Chapter 235 - Prelude To Catastrophe

# Republic of Korea's power is divided into two axes.

The powerful central government where legislative, judicial, and executive branches are all merged together.

And the Association, which commands heroes responsible for the nation's force, essentially operating with extraterritorial rights. These two form the center of power.

And the supreme commander of that Association, Director Park Jun-ho, who has been in power the longest in the Republic of Korea.

In the Director's office on the top floor of the Association headquarters in the Republic of Korea.

"..."

The Director was scratching his empty head, looking at the space under his desk with a serious expression.

"Hmm..."

After much deliberation, he made his decision.

The Director then called his secretary into his room with a stern face.

"Secretary."

"Yes, Director."

To the secretary who entered, he spoke with a solemn expression.

"...For today's lunch. Let's go with jajangmyeon."

The question was whether to have jjamppong or jajangmyeon, but he decided on jajangmyeon today.

It was a wise conclusion after much contemplation.

He enjoyed the delivered jajangmyeon deliciously.

Then, rubbing his stomach, he yawned briefly.

"Hmm... peaceful."

The Director sat on the guest sofa in his room and muttered those words.

...In reality, the Republic of Korea wasn't very peaceful, but most issues were resolved the moment they were reported to him because Stardust tore through them all. Additionally, a villain named Egostic occasionally caught other villains on his own, which helped even more.

Of course, the media would stir at the appearance of villains, but lately even the press has been quiet. Moreover, the president who usually bothered him lost public support after firing missiles at Stardust and eventually retired, making the situation quite peaceful.

Since then, the government has been running smoothly, and heroes have been catching villains on their own, so the Director only needed to focus on his own duties. Of course, when the demon-king type villain called Demons appeared, he truly thought the country was doomed, but fortunately they managed to overcome that crisis.

Since then, nothing of that scale had occurred, which made the Director very satisfied. He was even starting to doze off in his chair, using the TV sound from one side as white noise.

And just as he was about to fall asleep.

"Director, there's an emergency!"

"Hmm? cough Ahem. Um, what's the matter?"

"Something huge has appeared in the sky over eastern Seoul right now!"

...That was until his secretary rushed in with an urgent expression.

And right on cue, the live footage appearing on the TV with a "LIVE" indicator.

[Breaking news! A large disc-shaped object has appeared over downtown Seoul, causing a sensation! This object, which looks like a portal from a video game, is currently floating without incident... Aah! Something just came out as I was speaking!]

As something bizarre with swirling black and purple colors appeared against the blue sky background.

Watching as a grotesquely shaped monster fell out with a thud.

The Director unconsciously slapped his broad forehead.

"...Call Stardust. Right now."

...It seems leaving work early today is out of the question.

***

A peaceful lunch.

I was sitting in the living room, focused on watching TV.

"..."

[Yes! This appears to match what's known as a 'portal' first discovered in France. The monster that emerged from here is currently engaged in fierce battle with nearby B-rank heroes...]

Behind the anchor's earnest explanation was a circular dimensional rift that looked like dark purple smoke. The so-called Gate.

This is surely a test opening by the Moon Light Cult.

"...A bit early."

Looking at it, I muttered to myself without realizing.

They're preparing faster than in the original work. If I remember correctly, the first test Gate in Korea wasn't supposed to open until a few months later.

This probably means the Moon Light Cult is researching much faster than in the original work.

I thought this while watching the Gate spinning darkly in the air, emitting ominous energy.

[Yes! Stardust has finally arrived and taken out the monster with a single blow! Oh...! As I speak, the portal is disappearing.]

And on the other side of the screen, after what appears to be Stardust arrived flying through the sky.

The Gate quietly disappeared from the air after the monster was caught.

...As expected, most monsters that come out of those Gates are weaker than you'd think. B-rank heroes can hold their own against them, and someone like Stardust can handle them with just a few punches.

The problem, however, is that thousands, tens of thousands of these will appear across the country in the future. Simultaneously.

"..."

The Moon Light Cult's Gate formula is more intricate and vicious than one might think.

As their goal is the complete extinction of humanity, they've programmed a specific code into the formula that creates these monster-spawning Gates.

The code makes it so that the more densely populated an area is, the exponentially higher the probability of a Gate opening there.

This means major cities have frighteningly high chances of Gate generation. The formula itself is structured to prioritize areas with the 'highest' population density relative to their size, with a cascading distribution pattern. In other words, it's maliciously designed to maximize casualties.

There's a reason why most countries collapse after the Moon Light Cult incident, and the genre shifts to something closer to apocalyptic. Suddenly having hundreds of thousands of B-rank level monsters rushing into cities at once? No matter what heroes you bring, it's impossible to protect everyone. Most of them, at least.

Our country in particular, being the home base of the Moon Light Cult, seems to get some kind of home team bonus where we get more Gates despite having a smaller population. This means we're basically on the brink of extinction. If it weren't for Lee Seol-ah gathering people in shelters and Stardust fighting desperately, it would have been a total annihilation ending. Not even Shadow Walker's attacks could stop anything.

On top of that, these Gates don't just appear once and disappear. They keep appearing in new locations every week, every month. It's like an endless monster refill.

In other words, as everyone says, the Moon Light Cult event truly divides the original comic into before and after. Before, it was a gritty hero story; after, it's just an apocalyptic wasteland? The government collapses from the start. The Association becomes the provisional government.

'...Of course.'

I have no intention of letting this world flow in that direction.

What, a wasteland? After all the suffering I've gone through to prevent Stardust from becoming miserable, they want me to give up? No way. That's why I've been preparing everything to prevent this event. From recruiting Eun-wol to developing the PMC.

The Moon Light Cult leader and the cult itself. Though based in the Republic of Korea, their headquarters is somewhere in the dimensional rift. That's why those who aren't part of the Moon Light Cult can't find it even if they want to. They'd just become dimensional strays. Me included.

...Of course, it might be possible if I really tried.

If I overworked Eun-wol and borrowed the Vine Witch's power, somehow I might be able to break through and enter, though with risks.

But there's no need for that.

Even if the Moon Light Cult doesn't open Gates with precise formulas, according to the original setting, the dimensional rift is already weakening. This means that even if the cult leader doesn't open it now, monsters will eventually pour out from another dimension. In other words, it's better to face a known threat than to be caught off guard by a random one.

Plus.

"..."

According to my plan, the Moon Light Cult is actually essential to stopping this incident.

So for now, I can only wait for that day.

"...It's really not far off now."

I muttered to myself without realizing.

When I first planned, it was supposed to be 5 years away so I was relieved, but how did it come right before our eyes so quickly?

Of course, during that time Stardust has become overwhelmingly strong, and I've gathered the Ego-stream and Ego-squad... well, I guess that's that.

'...Yes. If we can just overcome this calamity, we can finally catch our breath.'

If I want to retire someday, it's important to safely overcome this disaster first.

Although I've planned things out fairly well...

Still, I can't prevent all monsters from spreading across Korea. Maybe not tens of thousands like in the original work, but at least hundreds will continue to appear periodically. Some level of danger will exist.

I've formed the PMC for this purpose, but it's obviously not enough.

We need national-level preparations.

Of course, the government side is fine with Lee Seol-ah as the power player, but the problem is the Association that oversees military force. Their cooperation is needed for perfect preparation.

Yes.

For that reason, I made a decision.

"I'm going to visit the Association tomorrow."

"...Huh?"

"What?"

At dinner time.

In that gathering of everyone, I announced it.

That I would be visiting the Association.

"...Da-in, are you... are you planning to turn yourself in?"

"...What are you talking about? Of course not."

"Ah! Oppa, are you going to see Stardust..."

"I don't know what you're thinking, but no."

As the atmosphere at the table suddenly became strange, I cleared the air and got straight to the point.

"Tomorrow, I'm going to meet the Director."

"...What?"

***

"...My head hurts..."

In the morning, at the Director's office on the top floor of the Association.

The Director scratched his head while looking down at some papers and muttered.

"What kind of portal is this... Sigh, should we name it the S-rank villain Portal Maker?"

As the portal phenomenon that first occurred in France happened in the Republic of Korea, it was presumed that a villain with this ability had entered the country.

While the Director was racking his barely functioning brain to uncover the identity, from behind him.

Suddenly, a man's voice was heard.

"Hello, Director."

"...Hmm? Who is it?"

When he looked up to see who had come, the door in front was still firmly closed.

...Only then did the Director realize that the voice had come from behind him.

As soon as he noticed this fact and turned his head around.

"Pleased to meet you. I am Egostic."

A man wearing a half-mask and a black hat in familiar clothing.

Egostic was standing there with the corner of his mouth turned up.

...The Director nearly fainted.