Chapter 140 - Approaching Storm
# Brazil's Downfall
From this point in the original story, the world gradually begins to spiral into chaos.
The number of supernatural ability users, which was once quite limited, continues to grow, and with that comes an increase in villains. These groups form alliances and even invade foreign countries, causing widespread turmoil.
Until now, incidents involving Behemoth, Han-eun Group, and the Moonlight Cult only devastated Korea, but now everyone globally will start suffering together. Of course, our country will naturally suffer twice as much.
And obviously, I have no intention of watching that happen.
Even if I lack the information to cover overseas territories, shouldn't I be able to at least protect a small peninsula like Korea if I put my all into it?
Anyway, the international community will gradually become more chaotic.
To survive in this war, military power is obviously necessary.
And since this world relies on supernatural ability users for all military power, human resources are ultimately the most important.
In other words, the crucial battle is about which faction has even one more talented individual.
"....."
And I've already secured a pool of talent superior to anyone else's.
Seo-eun, the ultimate hacker and inventor; Death Knight, an undying war machine; and Eun-wol, who utilizes magic—a concept different from supernatural abilities. I've gathered them all before they could fall into corruption as they did in the original story.
I've even gone all out to pre-emptively recruit several villains who would appear later. The precious elemental ability user Choi Se-hee and the healing ability user Lee Ha-yul, who becomes increasingly important later on, are prime examples.
Of course, these individuals alone are already quite powerful, but you can never have too much talent. Especially considering the latter part of the original story... I'm still hungry.
But here's the thing.
As the scale continues to grow, other factors grow alongside talent.
In the end, whether villain or hero, it's all about people dealing with people. Sure, monsters appear later on, but until then, people are behind all the terrorism.
So politics becomes somewhat necessary.
And since factions are essential for politics, that's also why I created the villain alliance.
"....It must be soon."
The world map on the wall.
Looking at it intently, I quietly muttered.
After Brazil's downfall, society was initially chaotic but eventually stabilized again. However, I know this stability won't last long.
If things follow the original story, the next event will happen soon.
The first worldwide terrorist attack and the largest terror incident on Earth to date: the coastal invasion by the villain organization "Latis."
And.
"....Is there a way to keep Korea out of it?"
That was the plan I was working on.
***
Latis's global coastal invasion.
In South Korea, it's an incident where monsters suddenly appear simultaneously from the three coastal sides, turning coastal cities into wastelands.
Looking at just this, it seems like one of the regular terrorist attacks from the original story. Just on a main event scale.
However, when this happens simultaneously not just in Korea but worldwide, the story changes.
Japan, China, India, Russia, Europe, America, and more. What was shocking was that it was a terrorist attack occurring simultaneously in major countries worldwide. An enormous scale of terrorism never experienced before.
And it's about to happen soon.
"....So you're saying there will be simultaneous terrorist attacks on coastlines globally?"
In the Ego-stream meeting room, which hadn't been used in a while.
There, Seo-eun responded to my explanation.
"Yes. It's almost certain information."
"....How do you know that?"
"I heard it from a reliable source."
For reference, that reliable source is my brain.
Hearing my words, Seo-eun seemed somewhat dissatisfied but nodded and replied.
"...Well, since the information you've gathered so far has never been wrong, I guess it's correct."
While Seo-eun was thankfully convincing herself, Choi Se-hee, who had been quietly listening, suddenly asked me.
"Hey, so how are we going to stop it?"
"...I haven't said we're going to stop it yet."
"You're going to try anyway."
"...That's true."
Choi Se-hee smiled at my words as if she knew it all along.
...Somehow I feel like my identity as the leader of a "villain" alliance is being shaken.
Anyway, as I cleared my throat and was choosing my words, Eun-wol, who was sitting with us, spoke up with what seemed like courage.
"....I like it! We'll protect the world! What should we do first?"
Eun-wol clenched her fist as she said this.
Her eyes were sparkling with genuine enthusiasm. How cute.
I kindly told her:
"We need to talk."
"....What? With whom?"
"Who else? With that villain group called Latis."
"Um... you're saying we should talk with villains?"
"Yes. We're villains too. We should resolve this peacefully, villain to villain, through dialogue."
"...Oh."
Eun-wol, who seemed to have expected to fight bad villains, looked slightly disappointed.
Sorry, Eun-wol. In the adult world, everything is resolved with words rather than fists.
...But come to think of it, isn't Eun-wol an adult?
Anyway, it's finally time to put our villain identity to good use.
"Now, here's the plan..."
The key to this matter is to resolve everything just by talking.
I explained what we needed to do.
***
Well, time passed like that.
During that time, Stardus defeated two more newly appeared villains, Lee Seol-ah successfully acquired several other companies, and people forgot about the Brazil incident and were living peaceful daily lives.
And me?
I had made a makeshift sun bed on the roof of our large house in the mountains and was lying there.
Well, lying on a sun bed at the beach last time felt really good.
So I created something similar to a sun bed, made it soft and comfortable, and placed it on the roof to lie down.
In my hand was a glass of wine.
Cheval Blanc 1947. One from Lee Seol-ah's collection that she gave me when she said she was quitting alcohol.
A taste with deep flavor.
Yes, a fitting reward for myself after completing a major task.
During the past time, my Ego-stream members and I were busy moving. Really.
And as a result.
Ego-stream signed a non-aggression pact with Latis, the Atlantic villain group.
The main point of the agreement was that Latis and Ego-stream would not be hostile to each other.
Naturally, the agreement included not turning each other's countries into wastelands.
"...Why does this guy keep texting me?"
There's a minor issue where the American leader of Latis keeps sending me English quotes since we met—perhaps I overdid the charm—but that's easily solved by replying with things like [:) b].
As I was proudly enjoying the satisfaction of protecting South Korea and Stardus again, suddenly a wind blew from the side, a magic circle appeared, and Eun-wol popped out with Seo-eun hugging her from behind.
"Oppa! We've been looking for you, what are you doing here?"
Seo-eun jumped away from Eun-wol and hopped toward me.
I swirled my wine glass and said to her:
"Oppa was lying here alone, enjoying adult time..."
"Wow! The view here is amazing! Should we put a rocking chair or something next to you so we can sit beside you? Right, Eun-wol?"
"Yes. That would be nice."
Eun-wol answered with a smile.
...No. My private space...
Regardless of my thoughts, Eun-wol asked me curiously:
"So... Da-in oppa, is it really all over now?"
"Yes. Korea will be safe. Oh right, Seo-eun, good timing. Let's do some work."
"Ugh."
Seo-eun made a face like she'd been caught, but it can't be helped. It's your fault for coming here.
Let's just update this one thing.
You must have taken pictures of us shaking hands back then, right?
***
A hero's daily routine is monotonous.
When there are no terrorist attacks, the main duty is to wait in the office. Especially on rainy days like today, activities are limited to indoors.
During such times, Shin Ha-ru was clicking her mouse, researching something.
[Hemoptysis]
[Health when coughing up blood]
[Diseases for 20-year-old men coughing blood]
"Even a small amount of hemoptysis could indicate a serious condition. There's a high possibility of a health issue, so it's advantageous to go to the hospital...?"
After muttering with a serious expression while researching various things, she sighed, closed the window, and naturally went to a site she frequently visited.
Immediately visible was a trending post.
Naturally, Shin Ha-ru clicked on it.
*
[Breaking News) Mangostick added a notice board category to their homepage!!!]
(Homepage_photo_before.jpg)
As you can see, originally the Ego-stream homepage only had the main screen, member introductions, and a small damage compensation application section at the bottom.
(Homepage_photo_after.jpg)
But now they've added a new "Notice Board" category lolololol. What does this mean? Could it be that they'll communicate with viewers outside of broadcasts???
(Ego-stream_logo.jpg)
Like if you think Ego-stream<<<< is the world's strongest villain organization lolololol
[♡]851
=[Comments]=
[Mangostick! Mangostick! Mangostick! Mangostick!
Mangostick! Mangostick!]
[Oh this is really big news]
[Wow lolol this is amazing lolol]
[I thought Egostic would never do something like this, it's surprising what kind of notices they'll post lolol]
[I've never seen people so excited about a notice board category being added lolol Everyone seems hypnotized lolol]
ㄴ[Ah lolololol]
ㄴ[This is all because Mango doesn't communicate regularly... ugh he's in my brain]
ㄴ[Why would a villain need to communicate regularly? lolol]
[Is something big coming??? Is something big coming???]
*
As Shin Ha-ru was taking interest in this quite intriguing news, suddenly her office door burst open.
"Ms. Stardus!!! We have an emergency!!!"
Seeing the urgent expression of the association employee, Shin Ha-ru's face hardened.
...As the comments predicted, something big had indeed come.
"Right now! The whole world is in chaos!!!"
Something a bit too big.