I Became a Villain's Hero

TL/Editor: Raei

Schedule: 5/week, Mon-Fri

Illustrations: Here

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The silence was shattered by Tryno.

He charged at Dice again, this time with Liquid by his side.

Stingshot had finished preparing for a snipe from behind.

Even if Tryno's eyes were seared, the thought of them losing together never crossed their minds.

Whether it was Solace or Shake, these three never backed down.

No ability user had ever defeated them.

They might have been bent but never broken.

Stingshot pulled the trigger.

-Bang!

Simultaneously with the sound, Dice vanished like a mirage.

Where he stood, only dwindling black smoke remained.

Tryno and Liquid came to a stop.

They were helplessly confused as their opponent disappeared.

"What the f*ck...!"

"Arghhh...!"

Then, a scream echoed from behind, and their heads turned.

Stingshot was down, his arm twisted in a grotesque direction.

His once-prided gun lay shattered beside him.

Behind him stood Dice, already there.

It was impossible to tell when he had moved.

"You were the one who pierced Solace's foot, weren't you?"

Dice grabbed the head of Stingshot, who was writhing in pain on the ground.

Stingshot struggled.

"Ugh...let go...let go-"

-Bang!

Before he could finish his sentence, his head was slammed into the ground.

-Bang!

It didn't stop with just once.

-Bang!

Blood gushed from his cracked forehead.

Stingshot's screams quickly turned into moans.

He was losing the strength even to make a sound.

He was being horribly beaten.

The formation had already collapsed.

Such speed was unprecedented.

No hero had ever caused such a situation before.

The remaining Tryno and Liquid were momentarily frozen by the unbelievable scene.

-Bang! Bang! Bang!

Stingshot's head was relentlessly smashed into the ground.

It was a complete venting of anger.

Dice could end Stingshot's life at any moment, whenever he wished.

But Dice controlled his strength, tormenting Stingshot within the range of feeling pain.

"I told you...!"

-Bang!

"Not to provoke...!"

-Bang!

"Me....!"

-Bang!

"I warned you!!"

-Bang!!!!

"Ugh...."

Dice looked down at the moaning Stingshot.

His eyes, still not satisfied, blazed red again.

At the end of his gaze was Stingshot's finger.

A laser shot out, instantly searing off the finger Stingshot uses to pull the trigger.

"Ah...! Aaaaaah!!!"

Stingshot, thought to be unconscious, screamed reflexively.

At that brutal sight and painful scream, Tryno and Liquid moved again.

"This motherf*cker..!!"

Tryno charged again to grab Dice, and Liquid turned his body into liquid to envelop him.

-Swish.

Right before Tryno's punch could reach, Dice vanished again.

Soon after, he emerged from the shadow behind Tryno.

-Bang!

Tryno's body was flung across the warehouse.

He couldn't understand what had hit him.

Dice's gaze now turned to the remaining Liquid.

Liquid, changing the form of his body, approached.

As Dice extended his hand, the liquid began to freeze solid.

A biting cold filled the warehouse.

Liquid, panicking, quickly reverted the change.

From a liquid state back to his original form.

But the frozen parts did not return.

Liquid's left leg remained incomplete, an oddly shaped piece of ice attached below his thigh.

He groaned in pain, searching for water.

"...Ugh...! Water...! I need water...!"

But all around, everyone was paralyzed in fear.

Dice slowly approached the desperate Liquid.

"Why do you need water?"

"...Ugh...ugh...!"

Dice extended his hand again.

-Hum...hum...

"...What...what...?"

The ice that was Liquid's leg vibrated as if pulled by something.

It was telekinesis.

"...No...please...!"

Despite Liquid's plea, Dice mercilessly moved his arm.

The leg, made of ice, separated from the torso.

The leg flew off, crashing into a wall and shattering.

"...What...what..."

Confused, Liquid alternated his gaze between his own body and the shattered ice leg against the wall.

"What's wrong?"

Dice asked.

The rough breathing between words conveyed his rage.

Liquid couldn't understand what disaster had befallen them.

He knew that the ability user in front of him was not a hero.

Heroes were not this cruel.

They do not harbor such venom.

This was...a villain.

A villain with overwhelming force.

A villain that could not be defeated, no matter how many times one tried.

In less than three minutes, every ability user who had tried to face him had been crippled.

Liquid couldn't understand where such a monster had come from.

Dice!!

---

---

Dice!!

I froze at that call.

It felt as though the blood in my body had turned ice cold.

A name that should not have been called out reached my ears.

I turned my head.

A woman in a villain costume, someone I had never seen before, was calling out my name.

".....Dice...!"

She called me again.

.....Do you......know me?

I asked.

She nodded.

You're right...? It is you, isnt it...? You remember, don't you...?"

The question of whether I remembered meant only one thing.

She was of the same kind as me.

She, too, was a returnee.

.....Ha.

A hollow laugh escaped me.

A new realization dawned on me.

Why had I thought I was the only one who had returned?

Why had I assumed I was the only one to come back?

Perhaps it was obvious.

I wasn't anything special after all.

Behind, I saw Riem, terrified, approaching Liquid.

She was also trying to reach Stingshot.

But I was too shocked to even think of keeping them in check.

The existence of another returnee meant...

...Was Luna also a returnee?

I said.

...What?

It wasn't meant for her to hear.

I continued my thoughts.

Thinking back... Song Soo-yeon approached me first.

She came up to me asking me to buy her a meal.

She was the only one who regularly visited the newly opened restaurant.

Every morning, whether at the restaurant or in my one-room apartment, it was always Luna.

Pretending to push me away, she was always the first to approach.

...Did she do that because she knew I was Dice?

Did she want to use my power?

My heart ached terribly again.

...Wow...

Tears fell pathetically because of this betrayal.

In front of everyone...but I couldn't bear this pain.

These feelings were new to me, I didn't know how to deal with them. I hadn't learned how.

...No.

I shook my head.

I didn't want to believe this fact.

It can't be.

Song Soo-yeon, a returnee? That's impossible.

If she were a returnee, she wouldn't have acted like that.

She wouldn't have appeared in front of everyone as Luna.

I would have noticed right away, unless I'm a fool...

...Ah.

Thinking about it... it wasn't impossible.

If she didn't know I had returned.

If she thought she was the only one who had returned.

Then it was a possible story.

Without knowing who else has returned, and what the criterion for return is...

I can't stop these ominous thoughts.

During my despair, Riem gathered her colleagues and took their hands.

Tryno staggering, Liquid moaning, Stingshot unconscious.

Only the woman who knew my name stood apart from them.

The pain in my heart made it impossible to move.

As the villains prepared to teleport, I said to them.

...I'll continue to chase you.

I saw the fear in Riem's eyes.

...Run.

It was better for them to run; it made venting even better.

I hope they stay scared.

I wanted them to feel more stressed.

Hunting villains was familiar to me.

-Swish.

The villains vanished.

I suppressed my anger and, dealing with the cold pain in my chest, slowly approached the remaining villain.

I forcefully removed her mask.

...Dice... do you... do you remember me...? I'm... Han Yoo-jung... Han Yoo-jung.

I glanced at her face and answered vaguely.

My mind was full of Song Soo-yeon...

I had no room for anything else.

...Who are you?

Life drained from the eyes of the woman claiming to be Han Yoo-jung.

---

---

I threw Han Yoo-jung into a cage.

Ah...!

She collapsed powerlessly onto the stone floor.

I didn't care.

I just locked the cage.

-Click.

Finding an underground prison to lock her up wasn't hard.

There were many villains and numerous hideouts.

Taking one over was no big deal for me.

The first time might have been hard, but not the second.

I no longer hesitated to use my powers.

Dice....

Han Yoo-jung immediately got up and clung to the bars, calling out to me.

...Be quiet.

I responded.

I didn't want to hear her words.

My mind was too cluttered.

I've reached my limit.

The fact that there was another returnee, possibly Luna, troubles me.

I don't know what to believe and what not to.

Memories of happiness with Song Soo-yeon still muddle my mind.

Her smile still vivid in my memory.

How cute she looked when she pretended not to care about me.

How proud I was when she helped me at the warehouse.

When we held hands.

When she was in my arms. When she gave me the wish bracelet.

If all that was just an act to deceive me...then...

"...Dice...are you crying...?"

This woman, whom I had never met before, suddenly began to comfort me.

She was annoying.

I wiped away my tears.

Getting up, I prepared to leave the underground prison.

I need to sleep.

After the intense argument with Song Soo-yeon, and experiencing combat for the first time in a while.

Both my body and mind were exhausted.

...I'll hand you over to the heroes.

I said to Han Yoo-jung before leaving the prison.

I hadn't really thought about what to do with her yet.

There was a plan for Tryno, Stingshot, and Liquid since there's a history with them...but I still don't know what Han Yoo-jung has done.

I don't even want to think about it right now.

-Bang.

I closed the door and left the basement.