Chapter 45

EP.45 The Big Picture

Deep beneath Seoul.

In one of the many rooms there.

In a room designated as a meeting room, I sat with a serious expression, my arms folded.

With my back to the blackboard that read "6th Egoistic Regular Meeting," I opened my mouth.

"We need to clearly define our course of action from now on."

"It's not us, but you alone, right? Suddenly, Apple-mang..."

"Seo-eun. If you bring up that one more time, I won't talk to you for a week. I'll lock myself in my room and cry. Cry, cry. You're making a grown man cry with just one word. How terrifying and horrible is that?"

"Alright, alright. I can't even joke around."

"Of course, I understand that you're worried about me, Seo-eun. When I woke up after a week and saw you crying, I was deeply moved..."

"Ah!! No, I can't hear it. Let's quickly get the meeting or something started."

I blocked Seo-eun's teasing before it could start. She's been teasing me about the mango thing ever since I woke up... I need to get her to stop.

"Anyway, we need to clearly define our course of action."

With those words, I sighed deeply.

"We can't just recklessly try to stop something like the Monkey Spanner again and end up in this mess. I seem to have momentarily forgotten my identity. I'm a villain, not a hero."

"Um... Oppa, I'm sorry, but people are almost seeing you as a hero these days? Your fan cafe has already spread 20 reasons why Egoistic is a hero..."

"Ah..."

I swallowed hard. Yeah, I've been acting a lot like a hero lately.

My identity as a villain is getting blurry.

"Then, there's only one answer."

"What is it?"

"I'm going to go into hiding."

At my sudden declaration of going into hiding, Seo-eun and Su-bin, who had been listening, looked stunned.

Their gazes seemed to ask how I could come to such a conclusion.

I explained to them step by step.

"Human beings... are like pots. No matter what they're interested in, if it's not mentioned for a while, they forget about it. And everyone forgets."

"So... you're going to make people forget about you?"

"Right, for a while."

Seo-eun's expression turned skeptical.

Well, Seo-eun always gets the most excited when planning terror, even though she says it's tiring.

Su-bin asked me.

"Then, what will you do during that time?"

"Right. If the goal is to avoid public exposure, shouldn't we stop targeting villains as well?"

I nodded in agreement.

"Right."

Actually, I told Seo-eun and Su-bin this, but there's a real reason.

I've done a lot already.

I've almost killed all the villains from the early parts of the original story, and I've even killed the ones who awaken later. Dealing with EnjoDiac and Teleporter alone is a lot.

And the terror... the timeline is now in the early part of the original story, and the power of Stardust has become very strong. It's almost at the level of the middle part of the original story. The plane crash was an event in the middle of the original story...

I also achieved one of the minor goals of the terror, which was to increase Stardust's popularity. The Stardust Fan Club, the Star Dust Squad, is a fan club that didn't exist in the original story. Whoever created it, they did a great job, didn't they?

"Then, what will you do during your break? Keep running the Stardust fan cafe?"

Seo-eun asked me with a cold expression.

Huh?

"Umm, what do you mean?"

"Oppa, aren't you the representative of that Star Dust Squad fan cafe?"

With her eyes wide open, Seo-eun interrogated me, and I suddenly felt cold sweat.

"Ah, no?"

"Oppa... I can hack government agencies, so do you think I can't hack a portal site fan cafe?"

"Ha ha..."

No... even if I could, I wouldn't bother to do it, right?

Cough. I cleared my throat to defuse the situation.

"That's not the point. We've been running non-stop until now, so we need a break. Think of it as a vacation."

"Then, you really won't do anything for a while and just rest?"

"Um... except for the occasional small things?"

"Alright, fine."

Finally, Seo-eun was convinced.

But why do I need your permission to take a break...?

Anyway, that's how we went into hiding.

Everyone, forget about me!

***

Just because I said I wouldn't do any public activities doesn't mean I just played around.

Since this is a critical time, I need to plan ahead for the future.

"....."

In my room deep underground.

Looking at the blackboard on the wall, I was thinking.

I've taken a load off my mind.

I've dealt with all the annoying villains from the early parts. The remaining ones are just one punch from Stardust, so there's nothing for me to worry about. I can just watch them on TV with popcorn, no big deal...

I've also greatly enhanced Stardust's abilities, so I can rely on him for a while. There's no need for me to step in.

"There's no major event... for now."

There won't be any big incidents for a while.

Of course, a major event will happen a few months from now, but I can deal with it when it comes. I'm safe for at least half a year.

What should I do during this time?

First, I recalled my goal.

My goal is to make sure Stardust has a smooth path.

And ultimately, to survive until the end.

Right now, things are very peaceful.

Of course, there's a large-scale terror event every month, but this is actually quite peaceful.

In a few years, the power balance will collapse, and all sorts of crazy villains will emerge.

Even though the villains will be everywhere, the only real heroes will be Stardust and North Sea Ice Maiden, so they won't be able to cover everything... it will be chaos.

If the world becomes so dangerous, I, a weak villain, will be decapitated while walking down the street. It's terrifying.

That must not happen...!!

What can I do to prevent that?

The villains are said to emerge later.

That means there are people who are not yet villains but have the potential to become villains.

Right, a good example is Seo-eun.

In the original story, she becomes a villain who destroys the administrative system, paralyzes the government, and hacks the association.

But because I reined her in before I went dark, she's no longer a villain.

So, the conclusion is...

I need to stop the potential villains from becoming villains.

And I need to use them. They all have incredible abilities. Just look at Seo-eun. Without her, I couldn't have done any of the terror. There's a reason I was the first to take her in in this world.

I checked the date.

Right, around this time, that brother and sister will be up to something...

I roughly planned it out.

I have only one dream.

To gather all the future villains and form a massive villain alliance!

I'll name it EgoSquad.

Good, good.

Satisfied with this conclusion, I erased everything on the blackboard and sat down.

To survive in this messed-up world where the power balance is collapsing, I need to do this, right?

"Sigh..."

I wanted to rest, but there's no time to rest.

I opened my laptop. I've been thinking too much, I need to heal.

I naturally went to the Stardust fan cafe I bookmarked. As soon as I entered, the cafe's main photo appeared. Behind the words "Star Dust Squad," I could see Stardust's face.

Why hide it? I made this cafe. No one can stop me from indulging in my favorite character from my favorite manga, right? I was forcibly kidnapped from my normal life in the real world to this place, so I deserve this small happiness.

"Hmm, hmm."

Making excuses to myself, I clicked on one of the categories.

It was the Stardust Best Cuts.

A collection of photos of Stardust.

"Ah... yeah, this is it."

When Stardust saves citizens, what should the citizens do?

Run? Of course, they should run, but taking a few photos on the way is fine, right?

Photos taken like that.

Hmm.

He's really handsome.

If an actor who looked like that was cast in a live-action movie of this manga, I would have just let 10 million people pass.

I spent some time looking at Stardust's photos, healing my tired heart. Yeah, this is enough...

By the way, I even held a contest using my own money. A contest for the most beautiful Stardust photo.

Stardust doesn't just deal with A-rank villains like me. He also deals with many B and C-rank villains.

And when he does, photos are taken.

For the contest, I saved all the photos from the many posts and closed my laptop.

I've rested enough.

What should I do now?

Ah, maybe I'll write in my diary.

I took out a notebook from deep in the bookshelf.

This is my diary. I even put a lock on it in case Seo-eun or Su-bin see it.

This diary contains everything from the first day I possessed this body to now.

I write it down in advance because it will be necessary when dealing with villains in the future.

...I do feel a bit of self-loathing for writing a diary at my age. But it's just a record of the events I caused and my feelings, so I can remember them later.

No one else will read this diary.

...Right?

After finishing my diary entry, I leaned back in my chair.

Now... it's time to play again, right?

I played again, so excited.

It's so good to not cause any terror and just rest.

Stardust is probably at ease because I'm not causing any trouble these days, right?

***

Shin Hae-ru had a plan.

The next time she meets Egoistic, she will definitely uncover the truth he's hiding.

But...

"Why is this guy so quiet lately?"

Since the hotel incident, Egoistic hasn't shown up once.

For three months.

'...This guy wouldn't do this.'

Shin Hae-ru was unconsciously feeling a bit anxious.

Where did Egoistic go?