Chapter 79

EP.79 Preparations for the Future

After declaring the debut of Electra and the establishment of the Villain Alliance, I decided to take a break for a while.

One of the advantages of being a villain is that you can take a few weeks off after a big job.

Well, in reality, I'm just waiting for the main events of the original story to unfold.

Anyway, we were spending our days in peace.

"....I haven't been keeping up with entertainment news lately."

It was a lazy afternoon. While I was playing a game with Se-eun in the living room, I heard Chae-se-hee's voice from behind.

"Why not?"

"Ha. Every time I go in, this kind of thing comes up?"

She sat on the sofa and showed me her phone.

The screen displayed a very sensational article titled [Egostic x Electra: Overflowing Chemistry Compilation.zip].

"Bro! Watch out in front!"

"Uh? Ah!"

By the way, I ended up dying in the game while looking at it.

"It's a bad game."

Dying just because I glanced a little is what makes it a bad game, what else?

"Ha... What did you see that made you react like that? Show me too."

While Se-eun was looking at Chae-se-hee's phone, I spoke to Chae-se-hee.

"Don't worry too much. After all, it's just people who don't know us well spreading rumors."

"No... But it's still up there on the main page, don't you care?"

Chae-se-hee looked at me with a complicated expression.

Me?

Thinking about it, I was really shocked when the love rumor with Stardust first came out. I even considered blowing up the broadcasting station.

But, well. Now.

"You get used to it if you keep seeing it."

"...That's a really helpful comment."

While I was avoiding Chae-se-hee's skeptical gaze, Se-eun spoke up a bit curtly.

"No. I've been with you the longest, so why do only Se-hee-ssi get recognized by people?"

"Why? Well, you were in the back, and Chae-se-hee was in front of the camera with me."

"Ugh. Don't even mention the camera. Do you know how embarrassed I was acting in front of it? I'm Electra! I almost bit my tongue when I said that."

"....But from the middle, you seemed to be enjoying it a bit, didn't you?"

"Me? Ha! Ridiculous."

She seemed to be stung by my comment, closed her mouth, and turned her slightly red face away.

And from the side, I could hear Se-eun muttering, "I... also... terrorism..."

Hmm.

Still a peaceful day.

***

Still, our Egosquad. Or should I say, Egostream now? Our Egostream members aren't just playing around. We do work when we need to.

Se-eun and Su-bin are busy making the Egostream website. They're talking about running some macro or something... I don't really understand what it means.

Haya and Cha-yoon are studying hard. Especially Cha-yoon, who expressed her ambition to join the Association and help me when she grows up. I'm proud of her.

Chae-se-hee is still training to control her powers.

And I.

I was standing in the middle of Seoul.

A street lined with old buildings that you can see anywhere in Seoul.

I entered a small building made of red bricks.

Inside the dilapidated building, which looked like it was about to collapse.

Once inside, I immediately went down the stairs to the basement.

The basement was as dark and dilapidated as the ground floor.

It looked like an ordinary basement, but.

The difference was.

No matter how far down I went, the stairs continued endlessly?

"....Good."

I muttered to myself.

Is this the right place?

As if there were no problem, I continued to descend the stairs lightly. Suddenly, I kicked the wall next to me with my foot.

"Come here!!!"

At the same time, the wall crumbled like a sandcastle.

And beyond the wall, a long corridor was revealed.

I've come to the right place.

A gothic stone corridor, illuminated by the soft glow of green candles, contrasted sharply with the dilapidated building from before. The moss growing on the walls added to the mysterious atmosphere. I walked confidently, but in my heart, I wondered, "What era is this? Are they still using candles? I'd like to replace them all with LEDs. We need to industrialize a bit."

While having such idle thoughts, I soon reached the end of the corridor.

And in front of me was a black door.

A black obsidian door with intricate decorations, but that wasn't my concern. Whether it's a wooden door, a black obsidian door, or an automatic door, they're all made to open. So I confidently opened the door.

Inside, a slightly spacious room was illuminated by the soft glow of green candles.

Passing by various frames and a bubbling cauldron, I confidently entered the area where a green curtain was drawn.

My attire. From a black hat to black shoes, a cloak, and a mask. I had already changed into a perfect Ego-suit. Actually, she might see through my identity, but just in case.

When I lifted the curtain, I saw a small round table. On the table was a crystal ball.

And a woman was facing me.

"Hello?"

As I greeted her and entered, she nodded quietly.

She was a villain who, after her identity was revealed in the Association, was immediately given an S-rank, the Vine Witch.

After I sat down, she finally spoke.

"I've never seen you before. What brings you here?"

"Yes. I'm here to make a request."

Yes. I came to see her to make a request.

I took out two leather notebooks I had prepared in advance.

One was my diary, and the other was a new, unused notebook.

"Could you please cast a sealing spell on these two?"

"Until when?"

"Both until I die."

As I said this, I took something else out of my pocket.

A small box containing dozens of colorful gems.

When I placed the box on the table, she nodded and took the notebooks from me.

She then began to chant softly.

As she placed her hand on my notebook and muttered, both books began to glow green.

After a short while, the light faded.

She then handed me the two notebooks, as if to say they were done.

When I took them back and examined them, I saw new green magical symbols engraved on the covers.

"...Now, no one but the owner can open or read the contents by force."

"Thank you, Lady Witch."

I said this and stood up.

I had to leave since I was done with my business.

I said this, lifted the curtain again, and went outside. As I headed towards the door, I suddenly heard a voice from behind.

"...You're walking a difficult path."

Her voice, which seemed to pass by like a breeze, made me pause.

Her words, as if she could see through everything, naturally slowed my steps.

Indeed, someone of her caliber would recognize it at once.

How should I respond?

...Yes.

"...It's a path that someone has to walk."

"Stay strong."

Her brief encouragement in response to my answer.

Did the Vine Witch say such things in the original story? This seems to be the first time she's offered such encouragement.

I quietly closed the door and walked down the corridor.

A difficult path.

I chuckled to myself, savoring her words.

If it weren't difficult, I wouldn't have started in the first place.

***

Back home, I looked at the two notebooks I had laid out.

One was my diary. Now that Chae-se-hee is living in this house, the probability of it being discovered has increased, so I sealed it. It contains all my goals and such, so if it were discovered, it would be a big problem.

The other was a new notebook I bought recently.

I plan to gradually fill it with content. I'll do that later.

After finishing my tasks, I went to the Stardust fan cafe.

The largest hero fan cafe in the country, which I created myself, the Stardust fan cafe, Star Dust Squad.

Seeing the cafe grow day by day makes me feel proud.

...Although the number of members is still less than half of my own fan cafe, the Mango Squad. Well, can it be that a villain's fan cafe is larger than a hero's? I feel sorry for those who don't know Stardust's charm.

I grumbled as I managed the cafe.

Stardust photos... saved. Praise for Stardust... liked. Stardust love rumors... deleted. Stardust and Egostic look good together? ...Hmm. I'll leave this one.

As I was managing the posts one by one, I paused at the title of one post.

[Heard from a friend in the Association that on the day Egostic entered Han Group's basement, Stardust also went in?]

I immediately deleted the post and blocked the writer.

You know too much.

After doing this, I thought about Han Group again. The enemy of Se-eun and Su-bin. A large corporation that conducted secret experiments. And the escaped mastermind, Kim Seon-woo, and the researchers.

Looking at the calendar... Yes. It's coming soon.

"Finally, it's time to settle the score."

Yes.

This time, I will completely destroy the Han Group, the mid-boss of the original story and the living Pheomaker.

I stood up from my seat.

Now I need to start preparing for the broadcast and making plans.

And this time, I will definitely call out Stardust specifically.

"...."

It's not because I saw a recent post on my fan cafe saying that Egostic seems to have abandoned Stardust.

Absolutely not.