The Neighbor's Identity
'Who the hell moved in next door.'
It wasn't that strange a thought. This was right around the early days after I got isekai'd here. Back then, someone actually lived next door.
But they didn't last long. They turned up dead, stabbed all over their body. I heard they were in the same line of work as me—unfortunately, they'd let their enemies find out their address. Happens all the time in this business. People who get careless at home and end up ambushed.
That morning was a total shitshow. From dawn, crowds showed up to haul the body away, making a huge fuss. Once the corpse collectors were gone, the slums' bottom-feeders swarmed in like crazy, stripping the place of anything worth a dime. It wasn't until the landlord sealed the door that the scavengers finally backed off.
That was my crash course in what it means to live as a villain in this world. Or maybe I should say, I finally grasped just how terrifying life in the slums could be. I vowed to keep my wits about me and stay sharp.
And now, finally, someone had moved into that corpse-ridden apartment next door.
Click.
I opened the door, and there stood a petite woman in the hallway.
'No life force.'
I half-expected her to charge at me with a weapon or activate some superpower, but she showed no signs of it.
Messy purple hair, casual clothes draped loosely over her frame, a neat face that was a bit on the pale side but still firmly in beauty territory.
She looked familiar, and then it hit me.
"Ah."
No way. Her?
"…."
The girl looked up at me with purple eyes that matched her hair, staring blankly.
About three seconds of eye contact passed.
"Um."
Shouldn't I say something? Was she planning a staring contest in the hallway? Me and this mystery neighbor just kept locking eyes.
Up close like this, it clicked.
'She's the real deal.'
It was Purple Rat, the A-rank villain from the late stages of the story. No way I'd gotten it wrong. But her showing up now?
That aside, Purple Rat's face was going ghostly pale as she stared at me. It was getting whiter by the second. Not my imagination.
About three seconds later.
"…."
Purple Rat rolled her eyes back dramatically and faceplanted onto the floor.
I reflexively lunged forward and caught her as she collapsed. I checked her pulse—she was limp in my arms, but her heartbeat was steady. Just passed out.
I had no clue what the hell was going on, but I couldn't just leave her sprawled in the rundown one-room hallway.
Best to bring her inside for now. Maybe get some answers on why a late-story Purple Rat had popped up here.
———
Thirty minutes later, while I was taking care of business, I heard rustling from the bed.
"…Hah!!"
Purple Rat bolted upright, whipping her head around the room.
"…."
Her face flushed beet red when her eyes met mine.
"S-Sorry… I just blacked out suddenly… I was, um, too nervous."
She bowed her head repeatedly in apology. But who faints from plain old nerves?
"No worries. You okay? Uh…."
"Oh. My name's Lin Lang."
"Lin Lang, huh."
She introduced herself. I'd wondered what Purple Rat's real name was—turns out it's Lin Lang. Chinese descent, which made sense in this near-future world of Hero Chronicle. Koreans, Chinese, Japanese, Russians, all mixed together.
Even top-tier heroes switched nationalities for better deals all the time. Heroes and villains alike chased the highest bidder. Purple Rat—no, Lin Lang—was probably one of those cases.
'The world's top hacker shows up at this point.'
As an A-rank villain, Purple Rat put on a performance that justified calling her the strongest hacker in the setting. She debuted around volume 15, right as the story ramped into its mid-to-late game with massive power creep.
By the late game, most scrub villains got one-shot by Seo Ha-yoon or Ida-in. For Purple Rat to make a lasting impression on readers there meant she was a heavy hitter.
What made Purple Rat stand out was pulling off insane feats without any combat-type superpower.
Her ability was Cyberization. At first glance, it seemed basic: create a data clone made of 0s and 1s, like an out-of-body experience.
But in a modern world? Nothing more terrifying. Any machine her data clone slipped into became hers to hack. The manhwa depicted her shoving clones into devices and swimming through seas of electrons— a flashy, comic way to show hacking.
Just insert a clone, and it was game over. Not limited to internet like regular hackers. Closed intranets, offline circuits, sealed machines—she could hijack them all.
In volume 16, she cracked the Defense Ministry's intranet, seized a fleet of combat drones, and unleashed terror. Sure, she lacked personal physical power, but stash the real body somewhere safe, and problem solved.
'She was pretty popular with the fans.'
With her otaku hobbies and shy, gloomy vibe, she hit that niche appeal. The kind of character you kinda want to look after, like a small animal. Plus, the comedy of her timid personality clashing with galaxy-brain crime scales.
'Her showing up now.'
Come to think of it, Purple Rat was a sudden drop-in villain at volume 15. No big backstory. There was zero info on what she was up to in the early volumes, like right now around volume 2. As an isekai reader-turned-villain, I didn't know off-screen stuff.
Time to chat and find out. We'd bumped into each other as neighbors in this rundown one-room—perfect excuse to build rapport and extract info.
"U-Um, u-uh, I-I-I…."
Lin Lang was stuttering like crazy, trembling all over as she looked at me. It was spring—no chill in the air—yet she shook like a massage chair. Made me worry a bit.
"Wh-Why are you shaking like that? Cold? Want me to crank the heat?"
Ah. Couldn't resist teasing her stutter.
"H-Hueeek…."
Her face went even redder at my jab. I was ready to apologize if she got upset, but she seemed fine. Unfazed by my tease, she wore this epic, solemn expression like she was waging some inner war. Then she dove into deep belly breathing, building up dramatically before belting out:
"Y-You're the villain 「Blank」, right…? I never dreamed I'd meet you in the flesh. Ehehhehe. I actually moved next door just to see you in person. Hehehehe."
Lin Lang flashed a creepy grin that caught me off guard.
"Where'd you hear that?"
Dumb question—I realized it immediately. For a hacker like her, digging up villain 「Blank」's identity and address was child's play. The real question was:
'Why come to me?'
That was the mystery.
"U-Um… I'm a fan of Blank! Been one since your first terror attack… I've watched every video of you, even did a pilgrimage to those sites!"
She whispered at first, then her voice shot up excitedly.
"…A fan?"
Fan? Me?
"Um, c-could you sign this…?"
Lin Lang fumbled in her pocket and pulled out a jagged chunk of rock. The sharp edge had dried blood on it—I flinched involuntarily.
"It's a fragment of the asphalt shard that stabbed Blank in the side during the Starfield terror attack. Hehe. Took forever to snag it."
She beamed like it was no big deal, hyping up the rock's memorabilia value. Did this even matter?
"So that's my blood on it, then."
Thinking of it as my blood brought back the pain from my fight with Crusher. No wonder it hurt—getting hit by a chunk like that.
"Yes! That's why it's valuable! Blank's sacred blood!"
She held the asphalt piece like priceless treasure.
"…."
This girl's lost it. Who'd guess original Purple Rat had this side? Where'd the twistiness start?
"Oh. I'm actually the admin of the 'Blank Fan Cafe.'"
Then, with chest puffed proudly, hand over heart, she dropped that bombshell like it was her greatest achievement.
'Huh. Decent size….'
I snapped out of ogling her confident chest.
"There's a fan cafe?"
What fresh bullshit was this?
"Yep! Pretty big membership… You didn't know? Blank really is a big deal. Ignoring the world's opinions, walking your own path… So cool."
Lin Lang pulled out a tablet, fiddled with the screen, and showed me.
"Membership's low, but traffic's insane. It'll skyrocket soon. Hehehuhi."
"No, 5,000 is plenty."
I figured they were half-joking sign-ups, but the posts were scarily serious. Pages of unhinged heads genuinely praising Blank.
No matter how much meta-knowledge I flexed, I couldn't see what villain appeal Blank had to draw fans.
"Oh. This is the 'Blank Minor Board' I run now…! Used to be full of assholes badmouthing you, but me and the fan cafe turned it around with terraforming—er, holy war. Made it a fan board!"
Lin Lang described her grubby keyboard crusades like some grand crusade.
"Those suspiciously positive replies piling up on dark web posts about me… That was you guys?"
"Yes! Our fan cafe's mission!! One positive Blank comment a day."
"Why go that far?"
A primal fear of the unknown was budding.
This chick's scary…!!!
'A concept? An act?'
Maybe it was all a front? But what'd she gain? Better disguises exist for infiltration.
Still, true villains turn even fear into opportunity. Whatever her angle, Lin Lang was useful talent. And right now, I needed a hacker bad.
"Lin Lang."
I called her straight up.
"Y-Yes?!"
She'd been chattering nonstop, but snapped her head up to stare at me.
"Wanna do a job with me?"
If she was really my fan, maybe I could get her on passion pay? Perfect timing.