Chapter 237 - Adult

After meeting with the Director.

I was lost in thought for a while in my room.

"..."

Actually, everything went well. It went well, but...

How should I put it? I felt uneasy. The problem was that things went too smoothly. The Director believed what I said right away.

I was a bit taken aback by that, but anyway.

Thinking about how the Director acted in the original story, it made sense. He's just a bit simple-minded...

Still, he definitely wasn't a bad person. The fact that he's managed to keep the Director position for so long, when others were replaced annually, proves he's capable. Even if he seems quite incompetent on the surface.

'...Anyway, he might not completely trust me yet.'

But he seemed to clearly understand my warning about the approaching danger.

Yeah, that's enough. The Director is doing his part just by doing that much. The Association's cooperation is essential to stop the Moon Light Cult.

By the way, that very day, I called Lee Seol-ah and told her about it.

[Yes, Da-in. So you finally made contact with the Director?]

"Yeah. I managed to get some cooperation from him."

[That's good. Well, it makes sense with the Director. I should talk to him separately too. But...]

"Hm?"

[Da-in. How much did you tell him? We need to coordinate our stories.]

When Lee Seol-ah asked that, I answered honestly.

"Well... basically that I'm working for the country, and that I caused the terrorist incident to develop Stardust?"

[...You told him quite a lot. Then what about me?]

"Oh, I mentioned you too. I just said we know each other... that's all I told him. That we're on the same side."

[Hmm....]

After thinking quietly for a moment, Lee Seol-ah organized her thoughts and spoke.

[Then... I'll just say that after coincidentally meeting Egostic, I thought he wasn't a bad person, and that we're just somewhat acquainted. I'll keep it at that. For now, I can't fully trust the Director...]

"Right. Let's go with that for now."

...I only told him that I knew Icicle, and he reacted that way. I can't imagine how he would react if he knew we'd eaten together, had drinks, and even staged a terrorist attack together.

Plus, Lee Seol-ah has passed quite a lot of confidential Association information to me.

[Okay. Now, about the other matters...]

We continued discussing various business matters before ending the call. Since it was difficult to talk over the phone, we agreed to meet in person soon for a meal, as Lee Seol-ah suggested.

Phew.

Doing all this really makes me feel like I'm moving forward.

I left my room with that thought.

...I have mixed feelings. I wonder if I can really do this well.

Well, there's still some time, so I shouldn't worry too much now.

The plan is progressing steadily anyway.

When I returned to the living room...

"...Hm?"

I found Han Seo-eun intensely focused on something.

She was typing away at her laptop, completely absorbed in whatever she was doing.

It was quite unexpected to see her alone like this, especially since Eun-wol, Choi Se-hee, and even Seo Ja-young had all gone downstairs to train or do something.

"Seo-eun, what are you doing?"

"Oh, oppa. Just a moment."

Without even looking at me, she continued typing intently.

I stood behind her and watched what she was doing.

From what I could see, she seemed to be doing some kind of coding for something she was creating. Looks like she's making something again.

After patting her head while she worked diligently, I sat on the sofa and turned on the news channel. Immediately, a story caught my attention.

It was about a Moon Light Cult gate that had appeared in Korea, and they were covering international reactions to it.

[While most experts consider it simply the work of villains, some are wondering if this is an ominous sign. They point to its unprecedented form and the fact that similar gates are appearing in countries around the world...]

Behind the reporter's words, I could see a dark blue, rippling portal-like structure.

I guess it is strange that monsters are coming out of something like that. But the world has become so strange that people aren't paying enough attention.

In reality, even those who think it's ominous probably can't imagine that these gates will soon appear densely in every major city worldwide, pouring out hundreds of thousands of monsters and leading humanity to extinction.

...Right, I should start leaking information to Kathedal soon. The gathering day is approaching. Though I think there might be something more important happening around that time.

As for our country, well. I'm here, Lee Seol-ah is here, the PMC is here, Stardust is here...

As I unconsciously thought about Stardust, I suddenly remembered the letter I left for her during the Scream Maker incident.

"..."

...Why did I do that?

The more time passes, the more I wonder why I wrote that. According to my excellent intuition, there's a 99% chance that Stardust read it, frowned, and tore it to pieces. Fortunately, since it wasn't handed over to the Association, she probably tore it up or burned it.

While I was thinking about this while watching TV...

"...And with this, I'm done!"

I heard Seo-eun's proud voice from beside me.

"You finished?"

"Yes. Whew, that was hard..."

"Good job."

I patted Seo-eun's head as she lay slumped over her laptop, as a gesture of encouragement.

"Hehehe..."

She seemed to enjoy it, staying in that position for a while as I patted her.

"Wait! Hold on!"

Suddenly, she jerked her head up.

Then, looking me in the eyes, she said:

"Oppa. You don't need to pat me anymore."

"Hm? You don't like it?"

"No... that's not it. Ahem, I'm going to be an adult in a few months. So I should act more mature!"

She put her hands on her hips as she said this to me.

...Somehow, she seemed increasingly concerned about becoming an adult. But isn't she already free from the restrictions that minors face? She's practically no different from an adult already, so I don't understand why she thinks it's so important.

But well, if that's what she wants.

"Right. Our Seo-eun is becoming an adult now. I understand. I won't do it anymore."

"That's right, I'm an adult! But, um... ahem. Maybe occasionally it would be okay?"

After my quick response, she added with an ambiguous smile.

...Just say what you really mean, Seo-eun...!

She's already grown taller since we first met and has become much more mature, but to my eyes, she still looks like the same Seo-eun from before. Well, not exactly the same as when we first met—that Seo-eun was a bit scary...

While I was thinking about this, Seo-eun suddenly grabbed my hand.

"That's right, oppa. It's almost complete. I have something to show you. Come with me!"

"Huh?"

And so I was dragged to the basement by the suddenly excited Seo-eun.

We arrived at the bottom floor in no time.

"What's this all about, Seo-eun?"

"What else? My new Star Buster 5 is complete!"

She added with a smile that she'd been waiting in the living room to show me this.

...Oh, she definitely looked confident this time. Well, Seo-eun's technical skills have been improving steadily. She's almost reached her peak now. Remember when we broke into the Director's office? Seo-eun temporarily shut down the Association's security network. Considering that in the beginning, she couldn't even touch the Association's independent internal network, it's an impressive development.

Anyway, when we arrived at Seo-eun's secret storage area, I finally saw the others.

"Oh, Da-in, you're here?"

In the spacious basement, Choi Se-hee was working on something and greeted me while wiping sweat from her brow.

She must have been helping Seo-eun with her electrical abilities until now.

And below her...

"Save... me..."

I saw Seo Ja-young lying face down on the basement floor, trembling as she reached out toward us.

"...What's wrong with her?"

"Don't know. Seo-eun asked her to summon some fire to test the robot's durability, and after doing it once, she collapsed like that."

I nodded at Choi Se-hee's explanation. I see. She's just faking illness as usual.

"No! Hey, do you know how hard it was to cover that huge thing with fire..."

Of course, Seo Ja-young protested, but sadly, her words weren't heard clearly.

Anyway, in one corner of the huge basement, something was covered with what looked like a large curtain.

Standing in front of it, Seo-eun announced confidently:

"Anyway! This is my masterpiece. I call it the Star Conqueror!"

As she said this, Seo-eun pressed a button.

The curtain-like cover was pulled back with a swish.

A giant, humanoid robot-like figure was revealed.

"What do you think, oppa? I recreated the human form as much as possible for mobility! But its destructive power is several times greater than anything I've made before!"

Seo-eun proudly explained in front of me.

Indeed, it looked the most impressive among all the things she had created so far.

While her previous creations had a somewhat crude, weapon-like feel, this one looked more like a work of art. Painted pure white, it resembled a sleek and elegant robotic suit magnified several times. It was also enormous, nearly touching the ceiling of this large underground space.

Overall, my first impression was that it looked futuristic and powerful due to its size.

"What do you think? Isn't it amazing?"

And.

"...Yeah. It looks cool."

I answered Seo-eun like that while looking at it.

But I couldn't bring myself to smile.

'....'

...That thing.

Unlike now.

In the original story, Han Seo-eun, who had fallen to darkness and become an S-class villain and the final boss of the phase, known as the "White Witch"...

It looked exactly like the battle weapon she used in the final battle.