Preparations
Preparations
[The Hero Association announced today that the villain Mist has officially been designated S-rank. Based on the threat level to Shadow Walker and the potential of her ability...]
"Oh. I'm S-rank now."
About a week after the last attack.
Seo Ja-yeong murmured to herself while watching TV in the living room.
"Well, big sis, your S-rank was practically confirmed anyway."
Positioned almost like a barrier between where I was sitting and where Seo Ja-yeong lay sprawled out, Seo-eun kept eating her ice cream. She mumbled the reply around a mouthful of vanilla.
[Meanwhile, with the addition of Mist and the Moonlight Priestess, the Korean villain alliance Ego Stream has now become an organization with two S-rank villains.]
"Hmm. So the S-ranks are just me and Eun-wol?"
"This is seriously unfair. Why am I not S-rank? No, I'm a great hacker and I built a weapon that almost beat Stardus, but I'm A-rank? That's just wrong."
Seo-eun, clearly still outraged, waved her ice cream spoon around as she complained before slumping back against the sofa with a sigh and going back to eating.
...Hmm. Watching Seo-eun eat made me crave ice cream for the first time in a while. Should I fetch another spoon?
[Meanwhile, netizens are expressing puzzlement that Egostic, the leader of an alliance with two S-rank villains, is still A-rank...]
"Wait, why are you still A-rank?"
"Who knows? Probably because my combat power is weak. I think I heard something about my promotion being delayed by the committee last time."
"Hmm."
Seo Ja-yeong answered drowsily, as if she really didn't care. Just then.
[Next up in breaking news. As the dating rumors between Egostic and Mist continue to heat up the nation for a solid week...]
"Tch."
Seo Ja-yeong, who'd been lounging around like she was about to fall asleep, suddenly snapped her eyes open, sat bolt upright at incredible speed, and grabbed the remote to change the channel.
"..."
Meanwhile, the very instant that news came on, Seo-eun had frozen mid-scoop and fixed her gaze on Seo Ja-yeong with a smiling expression. Just her mouth smiling, not her eyes, which was honestly a little terrifying.
And Seo Ja-yeong, who must have already felt that stare, changed the channel faster than anyone and pointed at the TV with a faint sheen of cold sweat.
"Ha, haha... The international news is on. Let's watch this."
"..."
While Ja-yeong sweated through Seo-eun's gaze, international stories were playing on the screen.
[Mexico's desert region has been completely sealed off. Continuous crimson lightning strikes make passage impossible, an act attributed to the S-rank villain Python...]
[In Egypt, a villain calling himself Pharaoh Reborn has appeared, and the national association has declared a state of emergency. It has been revealed that a significant portion of the populace is already following this villain, causing widespread shock...]
[The Eiffel Tower in France has been attacked yet again. Having already suffered dozens of attacks over the past three years, the landmark this time sustained over seventy percent damage and restoration work is currently in full swing...]
Hmm, looks like the rest of the world is still steadily going to hell.
While almost every country around the globe struggles with this sudden spike in terror rates...
Probably soon, statistics showing the gradually rising proportion of ability users will be released. And with more ability users comes more terror, so the world will only fall further into chaos day by day.
One might have thought the number of heroes would rise along with the number of villains, but in reality, for every ten villains who appeared, perhaps one new hero emerged. It was essentially hopeless.
Of course, compared to how other countries were going to hell in a handbasket day by day, our country was doing a fairly solid job of holding the line... but that was only because I'd been intercepting every major attack behind the scenes. And there were still quite a lot of attacks I'd need to stop going forward. Granted, we were still before the Moonlight Church's main event, so there was a little time left.
"Hmm. Now that I think about it, I should go see Lee Seol-ah."
"Big bro, where are you going now?"
"Yeah. Got some business to discuss."
I answered and pulled out my phone.
Hmm... I should probably call first before heading over, right?
***
A few more days passed like that.
I was sitting face-to-face with Lee Seol-ah on the top floor of the Yuseong Group building.
Lee Seol-ah was still looking haggard, leaning back in her chair as if exhausted, but at least she was smiling a little.
"Did something good happen for once?"
In response, Lee Seol-ah stretched and answered.
"Ah. Yes, you could say that. I've finally finished taking control of almost all the major domestic companies."
"Oh, really?"
"Yes. A company called VK Group was the hardest, but I just had the CEO sent away on corruption charges using the evidence you provided, Dain. Now, once I wrap a few more things up, I should be able to focus all my energy on the political sphere."
Even as tired as she looked, a satisfied smile crossed her face as she spoke.
...She really was Lee Seol-ah, steadily swallowing up South Korea just as she had in the Original Work, even if the pace had slowed a little.
Personally, the more her influence grew, the better it was for me, so I offered her some praise. The more unified everything became under a single person like her, the easier it would be to overcome the crises awaiting us in the latter half of the original story. It meant I could pull all the strings.
She basked in my compliments for a moment, but then her expression dimmed slightly. She forced a smile and spoke.
"...Ah, right. And I heard the news, Dain."
"Huh? What news?"
"I heard you started dating someone recently..."
I cut her off, waving my hand before she could even finish the sentence.
"Ah, that. It's not true. She was just messing around. We're nothing."
"...Really?"
"Obviously. When would I even have the time to date anyone?"
At my denial, she let out a small sigh of relief.
"...That's the right decision. Romance only reduces work efficiency and is a pointless waste of time. I also don't see any need to bother with it."
...Huh. I never quite put it that strongly.
Anyway, Lee Seol-ah was giving me an extremely serious look, so I answered her just as seriously.
"Sure. But anyway, you know why I'm here this time, right?"
"...Uh, because you wanted to see my face?"
"Obviously it's for work. The thing I mentioned last time. The PMC."
"Ah, that..."
Lee Seol-ah rummaged through her documents for a moment, then pulled out a sheet of paper, examined it, and spoke.
"I looked into it, but there are a few tricky legal complications. Though honestly, some lobbying could probably smooth things over..."
"To be precise, it's not just simple employment. We'll also be responsible for training them."
"Yes, the corporate registration has already been completed under the name Yuseong PMC. But Dain, are you absolutely sure about this?"
"Yeah. Honestly, whether I'm sure or not, thinking about the future, we absolutely have to do this one way or another."
"...If you say so, Dain, I understand."
I sipped my tea while having that conversation with her.
...In the latter half of the original work, public safety in South Korea practically collapses.
And one of the reasons is the B- and C-rank villains.
One might have asked how much of a problem a B- or C-rank villain really was. Sure, they weren't strong enough to lift an airplane by themselves, but against civilians they were still extraordinarily dangerous.
And as the years pass, more and more kids start awakening their abilities, leading to chaos from countless low-rank villains running wild. It reaches a point where the government and the Association can barely maintain law and order. On top of that, low-rank hero work doesn't pay, and there's this particular public sentiment in Korea that's exceptionally harsh on heroes—nitpicking every little mistake—so the hero count stays low. So ability users hide their powers and end up going down the villain path...
In other words, considering the absolute chaos coming in the future—
I had to deal with all of them somehow before they went off the rails. I also needed to preserve that surplus fighting strength, because it would become extremely important later.
And that's where Lee Seol-ah's role becomes huge.
If she can pull them all in with capital and influence, it'll be enormously helpful later.
Truth be told, I'd just been waiting for the right moment to ask her this, and that mistake she made last time served as the perfect opening to settle it with this favor.
Besides, if you think about it, Lee Seol-ah probably doesn't want Korea to go to hell either. The place is going to be hers soon anyway.
After an in-depth discussion with Lee Seol-ah about the PMC establishment plan and her future plans for conquering South Korea, I returned home.
Of course, this wasn't a project we'd be launching right away. It was more about getting the framework set up in advance. Still, we had to prepare early. It would probably be the first business I launched openly under my own identity. And anyway, now that my name had been exposed to Stardus, there was nothing left to hide.
Once I got back home, I made an announcement to the crew.
"This time, we're going villain hunting."
"Oh! Isn't this the first time since the Teleporter?"
"...Hey, you actually hunt villains? If you're going that far, aren't you just a hero???"
"What are you talking about? That's my bread and butter. This is how I got my A-rank villain status."
"...Huh, really?"
"She's right, big sis. I helped big bro back then. It was just me at the time, though."
"...Uh, Seo-eun? Weren't you, you know, there too back then?"
"Oh, that's right. Big sis Soo-bin was there too! I got confused with the stuff before, hehe."
...Well, anyway. The next thing on the agenda was, after a long time, assassinating another villain.
While we were at it, we could also broadcast a clarification of the dating rumors involving Mist.
And just like that, we started preparing for the next event.
For the record, I was only clarifying the dating rumor because public interest was overwhelming. Honestly, the only person who actually mattered, Stardus, probably couldn't have cared less, so I half wondered whether we needed to bother. But the press was annoying, so we might as well. Still, if the timing didn't work, perhaps I could skip it.
***
At that same moment, at the Hero Association offices.
Sitting at her newly assigned desk was the blonde hero, Shin Ha-ru.
Backlit by the sun, she sat with her arms crossed, lost in thought.
"...I have to capture Egostic. By any means necessary. I have to get ahold of him first."
She murmured that conclusion to herself, as if resolving something in her mind.
And her eyes,
Unbeknownst even to her, were blazing.
***
"...No. I still have to do the clarification broadcast."
"Of course you do, Dain. Were you honestly thinking of not doing it?"
"...Ah, no, I mean. I was just reaffirming it to myself."
Just a random feeling I got. A weird premonition that something bad might happen if I didn't act. That ominous chill... it had been quite a long time since I'd felt one.
Alright, first thing's first, let's get that out of the way before anything else, yeah...