Become My Comrade
"Become my comrade."
"Linrang-ssi. Let's do some work together."
Linrang was useful. What I needed most right now was a brain to gather info and handle things smartly. And at the same time, a free agent talent who didn't belong to any organization. Purple Rat, Linrang—she seemed suspicious, but she fit the conditions I'd set perfectly. I couldn't afford not to use her.
"W-With Blank-nim...? Work...? You'll give me something to do...?"
Linrang suddenly prostrated herself flat, staring at me with eyes so pure they were almost terrifying. That gaze was scary in itself. It looked just like the eyes of someone deep in a cult. Even scarier for that reason.
Is this a concept? Or the real deal?
She could be faking being my fan to stab me in the back, but it might be genuine too. Either way, the fact that I could use her right here and now hadn't changed.
My fan, an A-rank villain, was moving in next door. It was an overly convenient plot twist.
But let's enjoy a bit of convenient plotting for once.
I'm a possessor, after all. As a classic possessor, this kind of convenience should happen now and then, right? I'd been handling things too straightforwardly up to now. This finally made me feel like a real possessor.
"B-But... will I even be helpful? I don't even have a villain rank yet.... And my combat power is pathetic...."
Linrang suddenly looked downcast, hanging her head.
She's not an A-rank villain yet, huh.
Makes sense—this was the very early stage of the story. She might not have built her villain career yet. Just a villain with A-rank potential.
"Linrang, you're good with the internet, right? You run a fan cafe, so I figured."
I knew her talents, but admitting it outright might cause misunderstandings, so I probed casually.
"Ah.... The internet. Yeah. I can hack.... And gather info too. Hehehehuhihi."
Linrang broke into a goofy grin, twiddling her fingers. Her laugh was unique, to say the least. But teasing her about it might make her shut down emotionally, so I let it slide.
"I want you to help with my work. As for pay...."
Pay was tricky to set regularly. Passion pay work?
"I'll do it!! If I can help Blank-nim!!"
Linrang answered instantly. Using her fan heart for passion pay made me feel a little guilty. Like a total sleazy boss.
Wait. I'm a villain.
Did villains need to sweat the labor laws? My guilt eased a bit.
"B-But before we start working.... Can I ask what Blank-nim's goal is?"
Linrang suddenly turned serious, throwing the question at me.
"...Goal."
Maybe because she's my fan. Or to probe my intentions. Might as well set a grand cause now. If I was going to build an organization later, we'd need a shared goal.
"My goal is.... world peace. But before world peace, let's aim for peace in this country first."
A great way to craft a grand cause: start by scaling it up big.
"Peace...."
Linrang clasped her small hands like she was praying, staring at me. That pose was a bit much—tone it down?
"We can't leave the role of achieving peace to the Hero Association or the rotten government. Most heroes have already lost their noble sense of purpose for peace and act like celebrities. I have no intention of calling the pigs of consumerist society 'heroes.' Aside from a tiny few, they're all rotten."
"You're right...."
Her reaction made me feel like I'd become a cult leader. But it wasn't wrong. The government and Hero Association had long since become interest groups. By the mid-to-late story, they were more villainous than villains. Nicely put, patriots; harshly, a cesspool of radical nationalists.
Heroes were the same. Most focused on living flashy influencer lives—pathetic. Heroes with a true sense of mission were the minority. Under the formula where superpowers equaled money, corrupt heroes were a bitter recurring theme throughout the story.
"We can't achieve the dream of ousting them by working within the Association. I'll bring about peace my way, using info networks only a villain can access and methods only a villain can choose."
I'd set a goal easy for Linrang to buy into. Not bad for something improvised. And it wasn't entirely a lie. This was my second life, after dying in a car crash in the original world and arriving in some afterlife-like place. If possible, I'd like the world I live in to be peaceful. That was sincere.
"Aah.... As expected, Blank-nim is different from other villains!!! Unlike the greedy ones rampaging wildly, I always thought you were a dark hero moving with conviction!! My character analysis was spot on...!"
It was a clichéd story, but Linrang was moved. Tears streamed down her face. Character analysis? Oh, chaehae—short for character interpretation.
"For that, I need reliable comrades. Will you be my first one?"
I extended my hand to Linrang. It could all be an act, but if she showed suspicious signs, I'd just kill her. Had I gotten too used to villain life? Dark thoughts like that popped up in every gap.
"Blank-nim's first comrade...!!!"
Linrang's face lit up with emotion.
"Tell me anything!!"
Linrang readily agreed to join. My first comrade since arriving in this world. That had value. Plus, she was the world's top-tier hacker.
"For now, there are five tasks."
With this momentum, no need to haggle over pay.
"First: Find identity info on low-tier C- and D-rank villains."
"Yes, yep!"
Those were like experience fodder mobs for Ida-in's growth.
"Second: Background check on Hero Fox. What kind of requests she takes, her movement patterns—investigate that."
"Yes. That should be.... pretty simple."
"Third: On the new hero Ida-in."
"Ah. The hero who fought alongside Blank-nim?"
A hint of curiosity crossed Linrang's face. She seemed interested in my relationship with Ida-in.
"Investigate her requests, patrol routes, etc."
"Y-Yes.... I think I can pull from the Association's database. I'll check it with the Fox one."
Reliable. Ida-in was someone I needed to carefully feed experience to grow. For that, she had to stay within my sight.
"And the most important fourth one—that's what we tackled first.... Investigate C-rank villain Lizardman."
"Yes. That shouldn't be too.... hard."
As Linrang said it, she glanced up at me slyly. I got what she wanted.
"You're really reliable. You'll be a big help."
I patted her rather messy hair.
"Hehehihheho...."
Linrang let out a funny sound, her face relaxing completely. Her laugh was broken, but her cute face made it all endearing.
"B-But Blank-nim. What's the fifth task?"
"...Ah."
I'd said five without thinking, but one slot was empty.
"How about doing a handstand over there?"
Half-joking.
"L-Like this...?"
Linrang actually started struggling into a handstand, so I stopped her right away. She seemed ready to do anything I ordered. Scary.
Linrang's info-gathering skills were beyond imagination. Watching her work from her room shocked me again. Her body slumped limply over the desk in front of her workspace stacked with PC towers, but then something like her sparkling soul popped out and dove straight into the computers.
About 30 minutes later, Linrang returned, having swum through the sea of information, pouring the knowledge straight to me. It hit me anew just how cheat-like her ability was.
First up was hunting the villain 'Lizardman.'
So he was holed up here.
The massive underground mall connecting New Seoul Districts 17 and 18. No wonder info was scarce—GPS didn't work here.
Float, float.
"B-Blank-nim.... You got this...."
Linrang's voice came from the round camera drone hovering beside me. She'd insisted on watching live via video, so I'd let her send it. No issue for the work, so okay. She said she'd film a straight cam and post it online for promo.... I just let her. Honestly, I'd rather she didn't, but her innocent eyes weakened my resolve.
The residents here were Lizardman and his jolly crew. Since they were the ones who'd traumatize Ida-in, my plan was to clean (physically) them out before she even met them.
The depths of the underground mall were dark, making search tough, but darkness was a fair ally to all. I had the ambush advantage too. Drawing the jungle knife from my belt, I moved slowly—when the drone (CV: Linrang) beside me buzzed urgently.
"A hero's deploying to the scene...!"
Fresh info from the Hunter Association database, huh.
"Which hero?"
Not him, I hope.
"It's Midas Girl...! Seems she's investigating a human trafficking case nearby...! What do we do?"
The drone trembled, mirroring Linrang's panic.
"Ah, Midas Girl? Then we're good."
She's a pushover. Ignore her, finish my business, and bounce.
I'd thought it was Flash for a sec.