I Became a Framed Villain

Episode 19 – Building Self-Esteem

“Go, thank you, Professor…”

Ariel, sitting in the corner of the restaurant, greets me while looking at me sitting opposite her.

“Yes. Enjoy your meal.”

“Yes, Neet.”

After saying that and smiling, she bowed her head once again and then started reaching out with a trembling hand for the food in front of her.

“…ah, um.”

Then, Ariel suddenly looks at my tray and hers, and makes a slightly embarrassed expression.

‘That’s a lot.’

There was a lot of food she brought down. Except for the hamburger steak, which was handed out by the staff, all the food was piled up almost twice as much as my plate.

But I think growing children should eat that much.

After all, people need to eat well to be healthy. And for active heroes, a good meal is essential.

“Eat without burden. Eating well is also a hero’s duty.”

“Then, I’ll eat well.”

So when I pushed my back to eat without feeling pressured, Ariel, who had been looking at me for a while, turned on the light in her eyes and started eating.

“Hmm…”

Ariel, who hurriedly ate food with her cheeks puffed up like a squirrel, trembles with a happy expression without realizing it.

“delicious…”

‘He eats well.’

I looked at her cute figure with joy, and then I quietly fell into my own thoughts.

‘…By the way, I’m still in a very bad situation.’

Her protector, Justia, made huge profits as the number one hero, but her fortune was very small.

Because, on a regular basis, close to all of my assets have been donated to daycare centers and disaster-affected areas.

An absolute good who devotes himself solely to others despite having overwhelming power.

Read at readwn.com

Justia was such a hero.

‘Still, it makes no sense to be this poor…’

But even so, it doesn’t make sense for Ariel to be this poor.

No matter how much money was donated to close to the entire property, Ariel would have inherited some of the property.

Then why did she starve for several days?

“Hmm…?”

I was immersed in such a question for a while, but I felt a gaze in front of me.

“……..”

Ariel, who had already almost emptied her tray, was staring blankly at the hamburger steak on my tray, then quickly looked away.

– growl…

At the same time, a sharp pain in my stomach.

“Well.”

As expected, growing up children are different, but something is a little different.

“You eat this.”

“Yes, yes? Ah, that’s…!”

“It’s because I hate hamburger steak.”

In the first place, the hunger I felt was fake hunger. So when I passed the steak without hesitation, Ariel started looking at me blankly.

“…Thank you, Professor.”

As I looked at her with a smile on her face, she, with her face dyed red, lowered her eyes and expressed her gratitude in a low voice.

“Yes.”

Then, as if she was ashamed, she started looking at her smartphone while avoiding my gaze with the steak in her mouth.

‘I can’t digest it if I use my smartphone while eating.’

With that thought in mind, while looking at Ariel, her complexion suddenly darkens as she murmurs the steak she put in her mouth and uses her smartphone.

“……..”

Eventually, she stopped murmuring the steak and stared intently at her smartphone.

“I, Professor.”

“yes?”

“I’m going to go to the bathroom.”

“…that’s right.”

Then Ariel quietly clenched her teeth, got up from her seat, and walked to the bathroom.

“……..”

– Tiling, ding♪

When I was looking at her back with a worried expression, my smartphone started vibrating with a notification sound.

＞ haha

Someone said it, and it was Pandora.

Well, she’s the only one who contacts me when I’m not Kang Ha-neul.

Of course, I’m not sure if hacking my smartphone and forcibly sending a chat is a contact or not.

＞ I have contacted you with important news.

Anyway, as I was quietly looking at my smartphone, she sent me a chat with a serious tone different from usual.

＞ The analysis of the monster that killed Justia has just finished.

It felt like my head was getting hot.

A while ago, after I learned about the existence of a ‘monster’, I had one question.

An off-the-shelf beast who killed Justia, the world’s strongest hero, who was on a different path than ordinary heroes.

I wondered if the guy’s true identity wasn’t a monster.

＞ A non-disciplined graded beast, the identity of the ‘Impact Event’ was a monster.

And that prediction seemed to have come true.

＞ Not only that. Traces of a number of monsters besides the beast were found at the site.

“…are you sure?”

＞ Paradise and Honjwa infiltrated the site and confirmed it directly. I’d say it’s 100% accurate.

The heated head begins to cool. No, not at the level of cooling, but as cold as ice.

“I see.”

It was the feeling that the target of revenge, which seemed vague, was now clear.

“Then we must find and kill them all.”

Find and kill all the monsters who killed Justia.

After that, I tear to death all the monsters that exist in this world.

Until their seeds are dry.

That will be my most important goal from today.

“……..”

While I was organizing my thoughts while holding on to my smartphone, I began to stare quietly at the spot where another most important goal had been sitting in front of me until just a moment ago.

“Pandora.”

My other most important goal is to raise Ariel, Justia’s only blood relative, into the greatest hero.

In order to achieve that goal, it was necessary to know at least a little bit of Ariel’s current situation.

“Get some information about Ariel.”

＞ Are you going to do it together later tonight?

“…I’ll do it for you, please.”

Because of that, when I finished the devil’s contract to play a 9-hour playtime in Pandora’s room all night, the file started to be sent to me in an instant.

＞ Passbook details.jpg

I pressed the image file thinking that it was too fast even if it was fast, and then quietly frowned.

＞ [20**0326 ♤♤Nursery $5,000]

＞ [20**0327 Beast Damage Recovery Center $7,000]

＞ [20**0330 International Medical Federation $11,000]

＞ [20**0330 Retired Hero Association $3,000]

＞ [20**0331 Justia Relief Foundation $15,000]

. . . . .

Huge amounts of money have been flowing out in the last few months.

It was like a place that was all run by Justia’s donations.

“Is that so?”

Now he seemed to understand why Ariel was starving.

She distributed all of her inheritance to the organizations that Justia was running.

He probably didn’t want to waste her legacy.

In case someone isn’t Justia’s younger brother, they look alike, not only in appearance, but also in heart.

‘It’s stupid.’

But it’s pretty similar to become a fool when you turn your eyes on justice.

Are you unable to live on your own right now?

I guess I’ll have to find a way to help her financially.

“Pandora, check all the places that are pictured here.”

With that thought in my head, I immediately asked Pandora to do so.

Of course, since they were operated with donations from Justia, that would not be the case.

Anyway, if there is a place where she is playing around with her legacy.

At that time, as a trauma, I have to visit him personally.

＞ egosearch.jpg

As her eyes are quietly shining, a large file comes to mind below.

“This…?”

The moment I clicked on it without thinking, countless search records came into my sight.

＞ Hero Academy freshman

＞ Justia’s brother

＞ Hero Prospects

＞ District 17 Closing Incident

＞ Ariel

＞ Ariel Everray

Looking at the record blankly, I frowned and whispered into my smartphone.

“Where did all this come from?”

＞ Hacked the phone in front of you.

“No, this is privacy. Just ask for information.”

＞ In that sense, the account details are also private! It doesn’t matter because we’re villains.

After that, she sent a chat to the mail and started sending files over and over again.

[Title: Among the newly admitted students, who seems the most promising?]

It was a post in the Hero Minor Gallery, where Pandora is frequently active.

[Justia (221.17): How about Ariel?]

ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(117.11): Are you yourself?]

ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(52.39): Incompetent parachute that came through my sister’s name]

B[Eustia (223.36): I don’t think that’s the case…]

B[ㅇㅇ(16.34): Ariel arrest lol]

[*Liveless: I honestly don’t understand how a kid who didn’t even have the basics and failed the entrance test got into the academy]

I was about to press the back button in a slightly uncomfortable mood, but I hardened my expression at the content of the unusual photo and scrolled down.

ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(17.26): Other kids are afraid that even if they train hard for 10 years, they will barely be able to get in. Does it make sense for a kid who is not sure of his ability to suddenly change his aspirations and enter the academy a month ago?]

ㄴ[Justia (221.17): Still, I heard you blocked the trauma alone…]

ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(25.61): Do you believe in such unplay? What can a month-old wannabe Ddari do to become an A-class villain hahaha]

ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(46.52): In terms of common sense, if you had the ability to do that, you wouldn’t have looked like that in the entrance test]

ㄴ[ㅇㅇ(17.26): Seeing that he’s been writing like this since before, I think he’s a servant or himself haha]

b[*Libris: Eat a bottle aa]

The picture was cut off there.

＞ Here, Justia is Ariel herself.

“……..”

＞ I’ve searched for myself dozens of times, but these posts are all the same.

‘I’m upset.’

Her heart is well understood.

One day, when you suddenly become a celebrity and begin to attract public attention, people are bound to look for their reputation.

When Justia was just getting famous, there was a time when my self-esteem went down a bit after seeing strange articles floating around the internet.

Of course, she overcame it quickly because she was a complete hero.

But Ariel, who has just become a wannabe, won’t be like that.

‘I wonder if this is the reason why I’ve been getting pain around my heart lately.’

The pressure to become a hero that surpasses my sister and me. The self-esteem that only falls because of the gaze of the surroundings.

The ego-searching, which she started to fill up her self-esteem even a little bit, is rather eating away at her.

Although she seemed bright and lively from the outside, she was already quite crowded.

＞ article.jpg

Because I was looking down at my smartphone with a dark expression, the last file transferred.

＞ This is the article Ariel just read.

“…under.”

As I looked through the article in the photo, I had no choice but to bite my tongue quietly.

[Ariel Everray, the hero of Area 17, is actually an illegal admissions student?]

[Justia’s shadow in the light of the sky, is it okay as it is…]

The sound of the dog was a knight and stood up proudly.

＞ A journalist famous for his negative stories. Quite popular in the industry.

It was so absurd that I was just looking at the article without anger, and suddenly I could feel the pain in my eyes.

“……..”

My eyes reflected on the plate were red and bloodshot.

Like someone going to the bathroom right now and holding their breath.

“Pandora.”

＞ Why then?

I got up quietly and got up, fiddling with the mask in my arms.

“The reporter who wrote this, can you track the location?”

＞ Honey, do you know how difficult it is to track a location? Just like in a movie, if you open a few windows, tap the keyboard a few times, and mutter ‘enter the player’, it doesn’t end there!

“I’ll do it with you until the second episode.”

＞ Tracking finished. player entry.

Bring back Ariel’s self-esteem.

I think that will be the first mission of my ‘Raising a Hero’.

.

.

.

.

.

That night, the safe area of Navarre, an artificial island.

– Tackle… Tackle…

The news guide reporter Cheon Sang-myung, who was working hard on the manuscript in the room, took his hand off the keyboard for a moment and started to stretch.

“Today’s article is also well-received.”

The reactions of the article he wrote in the morning caught his eye.

The correct answer was digging into the hot issues of ‘Justia’ and ‘Academy corruption’.

It’s been less than a day since I posted it, and there have already been hundreds of comments.

“Ugh…”

Thanks to him, he hummed and looked at the comments, and then he frowned slightly.

Today, as always, the status of the comments was not good.

“Well, I’m just stating the facts.”

Because of this, Cheon Sang-myung, who was quietly scratching his head, muttered like that and pressed back.

It was true that Justia’s younger sister was being accused of fraudulent admission, and it was also true that she messed up the entrance exam.

Written solely on the basis of such facts, an article based on the truth.

It was up to the public to interpret it.

In other words, there is no guilt in oneself, who is in the position of the sender.

“And, I’m not guilty of views and recommendations.”

To be honest, Cheon Sang-myung was well aware of his provocative writing.

However, in today’s world full of surprises, it doesn’t get any attention unless it’s written like that.

In that sense, isn’t he worthy of praise as a reporter who always delivers things of interest to the public?

– Tiriling♪

“Well?”

With that thought in mind, Cheon Sang-myung, who was about to start working on the manuscript again, looked at the phone that suddenly started ringing with a puzzled look.

‘…this time?’

There is no work-related phone call at this late hour. Because he was always thorough in public affairs.

‘Is this a protest call?’

Occasionally, if not quite often, he would receive complaint calls or corrections.

Especially when the comments are burning like this.

“Twice…”

Cheon Sang-myung, who had a frown on his face for some reason, opened his mouth while answering the phone.

“who are you?”

– News guide reporter Cheon Sang-myung, right?

Then I hear a phone call asking for my name.

“That’s right. I don’t answer business calls right now…”

Cheon Sang-myung answered with a nervous expression on the face that he knew it would.

“Oh, you’re right.”

“……?”

For some reason, I turned my head, widening my eyes at the voice coming from the window of the room rather than my cell phone.

“What, what…!”

“Good job, Pandora.”

Someone wearing a mask that he had seen a lot somewhere was sitting by his window.

“All, you! Where is this…”

Cheon Sang-myung, who looked at him blankly, got up from his seat and started to take a step backwards.

“…Wait, what about that mask?”

“Hey, I have a question for the reporter.”

Then, after noticing something, the trauma staring at him with his eyes wide open, asks a question in a low voice.

“Are you right-handed or left-handed?”

When Cheon Sang-myung crawled and couldn’t answer that question, the trauma muttered in a voice that he realized immediately.

“Ah, you use both hands on the keyboard anyway.”

Thick drops of sweat began to trickle down from Heaven’s forehead.