Chapter 152 - Advance Preparation

"The Association announced today that the villain Mist has been officially designated as S-class. Based on the potential threat to Shadow Walker and the potential of her abilities..."

"Oh. I've become S-class."

About a week after the previous terrorist attack.

In the living room, Seo Ja-young muttered that while watching TV.

"Well, it was pretty much guaranteed that you'd become S-class, sis."

Seo-eun, who was eating ice cream while sitting between where I was sitting and where Seo Ja-young was lying down, answered while chewing on vanilla.

[Meanwhile, with this development, the villain alliance Egostream in the Republic of Korea now has a total of two S-class villains, including Mist and the Moon Priestess.]

"Hmm. So the only S-class members are me and Eun-wol?"

"This is really unfair. Why am I not S-class? I mean, I'm good at hacking and I created a weapon that almost beat Stardust, yet I'm only A-class? Something's definitely wrong here."

Seo-eun, who was so upset that she was waving her ice cream spoon while answering, soon sighed and leaned back against the sofa before continuing to eat.

...Hmm, seeing Seo-eun eat makes me crave ice cream too. Should I get another spoon?

[Meanwhile, netizens are expressing confusion about why Egostic, the leader of an alliance with two S-class villains, is still A-class...]

"Wait, why are you still A-class?"

"Don't you know? Probably because my physical strength is weak. I think I heard something about my promotion being delayed by the committee."

"Hmm."

Just as Seo Ja-young responded lazily as if she didn't really care.

[Next breaking news. As rumors of a romance between Egostic and Mist continue to captivate the Republic of Korea for the seventh day...]

"Tsk."

Seo Ja-young, who had been lying down drowsily as if about to fall asleep, suddenly opened her eyes wide and grabbed the remote control at incredible speed to change the channel.

"......"

Meanwhile, as soon as that news appeared, Seo-eun froze in the middle of eating her ice cream and stared intensely at Seo Ja-young with a smile on her face. Of course, only her mouth was smiling while her eyes weren't, which was a bit scary.

Feeling that gaze, Seo Ja-young, who had already changed the channel faster than anyone, pointed at the TV while sweating slightly.

"Ha, haha... Here's some international news. Let's watch this."

"...."

While Seo Ja-young was sweating profusely under Seo-eun's gaze, the TV was showing international news.

[Desert regions in Mexico have been completely closed off. Red lightning continues to strike, making passage impossible. This is believed to be the work of S-class villain Python...]

[In Egypt, a villain claiming to be the reincarnated Pharaoh has appeared, causing the local association to declare a state of emergency. It has been revealed that a significant portion of the population is already following this villain, causing great shock...]

[The Eiffel Tower in France has been attacked again. Having been attacked dozens of times over the past three years, the Eiffel Tower is now more than 70 percent damaged and undergoing restoration...]

Well, the world continues to steadily descend into chaos.

Almost every country in the world is suffering from a sudden increase in terrorism rates...

Soon, statistics will probably show that the proportion of ability users is gradually increasing. And more ability users will lead to more terrorism, so the world will become more chaotic day by day.

I actually wonder if the number of heroes might increase as much as villains, but for every 10 new villains, we're lucky if even one new hero appears, so it's pretty hopeless.

Of course, compared to other countries that are becoming more chaotic by the day, our country is relatively well-defended... but that's only because I've been stopping all the major terrorist attacks behind the scenes. By the way, there are still quite a few terrorist attacks that need to be prevented in the future. Of course, it's still before the main event of the Moon Light Church. So there should be some time.

"Tsk. Come to think of it, I need to go meet Lee Seol-ah."

"Oppa, where are you going again?"

"Oh, I need to discuss some business."

I answered while taking out my phone.

Hmm... I should call first before going, right?

***

A few days later.

I was sitting across from Lee Seol-ah on the top floor of Yu-seong Corporation.

Though she still looked haggard and was leaning back in her chair as if tired, she was smiling slightly.

"Did something good happen? You seem happy."

To my question, Lee Seol-ah stretched and answered.

"Ah. Yes, there is. I've finally managed to take control of almost all the major domestic companies."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes. VK Corporation was the most difficult, but I just had their president arrested on corruption charges that Da-in provided. Once I finish wrapping things up, I can focus all my efforts on the political sphere."

She smiled proudly despite looking exhausted.

...As expected, even though she's slowed down a bit, Lee Seol-ah is steadily devouring the Republic of Korea according to the original story.

Personally, the more her influence grows, the better it is for me, so I praised her. As we enter the latter part of the original story, having everything unified under one person will be much better for overcoming crises. It means I can intervene in everything.

After enjoying my praise for a moment, her face darkened slightly, and then she forced a smile and said to me.

"...Ah, right. I also heard about Da-in."

"Huh? What about me?"

"I heard you're dating someone..."

As she trailed off ambiguously, I waved my hand in denial.

"Oh, that. No, it's not true. She was just joking around, we're not in any kind of relationship."

"...Really?"

"Of course. When would I even have time to date someone?"

Hearing my denial, she sighed with apparent relief and answered.

"...That's good thinking. Romance only reduces work efficiency and is an inefficient waste of time, so I don't think there's any need for it either."

...Hmm. I didn't go that far.

Anyway, I responded seriously to Lee Seol-ah, who was speaking to me very earnestly.

"Right. Anyway, you know why I came here today, right?"

"...Um, because you wanted to see my face?"

"Obviously it's for business. What I mentioned before, the PMC."

"Ah, that..."

At my words, Lee Seol-ah rummaged through some documents for a moment, then pulled out a paper, examined it, and said.

"I looked into it, but there are some legal complications. Though I think this could be resolved with some lobbying..."

"To be precise, it's not just about hiring but also taking responsibility for training them."

"Yes, I've already completed the legal registration under the name Yu-seong PMC. But Da-in, are you sure this is okay?"

"Yeah. Actually, whether it's okay or not, we absolutely have to do this if we're thinking about the future."

"...If you say so, I understand."

I had this conversation with her while sipping a cup of tea.

...In the latter part of the original story, public safety in the Republic of Korea deteriorates to the point of near collapse.

And one of the reasons for that is B and C-class villains.

You might wonder how much trouble B and C-class villains could cause, but while they might not be strong enough to lift an airplane by themselves, they're still very powerful against civilians.

And in a few years, as more people awaken abilities, countless lower-tier villains will cause so much trouble that the government and the association will reach a point where they can barely maintain public order. On top of that, lower-tier heroes don't make much money, and due to the strict public sentiment toward heroes where they're criticized for even minor mistakes, the number of heroes remains low. So ability users hide their powers and eventually turn to the path of villainy...

In other words, considering the chaos that will unfold in the future.

We need to take some kind of action before they all go crazy. And since that surplus power will become quite important later, we need to preserve it.

And this is where Lee Seol-ah's role becomes significant.

If she can use her capital and recognition to gather them, it will be very helpful later.

Actually, I've been waiting for the right timing to ask this favor, and I decided to use her previous mistake as an opportunity to request this.

Well, I'm sure Lee Seol-ah doesn't want Korea to fall into chaos either. After all, Korea will soon be hers.

After having an in-depth conversation with Lee Seol-ah about the PMC establishment plan and future plans for conquering the Republic of Korea, I returned home.

Of course, this isn't a business that will start immediately, and for now, we're just roughly laying the groundwork. But it's better to prepare in advance. This will probably be the first business I do after revealing my identity. Since Stardust already knows my name, there's nothing to hold back anymore.

When I got home, I announced to everyone.

"This time, we're going to hunt other villains."

"Wow! Isn't this the first time since Teleporter?"

"...Hey, what kind of villain hunts other villains? If you go that far, aren't you actually a hero...?"

"What are you talking about? This is my roots. This is how I got my A-class villain rank."

"...Really?"

"That's right, sis. I helped oppa back then. It was just me at that time."

"...Um, Seo-eun? Wasn't your sister there too?"

"Oh, right. Su-bin unnie was there too! I got confused, hehe."

...Anyway, our next job was assassinating other villains after a long time.

While doing this, I can also do a broadcast to clear up those romance rumors with Mist.

And so, we began preparing for the next event.

By the way, I'm addressing the romance rumors because public interest is so high. Actually, I wonder if I really need to do this since Stardust, who's the most important, probably doesn't care at all, but well. The media is annoying, so I should do it. But honestly, if the timing doesn't work out, maybe I don't need to?

***

At that moment, in the Hero Association office.

Shin Ha-ru, the blonde hero, was sitting at her newly received desk.

With the sun behind her, she was quietly thinking with her arms crossed.

".....I need to catch Egostic, by any means necessary."

As if she had reached a conclusion, she muttered.

And her eyes.

Without her realizing it, were burning.

***

"...No. I still need to make that clarification broadcast."

"Of course you should, Da-in. Were you thinking of not doing it?"

"...No, that's not it. I was just reaffirming my decision."

I suddenly had a thought that something terrible might happen if I don't do it. This uneasy feeling, it's been quite a while since I felt it.

Yes, let's start by clarifying that first...