The Villains' Training
The Villains' Training
Taking out the future S-rank villain Weapon Master early had been a deeply satisfying and meaningful achievement. Thinking back to how I'd ground my teeth at his viciousness every week while reading the Original Work, I couldn't even begin to describe how gratifying it had been.
Seoul.
The Seoul of today looked much the same from one day to the next, but the Original Work had been different. There, Lee Seol-ah—who controlled nearly everything in South Korea—had led the New Seoul project and rebuilt the city after Behemoth, Han-eun Group, and the Moonlight Church reduced it to ruins.
Her ambitious dream was ruined once when the Moonlight Cult Leader's final struggle opened a portal in the middle of the city, then ruined a second time when Weapon Master barged in. It was no exaggeration to say Weapon Master dealt New Seoul the finishing blow.
Having killed such a vicious bastard so easily, I could finally breathe a little easier. Though honestly, I wondered how long this streak of luck would last...
In any case, dealing with Ego Stream this way had another purpose: to boost my reputation as Cruel Egostic.
So there I was, happily munching on popcorn and watching TV.
[Look at this. Egostic has once again killed a poor civilian who was just making weapons as a hobby, all on a whim. Isn't it truly cruel how he holds a sword and massacres civilians as if he were justice itself? We must all fear Egostic and remain vigilant against him!]
Yeah, yeah. Makes total sense.
"Big bro, why are you watching cable? Put on the broadcast channels."
Click.
[Next, a breaking report. It has been revealed that Egostic killed a villain who had hidden thousands of weapons, which has become a major topic. The Association has confiscated all the weapons and announced they will be a significant asset to South Korea. Online, there are opinions that Egostic has once again protected South Korea...]
"Sigh."
The sudden channel change gave me a headache, so I eventually got up.
Yeah. I should get to work. What else is there for me to do?
"Alright. That's enough of a break. Seo-eun, Eun-wol, let's head out for training. Oh, and Seo Ja-yeong, you come out too."
"Aagh... no. Seo-eun, why didn't you just let him keep watching???"
A purple something was lying on the floor flailing its arms and legs and groaning. Seo Ja-yeong.
...Seriously, anyone would think we train every single day.
"Come on, come on. Lying around too much is bad for your body, too. Get over here."
"Aagh..."
"If you keep stalling, I'm carrying you out with telekinesis again."
"...Do that."
"...What?"
"It's actually pretty comfortable..."
"...Good grief."
I finally sighed and used telekinesis to float Seo Ja-yeong through the air and out the door.
...Well, I supposed that counted as training too.
"Big sis Ja-yeong, is it really okay for you to just lie around all day like that?"
"Yeah... don't worry. I'm like a mollusk, so not moving actually gives me energy... raawr..."
As we walked out the main gate, Eun-wol asked with concern, and Seo Ja-yeong gave a reply that was as discombobulating as ever.
Listening to their back-and-forth, I led them out to a clearing in the forest.
"Alright! From now on, fight each other."
"Sob. How could I fight our tiny, adorable Seo-eun? I can't do it..."
"Um, big sis, didn't you just shoot fire at me mercilessly last time? My suit was nearly all charred???"
"I don't remember..."
"And you kept going even when I surrendered???"
"Eun-wol must've put you under an illusion."
"What?!"
There was Seo-eun, saying that while scratching her cheek; Seo Ja-yeong, shamelessly playing dumb; and even Eun-wol, getting startled by a stray spark.
...Seo Ja-yeong had naturally riffed along merely to delay any forced physical activity by even a single second. I had to hand it to her; that was impressive. But honestly, that was simply how she was. Once training actually began, she became more absorbed in it than anyone else.
"Anyway, let's get started. Since Choi Se-hee isn't here, Eun-wol, you'll handle Seo-eun and Ja-yeong by yourself this time."
"By myself?"
"Yep. Eun-wol, you can do it. I believe in you!"
"...Hmm, okay. I'll do my best!"
Eun-wol said that and clenched her little fist.
Honestly, Eun-wol is more than capable of taking on two at once alone. She's the strongest among us in real combat anyway. There's also Desik, but his base combat power is lower than Eun-wol's.
"...If we combine our power, Seo-eun and I can definitely beat Eun-wol. Right, Seo-eun?"
"Exactly. Baek Eun-wol, I'm going to win this time, so get ready to lose!"
"Yes. Give it your best shot."
Eun-wol answered with a slight smile around her eyes.
Seo-eun then pressed something to summon her suit, and Seo Ja-yeong finally stretched her limbs, purple flames fanning out around her.
Facing the two of them, Eun-wol, still in her priestess robes, assumed a short praying posture, then generated a magic circle in her hand.
With the light of battle in all of their eyes.
Boom. Not a real fight, per se... but training had begun.
If boys just need a ball tossed their way to go wild and play,
Our villains, once given a chance to move their bodies and fight, go wild leaping around and using their abilities.
And so, the peaceful forest soon filled with the sounds of destruction and chaos once more.
***
The future.
The path this world will follow is never going to be smooth.
The disasters I knew of alone numbered in the dozens. Considering the monsters that would appear later, it was one crisis after another.
In other words, although I would stop what I could, raw power would inevitably become more important as time went on.
And naturally, it's only right to train our abilities in advance to prepare for that.
Of course, in the Original Work, Stardus had been the only one who could increase her power through sheer brute force. But that didn't mean training was useless—quite the opposite, it was even more critical. Unlike Stardus, who grew stronger no matter how sloppily she fought, everyone else had to push their potential to the absolute limit through training... or they would actually regress.
That was why I'd started training our members in earnest lately. To survive the brutal later arcs of the Original Work, this wasn't enough. We needed stronger techniques, faster reflexes, better overall technique.
That's why our training mainly focuses on simulated combat. Nothing beats real experience.
The only difference from actual combat was that I was flying around coaching them from the sidelines.
"Seo Ja-yeong, block there with a wall of fire! And Seo-eun, in this situation, just dodge instead of trying to fight back. Eun-wol, watch your rear too. If you only focus on casting spells in front of you, your back becomes vulnerable."
"Huff, huff. Okay!"
Eun-wol was panting but still answered me while simultaneously managing three magic circles to hold off both Seo-eun and Ja-yeong.
The fight went on for a while longer before training finally came to an end.
"Haaahk... I won..."
Seo-eun had shed her suit and was practically collapsed.
I quickly approached her and handed her the water I'd prepared in advance.
"Here, drink up."
"Thanks, big bro. Ugh..."
"W-water... me too..."
I turned my head at the voice asking for water and saw Seo Ja-yeong sprawled out on the ground right in front of me.
Sprawled out and blending right into the green grass, she looked utterly wiped out.
"Here."
"Thanks... aah. Is this that honey water stuff or whatever?"
As Seo Ja-yeong performed the miraculous feat of drinking water while still lying down, Eun-wol, who had been hovering in midair, finally landed on the ground, her white priestess robes fluttering around her.
"Eun-wol, you okay? Want some water?"
"Hm? Ah, I'm fine."
She answered me with a small smile.
Unlike the other two, who were already half-dead, Eun-wol looked relatively fine, if a little out of breath.
"Drink up anyway. You did work up a sweat."
"Okay."
Eun-wol took the water bottle with a grin, then pushed her black hair behind her neck and started gulping it down.
Despite saying she was fine, she emptied the entire bottle. After capping it again, she looked at me and asked.
"Did I do well?"
"You did great. You were the best."
I gave her a thumbs up in response to her innocent smile and question.
Then Seo-eun's voice piped up from the side.
"Sigh, I think I need to make some modifications to this suit. Slimming it down from the second version seems to have introduced a few issues."
She was examining her silver suit and muttering to herself.
"Still, Seo-eun, your techniques themselves seem to have improved since last time, right?"
"I haven't just been lazing around. But big bro, can't you join us next time? I think it gets more intense when you're there instead of just us. You know, with Behemoth."
"My Behemoth is out of commission right now—it's soaking in a lab tank for repairs because of the damage it took absorbing that explosion shock the other day."
"Oh, right, I forgot."
After Seo-eun's answer, we all headed back to the house.
That took care of this training session. Next time, I could bring Se-hee and the Death Knight for another round.
"Ah. I need to rest for a whole month now..."
For the record, Seo Ja-yeong, who was mumbling that from the floor, would definitely attend the next training session.
She was our newest member, so she had the most catching up to do.
***
And so, while training alongside them, the days slipped by one by one.
"Hmm..."
Come to think of it, that 'villain alliance' should be forming soon too.
No, wait. Was it more accurate to call it an alliance within the International Villain Alliance? Whatever. There were definitely more events now that we'd entered the middle of the story. I needed to find a way to get involved and start recruiting for the PMC soon...
While I was thinking that, Lee Seol-ah happened to call.
Oh, was this about the PMC?
"Hey, Seol-ah. What's up?"
I answered the phone in a good mood.
Only to hear something I had not expected.
"...What? Stardus is trying harder than ever to capture me?"
I froze for a second upon hearing that. Then my brain started spinning fast.
Stardus is trying to capture me.
Stardus is working hard to catch a villain.
She's burning with determination and putting in effort to take down a villain.
...Hmm.
After hearing Lee Seol-ah's words, I thought to myself.
Well, true to her righteous nature, she's putting in work to catch a villain.
So overall, isn't this a good thing?
"That's great!"
[...Dain. I really don't think that's the case.]
That was all Lee Seol-ah said from the other end of the line in reply to my comment.
...But I was right. What was her problem?