I'm Not a Villain (3)
Chomp. Gulp! “…Slow down. You’re going to give yourself indigestion.”
After the woman named Rachel rescued me, we walked straight into a nearby restaurant. It was a fast-food joint that sold hamburgers and all kinds of junk food. The ingredients were clearly cheap; the texture left a lot to be desired. Still, hunger really is the best seasoning. For filling an empty stomach, it was good enough.
“Mmph, mmgrmph…!”
“……What are you even saying? Swallow first, then talk.”
I worked my jaw desperately.
“Gulp! Anyway, who are you?”
“Ha. You ask that awfully fast. Stomach full now, so you finally feel like introducing yourself?”
Rachel’s incredulous stare made me look a little sheepish. But what was I supposed to do? I was starving. I kept shoveling food into my mouth while sneaking glances at the woman sitting across from me.
She was a striking beauty with dark violet hair tied back in a neat ponytail. The uniform-like outfit suggested she held some kind of public office, but that alone wasn’t enough to pin down her exact identity. I couldn’t completely rule out the possibility that she was connected to the lab that had experimented on me. So I kept watching her with wary eyes, every sense on high alert, ready to bolt at the first sign of trouble.
“Just how much are you planning to eat…….”
Rachel pressed a hand to her forehead as she stared at the mountain of wrappers piling up on the tray like a burial mound. Watching me mechanically cram handful after handful of french fries into my mouth as if possessed, she could only click her tongue in disbelief.
After observing me for a while, she slipped a leather wallet from her coat, flipped it open, and showed me the contents. A silver badge glinted under the glow of the neon signs.
“I’m Rachel, detective with the Ark City Public Security Bureau.”
A detective? So she really was a cop. Only after seeing the badge did genuine relief wash over me. Thank god. At the very least, she wasn’t connected to the lab. Though as a civil servant her salary was probably pathetic, meaning the mountain of junk food I’d just demolished had to sting.
Carrying a mix of guilt and gratitude, I swallowed the food in my mouth and mumbled, “I’ll definitely… repay this favor later.”
What I got in return was a look of pure disbelief. Rachel scratched her cheek and gazed down at me with pity.
“You got money?”
“…….”
The direct hit sealed my mouth. Of course I didn’t have a single cent. The only thing I owned was the dusty patient gown on my back.
Seeing my miserable silence, Rachel let out a small, incredulous laugh and shook her head. “Sigh. Fine. Just think of it as charity for a pitiful kid. Don’t worry about it.”
That worked for me. Having nothing to my name made it easier to be shameless. After all, you’re not supposed to refuse kindness. As expected of the people’s staff. I praised her heavily in my head and reached for the remaining burger without a shred of guilt.
“So what’s your name?”
At Rachel’s demand for an introduction, I rolled my eyes. I couldn’t use my real name. It would sound far too local in a place with no Asians in sight. As I racked my brain, the name of an actor I’d liked back on Earth suddenly floated up.
“……Chris. My name is Chris.”
“Chris……”
Rachel repeated it quietly, as if tasting the sound. After thinking for a moment, she stood up.
“Well, I’ve done what I can. I’ll be on my way, kid.”
She adjusted her coat, clearly finished with the full-bellied boy in front of her.
“Where are you going?”
“Where else? Back to the station. Even ten bodies wouldn’t be enough for this job.”
As she turned to leave, I reached out in a hurry and caught the edge of her sleeve. Getting a free meal was great, but I still hadn’t recovered the single most important item for my survival.
“Before you go, please give that back.”
“That…? Oh, you mean this?”
Rachel tilted her head, then understood. Her gaze dropped to the heavy pistol tucked at her waist—the very one I’d grabbed from the lab and she had confiscated.
She let out a small, dumbfounded laugh. “You even know how to shoot?”
Come on, what did she take me for? A former soldier of the Republic of Korea’s army. Even if the pistol looked nothing like the K2 rifle I’d carried until I was sick of it, the basics were the same: load, aim, fire. The principle didn’t change.
“Of course. You pull the trigger and it shoots, right?”
My confident answer made Rachel’s expression shift from disbelief to amusement. She chuckled and ruffled my hair, apparently deciding it was just a cute tantrum. Under the city’s night lights, I really did look like nothing more than a scrawny kid. Whether from the long experiments or my actual age, my thin frame and small stature made me seem even younger. From a detective’s perspective, a skinny boy in a patient gown blinking up at her and claiming he could handle a gun must have looked ridiculous.
She withdrew her hand and lowered her voice, suddenly serious.
“Kid, no matter how rotten this city is, there are still laws. Carrying a firearm without an official permit is clearly illegal. The rule is to confiscate it.”
I silently raised a finger and pointed out the window. The night streets of Ark City reflected there looked both utterly realistic and deeply unsettling. Countless pedestrians passed by. Men strolling under neon signs, even an ordinary-looking auntie carrying a shopping basket—every one of them had a large gun dangling at their waist.
“……Everyone seems to be carrying one.”
My quiet jab made Rachel’s eyes follow my finger. She saw drunkards arguing with shotguns strapped to their hips.
“So do all those people have permits too?”
“That’s……”
Rachel’s mouth clamped shut. Her silent profile spoke volumes about the bitter reality of this insane city. How many of them actually had permits? Most had probably bought their weapons illegally. The easiest way to resist violence is to possess the same power. In a city built on pleasure and brutality, even a cop like her couldn’t deny the ugly truth that existed.
“Haa……”
Rachel let out a long, heavy sigh and rubbed her throbbing temple. Then, as if making up her mind, she reached to her waist, pulled out the heavy pistol, and slid it across the table.
She must have realized a kid like me wouldn’t last long on these brutal streets without a weapon for self-defense.
“Use it carefully. I’m dead serious—don’t ever fire it for stupid reasons. In this city, the second you point that muzzle at the wrong person, you’ll be the one with a hole in your head.”
“Of course.”
I picked up the pistol. The cold, heavy weight of the metal settled into my palm. I tucked it carefully deep inside my patient gown.
Rachel watched me for a moment, then stood and straightened her collar. “Now it’s really time to go.”
Having recovered even the pistol, I had nothing left to regret. I gave her a bright smile and said goodbye.
“Yes, take care, Detective. Thanks for the burgers!”
My soulless, breezy farewell earned me a light fist to the top of my head.
“Ow!”
“Sure, sure. Attitude changes real quick once you’ve gotten everything you want, huh?”
With a dry laugh, she turned and headed for the door. At the last second she glanced back, her eyes carrying a meaningful look. The neon lights reflected strangely in her pupils.
“I hope we never see each other again, kid.”
“……Pardon?”
“If you end up on a detective’s radar again, it means you’ve caused a major incident—or you’re being carried in as a cold corpse. Keep your head down and live quietly.”
A clear warning. Or maybe advice from a senior. With that, Rachel opened the door without looking back and stepped out. The tinkling bell rang as her dark violet ponytail vanished into the neon glow.
*
Where does a vagrant with no identity go? The answer is obvious. Into the real darkness where people in the same situation swarm—the slums.
I left the fast-food restaurant and stepped into the cold night air. Alleys untouched by neon lights were oppressively heavy and gloomy. I felt the pistol’s cold weight against my chest and hugged it carefully through my clothes. In this insane city, it was the only thing that could protect me.
Looking around revealed the city’s bleak scenery in raw detail: people sprawled on the ground, soaked in narcotic chemicals and crude illegal cyberware. I’d filled my stomach, but how was I supposed to survive here from now on? As I passed a stream of wastewater, I sank deep into thought.
That was when a large holographic advertisement flickered to life on the alley wall with a burst of static.
The corporate temptation, laced with the blatant intention of making people forget their miserable reality and taste eternal paradise, was crystal clear.
In that instant, a massive idea flashed through my mind like lightning. A service that implants artificial memories to help people forget reality.
“Mmm……”
Watching a vagrant drooling in the corner from some unidentified drug, I slapped my knee. This crazy city had no dreams. That was why everyone pickled their brains with cheap chemicals to buy fake happiness. Clear demand and supply. And I just happened to possess the exact ability to meet that demand.
A good idea had come to me.