Chapter 5

EP.5 After the Show

"Ouch... I feel like I'm going to die..."

Wow, I really feel like I'm going to die.

"Ugh... Ah."

I barely managed to lie down on the bed and fell asleep as if I had fainted.

"Ah!"

Save the villain!

***

"Phew, sigh."

When I opened my eyes, it was the next morning.

I had slept almost half a day and got up with aching limbs. When I turned on the TV, all the news was reporting on the incident I had caused yesterday.

[News Wide - In-depth Analysis of Villain 'Egoistic']

On the TV, two panelists were explaining me.

About my superpowers, my hacking skills...

Then, my face appeared on the TV.

With black hair and a gray mask covering half my face.

"Wow! Mom, I'm on TV! Ah, but you're not in this world, right?"

Mom, are you doing well in that world?

I've become a complete celebrity in this world.

But everyone is trying to catch me with all their might.

"Ouch, ouch, my body..."

I patted my back and got out of bed.

I don't have time to lie around.

When I got up, I was still wearing the same clothes from yesterday.

A black robe that reached my ankles.

It was wrinkled in places because I had slept in it, which I didn't like.

"Sigh, I should change my clothes."

After changing into comfortable clothes from the closet, I turned on my laptop.

The Windows startup sound.

While the laptop was starting up, I looked around the room.

A small studio apartment with sunlight shining through the window.

"Damn, I need to leave here soon."

Although I had lived in this house for quite a while after falling into this world, now that I've made some money, do I really need to stay here?

Now that I'm a Class A villain, shouldn't I live somewhere more impressive?

I think I'm not just Class A, but Class AAA. Maybe I should aim for Class S?

Well, I haven't committed that level of evil yet, so it's not possible.

But anyway, how are people reacting?

When I turned on my laptop and checked the internet...

"Let's see... Oh, it's a mess."

The portal headlines are all about me.

[Massive Terror Live Broadcast... Who is Villain 'Egoistic'?]

"I've never received this much attention before."

Indeed, drawing attention was the right move.

If I had just kidnapped a boat in a corner of the Han River, who would have known?

Given the nature of the Korean Hero Association, they would have tried to bury it. Well, it might have been mentioned in the 9 PM news, but...

[At 2 PM today, a large-scale terror act almost occurred on a Han River cruise ship... Fortunately, there were no casualties]

It would have ended there.

It wouldn't have been like this, with the news talking about me all day.

This is the power of being on the scene.

Think about it, you're playing Nintendo with a friend, and suddenly the TV turns off.

Then, suddenly, I appear. In black clothes, with a gray mask, and a sinister smile.

Then, I say I've planted a bomb on the boat, and the first person to press the button will survive?

I shuddered when I saw this in a movie, but how focused must the South Korean citizens have been to see it in real life?

Honestly, this is a huge entertainment event. I should have gotten some PPL. Maybe I should have put a cola poster on the wall.

While indulging in these silly thoughts, I continued to check the internet for reactions.

Scary, impressive... The public was paying attention to the newly emerged Class A villain. Well, even I think that the hostage situation and the death choice were quite impactful.

There was also the human praise. In the end, no one pressed the button. Justice triumphed, and so on. This incident proved that humans are not selfish and demonstrated human kindness.

After a few hours of searching, I got a general sense of the atmosphere and decided to summarize what I had gained from this show.

First, I made my name known to the entire nation.

Egoistic. To be honest, it's not a great name.

Thinking about my black robe, I should have called myself 'Black Robe' or 'Persona' or something.

Sigh... There's nothing I can do about it.

What's done is done.

But when I saw comments on the news article saying to catch Mango Stick, I started to regret it a bit. Ah.

Anyway, the second gain. Promoting Stardust to the nation.

Stardust also became well-known to the public. My face was shown the most after his in the 9 PM news.

Stardust was already a well-known character in the original work. First of all, he's beautiful. There aren't many heroes with his level of beauty.

However, over time, Stardust's image among the public deteriorated. Initially, he was famous for his beauty...

As the villain progressed from Volume 1 to Volume 2 and into the later parts, he creatively tormented Stardust. They succeeded in giving the public the impression that he was 'rude' through various devices and public opinion manipulation.

Not only did they ruin Stardust's social relationships, but they also cleverly led to the downfall of his social position as Shin Hae-ru, making him a true tragic figure.

Sigh. Thinking about it makes me angry, but I'll eliminate those evil villains, so Stardust only needs to think about me. A crime-free Seoul, a terror-free South Korea. I will create it. I will be the only one to commit crimes and terrorism.

So, I decided to introduce Stardust to the public this time.

Not for his looks, but for his righteousness, his 'heroism,' and I planted a positive image.

...Did I plant it? Well, from the positive comments on the news and in the community, it seems to have worked. My speech was good, and my support for him also had an effect. People's perceptions are most objective when they come from their enemies.

"First step done."

I got up from my seat.

There's no time to rest. I need to plan the next move.

Now, I need to assassinate... no, eliminate other Class S and Class A villains. I also need to plan more terrorism, but terrorism that doesn't result in casualties. It's not easy.

"First... I need to meet him again."

Who do I need to meet?

The guy who helped me with the broadcast hijacking.

In the original work, he becomes a Class S villain, but I changed his future by recruiting him before that.

I took out my smartphone and started making a call.

"Hey, Se-eun. I just woke up. Yeah, that's right. Ah, that could happen. Ah, I was tired, right? Yeah, yeah. Hey, I'm coming over. Yeah~."

After finishing the call, I grabbed my coat and went out of the room.

I could teleport, but my ability is limited, and I get exhausted and collapse after moving a short distance.

So, I'll walk.

The weather is nice today.

***

Spring rain pattered outside the window.

The six-story building was in a foreign country.

I walked out with an umbrella in hand, walking a bit in the gentle rain.

After about an hour of walking, I arrived at a residential area.

There was a house that looked ordinary.

A door lock hung on the door.

I entered by entering a four-digit password.

Inside, there was another door.

Another door lock.

Double locking... I entered another password, and the door opened, revealing a regular household.

But this door lock had a secret.

A secret password, you could say.

I entered it in order.

A password of at least 13 characters.

...I know it because I'm a fan of the original work and memorized it. I wouldn't have been able to remember it if I heard it for the first time.

After entering all the numbers, the room suddenly vibrated.

At the same time, the floor beneath me began to sink, and I started to be submerged.

Deeper and deeper...

Where am I going?

It feels like I'm going to the depths... Should I call it an elevator?

I rode what could be called a platform elevator and went down.

Down, down...

But, thinking about it, I could have teleported from the surface to the underground...

Well, it's good to save my strength.

After a short time, the elevator stopped.

A neatly arranged room with clean gray walls.

As I walked inside, LED lights on the walls enveloped me.

A scene that could only be seen in a near-future sci-fi movie.

Going further inside, I eventually reached a large room.

A wall covered with countless displays, like the NASA research facility in American space movies. The place where they say, "Houston, Houston, this is Houston."

In the midst of the countless lights emitted by the monitors, a child sat in a large leather chair, twice the size of a regular one.

This child is the one who helped me with the broadcast hijacking,

the Class S villain who appears in the later parts of the original comic.

"Hey, you're here, bro."

"Welcome, 'Bro'?"

A genius hacker, Han Se-eun.

I went to the chair where Se-eun was sitting and ruffled her hair.

"Why am I 'Bro'... Anyway, what were you doing?"

"What was I doing? I was looking at my hands."

Se-eun, who is small and pretty, frowned and turned her head when I stroked her white hair.

She insists she's a boy, even though she's clearly a girl... I find her cute because I know she's a girl from the original work. I don't think it's a trauma about being a girl, but I don't know why she does it...

It's a bit strange to be called 'Bro' by a girl, but she's in the third year of middle school. Of course, she doesn't look it.

"Se-eun, you did a great job with the broadcast hijacking yesterday. My face was shown all over the country."

"Nothing, anyone could have done that easy task."

While speaking bluntly, Se-eun's lips twitched. I can see you smiling, you know.

"And, Bro. That's not the problem. There's trouble now."

"What? What's the problem?"

There shouldn't be any problems.

"Look at this."

When Se-eun showed me a video on one of the displays, my face couldn't help but stiffen.

"What is this...?"

[Egoistic's followers have just carried out a bomb terror attack in the center of Incheon. They planted bombs in buildings...]

Who are these guys, using my name to cause such chaos?