Round Table
Round Table
Under a giant chandelier.
Centered around an enormous round table, the most powerful villains gathered from across the globe sat encircling it.
And wedged among them was me, weak as I was.
Yep.
'...'
Unlike me, who'd merely gathered powerful people around him without possessing a remarkable ability, every person here could practically destroy a country alone. In terms of pure combat power, I was probably the weakest person present.
But of course, my ability isn't exactly combat-focused.
If I had to name the greatest difference between me—probably the weakest person here—and them, it was that I knew the future.
And that wasn't all. I knew every hero's and villain's weaknesses, personalities, and secrets—things no one should have known. It was almost as though I were the creator of this world.
And that one difference is what allows me, weaker in every other way compared to them, to stand as their equal, or even higher.
With those thoughts running through my head, I glanced around at the villains near me.
Old man Atlas, sitting right next to me. And a few other villains sitting next to him. An old gentleman with a monocle, and a green-haired mad scientist with an oxygen tank on his back, wearing swirly glasses.
...All of them were famous villains I knew well.
Same goes for my left, and my opposite.
All of them were characters I'd seen in one-off illustrations in the Original Work.
From that red-mohawked thug-looking bastard to the woman in a Japanese yakuza-style outfit with a ponytail and a sword at her hip. And over there sat a man with his hair in a braid, wearing a red Chinese martial arts robe.
Besides them, there were countless other powerful villains scattered everywhere.
As I thought, coming here was a good call.
With all these villains gathered together, the moment someone said, 'We're bored. Want to invade Korea together?' on a whim, everything would be over. I could probably stop them somehow, but the damage would be catastrophic.
In other words, to prevent that disaster before it occurred, I had to sit here and guard the place like a totem pole.
Because it's a job only a villain like me can do—something heroes like Stardus can't.
To do that, though, I would need to secure a certain degree of influence here.
...But I could worry about that later. For the moment, I would simply observe.
Thinking that, I discreetly directed my attention to the yakuza guy and the Chinese guy I'd noticed earlier.
"..."
The man with the slicked-back hair and a high forehead.
The one in the red martial robe is Li Xiaopeng—the continent's top villain, who even the Chinese government can't ignore.
Watching him, with his intense eyebrows that radiated some kind of fighting spirit, I once again reviewed what I knew about him.
The leader of China's number one crime syndicate, the Fire Dragon, he possesses the incredible ability to summon a dragon. They say that when his flaming dragon with its long whiskers appears, everyone trembles. Whether it's an actual dragon or not... anyway, he's a figure with considerable influence in China.
And the black-haired woman with a ponytail sitting across from us was Katana, the head of Japan's largest yakuza organization. Her defining trait was swordsmanship so refined that it was practically called divine. Despite her delicate face, rumors said she could take on hundreds alone and even slice through buildings—which was actually true.
Those two were the ones I had my eye on the most out of all the villains here.
Since they were the highest-profile villains from the two countries right next to Korea, I needed to pay a certain amount of attention to them. Not that I was going to mess with them then—later. I had plenty of time anyway.
Just as I was thinking that.
Thud—
The chandelier lit up.
"...Starting, huh."
Old man Atlas, sitting next to me, muttered softly at the same time a woman who looked like a white-robed saintess, sitting at the center opposite us, spoke.
"Greetings, brothers and sisters."
Her clear voice resonated around the round table. No, it was more than clear—it sounded practically sacred. With that heavenly voice, she continued.
"I am Celeste. Thank you all, once again, for answering my invitation."
As she said that, she let her white hair drape down and bowed her head slightly.
At that moment, all eyes were drawn to her.
And naturally, I was no exception.
The white veil of her saintess garb covered her face, so I couldn't see well, but if I looked closely, I could tell her eyes were gently shut. And the mysterious, holy aura radiating from her body.
Just like the Celeste described in the Original Work.
Under the gaze of everyone present, Celeste spoke again.
"The reason I have invited you all here today is nothing other than a desire for us to foster friendship and unite. Everyone."
Finishing her words, she waved her hand once and created something that looked like magic in the center of the round table.
An illusion of a building appeared above the table.
It looked like the headquarters of the International Hero Association.
"Our enemy, the Association's attacks, are growing fiercer by the day. The international political situation, too, is precariously on the brink. Thus, I have gathered you all here—the most special among all. Here, leaders who each control not just a city, but a nation, a continent, are gathered. Would it not be a good thing if we discussed the flow of the political landscape and shared information?"
As she continued speaking, the forms of the most vaunted heroes—from a villain's perspective, public enemy number one—appeared one by one above the table. Fortunately, Stardus wasn't there. Yeah, good. Sticking out here wouldn't be ideal.
Anyway, with those words, she waved her hand once more, and all the forms above the table vanished.
Then, Celeste calmly asked us again.
"...So. What does everyone think? Naturally, I guarantee your safety while gathered here. My feelings are merely pure: I simply wish for us to stand together in solidarity. I, too, will interact with you all as an equal member. Is there perhaps anyone who would oppose this?"
"...Hm."
"Mm."
"Ahem."
Well, no one disagreed. Nobody wanted to step forward in front of Celeste, given the rumors that she could kill with a mere flick of her wrist.
...Honestly, even though I knew about it from the Original Work, I still couldn't quite get used to this quiet, static atmosphere. When villains gathered, weren't fights supposed to break out instantly over something trivial? Everyone was so quiet, like well-behaved elementary schoolers.
Not that I intended to step forward, so I remained silent too.
Who knew? Perhaps my translation ability had failed me, or perhaps Celeste had simply conveyed everything through overwhelming pressure.
"Very well. Then let's... begin."
And with that, her words came to an end.
At last, the meeting had started.
***
S-rank villains.
Because the Association used different criteria to rank heroes and villains, S-rank villains were far more numerous than the relatively few S-rank heroes. Even Ego Stream alone had two S-rank villains.
That's exactly why not all S-rank villains are the same.
They ranged from those barely scraping the S-rank threshold to those far above them whose abilities were fundamentally different. One could say there was essentially a hierarchy even within S-rank.
And these people are the strongest among the S-rank villains.
Not only that, their power goes beyond individual might. As you can tell from the fact each of them leads an organization, they're pretty sharp, too. In short, they're the Association's top priority surveillance targets—literally public enemy number one for humanity.
...And right now, those same people were gathered together, introducing themselves. What a terrifying and dreadful turn of events.
"...My name is Katana. I operate the Three Swords Society in Japan."
She fell silent after saying just that.
Well, as far as introductions went, that was the extent of it. Simply trading names and which country they led an organization in.
It felt less terrifying and dreadful, and more oddly familiar, but since it went like this in the Original Work too, I decided to just let it go.
Anyway, whether I was thinking that or not, the introductions calmly continued.
"I'm Haikin, boss of Germany's top gang, the Red Motors. Looking around, everyone seems weaker than me. Let's try to get along."
...Of course, there were also nutjobs like that.
I took a look at who it was, and it was the guy with the incredibly intense red mohawk.
For the record, the other villains' reactions to his provocation were simply to ignore him.
Everyone's expressions were so unfazed that you'd have thought a dog was barking in the distance. Well, it was obvious—guys like that were the weakest. And I didn't know about the rest of them, but for the record, that bastard would die in three months. It was in the Original Work.
So, aside from the occasional weirdo popping up, everyone took turns saying a piece.
"Haha! I'm Atlas, master of the Latis Corps and ruler of the North Atlantic! Well, pleased to meet y'all!"
With Atlas's hearty greeting, it was my turn.
Personally, I'd no intention of standing out at the first meeting, so I planned to introduce myself normally. I needed to take it slow, one step at a time. If you come on too strong from the start, things that should work out won't.
So I spoke.
"Nice to meet you all. I'm called Egostic, and I run a villain alliance called Ego Stream in South Korea. Everyone..."
"Hold on."
The moment I said that with a slight smile, someone cut me off. What the hell?
I looked over and saw that Red Mohawk punk from earlier, grinning ferociously at me.
"I know you. You're Egostic, right? South Korea's famous... A-rank villain."
Watching him say that to me with one corner of his mouth pulled up into a sneer, I smiled and quietly thought to myself.
...Hm. You wanna start something?
...It looked as though I would have to make an example of someone on the first day.