Chapter 123 - A Villain's Day

# I don't have the ability to read people's minds.

So I don't exactly know what Shadow Walker thinks of me right now.

...Still, considering his simple personality from the original work, I believe it won't take him long to trust me. Maybe after a few more interactions, we might develop enough rapport to share drinks together.

Though his simple nature did lead to him being deceived and betrayed later on, that's a matter for the future, so let's set it aside for now.

After preventing the most urgent crisis—the murder of Shadow Walker's girlfriend—and even gaining his favor...

Hmm. I feel at ease.

I can say I've gotten a load off my mind.

There's a slight sense of relief.

I reflected on my achievements so far.

The most important one is helping Stardust grow much faster than in the original work. Since Stardust is the alpha and omega of everything, this is the most significant.

Another major advantage is that Stardust's stress level is much lower than in the original work. In the original comic, by this point, her mental state would have been completely shattered. But now? She must be much happier compared to the original.

What else?

Right. Thanks to me, dozens, even hundreds of people who would have died are still alive. Several cities have been protected too. And I've prevented Shadow Walker from turning to the dark side.

The villain alliance is also progressing very smoothly. So smoothly that Ha-yul, who recently took the college entrance exam, finally got her university acceptance.

"Yeonhee University Nursing Department?"

"Yes! I didn't even expect to get in there, but I did!"

Ha-yul said, beaming with joy. Honestly, I wonder what use college is when she already has an S-class healing ability, but I didn't try to dissuade her since it's what she wants. College is an experience in itself.

But Yeonhee University is where Stardust and Shin Ha-ru attend...

I hesitated at that thought, but then remembered that first-year students at Yeonhee use a different campus from the other years, which was reassuring. Right, Ha-ru is a senior now? They probably won't run into each other. He'll graduate next year anyway.

...They won't meet, right? Yeah, they definitely won't.

Besides, Stardust has never seen our Ha-yul in person, so it should be fine.

As I was thinking about this, I also started wondering: someday, when Stardust becomes strong enough and the villain alliance can function well without me... maybe I could finally take a break. That's what I thought.

No, the world is actually running quite peacefully now.

It's been a long time since this world diverged from the bleak setting of the original work. At this point, it's almost like a healing story...?

Of course, considering the Moon Light Cult that's still very much active and the countless villains that remain, it's not quite there yet, but still.

The important thing is that, as far as I know, there won't be any major incidents for a while.

Which means I can relax and take it easy.

So I decided to ease my mind a bit.

What could possibly go wrong?

***

A few days later, on a bright afternoon.

Sitting on the sofa in the living room, where warm sunlight gently illuminated the space through the window.

I gulped nervously.

"...Is everyone ready?"

"Of course. Oppa, get ready to lose. I'm going to be first."

"Ha. Seo-eun, I'm sorry, but first place is mine."

In the middle, I sat holding a controller, getting ready.

On either side of me, Seo-eun and Se-hee sat with their own controllers, smiling.

And Eun-wol was there to judge.

In front of me, on the TV screen.

The numbers were counting down.

[Three- Two- One-]

[Go!!]

With that, the cars we each controlled started moving on the screen.

Our bet: whoever finishes first after completing all three tracks gets to have one wish granted by the other two.

And so began a fierce battle between villains.

"Aaah! I got hit by a shell!"

"Sorry, Seo-eun! That was me!"

"Really, Oppa? You're going to play like that?"

"Tsk... why is this so intense..."

A bloody battle between villains.

After the first track ended.

The competition became even more electrifying.

And I mean that literally—static electricity started building up around Choi Se-hee.

"Hey! Choi Se-hee! Do something about that static!"

"Tsk. I'm trying to concentrate here, stop bothering me."

"Unni! My arms are actually starting to sting!"

Typical of an electric-type ability user. When they concentrate, they lose control of their electricity.

Judging that this would seriously affect the competition, I decided to take extraordinary measures for an extraordinary situation.

What else? Run away, of course.

"Oppa, where are you going?"

"Sorry, Seo-eun! I need to survive!"

I teleported away from the sofa to a spot far away.

The greatest advantage of teleportation: being able to change positions without taking your eyes off the screen while gaming.

But somehow, I still felt static electricity even from a distance?

"Hey, Choi Se-hee! Why am I still feeling static all the way over here? You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"

"Tsk... I know nothing. Don't ask. Heh."

Since this game could send you to the bottom with one slip-up, I couldn't turn to look at Se-hee, but I could tell she was smiling without even seeing her.

...Alright. So that's how you want to play?

Under the unfair disadvantage of static electricity, I was in last place.

Right. This won't do.

As I said earlier, extraordinary situations call for extraordinary measures.

I used my psychokinesis to levitate the controllers.

Not mine, of course—theirs.

"Hey!"

"Oppa!!! Why are you doing this to me too!!!"

They screamed in surprise as their controllers suddenly floated up while they were concentrating on the game—a rare and startling experience.

Fight unfairness with unfairness, ability with ability.

Think I'm powerless? I'm a proper dual ability user with psychokinesis.

...Though I did feel a bit sorry for Seo-eun. Sorry, Seo-eun, for the immaturity of us adults.

After that sabotage, I was able to reclaim first place. Yes, that's more like it.

Meanwhile, Seo-eun, caught in the crossfire between two adults, ended up in last place.

"...So, this is how everyone wants to play, huh?"

Grinding her teeth, Seo-eun suddenly stopped racing and started manipulating her controller strangely. She began pressing random buttons as if performing combos in a fighting game.

For a moment, I thought Seo-eun had finally given up in anger, but then.

Suddenly my car stopped racing and started flying high into the sky. Like Charlie in the great glass elevator, my car left the track and began zooming toward the distant universe!

"What's happening?!"

"Tsk, Seo-eun! This is your doing, isn't it?!"

"Ha. You two started it first! Thought I didn't have any abilities, didn't you?"

After sending us into space with some kind of code, Seo-eun was cruising smoothly in first place on the empty track.

By the time Se-hee and I frantically made it back to the ground, it was too late.

At this rate, we would definitely lose.

As I was thinking this, my eyes met Se-hee's across the room.

Immediately understanding each other's thoughts, we gave a small nod. Right. There's an old saying that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Sportsmanship had long been buried in the ground anyway. Pretending to be honorable now would just be hypocritical.

Seo-eun, life is a battlefield. When you go out into the world, your enemies won't fight fair and follow the rules. They'll use any means necessary, fighting dirty and unfairly to trap you. To prepare Seo-eun for the harshness of the world, I decided to give her an early education.

Just as Seo-eun was about to cross the finish line, a sharp static shock hit her back while her controller began vibrating wildly, disrupting her control.

"Unni!!! Oppa!!! Are you really doing this?!"

"Ugh... forgive this unworthy oppa, Seo-eun!!!"

"Tsk.... I didn't do anything, Seo-eun. You believe your unni, right?"

"Hey, you."

"No, really!!!! No!!!"

While Seo-eun was distracted, the two of us quickly caught up.

"Ugh...!"

"Tsk... here I go!"

"You think I'll lose?"

Just as one of us was about to cross the final finish line!!!

-Fzzzt.

Suddenly the TV screen went black and turned off.

"...."

"...."

"...."

As a momentary silence enveloped the living room.

While the three of us were frozen by the sudden turn of events.

Eun-wol, who had been blankly watching our antics from the sofa, awkwardly smiled and said:

"...Well. I guess this means it's a tie."

"...."

"...."

"Tsk... Seo-eun! The TV broke because of whatever weird thing you did earlier, right?"

"Unni, you're blaming me for this?!"

"Pfft... No. Haha, this is hilarious. What have we been doing all this time? Look at how it ended."

Se-hee burst into laughter.

Seo-eun, who had been looking at her in disbelief, soon found the situation funny and chuckled too.

Seeing them, I also smiled.

...Ah, how long has it been since I've had mindless fun like this?

I couldn't help but laugh too.

...Yes. This is happiness. Happiness isn't something far away. Being together like this, laughing and having fun—isn't that true happiness?

Although I don't know how long we can laugh without other worries like this, it doesn't matter since nothing major should happen for a while. Let's just enjoy this moment.

As I was smiling and thinking this, the TV that had turned off earlier finally started to light up again.

"Huh? It's turning back on?"

I pointed at the TV.

Come on, I bought a pretty good TV—why is it malfunctioning?

The power light came on, but the screen remained covered in pitch-black darkness.

Watching the TV, I was the first to realize something was wrong.

...Wait. This doesn't seem like a malfunction.

And as if to confirm my suspicion.

Suddenly.

On the large black TV screen.

A moon.

A white moon appeared in the center.

"...What is that?"

As Se-hee tilted her head in confusion at the sudden situation.

Eun-wol, who was behind us.

With a trembling voice, spoke up.

"Moon Light..."

"Huh?"

"That moon is the symbol of the Moon Light Cult...."

Eun-wol murmured with a slightly terrified voice.

And simultaneously, an old person's voice began to crackle through the screen.

[Ah....]

[Ah...my children...]

[I am 'Celestial Moon Emperor,' the leader of the Moon Light Cult.... I greet you for the first time. Are you well....]

As I listened to that crackling, scratchy voice.

I froze.

What the hell.

This definitely didn't happen in the original work.