Different Place, Different Person
Different Place, Different Person
Lately, Seol-ah had been acting strange.
"Don't you think that bastard Egostic is seriously evil? The fact that a wicked guy like that even has a fan cafe... it really feels like the end times, right?"
"...Yeah."
It had already been a few weeks since Ha-ru had been staying at her friend Seol-ah's house.
She had come to Busan at Seol-ah's invitation to rest her briefly weary mind from the constant hero work, and for the most part, she'd just been hanging out and having fun with Seol-ah.
And then, starting one day.
Seol-ah began to strangely badmouth Egostic. A lot.
"How many attacks has he staged by now? Is he not completely vicious? I'm telling you, the man has no blood or tears."
"..."
Watching her friend, who had suddenly, out of nowhere, started talking about Egostic so frequently, Ha-ru felt a vague sense of discomfort.
...Sure, he definitely is a villain, but still, still...
But as a hero, she could never bring herself to defend a villain, even a little, so she always just quietly nodded along.
"That bastard should just be torn limb from limb and killed."
...That's a bit much.
"If you ask me, that guy is probably a psychopath who only thinks about himself."
He's not though. He even risked his own life to save me.
"How could he launch a terrorist attack against hundreds of people like that? He's the very definition of pure evil."
...And yet, not a single person had died.
"And come to think of it, he always singles you out, Ha-ru. Isn't that creepy?"
Not really...
Like that, Shin Ha-ru always just swallowed those replies internally and simply nodded her head.
She was staring blankly at the TV mounted on the wall of Seol-ah's house when it happened.
[Special Feature! An In-Depth Analysis of Egostic!]
Ha-ru flinched.
Her eyes wavered at the sudden news program.
And as expected.
"Oh! That bastard!"
At the sound of Seol-ah's voice coming from behind the sofa, Ha-ru let out a sigh without realizing it.
Ah, here we go again.
*
The content of the video itself was ordinary.
Basically, as could be inferred from the Ego Stream that Egostic had announced, there was a high probability that he would ally with other villains in the future.
And the prediction that the terrorist attack location would mostly be Seoul, with the hero opposing him almost certainly fixed to be Stardus.
Well, the content itself wasn't the problem.
Seol-ah, who sat beside her holding the remote and endlessly spewing insults at Egostic, was the only problem.
"........"
By this point, even Ha-ru realized something was off.
Why was she suddenly so obsessed with Egostic? What triggered this?
Back when Ha-ru had consulted her about Egostic before, Seol-ah had shown an indifferent attitude, telling her not to worry about it much.
It was extremely strange for her to start insulting him overnight.
And what was even more peculiar.
"Another reason you can tell Egostic is a seriously evil villain just from looking at that is..."
As far as her intuition could tell.
Seol-ah's words didn't really feel sincere.
That was the strangest part of all.
"......"
And so, Ha-ru just quietly listened to Seol-ah's words with slightly subdued eyes.
***
A large house nestled in a mountain valley.
Known as the headquarters of Ego Stream: The Big House.
There, I was making a declaration to everyone.
"We're heading down to Busan."
"What?"
"You went to Busan by yourself just last time. Again?"
Choi Se-hee tilted her head in confusion.
"Big bro. Why are we going to Busan?"
"For a terrorist attack."
At my simple answer, Seo-eun asked again in confusion.
"We’re staging an attack in Busan? Big bro, you always singled out Stardus and attacked Seoul."
"That's right. You're telling me a Stardus simp like big bro is doing it somewhere else?"
Everyone was looking at me in disbelief.
What had I done to deserve that image? Put that way, I sounded obsessed with Stardus. Sure, it was true that I lived for her, but that didn't mean I spent every waking moment thinking about her. I didn't.
Anyway, I cleared my throat to shift the mood.
"Look. Everyone's got the wrong idea. I'm not that obsessed with Stardus alone."
"Um... Dain, is that not difficult to claim when you even run the Stardus Fan Cafe yourself?"
Soo-bin shot back, sounding dumbfounded. Good point. At times like this, the best move was to change the subject as smoothly as possible.
"Ahem. Anyway, for that reason, I've decided to stage an attack in a region protected by a hero other than Stardus."
Lee Seol-ah had pestered me into it, but I also wanted to show that I didn't always target Stardus. There were far too many delusional shippers.
And the timing is just right now, too. Those guys will probably be coming to Busan soon anyway.
"With that in mind, Choi Se-hee, you're coming with me."
"Huh? Me?"
Choi Se-hee pointed to herself and blinked. Seriously?
"Of course it's you. You're the only one among us with any combat power, isn't it obvious?"
"Ah. Well, I guess so."
Choi Se-hee bobbed her head as if she understood. And through her fluttering orange hair, I could see Seo-eun's sulky expression behind her.
"...I need to hurry and do it too..."
She was muttering something, and it was nothing short of ominous.
While I was glancing at Seo-eun like that, Choi Se-hee, who had been nodding her head with little hmms, suddenly asked as if she'd just thought of something.
"Oh, but wait. Didn't I stage an attack last time too? I'm doing it again this time?"
I wagged a finger at her questioning look. That was not what I meant.
"No. This time, we're not staging the attack ourselves."
"Then?"
"Obviously, we'll get some other guys to do it."
I grinned as I said that.
What had I said before? Ego Stream. Had I not said I was creating a Villain Alliance? Naturally, that meant joining forces with other villains.
To be precise, it would be less an alliance and more me exploiting them. Heh heh heh.
Harboring such wicked thoughts internally, I also spoke to Soo-bin.
"And Soo-bin. You know how to pilot a boat, right?"
"Pardon? I don't know much about large ships, but I can handle a small boat to some extent."
"As expected. Then Soo-bin, please come with me this time as well."
I snapped my fingers as I said that. Good, all the preparations were complete. Then I only needed to contact Lee Seol-ah.
"Next week, we leave for Busan."
And so, our next attack was decided.
Of course, it wasn't as though we could launch the terrorist attack the moment we reached Busan. We would need time to lure in the other villains.
Now I needed to show the world that I wasn't only devoted to Stardus. I was everyone's terrorist! Stardus might be a little more special to me, but she wasn't the only person I thought about. And especially—
'My debt is paid, right?'
...Shin Ha-ru's face that day, smiling faintly as she said that to me, kept popping into my head. That was a problem.
I thought I would need to keep some distance from Stardus for a while.
Let's prepare the attack.
***
"Next week? Great. A yacht? Hmph, who do you think I'm? I am Lee Seol-ah of Yuseong Group. I'll have a top-of-the-line one prepared, so just show up."
"Oh, and I have been speaking badly about you to Ha-ru lately, but it doesn't seem very effective. You still want me to keep doing it? Hmm..."
"Alright then, yes, understood. See you then."
Having talked for a long while before hanging up, Lee Seol-ah chuckled to herself in her empty office.
Several calculations were already running through her mind: the recognition and popularity she would gain by defeating the attack Egostic staged in Busan, and the resulting increase in her influence and public image.
"Perfect."
Ever since her call with Egostic, her plan had been falling neatly into place. Ha-ru had said she would return home in a few days, so the timing would not be a problem. The materials he had sent her should make everything work perfectly.
She was in a good mood for the first time in a while. Everything was proceeding according to plan. At that rate, she might even achieve a good portion of what she was aiming for within a few years.
Feeling considerably lighter-hearted, Lee Seol-ah headed home.
When she arrived, what greeted her was the sight of Ha-ru eating a mango-flavored ice bar that Seol-ah had stocked in the fridge.
"Ha-ruuu~"
"Hmm? Oh."
The moment she got home, Lee Seol-ah hugged Ha-ru, who was waving at her with the ice cream still in her mouth.
Haah. Just pressing herself against Ha-ru's chest felt healing.
"Hmm? What's gotten into you all of a sudden?"
Though flustered by the sudden hug and seeming to ask what this was about, Ha-ru didn't push her away and just stood there quietly in place.
This was what Seol-ah liked about Ha-ru. As a hero, Ha-ru stepped forward with greater righteousness and resolve than anyone and fiercely rebuked villains, but in private she was actually rather quiet. Like a gentle cat without any prickliness, perhaps. The fact that she simply stood there without much resistance even when Seol-ah hugged her proved it.
Her MBTI was an I—an introvert, if Seol-ah remembered correctly. Thinking that, she finally released Ha-ru, who continued to look up at her with questioning eyes.
Towards her, Seol-ah just smiled and simply said this.
"Nothing. Just, something good happened lately, so I got a bit carried away."
"...Really?"
Ha-ru tilted her head as she said that.
For the rest of the day, Seol-ah remained in an unusually good mood. The corners of her mouth kept rising, her energy stayed high, and she even seemed to forget to badmouth Egostic, never mentioning him once.
And as she watched her friend acting like that,
Ha-ru felt a growing tightness in her chest.
...Without having the slightest idea why.
And so the day of Egostic's first attack on Busan steadily approached.