Villain-Catching Villain (1)
After having coffee with Ida-in and chatting about this and that on the way home, my phone rang right on cue.
By the way, I always end up meeting Ida-in whenever I go out for coffee. Maybe I should grab it somewhere else for a while.
Whatever. Gotta take this call. I had a pretty good idea who it was.
[Yongpali]
Sure enough, it was Yongpali.
“Blank? You free right now?”
Yongpali's tone was urgent.
“This one's a safe job, right?”
A commission, huh.
“No!! It's not about work… well, actually, it kinda is.”
Yongpali stammered like he was in a real bind himself. What's up with him?
“Some guy's looking to meet you… You know Crusher?”
My feet stopped dead at Yongpali's words.
“Crusher…”
Is it about time for him to show up?
Crusher.
The final boss of volume 1. A villain who made his debut with a massive terrorist attack at the Starfield department store in New Seoul.
Rated somewhere between the bottom of A-Rank and the top of B-Rank, he was a pretty strong one. His ability let him manipulate gravity fields—creating localized gravity zones within a certain radius to crush everything inside or suck it in with overwhelming force.
He was tough, but he never rose above the level of a strong side villain in volume 1. He felt like nothing more than a stepping stone to show off Seo Hayun's power. He put on a brutal show during the department store raid, slaughtering tons of civilians, but that seemed to be the peak of his career.
At this point in the story, he should be in the middle of his rampage.
He was just a mook who got taken out in volume 1, but right now, he was seriously powerful. The setting had him rapidly building a sizable organization. In fact, the Starfield terror attack involved a pretty large number of his villain underlings.
“The guy expanding his turf hard in Districts 21 and 22. He's got an interest in you… Look, my life's precious too, so I gave him your info. You can forgive that much, right?”
Yongpali asked glumly.
“…Yeah. Can't be helped.”
What was I supposed to do if Crusher held a knife to his throat and demanded info on me? Yongpali wasn't the type to die for me anyway.
“So what does Crusher want? Recruitment?”
I could guess his playbook.
“Yeah. He said he's coming to see you himself. I, uh, anyway…”
“Got it. I'll handle it.”
This is gonna be a pain.
I swung by my rundown one-room apartment, donned my mask, armed myself with a baseball bat (I'd gotten a spare), and was gazing out at the dreary scene beyond the terrace when five guys appeared on the balcony side.
In the center, a rough-looking guy with spiky hair and armor patched together from scrap waved at me.
'Crusher.'
Just like in the original—straight out of a post-apocalyptic raider boss.
As I headed down, Crusher greeted me.
“Nice to meet you, Blank. You've been making waves lately.”
Crusher flashed an affable smile, but the killing intent in his eyes didn't fade. He scanned my whole body like a viper, ready to strike at any weakness.
“Crusher, right? Route commissions through Yongpali.”
Now what?
“Hahaha! Nah, it's not a commission. A guy like you needs big ambitions. You gonna keep scraping by on handouts forever? C'mon, think big.”
Crusher bantered with a hearty laugh, then straightened up.
“Join our organization, Blank. We're gonna be the new order in this slum. We've already got a bunch of members, and we're about to pull off something huge. Hop on board. With you, we could really make it big.”
Crusher was Crusher through and through, just like in the original.
His ambitions actually made a weird kind of sense.
The villain underworld was split mainly between two major factions: Yeomra, led by the Red Empress, and the Kumi Alliance, a yakuza-style gang ruled by the Japanese villain Kamisato Mizuru. There were others like the Chinese Ilhaphoe gang, but those two were the heaviest hitters organization-wise.
Crusher was aiming to carve out a third force. Absorb unaffiliated C-Rank and D-Rank villains, plus freelance B-Ranks who hadn't picked a side, bulk up, and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the big two. That was the plan.
The quality of manpower might lag behind the established groups, but compensating with sheer numbers had more realism than you'd think.
“You gonna keep bowing to the Red Empress and that Kamisato bastard forever? We're making our own new order! You and me, joining hands!”
Crusher eyed me appraisingly as he ranted.
'…Like hell.'
Knowing the original, I knew his limits. He was a rotten rope through and through—boldly launching that department store terror only to get nabbed right away and retire. No loyalty either. He'd gathered a ton of underlings just to use as cannon fodder, blanketing them and civilians alike with gravity fields and grinding them to paste. A total psycho. Join him, and I'd be cannon fodder No. N.
“We're set to pull off something huge soon. One big score, and even the Hero Association will take notice. You and me, making history!”
“Pass.”
The answer was obvious.
“…”
Crusher's face hardened instantly at the rejection.
“You turn me down? I thought it was a solid offer.”
One refusal, and his mask cracked. Not a big-league guy, huh.
“Not into gang life. Get lost.”
I didn't want to link up with this loser and crash together. And honestly, he was just unlikeable. As a villain looking to expand influence, massacring dozens of civilians? That mindset rubbed me wrong.
“Haven't heard about Districts 21 and 22?”
Crusher went straight to threats, like it was a flex.
“I made a peaceful offer once. The riffraff in 21 turned it down. And the result?”
Crusher clenched his fist right in front of me mid-sentence.
“Smashed flat. Unrecognizable.”
He grinned as he opened his hand wide.
“Bragging about twisting the wrists of beggars in Districts 21 and 22 like it's some big achievement.”
Small-time villain mindset from the jump. The poorest, roughest part of the slums, full of desperate bottom-feeders—and he boasts about playing street boss there. Pathetic.
“This fucker…”
One of Crusher's hotheads charged me.
Woooong.
Some glowy aura formed around his fist. Looked like he was about to use a superpower, but that wasn't my problem.
My swung baseball bat had already smashed into him. The moment it connected, his future was sealed.
Splaaaat.
His body burst spectacularly from the impact-wave bat. The chunks soaked Crusher and his crew.
“…”
They flinched and backed off fast.
Clang.
I propped the blood-slick bat on the ground and drove my point home.
“Don't care what bullshit you pull. But this path to my one-room is my turf. Start trouble here or come at me hostile? You're dead. Anyone.”
So scram.
“W-Who you scared of…?”
“This bastard… You insane?!!”
Watching Crusher's ugly mug twist was more fun than expected.
“You've made the worst choice, Blank.”
“Dunno if it's the worst, but it feels damn good. That shit-eating face suits you, Crusher.”
Aw yeah. Feels great.
“…You son of a bitch. Get ready. This ain't over.”
Crusher spat on the ground and retreated with his goons.
'This ain't over.' Crusher's words proved true the very next day. He sent underlings right away.
About a week after his bold declaration of war, I was facing villain raids three times a day.
After wrapping a simple illegal credit card delivery gig in District 23 and heading home, I spotted the welcoming committee. Not even surprising anymore.
Five villains blocking the tunnel highway on the city outskirts, cars and all, sealing the road completely.
“Blank. Get ready to die.”
A villain with a lizard-mutated upper body flicked his tongue and cracked his knuckles. The others prepped their powers and closed in.
C- or D-Rank small fry, by the look. Not in the original anyway. Just your average villains.
“From Crusher?”
“Yup. Big bounty on your head. Catch you, we get rich.”
The lizard-man crouched low, his slit eyes fixed on me.
“Sounds good.”
Been stressed lately, and Crusher kindly sent perfect sandbags to vent on.
“Been wanting to beat some villains myself. Wanted to be a hero as a kid.”
I drew my bat and twitched the tip.
“This fucker!!!”
“You lookin' down on us?!! Huh?!!”
“Surround him!! Beat his ass!!”
Backed against the tunnel, the villains charged.
At that moment, Seo Hayun, alerted to villains on the District 23 outskirts highway, mobilized immediately.
“We've had reports of a villain called Crusher taking Districts 21 and 22 and expanding. You saw the intel I sent yesterday, right?”
“Yes.”
“This looks like his crew's doing too.”
“Got it. Seal the highway.”
“Dispatching police now.”
According to the Association's data, Crusher was building forces with eyes on District 23. It had turned the district into a powder keg—villain skirmishes spilling over to civilians, piling work on heroes.
'District 23.'
Blank's hunting ground.
One line in the Association's official report caught Seo Hayun's eye.
[Blank and Crusher are currently in opposition]
Blank had been rampaging through District 23, butchering Crusher's underlings indiscriminately. That was his main gig lately.
No civilian terror, just methodically cleaning out Crusher's villains on sight—like he had territorial instincts for 23. Per Association intel, he'd already offed over 15 C- and D-Rank villains. Busier and more diligent than most heroes.
[Given Blank's recent hyperactivity, Blank appears to possess territorial instincts for District 23.]
A new trait on Blank from his latest moves.
“Five villains on the highway.”
“Four villains engaging one villain. All superpowered. Repeat: All superpowered.”
Site updates crackled through the shared police channel in her earpiece.
“The villain fighting the four… is Blank.”
At 'Blank' in her earpiece, Seo Hayun reflexively cranked the light beam output covering her legs.
'Blank… Thought we'd meet soon, and sure enough.'
She'd had a strong hunch it'd be any day now—and her instincts nailed it.
Seo Hayun boosted her output beyond normal and raced to the scene.