Chapter 45 - Big Picture

Deep beneath Seoul.

In one of the many rooms down there.

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

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

"We need to establish a clear course of action going forward."

"Isn't it just you acting alone, not 'we'? Suddenly, Apple Man..."

"Seo-eun. If you bring that up one more time, Oppa won't talk for a whole week. I'll lock myself in my room. And I'll cry. Wail and sob. You'll have made a full-grown adult cry with just a few words. Isn't that a terrible and horrifying thing?"

"Fine, fine. Can't even take a joke."

"Of course, I know our Seo-eun cares about Oppa. When you woke up after just a week and started wailing, Oppa was so deeply moved..."

"Ahhh!! I-I can't hear you. Just hurry up and start your meeting or whatever."

First, I blocked Seo-eun's teasing before we even began. Ever since I woke up, she's been going on and on about mangoes... I need to put a stop to it.

"Right, anyway. We need to establish a clear course of action."

With those words, I let out a deep sigh.

"Last time, we rushed in trying to stop that Monkey Spanner guy or whatever, and look what happened. I think I temporarily forgot my position. I'm a villain, not a hero."

"Uh... Oppa, sorry to say this, but these days people pretty much see you as a hero? Your fan cafe already plastered everywhere '20 Reasons Why Egostic is a Hero'..."

"Ah..."

I swallowed hard. Right, I've definitely been too conspicuous lately.

My identity as a villain is gradually fading.

"Then there's only one answer."

"What is it?"

"We go hide."

At my sudden declaration to go underground, both Seo-eun and Subin, who had been quietly listening, looked dumbfounded.

Their gazes seemed to ask how I'd arrived at such a conclusion.

I explained it to them step by step.

"Humans... are like pots. They might be interested in something, but if it's not mentioned for a while, they cool off completely. And then everyone forgets."

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

"Yes, for a while at least."

At my words, Seo-eun's eyes became lukewarm.

Well, whenever Seo-eun planned terror attacks, she'd say she was tired but was always the most excited.

At my declaration, Subin asked.

"So in the meantime... what do we do?"

"Right. If the goal is to avoid public exposure, shouldn't we also not catch villains?"

I nodded in affirmation.

"That's right."

Actually, while I said this to Seo-eun and Subin, there's another real reason.

I've already done plenty.

I've killed almost all the villains who appear in the early part of the original work, and among those currently active, I've already killed all the ones who awaken in the later parts. Just dealing with those two—Enzodiac and the Teleporter—was already a lot.

And as for the terror attacks... for the early part of the original timeline, Stardus has already become very strong. Almost mid-story level? The plane falling was something that happened in the mid-story of the original anyway...

Plus, I've achieved one of the minor objectives of the terror attacks—raising Stardus's public favorability. The Star Dust Squad, a fan club that didn't exist in the original work. Whoever came up with that name did a great job, didn't they?

"So what are you going to do while resting, Oppa? Just keep running the Stardus fan cafe?"

Seo-eun asked me with a cold expression.

Huh?

"Wh-what?"

"Aren't you the representative of that Stardus Squad cafe or whatever?"

At the sight of Seo-eun interrogating me with her eyes wide open, I suddenly felt cold sweat forming.

"N-no, I'm not?"

"Oppa... I can hack government agencies, do you think I can't crack one portal site cafe?"

"Haha..."

Well... even so, wouldn't you not think to actually hack it?

Ahem. I cleared my throat and smoothed over the situation.

"That's not what's important. Actually, we've been running nonstop until now, haven't we? So we need to take a break. Think of it as a vacation. A vacation."

"So we're really not doing any work for a while and just resting?"

"Well... except for the occasional small stuff we have to do?"

"Fine, whatever."

Only then did Seo-eun accept it.

Wait, I'm the one taking a break, so why am I getting permission from you...?

Anyway, that's how we went dark.

People, please forget about me!

***

Just because I wasn't doing public activities didn't mean I was only playing around.

Since I'd managed to create this time, I should plan ahead for what's coming.

"....."

My room deep underground.

Looking at the blackboard attached to the wall there, I was thinking.

At least I can breathe easy for now.

I've subdued all the annoying villains from the early part. The ones left now are kids who'd go down with one punch from Stardus, so they're not really my concern. I can just watch them on TV while eating popcorn, so no big worries...

Stardus's abilities have been greatly enhanced, so I can say we're secure for a while. I don't really need to step in.

"There's no main event... really."

There won't be any major incidents for the time being.

Of course, a few months from now a really major incident will occur, but I can just stop it when the time comes. It means we're safe for about half a year.

What should I do in the meantime?

First, I recalled my goal.

My goal is to make sure Stardus walks only the flower path.

And ultimately, to survive until the end.

Right now, it's incredibly peaceful.

Of course, a large-scale terror attack happens every month... but by comparison, this is extremely peaceful.

In a few years, the collapse of the power balance will cause villains with all sorts of insane abilities to pour out.

Apart from the world filling up with villains, the only real heroes are Stardus and the Ice Maiden of the North Sea, so naturally they can't cover everything... and it becomes chaos.

As the world becomes increasingly turbulent, a weak villain like me will just be walking down the street when my head gets lopped clean off. How horrifying.

That absolutely cannot happen, absolutely not...!!

So what do I need to do to prevent that?

I said earlier that villains will pour out later on.

That means there are people who aren't villains yet, but are potential villains.

Right, Seo-eun is a prime example.

In the original work, she becomes a villain who destroys the administrative system, paralyzes the government, and ransacks the Association.

But since I took her in before she could fall to darkness, she's no longer a villain.

So the conclusion is this.

I just need to stop the kids who aren't villains yet before they become villains.

And then I'll use them. They all have absolutely incredible abilities. Just look at Seo-eun right now. Without her, I couldn't have pulled off the terror attack or anything else. There's a reason she was the first person I brought into my fold in this world.

I checked the date.

Right, around this time, those siblings should be doing that...

I roughly sketched out a plan.

There's only one thing I dream of.

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

I'll probably just call it Ego Squad.

Good, good.

Having reached a satisfactory conclusion, I erased everything I'd written on the whiteboard and sat down.

To survive in this shitty comic where the power balance collapses, I should be allowed to go this far, right?

"Phew..."

I was going to rest, but it looks like I won't have time for that.

I sat down and opened my laptop. I used my brain too much again, I need some healing.

I naturally navigated to the Stardus fan cafe I'd bookmarked. As soon as I entered, the cafe's main page photo appeared. Behind the words "Star Dust Squad," Stardus's face was visible.

Yes, why hide it? I created this cafe. Hey! I just want to fangirl over my favorite character from my favorite comic—who could possibly stop me? I was forcibly kidnapped from the real world where I was living just fine and brought here, so shouldn't I at least have this small happiness?

"Ahem, ahem."

Making excuses to no one in particular internally, I clicked on one of the categories.

Stardus Best Shots.

A collection of photos of Stardus.

"Ahh... yes, this is it."

When Stardus saves citizens, what should the citizens do?

Flee? Of course they should flee, but taking a few photos on the way out is fine, right?

Fancams taken that way.

Mm.

She's beautiful, as expected.

If they'd used an actress who looked like that when they made a live-action movie of this comic in the real world, they would've easily surpassed ten million viewers.

And so I spent a while browsing through Stardus photos, healing my weary heart. Yes, this is all I need...

By the way, I even spent my own money to host a contest within the cafe. A contest for the prettiest Stardus photo.

Stardus doesn't only deal with A-rank big shots like me every day. She faces plenty of somewhat pathetic B and C-rank types too.

And when that happens, photos go click-click like this.

After saving all the photos from the numerous posts uploaded for the contest, I closed my laptop.

That's enough rest.

Now what should I do?

Ah, maybe I'll write in my diary.

I pulled out a notebook from deep within my bookshelf.

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

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

When dealing with certain villains later, this kind of diary will be absolutely necessary, so I'm writing it down in advance.

...I do feel a bit pathetic writing a diary at my age. Well, even if I call it a diary, I only write down the incidents I caused and my emotions. So I can remember them later.

Probably no one but me will ever read this diary.

...Right?

After finishing my diary entry, I leaned back against the chair.

Now... should I play again?

And so I played joyfully once more.

It's nice to rest peacefully without causing any terror attacks.

Stardus is probably feeling relieved these days since I haven't caused any incidents, right?

***

Shin Haru had a plan.

The next time she met Egostic, she would absolutely, without fail, uncover the truth he was hiding.

But...

"Wait, why has he been so quiet lately?"

Since the hotel incident, Egostic hadn't appeared even once.

For three months.

'...There's no way he'd act like this.'

Without realizing it, Shin Haru was feeling slightly anxious.

Where the hell did Egostic go?