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Translated by BiasNil
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[Japan was surprised, America was shocked, and Europe was flipped out! K-Villain rocked the world. "Why can't we have a villain like Egostic?" the spokesperson from the Hero Association of Japan said in tears!]
"Tsk."[1]
I put down my smartphone.
I was enjoying the YouTube video, but this popped up.
"Sugar, I need something sweet."
Seeing my own dizzy face on Gukppong TV, my blood sugar dropped fast. Oh my god. How can this channel be exactly the same as in my previous world?
The comic that became reality is, paradoxically, very similar to the original reality.
In other words, it's virtually the same as Earth—just with heroes and villains, in line with the comic's worldview of "a world where only superpowers exist on an ordinary Earth."
So in this world, Gukppong TV still chases clicks and cash. I have no idea why even villains became targets for Gukppong.
Leaving my room, I headed for the refrigerator.
I only wanted orange juice—so why is it a hike down this whole hallway?
Is this for real? I should just buy a mini-fridge for my room.
I've got money; I should spend it generously.
In the auditorium-sized living room, I opened the fridge.
…Only one bottle of Minute Maid left. I remember buying two bottles—so why is there only one left? Did Seo-eun drink it?
Well, she has a sweet tooth like me.
Okay, let's see what she's doing.
I turned and walked toward the main sector of the underground base where Seo-eun was.
Of course, I remembered to drink my orange juice on the way. A cold drink really is the best. It feels good going down.
I used to like chocolate milk when I was younger, but now I prefer orange juice.
…Well, both are elementary-schooler tastes.
Walking the hallway again, I thought about Seo-eun for a while.
Han Seo-eun. She's a senior in middle school.
In the original work, she appeared as a villain in the latter part of the comic.
She single-handedly destroyed Korea's computer networks and disabled security at the Songdo Concentration Camp, which held the worst villains—causing a massive breakout.
That incident kicked off "The Catastrophe of Korea," the main event from issues 120 to 150 of [Stardust!].
She appeared in "The Apocalypse of Korea" as the final villain.
She died in the issues after that and never appeared again.
Different from her image now—a short-haired, boyish girl—she appeared as an adult then and attacked Stardust with all kinds of weapons she invented.
Eventually, she died after being stopped by Stardust.
Her nickname at that time was the White Witch.
…Of course, I can't imagine her like that right now.
Right now she's just a middle schooler who loves sweets and has a foul mouth.
Han Seo-eun—judging by her feats in the original—is a genius.
Her specialties are hacking and invention. Honestly, she's smart enough to do everything. In the story, she's the character who breaks the writer's power balance. Maybe that's why she only shows up in the second half.
Her backstory is unfortunate.
She was raised as a lab rat by the Han-eun Group from a young age.
They ran illegal experiments in the name of creating artificial superpowers—and "succeeded," to some extent.
Hundreds of innocent children were cycled in and out; in the end, they managed to create special superpowers in just four kids.
One of them was Seo-eun. The researchers called it "Super Intelligence."
The other children awakened direct combat powers: electricity attacks, ice shooting, etc…
Even after the awakenings, the Han-eun Group kept pushing terrible experiments under orders from their higher-ups.
In that hopeless situation, the four kids survived by comforting each other.
Then, suddenly, one child died.
The remaining three, including Seo-eun, were devastated—they were each other's only support.
Eventually, one of the kids blew under the stress; her power detonated, dragging the entire lab into the blast.
Not everyone died.
Seo-eun survived.
After that, she hid underground to avoid Han-eun's eyes—until I sought her out.
In the original (where I didn't exist), she tracked Han-eun herself, to punish the executives who went into hiding after the atrocity.
In the end, she found them all and took her revenge.
All that remained after was emptiness.
Shivering in that void, she… well, she snapped. After what happened to her "siblings" and herself, she turned villain and committed terrorism, insisting, "It's because of this incompetent country and its heroes."
Of course, I won't let Seo-eun become that kind of villain anymore.
Hold on—strictly speaking, she's already my accomplice, so she is a villain, right? Hmm…
Let me correct that: I won't let Seo-eun become that kind of insane villain. Being a moderate villain is better for your health.
Given how this world mirrors mine, in Korea it's practically healthier to be a villain than a hero.
Naturally, what happened to Han Seo-eun wouldn't have been my business at first—I only approached her for her tech skills. But living together, I got attached to this kid.
I can't let her die pointlessly like that.
Keeping that in mind, I reached the main sector and walked in.
***
A feast of monitors greeted me.
One displayed CCTV; others showed various data.
This room makes my eyes spin.
It's the main sector of our underground base.
Wouldn't it be cooler if I named this space?
Observation Center?
Seo-eun sat in her chair, busy with something.
Su-bin was working hard at a station next to her.
"Seo-eun, what are you doing?"
I asked as I came closer. She turned to look at me.
"Hey, come check this out."
"Oh? What is it?"
When I stepped up, she showed me—
"The 13th International Ice Cream Festival?"
"It's their first time holding it in Korea. I've always wanted to go! Let's go next time. With Su-bin."
"Erm… sure…"
Su-bin smiled shyly beside her.
Su-bin…
"Hmm, alright. So you want to go to an ice cream festival, huh?"
Tsk. I can see she's gotten a lot brighter.
Only yesterday, when we first met, she bristled at me like a hedgehog…
Now she's asking us to go to an ice cream festival together. Though, who on earth holds an ice cream festival?
Sure, sure. It's nice seeing her pure, bright side. It's nice but…
I thought she was working on something.
She was so focused that I figured she was planning again! I was feeling proud for a second.
…But she was planning to go to an ice cream festival.
I never thought I'd be going to one at my age.
"Anyway, you can go to whatever. Do we have plans for our next goal?"
"Next goal?"
At my question, Seo-eun put a finger to her lips—"Hmm…"—thinking.
"Oh! Right. What was it you said—the Good Samaritan?"
"Yeah, but that's a massive terror op; we can't pull it off in a week. It'll cause fatigue, too. We should reappear right when people start forgetting our Dark Knig… I mean, our ship terrorism—then BOOM!"
"Then what else? Eliminate villains?"
"Yeah. Let's do that in our spare time. Got any recommendations? We've got nothing but time."
"Hmm… Let me recall your list. Didn't you say we should do that 'terrorism prediction' thing?"
She tilted her head.
I only told her "terrorism prediction," but I actually just read the original and told them which brats would cause incidents for a while.
I explained I had my methods for forecasting…
"Last time we eliminated the two big ones, so we're okay. Now you can pick anyone from the list I gave you."
"Really? Let's see… Su-bin, pull up the villain list."
"Okay!"
She answered brightly and started typing.
It's been about a week since we moved in together, and she seems to be adjusting.
She spent the week calming herself, scared of me. She's better now, though still a little wary. We're on the same boat—I'm not going to hurt her. Maybe I scared her too much last time?
"Let's see… Among the A-class villains, what about this brat? The teleporter. Teleporter."
"That one? Hard to kill."
I usually restrain them with telekinesis so they can't slip away, then either knock their head or use a gun.
But that brat can teleport. Even if I hold him with telekinesis, he can just POOF and escape—tough. Very tough!
"Oppa, the tougher the enemy, the sooner you have to get rid of them."
"Haa. That so?"
Alright. Better to get it over with.
Let's take him first.
And stop looking at me like I'm some kid who hates studying.
"Okay. I'll start prepping. And, Seo-eun."
"What?"
"You started calling me 'oppa' a while ago. Dropping the 'I'm a boy' concept now?"
I grinned; her face reddened.
"Oh. Since I call Su-bin 'unnie'…"
She started mumbling, so I quickly slipped out.
She yells at me whenever she gets shy.
[1] https://media.tenor.com/esVTkAceKc4AAAAi/cute-lovely.gif