Being a Villain is My True Calling

“Experimentation, you say?”

“Indeed, that drug dealer…nay, researcher, introduced himself as such.”

Certainly, during my previous encounter with the drug dealer, he had seemed more interested in acquiring people rather than money.
Ability users or children. And now experimentation…

“Could it be related to that first ability enhancer…the one those dealers were selling previously?”

“How did you come to know of that already? I was just about to inform you…”

‘It seems my initial speculation was accurate.’

The drug that the Blue Scorp gang had been distributing was merely a prototype, using the slums as their testing grounds.
And the ones they had been collaborating with were researchers.

‘Researchers capable of operating on this scale, no less.’

With a high degree of certainty, almost assuredly an organization from the original storyline.

“It appears I’ve stumbled into quite the troublesome affair.”

“But we cannot simply abandon it now!”

Well, he did have a point there.
This was the mission I had been tasked with initially.

‘Though completely eradicating them may prove difficult.’

I would have to make do with whatever progress was feasible.

“Very well, I understand. So then, where is this drug dealer…no, researcher, currently located?”

“I bound him over there by that utility pole.”

“Hmm?”

Just why would you tie him up in such a place?

“Haah…follow me…”

Letting out an exasperated sigh as if disinclined to explain further, Uchi took the lead.
While perplexed, I didn’t press the matter and simply followed behind him.

“……”

“Haahh…haahh…bondage play!”

What came into view was the drug dealer, bound by a dog leash to the utility pole.

“…I’ll preface this by saying it was his own request.”

Tapping the brow of his mask, Uchi addressed me flatly.

‘Hmm.’

Once I’ve fully extracted the necessary information from him, I should probably just put him out of his misery swiftly.
Resolving myself to that inevitability, I suppressed the urge to grimace.

“Researcher, could you please elaborate on the nature of your experimentation here?”

“I,if I talk, will you reward me…?”

“…If I find your answers satisfactory.”

I’ll grant you the mercy of a swift demise.
Swallowing the latter half of that thought, I simply smiled disarmingly.

“…Well, as you’re already aware, I am a researcher. While I cannot disclose my place of employment…”

The researcher spoke with seeming trepidation, massaging his throat habitually.
Less out of discomfort from the dog leash, and more an ingrained compulsive tic, it appeared.

‘There seem to be certain constraints in place.’

Whether an innate ability, an artifact, or some form of unrefined mystic imprint, the inability to speak freely was hardly surprising under such circumstances.

The question was the precise extent of those limitations…

“Are you able to discuss the nature of your experimentation?”

“Yes, I can disclose that!”

An expression of confidence, or perhaps a built-in limitation threshold.
Regardless, it was fortunate that this particular aspect didn’t appear to be restricted.

“…We have been experimenting with augmenting abilities and increasing aggression levels.”

“Ability augmentation and heightened aggression, you say…”

“If the prototype…that is, the initial product only reacted to ability users, this new version allows even non-ability users to experience physical enhancements coupled with an amplification of their innate violent tendencies upon ingestion…”

As the researcher began elaborating on their objectives and the ability enhancer’s precise mechanisms, an unsettling sense of familiarity crept over me the more I listened.

‘Physical enhancement and increased aggression…?’

Discounting nuances like addictive properties, temporary durations, or differences between human and animal subjects, the described effects nearly perfectly matched another concoction I was familiar with.

In certain aspects it seemed an outright imitation, while in others it could be framed as an enhanced derivative formulation.

“…Is there any chance you also intended to incorporate a contagious element?”

“How did you deduce that? In truth, a completed version predating even the prototype did possess such an attribute…but due to a certain incident, we lost all the pertinent data…”

Well, I had heard enough to confirm my suspicions.

‘The biochemical weapon I previously pillaged from Idogeop’s estate…that was the original prototype for the ability enhancer.’

For some reason, the drug’s data had been lost, necessitating its recreation as the current ability enhancer formulation.
Meaning the ability enhancer and the biochemical weapon I stole originated from the same organization.

‘And the group that created that weapon was…’

“Haah…this is becoming quite the headache.”

The very same deranged cult that nearly devoured entire nations in the original storyline.

In the original work, the world’s major power factions were broadly categorized into three groups.

First was the Heroes Association.
Comprising the majority of ‘official’ heroes, each nation’s branch oversaw and directed their assigned jurisdictions.
A highly unified and collaborative organization.

Second were the Villain Organizations.
Collectives formed by various villains banding together, with wildly divergent motives and agendas based on their respective self-interests.
Frequently clashing with rivals yet occasionally cooperating, but lacking the cohesion of the Heroes Association.

And finally, the Third Forces.
Comprising individuals unaffiliated with either the heroes or villainous factions, operating solely in pursuit of their own personal objectives.

Among these disparate loners driven by individual agendas, the only ones closely resembling an organized collective were the researchers themselves.

‘Outwardly posing as upstanding citizens or scholars dedicated to furthering human progress, yet engaging in depraved madness behind the scenes.’

And among those deranged researcher collectives, the very group to which this captured researcher belonged was undoubtedly the most unhinged – ‘Z-Biotech’.

“D,do you have any other questions for me…?”
“None for the time being.”

After listening to the researcher’s account and processing the implications, there was at least one positive takeaway.

‘It’s highly unlikely I’ll need to confront Z-Biotech as a whole over this particular incident.’

While representing the largest Third Force faction in scale, Z-Biotech’s collective size also meant a diverse array of research projects under their umbrella.

‘And crucially, this project appears to be merely a subordinate endeavor supporting some higher-level main operation.’

Considering their philosophy, even if a few subsidiary projects were disrupted, they were unlikely to divert all their resources for full-scale retaliation.
Each member had their own primary assignments taking precedence, after all.

“So what shall we do now?”
“For starters, we’ll need to apprehend the researchers actively distributing the drug.”
Removing potential variables first was prudent.

“Their whereabouts are…”
“We do happen to have one quite knowledgeable individual, do we not?”
I kicked the bound researcher forcefully.

“Haaaahhh…! Haah…haah…”

“”……””

Panting raggedly, the researcher’s body trembled violently.

…Could this researcher be an ability user himself?
If so, his innate talent for evoking visceral revulsion was truly awe-inspiring.

“…In any case, let’s locate them swiftly.”
Preferably resolving this entire matter before the day is done.

“Hurry up, test subject.”
“……”

In a shadowy alleyway, a cloaked man and young girl walked in silence.

“Tch. Not even listening to my instructions.”
Noting the girl’s sluggish pace, the man clicked his tongue disdainfully before abruptly whipping his head away.

“Just where has that damned junior researcher run off to…there’s still so much work remaining, yet he’s already slacking off…”

Grumbling irritably as he forged ahead, every little thing seemed to vex the man well past his forties.

The insolent junior researcher who had audaciously placed himself on equal footing, only to disappear without warning.
The oblivious test subject trailing listlessly behind him.
Everything grated on his frayed nerves.

“……”
The man glanced back dismissively at the girl.
Only to be met with her luminescent, piercing gaze fixed squarely upon him.

‘Those eyes are still utterly unsettling.’
Not remotely human, but distinctly predatory and avian.
The man grimaced in revulsion.

Beast. If one word could encapsulate the girl’s current form, that would suffice.
Outwardly humanoid in appearance yet simultaneously exhibiting decidedly inhuman traits – a hybrid chimera.

Their own manufactured hybrid.

WHACK!

Recoiling from her uncanny mimicry of human mannerisms, the man shuddered viscerally.

“Test subject. Do not dare regard me with those repulsive eyes of yours.”
“……”
Even after that vicious slap, the girl remained utterly impassive in her silent observation of the man.

“That’s right. You are powerless to defy me in any way.”

At the research facility, the girl had been thoroughly indoctrinated through brainwashing techniques.
Rendered incapable of expressing emotion or retaliating against the researchers.

Hence the man’s ability to treat her as a mere plaything without consequence.

SLAP! WHACK!! SLAP!!

Just how much pent-up stress had he vented upon the hapless girl…?

“Haah…haah, phew…”
Catching his breath, the man eyed the hand that had struck the girl’s cheek with disgust.
He furiously scrubbed it with a handkerchief before flinging the soiled cloth away.

“……”

Drrring-!

His phone’s ringtone rang out impeccably timed.
After shooting the girl one last disdainful glance, the man turned his back to answer the call.

“Yes, it’s me. What is it…? The other researchers are being…”

While the call itself seemed rather innocuous initially, the caller’s urgency hinted that something had gone awry.

“Under attack, you say? By drug addicts?”

No, even considering the researchers’ vulnerability, equipped with basic self-defense measures, mere addicts shouldn’t pose a significant threat.
Then who could the assailants be?

Villains attempting to hijack the drug supplies for resale?
Or perhaps one of those frustratingly rare heroic presences occasionally glimpsed in the slums?

“What is your current location?”

Regardless of the specifics, if a call for aid was being issued, assistance would be required.
For now, he would simply proceed to the coordinates provided by the other researcher…

Yet at the precise moment the man turned to depart:

CRUNNCH!!!

A set of razor-sharp fangs penetrated his jugular with lethal force.

“Kughh…kughh!!”

And the one who had sunk those fangs into him was none other than the girl herself.

‘Wh,why…?’

Beholding the girl latched onto him, perplexity overshadowed any sense of outrage.
The indoctrination had been flawless, or so it should have been.
There was no way she could have resisted their comprehensive brainwashing.

His organization’s absolute authority was supposed to be unquestioned.

Yet the man remained oblivious to the fact that the girl had merely feigned subjugation to their indoctrination techniques all along.
Biding her time, awaiting the perfect opportunity for escape.

“Aah…aahh…”

As the man slowly grew colder, his lifeblood seeping away…

“……”

Withdrawing her fangs, the girl snatched the phone from his hand before sprinting off in an unknown direction.

“Hmm…”

Now what was this about?
While in the midst of apprehending the researchers one by one throughout the slums, a young girl had abruptly materialized before me, flopping down spreadeagled.

She raised a crudely scrawled sign toward me.

1 serving.
Possible.
Me.
Feed.

‘Just how am I supposed to interpret this situation…?’