Chapter 3 |
***
The next day.
Regalia handed me an ID card.
“Here, this is for you.”
“This is…?”
“It’s a way to prove your identity in this city.”
The ID card Regalia handed me featured a photo of me that I had no idea when it was taken, and it had the name “Eight” written on it. Naturally, that wasn’t my real name.
“Eight…? Who’s that? And when was this photo taken—”
“…Understood.”
Eight.
For some reason, the name seemed closely related to the “Eighth” thing she mentioned yesterday… but what could I do? If the employer calls me “Eight,” then I’m Eight, just as if she had called me something else, I’d have to go by that.
As I stared blankly at the ID card, Regalia snapped her fingers to draw my attention.
“What are you doing? It’s time to go.”
“Go… where?”
“Were you even listening? Today, you’re coming with me to meet the members of the organization, remember?”
“Oh… Right, you did mention that. So, it’s not here?”
I glanced around the mansion as I spoke. Even though she called it a villain organization, isn’t it really just a rich girl’s playtime? I mean, it’s probably just pretend.
This mansion seemed like the perfect place for such a game. It was unnecessarily large, with more than just spare rooms—it even had entire buildings that were empty. It seemed like an ideal place to play villain without anyone finding out.
However, Regalia frowned as if I had said something incredibly stupid.
“anization in their own house?”
“…I didn’t know, having never done it before.”
Following the exasperated Regalia, I left the mansion.
The limousine we had ridden in last night quickly left the estate and headed into the city.
As I watched the countless buildings pass by outside the window, it made me feel like I could return home at any moment. But that wasn’t the case. This wasn’t the world I used to live in, and the country I knew didn’t exist in this world.
‘So, this means I have to survive in this world…’
As I was lost in thought, staring out the window, the limousine came to a stop.
The driver quickly got out of the car and opened the rear door, and Regalia casually stepped out of the vehicle.
“We’ve arrived. Let’s go.”
“Ah, yes.”
Following Regalia out of the limousine, I hesitated as I looked at the massive building in front of me. I had unconsciously assumed that a villain organization would operate out of some dark, hidden underground base, so the sight before me was even more shocking.
The building in front of me was larger and more imposing than any other in the area, the kind of place where respectable people would go to work.
And indeed, that was the case.
“Good morning, Madam!”
“Hmm.”
“Here’s the report summarizing yesterday and today’s events.”
“I’ll read it on the way up.”
As Regalia entered the building, guards and employees in suits quickly gathered around her, bowing deeply. The sight of fully grown adults bowing to a girl who looked no older than an elementary school student was incredibly surreal.
However, neither Regalia nor the bowing employees found it strange. It was apparently such a common occurrence that no one even questioned it anymore.
“─Eight? Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
I suddenly realized how impressive Regalia truly was. Ah, all hail Regalia.
I followed her into the elevator, and we quickly ascended, seemingly defying gravity. It felt almost like teleportation.
When the elevator doors opened, I immediately realized that anization. The scene before me left no room for doubt.
“─Hail Regalia! Hail Evilus!”
“Louder!”
“Hail Regalia—!”
Combatants dressed in full-body suits, shouting strange slogans.
“Ugh—!”
A man with scars all over his body, easily lifting a weight that no human should be able to lift, who also happened to be a bipedal tiger.
“Hehehehe—Just wait…”
A girl giving a creepy laugh while standing in front of photos of women dressed as magical girls.
The scene before me was one that could only be described as that of an evil organization. I was so overwhelmed by the sudden influx of information that I froze in place.
While I stood there, stunned, one of the members of the evil organization spotted us and gasped in shock.
“Bo-Boss! Hail Evilus!”
“Hmm. Hail Evilus.”
“The Boss is here?”
“Are you well, Galm?”
“Same as usual.”
“Boss, it’s been a while…”
“It’s been a while, Ayle. Still looking at magical girl photos?”
“Hehehe—It’s my only hobby…”
After exchanging greetings with the tiger-man lifting weights and the girl staring at magical girl photos, Regalia pulled me forward and spoke.
“This here is our eighth executive. His name is Eight.”
“Oh—Is he strong?”
“No. Eight is our organization’s Scientist. He’s a powerless individual, so don’t bother picking a fight with him.”
“Tsk—How boring.”
As soon as Galm learned I was powerless, he clicked his tongue in disinterest. However, Ayle, the girl who had been staring at the magical girl photos, seemed strangely friendly toward me.
“Hehe—Eight, was it? You’re powerless, too? I’m also a powerless person… Let’s, let’s get along as fellow powerless people.”
“Ah, sure. Let’s get along.”
When I reached out to shake her hand, Ayle flinched and then wiped her hand on her clothes before finally extending it towards me. The handshake was brief, almost fleeting.
But even that short interaction was enough for me to grasp the personalities of the two other executives.
‘One’s a muscle-brained meathead, and the other has a creepy voyeuristic hobby…’
They were people who somehow fit in yet simultaneously didn’t belong in a villain organization. What was the most important thing for a villain organization? The ability to fight against heroes.
Galm, the tiger-man, might be able to crush someone like me with his muscles easily—but still, I wasn’t convinced that his strength could rival that of a hero. After all, hunting a beast isn’t hard with a single gun.
The same was true for Ayle. A powerless individual? After experiencing firsthand just how the powerless were treated in this world overnight, I could only admire her for not deciding to bite her tongue and end it all. I couldn’t expect much more from her.
‘So that’s how it is.’
I became convinced that anization was nothing more than a hobby for Regalia. A pretend game under the guise of a villain organization.
That meant I didn’t really need to do anything significant for the villain organization either. I could just goof off, collecting a paycheck until our boss lost interest in this little game.
That expectation died before even a minute had passed.
“So, Eight. I’m giving you your first task.”
“Excuse me? What do you mean—?”
“Make something useful for these two. Oh, and if you need anything, just say the word. I’ll get whatever you need.”
This was bad.
I looked at Regalia in a panic.
“Uh, by when…?”
“Hmm. A week should be enough, right?”
“A week…?”
That’s barely enough time to finish a college assignment. And now I had to make something useful for the executives of a villain organization? In just a week?
Even though she said I could use as much budget as I wanted, the time was way too tight. I hadn’t even figured out how the science in this world differed from what I knew.
“Boss? I don’t think I can handle both…”
“Really? Then just focus on one. The important thing is to show the others what you’re capable of.”
“But I’m not really capable of anything…”
Hearing that, Regalia looked at me with a mixture of disbelief and exasperation.
“What nonsense… You’re the Scientist I trust. Don’t say things like that.”
“No, I’m really not confident…”
“Don’t believe in yourself. Believe in me, who believes in you.”
With a chuckle, Regalia lightly punched her chest and smiled broadly before heading alone toward the elevator, mumbling something about having a lot of work to do.
Left alone on this floor, I hesitantly approached Galm, who was deeply engrossed in his exercise. With his body more than a few times larger than mine, and those scars covering him from head to toe, it was immensely intimidating to strike up a conversation with the tiger-man.
“Um… Mr. Galm?”
“—What.”
“Is there anything you need?”
“No.”
“No, I mean, anything at all…”
I might get kicked out of the house if I can’t make something.
I locked eyes with him, hoping he’d understand my desperation, and after a long sigh, Galm finally responded.
“I sometimes wish I were a bit stronger in battle.”
“Ah… Are you talking about something like steroids?”
“No drug can make my body stronger.”
“…So, you want me to make something like a recovery tonic or an energy booster?”
“Do whatever you want.”
With that, Galm let out a rough breath and resumed his workout, clearly uninterested in continuing the conversation. Not wanting to risk getting my head smashed in by a dumbbell, I carefully backed away.
After wandering aimlessly around the corridor, one of the organization members eventually came over to show me to my lab.
“You’ll be working here. Let us know if you need anything.”
“Ah, yes. Thank you.”
“You don’t need to be so formal. As an executive, you’re our superior.”
“It’s just more comfortable this way.”
I sent the member off with a wry smile and then looked around the empty lab, letting out a sigh. Normally, projects like this would require several scientists with doctoral degrees working together over a long period, going through trial and error…
And here I was, expected to produce results within a week, all by myself, without any support. It was impossible to come up with anything substantial in such a short time.
In that case, I had no choice. I’d have to cheat a little.
‘As they say, imitation is the mother of creation…’
If making something new from scratch was impossible, I could simply borrow from the things I remembered from Earth. Fortunately, I once had to memorize the nutritional content of some commercial products for an assignment.
Among them was the energy booster Galm wanted.
‘It was something like guanidine acetate and creatine monohydrate… What else was there?’
Creating something from scratch was out of the question, but reproducing something I already knew wouldn’t take too long. And so, I began my first task as a Scientist in an evil organization.
* * *
A week later.
Galm, true to his villainous nature, took to the city and began attacking people.
The citizens, accustomed to seeing villain organization members in skin-tight suits, began to flee as if it were routine.
While the regular combatants vented their frustrations by smashing up cars and buildings, Galm eagerly awaited the arrival of a hero.
“─That’s as far as you go!”
“Ah, you’re here?”
It didn’t take long for a hero to arrive. His response time was faster than a five-minute standby unit. There was no way he wasn’t already nearby, but Galm accepted it as par for the course.
The hero was clearly a rookie, just right for dealing with someone like him. Seeing this, Galm sighed. He longed for the days when he could have thrilling battles like before, but it was disappointing to realize that even fighting someone of this level had become difficult for him.
“You villains! I’ll never forgive you—”
“Let’s wrap this up quickly, alright? I have things to do.”
“…I can’t go easy on you! I’m the hero Sugar Mask! There’s no compromise with villains!”
A rookie who still hadn’t outgrown his hero fantasy, huh? Galm sighed again as he watched the hero strike ridiculous poses and spout cheesy lines. With a light wave of his hand, the regular combatants who had been waiting for his command rushed toward the hero.
Sugar Mask easily dispatched the combatants with a few well-placed punches and kicks. The combatants who were hit collapsed in a flashy manner, as if it had all been choreographed.
After quickly dealing with the combatants, Sugar Mask wasted no time and charged at Galm. Seeing the hero rushing toward him, Galm pulled out a vial from his pocket. It was the item that the newly appointed executive had given him a few days ago.
─Here’s the finished product. Please test it out.
‘…What a pointless endeavor.’
Honestly, he hadn’t expected it to work.
His body, worn out and rusted beyond its limits, was a shadow of its former self, and no matter what he did, there was no way to return to his prime. No drug or ability could restore him.
There was no way that a potion made in just a week could strengthen him. That’s what Galm thought as he drank the potion.
And at that moment.
Galm felt power surge through his entire body.
“Take this—!”
Sugar Mask threw a punch toward Galm as he downed the potion. The hero already knew all about him—A former soldier forced into retirement by injuries. While he had exceptional physical abilities befitting a tiger-man, he wasn’t on the level of a superpowered individual.
He was the perfect villain for a newly debuted hero to make a name for himself.
Just as always, after exchanging a few blows, the villain would fall. And then, as expected, he would flee. But strangely, today was different.
“Haha—hahaha—!”
“…?”
“Hahahaha! I’m sorry, kid—!”
Galm caught the punch aimed at his abdomen and roared with laughter.
“You can’t stop me—! Bring me someone stronger! Someone who can make my heart race again!”
For a brief moment, Galm regained the strength of his prime.
The Beast King, Galm, roared.
On this day, unlike the plan had intended, Galm ended up demolishing five buildings, and it took an emergency deployment of an A-rank hero team to finally force him to retreat.
End of Chapter
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