I’m Not That Villain

18 – First Customer (4)

I bought garbage bags.

Lily, who followed me in the middle, angrily said to me as if she couldn’t believe it.

“What kind of crazy thing is this?!”

“Well, should we just leave then?”

“Just go!”

“The kid is living in a pile of trash. When the transformation is undone, they look much younger than me… As a human being, I should at least do this much. It’s like a first customer service.”

“What kind of service does a black market seller provide?!”

“It wasn’t particularly dangerous, was it?”

“You’re too reckless!”

That’s true.

It is true, but…

I’ve already said it, so I’ll just do it. It didn’t seem really dangerous anyway.

“If it looks really dangerous, please protect me then. I’ll leave the front door open like before.”

“…Are you brave or just ignorant…”

“The kid is really living in a garbage dump?”

“…….”

Lily sighed and eventually nodded. I started moving around her place again.

I began with sorting the recyclables. It didn’t seem like proper recycling was being done in this apartment, but I did it anyway.

I went up and down busily. Even though it’s a lawless city, most of the lifestyle habits from when South Korea governed were still intact.

The reason is simple. The government doesn’t want to admit that Seoul is a city they’ve abandoned, so they still try to control it. But since that’s impossible, they maintain the lifestyle habits to leave a glimmer of hope.

The groups that have taken over Seoul don’t seem to mind it either, so they leave it be. That’s why there are still elementary school students and garbage trucks collecting trash.

Though there are few who follow recycling rules.

After finishing the last bit of cleaning, I reached for the refrigerator. I cleaned out the rotten food and wiped down the inside.

The more I did, the more it reminded me of the old days. It felt strange. I had to do all this alone because there was no one to take care of me.

I suffered from depression and wanted to die…

But I tried to live. I didn’t want to die meaninglessly.

It was around that time that I decided to become someone successful. I wonder what it would have been like if there had been someone like me now to clean up for me back then.

Would I have become such a tough person?

Hmm… I don’t know.

I looked around the now clean room. Since it was a one-room apartment, there wasn’t much to clean in the first place.

One bathroom, a studio with a kitchen attached.

While I was cleaning, Seol Ye-won, who had been following me around clumsily, flinched. Her squeezed-out voice trembled.

“Are you… going to leave…?”

So it was true what I said.

It seems like severe social anxiety. I wonder how I lived without this ability.

I tried to nod but looked into the empty fridge again. Alcohol. Only alcohol.

The freezer was also frosted over, with nothing substantial inside. In a situation that made me sigh, I decided to finish it properly.

Since I had already started, it felt better to do it this way.

Let’s consider it an act of charity.

“…Uh…um, excuse me…”

Ignoring the voice from behind, I started shopping. With Seol Yewon still covering her face, I began cooking, something I had gotten better at recently.

There was an electric rice cooker, but it seemed broken, so I used instant rice instead. I packed the homemade side dishes into airtight containers one by one.

As I neatly stacked them in the fridge, it finally looked full, which pleased me. Hmm. Good. Very good.

Back in my day, before I entered the orphanage, I lived in a one-room apartment with my mom and dad, eating nothing but burnt fried eggs and ramen. I used to think it would be nice if someone made home-cooked meals for me.

“Breakfast. Lunch. Dinner. Eat them like this. Got it?”

“…Ah…uh…”

“Eat this now. If you like it, try making it yourself. Food you make yourself is surprisingly delicious.”

Ah. I’m hungry. But I can’t eat dinner here.

The reason is simple. Lily is surely starving outside. At the very least, I should eat with her. It wouldn’t be right to eat here.

“I’ll call you once in a while, so answer. It’s a necessary step to make the special equipment.”

“Why…why go this far…”

“Just because.”

Really, just because.

There’s no special reason.

I didn’t do anything grand in the first place. Just helped with a bit of cleaning and made some side dishes.

I opened the door and left. Without any special farewell, I walked down the hallway, naturally reaching out to Lily, who followed me.

She still had a sulky, pouty expression. But when it came to actually arguing, she seemed to find it strange herself and kept her mouth shut.

She looked just like a child.

Seeing her sulking, I had to cheer her up. After all, I did force her.

“What do you want to eat?”

“…….”

Lily, who had been looking at me with cold eyes, frowned.

“You ignored all the warnings.”

“…….”

“You don’t listen to me at all.”

“…….”

“You’re not maid-like at all.”

“…Sorry.”

Lily, who had been growling, grabbed my hand and jumped down the stairs.

“Buy me a hamburger. With fries. Lots of ketchup.”

“Good.”

I’m glad she’s an easy girl.

. . .

Seol Yewon looked around the now quiet room.

It’s clean. Has it ever been this clean?

No.

Not even once.

She glanced around the only property her mother left behind. She also lowered the face she had been constantly hiding.

The social skills she had painstakingly built up. Once she was completely alone, familiar silence found her.

But this time, it’s a little different. She looked down at the food placed on the cleanly wiped table.

It’s warm and steaming. There’s a home-cooked meal in front of her that she had never properly eaten before.

Her mother didn’t know how to cook. She never even tried.

All she had eaten until now were cold street foods or instant foods that needed to be heated.

Eating out is expensive. So she couldn’t even touch it. One meal outside cost as much as two meals at home.

“…….”

She reached out and grabbed the chopsticks. She cut the well-cooked meat and pushed it into her mouth.

Proper seasoning. Perfect chewiness.

For some reason, as she ate, tears seemed to well up, so Seol Yewon pressed her palms firmly.

Don’t cry. Don’t cry.

If she cried, it felt like everything would really fall apart.

She repeated this several times while eating, but eventually, the tears burst out. The food she pushed into her mouth while sniffling was so delicious that she ended up taking out another side dish.

Food made by someone else. A kindness given without even paying for it.

“Haah…”

She lived with her face covered by a mask. Out of fear.

I couldn’t get close to others for fear of being abandoned again. Because I am a worthless child.

“Why did they even give birth to something like that?”

“You’re no help to my life at all…”

“Oh. Don’t worry about it, honey. Just think of it as if it doesn’t exist.”

“Aren’t you going out anywhere?”

“You can live alone without a mom, right?”

“Honestly, I’ve done enough by raising you this much.”

“What are you looking at, you worthless girl? Do you think I’m a joke too?”

I don’t want to cry, but tears keep mixing with my food.

It’s slightly salty.

That’s why I hate it.

I want to eat food that’s not salty…

But I can’t.

. . .

[Thank you.]

Seol Ye-won sent a text message.

Just one word. That was all. Thank you.

But you know, I really liked that one word.

It felt sincere.

Well, it was a hassle, but it was worth it. I liked it.

“Alright. Let’s get to work.”

Well, that’s that and this is this.

I cultivated the extracted superpower genes over several days and put them into the enhancer.

But I encountered an unexpected problem.

“…Sigh.”

You see, superpowers evolve in extreme situations. Usually, that’s the case.

And those extreme situations are mental stress or overwhelming pain… things like that.

Villains aren’t strong for no reason. They are strong because they have rolled in the depths.

And the superpower genes of those strong ones were far from ordinary.

It seems to be as tricky as Cha Seo-yoon. The ability of the power I examined was the same as Seol Ye-won’s words.

The power ‘Insoo (人獸)’.

Literally, it was transforming into the form of a beast.

But, you see, it was far from an ordinary beast. The most outstanding thing was…

Its durability.

No, how can it be this hard? Even the power factor was so tough that it took a long time to penetrate with the improved machine to observe the inside.

The pure physique is just a scam. There was nothing special, but the physical ability alone felt overwhelmingly strong.

If the simple power factor is like this, how strong would the person be?

No wonder my blood collection device broke.

But fortunately, it was possible to penetrate enough to observe the inside, so transformation was also possible. I prepared to make specialized equipment while recording each reaction.

The requirements are simple, so it’s easy to make. They want something that can push the power to its limit…

Isn’t it just a matter of making specialized equipment to help control the power?

Unlike with Cha Seo-yoon, there was no need to forcibly twist the power, so I worked excitedly.

And then…

Messages started coming in.

[How is my specialized equipment coming along?]

It started with a light message. So I replied without any burden.

But then it started to get a little strange.

[I cleaned my room thoroughly today.]

Sending a random picture of their room.

[I’m working hard.]

Sending a picture that seems to be from a dishwashing part-time job.

[I made this.]

Sending a picture of homemade food.

“…Huh…this…”

I thought it might be a romantic interestbut it didn’t seem like that.

Judging by the tone and actions, it’s exactly that.

A child wanting to be praised.

I was dumbfounded. Isn’t it similar to seeking affection from someone you’ve just met for the first time in your life?

If it were an ordinary person, they would have laughed it off. Or they might have taken advantage of it.

So I said it bluntly.

[Well done.]

No, well.

If you did well, you did well, what else can I say.

Compliments, you see, don’t cost any money no matter how many you give.

So you can just throw them around freely, that’s what I’m saying.

[I added Cheongyang chili pepper to my ramen.]

[A true connoisseur.]

[I cleaned the house today.]

[That’s great, you’re diligent.]

[I found the parents of a lost child.]

[Excellent.]

…Sigh.

But you know.

As time goes by, it feels a bit like I’ve become a private tutor.

Anyway, in the passing time, her personal equipment was completed. The work itself was simpler compared to before, so a month was enough.

Alright. Let’s go get my million won.