Chapter 74 - Eve Of Terror

It would be nice to jump right into a terror attack and see Stardus again.

But before that, there's something essential that needs to be done.

"Follow me inside."

"....Where is this?"

Choi Se-hee looked at me with a wary gaze.

Late at night, the place I brought her to via teleportation was just a regular house.

To be precise, it was the place with the underground base beneath it.

"It's my house."

"....I see."

She followed me quietly, looking strangely resigned.

What on earth could have happened to make someone as strong-willed as her act like this?

I couldn't understand what could have possibly happened in just one week.

Well, whatever. I guess it's a good thing. It's better than her being constantly rebellious.

As she submissively followed me into the house, I prepared to show her a whole new world.

"Now, get in here."

"Uh-huh..."

What Choi Se-hee and I entered was the teleportation device inside the room.

She tilted her head slightly at the sight of the bizarre machine sitting randomly in the middle of the house, but she stepped into the capsule without a word.

And then, I activated the device.

With a slight spinning sensation, we stepped out of the capsule.

When we entered, the surroundings were clearly an ordinary house.

But when we emerged, a magnificent mansion nestled between mountains unfolded before us.

"...Where are we now?"

"This is my real house."

I have two houses.

I said that as I headed toward the forest in front of the mansion.

She followed me, glancing back and forth at the mansion.

A man and a woman heading deep into the forest in the middle of a dark mountain valley.

She followed me silently and stopped when I did, looking as if she would do whatever I told her to.

...No, really, what's with her? This isn't her character at all. It makes no sense for her to change like this in just a week. It's actually quite awkward.

"Ahem."

Anyway, standing in the middle of the forest, I spoke to her as she stared at me blankly with a slightly anxious expression.

"Now. There's no one here. It's just the two of us, and nothing is watching this place."

"And?"

"You can use your powers to your heart's content here. Go ahead, release your electricity as much as you want."

"...Didn't you say we were going to commit a terror attack?"

"Who said we were doing it right away? We need to go through preparations first. Try it out to your heart's content. At full power."

"To my heart's content?"

"Yes."

When I told her she was free to use her powers as much as she wanted, she actually hesitated.

Well, that makes sense. She's never been able to use her powers freely in her entire life. The prospect must feel entirely new to her. Maybe a bit scary, or even nerve-wracking.

I nodded at her as she hesitated, encouraging her. Do it, hurry!

Watching me, she eventually steadied her breathing and began to spread her hands.

At that moment, sparks began to fly from her hands.

"Huuu..."

As she finally let go and unleashed her power freely, electricity flashed from her fingertips.

Simultaneously.

Crackle—.

To everywhere in her vicinity.

Electricity shot out from her whole body like lightning.

Like a fountain, streams of electricity surged forth.

It didn't stop there; her entire body began to be engulfed in currents.

Then, as if something inside her finally snapped.

Sparks began to flash and lash out across the entire forest like bolts of lightning.

"Oooooh..."

I stood a good distance away, watching the scene in awe.

It was a spectacle so grand I almost regretted not having any popcorn on hand.

Electricity poured out around her like a massive dome, and in the dark of night, it looked just like fireworks. My vision was filled with nothing but black and yellow.

The streams of electricity branched out and scattered into the air, smashing all the nearby trees and creating absolute chaos.

Of course, I wasn't just watching to admire the view. I was also gauging the destructive power of her electrical attacks. My conclusion was simple.

'As expected, she's strong.'

Her output was considerable.

No matter how much energy she had stored up, being able to emit that much current continuously was impressive. The power was undeniable, with a single bolt enough to shatter a tree.

Having lived for decades unable to discharge this energy, suffering in silence, it was only natural she'd become stressed and sensitive. A crane among chickens—a talent like hers was never meant to be hidden.

Eventually, the fireworks display came to an end.

Having finally unleashed enough to be satisfied, she withdrew her electricity.

Only after everything had settled did I approach her from where I had been standing.

"Huff... huff..."

She was slumped on the ground, gasping for air.

I handed her a bottle of water I'd prepared beforehand.

"Are you satisfied? Here, have some water."

"Huh? Oh, thanks."

Sweating and slumped with her eyes slightly out of focus, she took the bottle and gulped the water down immediately.

With a flushed face, she finally pulled the bottle away from her lips.

Her orange hair was damp with sweat and clinging to her neck. She looked exhausted, still gasping for breath, but... her expression was one of pure relief.

It made sense; how could she not feel good after finally unleashing her powers to her heart's content? In the original work, she never got this chance, which led her to do this in the middle of the city at night and end up in a detention center.

Now, she had fully indulged her destructive instincts, leaving every tree in the vicinity in splinters. Even the grass on the ground was scorched black.

As she remained sitting on the ground, I reached out a hand to her.

"If you stay with me... you won't ever have to live hiding your powers again. You aren't an ordinary person. You were never meant to live while suppressing your talent. Only with us can you live as your true self."

"...This terror attack you're planning, it's not about hurting people, is it?"

"Of course not. I'm a pacifist, after all."

"...For someone who says that, you've certainly been busy lately, haven't you?"

Despite her sarcastic remark, she took my hand and pulled herself up.

I simply gave her a smile in response.

"Welcome to the Ego Squad, Choi Se-hee."

"What even is the 'Ego Squad'..."

***

Now that I'd recruited a superpowered ally, it was time to commit a terror attack!

...Or so I wished, but reality isn't that simple.

There was a lot of preparation needed—scouting the location, checking the timing, and drafting the plan.

Furthermore, Choi Se-hee needed training to master her abilities.

"...You're saying I can fly by shooting electricity at the ground?"

"Yeah. Just imagine being wrapped in your own current and firing it downward."

"Mhm... Oh, wow, it actually works!"

Under my special training, guided by my knowledge of the original work, she improved rapidly.

Because she had gone so long without using her powers, she didn't even know the basics of how to apply them, so I stayed by her side to coach her.

Of course, I'd dropped the formal speech a long time ago. Since we were going to see each other every day, keeping up the polite act... my cringe tolerance couldn't take it.

"Haah... haah..."

"Here, take a towel."

"Unnie, here's some water!"

"Whew. Thanks."

While she was undergoing special training for her abilities, she ended up staying at my mansion for a while.

Getting close to Seo-eun was a bonus.

"Hey. Go wash up already. You stink."

"What? Why are you picking a fight?"

Ignoring her as she glared at me, I turned around and headed toward the mansion. For the record, she and I had become much closer than before. It would have been stranger if we hadn't, considering we spent all day stuck together training.

Just then, a spark of electricity grazed past me. That crazy woman!

"Agh! Hey! Why are you shooting that at me? I'm a civilian!"

"Bullshit. How on earth are you a civilian? Come here; I'll show you the difference in our power today."

"Seo-eun, save me! She's trying to kill me!"

"....Se-hee Unnie. Just go ahead and blast him with 100,000 volts."

"Even you, Han Seo-eun!"

I feel like there's fewer and fewer people I can trust in this house!

Anyway, time passed quite quickly like this.

Because Choi Se-hee wasn't as good at utilizing her abilities as I'd expected, coaching her one-on-one took more time than planned. Well, time was the one thing I had plenty of anyway. There was still a long way to go before Kim Seonwoo pulled that stunt, so taking it easy wasn't an issue.

Se-hee adjusted to life in the mansion fairly well.

Since she had worked in the service industry right after graduation, she got along well with everyone, including Seo-eun, Subin, and Ha-yul. In particular, after quitting her part-time job and feeling a bit lost about what to do, she fell into the world of games under Seo-eun's devilish temptation.

"....Playing games is fine, but shouldn't you at least sleep at night?"

"Yes..."

"Sorry, Unnie..."

Of course, there was an incident where the two of them stayed up all night gaming and got caught and scolded by Subin. Idiots. They should have escaped around 5 AM like I did.

"But Da-in Oppa was playing with us until dawn, too."

"....Da-in, really?"

"......"

Naturally, I ended up getting scolded alongside them thanks to a traitor.

Anyway, a month had already passed since I started living with Choi Se-hee.

Finally, for the first time in a while, I summoned everyone to the conference room in the underground base.

"......"

Four pairs of eyes watched me.

Before them, I opened my mouth and declared.

"Now then. Today, at long last, let's prepare a new terror attack."

The curtain rose on Egostic's new concept: outsourced terror.

The era of committing terror alone is over.

The era of collaboration terror is coming.

And so, I explained the plan to them.

After listening to everything, Choi Se-hee spoke up.

"....Isn't this just me doing everything from start to finish?"

"Yep. Exactly."

I need some rest, too.

You're doing it this time.