The First Terror, Targeting SilverMirrored Shin Yugyeong

"The first terror is this."

Early in the morning, I explained the outline to Irua.

"You want to kidnap the crew members of SilverMirrored?"

"They are the bait. I just need to be able to lure SilverMirrored, Shin Yugyeong, to the scene alone."

"Your goal is revenge on Shin Yugyeong, right?"

"That’s not all. We are a fledgling villain organization. You, Irua, are also a rookie villain. For your debut, you need to face a hero with the highest possible rank. That’s the only way our initial rating will be set high."

For a villain, having a high rank makes growth much easier. It also means that the more I take revenge on those bitches, the easier it will be to clear the scenario. Though, in the end, I’m just getting back what I gave them in the first place.

A villain organization is the means to achieve a scenario clear, including the Galactic Empire. As I could tell from the System, there isn’t just one way to beat a scenario. You can fight monsters as a hero of light, or you can fight as the leader of evil.

"And after you lure her? Are you going to kill her?"

"No."

I let out a laugh without thinking.

"That would be a waste, far too much of a waste. The Dragon King Squad will ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fall toward the bottom, step by step. By the time they come to their senses, they’ll be at the bottom of a swamp where they can’t even breathe."

Ji Sehwa, Shin Yugyeong, Kang Yerin, Choi Minseo, and the Association President. I plan to inflict pain on them little by little, slowly. In the long term, I need to raise a massive villain organization. I’ll need many powerful villains and funds in the future. That’s why getting my hands on Irua was quite lucky. The Dragon King Squad will be good nourishment for my organization.

They reach the top, having removed the obstacle known as Red Dragon and obtaining everything. But at some point, things start to go wrong, one by one. They think it’s just bad luck, but by the time they realize it, they are already in the middle of an irreversible ruin. They meet their deaths in a hell of despair. That is my plan.

"Then what should I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠do?"

"You will subdue Shin Yugyeong."

"Me? An S-rank hero?"

Irua’s face turned pale.

"Wait a second. It’s only a week away. No matter how high my talent is, as you say..."

Irua’s concern isn’t unreasonable. Both heroes and villains are labeled with letters like A or S, but you shouldn’t think of them as the same rank. To give you the conclusion first, an A-rank hero is much stronger than an A-rank villain. It’s because of how they are calculated.

In the case of a villain, it’s money. The amount of damage this villain has caused so far, and the predicted damage they will cause in the future, is converted into a monetary value to determine the rank. It’s simple even for villains with high lethality. Because people are money, too. It’s said that the money an ordinary salaryman earns in a lifetime is about 2 billion won. In that way, a person’s life can be converted into money as much as you want. Children are valued even higher. Because they have much to consume and produce in the future. The Hero Association and the Association President’s values consider it natural to calculate human lives as money.

A hero’s rank is determined by how much damage they can save by contributing to defeating villains. Unlike villains, they only count performance. Therefore, if the combat power is the same, the rank as a villain is bound to be higher than the rank as a hero. Because it’s much easier to break things than to protect them.

"The Dragon King Squad is an S-rank hero team."

S-rank heroes, in other words, are immeasurable. It means they are the best heroes. If you put an S-rank villain in front of an S-rank hero, they can be subdued in 5 minutes. Let alone four S-rank heroes belonging to the S-Squad. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call them the four strongest people in the world. There are many squads in this world. Just as adventurers gather to form a party in a fantasy game, if heroes gather to form a team, that’s a squad. But there is only one S-Squad. Only those belonging to the S-Squad in the world can put a 'color' in their hero name. It means that among the tens of thousands of heroes in the world, anyone knows that 'Silver' refers to SilverMirrored Shin Yugyeong.

Asking her to subdue such a Shin Yugyeong, it must sound like nonsense.

"It’s possible."

I said with conviction.

I have this skill, and Irua has the qualifications of an SSS-rank villain. Her talent alone is beyond the members of the Dragon King Squad. Soul of a Comrade is a skill that only applies to my squad. There doesn’t seem to be a way to apply it to her since she isn’t registered as a hero, but of course, there is a loophole.

"Irua."

"Yes."

"Trust me. I will make you strong. If you help me with my revenge, you will gain the power to achieve your revenge as well."

I reached out my hand to her.

"Become my comrade."

Irua stared intently at my scarred hand.

"...Comrade."

She slowly took it. Her hand was as cold as a corpse. It felt refreshing and pleasant.

With this, Irua is now under the effect of Soul of a Comrade. I don’t need a new squad name. If you give something a name, you develop an attachment to it. I realized that it’s an act that only brings a sense of loss later. But I do need a villain name for Irua.

"Irua."

"Call me Rua."

"Hm?"

"You said we were comrades. I don’t like being that affectionate. I also... I can’t call you by your original name. Just in case, even when we’re alone. Should I call you Geo?"

"You’re a woman who worries about strange things. Do as you please, Rua."

"Yes. Geo."

I felt like the corners of Irua’s mouth rose slightly.

"But what is this Squad of Evil? It’s asking me to set a name."

"What?"

It’s a strange thing. As a scenario character, she shouldn’t be able to see the System window. No. I could understand it if it were an ability of Dark Matter. It’s not the System, but her dark matter directly delivering the current state to her brain.

"Since it’s a squad for revenge, shall we call it Vengeance?"

"I don’t need a name like that."

"Why? It’s good to have one. And my villain name. What should I do for that?"

"Dark Matter."

"It’s not cute, so I don’t like it... But since you gave it to me, I’ll go with that. Yes."

Irua, having finished the settings, seemed satisfied.

"Then we’ll go straight into training. We don’t have time to rest until the day of the operation, so we’re going right away."

As I was about to move, there was a knock.

"Come in."

"Boss. Some woman has broken in and is causing a scene."

"Did you waste my time with such a trivial matter? Handle it yourself."

"I apologize. But we couldn’t stop her..."

Incompetent fools. I went down the stairs. The sound of a fierce fight was coming from below. Large men were flying through the air. In the center was one woman. Seeing her, I widened my eyes. She also discovered me and opened her mouth wide in surprise. From surprise to relief, and then to distress. Dressed in a maid outfit, she ran to me and threw herself into my arms.

"Ah, Master! You were alive! Thank goodness, thank goodness...!"

"Emma."

I stroked her hair. Her usually neat hair was a mess with dust. It made me feel sorry, wondering how many stories were contained in this matted hair.

"I’m sorry, Master. Please punish me for my sin of failing to protect you, losing the mansion to the intruders, and running away without even being able to throw away my life...!"

Emma knelt before me, sobbing loudly. I examined her. Her whole body was covered in wounds. Her left arm had been torn off, and her glasses were shattered. But she wasn’t bleeding. Because she is an android. She is a combat maid who was in charge of being my servant.

"You’ve had a hard time, Emma. Did you find me by feeling my power?"

"Yes. Because the function to rescue you, Master, was still operating. When I last heard the news in space, I was in despair. That you, that kind and upright Master, had passed away...!"

Even though she is an android, Emma is a being with a self, no different from a human. The confusion and sadness ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠she must have felt were surely hard to bear.

"Were you injured while defending the mansion?"

"Yes. The Association dispatched heroes and took everything away. Everything you had achieved, Master..."

"What about the Pestam?"

"They took that too. But I found out some information during that process. Currently, the Pestam hasn’t been disposed of and has all fallen into the hands of Green Nature."

"Choi Minseo? Hmm."

That’s good information. I can use this in an interesting way.

"Good work, Emma. My current base is here. Get repaired here, and as soon as you’re ready, join me for my plan. I don’t have time now, so I’ll explain when I get back."

"Understood. My loyalty is always for you. Master, thank you for being alive. Thank you from the bottom of my heart..."

I was slightly grateful for that upright loyalty. I ordered my subordinates to repair Emma and left the arena with Irua.

I know the efficient monster hunting grounds for leveling up well. Of course, even so, time is short. Irua followed the hard training, sleeping only 4 hours a day and even vomiting gastric acid. Yet, she didn’t complain once. She was a strong woman. Still, it was a bit lacking. Currently, the specs of the Dragon King Squad won’t be S-rank heroes. Since the demerit due to the release of my Soul of a Comrade has been applied, their levels and stats would have dropped, so they’d be about A-rank. They don’t know that yet, though. To overwhelm them in a one-on-one, I need to be at least an SS-rank villain to be stable. Right now, Irua has about the specs of an S-rank villain. Of course, I have a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠plan.

On the day of the terror, I, Irua, Emma, and my subordinate villains knocked out and locked up the crew and staff before the cruise ship departed, then disguised ourselves as them. A cruise ship departing from Incheon. It’s a travel cruise ship chartered by Shin Yugyeong’s crew heroes.

"Haha! We really did pick a good line!"

"Just by being a crew member, we get to go on trips like this with tax money, long live Captain Silver!"

Heroes above A-rank can become leaders in the Association and form teams. That’s called a crew. They are prioritized for assignments during missions and train for teamwork in their daily lives. Of course, that doesn’t apply to them, as their leader is the Dragon King Squad. Then why do heroes need a crew? It’s been a long time since crews effectively turned into political factions within the Association. It’s for the purpose of slandering and plotting against heroes who are doing better than oneself to drag them down. It’s for the numbers to do that. Even to avoid being slandered, heroes above A-rank kept crews. I was the only one who didn’t have one. Because I had to beat up even one more monster in the time I would spend on such pathetic political games.

"Hey, waiter! Bring more champagne!"

"Can’t you move faster? Do you know who we are? We’re SilverMirrored’s crew heroes!"

Like this, most of them are trash who play with power by receiving the halo of their leader rather than being active themselves.

"Hey, miss, you’re my type."

A drunk guy approached Irua, who was disguised as a waiter. A man stroking her buttocks. Irua bit her lower lip as if she were displeased.

"How about it? You’re working for minimum wage anyway, so quit and let’s go to my room. I’m the second-in-command of this crew. If you get favored by me, your life will change."

The man stroking Irua’s cheek. His alcohol-smelling fingers are getting closer to her lips.

"...Geo."

"Huh? That’s not my name."

"Are we not there yet?"

It was still a few kilometers to the area where we would start the operation. Still, seeing that guy, I don’t want to watch anything more disgusting either.

"It doesn’t matter. Do it."

Paaak!

The man’s shoulder burst, and blood sprayed everywhere.

"Uh...? U, Uaaaaah!"

The man fainted while looking at his own arm rolling on the floor.

"Kyaaaaaaak!"

"What, what’s going on!!"

Chaos began to engulf the ship. The operation had begun.