One Week
One Week
When you're working on a plan, understanding the characters is incredibly important.
I'd read the Original Work dozens of times, so I knew the characters' personalities inside and out. So I put that knowledge to use.
Seo-eun, for example—her thirst for revenge against Han-eun Group practically reached the stratosphere. I used that to recruit her. I won Ha-yul over by taking advantage of how much she treasured her younger brother.
The same applied to Stardus. Honestly, I'd done plenty of things that probably looked suspicious to her. I'd stage an attack and tell her to save everyone, take a knife for her...
If I'd pulled that with someone like Icicle—Lee Seol-ah—there was a good chance she'd've figured out my identity immediately.
...Or maybe not. Lee Seol-ah might already have pieced it together to some extent... I'd deal with her later. The important part was this.
Stardus was justice incarnate. She didn't compromise with evil. For example, back when I had been going around killing other villains early on, the public had quietly been into it. But she must have despised me—thought I was merely some murderer running around killing people on a whim. She had her own firm, solid, unshakable sense of justice.
Which meant that whatever I did, she probably wouldn't care much. Sure, the last time she had seemed a little suspicious of my intentions, but I thought that had only been a fleeting curiosity. It felt as though she wouldn't pay me much mind after that. Maybe she'd already forgotten about Egostic. Still, I hoped she remembered me on a personal level, at least. Being forgotten was just sad...
The point was that I had a decent understanding of the people in this world, and I based my actions on it. Whether recruiting allies or clashing with enemies, I used that knowledge. Since I knew their personalities, I could usually predict how they would act in a given situation.
And that was exactly how I was recruiting a new ally this time.
"....."
Choi Se-hee.
After awakening her ability as a child, she had grown up with her parents drilling into her never to become a hero and never to reveal it.
She had spent her entire life suppressing her ability, but there was no way that could work forever.
Like an overcharged battery, she couldn't discharge those hundred thousand volts, and the stress had started piling up.
All that suppression had eventually triggered a destructive impulse. She'd look at a street tree and want to fry it to bits with lightning. She'd held back for so long that she could no longer regulate it.
On top of that, the daily stress had made her increasingly sharp around the edges.
To anyone who didn't know her, she looked like a delinquent on the surface. In reality, it was merely irritability born of the pent-up need to use her power.
So she'd gritted her teeth and endured until adulthood, sneaking off somewhere private to release the electricity built up in her body a little at a time.
The first time she had ever been able to use her power freely without guilt was probably the day she met me. It must have brought an incredible sense of liberation. A real relief.
Granted, all she had done was hurl a few spear-like bolts of electricity at me, so saying she had really cut loose was a stretch.
But if it was the first time in decades she'd ever been able to fire it freely, that changed everything.
Once someone got a taste, they couldn't quit.
And she knew that with me, she could experience even greater pleasure.
Now that she had tasted that sweet freedom, could she really refuse my offer?
"Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh....."
"Big bro, why are you laughing like such a creep?"
I looked at Seo-eun, who was giving me a strange look, and thought.
Just wait, Seo-eun. I was going to find her a nice older friend.
***
"Do you collect points? Yes? One moment, please."
A café in Seoul.
Choi Se-hee, who was working part-time at the cafe, hadn't been able to focus on work today.
No. To be precise, she hadn't been able to focus for the past three days.
'Would you be interested in staging one with me?'
"Crazy bastard."
She'd muttered it without thinking, making the coworker beside her flinch. She didn't care.
What did he think she was, some terrorist? Life sure throws all kinds of weirdness at you.
She'd scoffed at the idea, but...
Since that day, however, something about her had changed.
The sense of liberation she'd felt when she fired electricity at him.
She hadn't realized it at the time, but she'd definitely... enjoyed it.
The freedom. The exhilaration of using her ability openly, as much as she wanted, in front of someone else.
If using it a little on one person felt that good, how would it feel to unleash it before dozens or hundreds of people... to test her limits without restraint?
'...Shit. Am I actually going crazy?'
She grimaced without realizing it.
Ridiculous. Was she saying she should become a terrorist just because of that? And in the first place, how was she supposed to trust that lunatic?
'Yeah. There's no way in hell I'll ever become a terrorist.'
***
That night.
After work that night, she returned home and searched for Egostic online.
'This is just because I'm curious what kind of guy he is...'
With that rationalization, she researched Egostic on the internet.
He was a much bigger deal than she'd thought.
She'd only ever caught news about his terrorist attacks on TV or the internet while working at the shop now and then, so she hadn't realized. He was extremely famous.
The most influential villain in South Korea, the only villain with a fan cafe, more popular than most heroes...
The moment she searched his name, countless articles and posts filled the screen.
"....He was this big a deal?"
Why would someone like that approach her?
And before that, how had he even known she had this ability?
With those questions in mind, she kept reading about him.
What she learned from all this was:
He was rich, his hacking skills were top-notch... and—
Not one of the attacks he had staged had ever caused a single death.
'.....Then... maybe it'd be okay?'
Her eyes started to waver.
The truth was, ever since that day, ever since she'd cut loose with her ability just once, it had only gotten harder to bear.
Her whole body itched to simply let the electricity pour out.
Even while sitting still, sparks practically flew from her body.
"Ha... shit..."
She sighed heavily.
'Think it over. Have you not always suffered because you couldn't use your ability openly? With me... you'll not have to keep hiding your instincts...'
His words came back to her.
Fine. She didn't know how the hell he knew, but she was struggling. She couldn't keep enduring forever.
He was still someone she couldn't trust at all. Even so.
When he came back, she could at least hear him out.
What kind of attack he wanted to stage. What terms he was offering.
Listen first, then think it over.
It was becoming too difficult to suppress this impulse.
"It's been about three days... and he said he'd come back soon."
Maybe he'd come again tomorrow.
That was all she thought.
***
The next day.
He didn't come.
"......"
The impulse inside her was growing stronger and stronger.
She felt as though she wanted to discharge electricity somewhere—anywhere.
If climbing a mountain and releasing her power there could relieve it, that'd be ideal. But unless other people were watching, it did little to ease her stress.
There was a thrill in displaying her ability before everyone.
After hiding her ability for far too long, her destructive urge had merged with a desire to show off. Without realizing it, she was steadily walking the path of a villain.
'Tomorrow. He'll come tomorrow.'
The next day.
Again, he didn't come.
She was beginning to think she might be in serious trouble.
The impulse that had begun that day was growing beyond what she could endure.
Now, merely being around crowds made her body itch to release electricity.
The thought of everything around her shattering because of her sent an involuntary thrill through her.
'...I can't go on like this.'
Egostic. He'd said he'd come back soon.
Since when did 'soon' mean five days? Why wasn't he coming?
...Could he have simply given up after she rejected him so forcefully?
Right. From what she'd found, Egostic really was an incredible figure.
The Bridge Terror alone showed that his wealth was beyond anything she could imagine.
...Had he abandoned her already and gone to recruit other villains? There had to be plenty of other people hiding their abilities. Maybe he had decided it would be easier to find someone else.
...Had firing electricity at him the first time they met been a mistake? No, that was unfair. Anyone would react that way when a stranger approached them alone in a dark alley.
".....Haaah."
She could no longer think about anything else.
If she could do what he wanted without hurting anyone... if she could relieve this suffocating pressure, then following him seemed like the right choice.
Overwhelming Destructive Impulse and stress had pulled her thoughts so far from normal that she could barely think coherently.
The next day.
The cafe.
"Se-hee, are you feeling sick? You seem really out of it today."
"......"
".....Oh, um... f-fighting!"
The next day.
Night.
As she walked quietly toward her apartment, a man appeared before her eyes.
"Good evening, Se-hee. Have you thought about my proposal?"
"...I'll do it."
"Excuse me?"
"I said I'll do it. The attack, whatever it is."
***
....Hold on. I'd boasted I could lure her in within a week, but she folded this easily?
I looked at the orange-haired Choi Se-hee in front of me, her expression practically desperate, and felt genuine confusion.
What was the big deal? It'd only been a week.
The Mangostic Fandom could hold out for two or three months just fine.
Anyway, when an opportunity shows up, you grab it.
"I don't know what changed your mind, but... excellent. Let's go."
I said it and reached out a hand to her.
She took it without a moment's hesitation.
I'd really succeeded in recruiting a new prospective villain in just one week.
Now that things had turned out this way, I could stage the attack sooner than planned.
Stardus. It looked as though I would be seeing her again sooner than expected.
Two months? That was practically no time at all.
***
'....He isn't actually dead, is he?'
"Ha-ru.... what are you thinking about now....?"