Chapter 234 - Faith

"...Da-in teacher. You're Egostic, right?"

PMC.

The PMC members I gathered, all ability users...

They all looked at me while No. 1 said this to me with a serious expression.

As soon as I heard those words,

Without changing my expression, I answered in an indifferent voice.

"What are you talking about? Don't say such nonsense."

"Teacher. We all know already."

"..."

And at that moment.

In what felt like time had almost stopped, my mind began racing.

'...No. How did they find out?'

I tried not to do anything that would make them associate me with Egostic. I never even showed them my main abilities like teleportation and psychokinesis.

But looking at their expressions now, they don't seem to be just taking a shot in the dark. They look genuinely serious, speaking with certainty. And seeing all four of them with tense faces, it seems they've already discussed this among themselves.

...I guess I have to accept that my identity has been exposed.

I don't know how they found out, but since they did, I need to think of a plan.

So I prepared myself to teleport at any moment and started considering all my contingency plans from A to E that I had prepared for such emergencies.

In just a few seconds, countless plans flashed through my mind and disappeared.

Finally, I made a decision.

...Alright, this is what I'll do.

Just as I was about to put my decision into action.

Perhaps noticing something in my expression,

Seo Chae-young, one of the PMC ability users, shouted with an urgent expression.

"Wait! We don't care at all. Whether Da-in teacher is Egostic or whatever!"

"...?"

"That's right."

The blue-haired ability user, San Soo-ah, nodded beside her.

"Whether you're a villain or a hero... we don't care at all."

Then, Lee Se-geom spoke up as well.

"We've already decided to follow you as our master. Would we betray you for such a trivial reason?"

"That's right!"

Heo Da-hee raised her hand and chimed in.

"We just don't want you to hide things from us. Whatever you do, we'll follow you."

As I listened to the words of the disciples I had personally trained,

I quietly thought to myself.

'.....'

...Well, based on my experience as a first-class villain,

This doesn't seem like the kind of atmosphere where they'd suddenly say "Just kidding!" and attack me.

I did consider whether this might be a diversionary tactic planned with Stardust to make me let my guard down and capture me... but I can think about that later. In any case, I have teleportation, an escape-specialized ability.

After completing my strategic assessment,

With a small sigh,

I cleanly admitted to the kids.

"Yes... I am Egostic."

To my shocking confession, their reactions were:

"Hmm, as expected."

"Yes. We knew it."

They all nodded as if they'd heard something obvious.

...Wow, they're really accepting this easily.

Anyway, the atmosphere doesn't seem aggressive toward me at all. It seems the strong bond between us as master and disciples remains unbroken, whether I'm a villain or not. I'm proud of you, my disciples...!

As I was feeling moved by myself,

Seo Chae-young grinned and said with narrowed eyes.

"Well... that's settled. Now you need to explain everything to us, right? Everything."

Ah.

...Looking around, everyone was smiling, but I could feel the pressure of them wanting an explanation quickly.

Well. This is trouble.

***

I had many conversations with the kids.

What was confirmed was that they had absolutely no intention of betraying me.

No, literally none at all. I kept being cautious in case they might turn on me, but they were sincere. They said with all the bonds and gratitude we've built, they wouldn't do that for such a trivial reason.

...Actually, that was even stranger. I mean, I thought I gave them thorough hero education, so why... I guess my ideological education didn't mean much. Or maybe they've just grown that attached to me.

Anyway, what I was most curious about was how they discovered my identity. I had taken so many precautions to avoid being exposed. I avoided any mentions or even small details related to it, so how did they figure it out?

When I asked about it, No. 1's answer was simple.

"Master, you like Stardust, right?"

"...Yes. As a hero. So?"

"Well, Egostic also likes Stardust, so that's where we started."

"....?"

No. 1 said this matter-of-factly, as if stating the obvious.

A dozen rebuttals came to mind, but I just gave up.

No, how could they conclude I like Stardust just from what they've seen? The evil villain Egostic considers Stardust his arch-nemesis!... Isn't that how it looks no matter how you see it? I guess this was a case of a cow stepping backward and accidentally stepping on a mouse.

Anyway, I'd heard enough from the kids.

After hours of conversation, fully understanding that they trusted me, I finally told them some things.

...Turning crisis into opportunity. I also had the idea of fully integrating our PMC members into the Ego-squad.

Well, I didn't tell them that much.

Just that I'm actually operating as the villain Egostic to save the world... something like that?

"As expected. I knew it."

No. 1 nodded at my words.

...Hmm, just a moment ago they were saying they'd follow me even though I'm a villain. Did they really know all along...?

Anyway, the only reason I honestly revealed all this to them was one thing:

To clearly let them know their purpose.

"...A great calamity will come soon. Monsters will pour out."

"When that happens, Stardust and the Association's forces alone won't be able to cover the entire country. Many places will be damaged... and the country will fall into chaos."

"When that day comes, I'll need your help."

To my honest words,

Everyone nodded with serious faces, understanding.

"But Da-in teacher! I have a question!"

"Yes. Go ahead."

"Can the four of us really handle that...?"

Heo Da-hee, who had confidently raised her hand earlier, now mumbled in a slightly quieter voice.

I told her what was coming next, as if she had asked just the right question.

"Right. That's what I was about to tell you... We'll be recruiting more juniors soon. Many more."

"...What?"

"And you'll need to train and raise them. Well, the second batch will be about ten people? They'll all be weaker than you."

Yes. This is exactly the hero multi-level structure I planned.

I train 4 ability users. Then those 4 train 10 more. Then those 10 train 20 more... and so on down the line. Then suddenly, ta-da! A hero army is complete!

It's my grand plan for an almost automated ability user production factory. Why else would I teach the kids how to train other ability users? It's all part of the bigger picture.

"Kids. Can you do it well?"

"Um... yes. Maybe...?"

They all hesitate since it's their first time teaching someone, but they still try to show fighting spirit. I explained that they just need to help as seniors, not as teachers. I'll handle the hero ideology education myself. ...Though it does seem odd that the first batch I already educated is now working under a villain.

We continued talking about many more things.

...Until late into the night.

***

"Whew..."

Home.

Leaning back in my chair, I let out a deep sigh.

The PMC situation was somehow resolved well. When the kids said "You're Egostic, right?" my heart really skipped a beat, but thankfully it all worked out somehow.

...Indeed, I'm glad I built strong bonds with our PMC kids. No, I shouldn't call them PMC anymore. I should call them Ego-squad.

Yes. The kids strongly requested it first. They asked to be called Ego-squad, not Yu-seong squad. Since they work under Egostic. Actually, the kids are more familiar with me as Da-in than as Egostic... Well. It's what they want. And it's a more affectionate name with a clearer sense of belonging than PMC.

...I need to be more careful from now on.

Anyway, as I was thinking about this, I considered the future.

It's really not long now. Until gates open in the sky and monsters pour out. Even if I can block some of it, there will definitely be limits. Just looking at the numbers, tens of thousands of B-class villains will be running around in a single night—if that's not a disaster, what is? Truly befitting the final boss of the Phase.

Actually, this is treated as one of the main events because it's a hero comic, but in another type of comic, this could have been the central theme. An army of alien life forms invading from space, humanity's battle against them. Ugh.

Anyway, I've digressed too much. What's the conclusion?

Just me and the Ego-squad. These two alone aren't enough to prepare for this.

Especially since the Moonlight Cult is performing the gate ritual in our country, making it the most chaotic place, this is even more important.

'...Who knows my identity right now?'

First, our Ego-stream members obviously know. Lee Seol-ah knows too. Even Shadow Walker roughly knows. Atlas, Katana, and other villain colleagues know as well. And now the Ego-squad kids all know too.

The villains around me, and basically all of Korea's A-class heroes except Stardust know my identity.

...Is this right? Well, as long as the most important one, Stardust, doesn't know, I guess it's fine.

Anyway, after much deliberation,

I came to a conclusion.

"Right."

Since my identity is already spread around anyway,

Later, I'll have to bribe the Director too.

And so began the collusion between the Hero Association and villain organizations.