Chapter 323 - Resignation Plan

# After making a deal with Celeste and leaving.

"Egostic! Are you okay?"

"Yes, yes. Don't worry."

I joined my East Asian Villain Alliance colleagues, Katana and Li Xiaopeng, who I had arranged to meet separately after the conference.

This meeting room was smaller than the round table from earlier, but still quite cozy.

...To be precise, this was a bunker for the Japanese government's emergency response. For some reason, it seemed to be currently occupied by villains... Well, I suppose that's possible.

"Have some tea first."

The one offering me tea was Katana, the shadow ruler controlling the Japanese government and an S-class villain (genuine).

With her black hair tied back and wearing a white martial arts uniform, the elegant woman casually offering me tea hardly looked like the de facto ruler of the Japanese archipelago.

...Well, of course, unlike her appearance, she had violently destroyed the corrupt Japanese government and taken the throne. They say history is written by the victors, don't they? From the beginning, her villain group, the Three Associations, despite being villains, had high public support like me, and by (seemingly) staying in the background and putting up puppets... I mean, politicians as figureheads, they successfully made the international community and the Association turn a blind eye. In truth, they were called villains but were no different from ability-using rebels.

Of course, it was because I provided information about traitors and key intelligence that things turned out differently from the original story. In the original timeline, Japan would have been destroyed by the Moonlight Cult Gate incident by now, with the archipelago becoming a monster land, making our country constantly worry about monsters crossing the water... Thankfully, it's now a functioning country. Naturally, Katana knew this and had always been favorable toward me.

Of course, when the villain group was struggling with how to control the country after taking over, I introduced Lee Seol-ah, who was experienced in behind-the-scenes operations, which helped them even more. Thanks to that, Lee Seol-ah and Katana became close, and relations between our countries improved. After all, when the leaders get along...

"Oh my, thank you."

I gratefully accepted the tea from Katana and gulped it down. My throat was parched anyway. ...It was a bit hot, but that was fine.

And across from me:

"Hahaha! Comrade Egostic, to think you'd even negotiate with Celeste now. You're truly no ordinary person."

Li Xiaopeng was laughing heartily as he spoke.

With his hair tied back, he was laughing good-naturedly.

...He seemed to be in extremely high spirits after recently unifying the Chinese continent. Well, it was his lifelong ambition, so that made sense.

His villain group, Fire Dragon, had finally swallowed up China, but unlike Katana, they hadn't yet received international recognition. However, since everyone would eventually have to acknowledge them anyway, he didn't seem too concerned about it.

Especially since I had provided all the Chinese government's information for his conquest of China, he was quite grateful to me. ...To be honest, in the original story, China was devastated during the Moonlight Cult Gate incident, making it very easy for him to take over... In this world, because I closed the gate early, the country remained relatively intact, which delayed his conquest plans. Fortunately, this was a parallel world story that Li Xiaopeng would never know about...

Anyway, the three of us had gathered.

Katana from Japan, Li Xiaopeng from China, and me from Korea.

The so-called East Asian Villain Alliance.

We had arranged to meet today for a conference while visiting Kathedal.

"Haha, you flatter me. Anyway, it's great to see everyone after so long. And now that Li Xiaopeng has become the leader of China... Essentially, I'm meeting with the leaders of two countries except for myself. Ahem, I feel quite awkward being just a mere villain."

"What are you saying, Egostic?"

Katana smiled wryly at my words and waved her hand dismissively.

Like her, Li Xiaopeng also laughed incredulously and said:

"...Haha, Egostic. What an amusing joke. You were the one who helped us get this far, and you're practically a soul partner with Lee Seol-ah, the real power in South Korea. I still don't know how far ahead you're looking."

I could only laugh at his words, as if telling him not to joke. Since I had only informed these two about the upcoming Moonlight Cult incident, they had prepared in advance, safely overcome the crisis, and even benefited from it, which seemed to have strengthened their trust in me.

Anyway, the meeting proceeded in a friendly atmosphere.

Despite the name "East Asian Villain Alliance"...

"Then we'll provide support for that."

"Thank you. Considering the interest rates... We'll handle that part. Oh, regarding diplomatic relations..."

It felt essentially like a summit between the three East Asian leaders. These people were villains but also leaders who had taken over countries. As such, all kinds of under-the-table agreements were being made.

...I was also handling some documents I had received from Lee Seol-ah on her behalf.

After the important discussions were finished,

it was time for more casual conversation.

Just simple small talk. What we'd been eating lately, if there were any ability users who caught our attention, whether the European situation would affect East Asia. The kind of trivial conversations friends might have in a café.

Of course, they also asked about what kind of relationship I had with Celeste. I vaguely answered that we were in the process of becoming friends. They all seemed to accept that. ...Even I don't know why they accepted such an answer.

We continued chatting like this.

And these two seemed to really treasure this time.

"...Just talking with Egostic and Mr. Li Xiaopeng makes time fly by so quickly. Sigh, given our positions, we have to be mindful of so many things."

Katana said with a smile as she took another sip of tea.

Well, these two are both final decision-makers for their countries. As such, they don't have many people of equal status to talk comfortably with. It means they have few friends they can speak candidly with. Essentially, everyone else is their subordinate. That's also why Lee Seol-ah likes me...

Anyway, in that relaxed atmosphere,

I suddenly remembered something.

"By the way, I'm planning to quit my villain activities. I want to retire and do something else."

I casually threw out those words.

Upon hearing them, the two:

"...What?"

"What did you say?!"

Suddenly, they were in an uproar.

...Come to think of it, that probably wasn't the right thing to say at a nominal villain meeting.

***

After the East Asian Villain Alliance meeting that followed Kathedal ended.

"Oh my, I'm exhausted..."

I returned home and collapsed on the sofa to rest.

...The two were so surprised when I said I was retiring, and answering all their questions wasn't easy. They only calmed down when I assured them that I was just stopping the terrorism while continuing to work behind the scenes.

Still, just stopping the terrorism was a big change. It meant abandoning one of my identities.

Of course, Ego-stream would continue, and I would still be doing things behind the scenes like a shadow king... but I would fade from public attention. Perhaps after some time, even the name Egostic would be forgotten?

The most regrettable thing was that I wouldn't be meeting Stardust anymore.

"...."

Having volunteered as her arch-enemy for a long time, we had spent quite a while together, so there were definitely things I'd miss.

But it was time to distance myself. Perhaps the true role of a fan was to quietly help her from the shadows.

Thinking about it, it had been quite a long time.

It's been almost 5 years since I started my villain activities. So many things had happened during that time.

...But now it was time to leave. I had already prevented the Moonlight Cult incident, and the rest was up to Stardust.

I should continue attending Kathedal and prepare for the end.

Then rest a bit, and...

"....."

Perhaps.

It might also be time to start thinking about life after the ending.

Until now, I had focused all my energy on seeing this world's ending, and because I wasn't sure if I would survive this far, I hadn't thought about it... but now I felt I should start considering it. I don't know if I'll survive the final battle, but if I do, maybe opening a small café wouldn't be a bad idea.

As for the Ego-stream members... Well. I momentarily thought it might be right to remain good friends and go our separate ways, but I could already imagine our members' reactions to this, so I decided to pause that thought. Sigh.

I don't know. Maybe I'll take a trip with the members after retiring.

I closed my eyes with these thoughts.

For now, I needed to focus on my bet with Celeste.

Probably the last grand show I would put on before retiring, not a terrorist act.

"Angels, huh..."

The concept similar to a Phase 3 teaser video and a preview of Phase 4.

The 'Angel Descent' event was about to unfold.