I Became A Framed Villain - Chapter 1

[TN: Use ‘night mode’ for the best experience.]

{1 – Darkness}

One day, an unidentified beast appeared in the middle of the city, and the world suddenly turned upside down; a mysterious and unknown era began.

Various ‘concepts’ of the world were manifested in inhabitants who then began to awaken unique abilities.

Thanks to this, the era after that was full of chaos and darkness that lasted for years.

Fortunately, in modern society, where order had been restored to a certain extent by the heroes, a space was created for isolating those who used mysterious and unknown ‘concepts’ for crimes.

It was called ‘Karma’, and that was the same place I was imprisoned in.

To be honest, I never imagined I would be imprisoned here; I was always in a position to send prisoners here.

Well, I thought I would be able to leave soon anyway.

I didn’t know what kind of misunderstanding there was, but I believed that as the investigation proceeded, it would become clear that I was innocent.

“I give defendant Kang Ha-neul a death sentence…”

However, it was my mistake.

“He will be executed within a month.”

“What?”

I was given a death sentence even though no one was given the same sentence in nearly ten years.

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“Prisoner number 10156, you have a visitor.”

What woke me up, lying dead in the cell, was the voice of the jailer who seemed a little annoyed.

“…”

“Come on, get ready. We’ll be leaving in a minute.”

Sending out-of-focus eyes to the guard, I saw him frown and turn his head in another direction as if he was disgusted.

I found it unnatural, but in fact, it made sense; according to him, I was the fuc*er who killed the number one hero right now.

‘How did this happen?’

Of course, at first, I too strongly insisted on injustice.

Even if the entire operating area was under control, would it make sense to have no witnesses?

So I wondered when the reality of the incident would come out. In the first place, I didn’t have the power or ability to kill Justia.

However, it was all in vain.

Because the evidence that came out during the investigation and the few eyewitnesses who came forward all pointed to me.

When I realized things were going wrong, it was too late.

In the first place, there was nothing I could do in prison apart from denying the evidence, but surprisingly, no one even wanted to listen to me.

The media had already defined me as Justia’s murderer and were pouring out reports. While investigators only regarded my claim that the evidence was false as an unscrupulous villain’s nonsense.

Truly, the whole world seemed to be against me.

Who the hell did this?

I didn’t think even for a moment that it was natural. Something was clearly wrong.

But what kind of grudge someone would have to torment me so much?

“Hello, seonbae.”

The answer to that question was found in the meeting room I entered after a while.

“long time no see.”

[TN: Seonbae is the Korean equivalent of Senpai/Senior.]

“…tt.”

With my hands and feet tied, I greeted my teeth looking at the white-haired boy and my Noona who seemed to be escorting him these days.

“Lumia, if you think it’s dangerous, call us right away, okay? I’m waiting outside with others…”

“Don’t worry, Maru-san. I’m also entering the Hero Academy this year, right? Now I’m a full-fledged hero.”

Lumia Obse, aka ‘Child Of Prophecy’ tried to convince Noona with a relaxed attitude as if everything was under his control.

“So, see you later?”

Looking at him helplessly, Noona, who was about to leave the room with a worried expression, suddenly glanced at me.

“Noona, I…”

“Shut up.”

“…Ugh.”

I opened my mouth with the feeling of grabbing at least a straw, but as Noona began to speak in a rather cold voice, my whole body froze as it was.

“You are the shame of my life.”

“…….”

“Please die quietly.”

Noona left me with those words as I collapsed on the floor.

‘How is it that everyone sounds the same?’

Hearing the same words that I had already heard from the other two as well made me feel like my whole body was losing strength.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“…….”

“Stay still. I’ll help you.”

After lying on the floor for such a long time, I, miserably, got up after being supported by Lumia.

After somehow succeeding in helping me sit again, Lumia asked while putting on a worried expression.

“So, how are you?”

Then, while waiting for my answer, he opened his bag and pulled out a laptop that had a sticker of a strange mask with its tongue sticking out. It was the same laptop that he always carried with him.

“How am I…? Are you making fun of me…?”

I slowly opened my mouth while forcibly suppressing the boiling anger I felt at his question.

Not minding my answer, suddenly, Lumia changed his expression and looked at me with an eerie smile.

“How does it feel to have everything stolen from you?”

I froze.

“What are you talking about?”

Two days before my execution, it seemed he finally started revealing his true colors for the first time.

“By the way, you are not blind yet?”

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s really strange… Was there such a fresh time even for seonbae…”

“Answer me!!!”

At the guy who kept talking nonsense while evading my question, I couldn’t contain my anger any longer and shouted.

“Isn’t it obvious what am I talking about?”

Then, Lumia opened his eyes and started speaking with a creepy smile.

“Even though you both were young, the childhood friend who promised to marry you,

The ex-girlfriend who followed you because she liked you even though she was a second-generation chaebol,

And even your older sister…”

“You!!”

“…They’re all mine.”

It was only after hearing those words that I realized that the unfounded suspicions I had held for so long were true.

“On purpose?”

“And now that Justia-san has gone away… How heartbroken must you be.”

“All of this… did you really plan it?”

I asked with a bewildered expression. To that, Lumia nodded his head with a soft smile.

“Manipulating information was a little more tricky than I thought. If I didn’t have a chance to prepare everything years ago, I wouldn’t even have dreamed of trying.”

“……..”

“Oh, it was several times more difficult to make seonbae trust me though.”

Then, suddenly, he started patting my shoulder.

“Seonbae, you weren’t delusional or anything… Congratulations on figuring it out.”

“Ssss…”

I inhaled coldly.

“Seonbae himself was worried too, right? That perhaps it was just your misunderstanding, right?”

Yes.

As he said, the misfortune that came to me was not a coincidence.

The reason that the most precious girls suddenly betrayed me, the fact that the positions of me and Justia continued to decrease, and even that incident a few days ago, this guy was behind all of it.

“Why are you doing this to me?”

Upon realizing that fact, the tremors in my body that had been continuing for a long time began to subside.

“What the hell did I do wrong?”

It was because when my anger crossed the threshold, my head started to get cold.

“What do you want? What is your purpose?”

A maddening hatred for this bastard who, for unknown reasons, had ruined my life and stolen everything I held dear, made me cold.

But I didn’t want to miss this opportunity because of my hatred.

“As you said, I was doubting myself because of your great acting…”

“Yeah, it looks like it.”

“…Then why did you confess everything in front of me now?”

This was truly my last chance.

The last chance to dig out all the truth from him.

“Telling me everything now has no benefit. It’s totally opposite from your previous style.”

“True.”

“So tell me. What the hell is the purpose, right now…”

“My purpose…”

But despite expecting some great answer…

“It’s obvious.”

…the words that came out of his mouth were enough to shake my mind again.

“My purpose is you.”

“What?”

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“What kind of bullshit is that?”

I looked at him with a bewildered face, and Lumia, who looked at me with a smile, started talking in a soft voice.

“Hey, seonbae. What do you think makes a hero?”

“…”

“Don’t be shy, answer my question…”

“…”

“Seonbae, please answer me.”

I was instantly furious at those words, but Lumia’s expression looking at me was very serious.

“…Justice? Sacrifice? Willingness to help others?”

I gave a few answers that came to mind.

I actually wanted to leave right away, but if this conversation ended like this, I was the only one at a loss.

Lumia shook his head slowly as I gave a rough answer to match his rhythm.

“No. No, seonbae.”

“Then, what is it?”

When I asked a question to keep him interested and to reach the bottom of the truth, Lumia slightly tilted his head to the side and opened his mouth.

“It is the villain who completes the hero.”

And again bizarre words poured out.

“Isn’t that right, seonbae? All famous heroes have their own villains.”

I stayed silent, wondering what the hell he was trying to say, and Lumia, who narrowed his eyes, began to talk lengthily.

“For example, bats have clowns. Spidermen are being hunted for their lives by goblins, and detectives have professors. Isn’t that right, seonbae?”

“……?”

I roughly understood what he was trying to say, but I also had some doubts.

Bats and Clowns? Spidermen? Detective?

Who the hell was this guy taking as an example?

As far as I knew, there were no such heroes.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I still have some bad habits from the past.”

Lumia raised his hand to express his apology as I was looking at him with a blank face.

“Well, I guess you still got my point though, right?”

“So, what does that have to do with your purpose?”

Looking at him like that, I thought my patience would slowly run out, so I raised my voice a little and asked a question.

-grip.

“Please, seonbae…”

Lumia, who reached out and grabbed my hand, whispered with a creepy smile on his face.

“Please be my own villain.”

“…what?”

At first, I thought I heard it wrong.

“Please be my archenemy.”

However, I soon realized that he was sincere.

“Hate me. Live only to take my life. Please stand up against me…”

“What…”

“Please fight with me until the moment you die. Please be my own identity that only wants to destroy me desperately.”

With those naive eyes that almost fooled me and behind the face which always had an innocent look, this guy seemed to hide something that even transcended madness.

“Just like it should be…”

I couldn’t hear his last murmur, but I didn’t have time to pay attention to it…

“What the hell are you talking about?”

…Because I was unable to even digest his previous words.

“If I explain it in an easy-to-understand way… it means that I like you to death, seonbae.”

“……..”

“The first time I saw you… Ever since we met…”

Hearing his further explanation, I was able to convince myself of that thought.

‘What a crazy bastard.’

The identity of the self-proclaimed child of prophecy was just a crazy bastard.

If so, there was only one thing I had to do now.

“Then why did you take away my colleagues…”

“Isn’t it obvious? So that seonbae could focus on me, not those rags.”

While asking a few questions to keep him busy, I began to concentrate with all my might.

“So, what about Justia?”

“She was the one who should have died that day anyway. Of course, you don’t understand yet…”

I had only one chance…

“Anyway, what I want to say is—”

“—You still failed.”

“Hmm?”

After a brief pause, Lumia tilted his head as if in doubt at my triumphant words.

“What do you mean, seonbae?”

“Even though you did all this to me, you still haven’t been able to steal everything I have.”

Then, after hearing my words, the guy quietly raised his eyebrows.

“It can’t be…?”

“Literally. There’s someone you haven’t taken away yet.”

Maybe he felt it too; That my words weren’t just a bluff.

Yes.

It was a very short relationship, but I had never forgotten her; the girl in my childhood who gave me as much of an opportunity in my life as Justia.

She was the mentor who instilled in me the dream of becoming a hero for the first time.

No matter how much I wanted to quit my journey as a hero, she was the only driving force that allowed me to continue helping others.

“There’s no way that seonbae could have such a person…”

“It’s a pity, Lumia.”

It was my last line of resistance to show that no matter what, my spirit could not be taken away.

“You couldn’t take her away from me.”

Of course, it didn’t mean I won just because I was referring to a past relationship with a person whose life and death was still unknown.

I had already lost almost everything to this guy, and in two days, I was to be executed for Justia’s murder.

But what I could get now by bringing that relationship was just a little mental victory and a brief agitation from that abomination in front of me.

And even after that, If it were the same Lumia I knew, he would most probably recover within seconds.

-Ting!

But, it didn’t matter.

“Okay then, focus your eyes on the monitor.”

What I needed was that momentary agitation.

“Ahh…..”

Lumia’s eyes, which inadvertently shifted to his laptop at my words, slowly began to blur.

“Stare at the spinning circle… yes… in that state slowly, very slowly… close your eyes.”

Then, at my command, Lumia slowly began to close his eyes.

“Yeah, as it is… deep… very deep… immerse yourself.”

Whenever I saw Lumia he always had this laptop with a sticker of a strange mask with its tongue sticking out.

After observing a little, I understood that he most likely was wary of using others’ mobile or laptops because of unique ‘concepts’ that could be used through them.

However, that was still his defeat.

I, who had always been wary and suspicious of him, had secretly installed a program on his laptop that could be activated only by voice recognition. Though it was just a half-as*ed measure.

But… Was the ‘Child of Prophecy’ not really good at handling electronic devices?

“Hey, Lumia.”

“…..”

Well, even if he was a person who handled electronic devices normally, it would have been difficult to spot a simple program that only reacts to voice and creates a whirling whirlpool.

“Hey, you bastard.”

“………”

The answer to how such a simple program could disable Lumia was very simple; It was a supernatural era where people awakened various ‘concepts’ of the world, and even I, who lived in the same era had one ‘concept’.

“…Successful.”

The concept that dwelled in me was ‘hypnosis’.

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“First of all, on the paper next to you, write a confession of everything you’ve done so far.”

“…..yes.”

“And as soon as you leave, turn this paper in and surrender yourself.”

“…..Alright.”

After that, things seemed to go smoothly.

In fact, it was normal.

Because those who were once struck by my powers did not wake up from hypnosis on their own.

Even Lumia, who was said to be the next ranked number one, had no means of resisting me, who was hiding the underlying concept.

“……..”

“Lumia?”

Originally it should have been that way.

“Well, what are you doing? Come on, confess.”

Lumia, who held out a pen and reached for the paper, stopped moving for some reason.

– Tremble…

At the same time, his hands began to tremble.

“You’re resisting…? But, how…”

As I stared blankly at his arm, which had even sprouted veins, I clenched my teeth and a vein popped around my neck.

“Write everything on this piece of paper.”

I didn’t know what happened, but Lumia was clearly resisting my abilities.

If so, I changed my plans; even if he didn’t surrender, at the very least, I had to create evidence to convince everyone.

“Right now!! Write it on this piece of paper!!!”

Even if I had to reveal my hidden abilities to everyone.

Even if it resulted in me being treated as a potential villain.

“Show me who you are!!!”

Filled with such thoughts, with all my might, I gave orders more forcefully than ever.

“Hurry…”

Lumia grabbed the pen forcefully, stopped shaking, and began to write with a blank look.

“……..”

Soon, on the paper, there was a drawing of a strange mask with its tongue sticking out, the same emoticon which never left Lumia’s laptop.

“The protagonist always succeeds in resisting psychic powers.”

A creepy voice started to ring in my ears.

“Isn’t that a cliché?”

Then Lumia pressed the emergency bell with a relaxed expression as if he had calculated all of this.

“By the way, you don’t even know how to use your abilities properly yet. Well, you’ll get better over time…”

At that time, my gaze was on the air, not on him.

Alert: Skill < Detection (LV1) > has been used.

To be precise, this translucent window appeared in my sight a while ago.

“What is this?”

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– Bang…!!!

“Lumia!!”

It was at that point that the door to the meeting room, which had been closed, was smashed and Noona burst into the room.

– Dham!!

“Ugh.”

Before I could even react, Noona grabbed my head and held it down on the nearby desk, and within a second I was lying on the floor covered in blood.

“Lumia-san!!”

“Are you okay!?”

At the same time, a group of colleagues rushed into the room, and the guards pointed their weapons at me.

“This son of a bitch…”

“Get Lumia out of here…!”

Lumia, who had returned to his usual innocent act, was hugged by Noona who had a frightened expression on her face.

Even so, my nerves were focused on only one place.

＜Detection (LV1)＞

◆Name: Lumia Obse

◆Gender: Female (17)

◆Details

– [Crossdressing woman]

– [Misogyny]

– [ ] (Low levels)

“This, what the hell…”

The skill that Justia entrusted to me was far beyond my expectations.

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Meanwhile at the same time:

“Then, shall we prepare soon?”

In a room full of darkness, a girl stood up while iterating those words.

“It’s time to get him out.”

“…” “…” “…”

At her words, the eyes of the people sharing the table with her began to quietly shine.