“That’s it. Aren’t you going to take your turn next?”
“……”
The banquet hall was filled with silence.
“That’s it… No, it’s not! We can’t end it here!!”
As I smirked and made a face as if to ask if there was a problem, some villains stepped forward to challenge me.
“Explain a bit more!”
“Who is this ‘Worst Hero’?”
“Don’t you plan to tell us more~?”
Admittedly, I did summarize things a bit too much. I skipped all the middle parts and just gave the conclusion.
But.
“Unfortunately, I’ve already answered all the questions I needed to.”
That was exactly what I was aiming for. I’m not some volunteer, and I’m not going to just hand over information like a fool, am I?
Plus, the guys around me now are some of the most useful villain organizations in South Korea. Some of these organizations even have roots abroad, spreading their influence far and wide, which means there’s a lot to lose—and a lot to gain.
“Come on, don’t be like that. Show a little loyalty, huh? Can’t you?”
“Hmm… I’m not sure. To talk about loyalty, there are a few people here who seem to dislike me. Thinking about those few lacking individuals… Hmm.”
“That guy is so annoying! Immediate seppuku…!!”
“Hey! Shut that bastard’s mouth first!!”
As I gently provoked them, sure enough, the villain, seemingly boiling with anger, lashed out.
I silently thanked him for moving according to my plan and, with a sly smile, bowed my head deeply as if I had nothing more to say.
“Sigh…”
And the other villains, looking at that scene, made awkward expressions.
“There’s a way to piss people off here! First, start talking and then stop…!”
“What do we do? Is he broken? Or did that bastard get hit by some hallucination somewhere?”
“Hmm, probably not~? As you know, that’s an ‘Artifact’~ Unless it’s completely destroyed or the quality of its abilities drops, it won’t break~?”
“And even if he was hit by a hallucination, the number hasn’t decreased like that before. Usually, the count doesn’t change.”
“Indeed, normalization, normalization is needed…”
“Damn it.”
One villain, cursing, brushed his hair back in frustration.
But no matter how frustrated he was, he couldn’t ignore what I had said.
‘Inaccurate information is always like that.’
The gaps in the information would stick in their minds. And to fill those gaps, they would use their imagination.
But the information I gave was too big to fill in.
I only said that the ‘Worst Hero’ would burn Korea to the ground.
The information I gave was literally just the result without any process.
That means there’s a lot of room for imagination to fill in the gaps.
And if their organizations and lives are at stake?
To eliminate the fear from those gaps, they would stimulate their imagination even more to fill them.
‘From who this Worst Hero is, to whether “burning” is just a metaphor or a real physical event, and so on.’
They would lose their footing and expand their imagination.
Then, naturally, their worries would grow as much as their imagination.
If they hadn’t heard anything from the start, it would be one thing, but in their current state of having heard a half-truth, they would only be satisfied if they got proper information from me.
“Hey, hey. So, are you a virgin or not?”
Of course, there were definitely some who weren’t even thinking about that.
“Hey, any chance you’d sell that information just to me?”
Then, Linling, who had been clinging to my words.
She sidled up close and whispered softly in my ear.
“If it’s compensation, I’ll do it properly… okay?”
Just as the mood was getting set.
“Virgin! You don’t have to act so experienced!”
“…You again?!”
A horned child interrupted, and the mood was ruined once again.
“Why are you so embarrassed about being a virgin?!”
“Damn it…! I’m not a virgin!”
“Be more confident! Huh? I’m a virgin! Just shout it out once!”
“Don’t say it out loud!!”
Linling’s face turned red, and the child looked confused about what the problem was.
As I watched their little skit for a moment.
“So, what do you want?”
A man’s deep voice echoed.
It didn’t seem like he spoke loudly, but everyone in the banquet hall heard it and fell silent.
“What will it take for you to sell the information?”
“Didn’t I already say that my time for spilling information is over?”
I smiled slyly and raised my head, feigning innocence.
The man nodded obediently at my words.
“Right, you’re correct. According to the <Discriminator>‘s judgment, you’ve already filled your quota with that half-baked information.”
In other words, even that half-baked information was extremely valuable to everyone here.
So, it was clear from their faces that they wanted to hear more.
“But, there’s no rule here that says villains can’t buy and sell information among themselves, right?”
The man turned his head expressionlessly and looked at the staff.
When their eyes met, the staff nodded as if to say that was correct.
“Therefore, I want to buy that information. If necessary, let’s move somewhere else. Don’t mind those idiots over there.”
“What did you say?!”
“Hmm, my information is quite expensive, you know?”
At the man’s words, the villains started to get angry.
And seeing me hesitate, they got even more heated and tried to make a deal with me.
“Hey! Don’t deal with that pretentious bastard, deal with me instead! I’ll give you a share of our fight club!”
“Ha, just some fight club? Maker, we’ll give you a share in our subsidiary organization. No need to manage it, and we’ll even give you tribute!”
“Hmm~ Have you forgotten about that kid’s organization? They have enough firepower~ Hey, I’ve got some drugs I’ve been cultivating recently, want to distribute them together? They’re highly addictive and pleasurable, so we’ll have plenty of customers…”
The villains presented various conditions.
“Hey, don’t you need a strong ally like the Black Dragon Society?”
“Anyone around you with bad eyes or bad organs? We can replace them all if you want!”
“We have plenty of high-quality virgins and even virgins from wealthy families! We can give them to you if you want!”
‘Wow.’
Even if they seem stupid, villains are still villains, huh?
I was a bit surprised at how casually they talked about illegal activities.
“What are you going to do?”
As all eyes turned to me, I paused for a moment.
“Alright. I’ll share the information with everyone here.”
I smiled brightly at them.
Nice catch!!
*
“First, I think we need to change what we agreed on.”
“Change it?”
“The conditions you all offered as part of the deal are all of different values.”
If someone offers a better condition but ends up hearing the same information as someone who offered a lesser condition, wouldn’t that be unfair?
The villains nodded in agreement with my words.
‘Actually, that’s just the surface reason. To get useful conditions while also ensuring I don’t get targeted after today.’
What would I do with subordinates from other organizations?
Managing a fight club would take forever, and while there are sick people around me, swapping out a few organs won’t cure their illnesses.
In the end, all those conditions are useless to me.
By changing them, while also making it seem like I gained little, this method is best.
“How about the form of a wish ticket?”
“A wish ticket?”
“Exactly one time, I get the right to ask for your help.”
The condition is that it doesn’t harm their villain organizations.
Of course, the wishes I’ll make will be things that can be resolved with my own abilities.
“How about it?”
“..We’re fine with that!”
From their perspective, I probably look like a complete fool.
It’s not like we’re signing a contract, and since we’re doing this verbally, they probably think they can just pretend to fulfill the wish or ignore it.
‘But that’s only if I become useless to them later, right?’
If I can continue to provide high-quality information, not just today but in the future, there won’t be any idiots trying to take advantage of me.
In fact, if they refuse my wish, they might struggle and work hard to fulfill it, fearing they might miss out on information.
‘As I gradually release future information, they’ll become more and more like cute pets who hang on my every word.’
Because I’ll make them that way.
Imagining a happy future, I smiled slyly and prepared to explain.
“The Worst Hero… First, I need to explain about him.”
I took a sip of the tea the staff handed me.
“About the hero ‘Alpha,’ I’m sure everyone here knows.”
“!!!”
The villains were visibly shocked by my words.
Of course, they would be.
Hero Alpha.
Once an S-class hero active in South Korea.
“..The strongest hero.”
As one villain muttered, he was once the strongest hero in the world.
“But I heard he died? Is he the Worst Hero you’re talking about?”
“He was reported dead, but in fact, he’s still alive.”
The strongest hero, who was said to have gone mad and rampaged, was supposedly killed by the hero closest to him, as the world was told.
But that was a fabricated story.
Alpha didn’t die in that battle and was instead imprisoned.
In the world’s only and worst prison, no less.
“Alpha is still alive, deep within that prison.”
Sharpening the blade of revenge, no less.
I wiped the smile off my face and scanned the villains.
“And from my personal investigation, there’s someone trying to break Alpha out of prison. I’m not sure who yet, but I’ll need to investigate further.”
“What kind of lunatic would…?”
Oh, by the way.
I was planning to release that hero myself.
“Exactly.”
The villains, unaware that the subject was right in front of them, were lost in thought.
I swallowed a laugh as I watched them.
