That’s How They Became Villains

# 2. All Evil Begins with One Step

“Hiccup.”

The world spun around.

I don’t understand why this house’s refrigerator has more alcohol than water.

Did the original owner of this body have a heart as fragile as mine?

That couldn’t be.

The cityscape was more ordinary than I had expected.

It didn’t seem much different from modern people walking with their eyes fixed on smartphones, as everyone had super high-tech electronic terminals floating in the air.

By the time I got used to the feel of the electronic terminal attached around my neck, I was walking around like them too, so I wondered if this city unexpectedly suited me well.

–

-> I mean, lately, these enhanced humans kill more civilians than monsters, so why do they keep making enhanced humans?

-> For real, they created something called Hero Corporation or whatever, and they say civilian crime rates have decreased, but enhanced human crimes have increased by the same amount lol

-> Safety nanomachines << This thing is just useless lol

-> Shouldn’t enhanced humans be classified as weapons like firearms?

-> Why are you saying that? Enhanced humans still go to the surface for investigation

-> Does that mean anything? We all know the surface is already fucked up.

-> We’d be lucky if they don’t bring strange monsters to the city again lol

–

‘Even here, suspiciously angry people are dominating social media.’

People’s worlds are the same no matter where you go.

I finished the rest of my drink with a vaguely unpleasant feeling and tapped on my electronic terminal.

I’ve been searching for information about Last for a while, but not much comes up.

If Last had started any kind of activity, the internet wouldn’t be this quiet.

Then, one hypothesis flashed through my mind.

Prologue. The stage before any narrative begins, where they test the waters by showing what kind of story will follow so that those who don’t like it can leave early.

Yes! No main story has started yet, which is why the internet is so quiet.

Then, does this mean Last isn’t officially a hero yet?

As I thought about this, dopamine suddenly began to rise.

If I play my cards right, I could become Hero Last’s first villain.

I immediately started trying to recall what happened in the prologue but naturally, I couldn’t remember a damn thing.

All I got for using my unused brain was vomiting a pancake of alcohol and gastric juice in the middle of the city.

“Ahem, a young lady from early morning…”

A passing homeless person said as he slightly moved away.

How pathetic.

I was a blockhead with a shining TOEIC score of 500 in my previous life. I didn’t expect my memory to suddenly improve now.

‘I didn’t want to use this method…’

I turned off the electronic terminal, stared into the empty space, and quietly said in my mind.

‘System, status screen.’

[Recalling memories]

[Last has been hiding his identity as an enhanced human while conducting vigilante activities.]

[One day, caught in a department store hostage situation, he uses his enhanced human powers to save his vigilante colleague Han Yujin from danger.]

[Afterward, Last is taken to the police for investigation for being an unregistered enhanced human, where he ends up revealing that he is a first-generation enhanced human…]

‘Oh my…what a fate…’

Anyway, thanks, mysterious status screen.

After tapping around the status screen for about an hour, I learned that this system would roughly answer questions about the original story that I couldn’t remember.

Of course, there was no worry about spoilers.

It strictly blocks information I wouldn’t know, and I really wanted to see the face of whoever made this.

Anyway, it’s clear that the main story hasn’t started yet.

That was fortunate. It would have been quite troublesome if the main story had already progressed to some extent.

There’s a reason why Last, an enhanced human, hides his identity. Enhanced humans are objects of fear and discrimination in Minos.

I could understand why people were afraid. Even I would find it difficult to think of someone who could crush concrete like tofu with their bare hands as human.

That’s why enhanced humans have nanomachines implanted in their brains that emit interference waves to prevent them from harming humans.

However, Last is the first-generation enhanced human who was created first.

Naturally, there are no nanomachines implanted in his head, and no one knows this.

But if things go according to the original story, soon everyone will know that Last is an enhanced human.

And a dangerously first-generation one at that.

“Welcome, I’m #24!”

As the automatic door opened, I heard the somewhat forced cheerful greeting of an AI.

Even convenience stores are unmanned in this city. How dispiriting.

I looked at the products displayed on the shelves, wondering what to steal.

Necessities, of course. Even so, not having a single pack of ramen at home is too much, right?

I would also need things like water and toilet paper. Oh, I should steal some snacks too!

“…….”

Post-clarity hit me.

I suddenly started to feel pathetic for getting excited about stealing mere snacks.

But wait, can I even steal these in the first place?

With this level of high technology, isn’t theft prevention also super high-tech?

‘Do I have to use this after all…?’

I glanced up at the mysterious window floating in the air.

[You are an enhanced human (Anti Origin) like your arch-enemy Last. It’s unclear where you received the enhanced human procedure, but like Last, you are one of the unregistered first-generation enhanced humans, with no safety nanomachines implanted in your brain.]

[Your current threat level is unknown.]

[You can freely use telekinesis and lift objects less than 100 kilograms within a 100-meter radius without touching them. You can also emit light electrical signals to temporarily control electronic devices within a 30-meter radius.]

[If you expend a lot of physical strength, you can handle electrical signals more precisely to interfere with others’ synapses. When this happens, the target can notice that something is wrong with their thinking.]

When I first read this, I was truly surprised.

I had expected something given all the talk about being arch-enemy to the greatest hero Last, but a mental ability user?

Given that all the villains who had encountered Last so far were physical fighters specialized in flashy battle scenes, the shock was indescribable.

‘I still don’t understand. How am I Last’s arch-enemy with an ability like this?’

Surely all the villains so far weren’t people who had been manipulated by me, right?

If I’m that kind of mastermind, it’s beyond my meager brain capacity.

-Crackle!

As an experiment, I shut down all the electronic devices installed in the convenience store and grabbed a packet of ramen and other necessities.

At that moment.

“What are you doing, customer…?”

The cheerful voice of the AI clerk I heard when entering the convenience store stopped me in my tracks.

I froze like a trapped mouse and turned my head toward the source of the voice.

There, a robot that looked exactly like a human from head to toe was staring at me from behind the counter, as if sizing me up.

‘A Vitaloid…?’

Vitaloid refers to androids equipped with high-performance AI specially produced by the Unhwa Group.

‘So it wasn’t an unmanned convenience store?’

No, more importantly, why isn’t it collapsing? It’s a robot! An electronic device!

“What are you doing, I asked…?”

When I remained silent, the Vitaloid began to approach me, coming over the counter as if trying to check my appearance.

This is bad. Really bad.

I haven’t even seen Last’s face yet—am I going to end up in jail just like this?

“…….”

Strangely though, while my mind was confused, my body didn’t tremble at all. It was as if this situation wasn’t new to me.

Right. Come to think of it, don’t I have the ability to overcome this crisis?

As soon as that thought crossed my mind, this whole situation suddenly started to feel unbearably enjoyable.

“Why are you smiling…?”

The Vitaloid asked.

Instead of answering, I smiled gently and increased the output of my ability.

“Customer…?”

How do I appear in her eyes right now?

“No reason,” I said.

Hopefully,

“Laughter doesn’t always need a reason, does it?”

I hope I don’t look like a villain.