And Thus, a Villain Was Born
A cloudless sky stretched endlessly above, the sun holding court in solitary splendor on an autumn morning.
Birds wheeled and chirped through the clear blue, dragonflies darted among the bowed rice stalks in search of insects, and street trees shed their fiery leaves, rustling in the breeze.
Students strolled and laughed along the sidewalks, office workers hustled to their jobs, cars jostled for position in the flow of traffic—a scene of perfect, untroubled peace.
Just another lazy day in the everyday grind, where people smiled because they knew this tranquility would endure. And so they savored it, wandering freely through their routines.
“Doesn’t it feel like there’ve been way fewer villains lately?”
“Yeah, it was even on the news. They said the numbers dropped out of nowhere.”
Two female students chatting as they walked embodied the reason for this calm: villains had suddenly thinned out.
“Heroes must be stepping up their game.”
“You think? The show I watched said—”
Everyone knew the theories. News anchors speculated, TV psychologists and self-proclaimed experts pontificated with utter conviction.
“Come on, you really think villains are killing each other off? Those psychos live to tear into heroes.”
“Maybe?”
But the public didn’t buy it. Villains turning on their own was unheard of in this world. Sure, there were squabbles—petty turf wars among small-time thugs—but nothing more.
The idea of villains forming an organization to hunt their own kind? Pure fantasy, unprecedented irregularity.
Yet rumors don’t spread without a spark. They’re fragments of truth circulating among people, triggered by something real. For whispers to reach even this sleepy rural town, there had to be a reason.
“Eh, fewer villains means good news anyway!”
“Totally!”
Ordinary folk living ordinary lives didn’t connect the dots. Or if they did, it didn’t touch them, so they shrugged it off. Humans only fret over what hits close to home; everything else is just idle commentary. Which is why—
“—cough.”
“Still kicking, huh? Tough bastard, just like they said.”
—they remained oblivious to the reality unfolding in the alley right beside their sunny street, the very event they gossiped about as mere hearsay.
“Cough, cough!”
A man vomited blood, sprawled on the ground, clawing futilely at the pavement. No matter how he thrashed his arms and legs, he didn’t budge an inch—a pathetic sight that might even draw laughs from afar.
“Doesn’t change the fact you’re dying here, though.”
Of course, if they saw the foot grinding down on his back, they’d bolt or scream for a hero.
The man with the cigarette dangling from his lips exhaled smoke, gazing indifferently at the worm writhing beneath him.
“Who the hell are you...!”
“That’s all you’ve got to say before you croak?”
Death rolled off the tongue so easily. And why not? It fit the moment perfectly.
“Why’d you jump me...!”
“Didn’t think a villain like you could get ambushed?”
The pinned man was a villain. His tormentor was a villain too.
Villains always lived with death or capture looming. Yet this one, still squirming defiantly, must’ve never truly faced it.
“Makes sense, though. With backing like yours, who wouldn’t get cocky?”
“...What?!”
He had every reason. The villain underfoot belonged to the Evil Coalition, Korea’s most notorious syndicate—too dangerous even for most heroes to touch. Who’d dare strike someone with that shield?
“You knew who I am and still—? Wait, how?!”
“Talkative one, aren’t you?”
Did he attack despite knowing the affiliation? Wasn’t he scared of retaliation? And how the hell did he even figure it out?
Questions swirled, but his attacker offered no answers. The man twisted his head, glaring up—and froze.
“That face—don’t tell me—”
His face drained of color as recognition hit.
“Doesn’t matter if you know.”
Shaggy brown hair, red eyes, scruffy beard. A face any villain worth his salt knew these days.
The villain-hunting villain group stalking the Evil Coalition’s heels. The worst nightmare for their kind.
“Jewel—”
“You’re dead either way.”
Repentance’s villain, Jewel.
The pinned villain went rigid the instant he clocked him, movement ceasing. Jewel flicked away his spent cigarette, drew his revolver, and grinned.
Bang.
The gunshot echoed. Blood pooled on the pavement. Jewel stepped back, lit a fresh smoke without a backward glance.
“Figures a guy like you wouldn’t be alone.”
The alley was deserted. No one came running at the shot.
“Come out.”
He pocketed his lighter, murmured without turning.
“Who sent you?”
“You know whose crew I’m with, and that’s your question?”
He pivoted to face the five villains emerging behind him.
“A Repentance villain—who do you think gives the orders?”
Repentance. The villain outfit flaunting lofty ideals of atonement. Their boss was no mystery.
“Our God, obviously.”
“...Kill them.”
Jewel’s face stayed lit with mockery as he invoked the divine. Hand in pocket, revolver raised skyward, he taunted them.
Where there’s light, there’s shadow—just as this grim alley lurked beside the bustling street. But shadows vary in depth, as light varies in brightness.
Heroes had tiers of power; villains did too.
“Got a question for you lot.”
He pulled the coin from his pocket, flicked it high—
“What’re the odds you get shot?”
—and fired straight up.
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“God, message from Jewel.”
“I know. Already got the report. And stop calling me that.”
“What else do we call our god if not God?”
The man and woman—boy and girl—strolled the dark alley, chatting casually.
“I’ve got a name. A villain alias too.”
The boy shot the girl a glare, irritation flaring.
“How could we call a god by name? Yujin said—”
“Keep it up, and I’ll kill you.”
“Ooh, scary. Threaten me like that, and I might just kill you first~?”
She beamed at him.
To outsiders, they’d look like a cute young couple. But those watching broke into cold sweats. Their talk of killing wasn’t hyperbole. If annoyed enough, they’d do it for real.
And no wonder—the pair leading the way were—
“So, where to now, Guardian?”
“Changing the subject, Ash?”
Ash and Guardian. The most dreaded villains rising in infamy among their peers—
“Work.”
“Hoped for a date after so long, but it’s big trouble, huh?”
“Found an Evil Coalition branch.”
“...Yeah, that’s huge. No wonder Repentance mobilized everyone.”
—Repentance’s top officers, their leader.
“Kinda wanna bail now. Can I use vacation days?”
“Go ahead.”
“Kidding! Who’d skip killing those bastards? Hey! You lanky fucks over there!”
Ash’s shout sent villains sprinting to the black cars, doors flying open. She nodded approval, hopped in—
“...Fucking psycho.”
—and he spat the curse before following her inside.
Doors slammed as they boarded; cars peeled out one by one, convoy racing off.
They eventually halted near a factory—
“Orders, boss?”
“...Kill.”
The next day’s papers screamed headlines of a factory reduced to rubble.