A Meeting Gone Wrong
A Meeting Gone Wrong
Since it was my first real vacation in ages, I really let loose.
Napped on a lounge chair, swam in the ocean, played volleyball on the beach.
After all that activity,
We had a barbecue at the beach house for dinner.
It was delicious.
Then the sun went down,
And a night market opened up nearby, so the whole crew headed out to check it out.
A bunch of people with colorful hair could draw attention, but the Perception Impairment Magic must have been solid, because nobody gave us a second glance.
Still, the mascot costume felt like a bit much, so Desik slipped back into his ring.
"Hey! Look at this!"
As we were wandering around browsing, Choi Se-hee called out to us from up ahead.
"What is it?"
She waved her arm like she'd spotted something fun. The rest of us walked over to where she stood.
And what I saw was—
"Hey, check it out. Egostic dolls!"
At one of the dart-and-balloon booths, prizes hung on display.
Among them were little chibi-style Egostic dolls.
"...Wow. Didn't see that coming."
"Pfft. Look at you. You've got your own merch—you're basically a celebrity now. No, wait, do celebs even get dolls of themselves? You're a superstar. A superstar!"
Choi Se-hee poked me in the side, teasing, and I shook my head as I scanned the other dolls.
Most were generic-looking green dinosaur plushes, but there were also a few unique ones like the Egostic doll.
Oh, looking closer, they had a Stardus doll, plus Icicle, even Shadow Walker. Hero dolls too. Huh. I wouldn't mind having that Stardus one...
...Hold on, what's that?
"Hey! Isn't this you?"
"Puhaha... huh?"
She'd been cackling at the “authentic” label on the Egostic doll, but when I pulled out a doll of a woman with orange hair, she froze.
"...This is awkward."
"The tag says Electra. Hey, this one's wearing a priestess robe—is this Eun-wol?"
"Oh my, I think this one's Death Knight."
"Big bro, what about me? Isn’t there a doll of me?"
"Seo-eun? Let's see... doesn't look like it."
"This isn't fair! I'm carrying out the next attack myself!"
"Sure, sure."
Just as I was soothing a puffed-cheek, pouty Seo-eun, Choi Se-hee rolled up her sleeves.
"Step aside, everyone. I'm gonna win you some dolls."
"Big sis, are you good at darts?"
"Of course! Trust me. One round, please!"
"Welcome! One round? Here you go. Hit eight out of ten darts, you get these dolls. Fewer than that, you get the smaller ones over there. And if you hit all ten—this big one!"
"Ah... now I'm in trouble. Might have to miss two on purpose?"
Choi Se-hee, after all that bluster—
"Four hits! Right, here's your prize for four."
"..."
"Big sis..."
She walked away with a single squid keychain.
She stood there holding the keychain with a hollow, devastated look.
Yeah. This is my moment to step up.
"Heh. Move aside. My turn. I'll show you the power of ten out of ten."
"...Give me a break. Hmph. Those balloons keep moving, so it's harder than it looks, okay? Bet you hit even fewer than me."
I ignored Choi Se-hee's vaguely curse-like muttering and threw the darts.
Ten throws, ten hits.
"..."
"W-whoa... y-you hit all of them... the prize is, uh, this doll here..."
"Ah, I don't need one that big. Could I grab a few of those small ones instead?"
"Huh? Yes! Of course! Take three!"
"All right, kids, pick a doll."
"...That's cheating. You used your power, didn't you?"
"Did I? Got proof?"
"Ugh, you're so annoying..."
Obviously I used telekinesis to guide the darts. You think I wouldn't?
"We're taking this one, obviously!"
Eun-wol and Seo-eun immediately snatched up the Egostic dolls.
...Do you really have to take those?
Choi Se-hee and Eun-wol were dead set against grabbing their own dolls, so I just picked up one Desik doll and the Stardus doll.
"Big bro, why did you grab the Stardus doll?"
"Huh? No, I mean, know-your-enemy and all that. To defeat them, you've gotta understand them. If I stick the Stardus doll up on a shelf, won't my fighting spirit burn brighter?"
"...Sounds like personal interest to me."
Even Soo-bin, who'd been quiet the whole time, chimed in.
The two of them stared at me with flat, narrowed eyes.
Being maligned like this—how's a guy supposed to live? It's just tragic: subordinates who don't trust their leader.
Anyway, we spent the rest of the night market eating, goofing around, doing all kinds of stuff.
Then we headed back to the beach house.
Unpacked, showered, got ready for bed...
"Big bro, why did you bring this mask and these guns?"
"Seo-eun, you never know what life's gonna throw at you. Don't you remember the Busan Incident? What if someone breaks into the beach house in the middle of the night?"
"...I want to say you're overreacting, but come to think of it, last time that actually happened."
"Told you."
"...What story is this?"
"Ah, I'll explain. Listen, last time big bro and I went on a trip..."
While Seo-eun eagerly explained to a curious Eun-wol, Choi Se-hee's voice rang out again.
"Hey! Look at this!"
"Huh?"
The voice calling for me came out of nowhere.
I stepped out into the small garden in front of the beach house and found Choi Se-hee messing around with Death Knight.
"What's up?"
"No, just look."
[Keh-haha, Dain. Take a look. You'll be shocked too.]
"...What are you planning to do here? This feels unsettling."
"Don't worry, just watch! Electric Knight!"
Choi Se-hee blasted Desik with a bolt of lightning. What the hell was she doing?
[Keh-hahaha! How tingly!]
But Desik laughed it off as though it were nothing. Electricity crackled through his black armor and even across the soul inside.
...What is this.
"See? Feed Desik electricity like this and he turns Electric-type!"
[She speaks true. Hyah!]
With that, Desik swung his sword,
And electricity shot out from the blade.
"So? How is it?"
"...Not bad, actually."
"Huh? Seriously?"
Choi Se-hee looked startled at her own suggestion.
I ignored her and started considering it seriously. So if Choi Se-hee zapped him with electricity regularly, he would get an upgrade.
Hm... not bad at all.
We kicked around a few more ideas like that,
Until Eun-wol sensed the Perception Impairment Magic wavering, came outside, and put a stop to the whole scene.
...Yeah, even so, maybe don't shoot lightning in the garden.
***
And so the next day arrived.
We had a nice breakfast and headed back to the beach.
Everyone was still going strong, having a blast.
"Yaaawn..."
I was back on the lounge chair.
A Blue Hawaii in my right hand. This was tasty too.
Same as yesterday—the warm beach, people running around...
"...So drowsy."
Lying here in the warm sunlight, I was on the verge of nodding off.
Just as I was mulling over a nap, my phone rang.
Caller: Lee Seol-ah. What's going on?
"Hello?"
[Ah, Dain. *hic.* Are you at the beach right now?]
"Huh? Yeah, having a great time. Lying on a lounge chair, sunbathing."
[Oh, you are? The thing is, I happen to have to be in the area, and I was wondering—could I drop by for a bit? Since you're on the lounger, I thought maybe we could just have a quick drink together right there.]
"...On the lounge chair?"
[Well, sure. Anywhere. I can come, right?]
"Uh... yeah, a short visit is fine. I'm outside the brown beach house."
[Really? Great, I'll be there soon. Wait for me.]
"Sure, sure."
And the call ended.
...Well, if she wants to come, she can come.
She had said she wanted to grab a drink, but her voice already sounded drunk.
I lifted my head and scanned the area.
Yep, everyone's having a good time.
...I was exhausted. Maybe I'd nap until Seol-ah got here.
Yeah. Good idea.
So I closed my eyes.
And soon, I was pulled under into the depths of sleep.
***
—ain.
"Dain!"
"Uh, huh?"
I woke and opened my eyes.
Rubbing the sleep from them, I looked up and spotted Lee Seol-ah walking toward me from a distance.
She was dressed in light beach-appropriate clothes, waving her hand in my direction.
I waved back.
Yaaawn. She was already there? That was fast.
Just as I sat up to greet her, my whole body went rigid.
...Wait. What.
Trailing behind Lee Seol-ah was another woman.
The face of the woman walking behind her, with an expression that looked absurdly out of place—
It was incredibly familiar.
No way.
Seol-ah. Fucking no way.
"Hello, Dain! This is my friend, Shin Ha-ru. Ha-ru, this is Dain—my business partner."
"...Hello."
"Ha, haha. Haha. Hello."
I answered her, my voice shaking just a little.
And standing right there in front of me, the person who spoke was—
...the kind of face anyone would stop to stare at: long blonde hair, casual clothes, a white cardigan draped over her shoulders.
My arch-enemy.
Stardus.
And right now, she was staring at A-rank villain Egostic in civilian clothes, sitting on a lounge chair with nothing hiding his identity but a pair of sunglasses.
'I'm... fucked.'
I shot a sideways glance at Lee Seol-ah. A faint, unreadable smile hung on her lips.
...You and I are going to have a talk later. A deep talk. Sigh...
But that's not the problem right now.
Right now, I needed to figure out why I'd woken from a nap straight into a lightning bolt to the face.
No, more than anything—
I looked at Shin Ha-ru, whose expression had been absurdly awkward a moment ago, only to freeze the instant she locked eyes with me.
An extreme, visceral unease started to crawl over me.
No, shit, Seol-ah. Seol-ah.
Shin Ha-ru has Hyper Sense. Hyper Sense!
What kind of nerve did she have to drag her there...?
I still couldn't collect myself.
I mean, was this really happening?
On a beach with a warm breeze blowing, Shin Ha-ru was standing right in front of me while my only disguise was a cardigan and sunglasses—and I was sprawled on a lounge chair.
Was this... reality?
Feeling my bare foot resting on the sand tremble slightly, I shook off the sleep and tried to get a grip on the situation.
Civilian Stardus is pretty too. No, that's not the point.
While I was sitting there blankly, barely holding onto my sanity—
"Oh my! An urgent call just came in. I'll be right back, just need to take this. Dain, Ha-ru. Why don't the two of you chat for a bit?"
With the most awkward acting I'd ever seen, Lee Seol-ah pretended she'd gotten an urgent call and vanished from sight.
No, Seol-ah. Please. Where are you going? You and I are going to have words later.
So there I sat, dazed.
And Shin Ha-ru stood there on the beach, looking down at me.
Then I heard—
"...Dain, was it?"
At the sound of Shin Ha-ru's voice from above, all I could do was pray.
Please.
Please, let Eun-wol's Perception Impairment Magic hold.
"...Hahaha, yes. That's right. The name's Dain."
I answered her with a smile.
This smile? Completely fake.
...She hadn't noticed, right? Surely she hadn't?
Yeah. I believed in our Eun-wol.
***
Shin Ha-ru found herself staring at the man in front of her without realizing it.
...Seol-ah had suddenly, out of nowhere, said she wanted to introduce her to a business partner, so she'd reluctantly tagged along.
But the moment she saw the man sitting on a lounge chair in the middle of the beach, a strange sensation came over her.
'This man... I feel like I've seen him somewhere before.'
Where?
Where had she seen him?
She searched her memory on impulse, and a bizarre thought crept in.
"..."
The man right in front of her, someone she was meeting for the first time.
Watching him laugh so easily and amiably, something suddenly clicked.
...It was baseless. Completely absurd.
But her intuition whispered to her.
The feeling she got from the man in front of her—it was somehow familiar.
It was the same feeling she'd had many times before, standing in front of a certain someone.
More precisely, yes.
For some reason, this man—
'...He gives off the same feeling as Egostic.'
No.
It was beyond that.
...It was absurd, without a shred of evidence.
An impossible idea.
Yet Shin Ha-ru found herself seized by a thought she couldn't shake.
'...Wait.'
'This man. Isn't he just... Egostic?'
Right there, in the middle of the beach—
Stardus's intuition had finally begun to do its job.