Where to start?
The moment a friend recommended a superhero manga?
Buying the book at a dodgy used bookstore?
Flipping through the first pages at home?
Whatever.
It's happened, and all I can do is scramble desperately to survive.
The event has already happened, and you can't clean up spilled water.
"This place is already surrounded. Drop your weapons and surrender."
I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel resentful.
How would you feel if you opened a comic book and found yourself in the wrong world, labeled as a criminal?
"I say again. This place is already surrounded. Drop your weapons and surrender now, villain!"
As a kid, I loved superhero movies.
I loved stories of heroes throwing themselves into the fray to protect everyone against powerful forces of evil.
I cheered when they defended their comrades and rescued their fellow citizens.
I laughed at the villains as pathetic when they fell to their fists, swords, and guns.
"Last warning. Drop your weapons and surrender. If you refuse, I will subdue you by force."
As a child, I was so innocent and foolish at the same time.
I thought the world was as simple and clear as it was in superhero movies.
In my mind, the line between good and evil was always clear.
It wasn't until I was older that I realized.
Why people who were just like everyone else became villains.
How rotten monsters lurked among those who were supposed to be the arbiters of justice.
"I wonder why..."
What we call society is very cruel and ruthless.
"Why am I standing here?"
"Hero team, take down the villain!"
Now I understand that.
"I didn't want to be a villain."
"Flame, spread your shroud with flames!"
"Okay!"
This society doesn't care what a villain says.
Here, I'm just a scumbag with a murderous streak.
Hmph.
"Well..."
I could only smile sadly as I watched the flames rush toward me.
"This sucks."
So, that's it.
I've become a villain because I misread a manga once.
And the final villain in the show.
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.
.
"Please spare me! I'll do anything you ask!"
"What?"
For a moment, my brain buffered as it tried to comprehend the situation in front of me.
I closed my eyes for a moment and tried to process what was happening to me.
Apparently, I met an old high school classmate for lunch today.
He's always been a big manga lover, and he told me he'd found a great one.
Â
.
The title is as simple as it gets: 'I am a medic'.
The cover depicting a woman in a white exoskeleton suit, posing as if she were deep in thought.
After a moment's hesitation, I decided to tell my classmate that I wasn't going to read the book.
It wasn't for any particular reason.
I just liked stories where there was a clear division between good and evil, and where the heroes were strong and beat the bad guys.
I could tell from the introduction that the manga was going to be quite philosophical, with sentences like "What is good and evil," "What is a hero," and so on.
I preferred to read comics that were more lighthearted and fun than those that challenged me to think and explore.
I don't want to have to think about "the direction of humanity" or "exploring myself" when I have enough on my mind right now with student loan debt and the cost of living.
But when a classmate of mine offered to pay for everything from lunch to coffee if I read the book, I took the bait.
How can I resist a friend who offers to pay for everything?
If you asked me to rate the book after finishing the first volume of , I would gladly give it a 5 out of 5.
To summarize, this manga is a hero story, but it doesn't follow the standard boy's manga plot.
The protagonist is born with imperfect healing abilities in a world where all kinds of powers are sold, and she loses her parents to a villain.
However, the protagonist later decides to become a hero who rescues people in danger instead of fighting villains.
And when the main story begins in earnest at the end of Volume 1, during a terrorist attack by a villain, she finds and rescues people who are injured or in danger, unlike other heroes who only look for villains to gain fame.
Even when facing a villain, I didn't feel like she could overpower them and win.
Rather, she's the hero who gets beaten up and put in danger.
Nevertheless, the protagonist's attitude of not being afraid or running away and trying to save even the villain without endangering the people around her was very impressive.
In short, it was very interesting.
The story, the characters.
Eventually, after my friend and I parted ways that evening, I went to my local used bookstore and bought two books.
The store was a bit dingy and suspicious, but the owner was quite friendly.
I was a little taken aback when he asked me if I wanted to experience what it was like to be inside a manga.
Anyway, I went home with my purchase, had a quick dinner of instant noodles, got into bed, and flipped to the first page of the manga.
The problem was that the moment I turned the page, a pure white light came out of nowhere and engulfed me.
"God damn it, please spare me!"
"...????"
And then I realize that I'm in a strange abandoned building, on top of a man in a freaky costume, instead of my room.
I wonder what the hell is going on.
I took a moment to calm down and assess the situation.
The clothes the man on the ground was wearing were anything but ordinary.
Green sweatpants clinging to his body and sunglasses with inverted triangle-shaped lenses.
A bloody right shoulder.
The yellow cuffs on his wrists.
"Hey, hey, hey, can you hear me?"
"?"
I broke out in a cold sweat, and the way the man looked at me was embarrassing.
What had I done?
I was just flipping through the pages of a manga.
Wait a minute.
A manga?
I remember what the bookstore guy said.
'Wouldn't you like to experience being inside a manga? That would be so much fun.'
My answer to that was...
'Yeah, that would be really interesting if that happened.'
Oh, my God.
I hurriedly checked the man's face on the ground beneath me again.
A long, vertical scar across his eye.
Inverted-triangle sunglasses.
It was exactly the same as the appearance of the villain "Frog" from the beginning of the manga .
But what is this situation now?
It's obviously from the scene where the Frog is captured by the heroes and explains his motives for the attack.
A night vision, a man sitting on a Frog in an abandoned building with no one around.
The man is...
A villain with a trademark black hood and black mask.
The final boss of the manga, who stamps on the villains with his powers, forcing them to terrorize.
The Ghost.
With trepidation, I cautiously lowered my gaze and saw the kitchen knife in my hand.
It was the same knife Ghost used to terrorize Frog in the comics.
An unbranded knife you could find at your local grocery store.
"Aaaah..."
My resolve crumbled as I saw the blade covered in blood.
Please tell me I'm lying.
Was I really possessed by a manga?
No, that doesn't make any sense.
This must be a dream.
Yeah, it's a dream.
"Hahaha..."
"..."
I couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of it all.
Unless I'm dreaming, this situation doesn't make sense.
Going into a manga you bought in a weird bookstore and possessing the character?
It doesn't make sense.
It's clear that I've been watching too many comic books and my brain has gone to hell.
But how do I explain this sensation?
Why is the hard texture of the plastic knife handle, the sticky sensation of pressed blood so vivid?
The movement of the Frog squirming beneath me?
This is all a dream?
puck-.
"Ah."
Suddenly, a searing sensation shot up my right thigh.
I glanced down in panic...
"My knife?"
"Stupid bastard!"
pushchuk-
"Hmph?!"
The blade embedded in my right thigh was pulled out, and red blood began to ooze out.
For a moment, my vision blurred and the floor and ceiling reversed positions.
Had I fallen backwards?
The blunt tip of my kitchen knife, now in Frog's hand, glowed blue in the moonlight.
I knew instinctively.
I'm fucked now.
The sneer on Frog's face, now in my blurry vision as if a switch could be flipped at any moment, was repulsive.
He was playing with a kitchen knife with one hand in a leisurely fashion, wherever his earlier cowardice had gone.
swish-
The whirling of the knife made my head spin with the flash of the blade.
Soon, Frog's laughing voice tickled my ears.
"What the hell, what happened to the momentum you showed earlier, or were you always such a wimp?"
"Ugh..."
"Huh... It's so weird, earlier you were charging at me like you could break through anything, and now you're finishing so sloppily...?"
Fuck.
While none of the villains in this comic are sane, Frog was one of my personal hated characters.
For one thing, he's a serious pervert.
Just look at that filthy mother fucker licking my blood off his blade.
That frivolous flicking tongue is so disgusting.
"Do you find blood sweeter than you thought?"
"..."
Fook-.
"Hmph!!!!"
"That's right, scream, I'm bored!"
The second reason I hate Frog.
He enjoys playing with other people.
His favorite hobby is kidnapping beautiful women and torturing them.
How grateful I am that he was captured and retired by the heroes at the beginning of the manga.
But sadly, this is before the main storyline.
In this situation, the scenario of a hero showing up and saving me was impossible.
Pfft
Pfft
Pow!
"That's it, scream up an octave!"
Over and over again, I glared at the Frog's face as it poked at the wound in my thigh.
The pain was dulled by a series of events that defied common sense, and I had the urge to plunge a knife into the nape of the Frog's neck.
"HOOO?! Seriously?!"
Frog burst out laughing at the sight of me staring at him.
I wonder if he's lost his mind.
Tub-.
He grabs me by the scruff of the neck and shoves his face into my eyes.
Apparently, I've lost my taste.
Frog's breath tickles my nose, and I feel like gagging.
"Okay, okay, I love that look on your face, it's funny!"
"Fuck you, Frog."
"Ho-ho, you're bringing back the vibe from when we first met."
Frog twisted the blade embedded in my thigh this way and that, and I groaned at the heady pain.
But I didn't care.
I gritted my teeth to keep myself awake and pulled the mask down under my chin.
And now that he was off guard-.
"Huh?"
CRUNCH-
I bite his nose right off.
"Huh? Huh?"
He groped for his bloodied face, dumbfounded by the suddenness of the situation.
Of course, all he could find was torn and tattered flesh.
His nose is now between my teeth.
"Ugh, fuck!"
Frog screamed, clutching at his insides as the pain finally began to sink in.
As he sprawled on the floor screaming, I pulled the flesh from my mouth and drew the knife from my thigh.
My tongue tasted the fishy scent of blood left at the corner of my mouth.
It wasn't a bad feeling.
"Ugh... Ugh..."
I slowly approached the Frog, who was crawling across the floor, knife in hand, trying to get away.
There was no urgency.
Slowly, very slowly, I could watch its horrified face contort with pain.
When the torture is over, I'm going to order the Frog to terrorize.
However, I'm not going to follow that plot.
Releasing him here would result in the rape and murder of dozens of women.
I don't want any innocent victims.
I am not Ghost, the final villain of the manga, .
From the moment I entered the manga, my role was already decided.
I will be the dark hero, Ghost.
I will be the one who walks the line between good and evil, unconstrained by law and ethics.
I will be the first to stop the human scum in front of me from harming the characters in this comic.
I will get my hands dirty and make the world clean.
"W- WAIT!"
Frog cried out pitifully, realizing his fate, but it was too late to stop the blade from descending on my head.
After a few screams and struggles, my body was stained black with blood.
The sensation of my first murder was terrifyingly intense.
The unpleasant sensation of the blade slicing through flesh and gutting organs lingers in my hands, making my grip on the knife tremble.
But the immense satisfaction coursing through my veins proves that what I've done is not wrong.
I slit open his stomach, spilling his entrails, and, leaving the dead Frog's body behind, I stumble into the darkness.
I don't want to run into any cops or heroes.
I slipped into the shadows.
So that no one would see me.
So that no one would notice me.
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In the light of day, at the scene of the night's brutal killing spree, Detective David examines the bodies with tired eyes.
The body was found by workers at the construction site and identified as Frog, a villain with 20 criminal convictions.
Not expecting to find the famous villain, who often escaped the heroes' encirclement with his characteristically quick and frantic movements, in such a gruesome state, he sipped his coffee to wash away the fatigue of being called to the scene since Sunday morning.
"Morning, Detective."
"Oh."
It was then that a woman in a pure white exoskeleton suit approached from behind him.
David recognized her at a glance and held out his hand in greeting.
"It's been a long time, Ms. Nightingale. I didn't mean to call on you like this on your holiday, and I apologize."
"It's all right. It's my job to catch villains."
Nightingale, the heroine of the manga , stood in front of David, smiling bitterly.