[Age 15+ Advisory]
This work contains content inappropriate for readers under 15.
Please enjoy under parental guidance.
"There are no truly bad villains in the world."
What a nonsensical yet sweet statement.
Drawn in by the title, I picked up the book surprisingly well-written for something published eight years ago. It was so good I considered making it required reading for visitors to my torture villa.
I liked most of the book, but what stood out was how well it understood the hearts of villains forced into evil by circumstances. I thought if just two or three more books like this became steady sellers, it'd be great. Just then, a cough echoed from below. Sa-yoon set the book down.
"Ugh!"
A man groaned as the book dropped onto him with a thud. Trembling, he clutched Sayoon's foot pressing down on his chest. Only his pained gasps echoed through the gate.
"Why…?"
"..."
"Why are you doing this?!"
The man, his face twisted in anguish, spat out his fury. Meeting his hate-filled gaze, Sayoon glanced at the obtrusive system window taking up half his vision.
"Well…"
His languid voice drowned out the groans.
"Do I really need a reason to do something like this?"
The man was speechless at the brazen retort. Sayoon's gaze shifted to the corner.
"Why'd you kill them?"
…Them?
Following the question, the man turned his head and saw the pile of monster corpses stacked in one corner of the gate—a common sight anywhere.
Why does that matter?
As if reading his confusion, Sa-yoon stomped on his wound. *Cough!* The man spat dark blood, shuddering through ragged coughs.
"If someone asks you a question, you answer."
The tone was gentle but devoid of warmth. His eyes, cold as if staring at a corpse, made the man's gaze drift upward.
"Eek!"
Locking eyes with his dead comrade, the man hiccuped, then desperately grabbed Sa-yoon's leg, begging for his life. The sight was so pitiful Sa-yoon smirked crookedly.
Look at those desperate hands. Clutching like it's a lifeline.
How tragic.
He doesn't even realize he's holding onto a rotten rope.
"Q-quest…! We had to clear the gate…! They attacked us, so we had to kill them to survive…!"
The man stammered, watching Sa-yoon's reaction. He answered quickly, fearing he'd end up like his dead comrades, but his mind swirled with questions.
Why was this obvious high-ranker in a beginner's gate? Why kill his team? Why ask such things?
Nothing made sense, and that terrified him.
Who in the world asks why monsters were killed?
Monsters would overrun the gate and attack humans if left unchecked. They had to die for clearing the gate, for the future. Did this killer really not know that?
No way.
This murderer was just toying with him. A fleeting amusement.
Once the fun was over, he'd join his dead teammates.
Paling at the thought, the man flinched as Sa-yoon leaned down and brushed dirt off his chest. *Scritch, scritch.* The blade's edge scraping against his clothes was threatening. He squeezed his eyes shut.
"See? You killed them because they were a threat to you."
"Y-yes…!"
"Same here."
"…Huh?"
"If I don't kill you, you'll become a threat to me."
"...?"
The man, who'd been nodding frantically to survive, fell silent. The killer's nonsense was delivered with such sincerity.
No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't fathom how he—a newly awakened C-rank—could ever threaten someone who'd effortlessly killed three of his teammates.
"What kind of…"
Before he could finish, a sickening *crack* cut him off.
"GAAAH!"
A rib snapped under Sayoon's foot. The man screamed, and Sayoon winced, rubbing his ear.
"Why the fuss over a broken bone?"
"Cough—urk!"
The man writhed in pain, too aggrieved to speak. Not that he could—any protest would've sealed his fate.
Even a D-rank awakened could live decently, let alone a C-rank like him. Clearing this beginner' gate meant he'd be welcomed anywhere. He *needed* to survive.
Swallowing his pain, the man looked up with tearful eyes.
"Please… spare me… I won't say a word after this. I'll keep secrets, forget everything… Just…"
"The monsters you killed probably said the same."
*How would you know?!*
Even in terror, his rationality flared. How could every word out of this bastard's mouth be so absurd? He couldn't possibly know the monsters' thoughts was he some kind of monster sympathizer?
He'd truly drawn the short straw with this madman.
His thoughts shattered mid-revelation.
"Ghk-!"
A choked gasp escaped as his vitals were struck. Eyes wide, the man twitched a few times before going limp.
*Crackle.* The corpse began freezing over. Sayoon stood and surveyed the scene.
One, two, three, four.
Four frozen bodies in total. Enough to fill the quota.
*Ding!*
(b ᵔ▽ᵔ)b>
"Disgustingly cheerful."
Sayoon sneered at the system window.
Finally, the hundredth. Free of the tedious quest, he wiped blood off his face and retrieved his dagger from the corpse.
Too precious to leave behind, even as a memento for his victims. An SS-grade blade was worth more than their lives. He flicked off the blood and sheathed it.
His eyes caught the fallen book's title again.
There Are No Truly Bad Villains in the World
Sweet, but not exactly true. The perspective that villains shouldn't be seen as purely evil was fresh, but villains were still villains.
A better title would've been There Are No Villains Without a Story
As he mused, a system window announced the gate's clearance. No rewards, of course Sayoon wasn't a beginner.
*Rumble.*
The space trembled like an earthquake. Sa-yoon rummaged through his coat and pulled out a fireball.
*Toss.*
He threw it casually, retracting his ice skill. The flames consumed the thawing corpses.
Some might call it hypocrisy, but Sa-yoon watched the pyre before turning away. *Flash!* The gate emitted a blinding light, swallowing his vision.
---
Breaking news: Last night, the leader of the criminal group Night Mice clashed with the Russian Guild in a terror battle…
The moment he exited, a giant screen blared emergency news old events reported like they'd just happened. Clicking his tongue, Sayoon dialed a number.
"Hey, Jongsik. It's me. …Yeah, got summoned again. Come pick me up. Where? Well…"
Grumbles came through the phone at the frequent calls lately. Though reluctant, Jongsik's loyalty meant he'd eventually arrive in a sedan.
While waiting, Sayoon's sharp hearing caught whispers about the news.
"Night Mice again?"
"Ugh, the world's going to hell."
"What are the cops even doing?"
"They're like foreign mafia. Going after them means war, so they just slap sanctions."
"Babe, I'm scared. Can't we just move abroad?"
*Tch.*
As if I wouldn't be there too.
Listening amusedly, he tuned out the chatter. The system, ever eager, popped up with another notification.
No sense of tact, this one.
To Sayoon, leader of the world's worst criminal guild, Night Mice, being called the "worst villain" was the highest praise.
The system, hellbent on making him the ultimate evil, would've danced if it could.
And as expected, the blue window appeared.
Ding!
Absolutely no awareness.