Chapter 88

EP.88 Bus

A penthouse in Busan.

Two women were sitting in a place where the Busan sea could be seen through the large windows.

"A Haru, Haru."

"What?"

"I'm so jealous..."

"Of what?"

The blonde woman, who was sitting at a table on the balcony, sipping cool mango juice with ice and looking outside, was Shin Haru, an ordinary college student who hides her life as an A-class hero.

And the woman with sky-blue pigtails, lying on the sofa and whining to her, was A-class hero Icicle, Lee Seol-a, who, unlike Stardust, does not hide the fact that she is a hero.

"Why? Because you're about to become S-class. And the first in South Korea, too!"

"Hehe, is that why?"

Only then did Shin Haru realize what Lee Seol-a was talking about, and she laughed awkwardly.

"S-class is so enviable... I wanted to be S-class, too..."

"Who knows. I can't really feel it, so I don't know. And what's the big deal about changing one letter in the grade?"

Shin Haru, stirring the ice in her juice with a straw, said this indifferently.

And Lee Seol-a, shaking her head as if to say not to say such nonsense, replied.

"What are you talking about! When you become S-class, everything changes. Your status will change, right? The difference between S-class and A-class is like the difference between heaven and earth."

"Is that so? I see... Oh, right, your status is good for the company, so that makes sense."

Shin Haru nodded and said this. She knew that Lee Seol-a runs a company while being a hero, and that her hero activities are more for the company's image than out of a sense of justice.

"Right. Ha... I want to have a higher grade, too. But for that, a strong villain needs to appear so I can build my record. Here, everyone is weak. There are no distinctive ones! I wish I had someone like Egoistic, just like you."

When Egoistic suddenly came up in Lee Seol-a's mouth, Shin Haru flinched.

And whether she knew it or not, Seol-a continued.

"Ah! Maybe I should go to Seoul this time? There aren't many villains here these days. Haru, if Egoistic causes a terrorist attack this time, can I deal with it?"

"....No."

"Huh?"

Haru, who said this reflexively without realizing it.

And only after seeing Seol-a's puzzled expression did she realize what she had said and hurriedly added a reason.

"No, he always threatens me to come when he causes a terrorist attack, so if someone else deals with it, he might do something unpredictable. And... well..."

"Got it, got it. Why are you so flustered?"

Seeing Seol-a smile and try to calm her down, Shin Haru exhaled.

'...Why did I answer like that?'

She was flustered by her own words, which had come out without thinking. What is it? Something... She felt a sense of rejection at the thought of Egoistic fighting another hero.

...Right. She knows Egoistic the best and has fought him the longest, so that's why. Seol-a might get hurt if she deals with him. Since he's a tricky and hard-to-stop terrorist, it would be too much for Seol-a, so she's worried and wants to fight him herself. Yes.

While she was thinking this excuse to herself, Lee Seol-a, who had been standing with her arms crossed and a sly smile, finally stood up.

Stretching her arms and making a groaning sound, she spoke to Shin Haru again.

"Umm... Haru, I'll go to the company for a bit today. I have something to take care of, but I'll be back soon! Wait for me, okay?"

"Huh? Uh, yeah. Go ahead."

"Okay. Bye~."

With that, she smiled widely, her tied sky-blue hair fluttering as she left the living room, leaving Haru, who was still lost in thought, behind.

And soon, she arrived at the headquarters building.

As soon as she entered the company, her face instantly turned expressionless.

As the cold-faced woman entered the hallway, all the nearby employees greeted her.

"President, good afternoon."

"Good afternoon."

She finally smiled slightly and greeted them as they bowed their heads.

Of course, her expression returned to being expressionless after greeting them. And when she arrived at the top floor where her office was, the atmosphere of the building changed dramatically.

Instead of being bright and lively like the lower floors, a solemn and slightly heavy air enveloped her.

She untied her hair as she stepped out of the elevator and walked. The sound of her footsteps echoed around. When she finally reached her office, she spoke to the security guard standing in front.

"Please don't let anyone in while I'm working. Understood?"

"Yes, Miss."

She nodded at the robot-like response of the man in sunglasses and entered her office.

Her office, which was larger than the living room of an average house, was empty except for her.

She walked to her desk, which faced the window, and sat down.

"Phew..."

She took out one of the piles of documents to sign and started signing them with a pen she took from nearby.

After a while, she put down her pen, picked up a cup of coffee, and before taking a sip, she spoke.

"Instead of sitting there quietly, why don't you say something?"

Her voice echoed in the empty office.

And soon, a man's voice came from in front of her.

"Should I?"

She lifted her head, which had been lowered, and looked forward.

In front of the office chair, which had been empty when she came in, someone was sitting.

A man wearing a black hat and a black cloak, with a gray mask covering half his face, was sitting with his legs crossed.

He smiled slightly at her and spoke.

"Good afternoon, Miss Lee Seol-a. I'm Egoistic. Nice to meet you."

***

Special: Macho Character

I just charge in recklessly.

That's how I ended up in Busan, where I now face Lee Seol-a with her long sky-blue hair.

She sipped her coffee as if she had expected me to come, with an indifferent look on her face.

...I decided to pretend not to notice that her fingers were slightly trembling.

I also decided to erase from my memory the fact that I startled her when I suddenly appeared in front of her while she was yawning and working.

After a while, she finally put down her pen and spoke to me, as if she were calmly addressing an illegal intruder in her personal space.

"Instead of sitting there quietly, why don't you say something?"

So I answered her directly.

"Should I?"

"Good afternoon, Miss Lee Seol-a. I'm Egoistic. Nice to meet you."

She nodded quietly in response to my smiling greeting.

After taking a sip of coffee, she spoke again.

"So, why are you here? Have you finally decided to turn yourself in?"

Smiling, she asked me, and I smiled back and replied.

"Hehe. No way. I just came because I'm interested in Miss Lee Seol-a, the actual ruler of the Yuseong Group, who pretends to be a hero while secretly trying to take over South Korea."

"Oh, really? I thought you came to turn yourself in, pretending to be a villain while secretly protecting South Korea and taking care of Stardust."

"Ha ha ha ha ha!"

"Ha ha ha."

For a moment, her office was filled with my hearty laughter and her dry chuckle.

After laughing for a while,

We both stopped laughing at the same time, as if we had agreed on it.

"...Impressive, Miss Lee Seol-a. I thought you would be prepared for this."

"Me too, Egoistic. I never thought you would see me this way. Where did you get that information? It's supposed to be impossible to leak."

"Hehe. There are no eternal secrets in this world, right?"

I crossed my arms as I said this.

It's important to appear relaxed and smile here. You can't let your guard down in front of Lee Seol-a. She's a scary woman.

Seeing me sitting with my legs crossed and smiling relaxedly in someone else's living room, she sighed as if giving up and spoke.

"...Right. So, why are you here?"

Seeing her finally ask me, I smiled and answered.

"Miss Lee Seol-a. Would you consider forming a 'collaborative relationship' with me?"

The first rule to survive in this crazy hero world.

Form an alliance with the mastermind.

The mastermind is not someone to be defeated, but someone to ride with.

***

"......."

Shin Haru, who was resting at her friend Lee Seol-a's house, suddenly felt a chill down her spine.

"....What is it?"

She had a gut feeling that something very bad was happening just now...