My arm was yanked roughly and I was shoved into the back seat of a luxury sedan parked alongside the alley.

The car immediately pulled away, gliding toward the city center.

In the driver’s seat was a silent female driver.

Beside her sat a petite woman gazing at my face in rapture.

…Is this a kidnapping?

“Um, where exactly are we headed?”

“To the ‘Imperial Capital Film Studio.’ My home ground.”

She answered before I even finished speaking.

“Let me properly introduce myself. I’m Kujō Hibiki. I’m a film director. And you are?”

“…Akutsu Jō. I’m twenty-five. My previous job was… I was a cook.”

“A cook?”

Hibiki’s eyes widened.

“A man holding a kitchen knife? Isn’t that dangerous? Normally, boys are raised in seclusion learning piano or flower arranging…”

“Well… where I’m from, that was normal.”

It seemed the gap in common sense was more serious than I thought.

I turned my gaze to the scenery flowing past the window.

Just like before, everyone on the streets was female.

The ones sweating at construction sites, the ones striding confidently in suits—all women.

The few men I spotted were either being escorted by women while holding parasols or dressed up like mannequins in display windows.

“Just like the god said…”

“Hm?”

“Nothing. There really are no men around.”

At my muttering, Hibiki tilted her head in confusion.

“Did you come from some isolated island or something? The gender ratio is one to ten. Boys are raised as ‘sheltered young masters,’ kept protected at home. Walking around alone like this is something that should never happen.”

“I see. That’s why everyone looks at me like I’m some rare animal.”

I asked her something that had been bothering me.

“You said I should be in a movie, but… if men are that sheltered, doesn’t that mean there are no male actors?”

“That’s right. Not a single one.”

Hibiki answered without hesitation.

“Only women appear in films and dramas. Even male roles are played by women in male attire. That’s our ‘aesthetic’ and our ‘tradition.’”

“Then there’s no role for me at all.”

“No, that’s exactly why there is!”

Hibiki leaned forward and began speaking passionately.

“The existing ‘beautiful cross-dressed actresses’ are gorgeous, but they’re still artificial. They can’t express the genuine ‘grime’ or ‘aggressiveness’ that my hardboiled films require!”

She pointed at my face—at the deep crease between my brows and my old scar.

“But you’re different. That thick bone structure, those sharp eyes and above all… the real ‘male’ pressure overflowing from your entire body! The moment you appear on screen, all existing conventions will be overturned!”

I see.

Since men never appear in media, a villainous face like mine becomes unprecedented entertainment.

…What a pain.

“In the conference room we’re heading to, I’ll be announcing the cast for my new project. I’ll introduce you as the ‘lead villain.’”

“Right now!? I’ve never acted before.”

“You don’t need to act. Just stand there. And then… yes, just let that ‘raw nature’ of yours show.”

I felt nothing but anxiety.

But the car mercilessly arrived at our destination.

A massive building. After passing through the gates of the Imperial Capital Film Studio, Hibiki dragged me into an elevator.

* * *

I was led into a reception room adjacent to the main conference hall.

I was told to wait there, but I couldn’t calm down.

From the other side of the wall came furious shouting.

“You’re scrapping the script!? Are you serious, Director?!”

“Filming starts next week! Changing the villain now is impossible!”

“Do you have any idea how tight Karen-sama’s schedule is?!”

Staff members protested in near screams.

“So noisy! I found the ‘real thing’! All the existing scenarios can go straight into the trash!”

…I want to go home.

I’m just a former cook. I don’t belong in a professional battlefield like this.

But fate is cruel.

With a clatter, the reception room door opened.

“Alright? If you have complaints, say them after you see him!”

Hibiki beckoned to me.

I steeled myself and stood up. I couldn’t let them look down on me.

If I hesitated now, things would only get worse.

I put strength into my gut and tried to act ‘confident.’

The moment I stepped into the main conference room—the boiling atmosphere froze solid.

Dozens of gazes stabbed into me.

All women.

They stared, mouths agape and then shuddered.

“…A m-man?”

“No way… why is there a man here?”

“And he’s huge… what is that face, an assassin?”

“Hii—he looked at me!”

It was understandable.

According to common sense here, I should be a ‘sheltered young master.’

Instead, a man over 190 centimeters tall in a black shirt was standing in a dim conference room.

An abnormal situation.

To hide my discomfort, I unconsciously furrowed my brows and tightened my mouth.

That only amplified the pressure of an ‘angry giant.’

“Don’t mess with us.”

The one who broke the frozen silence was a woman seated at the head of the table.

Bang! She slammed the desk and stood up.

Flaming red hair and sharp eyes.

The national action star, Tennoji Karen.

“Hibiki. Don’t tell me… you’re planning to let that ‘man’ play the villain role meant for me?”

Karen glared at me.

Her eyes held pure anger and contempt.

“That’s right. His name is Jō. My new muse.”

“Hah! Don’t make me laugh!”

Karen snorted and pointed at me.

“Men should be kept at home as pets. This is a battlefield. There’s no way a mere amateur with a scary face can portray the evil aesthetic we ‘beautiful cross-dressers’ have built over decades!”

A scary-faced amateur.

…Painfully hard to deny.

But being looked down on so blatantly still didn’t sit right with me.

Because you’re a man ~ Because you’re an amateur

That prejudice smelled exactly like the bias that tormented me in my previous life.

“Oh? Are you lacking confidence, Karen?”

Hibiki smirked and provoked her.

“Then let him try. Jō, greet her. As an exquisite ‘villain.’”

Unreasonable.

But I couldn’t back down now.

The only ‘villain’ reference I had was yakuza movies from my previous life.

Outrage^[1]. The aesthetic of rage and violence.

I drew in a breath and flipped the switch.

I wasn’t Akutsu Jō anymore.

…I was a young boss of a wide-area crime syndicate.

Without saying a word, I slowly walked toward Karen.

Step. Step. Step.

The sound of my shoes on the carpet echoed unnaturally loud.

I didn’t shape an expression. I simply closed the distance, empty and mechanical.

“W-what are you doing?”

Karen frowned.

I didn’t answer.

As my massive body drew closer, panic surfaced on her face.

The biological difference in mass and the silent pressure assaulted her.

She unconsciously stepped back.

One step. Two steps.

Thud. Her waist hit the conference table. No escape.

I stopped right in front of her.

At point-blank range, I could see the tremble in her once-defiant eyes.

I slammed my palm down on the table beside her face.

Bang!

Karen’s shoulders jumped.

I leaned over her, trapping her, bringing my face as close as possible.

A refined nose. Trembling lips.

I deepened the crease between my brows and stared into her eyes.

Then, in a low, guttural voice squeezed from the pit of my stomach, I whispered quietly but with bone-rattling weight.

“…Hey. Who the hell do you think you’re talking to?”

A voice rumbling like distant thunder.

A sound that would never come from the ‘cute men’ of this world.

The low growl of a predator before its prey.

“Ah…”

Karen’s breathing stopped.

I didn’t avert my gaze.

She tried to glare back with her pride as a top actress, but her eyes began to moisten with fear.

“You think crying will get you off the hook? …Huh?”

I pressed the intimidation further.

Just those words.

But at that moment, it felt like something inside Karen collapsed.

“Hii!?”

A small, girlish scream slipped from her throat.

Her knees shook violently.

Unable to stand, her body slid down.

She slipped beneath my arm and collapsed onto the floor.

The conference room fell silent.

The staff forgot to breathe as they stared at the scene.

The noble Karen-sama had lost her legs from a single glare by a man.

But her expression wasn’t fear alone.

“So intense…” “It gives me chills…”

Such heated whispers leaked out.

To complete the performance, I crouched to her level.

Karen’s face was flushed red, eyes teary, body trembling.

Was that enough? No, not yet.

I extended my thick fingers and forcibly tilted her delicate chin upward.

Forced eye contact.

“…Don’t avert your eyes.”

The finishing blow at point-blank range.

I saw her pupils dilate.

Fear? No—something else.

What dwelled in her eyes was ecstasy.

“Ah… ah…”

Karen weakly grabbed my wrist.

Her fingertips were hot.

“Amazing… my body won’t listen… Did I lose… to a man…”

She looked up at me with moist eyes, lips trembling as if begging for mercy—or craving even stronger stimulation.

“More… scold me more with that voice…”

…She was completely gone.

As I hesitated, unsure how to clean this up—

“CUT!!”

Hibiki’s scream tore through the room.

“Perfect!! That was perfect, Jō!! Look at Karen’s face! Even my direction couldn’t draw out such a ‘female face’!!”

Hibiki ran over, slapping my shoulder.

That was the signal.

The frozen conference room exploded.

“A-amazing, Jō-san!”

“I’ve never seen Karen-sama like that!”

“Did anyone record that ‘hey’ line!?”

“I think I got a little wet…”

Praise and clearly sexual excitement engulfed me.

It seemed my ‘villain’ debut was now decided.

At my feet, Karen was still gazing up at me feverishly, rubbing her cheek against my finger.

…I thought we’d aligned our common sense.

Apparently, Outrage was far too strong a drug for this world.

[1] Outrage ‘凄み / sugomi’: A calm, controlled aura of intimidation drawn from yakuza cinema, where threat is expressed through presence rather than action.