Future Plans
Future Plans
Our last attack had played out more like a showcase—proof that Ego Stream had some seriously impressive people in its ranks.
The minor terrorist attack I had staged to introduce Death Knight to the world had a greater impact than I'd expected.
Sure, the news had run with Egostic's Villain Alliance and its dangerous potential, but for the first time, the name Ego Stream had started being mentioned almost as much as my own.
The back-to-back showcases of the Lepis Squad and then Death Knight had definitely stirred things up. If we continued adding members one by one—people with even stronger abilities—no one in South Korea would be able to ignore us as a faction.
Anyway, that was that.
"Seriously... what the hell?"
I kept replaying the footage.
That fight between Stardus and Death Knight.
She had been holding her own against Death Knight, then midway through the fight, as if a surge of tiger energy had filled her, she suddenly awakened and reduced Desik to dust.
The result was that Desik was back inside the ring, recharging. He seemed satisfied, but still...
I still had no idea why Stardus had suddenly awakened.
She had become furious in the middle of the conversation. But I doubted that hearing Egostic wasn't coming would have angered her enough to trigger an awakening. She had probably snapped at Desik's 'FWAHAHAHAHA!' laugh. That was the only explanation that made sense.
Whatever. From where I stood, there was no real downside.
The faster Stardus became stronger, the better.
But still...
"Isn't this... way too fast?"
I muttered it without thinking.
I mean, she wasn't some bean sprout shooting up overnight. How was she growing this strong on her own? Was that really the same Stardus who'd struggled so much in the Original Work? We were barely in the early-to-middle portion of Phase 2, and she was already approaching late-Phase-2 levels—strong enough to crush almost any villain coming down the line.
"Hmmmm..."
I rested my chin on my hand and mulled it over.
At this rate... we could probably slow the pace a little.
Maybe we should simply take a break until the Moonlight Church appeared.
I was still thinking when I heard a knock at the door, and Soo-bin walked in.
"Dain. You're looking up Stardus again?"
That was the first thing she said after glancing at my monitor.
The sidelong look she gave me said she thought I was still managing the Stardus fan cafe. It was a misunderstanding. I'd already prepared all the cafe material. At that point, I was purely planning for the future.
I flinched and started to defend myself, but Soo-bin was faster. She handed me my phone.
"Dain, phone call for you."
Call?
The caller ID said Lee Seol-ah.
I supposed I'd left my phone in the living room.
I thanked Soo-bin and took the call.
"Hey. What's up?"
[Just checking. You didn't forget we're supposed to meet today, did you?]
"...Wait, what?"
Huh? Had it already been that long?
I whipped my head around to check the calendar and realized today marked exactly two weeks since the last time we met.
"...Oh! Yeah, of course I knew. I was just getting ready."
[...Doesn't sound like it. Anyway, the same spot you gave me last time. Hurry up, okay?]
"Sure, sure."
I hung up and got ready to head out.
I might as well go see Lee Seol-ah.
...Actually, when I thought about it, it hadn't really been that long. But still.
***
A little while later.
I was sitting in the top-floor CEO's office of the Yuseong Group Seoul Branch.
"How is your office exactly the same in Busan and Seoul?"
I said it while glancing around as I walked in.
Lee Seol-ah just smirked at the sight.
"What do I have in abundance besides money? I spent a little."
Could money really do something like that?
I was still marveling at how even the furniture and the bookshelves were identically placed when she stood up, the corner of her mouth still slightly lifted, and sat down across from me.
"Besides, I'll be spending a lot of time in Seoul from now on, so I figured I'd decorate to make myself comfortable."
"Why Seoul?"
"Oh, why else? Because all the companies I need to swallow up—I mean, acquire—are gathered right here."
She said it with the coldest smile in the world, then, like she'd flipped a switch, she beamed again.
"And for that, your help has been huge. The data you handed over is making the acquisitions a lot easier."
"Ah, right. About that. Here's one more."
That reminded me. I fished another USB from my jacket and passed it to her.
"Here. Last file. Covers the remaining companies."
"Oh my... you shouldn't have. I had no idea there were more. Thank you."
She accepted it with a bright smile.
I made sure to emphasize the point.
"That's the last of them, so you need to handle the rest yourself. Got it?"
"What you've already given me is more than enough, so it's fine. But where exactly are you getting all this? Even my own people couldn't dig this deep."
She was fishing for information, subtly. I just smirked back.
"I'm not all-powerful. Association, government—those internal networks with the heavy encryption? Can't crack the security."
Strictly speaking, it was Seo-eun who couldn't. Not me.
Anyway, I bluffed my way through it.
Without answering her actual question about how I'd done it.
"Hmm..."
As sharp as ever, Lee Seol-ah realized I was dodging the question.
She rested her chin on one hand and stared straight at me.
Then she smiled slightly and said,
"Ego. Would it be all right if I visited your home sometime?"
"No."
"How about a name, then? Could you tell me your real name? It's a little awkward to keep calling you 'Ego' all the time."
"That's a bit much."
"And could you take off that mask? It bothers me."
"..."
Yeah.
There was a reason meeting her had felt slightly uncomfortable lately.
She kept trying to pry into my identity.
I quietly tilted my teacup and kept my mouth shut. Smiling, she kept pressing.
"Ego. Do you not trust me?"
"Of course I do."
"Then why do you keep yourself wrapped up so tight? Why won't you tell me?"
She asked with narrowed eyes. I stayed still.
...Revealing my identity to Lee Seol-ah carried some risk.
I still did not know exactly what she thought of me, so I needed to proceed carefully—especially with someone destined to become a major hidden player in the future.
So I thought I should probe a little more and tell her once I was certain. Honestly, knowing her, she might already have known my name anyway.
While I was thinking that through.
Lee Seol-ah suddenly stood up. What was she doing?
She planted her hands on the desk and leaned toward me.
Now all I could see was her face and those long sky-blue strands of hair falling forward.
I blinked. She locked eyes with me, then started speaking, almost in a whisper.
"You... do you think I would betray you?"
"I'm someone who remembers a favor. I made my decision the moment we joined hands. I thought maybe... it would be okay to stay with you until the very end."
She stopped there. Then she leaned back, pressed her chin with her hand, and thought for a second before speaking again.
"Do you have any idea how much I value you?"
She was looking at me. I finally exhaled and answered.
"...Not really. How much?"
"For you, I could give up even five percent of my company's total shares."
...Was that supposed to be a lot?
I gave her a flat look. She snorted, then kept going.
"...Well, if you don't know what that means, forget it. Anyway, I won't betray you or anything like that. I'd really like it if you could trust me a little more. It's a bit... disappointing."
She mumbled the last part quietly, then turned away and took a sip from her teacup.
"..."
I watched her and considered.
...Were we really close enough for her to say something like that yet?
Still, now that I thought about it, the original did mention that Lee Seol-ah took meticulous care of everyone who believed in her and followed her. Even after she became a hidden mastermind.
Hm...
While I was mulling it over, her expression had already settled back to normal. In a slightly brighter tone, she asked me another question.
"So. What are you planning next? That Death Knight person left quite an impression."
"Next?"
I leaned back in my chair and hummed to myself for a moment.
...Originally, I had planned to stage another attack to show off more of Ego Stream's strength.
But looking at Stardus now, did I really need to? She already seemed strong enough. I could afford to slow things down.
In that case, perhaps before that incident went off...
"I doubt it. I'll probably just rest for the rest of the year."
"What? That long?"
She looked startled.
I mean, it was already fall. How long could I possibly have rested?
...Though I had a feeling my fan cafe would erupt again. Whatever. If people got too bored, I could upload a video.
Anyway, after a few more words, I gave her one last piece of advice before I left.
"...And from now on, stay close with Stardus."
If the two of them had bad blood, it would be a disaster.
Besides, if the two of you became close, I could receive regular updates on how Stardus was doing.
"We're already close."
"I mean meet up more often. That kind of thing."
"...Fine. Got it."
"Good."
I stood up. Time to head out.
And before I left,
I added one last thing to Lee Seol-ah, who had already said goodbye and was watching me from behind.
"And from now on... call me Dain."
"Excuse me?"
"My name. It's Dain. If you want to call me that, go ahead."
"Ah... okay!"
She stood there blinking for a second, then broke into a wide smile once she'd processed the words. I left.
...Yeah. That much should be fine.
Probably.
***
"Huu... Ah, right."
Right after Egostic left.
Lee Seol-ah had been sitting at her desk, grinning to herself. She snapped out of it, straightened her back, and composed herself.
Right. This was not the time to sit around feeling pleased. She had work to do. She also needed to check the USB Ego—no, Dain had given her.
Pulling herself together, she got down to business.
Oh. He had also told her to spend more time with Ha-ru.
She paused in thought for a moment, then let out a small laugh and picked up her phone.
Right. Reconnecting with Ha-ru after so long would not be bad. Things had been a little awkward after that incident involving Egostic, but... she could be the bigger person and approach her first.
Ha-ru did not even know Egostic's name, while she knew his real name—and had heard it directly from him.
With that strange sense of ease, she kept smiling as she picked up her phone and called Ha-ru.
"Hey, Ha-ru. What are you doing?"