Chapter 299 - The Final Preparation

"Absolutely not."

At the Republic of Korea's only paranormal prison, Carceris.

My plan to get captured there and deal with the Sun God's monster faced strong opposition from the beginning.

"I've gone along with everything you've done until now, Da-in, but this doesn't seem right. Do you know how dangerous that place is?"

Su-bin spoke with rare firmness, looking me straight in the eyes.

Knowing her words came from concern for me, I found it awkward to respond.

While I remained silent, voices of agreement came from beside me.

"That's right, Da-in. I've heard rumors about that place too—they say once you go in, you never come out..."

"...I also think it's too dangerous."

"Yeah. What if you can't escape after going in there?"

As everyone tried to dissuade me, I quietly listened. Wait, what exactly do they all think Carceris is? It's still a place where people live. Just because those people are all top-tier villains...

"...If only I were better at hacking..."

By the way, the biggest problem among them was Seo-eun.

Since I said I was going to enter Carceris in such a dangerous way, she started blaming herself for not being able to hack into it.

I'd tried so hard to stop her from doing that, but here she was doing it again. Goodness... it was frustrating to see a grown person acting like this.

Especially Ariel, who brought a large photo and thrust it at me while sniffling.

"You're saying you want to go into a place like this? I can't believe it!"

...The photo showed the gloomy and massive Carceris.

On a dark, foggy sea stood a huge, gray castle that looked centuries old—the ominous, solitary structure of Carceris.

...Just looking at the photo gave the impression that entering would lead to disaster.

Of course, it only looked that way on the outside to intimidate people—inside it was armed with cutting-edge facilities to control paranormal abilities—but they didn't know that.

"Anyway, Da-in. This is absolutely out of the question."

Everyone was opposed to the situation, given that it was undeniably dangerous.

...However, the unchangeable fact remained that eventually I would have to go there and take down that guy. And the sooner, the better.

So I began my persuasion in earnest.

"I promise this is the last time. This is the only dangerous thing I'll do, and everything will be fine afterward."

Despite my words, the response remained cold.

So I decided to throw in something that would change the subject.

"And if I succeed with this, I can retire much earlier."

I carefully introduced this new topic.

And immediately, there was a reaction.

"Retire...?"

Seo-eun, who had been leaning against the wall muttering self-blame, turned her head and responded for the first time.

I didn't miss this opportunity and continued right away.

"Yes. Retirement. I've been a villain for a long time now, so I need some rest."

And that wasn't a lie.

...In fact, I'd been thinking about retirement since the day I defeated the Moonlight Cult.

When I first fell into this world, and even until recently, I was planning to retire at the end of Phase 3—that is, before Phase 4 began. Even if I was leaving, I wanted to defeat the final boss of Phase 3 first.

However, things had changed.

My reputation had grown much faster than I expected, as had the formation of Ego-stream and Stardust's growth. So after killing Infless, the wish-granter, I would have much less to do.

And the biggest reason...

"So you won't need to see Stardust anymore, right?"

"...Yeah, that's right."

It was none other than Stardust.

...Lately, I'd been feeling strange whenever I saw Stardust. And I wondered if her reactions toward me meant something... I concluded that I was finally going crazy, interpreting Stardust's actions favorably in my own way.

So I thought it would be better to stop getting involved with Stardust before something worse happened. With Ego-stream already established, there was no reason for me to continue carrying out terrorism directly. Stardust had already grown quite a bit too. And I was tired.

Anyway, while I was thinking about this, I heard a voice from in front.

"Still..."

Seo-eun's voice, still reluctant.

Sigh. I'd have to try harder.

"Seo-eun, Su-bin. Listen..."

My persuasion continued after that. I explained that I would only do this once and wouldn't do anything dangerous afterward, and that I'd already worked out most of the plan.

After talking like that for a long time.

"...Alright. But this dangerous business is really the last time, right?"

Finally, with Su-bin's worried sigh, I received permission.

...It was a mystery why I needed permission to go to prison, but since it wasn't the first time, I just went with it.

It's not like I would have given up if they opposed anyway.

If it's for the best outcome for everyone, the process doesn't matter.

That's what I quietly thought.

It seemed that bringing up retirement and saying I wouldn't take such risky actions in the future helped calm everyone down.

'...Though I'm not retiring right away.'

There was still quite a bit to do after this job, and many things to do even after retirement... but I decided not to mention that.

***

After the Carceris infiltration operation was confirmed, I began working on the plan in earnest.

To summarize my objective, it was a very simple operation.

First, cause terrorism and deliberately get caught by Stardust. Second, enter the paranormal prison Carceris, then contact and eliminate the wish-granter, Infless. Third, escape.

It sounds like a simple plan, but the problems were how to get in, how to get out, and how to eliminate the target.

Since it was a plan created on the spot, it took quite a long time to put it into actual execution. Still, with Seo-eun's help and by taking things step by step, the outline gradually took shape.

Especially, Su-bin's words with a serious expression.

"Da-in. You said you'll be captured by Stardust publicly, right?"

"Yes."

"Have you told your overseas colleagues about this?"

"Um... no?"

"Do it quickly."

At Su-bin's firm words, I had no choice but to pick up my phone.

I mean... I was going to escape in just a few days anyway, so what did it matter? That was my thought, but... with Su-bin urging me, I had no choice.

So I called everyone I was friendly with, everyone I was allied with.

[Hahaha! I understand! I'll keep it in mind! My goodness, I almost invaded Korea!]

[...Thank you for telling me in advance, Da-in. If I hadn't known, I would have invaded the detention center directly, hehe.]

[Hmm, understood. In the future, please be sure to let me know if you're going to cause something like this. I need to plan accordingly.]

...I received some rather fierce responses.

Well, I was planning to tell Atlas beforehand... but I didn't expect the other two to react like this. It's just for a few days, right?

Anyway, the plan progressed smoothly.

"Don't worry about the prison break, I think I can handle it."

"Really?"

"Yes. The problem with getting into prison is infiltrating without revealing your identity, which is difficult. Conversely, getting out will be easier since your identity will already be exposed and you just need to escape..."

Even as she said it was easy, I noticed the dark circles under Seo-eun's eyes, and while feeling sorry for her, I expressed my gratitude.

After that, I discussed additional details with Lee Seol-ah and deliberated on what kind of terrorism to carry out, finally setting a date.

And finally, after the plan was somewhat established.

I quietly called Seo-eun to my room and handed her a notebook.

"Seo-eun, keep this."

"What is this?"

As she tried to open it right after receiving it, she looked puzzled when the diary wouldn't open despite her efforts.

I calmly told her:

"Give it to me when I return. Understood?"

"...What? Well, okay. But what is this?"

As she looked up at me curiously, I swallowed my next words.

What I had given Seo-eun was a diary sealed so that only I could open it.

It's a diary where I've recorded everything that's happened since I fell into this world...

It's the only key I've prepared until now to return safely after facing him.

"...I'll tell you later. Just keep it for now. Okay?"

"...Okay."

As Seo-eun still looked down at the diary with confusion, I added:

"Oh, and if I come back without my memories, don't be too surprised."

"...What? What does that even mean?"

Leaving Seo-eun behind, now seemingly bewildered, I quietly sank into thought.

Good. All preparations are complete.

Now, it's time for action.

I steeled my resolve as I fiddled with the device I had prepared for this event, tucked in my pocket.

Let's do this.

An event for early graduation from Phase 3.

***

Meanwhile, at that moment.

"Hmm... maybe you should approach him more... aggressively?"

"Aggressively?"

At the top of Yu-seong Group, Lee Seol-ah was giving dating advice to her friend Shin Ha-ru, Stardust, while quietly harboring her own dejected thoughts.

...What am I doing right now...?

This was just days before Egostic would carry out his terrorism.