Unexpected Meeting
Unexpected Meeting
We built an anti-Egostic broadcast to create a forum for constructive criticism of Egostic. The so-called anti-Egostic media outlet project could be considered a success, strictly speaking.
Sure, the atmosphere then seemed bleak because of the dislike bombing, but pioneers were always cursed first. If they kept at it, the day would come when people recognized them.
With that in mind, I invested in a full-fledged studio: Daily Villain. Despite the name, it was practically a channel devoted exclusively to Egostic. I'd financed the entire operation, so naturally I held considerable influence, but Chae Na-young seemed perfectly capable of managing it alone and struck me as dependable.
But separately from that, Chae Na-young was a problem because she acted so, um, overwhelmingly earnest toward me. She kept saying, "Sponsor, you are my benefactor." Calm down.
...When I thought about it, the situation was rather funny. She practically worshiped me as her sponsor, yet her actual job was to insult her sponsor. Of course, that was because she didn't know I was Egostic, but from my position, knowing the whole story, it was strange.
Anyway, it was still weak then, but I predicted it would become quite effective over time. Someday, the day would come when the entire public thought of me as a cruel and wicked villain. That day would absolutely come.
Anyway, that issue is settled for now.
As if that's what really matters.
"...Let's see..."
I pulled out my sealed notebook.
This diary organized the future events I knew from the Original Work.
I groaned as I looked at it.
"...Haah. Out of the frying pan and into the fire."
A quick glance at the villains who would appear in the future made my head throb.
Honestly, Stardus was quite strong by then, so she could simply beat down any ordinary enemies with brute force.
The problem was the gimmick-type villains—the ones who sprayed poison gas or committed mass slaughter. Even if Stardus caught them, they were the type to cause countless casualties in the meantime.
...Of course, I'd changed this world quite a bit from the Original Work, but I'd only saved people who had originally died, not killed people who had originally lived, so it didn't mean much. In the end, the villains who'd appeared in the Original Work would most likely appear here too.
And the Moonlight Church. They were a problem too.
The Moonlight Cult Leader, the final boss of Phase 2, was already a headache, and his connections to the final arc complicated matters further. But he was not the only problem. I needed to begin preparing little by little for Phase 3. When that time came, the world would truly go berserk, and I probably would not be able to handle everything alone as I had until then. I would have to cooperate with the Association to some degree.
As for cooperating with the Association, one could say it was already halfway accomplished because I'd brought Lee Seol-ah to my side. If I could also win over Shadow Walker and the Association President, the Association would effectively be in my hands.
Ah, thinking about the future again is giving me a headache.
All right. I would think about that later.
Let's just look at the problems that are right in front of me.
"Okay. The next main event coming up is..."
Flipping through the notebook, I stopped.
Right, this is next on the list.
I stared at the writing I had scribbled down long ago.
[Shadow Walker's Girlfriend Murder Case]
"..."
I'd thought I'd get a little rest.
Apparently I would be busy again.
***
In this world's South Korea, there are three A-rank heroes.
Stardus of Seoul.
Icicle of Busan.
And Shadow Walker of the night.
He exerted absolute power strictly at night, and he had barely appeared in the early parts of the original comic. He only operated in the evenings, so he had no reason to run into Stardus anyway.
But what had I said this world was like?
A bleak world on the verge of annihilation.
Meaning, even the hero Shadow Walker couldn't escape the grasp of bleakness.
And the starting signal for his life's descent into bleakness was this very case—his girlfriend's murder.
An incident where his girlfriend, who was his major emotional pillar, was kidnapped and held hostage by a gang, then ultimately murdered.
Shadow Walker, who already had mild depression before this, instantly boarded the express train to hell.
He faced all sorts of bleak trials and tribulations, leading to a corruption ending.
...Ah, just thinking about it gave me a headache.
Anyway, the conclusion was that his girlfriend's death led to terrible outcomes.
So I needed to save her.
It was time to start preparing.
Having made my resolution, I came out to the living room.
The moment I entered, I saw Seo-eun and Eun-wol.
Seo-eun, sprawled across the dining table, was muttering to Baek Eun-wol.
"Travel... I want to go on a trip."
"...Now that I think about it, I've never been on a trip in my entire life."
"What, really?"
"Yes... I've been trapped in the Moonlight Church for as long as I can remember."
"Then have you ever seen the sea?"
"...Of course I've seen it. But that was only a distant glimpse when I followed the Moonlight Cult Leader to proselytize, so I've never actually gone in and played."
"Wow, really?"
...Seo-eun, hey. Hadn't she also never gone to the sea until she went with Soo-bin and me last time? Why was she so surprised?
As I approached the living room with those thoughts in mind, Seo-eun's face lit up when she saw me, and she said,
"Big bro! Let's take a trip—to the sea!"
"The sea?"
"Yes. You, me, big sis Soo-bin, big sis Se-hee, big sis Ha-yul, Eun-wol, Uncle Desik, and Cha-yun—all of us together at the sea. How does that sound?"
Seo-eun said that, her eyes sparkling at me.
And next to her, Eun-wol was also looking at me with shining eyes, clearly interested in the trip.
...A trip, a trip, huh.
Come to think of it, aside from the one time I'd gone to Busan with Seo-eun and Soo-bin, we'd never all taken a trip together.
We'd been living far too busily lately.
...Alright, a trip.
"Okay. Let's go sometime. All of us together."
"Really? Yay!"
"What's this, we're going on a trip?"
Just as Seo-eun and Eun-wol were getting excited, Choi Se-hee walked in, rubbing her eyes as if she had just woken up.
"Yes, big sis. Let’s look into it ourselves. Eun-wol has never been to the sea, so how about that?"
"The sea? Sounds good. With this many people, we might need to rent an entire beach house. Shall we look into it?"
"Great!"
The trip conversation progressed suddenly, as if flowing like water.
If I'd known they'd be this happy, should I have taken them on a trip sooner?
As I was thinking that, a nagging feeling crept over me, as if I was forgetting something.
...Wait. Why had I come out to the living room again? I had something to discuss besides the trip.
Ah, right.
"Seo-eun. Come here for a sec."
"Why, big bro?"
Seo-eun came trotting over the moment I called.
I patted Seo-eun on the head and said,
"Seo-eun."
"Hehe... Yes?"
"Can I ask you a favor?"
"Yes! Ask me anything!"
"Would you hack a CCTV and just monitor one woman for me?"
"...What?"
Seo-eun's eyes and the corners of her mouth, which had been smiling just moments ago, sank flatly.
No, it's not weird.
This is all for the sake of the world.
It was only after I calmly explained the situation to Seo-eun that I was able to secure her cooperation.
Alright... this prep is done, then.
Now I just need to go meet Icicle, Lee Seol-ah.
***
Anyway, the work was progressing steadily like that.
Prevent Shadow Walker's rampage. Phase 1. Save the girlfriend.
"Dain. Are you listening to me?"
"Huh? Oh, of course I'm."
Yuseong Group Chairman's Office.
During a regular conversation with Lee Seol-ah, she let out a deep sigh and said,
"...Haah. How far did I get? Yes, anyway, things are getting tangled up. We're acquiring the other companies one by one, but the political sphere is the problem."
"Not going well?"
"Don't even ask... They're only half-listening to me. I just want to freeze all those bastards solid. The presidential election isn't far off now, so what on earth are they doing... Haah."
Lee Seol-ah clung to me like that and whined for a while about how her project to seize control of South Korean politics was adrift.
And listening to her words.
"...Haha, that must be rough."
A light sheen of cold sweat broke out on my skin.
...Is it because of me?
In the Original Work, after the Moonlight Priestess's terrorist attack on Seoul, government buildings and the like moved to Busan, which gave a relative boost to the position of Busan native Lee Seol-ah.
So I remembered her taking control of the government with remarkable ease...
"That bastard Kim Man-bok is seriously!! Ugh... my head."
"...Haha."
It seemed that way. The Original Work had clearly said she easily took control of the government, but seeing her clutching her head like that, things clearly weren't going smoothly.
Watching Lee Seol-ah complain so miserably, I felt a bit of unnecessary guilt. Still, I couldn't just let Seoul be destroyed, could I...
In the end, the conversation with Lee Seol-ah, which had started with her complaining, concluded with her saying she'd been having a hard time lately and wanted to visit our house sometime.
...The state of that conclusion is strange, but anyway.
***
Even after that, daily life progressed fairly normally.
I was planning the next terrorist attack, the Ego Stream members were busy researching where to go on the trip, Seo-eun was monitoring Shadow Walker's girlfriend in her spare time,
Then one of those ordinary days.
"Big bro! That woman was suddenly dragged away by some strange men!"
While I was in the living room having a two-player battle on a rhythm game with Choi Se-hee, Seo-eun came running and shouted urgently.
"What!"
I immediately threw down the controller and yelled.
This had happened sooner than I expected.
I hurriedly started to get ready.
Alright, it's villain time.
***
Shadow Walker, Kim Ja-hyun.
He was holed up in his room.
After that Moonlight Priestess incident, he fell into a slight depression.
He'd always had the confidence that he was invincible when the sun set and night fell.
After being miserably defeated by the Moonlight Priestess, his mental state was literally shattered.
Night.
Night... wasn't I the strongest?
After taking a major blow to his pride for the first time,
He fell into depression, holed up in his room, and lived day by day filled with self-loathing.
And what gave him strength was his girlfriend.
Thanks to her always cheering him on, Shadow Walker gradually began to regain his energy.
"...But why isn't she answering?"
But that day, something was strange.
She, who always stayed in touch, had suddenly gone silent.
So Kim Ja-hyun sank deeper into worry.
Suddenly, a knocking sound was heard.
"....Who is it?"
Getting up and approaching the front door, he realized something was strange.
...The knocking wasn't coming from the door.
It was coming from the window next to it.
"What the hell? What is this."
Feeling dumbfounded, he flung the window open.
And there, ten stories above the ground—
"Good day, Shadow Walker. My name is Egostic!"
A masked A-rank villain had come to him of his own accord and offered a greeting.
"...."
Kim Ja-hyun began to seriously wonder whether he was dreaming.