Chapter 80 - Omen of Destruction

Come to think of it, this world is truly a mess.

I looked down at the city through the window and had that thought.

On the surface, it looks normal. Countless people moving busily between towering buildings. From this view, it seems no different from the world of my previous life.

However, reality tells a different story. And it's mostly a mess.

First of all, people who awaken superpowers are born every now and then. But it's not like these powers are manageable. The problem is that they're all absurdly strong.

Stardus alone could probably level dozens of buildings if she felt like it. The same goes for others. It's even more of a disaster overseas. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that almost every country faces a crisis of destruction every month.

Of course, perhaps thanks to the world's balance, heroes stronger than most villains appear, so things are somehow managing to stay afloat. In other words, without heroes, nations wouldn't even function properly. Because of that, the government's influence is significantly diminished compared to the Association. The president is also a bit paranoid.

And are villains the only problem? That's not all. Looking at the Haneun Group, large corporations are also just out of their minds. Secret experiments are a given, and their rival, Yuseong Enterprise, is a mastermind behind the scenes, pressuring the government and the Association to control South Korea. Since the Haneun Group collapsed, they've probably been trying to swallow South Korea in earnest. Well, for me, it's better that way. That way, I only have to control Lee Seol-ah.

Anyway, my point is this. This world is not normal. Superpowered individuals cause terrorism left and right, the government is useless, corporations pull the strings, and there are even gods and an underworld—it's a total mess. I miss the peaceful world I used to know.

"...."

I continued to stare out the window, lost in thought.

What's even funnier? This level is actually quite peaceful.

From now on, stronger villains will emerge, and the world will become even more chaotic.

And Stardus will have to handle all of that alone.

"Oppa, what on earth are you looking at all by yourself so gloomily?"

"...It's nothing. Let's go now."

Awakened from my thoughts by Seo-eun's voice, I turned my head.

Yeah.

In the end, I'm the one who has to stop all of this.

***

The manhwa I was possessed into, [Stardust!], is divided into four main phases by fans.

Phase 1 features Stardus's growth and some slice-of-life developments. It's roughly the current time period, the most peaceful era.

Then, Phase 2 unfolds in earnest after the Haneun Group incident. From this point on, more villains with stronger abilities start appearing.

And the event that fans call the start of Phase 2, the one that proves this world is actually a tragic one.

That is the Haneun Group's Seoul Invasion.

People dying in numbers incomparable to the Behemoth incident, Stardus suffering from helplessness and guilt, the friction between the Association and the government, and a burning Seoul.

A terrifying event where the whole country erupts in protest against the heroes while South Korea is shattered!

The city turning into a living hell! Buildings and people being smashed! Forest fires!

But...

I already know that's going to happen, don't I?

Haneun Group, you guys are screwed.

A thrilling revenge drama against the heroes, a grand sacrifice?

There's none of that, Seonwoo!!

"Hehehehehe."

"Da-in. You shouldn't do this where there are many people..."

"Oppa..."

"Does he usually do this?"

"Hyung...?"

On the way down from the observatory.

I let out an evil laugh without realizing it, and my companions' rebukes followed.

I'm doing this for your own good.

"...Whenever Oppa laughs like that, it means he's plotting something evil again."

Only Seo-eun, who had watched me for a long time, muttered from the side with a dissatisfied expression.

Evil?

I'm trying to save humanity; I'm the victim of a misunderstanding here.

Of course, for the Haneun Group folks led by Kim Seonwoo, it would be something to make their skin crawl.

***

Haneun Group.

South Korea's top conglomerate was plotting to rule South Korea through force behind the scenes while maintaining a kind image externally.

They were secretly conducting illegal and inhumane human experiments and creating monsters, but all their conspiracies were exposed through the Behemoth incident.

As a result, the company collapsed, and high-ranking executives, including the chairman, fled overseas, but the researchers who conducted the experiments, led by Dr. Kim Seonwoo, could not escape.

In the original work, Kim Seonwoo even tried to fight Stardus by seizing Behemoth, but he eventually lost and fled.

Eventually, the employees led by him realized they were finished, and since they were all going to die anyway, they planned to go out with a bang and take everyone with them.

That was the Haneun Group's invasion of Seoul.

And the method they chose to turn Seoul into a sea of fire.

Was a giant weapon.

***

"So. You're saying that in the near future, Haneun Group will invade Seoul at night with a giant robot as a final act of desperation?"

"It's not a robot, it's a weapon, but anyway. Yeah."

"....."

The conference room of the Ego-Underground Base.

Seo-eun, Subin, and even the newly joined Choi Se-hee and Ha-yul. I brought up the subject in front of everyone gathered there.

"...When you say giant weapon, what do you mean specifically?"

"It's as massive as a mountain range, with a bit of an octopus-like feel, the body is a hemisphere, but it has long steel limbs attached..."

"No, wait, wait."

Choi Se-hee, who was listening to my story, interrupted me and asked with a bewildered expression.

"A giant weapon is going to invade Seoul soon? How do you know that?"

"I know everything except what I don't know."

"No. What kind of answer is that..."

Choi Se-hee looked at me with her eyes wide in disbelief, but I just gave a thin smile.

They say a man with many secrets is charming. Probably.

"Anyway, our plan is to seize that giant weapon."

"That thing? How?"

"What do you mean, how? We just teleport to the control room, beat everyone up, and take over the controls ourselves. That's it."

"It's really that easy?"

"What's so hard about it?"

Just as a human dies when their brain dies, a giant weapon is finished once the cockpit is taken.

"...But wouldn't they have anticipated that and prepared for it?"

"Of course they did."

To be precise, they prepared for Shadow Walker, who can teleport anywhere as long as it's night.

They coated the place with a substance extracted from Behemoth that counters darkness, preventing him from entering.

When I explained this, Choi Se-hee looked puzzled.

"....What about you? Your teleportation?"

"Me? They obviously wouldn't have even considered me."

"Why?"

"Because I'm not a hero, I'm just a lowly villain...?"

"Ah."

She let out a sound like she had just realized something obvious. Seriously, what does she think of me?

"Da-in. But is that machine really that powerful? Can't we just fire a few bombs at it?"

"No."

I shook my head in denial.

It's not just a weapon. In the original work, it was of such an overwhelming size that it made onlookers say, 'That can't be stopped.' A truly wondrous object that wouldn't take a single scratch no matter what was fired at it.

It wasn't called the Phase 1 final boss in the original for nothing. I'm telling you, it's just overwhelming. It's on a completely different level from anything Stardus has faced so far. A true final boss.

Even Stardus eventually gave up because she couldn't defeat it.

After explaining to everyone how strong, overwhelming, and wondrous this thing was, I concluded with one sentence.

"And I'm going to swallow it whole."

I unknowingly let out an evil laugh as I said those words.

Right. What was my goal in this world?

To give Stardus only the trials she can handle.

And this is something she absolutely cannot handle.

So then.

Wouldn't it be fine if I personally remade it into a trial she can handle?

"It'll probably happen as soon as this week, so let's all prepare ahead of time. Especially you, Choi Se-hee. You're coming with me."

Saying that, I started putting the plan together.

A perfect chance to finish off Haneun Group for good and make Stardus grow stronger.

Especially Kim Seonwoo and the rest of those Haneun Group bastards.

I'm really curious what their faces will look like when the so-called ultimate move they prepared so desperately goes straight to hell.

Hehahahahaha.

****

Somewhere deep in the provinces.

Haneun Group Secret Base, Sector C.

At the very center of an underground space so deep you couldn't see the bottom, countless people were moving about frantically.

They were all skin and bones, bodies worn down to the extreme, and looked filthy as if they hadn't even washed properly.

But their eyes alone burned fiercely, filled with sharp, poisonous intensity.

Among the figures in white lab coats rushing about, one man was cutting through the crowd, heading somewhere.

He looked like the oldest among them.

He also looked the most exhausted.

Yet his eyes burned the fiercest of all, blazing with a vicious glare that looked like it could tear anyone apart.

He was the overall director of Haneun Group's Behemoth Project.

Abandoned by the board of directors and left behind in Korea.

Doctor Kim Seonwoo.

To the researcher hurriedly following at his side, he spat his words like he was chewing them up.

"So. You're saying even the final inspection is done?"

"Yes, Doctor. All that's left is deployment."

"I'll see it myself."

The place he arrived at after walking step by step was—

An empty cavernous hall of overwhelming scale, like an entire massive city had been turned on its side and shoved underground.

And filling that space completely.

Its vertical length was several times that of a skyscraper, its width like a vast mountain range.

Haneun Group's ultimate masterpiece, forged by grinding down their very last spark of life, created solely for destruction, collapse, and chaos.

A weapon made for annihilation, Project Octopass.

"So... it's finally done. Finally."

Clenching his teeth, Kim Seonwoo muttered under his breath.

Then, unable to contain his excitement, he suddenly shouted toward all the staff.

"All personnel, listen up!!!"

A destructive volume that filled the entire vast hall.

As a nearby researcher hurriedly set up a microphone so his voice would broadcast throughout the entire facility.

His voice echoed through the underground.

"How much have we sacrificed for Haneun Group until now, and for the development of this nation!"

"And the citizens who criticize and slander us, who devoted ourselves solely to a better world! What have they ever done for this country!"

"How much have they oppressed us, who tried to recreate human history through evolution, and now they even try to purge us!"

"A rotten country like this is no longer necessary!"

"Now, isn't it our final calling to turn this hateful country into a sea of fire with our own hands!"

"Tomorrow, we—!"

He spat out the final words with eyes blazing.

"Will destroy Seoul."

As his speech ended, cheers erupted all around. Agreement. A sea of fire. Destruction. Rage.

Amid all that deafening noise, he quietly closed his eyes.

Yes. Tomorrow.

Seoul would finally learn what the end truly meant, in the palm of his hand.

***

"So what's the plan to steal that weapon?"

"Go to the cockpit, smack the guy operating it with Monkey Spanner, done. Then it's ours."

"...Is it really that easy?"

"Yeah."

Pretty easy, right?