Chapter 295 - Carcass

After Atlas's daughter, Ariel, joined the team, the Ego-House became livelier than before.

"Wow! This is delicious!"

"Really? Want to try this too?"

"Yes!"

Thanks to Ariel's excitement during every meal, it felt like watching one of those YouTube videos where foreigners try Korean food. I was already producing enough "Korean pride" content, and I wondered what kind of reaction I'd get if I uploaded this. "S-Class Villain's Daughter Ariel: Bibimbap Mukbang" would make a great title.

Anyway, Su-bin happily served her food, while Eun-wol watched with a shy but quiet smile. That's because Eun-wol had acted the same way when she first came to our house after escaping the Moonlight Cult.

Ariel was adapting well in other ways too. For some reason, her Korean was surprisingly good, so she could browse my fan cafe with Seo-eun without needing translation magic, among other things.

The person most excited about Ariel's arrival was Choi Se-hee. Why? Because she gained another sparring partner.

"Alright, Ariel? Shall we go another round today?"

"Yes, I'd love to!"

"That's the spirit!"

Se-hee already loved fighting with her abilities, and Ariel was her perfect opponent. Not only was Ariel stronger than her, but we didn't have many combat-type ability users in our house to begin with. Just Eun-wol and Seo Ja-young? Shin-ryong didn't really like fighting. And Ja-young... was always running away.

BOOM CRASH BOOM

"Kids... take it easy with the fighting."

I sighed as I looked out the window at the flashing lightning and sudden downpour.

Glancing outside, I could see Choi Se-hee with her orange hair tied back, wearing just a tank top, soaking wet and flying through the air as she fought, while blue-haired Ariel quietly smiled and sent water sprays toward her.

...Right. Like they could hear me. Let them enjoy themselves while they can.

Still, seeing Ariel running around so energetically was new to me. In my memory, Ariel was always lying weakly in bed.

"...Well, never mind that."

I turned on my laptop and searched for reactions to the recent incident.

The terrorist attack Ariel caused in Busan, and my intervention to mediate, had become quite the hot topic as usual.

[SHOCKING! Atlas's daughter Ariel from the world's largest villain organization Lattice joins Ego-stream...]

What drew the most attention, especially from overseas, was Ariel joining Ego-stream.

International villain experts had already identified the woman behind the terrorist attack as Atlas's daughter Ariel, and before more rumors could spread, I made an announcement: Ariel was now a member of our Ego-stream.

Afterward, it became quite the sensation overseas.

How do I know? Just looking at Korean news sites was enough.

[[ANALYSIS] What does Ariel joining Ego-stream mean? The strong bond between Lattice and Ego-stream revealed through this opportunity]

[S-Class Villain Ariel: 10 Things You Didn't Know]

[Why did the leader of one of the world's top 3 villain organizations entrust his daughter to Ego-stream? Overseas hero experts all trembling with fear! "An unprecedented event... a sign of tremendous trust. Egostic's ability to win everyone over is terrifying." This event made experts weep, America shocked, and Japan in disbelief! The world media is focusing on Egostic's connections - where is his limit?]

...Yeah. Just looking at these "Korean pride" articles with their longer-than-usual headlines told me enough.

Apparently, everyone was surprised that Atlas, who had always been reclusive and independent, had entrusted his daughter to me. In reality, she wasn't entrusted to me but came on her own... but I guess that's not what matters.

Anyway, now that I'd gained a powerful ability user, I decided to focus on my work again.

The commotion overseas would die down soon enough. Everyone in Kathedal already knew about my close relationship with Atlas, so it wasn't a big deal. After all, the "real" dangerous villains were all in Kathedal.

That doesn't mean South Korea is safe, though.

"Where the hell are these bastards..."

On this bright, peaceful morning, I, the leader of South Korea's largest villain organization, was... once again contemplating how to protect the country.

The main problems were the Phase 3 villains. How to stop these unique bastards.

Especially since I had completely changed the original storyline by stopping the Moonlight Cult, making it difficult to predict who would appear when.

Of course, some things remained unchanged.

Specifically, the villains who would participate in the Phase 3 final event, the Great Prison Break terrorist attack.

Surprisingly, the Eastern Detention Center, East Carceris, which housed all of South Korea's worst villains, hadn't been affected even when the Moonlight Cult monsters were rampaging. That's to be expected. In the original story, the prison held firm with its impenetrable security even when the Moonlight Gate incident dragged on. With the International Association's technology, I don't understand how they could have failed so spectacularly in the original story.

Anyway, Carceris, the ability user prison built worldwide, and East Carceris in South Korea.

Known as the graveyard for ability users, this place boasted ironclad security, and once you entered, you could never escape. Truly a graveyard for ability users.

Built like a fortress on an artificial island in the East Sea, it housed all the superpowered villains captured so far. Although there weren't many notable ones left since I'd killed most of the worst offenders with the Great Prison Break in mind... still, villains I'd fought before like Crocodileman and Monkey Spanner, as well as more recent additions like Dungeon Maker, were all still locked up there.

And beyond that, ancient villains who had been imprisoned even before the original story began - truly a terrifying place. The fact that it remained safe during the Moonlight Gate incident when all sorts of monsters attacked proved Carceris's incredible security.

...And yet, our original story's Seo-eun had easily neutralized it and freed everyone.

"..."

This was still a mystery to me. In the original story, Seo-eun... the White Witch, had sent warning messages across the country just like I'm doing now, and then suddenly everything was breached at once. How and why this place with ironclad security exploded remains a mystery.

And there was an even bigger problem.

"You're asking if I want to destroy the detention center...? Um, oppa. Why would you think I'd want to do that...?"

When I asked if she ever felt the urge to destroy that prison, Seo-eun had answered with a look of disbelief.

But more importantly, after looking into it briefly, she had shaken her head and replied:

"Um... and oppa, after looking into this, it seems like a prison break would be really difficult?"

"...Huh?"

"Their security has its own separate network like the Association, so it wouldn't be easy to breach with my technical skills. It might be possible if I devoted years to it, but even then..."

"I see..."

Hearing Seo-eun's explanation, I was shocked.

Wait, then how did the original Seo-eun breach it? Especially since she wasn't with us back then and had to teach herself, so her abilities would have been weaker than now...?

'...She must have had help.'

After pondering this, I reached a conclusion.

Yes, that must be it. Though it's just speculation... considering the original story, it's possible.

I tried to recall as much as I could and got back to work.

Especially to prevent "that thing" inside the detention center from getting out, which I'd been researching for a while.

Even without a mass breakout like in the original story... that event could still happen.

Of course, the work wasn't easy, but...

'Right. I need to prepare everything in advance.'

All for Stardust, to help her move forward as she carries the fate of this world on her shoulders.

The backlash from deceiving and escaping during Ariel's terrorist attack was already starting to worry me, but...

"Well, alright."

She must be working hard too, so I can't slack off.

With that thought, I continued my research, digging through documents. All while keeping in mind that I should carry out another terrorist attack soon.

***

Meanwhile, at that moment.

"...Huh?"

Lee Seol-ah. The president of Yu-seong Group and Stardust's close friend, the hero Icicle.

Seol-ah was meeting her friend Stardust, Shin Ha-ru, at a cafe after a long time. She was a bit nervous, but then suddenly became flustered by what her friend said.

"...What did you just say?"

"I want to get closer to Egostic. What do you think I should do?"

As Shin Ha-ru spoke with slightly reddened ears but a calm demeanor.

Seol-ah silently screamed inside.

'...Wait, Da-in, didn't you say you were keeping your distance from Ha-ru...?'

Is this what you call keeping distance...?

...Of course, her silent scream couldn't be heard by Egostic, who was lying down at home.