Chapter 238 - Ranking

# Seo-eun.

She's our Ego-stream's information technology and hacking specialist, as well as the one responsible for creating all kinds of tools.

Right now, she's just our cute little maknae in Ego-stream, but in the original story, she was quite different.

To begin with, her image was extremely cold and cynical—a villain. She was quite tall, and unlike her current short silver hair, she had long hair.

In the original story, her first appearance was several years after the current timeline, and I couldn't stop her as an adult. Thanks to her hacking abilities reaching their peak, she broke through villain detention center security causing a mass breakout, and even showed up with dozens of weapons.

Especially that mass breakout event—in the original story, it was when all the villains who had appeared until then showed their faces again. For readers, it might have felt like an all-star game, but for Stardust, it was nothing short of a disaster.

...Of course, the current Seo-eun is quite different from that gloomy figure in the original story.

"Huh? Oppa, what's wrong?"

"Oh. It's nothing. You did a great job."

"Hehe."

When I said that and patted her head, Seo-eun smiled without even realizing it.

...Oh right. I just told her not to do that earlier.

But well, she seems to be enjoying it now without complaint, so I guess it's fine.

With those thoughts, I looked up at the massive combat machine that Seo-eun had made.

A giant white robot with a smooth, reflective surface that gleamed in the light. What Seo-eun had named the "Star Conqueror."

Yes. This thing that Seo-eun proudly introduced to me was the beginning of my worries.

...It looked too similar to the weapon that Seo-eun, as an S-class villain in the original story, had deployed in battle.

Of course, it was somewhat different from its appearance in the original story. The original was a bit more polished, larger, and had more functions. Plus, she had succeeded in mass-producing them, so there were multiple units.

Still, the overall appearance was exactly the same, which made me feel a bit strange. It was impressive that she had already built this at this point in time. Unlike the original story, Seo-eun seems happier, and she has our Ego-stream teammates. She even seems smarter than in the original story. Does that mean she has more room to grow?

"Oppa, is something wrong?"

While I was quietly contemplating as I looked up at the robot,

Sensing something odd about my behavior, Seo-eun grabbed my clothes and asked with a worried expression.

....Right.

The current Seo-eun is different from the original, so there's probably nothing to worry about. Unlike then, she has a family now. It's already been three years since Seo-eun and I started living together. She's different from the original story, different.

So I smiled slightly at Seo-eun and said as if nothing was wrong.

"Ah, it's nothing. I just had something else on my mind. Now, can you introduce this to me?"

"Yes! Oppa, look at this. I made this with Se-hee unni..."

Following the excited Seo-eun, I approached the machine.

...No, really, the more I look at it, the more amazing it is. How do you even make something like this?

Anyway, I nodded and encouraged Seo-eun, who was confident that this would be enough to defeat Stardust now.

...The fact that this robot made by Seo-eun was eventually smashed by Stardust in the original story is something I'll pretend not to know.

And a few days after being introduced to Seo-eun's weapon.

"Ah, time has already gone by this much?"

I looked at the calendar and suddenly said that.

...The day of the villain conference Kathedal was approaching soon.

***

In my room located in one corner of the mansion.

Sitting at my desk there, I was deep in thought.

"Hmm..."

Tap. Tap.

[France's S-class villain Morte has recently appeared in England, causing fear throughout European society. Morte, a member of Europe's largest villain organization, has declared that he will 'destroy the power source of the mechanical kingdom of England' and is reportedly hiding somewhere in England. The French Association has stated they will not provide any assistance to England, causing major controversy... The British Association has expressed great displeasure, using strong language like 'idiots,' worsening relations between the two countries...]

Meanwhile, on the monitor, a video was showing the current state of world affairs.

It was displaying the dynamic situations unfolding in other countries.

".....Hmm."

And what I was focusing on while watching this was none other than the villains.

Especially cases where villains from other countries invaded foreign nations.

Yes. This is a situation that happens frequently in the latter part of the original story.

As the world falls into chaos, villains who seem tired of their own countries start causing trouble in other countries.

And this is a very troublesome case for me.

I mean, what if, due to the butterfly effect, some foreign villain I know nothing about invades our country? Korea is already full of villains; we can't handle additional foreign villains.

...Of course.

That's why I've been diligently attending the Kathedal meetings. I've been expanding my influence there by doing meaningful things, somewhat preventing invasions from foreign villains.

But somehow, this alone feels insufficient.

"..."

Click. Click.

I sank into thought while clicking my pen.

Right.

Thinking beyond just the Moonlight Gate, this isn't enough for the final stages. Especially by then, when true 'international threats' finally arrive, and countries start fighting each other. They blame each other for their countries' downfall and even go to war. It's absolute chaos with heroes fighting each other when they should be fighting villains.

And what's scarier is that our country is no exception. Especially after the Moonlight Church incident.

So the one thought I'm having now is:

'I guess... forming alliances with other countries is the right move.'

Especially with neighboring countries.

Well, with Japan, I was already maintaining a fairly close relationship with Katana, the real power there. We had talked together recently. We mostly complained about how hard it is to run an organization. Plus, Katana is also on good terms with Lee Seol-ah.

But it still feels insufficient.

"Hmm..."

Yes. The one thought I'm having right now is:

"If I do this right... maybe."

Could I create an East Asian villain alliance?

That was the plan I was considering.

In a chaotic international society, if associations are at odds, shouldn't villains at least band together? Especially considering the future chaos.

With that thought, I examined the map.

So in the end, I need to persuade that continent's villain...

"Li Xiaopeng..."

The leader of China's largest villain organization, Fire Dragon, and a villain with the ability to summon an Oriental dragon made of burning flames.

I wonder if I could somehow...

"Hmm..."

While I was racking my brain, dreaming of creating Asia's largest villain alliance.

Just then, the video on my monitor was talking about me.

[Next, we have news that Korea's A-class villain Egostic has made it into the world's Top 100 villain ranking...]

"...?"

I looked up at the unexpected mention.

What villain ranking? Was there even a ranking for villains to begin with?

[This is almost the first among villains who aren't particularly powerful, they say. Especially in the selection process, key factors were 'having public support making it awkward for heroes to deal with him' and 'having numerous, stronger villains following him due to his unique friendliness and leadership.' This is the first time in the last 10 years that a Korean villain has made it onto the HVC ranking...]

Ah, that place.

I remembered upon hearing the name HVC. The world's largest hero-villain research institution that announces rankings every year. Since the Association roughly classifies all heroes and villains above a certain standard as S-class, this organization was established to categorize their abilities in more detail.

The reason I know about this place is obviously because of Stardust.

In the original story, Stardust couldn't even make it onto the hero ranking of this HVC or whatever, and they were attacked for that.

But now? Of course, they've been on the ranking for a long time. And they got on quite a while ago. I was really proud then. Even if unofficial, Stardust was recognized by a place with some authority.

But I didn't know they also ranked villains here. Does this have influence? I mean, I'm only A-class according to the Association. Well, so is Stardust, I guess.

With those thoughts, I did a search.

...Oh, it seems quite significant. As soon as I searched, all I could find were articles about me making it into the ranking.

Looking at the overall ranking that came up in my search,

For someone who just entered the ranking for the first time, I was positioned at around 50th place, halfway up the list.

"....?"

Wait, didn't they say I wasn't on the ranking at all until now? This is higher than I expected.

With that thought, I browsed through the entire villain ranking out of curiosity.

Celeste was naturally in first place. She's the head of Kathedal...

Katana and Li Xiaopeng were positioned above me. Katana is naturally high-ranked since he's taken over Japan. The ranking itself is based on influence and threat level, they say.

No other Korean villains were visible. Well, when the Moonlight Church incident happens soon, they'll probably enter instantly...

Looking at this, the conclusion is that there are really a lot of crazy ability users in the world. Most are in America, but what's with this villain who has volcano eruption abilities?

"Well, this is interesting..."

I took it lightly and moved on. What does it matter if I'm 50th or 500th? It's not even official from the Association.

...Yes. At that time, I didn't know.

The ripples this would cause.