced at Stardus.
She wasn't paying any attention to me, just rummaging through materials at a desk in the corner.
...I didn't like it.
Why was she not paying attention to me?
No, I didn't mean it in a strange way.
Is it right for a hero to be so defenseless with a villain right beside her?
A true hero must always be wary of villains.
I didn't know what made her trust me enough to let me act so freely.
Why is she so fearless?
"...."
This won't do.
Originally I was planning to just grab Behemoth and run while she was distracted.
I needed to teach her some of the world's bitterness before I left.
Resolving that, I slowly approached the incubator.
Showtime.
***
"...What is this now?"
She muttered, looking at the incubator in the middle of the wide room.
This room at the very end of the secret research lab.
Inside it was an incubator that looked suspicious at a glance.
And the black tentacle inside it.
This was probably the thing Han-eun Group wanted to protect the most.
Glancing sideways, she saw Egostic watching the incubator with intense interest.
"Don't touch it. I'm sending that to the Association for now."
"Yes, yes. Of course."
He raised both hands and smiled brightly, as if to show that he would not do anything.
"...."
That look on his face brought back what had happened in the room earlier.
Even when she had lost all her power and was helpless, he had given her a bandage without laying a hand on her.
His words that he destroyed the bridge knowing everything, but it wasn't exactly to save people.
His words adding that he was a villain, so she shouldn't suspect him.
All of it combined.
She became even less certain what to make of Egostic.
He was unquestionably a villain—an outlaw who played above the law and carried out terror attacks against civilians.
But then why?
Why did everything he said make her feel that he was hiding some deeper truth?
Why did her wariness strangely fade whenever she was beside him?
'...Why do I keep thinking like this?'
She shook her head and pushed away the thoughts.
For now, focus on the matter at hand.
She headed toward the desk in one corner of the room.
There should be information about that thing here.
And she found it.
A report written about that thing.
*
《RKCB-001》
[Tentative Name] Behemoth
*
While she was reading the description.
More precisely, while her guard was down.
Then a low voice came from Egostic's direction.
"Awaken. Behemoth."
At the same moment, something shattered with a crash.
Stardus hurriedly spun around at the sudden noise, but...
It was already over.
The incubator was already shattering.
Something black and ominous was wrapping itself around Egostic’s arm.
Amid all the chaos.
Egostic looked toward Stardus and smiled quietly.
Still smiling, he spoke to her.
"Stardus. Do you know something?"
"Backstabbing is all about timing."