Chapter 87

### Chapter 86, Part 4: How to Conquer a Hero (6)

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"When I was young, the first ability I ever stole was from a friend who grew up with me in the church."

[Church?]

"Yes, the church. My parents were killed by an ability user when I was five. I had no relatives, so I ended up being raised in the church."

[......]

Yumir spoke calmly, as if recounting someone else's story.

"But let me make one thing clear: I don't just steal abilities. If I did, I would have already walked the path of a villain."

[That's true. If you had the ability to steal, there would have been people who tried to use you for their own purposes.]

"Yes. I was born near a country that likes such things. If my ability had been discovered, they would have tried to use it. In America, for example."

[They probably would have started a project like that.]

No, not probably.

There are people in Korea who study the seeds of demons in the underground of Sejong Island. If they do it, how much more so in America?

[If you can gather abilities in one person and then distribute them to others, you could control all the abilities in the world. Essentially, you could conquer the world.]

"That's why I'm being very careful to keep it out of the hands of bad people."

The research on ability users is happening all over the world, whether in the light or in the dark, with varying degrees of intensity.

[Fortunately, you didn't get caught.]

"Yes. Do you know why? Because the number of beings I can steal from is limited. Want to guess?"

[Is it a demon?]

"Wow!"

Yumir clapped her hands in surprise.

"How do you know so much about me? Did you investigate me? Are you a stalker?"

[Studying and researching potential recruits is the bare minimum. To bring someone into our organization, you need to know what they like and prefer.]

"There was almost no information on me."

[I kept thinking and thinking. Your words, your actions, your will, your goals, and everything you did with Ermina. It's the result of all that thinking.]

And I also thought about the protagonist for half a year.

[When I first appeared as Solar Platinum, I thought you were just a nuisance. When I chased you, you were naked.]

"Transformation canceled."

[...When your transformation was canceled, I thought you were quite pitiful. Why go to such lengths to be a secret hero?]

It's a case of shared suffering.

I am a villain, but.

[So I looked into you after that. There was almost no information on you until you became an adult, but you worked incredibly hard to get into Sejong Island Academy. You studied Korean and did everything to get into the academy.]

"That's right. I thought I could find something here. The reason I have these abilities."

Yumir extended her hand.

Then she lightly twisted it to the right, and a weak explosion occurred by the sea.

"Explosion. One of the abilities I stole. By making this gesture, I can quickly send mana to a place within my sight to cause a small explosion. Do you know where this ability was discovered?"

[...The New York Bomber? But he was a villain, right?]

"Yes. He was a bomber and also a demon. He was known as a villain. When I faced him, he was already a demon, and I... stole his ability."

Crack.

Yumir clenched her fist.

"I didn't kill him. But in another sense, he was completely finished. Do you know what state the Bomber is in now?"

[I couldn't find out. I heard he was admitted to a mental hospital in New York.]

"He became a eunuch."

[......]

I inadvertently crossed my legs.

Yumir giggled at this, and I felt embarrassed.

"Your reaction to that shows you're quite solid. You won't have to worry about your children later, right?"

[You don't need to worry about that. I'm healthy.]

"Haha. You never know until you check. That's what happened to the friend who first made me realize my ability, the Bomber, and Ermina. When they became demons and had their abilities stolen by me, they all ended up like that. Their hair turned completely white, and..."

[They lost their reproductive function?]

"Yes."

Yumir looked ahead with a troubled expression.

"One of the basic duties of animals is reproduction. When a human becomes a demon, everything they give birth to afterward is a demon. Somewhere, a demon might have given birth to a demon."

[I've never seen such a case.]

"Right? But somewhere, they might be growing well. People who suppress their demonic impulses and raise demonic children while living in the dark."

This is something I didn't know.

"There are about ten officially known cases of Zenros, but those are the ones where I failed to clean up after myself. Or when a Zenros person went crazy after losing their ability and was suppressed and investigated, revealing their true identity."

[There must be many more unofficially.]

"Yes. I freed people who had become demons, but many were shocked by losing their abilities and reproductive functions. I tried to take care of them afterward, but it wasn't enough."

Yumir drew a circle with her finger.

"In the end, I freed them from the demons, but that was my limit. I realized I needed more power to take responsibility for what came after. Not just abilities, but another kind of power to take care of those freed from demons."

[Whether it's wealth or power, this is the place where you can most securely obtain it.]

"Yes. If I had nothing, I thought I could ask someone who could solve it. Ability users who also have considerable power. I would make them my allies and ask them to take care of those who had become demons."

Now I understand.

That's why the protagonist took in Ermina Sternfert.

To save those who had become demons, he intended to use the Stern company, a leading German company.

The same goes for the other heroines.

Regardless of personal motives, the fact that the protagonist surrounded himself with powerful and wealthy people was not a coincidence.

'If only the incompetent author had resolved that plot point.'

He probably aimed for a second part but failed to get the views, so he rushed to a meteor ending.

Not knowing that plot point, I suddenly felt very sorry for Yumir.

"I also thought about transforming into a man to charm women. Transforming into a woman and leading multiple men around didn't seem to fit the country's sensibilities, so I thought about transforming into a man and leading women."

[Why didn't you transform into a man?]

"Because then I would have to live as a man for the rest of my life. I... didn't really want to do that."

[Why not?]

"Well... it's a bit embarrassing to say."

Yumir fidgeted with her hand on my thigh and smiled faintly.

"I saw a video of you and Snow White facing off. Snow White blocking you, and you trying to kill a villain who had killed people."

[Me?]

"Yes. Seeing the ogre, I thought I wanted to get its cooperation."

[What does that have to do with being a man?]

"Approaching the ogre as a man wouldn't get me its cooperation...?"

[......]

So the protagonist being a man was because Yumir had transformed into a man?

[Ha.]

"Why?"

[No. A problem I've been thinking about for half a year every night was just resolved.]

"......?"

[It's a personal matter unrelated to your story. I just gained the certainty that I need to kill someone.]

When I return to Earth.

I will definitely kill the author.

'This guy was definitely aiming for a GL drift.'

If it was a national pride harem light novel, and suddenly the protagonist says, 'Ta-da, I'm a woman!'

My 5,700 characters were justified.

If that had happened, the other person who ran the meteor ending with me would have also written 5,700 characters.

[Talking to you has given me some peace of mind. Thank you.]

"No problem. I'm glad to have someone I can open up to. It's nice to be able to talk so freely now that my identity is revealed."

I need to investigate, but Yumir might have experienced much more than I did in the six months I was here.

[You've been through a lot.]

"......"

[Why the surprised look? I was simply praising your efforts.]

"I've never heard praise for something like this before."

Yumir slightly bowed her head to me.

"Can you pet my head?"

I reached over Yumir's shoulder and gently petted and patted her head.

[You stole abilities from ability users and took away their reproductive opportunities, but you didn't take their lives. Right?]

"Yes. I haven't killed anyone yet. Just... after stealing their abilities, I've seen a few times where villains received retribution for their evil deeds."

[That's not your fault.]

"Yes, I think so too. If I did anything wrong, it was that their abilities came to me."

Yumir leaned closer to me and lamented.

"Tell me, if I were to become a villain, would you kill me?"

[Of course.]

I kill villains.

No one is an exception.

[Let me ask you the same. If I were to become a demon, would you kill me?]

"I wouldn't kill you. I would just steal your ability from the demon. The ogre