The Terror Live
The Terror Live
Seoul has a lot of houses.
Look down any street and it's apartment buildings, apartment buildings...
Of course you can't leave out the detached houses either.
One of those houses packed densely above ground.
A perfectly ordinary-looking detached house.
From the outside, there's nothing wrong with it at all.
If you stood in front of that house and watched to see who came out the door,
You'd mostly see one woman coming and going, and occasionally a man and a girl coming out too.
So you'd think, ah, it's a normal family home—and if you went inside,
You'd probably feel something off.
Why is the interior door locked with a passcode?
And even if you opened that door too and went further in, you'd still feel something off.
Because the inside of that house is completely empty.
There's a bit of furniture, but it's covered in a thick layer of dust, like it's never been used.
As if no one has ever lived there.
But then, what were that man and those two women going in and out?
Once your thoughts reach that point, you'd feel a chill run down your spine
And you might end up running away screaming, "It's a haunted house!"
But actually, it's not like a ghost lives here.
The house is just underground.
Deep, deep underground.
If you start at ground level and go down and down for hundreds of meters,
You'll find a very, very wide space.
Dozens of rooms, every kind of cutting-edge device, and all the conveniences anyone could need.
Currently the most influential villain in South Korea, number one.
The figure teenagers find most attractive, number one.
Forbes's "This Guy Is Amazing," number one.
It was the secret underground base where Egostic—South Korea's unprecedented villain with hundreds of thousands of fans—lived.
Also known as Ego-Base.
I was the head of this place.
At the moment, I was laying out a plan.
"Alright, if you've got a good idea, let's hear it!"
One of the many rooms somewhere in the house.
A large board was fixed to the wall.
It read: [Third Large-Scale Attack Meeting].
I wrote it.
"What's the goal of this attack? Our name recognition is already high enough, so are we trying to seem more intimidating?"
"Right. A lot of people seem to think I'm good these days—almost like they see me as a hero. I'm going to correct that impression. I want them to think of me as an impulsive lunatic who does whatever the hell he wants!"
"Uh... honestly, I think most people already see you that way to some extent... Fine. But if that's the goal, couldn't we just grab random people and slaughter them?"
"Seo-eun!"
Startled, I stared at Seo-eun.
Saying something that horrifying so casually—I'd raised her wrong!
...Come to think of it, Seo-eun had been a villain from the start. Living with me had mellowed her out considerably. In the Original Work, she had casually debated whether to destroy South Korea.
Either way, I needed to teach her about this early.
I cleared my throat and spoke.
"What kind of horrifying idea is that? What did those civilians ever do to deserve it? You can't just go around killing people at random."
"Seriously, why are the conditions so strict? You call yourself a villain, but having zero casualties is what's actually ridiculous."
"Hey now, I've killed a few other villains. I dealt with Soo-bin's old friends myself, didn't I?"
The moment I said that, I saw Soo-bin flinch.
Sorry, Soo-bin. Try not to let the hand holding that mug shake.
"Hmm... Alright, I get it. Then how about slaughtering criminals in prison? They're not civilians."
"Uh... um..."
I couldn't argue with that, could I?
No, wait. I did.
"Seo-eun, judging by how people react these days, that might actually make me even more popular. They'd call it satisfying."
"Is that so..."
"And it can't just be some random attack. It has to look like there might be a way out if they play it right, only for everyone to end up trapped and on the verge of death. Something like that. Look at what I've done so far: the Prisoner's Dilemma, the Trolley Dilemma. It doesn't have to be a literal dilemma this time, but it should still be an attack that makes people think."
"Hmm... That's tough."
Right? It's tough, isn't it?
This isn't easy. What the hell kind of terrorist attack am I supposed to plan?
I had been an ordinary civilian before all this.
I mean, I'd never been the type to sit alone at home casually wondering what terrorist attack I should pull off that day.
Seo-eun was racking her brain, diligently devising the next terrorist attack. Next to her, Soo-bin also seemed to be quietly thinking.
For the first two attacks, I'd planned everything from start to finish, so they only had to carry out the plans. Now that I'd run out of ideas, I had to rely on collective intelligence. Help me!
Oh, but I forgot to mention this.
"Ah, and also. It has to be a situation where a hero can suddenly appear and save everyone from despair. Right on the verge of everyone dying, a hero suddenly pops out and rescues them."
"Seriously! Why are there so many conditions?"
After hearing that final condition, Seo-eun finally lost patience and snapped. Soo-bin, who had been listening in silence, spoke for the first time.
"...And the hero is Stardus again?"
"Huh? Well, yes."
"Hmm..."
At that, she took a sip from her mug.
Sip—
"Stardus this, Stardus that. Why don't you just set up house with Stardus instead of living with us? Anyone watching would think you're already married."
Seo-eun propped her chin on her hand and sneered.
Her face looked kind of sulky.
Oh, I had read about this in a parenting book.
I once dreamed of being a teacher, after all.
I thought I had seen something similar in Émile, required reading for aspiring teachers.
Did it say a child gets jealous when a parent shows more interest in someone else than in them?
Anyway, I thought I was supposed to say something like this in such situations.
"Oh, Seo-eun. I only bring her in as my foil to make myself look better. Do you really think I'd do anything for her? Of course my family comes first. You especially, Seo-eun."
"Hmph."
Seo-eun turned away sharply as if sulking, but I could see the corners of her mouth turning up.
Raising a kid is no joke...
Wait, is a ninth grader even a kid anymore?
But actually, Seo-eun.
It really is all for Stardus...
I shoved that truth—the one that would cause a bloodbath if it got out—down deep, deep inside, and we kept on with the meeting.
While we were tossing out various ideas like that, Soo-bin offered a suggestion.
"The attacks you've carried out so far were a ship and a train. Two in total, right?"
"Right?"
"Then it's simple. Attack a plane next."
"An airplane?"
An airplane, huh.
Hmm. A ship, a train, and then an airplane...
Would that make it a transportation trilogy?
Not bad.
"Not bad. But how would we bring down the plane? I mean, bringing it down would be easy. Before that, though, we'd need some kind of dilemma or crazy show, and then we'd drop it. We'd also have to give everyone hope that they might survive."
"Ah, then how about this?"
Soo-bin continued explaining her idea.
After hearing her out, I had only one thing to say.
"Soo-bin, are you a genius?"
"Haha..."
And that was how our next terrorist attack was decided.
I'd warned Stardus that my next attack would be the following month.
I should make sure everything was perfectly prepared before then.
***
A flight from Incheon to Jeju Island.
It was a small domestic plane, carrying people to Jeju for all sorts of reasons.
During the short flight, people were doing various things.
Some took naps, some read books, and others watched movies on the displays mounted in front of their seats...
Everyone passed the time in their own way.
Yes. That was what they had been doing.
Until, suddenly, all the lights on the plane went out.
"...?"
At that point, no one thought much of it.
Then every seat-back display suddenly lit up and began showing the same video.
Only then did alarm spread through the cabin.
[THE EGO SHOW]
[Now Live]
"What is this?"
Passengers whose movies had been interrupted began to complain at the sudden disruption.
People who had been quietly minding their own business also began to stare, wondering what was going on, when the displays in front of them suddenly turned on.
Then, from the speakers normally used for announcements—
A voice that was not the captain's began to speak.
[Hello, everyone! Welcome to the greatest quiz show on earth, happening at 25,000 feet—no! The greatest quiz show in the sky, The Ego Show Live!]
A man's voice suddenly rang through the speakers.
When he finished, canned applause played through the speakers like something from a comedy show.
[Waaah— Clap clap clap clap clap.]
The bright sound from the speakers contrasted sharply with the frigid silence in the cabin.
"What the hell is this? Flight attendants! Where are the flight attendants?"
But no flight attendant came.
That was when the passengers finally realized something was wrong.
The voice continued over the PA system.
[Now, now! Well first off, to heighten the show's dramatic tension, there are bombs attached to the aircraft! If any of you try any funny business... boom! Oh dear, you'd better be careful, right?]
Screams filled the cabin before he had even finished. Anyone who had heard of Egostic knew he did not make empty threats.
Amid the screams, his cheerful, smiling voice continued over the speakers.
[Alright, let's begin the game!]
***
[Stardus, are you watching the broadcast Egostic started? That bastard's carrying out another terrorist attack...]
"Yes, I'm watching it now."
What the hell was that bastard up to this time?