Same Situation, Different Feelings
Same Situation, Different Feelings
At the very moment Egostic was breaking into Weapon Master's hideout.
"Fuck... how the hell did this happen..."
In a room deep underground.
Geum Dong-geun sat there, clutching his head as he stared at the footage on the screen.
Three intruders in his secret weapons vault.
A woman who looked like a thug, a girl in a shrine-maiden robe, and a man in a billowing black cloak.
Every one of them was someone he knew all too well.
The most notorious villain in South Korea right now, Egostic, and his comrades.
"No, for fuck's sake... why, out of all the people in the world, do you have to pull this shit on me!"
He yelled it out, his voice thick with bitter resentment.
He had no idea how the bastard had learned his identity and the location of his base, why he had singled him out among all the villains to attack—if you're a villain, shouldn't you be hassling heroes instead of pulling this crap on him?
But it was already done, and now it was time to figure out how to deal with it.
"Fuck... fuck..."
Geum Dong-geun had been holed up in his room developing weapons today, same as any other day.
He had a modest dream: someday, he wanted to put weapons of his own making into the hands of machine-men and slaughter every last human in Seoul. He was hard at work on state-of-the-art weaponry when, all of a sudden, the alarms at his base started going off.
He'd never imagined anyone would break in, so the alarms were basically decorative; when they actually triggered, panic was inevitable.
He scrambled to shove his glasses on and check the monitors—first shock, Egostic on the screen. Then he pulled up YouTube with trembling hands and watched Egostic declare he was going to hunt him down. Second shock.
"...Screw that. You think I'm just gonna lie down and die?"
But Geum Dong-geun hardened his resolve.
His dream. His psychopathic aspiration to one day use all these weapons to massacre people and be known as the ruler of terror.
He was almost finished building his arsenal, just about to start kidnapping people and converting them into machine-men to form his army—and then Egostic had shown up out of nowhere, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
He toyed with the idea of abandoning the armory and running, but it was obvious that if he fled, Egostic would swallow up everything he'd built.
And given the information network that had tracked him down even while he was living in hiding, he figured that even if he ran, he'd get caught eventually.
So what the hell was he supposed to do?
"...Fuck it, this is my place. You think I'm gonna lose on my own home ground?"
He muttered like a madman.
Then he made up his mind. Right here, he would slaughter Egostic and those bitches.
"Shit, but how the hell am I supposed to take down those monsters..."
The problem, of course, was that with his own abilities, killing them looked impossible.
How was one man supposed to handle an S-rank villain and two A-rank villains?
If only they'd come a little later, after he'd succeeded in creating his machine-men—he could've sent them out to deal with the situation.
Unluckily for him, they showed up right before he was about to launch the machine-man project.
He considered just blowing the whole place up with bombs to kill them, but the idea of losing all this was too painful. Destroy the weapons and the human-experimentation lab he'd poured his life into? Unthinkable.
But he couldn't exactly take the three of them down himself either...
And so, while he was stuck dithering, unable to run,
An opportunity arose.
"Hold on..."
The trio, who'd been sticking tightly together, split up at a fork in the passage.
The two women went one way, and Egostic was walking down a corridor alone, his image projected on the screen.
Black cloak billowing, Egostic strode forward with measured steps.
Watching him, Weapon Master Geum Dong-geun suddenly felt hope stir.
"Wait... if it's just Egostic..."
When you thought about it, the guy was always running his mouth while dressed to the nines in a suit and mask, projecting that air of mystery.
But wasn't his actual combat ability pretty pathetic?
His underlings were the ones who were freakishly strong. He himself wasn't much of a fighter, was he?
After running the numbers in his head, Geum Dong-geun—
reached a conclusion.
"Yeah... honestly, if it's only Egostic, I can take him."
Suddenly brimming with confidence, he made his decision.
He would capture that bastard Egostic right here and now.
The guy's combat power was unimpressive anyway. If he ambushed him with state-of-the-art weaponry, he could absolutely wreck Egostic.
Kill him first, then take out the other two while they were caught off guard and panicked.
"Fuck this. I'll show you what I'm made of."
Having steeled himself, Geum Dong-geun changed into his combat suit, grabbed his weapons, and left the room through a secret passage.
One shot from this in the back, and even the great Egostic wouldn't stand a chance...
He checked Egostic's position on the screen.
Once he'd predicted his movements based on that, he crept through a hidden passageway and took up position beside the door of the room Egostic would soon enter. He lay in wait.
After a short while.
Finally, Egostic arrived at the room.
"Hmm... and what is this place for?"
The voice came from right in front of him.
Listening, Weapon Master silently aimed his gun at Egostic.
A silenced explosive round, custom-modified by his own hand.
One shot, and a nobody like Egostic—no special abilities to speak of—would be dismembered before he even knew what hit him. Instant death.
'Fuck, die, you son of a bitch.'
A wicked grin crossed his face as he pulled the trigger on the unsuspecting Egostic.
The explosive round flew silently toward Egostic, and just as Weapon Master was certain of victory.
SKREEE.
Something went wrong.
The moment he pulled the trigger and the round flew at Egostic, something black suddenly erupted from Egostic's body.
Like a dark liquid suspended in the air, it spread wide between him and Egostic, snatching the round with a black tentacle and devouring it.
Then a dull thud as the round detonated.
But the hideous black tentacle had already closed around it long before, and the explosion dealt no damage whatsoever.
"Sh... shit, what the hell is that."
Confronted by the grotesque, horrifying display of black tentacles, Weapon Master dropped to the ground before he even realized it.
And Egostic was turning to look at him, grinning.
"Aha."
There you are.
***
"Hmm..."
Looking at Weapon Master, trembling on the floor in front of me, I couldn't help but grin.
Yeah. I'd known this bastard would do this.
Having read the original work and knowing his personality, I'd been ready and waiting for a while.
And sure enough, he came to attack me when I was alone.
He had no idea I was hiding a trump card.
"Go, Behemoth."
I flicked my hand casually, controlling the black tentacle that had blocked the blast.
Our Behemoth. I'd obtained him from Han-eun Group's underground laboratory, and after using him against Stardus, I'd kept him on me as body armor. I simply hadn't had another reason to use him.
No, more precisely, I deliberately kept it off any broadcasts. Why? Because it's always good to have at least one ace up your sleeve.
That way, you get bastards like this who let their guard down.
"Mmmmph!"
The Behemoth, made of black tentacles, wrapped around Weapon Master where he'd sprawled on the ground.
Then he was left dangling in the air like a cocoon strung up in a spiderweb.
He looked like he was trying to say something, but the sticky black tentacles had already engulfed him. He couldn't manage a word.
"Geum Dong-geun... Geum Dong-geun. A pleasure to meet you. I'm Egostic."
"Mmmmph!"
"Yes, yes. You must feel wronged, furious. I understand perfectly."
As I spoke, I pulled the gun from inside my coat.
He thrashed even harder when he saw it.
...Funny thing. A man who's already killed several people, who later goes on to massacre the citizens of Seoul—he's afraid of dying himself?
Well, that was his character in the original too. Killed thousands, then died at Stardus's hand in the end. One of the few people she actually killed, at that.
Unlike a lot of other villains, his heart was rotten from the start.
"Don't feel too wronged, Geum Dong-geun... no, Weapon Master."
"Mmmmph!"
"You were going to die later anyway. So wouldn't dying a little sooner be better for humanity, and better for you?"
"Mmph! Mmmmph!!!"
I chambered a round, watching him thrash around wrapped in black tentacles.
From context, it looked like he was begging for his life. Had he ever spared anyone else's?
"So, farewell."
"Mmph!!!"
And with that final word, I aimed the gun at him.
Bang.
"..."
At once, the flailing stopped.
"Phew..."
All things considered, I handled that one pretty easily.
I exhaled and slid the gun back into my coat.
I was glad this man had at least given me an opportunity to stop him, but I had no idea what I would do about villains whose names and bases I didn't even know.
...Building up Stardus and training up a bunch of B-rank ability users really is the best solution, isn't it.
"It's done. You can come now."
Once I'd wrapped things up, I contacted the two of them.
A few minutes later, Eun-wol and Choi Se-hee arrived where I was waiting.
"You did well, big bro."
"Umm..."
Eun-wol didn't bat an eye at the body bleeding out on the ground. Choi Se-hee was trembling a little—a clear contrast.
Must be all that time with the Moonlight Church; she's built up some immunity.
"Alright, he's dealt with. Let's just grab a few of the weapons here, set off the fireworks, and head out."
The Association will scoop up the rest of the weapons.
And honestly, that was what I'd intended. Considering the latter half of the Original Work, the more weapons the Association could stockpile, the better. There was nothing bad about it. With all the shit that would happen later, I needed them prepared in advance.
Thank you, Weapon Master. The weapons you used to threaten South Korea's security will now serve South Korea instead.
I offered a brief moment of silence for the weapons-maker Weapon Master, then we set about picking out a few of the best pieces. The loot phase after defeating the boss is always the best part.
Then, before leaving, we would launch a signal flare to mark the location and disappear.
The Association would receive the weapons, and I would renew my reputation as a ruthless villain who didn't hesitate to kill.
Especially good for stoking Stardus's hostility toward me. This kind of vigilante justice—especially killing—she hates that.
Oh, right. And before I left, if I was going to bait her, I should commit fully.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
I crouched by the body, wearing gloves, and started writing something in the blood. Choi Se-hee looked horrified.
"Hold on. This is a classic, you know."
With that reply, I started writing in the blood.
To you... Star... dus...
Good. Done.
Stardus is going to be boiling with rage when she sees this, right?
Perfect.
Satisfied with my work, I had us set off a few fireworks on the mountain near the entrance and left the place behind.
***
To you, Stardus.
"..."
Somewhere deep in a mountain valley, at the underground base where Egostic committed his crime.
Stardus and Association staff descended into the warren-like complex.
The staff were already busy examining the scene and clearing away hazardous materials.
In the midst of that, Stardus stood before the villain Egostic had presumably killed, looking down at the words scrawled beside him in blood.
The words Egostic had written.
The words Egostic had written for her.
She looked down at the words.
Stardus—Shin Ha-ru—felt something strange.
She had seen those words before.
Even before she knew Egostic, he had twice left that same message.
Back then, seeing it had filled her with fury, and she had loathed Egostic for it.
"...To Stardus. Hah."
But for some reason.
This time, she didn't feel anything like that at all.
...Am I losing it too?
"And it appears this victim was also a villain. And that mark over there is also... pardon?"
"Ah. It's nothing. Please, continue."
Listening to the officer's report, she had only murmured that quietly to herself, before she even knew what she was saying.