I wasn’t always called Boss Law.

Just as everyone has a past, so did I—a tumultuous, chaotic past.

“Lington. Congratulations. You have a sibling now.”

The eldest son of some no-name, backwater village in the southern continent—that was Lington’s past.

Life as Lington was peaceful.

Annoyingly so.

His parents were so ridiculously in love that covering his ears at night had become a part of his nightly routine.

“Congratulations, Lington! You have a little sister!”

Deja vu?

Before he knew it, Lington had four younger siblings.

The house wasn’t big to begin with, and now, it felt even smaller.

Determined not to let a fifth sibling be born, Lington did everything in his power to intervene.

Whenever he sensed something was about to happen, he disrupted it—again and again.

To the point where he’d suffer through the night, pretending to drink water at dawn just to get in the way.

But his efforts were in vain.

“Congratulations, Lington! Another sibling!”

Goddamn it. So love really knows no day or night, huh?

“Stop multiplying already, you damned father!”

Eventually, he couldn’t take their sickeningly sweet love life anymore.

The year he turned thirteen, Lington ran away from home.

He set his sights on the royal capital.

“Anywhere’s better than that suffocating house.”

If he stayed any longer, his life would be spent cleaning up after his younger siblings.

Lington wanted freedom.

In the capital, he could learn something—anything—to survive.

At least, that’s what young Lington thought.

But reality was far harsher than he had imagined.

The city was full of things he’d never encountered in his small village.

“Fucking heartless.”

Back in his village, people helped each other.

There was a sense of community and warmth.

But what about the Empire?

Towering, uselessly thick walls drew a clear boundary.

Despite all being human, there were classes.

A society where selfishness and self-interest were the norm.

“Credit? You little brat, who taught you to mooch? Where are your parents, huh?”

What the fuck am I supposed to do then?

You needed money to eat.

But no one would hire a child.

And those kind-hearted rich folk?

Most of them were predators, slipping drugs into whatever measly drink they handed you.

“Tch.”

Lington had a talent.

It wasn’t anything cool, like being immune to deadly poisons or some rare supernatural ability.

At best, he had a natural resistance to minor drugs—things like sleeping agents, sedatives, or weak toxins didn’t affect him much.

A pretty useless ability, really.

“Wow! How did you do that?”

He had barely escaped from the mansion of a vile noble when he encountered a girl.

A bright, unembellished, and refreshingly candid girl.

Someone around his age.

“Do what…? I was just born this way. Who are you?”

“Ah, I… well…”

The girl hesitated, looking troubled.

The mansion they had escaped from was in a secluded area.

It made no sense for her to just happen to be wandering around nearby.

And soon, Lington realized why.

“Huh? Sophia, who’s the kid?”

“Ah, Kant sir! This guy is amazing!”

“Amazing?”

“Yes! He got out of Baron Cloud’s estate alive!”

“Wait, you mean that perverted old man? Hey, kid, what trick did you pull?”

The man called Kant was part of a thieves’ guild operating in the fourth district.

A so-called boss of the streets.

The mid-tier gang Black Moonlight had its hierarchy, and Sophia—a mere underling—had been sent to keep watch over Baron Cloud.

That’s how she ended up running into Lington.

“You’re pretty damn good. How about joining our crew? At least you won’t starve to death.”

He was already scraping by just to eat.

There was no reason to refuse.

Besides—

Lington found himself intrigued by Sophia.

For the first time in his life, he had a crush.

But unlike the sweet, fluttering emotions of first love, Lington’s growth was anything but innocent.

It happened at a terrifying pace.

“Listen carefully, Lington. Your job is simple.”

“There are scumbags who trick kids, drug them, and sell them off. Your mission is to fool those bastards and help us take them down.”

For Lington, it was an easy job.

All he had to do was pretend to be drugged, get taken to their mansion, and wait.

Once inside, they’d steal secret ledgers or empty the safe.

Mission complete.

“Another easy job, boss.”

“All thanks to Lington, isn’t it?”

The gang valued him.

They recognized his worth.

And soon, his reputation spread across the entire fourth district.

That, in hindsight—

Was Lington’s biggest mistake.

“Lington, you’re just like Boss Law!”

“Boss Law? What’s that?”

“The protagonist of the book I’m reading! He’s the king of beggars. Super strong. Crazy cool!”

“The king of beggars? So… still a beggar. Lame.”

“No way! Boss Law is responsible and full of justice!”

“Sophia… I get it, so stop yelling.”

Sophia’s chatter during their break.

The gang’s camaraderie.

A life that, while not luxurious, at least provided meals on time.

For the first time, Lington felt grateful.

He had finally found a shred of happiness.

And slowly, he began to change.

He started to dull the sharp edges of his personality.

At Sophia’s insistence, he even attempted reading books to broaden his knowledge.

It was mind-numbingly boring, but he had managed to get through ten pages of one.

That book contained a particular phrase—

Happiness and misfortune exist in equal measure.

So, was this that?

“…What the fuck?”

This should have been happiness.

But then why—

Did it all start crumbling before his eyes?

“It’s you, isn’t it? That little brat, Lington.”

“Did it never occur to you that the more ears listen in, the more people will start targeting your ‘talent’?”

He had been careless.

Lington’s method had its limits.

The plan had failed, and now, he was completely trapped.

“Don’t bother struggling. I prepared this just for you.”

“Looks like you had no idea. ‘Talents’ or ‘gifts’ like yours are extremely rare, you know?”

“In the Empire, they’re even classified as signs of ‘awakening’ before full-fledged power manifests.”

He didn’t know.

No one had ever told him.

That kind of knowledge was common among the Empire’s nobility—the so-called educated class.

But there had been no one in Lington’s life who possessed such information.

“Wouldn’t it have been better if you awakened early and became an adventurer?”

Despite his seemingly kind advice, the nobleman’s expression was far from warm.

His smile slithered like a snake’s, drool practically dripping from his lips.

“Unfortunately for you, your life is over.”

“For the next half of your existence, you’ll be my research subject.”

“You insane, psychopathic bastard.”

“Psychopath? Oh, come now.”

“I consider myself quite the gentle soul. Look, I even prepared something for you.”

Creak. Creak.

The nobleman wheeled in a chair.

Seated atop it was a girl—bloodied and barely breathing.

“S-Sophia…? Why are you—?”

“I figured I should give you a gift.”

“You know, on behalf of all the nobles you humiliated.”

Impossible.

Because of him, Sophia ended up like this?

“What did you do to her…?”

“Oh, nothing much.”

“I just made sure she’ll spend the rest of her life in that chair—pissing and shitting herself like a helpless infant.”

Lington’s memory blacked out from that moment onward.

When he came to, the underground laboratory was in ruins.

The nobleman—unrecognizable, ripped apart into pieces.

And caught in the chaos, Sophia as well.

Lington had killed his own comrade.

No—he had killed the one he loved.

From that day forward, he lived like a madman.

So that the story the girl had adored wouldn’t come to an end, he decided—

I will become the King of Beggars.

He devoured the thieves’ guild and rose to the top.

Even as the corrupt noble bastards continued their filth, he dedicated himself to purging them.

“My name is Boss Law.”

Yes.

He had become the protagonist of the tale the girl admired.

The King of Beggars.

Some called him the scum of society, a criminal who needed to be eradicated.

But what was the reality?

Even the Empire couldn’t touch him.

If anything, he was the one cleaning up the rotting filth festering within it.

He was a judge—the one who would cleanse this world.

His true ambition hadn’t even begun.

The project he had meticulously planned over the years—

The catastrophe that was to come—

It was almost here.

“I will become the god of the new world.”

Step. Step.

“And yet… you still dare call me a villain?!”

Boss Law roared, his voice tearing through the air.

Before him, a young enforcer approached.

Blood dripped from his lips as his blurred vision slowly refocused.

The rookie, whom he had dismissed as a mere insect, was anything but weak.

Even blocking the youth’s sword was a struggle.

One strike nearly knocked him unconscious.

“So what?”

“…What?”

“You call yourself a judge because you ‘cleanse’ criminals?”

“Sounds like nothing more than self-gratification to me.”

A clueless enforcer rat.

How dare he—!

I am the god of the new world.

I am the law. I am justice.

“Don’t be ridiculous!”

“Because of me, the corruption of those noble bastards was exposed!”

“Because of me, the Empire’s crime rate has dropped!”

“Is that so?”

“All I see is a murderer.”

“Shut up…!”

“Unless you know someone else who will judge this rotten society, then this is my burden alone!”

But Boss Law’s hammer of justice had already been shattered.

He was barely holding on to consciousness.

The gap between their strength was undeniable.

“Boss Law. Your reign of terror ends here.”

Schlkkk—

And with that single stroke, Boss Law’s ambition crumbled.

Even in his final moments, he cursed him.

The nameless young man.

His name seared into his mind, repeating endlessly—

Before everything went dark.

“Hah. Better results than expected.”

Watching the scene unfold, Yuto couldn’t suppress his intrigue.