Chapter 154 - Same Situation, Different Feeling

At the moment Egostic infiltrated Weapon Master's hideout.

"Shit... What the hell is going on...."

In a room underground.

Geum Dong-geun sat there, clutching his head while staring at the footage on the screen.

Three figures had broken into his secret weapons storage.

A woman who looked like a thug, a girl wearing priestess clothes, and a man with a fluttering black cape.

All of them were people he knew well.

The most notorious villain in the Republic of Korea, Egostic and his companions.

"Why the hell... out of all the people in the world, why are they coming after ME!"

He shouted, nearly overcome with indignation.

He couldn't understand why this guy, out of countless villains, somehow knew his identity and hideout location and chose to attack him. If they were both villains, shouldn't he be going after heroes instead? Why was he targeting him?

But the situation had already unfolded, and now was the time to think of countermeasures.

"Shit... shit..."

Geum Dong-geun had been developing weapons in his room today, just like any other day.

With the modest dream of someday giving his weapons to cyborgs to slaughter all humans in Seoul, he was diligently creating cutting-edge weapons in his base when suddenly the alarm went off.

Since he never thought anyone would infiltrate this place, the alarm he had installed as mere decoration startled him.

Hurriedly putting on his glasses to check the screen, he received his first shock seeing Egostic. Then, with trembling hands, he turned on YouTube and received his second shock seeing Egostic declaring he would hunt him down.

"...Screw this. You think I'll just die like this?"

But Geum Dong-geun made a resolute decision.

His dream. His psychopathic desire to someday slaughter people with all these weapons and be known as a ruler of terror.

Just when he had nearly finished making all his weapons and was planning to kidnap people to convert them into cyborgs for his army, Egostic's sudden appearance was like throwing ashes on a perfectly cooked meal.

He briefly considered fleeing and abandoning this weapons storage, but it was clear that if he ran, Egostic would take everything.

Additionally, with Egostic's intelligence network that had managed to find him while in hiding, he judged that even if he escaped, he'd likely be caught eventually.

So what should he do?

"...Damn it, this is my home. You think I'll lose on my own turf?"

He muttered like a madman.

Then he resolved to slaughter Egostic and those women right here.

"Shit, but how do I take down those monsters..."

The problem, of course, was that it seemed impossible to eliminate them with his abilities alone.

How could he, by himself, handle one S-class villain and two A-class villains?

If they had come just a little later, after he had succeeded in creating his cyborgs, he could have sent them to deal with the intruders.

Unfortunately for him, they arrived just before he could implement his cyborg project.

He considered just blowing up the place with a bomb to kill them, but that was too wasteful. Destroying his weapons and human experimentation lab that he had spent his life building? Unthinkable.

But he couldn't take on those three himself either...

While he was stuck, unable to escape and struggling with what to do,

An opportunity presented itself.

"Wait..."

The three who had been sticking together split up at a fork in the path.

The screen showed the two women separating, leaving Egostic walking alone down a corridor.

Egostic strode forward with his black cape fluttering.

Watching him, Weapon Master Geum Dong-geun suddenly began to feel hopeful.

"Wait... someone like Egostic..."

Come to think of it, this guy always dressed sharply in suit-like attire with a mask, maintaining a mysterious aura just by running his mouth.

In reality, isn't his actual combat ability quite negligible?

His subordinates might each be ridiculously strong, but that doesn't mean he himself is powerful.

After calculating in his head, Geum Dong-geun reached a conclusion.

"Yeah... honestly, I can take down someone like Egostic."

Filled with sudden confidence, he finally decided.

He would capture Egostic right here.

Since the guy probably had little actual combat ability, he could easily take him down with a surprise attack using his cutting-edge weapons.

After killing him first, he could somehow eliminate the other two while they were in shock.

"Damn it. I'll teach you a lesson."

With this determined mindset, Geum Dong-geun changed into his suit, gathered his weapons, and left his room through a secret passage.

One shot from behind with this gun, and no matter how great this Egostic was supposed to be, he'd be helpless...

After checking Egostic's position on the screen,

He predicted his route and hid beside the door of the room where Egostic would soon arrive, taking position through a secret passage.

After some time passed,

Finally, Egostic arrived in that room.

"Hmm... what's this place for?"

Hearing the voice in front of him,

Weapon Master quietly aimed his gun at Egostic.

A silenced explosive gun that he had modified himself.

One shot from this would instantly kill Egostic, who had no special abilities, dismembering his limbs before he even knew what happened.

'Die, you bastard.'

With an evil smile, he pulled the trigger while Egostic was off guard.

As the explosive bullet silently flew toward Egostic, and Weapon Master was certain of victory.

Screeeech.

The unexpected happened.

The moment he pulled the trigger and the bullet flew toward Egostic, something black suddenly rose from Egostic's body.

Like black liquid floating in the air, it spread widely between him and Egostic, catching the bullet with black tentacles.

Then came a "thud" sound as the bullet exploded.

But since the hideous black tentacles had already surrounded it, the explosion had no impact.

"Sh-shit, what is that?"

Faced with the eerily bizarre display of black tentacles, Weapon Master unconsciously slumped to the ground.

Egostic turned to look at him with a grin.

"Aha."

"There you are."

***

"Hmm..."

Looking at Weapon Master trembling and slumped before me, I couldn't help but grin.

Yeah. This bastard, I knew he'd do this.

Having read the original work and knowing his personality, I had been waiting for a while.

And sure enough, he came to attack me when I was alone.

Not knowing I had a secret weapon up my sleeve.

"Go, Behemoth."

I casually controlled my black tentacles that had blocked the explosion with a wave of my hand.

Our Behemoth. I'd obtained it from the Han Group's underground and had been keeping it like a bulletproof vest, not using it except when facing Stardust.

Or more precisely, I deliberately kept it off broadcasts. Why? Because it's always good to have a trump card.

That way, people like him let their guard down.

"Mmmmph!"

The Behemoth, made of black tentacles, wrapped around Weapon Master who was sprawled on the floor.

Soon he was dangling in the air like a cocoon wrapped in spider webs.

He seemed to be trying to say something, but already surrounded by sticky black tentacles, he couldn't speak properly.

"Mr. Geum Dong-geun... Mr. Geum Dong-geun. Nice to meet you. I'm Egostic."

"Mmmmph!"

"Yes, yes. You must feel frustrated and wronged. I understand."

Saying that, I pulled out the gun from my pocket.

Seeing it, he thrashed even more.

...It's funny. This guy who has already killed several people and will later massacre the people of Seoul is afraid of his own death?

Well, he was like that in the original work too. After killing thousands, he eventually dies at the hands of Stardust. He's also one of the few people Stardust ever killed.

Unlike other villains, he was rotten to the core from the beginning.

"Don't feel wronged, Mr. Geum Dong-geun... no, Weapon Master."

"Mmmmph!"

"You'll die eventually anyway. So, isn't dying early better for humanity and for yourself?"

"Mmph! Mmmmmmph!!!"

I watched him struggle in the black tentacles as I loaded my gun.

From the circumstances, he seemed to be begging for his life, but did he ever spare others?

"So, farewell."

"Mmmmph!!!"

With my final words, I aimed the gun at him.

Bang-.

"....."

Then, he stopped struggling.

"Phew..."

Still, I handled this pretty easily.

I sighed and put the gun back in my pocket.

It's fortunate I had a chance to stop this one, but I don't know what to do about villains whose names and hideouts I don't know.

...I guess developing Stardust and training other B-class ability users is the best solution.

"It's all done. You can come now."

After finishing up, I contacted the two.

Soon after, Eun-wol and Choi Se-hee came to where I was.

"Well done, Da-in oppa."

"Hmm..."

Eun-wol showed no particular reaction seeing the man bleeding and fallen. Unlike Choi Se-hee who was trembling slightly.

I guess she developed a tolerance while at the Moonlight Church.

"Well, now that we've dealt with him, let's just grab a few weapons from here, set off some fireworks, and leave."

The rest of the weapons will be taken by the Association.

And that's actually what I intended. Thinking about the latter part of the original work, it's not a bad thing for the Association to stockpile as many weapons as possible. Considering how chaotic things will get, it's better to prepare them in advance.

Thank you, Weapon Master. Your weapons that threatened the security of the Republic of Korea will now be used to protect it instead.

After a brief moment of silence for the weapon maker Weapon Master, we decided to take only a few of the most useful weapons. The looting time after defeating a boss is always the most enjoyable.

And before leaving, we'll set off a firework to reveal this location and then disappear.

The Association gets weapons, and I reinforce my title as a ruthless villain who doesn't hesitate to kill.

It'll be perfect for making Stardust's hostility toward me boil over. This kind of private punishment, especially murder. How much Stardust hates it.

Oh right, before leaving. If I'm going to draw aggro, I should do it properly.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

Choi Se-hee was horrified seeing me writing something with blood next to his corpse while wearing gloves.

"Just wait. This is kind of traditional."

I answered and started writing something with blood.

"To you... Star... dust..."

Good. It's done.

When she sees this, Stardust will be filled with anger again, right?

Perfect.

Satisfied with my writing, I set off a few fireworks on the mountain near the entrance and left the place.

***

To you, Stardust.

"...."

In an underground base somewhere in the mountains where Egostic committed his crime.

Stardust and Association employees descended into the ant-like tunnels.

While the employees were busy examining the scene and removing dangerous materials,

Stardust stood in front of the villain presumed killed by Egostic, looking down at the message written in blood beside it.

A message Egostic would have written.

A message he would have written for her.

Looking down at it,

Stardust, Shin Ha-ru, felt a strange emotion.

She had seen this message before.

A message Egostic had already written twice before she even knew him.

Clearly, when she saw it before, she was furious and despised Egostic, but.

"...To Stardust, huh."

For some reason,

This time, she felt none of those emotions.

"...Am I going crazy too?"

"And this victim also appears to be a villain. And these traces also... Huh?"

"Ah. It's nothing. Please continue explaining."

As she listened to the officer's explanation, she unconsciously muttered those words quietly to herself.