Hot Iced Americano
I have to somehow make what Lee Seoha said happen.
The Electronic Witch pondered. She and Lee Seoha occupied the same horizontal level, but the truth of it was a vertical relationship.
Lee Seoha looked at her from a position of equality — but one day, that balance was destined to collapse.
A flesh body in the real world…
The Electronic Witch had cast away everything she was and become a spirit of the electronic world.
She didn't regret it. If she could turn back time, she would make the same choice again. She had never been given any other option.
Still, there were times when a physical body was necessary. She'd joked to Lee Seoha that she wanted one to go hunting for good restaurants, but the truth was she had genuinely felt happy.
She'd had no idea that tasting something could be such a joy. Desires she had long forgotten began surfacing, one after another — starting with appetite, all the way down to the simple wish to wear clothes.
Unlike her previous life, this body was devoted entirely to beauty.
Heroes, steeped in mana, possessed remarkably balanced physiques. Harmony — which was synonymous with beauty.
Every time she walked a street in that body, she felt eyes on her. It was thrilling.
And every time she felt it, she was reminded that she could never, ever betray Lee Seoha.
And so…
She listened carefully to everything he said. The Electronic Witch did not trust the human heart. Nothing in this world was more fickle.
Which was why she had poured her heart and soul into helping the video spread.
There was, however, one thing the Electronic Witch had overlooked.
"Wh-whuh?"
The speed of its spread was far beyond anything she had imagined.
I woke up, and the world had changed.
I was experiencing it firsthand.
…What is this.
I rubbed my eyes for a moment. Less than twenty-four hours had passed, and the view count was already past fifty million.
What the hell? Was I dreaming?
With a dazed expression, I drew out Heukcheon.
"Hm? Why have you drawn me out, Master?"
After pulling the blade from my subspace dimension—
"Haaaaaaahhh~♡"
—I wiped it clean.
Yeah. Definitely not a dream.
"It is most certainly not a dream, Lord Seoha!"
At Yeongcheon's words, I turned my gaze to the sword. Heukcheon was sulking in the corner, moping.
"But must you moan so loudly merely because your sword god was wiped down a little?"
"Y-you wouldn't understand! H-how wondrous my Master's touch feels!"
"Ah, enough. Everyone's already branded you a pervert who moans like she's checking into a hotel the instant Lord Seoha touches your blade, you know."
"Y-you—!"
Heukcheon glared daggers at Yeongcheon. Confirming that this was, in fact, not a dream, I sank into thought.
I've gotten way too famous.
At this point, most people in Korea would probably recognize me. The mask was pretty distinctive, after all.
Sighing inwardly, I took out the Faceless Mask of Glamour.
The left eye portion had shattered during yesterday's fight.
It'd be awkward to ask the vice-principal for a replacement, though.
Because of my position as a student, for one thing.
And the moment I handed it over to him, the Emperor would know I was the Masked Man.
…Masked Man feels weird when I say it out loud.
Something about the phrasing sounded like Mr. Charm or whatever. Anyway — I checked out of the hotel I'd been staying at and headed outside.
I stepped onto the street.
Thanks to the perception-disruption spell woven into my coat, I barely registered anyone's gaze. As long as I didn't get dragged into another brawl like yesterday's, I could reach my destination without incident.
On the way there, a café caught my eye.
Maybe I'll grab something and wake myself up.
I was about to order an iced Americano to clear my head when a bizarre menu item jumped out at me.
Hot Iced Americano—
Could a menu item like that even exist?
I'd had my doubts, but there it was, real as anything.
"Behold! Alchemy as taught by the great Veritas himself!"
The person behind the counter, apparently the barista, used mana attunement to make heat and cold coexist in the same cup. Then they dissolved the grounds in the hot water and frothed it.
"It's… it's actually hot and cold?"
"Hahaha! This, my friend, is the alchemy taught to us by Veritas (not really)!"
Unbelievable.
I settled for a normal cold brew to go and stepped back outside.
Outside, I walked along the street.
Beep beep!
A horn blared. I turned to see a sleek yellow sports car pulled up beside me, a tall woman at the wheel, watching me.
"Hey there, handsome. Wanna go for a drive with me?"
"…Me?"
"Yep. There's no guy here worth looking at except you, hot stuff."
I gave the woman a casual once-over. Tall, undeniably attractive — but to my raised standards, honed by Seo Yebin, Hong Yuhwa, Kim Ara, and Erciel, she didn't quite measure up.
…Is what I'd like to say.
I activated True Sight and studied her. An illustration I'd seen before. One of the members of the Retribution Brigade, captured in the act of operating out in the world.
"…I'm fine, thank you."
"Really? Someone like me isn't good enough? I'm not usually this forward, you know — you're just exactly my type."
"I have a girlfriend."
I gave a suitably noncommittal reply while my mind raced.
Was the Retribution Brigade finally making its move? That woman was one they'd almost never summon.
At least five.
If she was here, they'd hit the minimum number needed to convene the brigade.
In other words — five or more beings of at least peer rank had gathered.
Are they seriously planning to take on the Overlord?
If so, the one in the most danger would be me.
According to the Magongnyeo, the Retribution Brigade wanted to take me hostage and use me to negotiate with the Overlord.
And she'd said the Nazi bastards might join them too.
The situation might be even more dangerous than I'd assumed.
Holing up inside Korea Hero Academy might be a viable strategy, but it didn't suit my temperament.
I should report this.
I tapped the name Seo Yebin in my contacts and pressed call.
"Huh."
The woman Lee Seoha had just brushed off forced a hollow laugh. No interest whatsoever. That was a refreshingly novel reaction.
"Hmm. This face isn't bad, though."
Murmuring to herself, she committed the young man's appearance to memory. His looks were exactly her taste.
She wanted to show him her true form and lure him in — that was how much.
…Ah, right, he'd probably run screaming if I did that.
Because she was infamous. Anyone with even a passing interest in heroes would inevitably have heard her name.
Shame there's no time.
The leader of her organization treated punctuality as gospel.
And with their vice-leader having been kidnapped recently, keeping appointments was more important than ever.
Pushing her disappointment aside, she drove toward an industrial lot, parked in front of an abandoned building, and stepped inside.
Click, click.
The woman unclasped her necklace, and her true form emerged — pink hair, matching pink eyes, and a black evening dress.
"So you finally grace us with your presence."
"Pretty fast for a wastrel, aren't you?"
"Watch your mouth, you ignorant little bastard."
The woman they called the Wastrel took her seat.
Eight of them.
The Retribution Brigade numbered eight. In other words, eight monsters of peer rank had gathered in this one place.
"Thank you all for answering my summons."
Spoke the masked leader seated at the head of the table.
"Today, you have been convened for an operation to rescue our vice-leader."
"The vice-leader was taken by the Overlord."
"Correct."
"Don't tell me, boss — you're actually planning to fight the Overlord."
"…No. Fighting him would be the worst possible move."
Every member of the Retribution Brigade was of peer rank.
And they had been embedded in this world for a very long time — which meant nearly all of them had met the Overlord, directly or otherwise.
"Indeed."
The leader responded thus and laced their fingers together.
The Overlord was a monster who had achieved Transcendence alone. True to his title, he was a being who crushed and flattened everything that stood in his way.
And yet they had all survived him.
The reason was one and one only: he possessed overwhelming power against which nothing worked.
Demons and heroes. And Villains.
The monster who reigned at the apex of all three categories on the strength of raw power alone — that was the Overlord.
"But even the Overlord has a sore spot."
The leader produced a photograph from within their coat.
It showed a boy in a hoodie, blowing a bubble of gum.
"…Who's this?"
"What, you know him or something?"
"No. He's just my type."
"I'll be the one to handle that one. None of you are a match for him."
Spoke the man with eyes the red of fresh blood.
"What's that supposed to mean? You already lost to him once."
"I let my guard down. But his power is abnormal."
To the blue-haired woman's jab, Harun answered only with grim silence.
"His power denied mine. He's no ordinary opponent. And that body of his — a warrior would dream of a physique like that. The absolute pinnacle."
"…Are you gay or something?"
"Shut it, harlot. In any case, almost no one here is capable of facing him."
"Worry not, Harun. I shall take the field myself."
"…The leader will?"
"Yes."
The leader stroked the photograph of Lee Seoha with a fingertip.
"He is mine to capture."
"Hold on."
"What is it, Seonghui?"
The pink-haired woman — Seonghui — stopped the leader.
"Would you allow me to step forward instead?"
"…You?"
"Yes. He's exactly my type, you see."
"Hmm… very well. If it's you — the one who emerged from the Tower of Illusory Dreams — subduing one little boy should be trivial."
"Naturally."
Seonghui flashed a confident smile.
"My illusion magic is the direct successor to Melanie Merhen's craft. Reducing a single brat to a trembling wreck? Easy as breathing."
A succubus born of the Tower of Illusory Dreams. Seonghui declared it with absolute confidence.