The Warped Hero's Meltdown

I stopped dead in my tracks and glared at him. Bin Chi-seung stared back at me for a moment before suddenly bursting into wild laughter.

"······."

"...Hey. Stop looking at me like that... You're going to die anyway. Why not enjoy this moment while you're still alive?"

"······."

"Ha— don't be like that. It's no fun at all. I just want to have a conversation. Honestly, this is almost the first time I've ever talked to someone as impressive as you. First of all, I'm curious—how did you even find this place?"

The system told me to kill you.

"···I never reported my second awakening, and I haven't done anything recently that would leave a trail... Of course, I made a few mistakes right after awakening and got followed a couple times. That taught me a very important lesson. That's why I poured everything I had into perfecting this space. And you just tore it all down."

Poured everything into it?

If a man with this level of talent had devoted his heart and soul to creating this space, it made sense why I was struggling so much.

About nineteen minutes left.

I fell into thought for a moment. Dolls that appeared and vanished in an instant from anywhere, and Bin Chi-seung who wielded that ability with perfect freedom while using them as shields. On top of that, his physical abilities were in the mid-tier of B-rank, his massive mana reserves, and his shamanic powers that he hadn't even revealed yet.

I made a cold assessment.

In this state... it's going to be hard to win. Of all places to drop into, I really got screwed over.

Under the current conditions, I couldn't think of any way to win while also protecting the dolls. I could tell instinctively without even needing to fight. If I pushed myself, I might win the battle, but the image of losing the war was crystal clear.

I can't return home until the Mimicry duration completely runs out... Even if I force my way out of this space, he'll notice. In that case...

"Hey, look at this. I'll even make an oath, okay? I swear you won't suffer any disadvantage no matter what you say. So let's talk. Like real men! Huh?"

What is this guy even saying...

But his suggestion aligned perfectly with the plan I had in mind, so I gave him a nod.

"Ooh— y-yeah, that's right. Here, sign the oath form too."

I stared for a moment at the female doll that flew over and handed me the document. The sight of her fingers bent at unnatural angles made me frown instinctively, but I soon accepted the paper and signed it. It was an oath form with no tricks attached. In fact, no trickery was possible at all. That was a truth close to the laws of this world, so I didn't doubt it. That must have been why neither Yeonhee nor Kang Yeonsu had suspected the guild contract either.

I wonder how that bastard Jo Giman managed to tamper with it.

It made me realize once again just how alien that guy truly was.

After watching me sign, he sat down on a grotesquely shaped chair and gestured for me to take the seat across from him. Of course, it wasn't a normal chair. It was a chair built from stacked dolls. I couldn't bring myself to sit on top of dolls drooling saliva and blood from their mouths. I stood beside the chair, stroked my chin once with my palm, and spoke.

"What kind of trick is this? In this space you should have absolute power anyway."

Why wasn't he attacking me and instead suggesting this pointless conversation?

"That's obvious! I want to continue my hero activities for a long time. I need to know how you figured out my identity and entered the Doll Room. This room isn't somewhere just anyone can barge into! So tell me. Unless you want to spend the rest of your life screaming and begging to be killed while regretting everything."

The moment I spoke without sitting down, his mana began to fluctuate wildly on its own.

He must have done something to this chair. He's getting angry because I didn't follow his suggestion... Having an existence like me in his own space—one he can't fully understand—must be uncomfortable for him. What a hard-to-read guy.

He clearly judged that he couldn't easily overpower me, which was why he was engaging in this tedious battle of wits. The beads of sweat forming on Bin Chi-seung's forehead told me ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that even he himself hadn't realized how urgent the situation had become.

I let out a small sigh and said,

"Fine. Let's sit down and talk calmly."

I sat on the doll chair just as he had offered. A soggy sensation traveled up through my buttocks. The hot liquid spurting from the dolls' mouths that ran down my legs was extremely unpleasant. The moment I sat down, color returned to his face.

"Y-yeah! It's pretty comfortable once you sit, right? I made each and every one of these works with great care. You have no idea how much effort I put in. Heeheeheek—"

"It certainly looks that way."

I gave a half-hearted response while focusing my senses on the surroundings, monitoring whether he was trying anything. The chair hadn't felt any different before I sat down, and even after sitting, nothing in particular happened.

"By the way, you're really handsome. You've had plastic surgery, haven't you? From the way you talk, you seem like a Seoul native. If they can change someone that much, maybe I should consider it too? How much did the estimate come out to? Your original face must have been small, right? Can they adjust head size too?"

"···In this day and age, is there anything that can't be done? If you want, I can introduce you."

"Kukukuk— Really? If you just write the hospital name on this paper—"

With an expression full of anticipation, he handed me a sheet of paper.

He was serious...

I scribbled down the address of the White Knight Guild headquarters and handed it back to him.

"Ooh..."

After that, I spent time engaging in completely meaningless conversation with him until the duration of Mimicry was nearly over.

"This bitch called our staff dozens of times a day under the pretense of filing complaints. And this old man got drunk and beat a bus driver for no reason, putting him in critical condition. And then... don't be surprised by this tattooed guy. He's still a teenager? With that face? On top of that, more than five kids dropped out of school because he bullied them. What do you think? Getting the picture?"

Bin Chi-seung was giving me a long speech about how much he was contributing to society.

He's only talking about the most plausible ones.

The sins committed by the people he mentioned were indeed bad enough to deserve being canceled online. But there were surely far more people whose lives he had ruined over trivial things that simply rubbed him the wrong way—yet he never once mentioned those cases. As proof, he kept changing the appearances of about twenty dolls while fabricating lies. It seemed there was some restriction that prevented him from making up stories unless they were about dolls who had truly done terrible things.

"Impressive. You really were purging society by dealing with such vile people."

"Y-yeah! Khyahyahak! Having someone who recognizes my achievements... it doesn't feel bad at all?"

The more I kept agreeing with him, the more excited he became, talking with increasing fervor and passion.

60, 59, 58, 57···.

But the time I had been waiting for was steadily approaching. Eventually, he seemed satisfied with how much he had rambled and paused for a while, leading to a tense standoff.

"······."

"······."

In the midst of that strange tension, he spoke in a slightly subdued voice.

"Let me say it again—I won't kill you. Anyone who enters this space must become part of my collection. Especially someone with a beautiful face like yours... I might be able to manifest the ability someday and make it mine."

"Maybe so."

"Hmph, still full of composure. Fine. I'll ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠tell you about the abilities I possess. Let's see if you can keep that relaxed attitude after hearing them."

"······."

He cleared his throat and began explaining his unique abilities. But I deliberately blocked my senses so I couldn't hear a single sound.

30, 29, 28···.

It wasn't exact, but everything he was doing now was probably part of the buildup to activating his ability. He was confident enough to claim he could add me to his collection. A truly incredible power.

I'm starting to feel it now. It's so faint I can barely sense it even when focusing.

Seeing the sudden sharp rise in mana density throughout the space and Bin Chi-seung himself, whatever he was babbling about now must have been the final condition—or the step right before it.

"The second one is even more amazing than the first. This is actually the core part—every time I add a female doll, my mana ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and agility increase by a certain percentage. It's an incredible option—"

3, 2, 1.

"And every time I add a male doll, my shamanic power— Huh? HUUH?! Where did he go?! What the hell?!"

The intruder had vanished without the slightest warning. Bin Chi-seung, who had been chattering excitedly, shot to his feet and frantically looked around the space.

"He's gone... He really disappeared? That's impossible...! He can leave whenever he wants? This can't be happening!"

Bin Chi-seung had been fulfilling the conditions one by one and had finally reached the last stage of adding the intruder to his collection. That meant the intruder had been gradually merging into the space. Yet he hadn't sensed anything at all? This insane space ability came with the condition that no ability to leave the room could be used—how the hell?

Since he had believed without a doubt that he would soon achieve complete domination, his shock was beyond words.

I've heard that shadow-type abilities can do something like that. Moving to designated coordinates... But that should be impossible here too, right?

This place was a boundary space where reality and Bin Chi-seung's shamanism were moderately mixed. Physical coordinates like that couldn't exist here.

"I don't get it... But he can't possibly use such an incredible ability repeatedly. First, I need to figure out how he even got in here—"

In the mere few dozen seconds after the intruder left, the great villain Bin Chi-seung fell into extreme confusion, but that only lasted a moment. The emotion that followed was utter exhaustion and emptiness. The man who had seemed to understand and empathize with him was now gone.

"Was I... wanting recognition... Kukukuk."

A hollow laugh escaped him. He had prided himself on purifying the world from the shadows, yet here he was, babbling desperately for someone to notice him.

"Huu— I need to reorganize the space quickly. That phrase saying you can't leave the room using abilities seems to leave some loophole for instantly disappearing from the space. I'll have to revise this."

He was a villain living in a twisted mindset, but his talent was extraordinary. The kind of genius the world called a prodigy—someone who could manifest at least similar abilities to whatever he desperately desired.

"I'll need to make the space closer to an absolute inviolable zone... To do that, I'll have to narrow the conditions a bit more. Will that be okay?"

Even if that man invaded again before ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he could reinforce the space, it wouldn't matter. In fact, it would be welcome. Even if he came back, the conditions that had been satisfied earlier wouldn't disappear.

"Just come. This time I'll throw every single doll at you, tie you down, and beat the—"

"Gurgh?!"

A blood-soaked greatsword pierced through the abdomen of Bin Chi-seung, who had been muttering to himself nonstop, causing a fountain of red to erupt.

"This bastard's still talking. Who are you planning to beat up?"

"Grrrrk...! You... you son of a—"

"Kwaaaaagh!"

"Gweeeeuuurgh...!"

Various elemental attacks violently tore into him in the blink of an eye. The strong acid spat from his mouth melted his already ugly face into something even more hideous. With flames and lightning added on top, he writhed in such agony that even the paralyzing poison from the venomous thorns had no effect whatsoever.