Chapter 161 - Harvest

# Kathedal.

An assembly of S-rank villains, a gathering of the world's most powerful criminals who operate on a global scale.

After returning from there, I was back in the familiar comfort of Korea, sprawled across the sofa in my beloved home.

"Ughh..."

Yes, this is it.

There's really no place like home, nothing beats home.

"Da-in, here you go."

"Ah, thank you, Su-bin."

I took a satisfied sigh as I sipped the warm chamomile tea Su-bin had prepared for me.

This is what life's about. Perhaps happiness isn't so far away after all? It's always when you've been struggling out there that you truly appreciate coming home.

"Oppa. So what happened?"

"About what?"

"About meeting those other villains this time. Was everything okay?"

I pondered Seo-eun's question from beside me.

Was everything okay? Yeah, it was fine. Nothing much happened except putting a communist who'll be dead in three months in his place when he tried to pick a fight.

"Hmm..."

...That's not a big deal, right?

Anyway, I didn't want to worry them unnecessarily, so I just answered that nothing special happened. In reality, it was nothing compared to what I'll be doing next.

Only after reassuring Seo-eun and our Ego-stream members did I feel comfortable enough to savor my tea again.

"..."

Warm sunlight streamed through the large living room window.

Basking lazily in the sunshine while taking sips of tea, I reflected once more on the recent meeting.

Kathedal, a villain conference led by Celeste, one of the world's top-tier villains.

Being the first day, not much was discussed, but...

'...Certainly, they're all powerful.'

Well, I already knew about their abilities from the original work, so nothing was particularly new, but there's a difference between knowing something conceptually and experiencing it firsthand.

That unmistakable aura they exuded just by being present.

Until now, I'd only been in Korea, so I hadn't fully realized how chaotic things were abroad, but just seeing this conference gave me a good idea.

Of course, just as they have many S-rank villains, they also have a corresponding number of heroes maintaining some semblance of power balance. The difference between Korea, which doesn't have a single S-rank hero, and America, which has dozens, is stark.

Especially Celeste. As mentioned in the original work, she's simply in a different league. Dressed in white nun's clothing with a veil faintly covering her eyes, she looked so sacred and holy that she could pass for a hero. In reality, she's the villain the Association considers most dangerous.

Of course, the other villains were also formidable, just less so compared to her. Do all powerful people naturally exude such intimidating auras? Well, even Uncle Atlas was overwhelming at first.

...But that's not what's important.

What matters is how I behave at Kathedal, this gathering of representative S-rank villains.

"...Hmm."

I took another sip of tea and sank into thought.

I have to acknowledge the truth.

Among them, I'm the weakest.

I wasn't even officially invited—I barely got in by using Atlas.

'...Probably, no one will pay attention to me.'

They might be slightly curious about my friendship with Atlas.

Beyond that, they'll likely lose interest quickly. Especially Celeste... although she invited me at Atlas's suggestion, she might be displeased. Wondering why someone so weak is here. She didn't even give me an invitation letter, saying it wasn't enough, so I came with Atlas.

"In other words, no one cares about me yet."

I muttered to myself.

Yes, that's the fact. Having met all kinds of ability users, the other villains probably won't have much interest in me, a mere A-rank.

And I'm going to use this to my advantage.

Their lack of interest means they won't be wary of me and won't have information about me. Korea is somewhat disconnected from mainstream criminal organizations in the hero-villain society, so there's little information to begin with.

So my goal is simple.

To slowly, gradually consume the villain conference, Kathedal.

What I have that compensates for my inferiority to them is information and knowledge of the future.

And these are the best tools to make me, a nobody, appear more dangerous than anyone else.

A few words are the only way to manipulate those flying S-rank villains.

And it starts with causing the untimely death of Hitchikan from Germany.

In truth, he would die anyway without my involvement, but how would they know that? Some will certainly suspect I had something to do with it.

And I'll use that suspicion to my advantage. Being A-rank could work in my favor. The fact that Celeste invited an A-rank to this gathering might suggest I have some extraordinary ability—well, they don't know I got in through Atlas's influence.

...None of this will happen overnight.

Slowly, like clothes getting wet in drizzle. They'll eventually realize something is strange.

"..."

So I sat on the sofa with my legs crossed for a while, planning my approach to Kathedal.

With Atlas already on my side, building a faction around him wouldn't be bad. It would be good to draw in Chinese and Japanese villains too if possible. Celeste won't pay attention to me for a while, so no need to worry about her... The International Hero Association Director will obtain the list of Kathedal participants, but according to the original work, that shouldn't be a problem...

After thinking about this and that for a long time, I noticed my cup was empty and paused.

Time had passed so quickly.

...Actually, this wasn't something to worry about right now. There were still four months until the next meeting.

Lost in thought and then returning to reality, I suddenly looked ahead and made eye contact with Seo Ja-young sitting below.

"...?"

"Are you done?"

She asked me with a blank stare.

As I was wondering what she meant, Seo Ja-young smiled and said:

"No... you were muttering to yourself, and I found it amusing. Are you finished thinking now?"

"...Um. Yes."

After clearing my throat and answering, Seo Ja-young smiled even more deeply.

I didn't realize someone was watching.

Seo Ja-young often blends in with the living room floor, so sometimes I forget she's there even when we're together.

"Hmm..."

Her purple hair glistening in the sunlight.

With eyes as mysterious as when I first saw her, making it impossible to know what she's thinking. She asked me:

"So... what were you thinking about?"

"Just, you know. Work stuff. How to handle things at the villain conference from now on... things like that."

"I see..."

Hearing my answer, Seo Ja-young seemed to lose interest quickly and went back to rolling around with her head resting on the floor.

It felt like she wanted to say something more but hesitated at the last moment, but maybe that was just my imagination?

Anyway, after putting away my cup, I fell into thought again.

Hmm. What should I do next?

Since I recently carried out a terrorist attack, that's taken care of... maybe prepare for the PMC... there shouldn't be much happening for a while.

Having reached that conclusion, I decided to go down to the basement where Seo-eun was.

She's been working hard, insisting she can really beat Stardust this time. I wonder how it's going.

I know Eun-wol and Se-hee are helping too. I should show my face.

With such leisurely thoughts, I went downstairs.

Yes, let's take a break this time. Hang out with the kids. They were singing about wanting to go to an amusement park recently, maybe I should take them to a resort. Choi Se-hee and Su-bin seemed to be looking forward to it too.

I went downstairs with these carefree thoughts.

...I'm a bit worried about Stardust, but other than that, there shouldn't be any problems.

Nothing special will happen for a while. Yeah.

***

At the International Hero Association headquarters in the United States.

The woman sitting in the Director's office slowly looked at the document in her hand.

"..."

A list of participants in the villain conference led by Celeste, the International Association's main enemy.

She had obtained the list of those who attended the meeting.

...And as expected, all the individuals she had anticipated were included.

"...As I thought."

The Director murmured quietly.

It was as previously disclosed. No major changes.

What should be done about this?

Dark circles under her eyes from overwork. Pressing them firmly, the Association Director thought quietly. Since this was expected and interfering would only cause trouble, she decided to let it go for now.

There wasn't much she could do immediately, and it was just the usual famous villains gathered together, nothing special. The issue was what they might do... but dealing with that after the fact would be the best approach.

As she sighed and continued reading the document, she suddenly paused at one name.

"Wait... Egostic?"

Who was this again?

Quickly recalling, she remembered he was an A-rank villain operating in Korea. The Korean villain who had made a pact with Atlas recently.

"...An A-rank is mixed in here?"

She tilted her head in confusion.

It was strange because except for Egostic, everyone else was an S-rank villain leader causing global chaos, but he was just an A-rank villain active only in Korea.

Feeling something odd, she took some time to carefully read the information about Egostic stored in the Association database.

After some time, she seemed to reach a decision and picked up the phone to call somewhere.

"...Hey, Director. Send up any S-rank hero who's free right now."

Looks like she needs to send someone on a business trip.