Being a Villain is My True Calling

Whenever he closed his eyes, the same memory would flood his mind.

“Oh, Alpha!”

It was not a dream.
For it to be a dream, he should have felt a sense of dissonance or lethargy, yet none existed.

He attempted to embellish his inner thoughts as if they were dreams to alleviate his chronic insomnia, but deep down, he knew these were not dreams, but memories.

“Alpha, thank you for saving my child!”

“I respect you, Alpha!”

“With Alpha around, all our problems will be solved!”

Revisiting those memories, he would always recall what he had believed to be his happiest times.
More accurately, the times he had deluded himself into thinking were the happiest.

“……”

Reflecting on those memories, he had possessed everything he desired back then.

“Hey Alpha, you ready? I’ll save more people than you today, be prepared!”

“Hah! Our big bro will undoubtedly prevail with ease today, why even bother with such nonsense! Puha ha ha!”

Comrades who believed in him, colleagues he could rely upon.

“I’m your fan, Alpha!”

“Thank you, Alpha!”

“Alpha is Korea’s pride!”

Admirers and grateful citizens expressing their appreciation.
And…

“Honey, you’re back? You’re a bit late today? Hihi!”

“……”

Even his beloved family.
Those orderly, mundane days where everything seemed to mesh together like a well-oiled machine.

He had mistaken it for happiness.

“You must have worked hard at the office today!”

“…Not really.”

“Is there anything you can share about your day?”

“…You’d only worry if you knew.”

To the citizens, a formidable hero.
To his colleagues, a trustworthy comrade.

Yet at home, a lying, unworthy husband and father.

“I wonder when our little one will be born? Hubby needs to make time to hear them kick too! Puhihi!”

“You’re right, I should have made an effort to experience that.”

But the foolish him had simply basked in that mundanity, believing it to be happiness.

Deriving satisfaction and joy from assisting others alongside his comrades, while leaving his most cherished loved one alone.

“You are our hero!”

A hero.
He was a manufactured hero.

And…

“…I’m sorry, Alpha.”

“We don’t need the likes of you!!”

“Give my sister back, you bastard!!”

As an artificially created hero, being discarded when deemed unnecessary was only natural.

“Honey…”

“……”

“Puhu…Can I still live on without you and our child…?”

In the end, he was no true hero.
For had he been, such anguish would have been trivial.

He would not have crumbled.

He…

In the end…

“…Sir.”

“…Sir!”

“Captain!!”

The boisterous voices roused Alpha, who slowly opened his eyes to behold the individuals shouting before him.

“You’re awake?”

“…Yeah.”

Responding to the grinning man with a slight nod, Alpha rose from the rumpled sofa and made his way towards the living area.

“Ah! The Captain is here.”

“Captain!!”

“Captain!”

Upon Alpha’s arrival, the Vigilante members greeted him warmly.
Over the past few days of joint operations, they had grown quite familiar with him.

“We’re headed out again today, Captain!”

“Where are we going today?”

“……”

Their sparkling eyes fixated on Alpha with anticipation.

‘…Huang seems to have assembled this group solely with those resembling me.’

Alpha adopted a slightly exasperated expression as he retrieved a document from the table and showed it to the members.

“Oh! You’ve already selected a target?”

“The slums today, should be an easy one!”

“Let’s go confirm with Narin and get going!”

Giddy with excitement, the members chattered animatedly.
Alpha nodded in acknowledgment before heading towards the guest room where Narin resided.

Kkiieek…

Tadak. Tadak.

Upon entering, he found Narin alone, rapidly typing away while monitoring numerous screens – a routine sight within Vigilante’s headquarters.

“Is Gramps awake?”

“…Yeah.”

Glancing towards the sound of the opening door, Narin regarded Alpha.
Eyeing the document he carried, she posed a question.

“Is this what we’ll be doing today?”

Nod.

“And you’ve discussed it with the others?”

Nod nod.
Nodding in response to Alpha, Narin continued typing without averting her gaze from the computer screens.
After a brief moment, she swiveled her chair and handed Alpha a communication device.

“You’re familiar with how to use this by now, right? I’ll provide location updates periodically, so get going.”

“…Got it.”

Their exchange concluded swiftly.

“Did you finish discussing with the Captain?”

“Yeah.”

Alpha then proceeded to lead the members on their next mission without further delay.

“Ugh-!! Uuugh!!!”

“Kya! This guy’s got some fight in him too.”

“Yeah~ Even after tormenting these innocent people here, he’s the only one squirming around.”

Within a room reminiscent of an animal enclosure, the members had swiftly subdued today’s target – an evildoer – before turning their gazes towards Alpha.

“…Open his mouth.”

“Yes!”

Following Alpha’s instruction, one of the members obediently pried open the previously restrained evildoer’s mouth.

“Puhah-! Haahk…Haah…You! You bastards! How dare you ability-user scum lay your hands on a citizen like me?!”

Gritting his trembling jaw, the man glared defiantly at Alpha’s group, his voice raised.

“What you’re doing is criminal, you realize?! Breaking and entering, along with assault on a non-ability-user!!”

“Puhat! He’s calling us criminals?”

The members scoffed at the words of the designated prey.
Then, they calmly surveyed the room’s interior.

Evenly spaced bars lined the walls, resembling a prison or animal cage of sorts.

“…Hey.”

Inside, a clearly human corpse lay shackled amongst the bars.

“I don’t think you’re in a position to talk.”

The member’s previously lighthearted tone now carried a menacing weight, hanging heavily in the air.

Kkwajik!

“…Ah.”

Followed by the sound of bones cracking.

“Aaaaaaaaahhhh!!!”

The belated scream of the evildoer filled the room.

“As expected, these slums are infested with criminal scum, no matter how many we take down.”

“Kkuueup!!”

Irked by the screaming, one of the members used their ability to seal the evildoer’s mouth before exhaling wearily.

“Hey, keep it down. We’ll be spotted by heroes at this rate.”

“You’ll just conceal us, won’t you?”

“Right, and we need to avenge the deceased too.”

With those words, another member mercilessly kicked the evildoer’s abdomen.

“Kkueup!…Kkuueup…!”

The man cried out in agonized screams, his face a mess of tears, snot, and saliva as his body convulsed in pain.

Yet none regarded him with pity, only contemptuous sneers and mockery.

Amid the chaos, one member grabbed the evildoer’s hair, forcibly lifting his head as he grinned.

“Hey. You were brazenly engaged in human trafficking and organ trading, did you really not expect this day to come eventually?”

“…Kkueup…!”

“So endure it. You’re merely reaping what you’ve sown.”

The Vigilante members then proceeded to unleash a barrage of violence upon the evildoer.
The man was brutally beaten to a disturbing degree, his body pulverized.

“Kkueeuuuuuu!! Uuuuu!!!”

Yet Alpha remained unfazed by the man’s anguished cries, simply turning his gaze towards the numerous corpses imprisoned within the cage.

…Jeolggeurreuk.

“……”

Suddenly, a faint clanking sound reached his ears.

“Kkueup, kkuhuheub…Aaahk!!”

“There, you can speak properly now. Don’t just scream.”

Some time later, the evildoer was left barely recognizable, his body a mangled mess save for his face.
Beyond his twisted, unnaturally bent limbs, his skin had taken on a blackish-purple hue.

“Pl,Please kill me…”

It was astonishing that he remained conscious despite his grievous state.
However, Alpha simply looked down upon the evildoer, unmoved.

Stepping closer, he coldly inquired.

“Do you wish to die?”

“Hiiik…!”

Instinctively sensing the genuine conviction behind Alpha’s chilling question, the man shook his head fervently, tears streaming down his face.

“I’m, I’m sorry…! From now on…I, I won’t do it again!! Please spare me…!!”

Alpha silently regarded the man for a moment.
Then, his gaze shifted towards the bars.

“Very well, I shall spare you.”

“…!!”

“Captain!!”

Alpha nodded, granting the man’s plea for mercy.
While the members reacted with shock, the evildoer smiled joyfully.

However.

“However.”

His subsequent words instantly reversed their reactions.

“Tell me that child’s name. If you do, I shall spare you.”

“…A, A child…?”

Alpha pointed towards the bars.
Following his gesture, the man turned his creaking neck to look in the indicated direction.

Jeolggeurreuk.

“……”

Amidst the evildoer’s makeshift prison, where all others had met their demise, a single child remained alive.

With a trembling expression and ragged breaths, the child appeared on the verge of collapse.
Locking eyes with the pitiful sight, Alpha then looked down at the man once more.

“If not the name, then any distinguishing details you know about that child.”

“Ah, Th, That is…”

“I’m not asking for gender, height, or weight. What I want to know is the child’s likes, dislikes, or desires.”

“……”

“Or failing that, do you at least recall where you procured that child?”

“……”

Despite Alpha’s prompting, the man could not utter a single coherent response.
Until the arrival of those fiends, the child had merely been considered merchandise.

Unlike the spare organs strewn about, this was an intact commodity, meant for delivery while still alive.
He had never imagined it would lead to such a wretched fate.

“…Enough.”

His deep, resigned tone indicated no further need for a response.

Uuuuuung-
A sizzling sound emanated from the man’s surroundings.

“…I make a clear distinction between those who can be redeemed and those who cannot.”

“……”

“If you had regarded them as ‘human’ at the very least, you would undoubtedly remember some trivial detail about them.”

“Ah, Ahh…”

“If you cannot even provide that much, then you never viewed them as human in the first place.”

Alpha clenched his fist as he looked down upon the man.

“Ah, Ahhh…! Fr,From now on! I won’t do it again! Please! Please!!”

The evildoer begged desperately.
Not as a true perpetrator, but in the face of overwhelming violence.

“…As I thought, you are beyond redemption.”

Kkwajjiiik!!
With that declarative statement, the evildoer’s agonized screams fell silent.

“……”

Alpha tossed a card from his pocket before turning to depart.