Chapter 1: It’s dark under the lamp

Who is the most talked-about person these days?

The hero known as the strongest?

The leader of a villain organization that exists only in rumors?

An atrocious chef who sells mint mixed with chocolate?

[TL Note: “Atrocious” means extremely bad or awful. This is likely a joke about how some people strongly dislike the combination of mint and chocolate, treating it as an unforgivable culinary crime.]

The answer is the dark hero who ruthlessly suppresses the villains hiding throughout the city every night.

I’m not exaggerating just because it’s my story, but it’s impossible for that dark hero not to be popular.

An always blunt and charismatic appearance, overwhelming power, and his own firm conviction.

Thanks to a combination of all sorts of cool elements besides these, I’m enjoying explosive popularity both in reality and on the internet.

Though it’s all just a concept.

My true personality is so different that people would say it’s the complete opposite of when I wear the mask.

On top of that, I only direct my abilities to look overwhelmingly strong; in reality, they’re ambiguous powers full of flaws.

Of course, that conviction doesn’t exist either.

If something like that existed, this wouldn’t be a concept, would it?

Anyway, you could say that everything I show as a dark hero is a concept.

So why did I adopt such a concept?

‘…Honestly, isn’t being a dark hero cool?’

If people knew how happy it feels to be cheered on for suppressing villains every night, everyone would surely act like me.

Probably.

Anyway, the name I call myself is Fear.

Besides that, you could say there’s no other revealed information at all.

The only information that exists is a presumed ability to open dimensional portals, but even that isn’t accurate.

That’s what makes it much more charming.

‘A dark hero whose identity, let alone his powers, is shrouded in a veil… no matter how I think about it, it seems so cool.’

In any case, this dark hero who is gaining explosive popularity is currently…

“Rea? Is the weapon maintenance finished?”

“I’m going to do it now!”

…working as a sidekick under the hero who could be called his arch-nemesis.

[TL Note: “Arch-nemesis” refers to a character’s greatest, most persistent enemy — the opposite of a best friend, but in the most dramatic way possible.]

But they only call it a sidekick; in reality, I’m just an unfairly treated civil servant who cleans up after the heroes.

The pay is better than other jobs, but considering the difficulty of the work and the stress involved, you could say it’s actually not enough.

More than 70% of people quit within three months of joining, which says it all.

Besides, the work is full of dangerous tasks, so almost no one walks into this crazy workplace of their own free will.

Thanks to that, there’s a lot of demand for sidekicks, but the supply is ridiculously low.

So how do they deal with the shortage of hands?

Obviously, they just give more money to the remaining people and make them do triple the work.

So why did I choose such an absurd, difficult, and dangerous job?

Obviously, it’s for the money.

‘…If anyone knew how much money is spent on dark hero activities, they would all understand my situation.’

The situation has improved now that I’m receiving support from a like-minded friend, but I’m still suffering from financial hardship.

That’s why there’s no other workplace for me besides a place like this.

Normal workplaces prefer to hire people with supernatural abilities suited for the job.

For example, someone with healing abilities would go to a hospital, and someone who can generate electricity would work as a human power generator.

Of course, if I revealed my abilities, I could probably get a comfortable job.

Though I’d probably go to prison first.

Thus, faced with this unreasonable situation, I have no choice but to earn money today by assisting my arch-nemesis hero.

After roughly finishing the weapon maintenance, I was finally able to return to the office where the air conditioner was blasting.

“You’re back?”

As soon as I returned, my arch-nemesis… no, my boss, greeted me with a smile.

The name of the woman in front of me is Iris Dikea, the hero with the nickname ‘the strongest’ I mentioned earlier.

Her appearance is long, straight blonde hair and sapphire-blue eyes, and she’s very pretty.

She is a woman with such an overly upright and bright personality that it can be described with the single word ‘righteous’.

“Is the weapon maintenance done?”

“Want to go see for yourself?”

“Then what about handling the civil complaints?”

“That’s the other department’s job.”

“You don’t have anything to do anyway, so go help them.”

I don’t really have anything to say to that.

Thanks to Iris being overly competent, the amount of work I have is small compared to other sidekicks.

‘But telling me to go back to work right after coming back from the scorching sun is too much, isn’t it?’

In the first place, it’s just that my work is less compared to the others; compared to other jobs, the workload is overwhelmingly large.

When I sent her a protesting gaze, the answer I wanted came back with a sigh.

“Alright, rest for about 30 minutes before you go.”

It’s a shame I can’t rest for longer, but still, getting to rest even a little is something.

While having such thoughts, I sat comfortably in a chair in front of the air conditioner, cooling my sweat-drenched body, when a slightly unpleasant voice was heard.

“Um… shouldn’t you start carrying yourself a bit more properly?”

“You know my situation.”

I was a man from the moment I was born.

Although I’ve temporarily been turned into a woman because of some d@mned villain, I’m definitely a healthy man on the inside.

So there’s nothing strange about me sitting comfortably like a boy.

“Even so, it’s already been half a year, right? So you should at least carry yourself properly….”

“It’s fine, I’m sure I’ll return to normal if I just wait a little longer.”

Although the villain who made me like this told me directly there was no way to change back, I’m sure that was a lie.

Even if it is the truth, it doesn’t matter.

There must be at least one person in this world with the supernatural ability to turn a woman into a man.

So if I just wait a little longer, the moment I can return to being a man will surely come.

It definitely has to.

“…Why are you looking at me like that?”

“It’s nothing.”

I felt a gaze looking at me pitifully from somewhere, but it was probably just my imagination.

As I was once again enjoying the cool breeze of the air conditioner, another unwelcome voice was heard.

“By the way, the higher-ups were pointing out your attire.”

“Did you explain my situation to those guys?”

“When I explained, they shouted even more vehemently for you to wear the female uniform.”

“…Why on earth?”

“How would I know? But I managed to get them off your back somehow.”

I’m not sure, but they’re probably doing it because they think I’m violating the regulations.

The top brass aren’t crazy people who’d want to make someone who is a man on the inside wear women’s clothes.

‘Anyway, what a bunch of d@mned old geezers,’ I grumbled inwardly as I pulled a file containing information on villains from the bookshelf.

“What are you looking at this time?”

“Just trying to organize some documents.”

Of course, that’s a lie.

I’m just looking to see if there’s a villain worth defeating tonight.

First, I have three principles when choosing a target.

The first is to choose a villain I can definitely defeat.

The second is to find a villain with bad public opinion, meaning a villain whose defeat would earn me cheers.

The third is not to seek personal gain.

If I did that, I’d get a heavier punishment if caught… no, it’s because that would be no different from a villain’s actions.

As I was carefully selecting a target based on my own principles, Iris let out a sigh.

“It would be nice if we could arrest that dark hero by the end of today….”

“…Why so suddenly?”

“Because it looks like we’re going to be busy for a while.”

In Iris’s voice, I could clearly feel anger directed at me… no, at the dark hero.

‘Did I do something recently to earn her resentment?’

‘No, shouldn’t Iris be grateful to me instead?’

‘At least her workload has decreased thanks to me.’

“But is there a reason to catch the dark hero first?”

“I think it’s better to catch other villains first.”

“On the contrary, we must catch him first.”

“In the first place, he’s also a villain who arbitrarily commits illegal acts.”

“But thanks to Fear, the crime rate has dropped significantly.”

“If criminals are going to maintain public safety, then why do heroes exist?”

It’s true that I committed illegal acts.

But I’ve never killed anyone or acted for personal gain.

Besides, although it wasn’t my intention, I think it’s an exaggeration to call someone who protects the city’s security for free a villain.

“But he didn’t act for personal gain, right? So can’t you at least….”

“Why do you think he goes to the trouble of hiding his identity while he operates?”

Of course, it’s because I think being a dark hero is cool.

Because there’s nothing cooler than a mysterious entity protecting the city.

“It must be because he isn’t righteous enough to operate in the open.”

I swear to the heavens, I have never once in my life committed an illegal act for personal gain.

Then why did I choose the path of an illegal and penniless dark hero instead of a legal and well-paying hero?

‘…Honestly, isn’t a dark hero much cooler than a hero? I think so.’

“I’m sure he has his reasons.”

“Having reasons doesn’t justify illegal acts.”

“Th-That’s true, but….”

I have nothing to say.

No, actually, I have plenty to say.

I’m just not saying it because I think I’d be suspected if I did.

It’s definitely not that I can’t refute her because my logic is lacking.

Just as I was feeling a little resentful towards Iris, I heard a vow mixed with anger and passion.

“No matter who the opponent is, there should be no exceptions before the law.”

Suddenly, a chill ran down my spine.

It would be strange to be okay when the strongest hero is declaring she’ll catch me right in front of my eyes.

For now, I think I need to tone down the dark hero act for a while.

Otherwise, my life might just end right here.

Making that resolution, I hurriedly left my seat.

“I-I’ll go help the other department then!”

“Oh, okay. See you later.”

And so, with Iris seeing me off, I left the room as if I were fleeing.