『At around 10 a.m. today, an unidentified villain went on a rampage in the middle of Gangnam-daero in Seoul. Fortunately, thanks to the swift response of the S-rank hero Flare, who was patrolling nearby, the situation was resolved without any casualties. We’ll connect with our reporter at the scene for more details. Reporter O Hanna!』
『Yes, I’m here at the scene on Gangnam-daero where the incident occurred! As you can see, part of the road was damaged by the villain’s rampage, but everything has now been cleared away. Citizens are breathing sighs of relief and cheering the hero’s performance. As it happens, Hero Flare is here at the scene, so let’s speak with them!』
『Flare! You prevented what could have become a major disaster. How do you feel right now?』
『I’m truly happy to have defeated an evil villain and protected the citizens! For the sake of justice, and so that all of you can go about your daily lives in peace, I, Flare, am ready to rush over anytime, anywhere!』
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After roughly skimming the news, I downed the coffee that had already gone cold in one gulp.
“Haa……”
The warm sunlight streaming through the window and the street bustling with people were no different from the usual scenery of South Korea, but I had reached only one conclusion.
Apparently, I had been subjected to what people commonly called possession.
My original identity and appearance as Gang Jinu seemed to remain the same, but I had been possessed into a world where villains caused incidents and heroes flew through the sky shooting beams.
“……Tanaka, you son of a bitch.”
A curse slipped low from my mouth on its own.
He shoved a reader into his novel just because I beat the problems with his story over the head with facts? Does that even make any sense? More importantly, what the hell is that bastard Tanaka?
All I know is that he’s a hardcore freak and a human being steeped to the bone in bizarre ideology.
Because of that, Ordinary… Ah, let’s just call it Shapeshifting Peerless. At least that’s less cringe.
Anyway, because of his personality, South Korea gets destroyed right from the prologue of Shapeshifting Peerless, and of all places, I had to land in South Korea, the very place scheduled for destruction.
Leaving aside the matter of returning to my original world, if I stayed like this, my only future was either death or becoming a refugee just like in the original.
“Ha, that damned bastard Tanaka……”
Letting out what must have been my umpteenth sigh and curse, I reorganized the situation.
I, Gang Jinu, had been possessed into the novel written by that bastard Tanaka, and in terms of timing, I had landed in South Korea, which would be destroyed three years later by a villain known as Absolute Evil.
However, even if I hadn’t wanted it, I had a card called knowledge of the original, obtained by forcing myself to read that piece of garbage Shapeshifting Peerless all the way to the end.
Using this knowledge, I could increase my wealth, flee abroad, live well, eat well, and spend my days without any trouble—but.
“Ha, don’t make me laugh.”
I might be able to protect myself with my knowledge of the original, but that would mean things were flowing according to the original, right? According to the story that bastard Tanaka wanted.
When I thought of things going the way that son of a bitch wanted after he arbitrarily possessed me into his novel just because I criticized it a little, my stomach churned even though I hadn’t eaten anything.
“Who says I’ll let that happen?”
I don’t know about anything else, but I absolutely refuse to let that Tanaka bastard have it good, even if it kills me.
“I’ll smash it to pieces. I’ll turn the original you wrote into a complete mess!”
“E-Eek! C-Customer……! Please calm down……!”
At the sudden scream-laced voice, I raised my head and saw a café employee trembling like an aspen leaf while clutching a tray tightly.
Apparently, I had gotten too absorbed in my single-minded resolve to take revenge on that author bastard.
“Ah, ahem. I’m sorry. I got a little worked up. And I’ll order another Americano.”
Clearing my throat in embarrassment, I held out my card.
I had been sitting there longer than I’d expected, so I placed a new order as a sort of seat fee, but the employee still watched my every move warily and carefully completed the payment.
Well, to be fair, the face reflected in the mirror looked so menacing that I’d be lucky if I wasn’t mistaken for a villain.
My impression hadn’t exactly been good in my original world either, but whether here or there, my appearance was the type that easily invited misunderstandings, and a sigh came out on its own.
Not long after, after receiving the new coffee from the employee, I sat back down and revised my strategy.
Self-preservation was now on the back burner. My goal was only one thing: to feed that bastard Tanaka a massive fuck-you.
What should I do to turn that Japan-worshiping author’s stomach?
Should I kill the protagonist?
No, that was something only an amateur would do.
For one thing, he had an overpowered brocon older sister who ranked among the strongest in the setting, so realistically it was impossible. More importantly, killing one protagonist wouldn’t change the scenario of South Korea being destroyed.
Since that bastard was steeped in anti-Korean sentiment, even if I killed the protagonist, as long as South Korea was destroyed, I wouldn’t be able to deal him that big of a blow.
Then should I hand my knowledge of the original over to the villains who would threaten the world and have them destroy Japan first?
No, those bastards weren’t the type to stop after destroying Japan.
Honestly, I didn’t care what happened to the world Tanaka-kun created, but there was no guarantee I’d be able to return to my original world by then, so what would I do if I got caught up in it for no reason?
So I decided to put that matter on hold for now.
What remained was monopolizing the fortuitous encounters that would appear in the original, becoming a hero myself, and stopping Absolute Evil.
“……Ugh, that’s a bit much.”
Just imagining it sent chills all over my body.
Wearing spandex like the hero on the news earlier and spouting embarrassing lines like “For justice!” or “For the citizens!” absolutely did not suit my temperament.
Damn it, what should I do to give that bastard Tanaka-kun a proper giant middle finger?
Should I just join the villains and spill all the information? Couldn’t I make a deal on the condition that my safety was guaranteed?
Just as I was thinking that and wetting my lips—
Boom!
The building shook violently from a sudden impact.
The coffee I’d left on the table spilled from the aftermath and soaked my pants, but I didn’t even have time to feel the heat.
Screams erupted from the employees and customers around me.
“Wh-What the hell was that all of a sudden?”
Wondering what had happened, I looked out the window and had to doubt my own eyes.
A car was literally flying through the air.
‘A car?’
By the time I recognized that fact, it was already too late.
The massive lump of metal shattered the window and crashed into the café.
“Kyaaaak!”
Sharp fragments and dust obscured my vision.
When I realized that the car had brushed right past the seat I’d been sitting in just moments ago, the strength belatedly drained from my entire body, and my legs gave out.
Sitting collapsed on the floor, I let out a trembling breath.
“Wh-What the hell kind of bolt from the blue is this……”
“It’s a villain! A villain has appeared!”
At the desperate screams coming from outside, I raised my head again and looked out.
The street that had been peaceful just a moment ago had turned into a hellscape in an instant.
Amid the shattered paving blocks and burning vehicles, I saw a huge man wearing a tiger mask.
The muscular bastard, dressed like a wrestler, smashed and threw everything he could get his hands on as if he had lost his mind.
“Kraaak! I’ll smash everything!”
The sight of him howling like he had some kind of anger management disorder while hoisting a truck with one hand was not that of an ordinary lunatic.
He was a disaster, terror itself.
Twitch!
“Hup!”
Instinctively, I quickly hid myself behind a wall.
No way I had just made eye contact with that lunatic, right?
Maybe that bastard Tanaka-kun wasn’t completely without a conscience, because I did have two abilities, but that didn’t mean they were suited for combat.
That was why it was obvious I wouldn’t even be able to put up a fight if I ran into a crazy monster like that.
‘Please, please just go. Just pass by……’
But this damned world apparently had no intention of granting my wish.
Crunch!
“There you are!”
A crude, enormous hand punched through the wall like paper and snatched me by the nape of the neck.
“Guh!”
Dangling in the air, I met the bastard’s eyes.
His bloodshot eyes gleamed with madness.
“You called me a muscle pig too, didn’t you?”
I wanted to shout, ‘When the hell did I?!’ but my throat was being squeezed, so only choking noises came out.
“I like muscle pigs. Because I like muscles. But I’m going to kill every bastard who calls me a pig!!”
As strength entered the bastard’s grip, my mind flashed white.
My vision blurred, and my consciousness receded.
At the moment death loomed right before me, resentment surged up inside me.
‘Damn it…… I haven’t done anything yet. I haven’t even managed to screw over that son of a bitch Tanaka once……!’
Just as I was about to close my eyes in vain—
“That’s far enough, villain!”
“Guh!”
Along with the sudden sound of a blow, the pressure choking my neck vanished.
I flopped to the floor and instinctively sucked in air.
“Cough! Cough! H-Haah……!”
Coughing so hard that tears sprang to my eyes, I barely managed to raise my head.
There stood a slender girl with brown hair fluttering behind her.
“Are you all right? Are you hurt anywhere?”
The voice that examined me with worried eyes sounded young, yet firm.
“I’m fine. I’m fine.”
I’d nearly had my ticket punched after being strangled, but since I wasn’t hurt anywhere, should I call that fortunate?
After hearing my answer, the girl finally nodded as if relieved.
“I see. That’s a relief.”
She answered briefly, then glared fiercely at the villain as he staggered to his feet.
“I’ll handle things here. Please hurry and get away while you can.”
“Uh, yes. Understood.”
Unlike what I’d seen on the news or social media, she looked plain, but judging by the hero suit she was wearing, she seemed to be a hero.
Because of the facial recognition interference function that was basically built into hero suits, I couldn’t see her face properly, but at a glance, she was much smaller than me.
Her voice seemed a little young too. Was she perhaps a minor?
No way. No matter how short-staffed the Hero Association was, there was no way they would send a minor into the field—wait, now that I think about it, the protagonist bastard of the original was a high schooler too, wasn’t he? Then could she be one too?
“Kraaak! You little runt, how dare you!”
“Damn, please hurry and run!”
“Ah, sorry!”
When the enraged villain began rampaging again, the girl shouted urgently.
For now, I should get out of here. There was nothing good about getting dragged into this mess for no reason.
After confirming that I had retreated to a safe distance, the girl declared proudly to the villain.
“Villain! I, the hero ‘Nova,’ will face you myself!”
What? What did she just say?
The name that had just struck my ears was both incredibly unfamiliar and familiar.
‘Nova? If it’s Nova, then surely……’
If my memory was correct, that was the name of a Korean villain who appeared early in that bastard’s novel.
Come to think of it, that villain named Nova had brown hair too. Could that Nova possibly be……?