Chapter 193 - Dependence

The world of the original comic [Stardust!] is incredibly dark.

Almost all ability users become villains, and the country is half-devoured by corporate interests—it's a complete mess.

The power balance is also off, so no matter how much stronger the protagonist gets, the villains grow even faster, causing endless suffering for readers.

Yet why did devoted readers like myself continue to read this messed-up comic? Because we kept torturing ourselves with the hope that Stardust might eventually find happiness. Honestly, I didn't think the world could get any darker. In a setting already filled with villains slaughtering civilians with supernatural powers, how much darker could it possibly get?

And then, defying all our naive expectations, an exceptionally catastrophic event occurs.

The so-called end of Phase 2: the Moonlight Gate Incident.

Who are the Moonlight Cult?

In the original work, they're a villain organization that brought the Moon Priestess and half-destroyed Seoul. They're dedicated to summoning the Moon God back to this world by connecting our dimension with another.

And at the end of Phase 2, they finally succeed. They open a dimensional gate, a portal that ripples between the Republic of Korea and this world.

Wow. I'm already excited just thinking about seeing that dimensional gate in person.

"Shit..."

I muttered under my breath. Sigh... just thinking about it gives me a headache.

"Um, Teacher Da-in?"

"Hm?"

"We've finished, huff huff, our training."

"Oh, really?"

Hearing a voice from in front of me, I snapped out of my thoughts, removed the arm I'd been resting my chin on, and looked up.

What I saw was a red-haired woman dripping with sweat.

No. 3, also known as Red.

Behind her, I could see No. 2 and No. 4 sitting down and panting heavily. No. 1 was leaning against the wall trying to look composed, but his rough breathing revealed his exhaustion.

To Red, who was looking at me with sparkling eyes as if asking "Can we rest now?", I smiled sweetly and said:

"Yes. Let's do 100 more sets."

"No, please..."

"Yes."

And so they trained diligently afterward.

Right, thinking about the future already makes me dizzy. I need to train these kids thoroughly from now to prepare.

I followed them to give one-on-one feedback.

***

Who am I?

A skilled coach who has been coaching our Ego-stream members and has extensive experience training S-class villain abilities.

With my well-practiced expertise, I've been training our PMC members intensively for the past week. And I've been working them extremely hard.

I don't have many days where I can personally supervise them all day like this. The Ego-stream members are starting to get angry that their leader is absent because I'm giving intensive tutoring to the PMC kids.

In other words, this is precious time that was difficult to arrange.

As such, our PMC kids have no choice but to endure this compressed practical training...

With that in mind, I approached our No. 3, Red.

With her red hair, she was vigorously swinging a greatsword.

Actually, in the original work she fought with her fists, but now she's wielding a special greatsword made by Seo-eun on my recommendation.

If someone has overwhelmingly strong abilities like our Ego-stream members, they can be powerful just attacking directly, but if their abilities are mediocre, it's better to borrow the power of tools.

So there was Heo Da-hee... no, No. 3, swinging her flaming greatsword and taking down dummy monsters.

As I quietly approached her side, she turned her gaze to me.

"Now, focus and look ahead. Let's try fighting five at once."

"...Yes! Understood!"

She answered with fighting spirit.

Among the four PMC members, she was the most energetic, proving her claim that she enjoyed exercise. She was quite spirited.

However, her skills couldn't quite keep up with her enthusiasm, so I needed to keep guiding her direction.

"Don't swing like that. Hold your arm like this and do it. Look."

"Ugh... okay."

Growing more frustrated, I stood behind her, held her arms, and guided her sword motion. Her ears turned slightly red as she responded.

"Is this right?"

"Oh, good! Let's keep going like this!"

"Yes!"

"Wow, I think our No. 3 is improving the fastest! A little more and you'll be flying around!"

"Haha, you think so?"

When I said that, she swung her sword even more enthusiastically, clearly excited.

After giving plenty of feedback, it's important to praise like this—the carrot and stick strategy.

After checking on Red, I went to see Yellow.

She had dull, somewhat dark beige-yellow hair and was shooting a bow.

"Doing well?"

"...Yes, I think my record is better than before."

She sighed and refocused on her bowstring.

No. 2. Yellow. She has a somewhat prickly personality.

...Of course, after spending a week together and even becoming friends with Seo-eun, who had not only a prickly personality but also androphobia, it wasn't difficult for me to become friends with Yellow.

"Yes. When you shoot, aim as if you're targeting the head... right, that's it."

"Hmph. Not bad, right? Better than before."

"Yeah, you've improved so much in just a week."

After saying similar encouraging words and gently coaxing our bow-wielding Yellow, I also helped the weakest No. 4, and then headed toward No. 1, our swordsman.

"...Right. That's it."

"Yes."

Our No. 1, who had been listening carefully to my instructions and learning diligently since day one. With his gray hair.

He was flying around like the wind, swinging his sword, and it wasn't bad at all.

After several hours of defeating hundreds of training robots made by Seo-eun, we finally finished training. I had the kids shower, and then we gathered in the dining hall.

"Ugh... I'm starving."

"Me too."

The kids were chatting as they walked, their awkwardness having dissipated after a week together.

In the spacious white dining hall, chefs had already prepared the food.

When you train all day, you need delicious food to keep your energy up.

"Thank you for the meal~"

"Oh, this is delicious."

"Hmm..."

Watching them eat with expressions of delight, I joined in the conversation while eating.

...In this way, I've been spending all my time with these four lately. The reason is obviously to make them stronger through training quickly, but... also to help them become friends with each other.

Friendship. This is more important than anything in maintaining an organization. Once people get attached to each other, it's usually hard for them to separate. Just as I created a strong, cohesive organization by living with the Ego-stream members like family, these four need to develop the same bond.

And of course, if only the four of them became close, they might all escape together—which would be disastrous—so it was extremely important for them to become close to me as well. They need to trust and follow me for this Ego-squad... Yu-seong PMC to be maintained.

So I deliberately took charge of each one, counseled them about their worries, gave them life advice and encouragement. Training is good, but the top priority is building relationships. Making them trust and follow me!

"Alright, if you've finished eating, let's get back to training!"

"Nooo... let's rest a little longer."

"Hmm, should we rest for five more minutes then?"

"Yesss~"

After eating and finishing the rest of the training in the evening, I gathered the kids and spoke to them from a small podium. I told them that the world would become more chaotic, and their strength would be needed to prevent disaster.

The reason the chairman of the Yu-seong Group created this PMC and invested enormous capital in raising them is because heroes aren't enough—they need to become vigilantes to protect this world together.

Although I was exaggerating a bit, the kids all took it seriously. Yes, setting clear goals is important for sustaining an organization.

And so.

Time passed.

Since most of them had just become adults, they still had immature aspects—sometimes they would get sad or fight over trivial things... but with my encouragement and support, they all improved a lot and sometimes even grew.

The fact that they applied to this PMC already suggested it, but they were all kids without parents, living without anyone on their side. Especially, though they all pretended to be fine on the outside, they were psychologically unstable.

So I comforted them on that point, occasionally. Recalling what I had studied to become a teacher in my previous world.

Of course, it took some time. I needed to become completely close with the kids, and they needed to open up to me about their deepest thoughts.

So while training and developing their abilities, I helped the four kids become friends with each other and addressed their emotional instability issues.

"...I see. That must have been really hard for you."

In the dark night.

No. 1 confessed to me, as if exhaling a held breath, about his life as an organization's hunting dog, eliminating people.

No. 2, who became prickly and defensive after being pointed at as a monster when she accidentally hurt a girl who bullied her at school with her ability.

No. 3, who, with her usual smiling face, bitterly shared the memory of watching her parents die before her eyes.

And No. 4, who told me about his past of barely scraping by day to day without money.

To those who painfully shared their pasts with me, all I could do was hold their hands and tell them that everything was okay now, that we were together.

In this way, I devoted nearly two full months to raising our PMC kids. Fortunately, thanks to my efforts, the kids improved considerably in a short time and became much closer to each other. It was worth taking them to places like movie theaters and amusement parks on weekends, despite the ability loss. Additionally, they all came to trust and rely on me a lot.

As the two months were coming to an end.

Looking at them, much stronger and closer than before, I nodded. Yes, this should be enough. I've done my part. They should be able to manage on their own now. Maybe I only need to visit a few times a month?

With that in mind, on Friday evening.

I called the kids back to the room.

"Teacher~ Let's all go see this movie this weekend! I heard a film called 'The Last Dance' just opened!"

"Oh, sounds fun. What's it about?"

"...Hmm, wouldn't it be better to train instead?"

"Ugh, Lee Se-geom... you like training too much. Rather, Da-in oppa... Teacher, they say there'll be fireworks, how about going to the Han River?"

Thinking I called them to discuss where to go for the weekend, they were chatting excitedly.

...Well, no, kids. I'm here to tell you I'm leaving.

But I guess it doesn't matter much since they can go without me?

So, in front of the expectant children, I delivered my prepared speech.

"In the past two months, you've grown a lot. Enough to do without me."

"So I'm going to leave now. Starting tomorrow."

"I won't be staying here anymore... but much more excellent supervisors will take my place, so don't worry. I'll still come by occasionally to see how you're doing."

"Thank you for following my instructions so well until now, kids."

I smiled and gave my final greeting.

The PMC children I'd spent a full two months with. It was actually fun. It was quite enjoyable to help them grow since they were all so weak.

But my true identity is still the villain Egostic, isn't it? I need to plan the next terror attack with Stardust soon, and I need to appease our Ego-stream members who are upset because I've been away from home so much. I have a lot to do.

While thinking about the future, I failed to notice.

The moment I said goodbye, the kids' expressions instantly turned to shock.

After my farewell, I heard someone murmur.

"...Teacher Da-in, are you abandoning us?"

"...Huh? No, that's not it..."

At some point, No. 2 had lowered her head, hiding her face with her long yellow hair.

Then she flashed a dangerous light in her eyes and lunged at me.

"Where do you think you're going! You can't leave! Teacher will be with us forever!"

"That's right... Teacher Da-in, your home is here..."

Looking at the kids glaring at me with flashing eyes, and No. 2 grabbing my leg.

I quietly thought to myself.

...Hmm, maybe something went wrong?

***

At that moment, at the Ego-stream headquarters main house.

Seo-eun, sitting at the dining table looking at the clock, muttered with slight anxiety.

"...Oppa said he'd come today. Why hasn't he contacted us?"

"I know..."

While the Ego-stream members were worrying.

They didn't know.

That Da-in was doing his best to comfort the crying children...