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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: The K-Villain
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[Japan is shocked, America is appalled, Europe is dumbfounded! The K-Villain who shook the world. "Why don't *we* have a villain like Egoistic?!" – Japanese Hero Association Spokesperson, in tears!]
"Ugh."
I ended up putting my phone down.
Seriously, I was just watching YouTube, why did *this* have to pop up?
"S-sugar... I need sugar."
Seeing my face plastered all over that dizzying nationalistic hype video, I felt my blood sugar plummet. Good grief, how is it that *this* hasn't changed at all from my previous world?
The world of the comic, now a reality, was paradoxically very similar to my original reality.
True to the comic's world-building – 'just a normal Earth, only with superpowered individuals' – it was virtually identical, save for heroes and villains.
So that means jingoistic TV still makes money in this world. Though why they'd even make *villains* a source of national pride is beyond me...
Leaving my room, I walked towards the refrigerator.
I just wanted some orange juice, but I had to walk down a whole hallway.
Is this for real? No matter how I think about it, I should probably get a mini-fridge for my room.
I've got plenty of money now; I should spend it freely.
After arriving in what looked like an auditorium-sized living room, I opened the refrigerator.
...Only one Minute Maid bottle left. I could've sworn I drank two, so why is there only one? Did Seo-eun drink it?
Well, Seo-eun likes sweets as much as I do.
Right, since I thought of it, maybe I should check what Seo-eun's up to?
I turned around and headed for the main sector of this underground base, where Seo-eun was.
Of course, I didn't forget to drink the orange juice on the way. Ahh. Nothing beats something cold. It goes down so smoothly.
When I was younger, I preferred chocolate milk, but these days, I like orange juice more.
...Well, either way, I still have a kid's palate.
Walking diligently down another hallway, I briefly thought about Seo-eun.
Han Seo-eun. A girl in her third year of middle school.
In the original work, she appeared as a villain in the latter half of the comic.
Alone, she crippled South Korea's computer networks and neutralized the security system of the Eastern Detention Center, where the worst villains were held, causing a massive prison break.
This was the event that ushered in the Korean Cataclysm, the main event of [Stardust!] Part 3.
She appeared as the final villain in the Korean Cataclysm event. In subsequent issues, she died and did not reappear.
Unlike now, with her short haircut that makes her look almost like a boy, when she appeared as an adult, she had long white hair and attacked Stardust with all sorts of weapons she had invented.
And eventually, she was stopped by Stardust and died.
Her nickname then was the White Witch.
...Of course, I can't imagine her like that at all right now.
She's just a middle school girl who likes sweets and has a bit of a foul mouth.
Han Seo-eun. As you can tell from her actions in the original work, she's an incredible genius.
Her main specialties are computer hacking and invention. Honestly, her mind is so brilliant there's nothing she can't do. She's practically a power-balance-breaking character created by the author. That's probably why she appeared so late in the original work.
Her life story is quite tragic too.
Her entire life, from childhood, she was raised as a lab rat by the Haneun Group.
Under the guise of artificially creating superpowered individuals, they conducted all sorts of illegal experiments and eventually achieved some results.
They sacrificed hundreds of innocent children to ultimately create four children with special abilities.
One of them was our Seo-eun. Researchers collectively named her 'Super-Intelligence.'
The other children all developed direct superpowers. Like electrical attacks, or the ability to emit ice...
Even after their awakening, those bastards continued their horrific experiments under the direction of the Haneun Group's leadership.
Even in such desperate circumstances, the four children comforted each other and endured together.
However, during that time, one of them died.
As they were each other's emotional pillars, the shock felt by the remaining three, including Seo-eun, was immense.
Ultimately, due to overwhelming stress, one child's ability went berserk, engulfing everyone in the laboratory and causing their deaths.
Of course, not everyone.
Because Seo-eun survived here.
Seo-eun, who survived alone, lived in this underground facility, hidden from the Haneun Group's eyes, until I found her. Alone.
In the original work, where I didn't exist, she continued to pursue the Haneun Group alone. To punish the Haneun Group's leaders who had gone into hiding after that horrific tragedy.
Ultimately, she found all of them alone and succeeded in her revenge, but...
All that remained after her revenge was emptiness.
Trembling with a profound sense of emptiness, she eventually... went a little crazy. She suddenly became a villain, committing acts of terror, claiming that the incompetent state and heroes were responsible for what happened to her and her siblings.
Of course, now that I'm here, I won't let Seo-eun become that kind of villain.
Wait, come to think of it, isn't she already a villain, being my accomplice? Uh...
Correction. I'll make sure Seo-eun doesn't become *that kind* of 'crazy' villain. Being a moderate villain is good for you, you know.
Since this world mimics the one I used to live in, it's better to be a villain than a hero in South Korea.
Originally, I didn't care what happened to Han Seo-eun and just approached her to use her technical skills, but as I spent time with her, I grew fond of this kid.
I can't just let her die such a meaningless, dog's death.
Lost in those thoughts, I entered the main sector, which I had reached without realizing it.
***
As soon as I entered, a multitude of monitors greeted me.
Some monitors showed CCTV footage, others displayed various data.
This space made my eyes spin.
This was the main sector of the underground base.
Hmm, wouldn't it be cooler if this space had a name?
"Surveillance Center?"
Seo-eun was sitting at a console, busy with something.
Beside her, Soo-bin Unnie was also diligently working on something.
"Seo-eun, what are you up to?"
As I approached and asked, Seo-eun finally turned her head to look at me.
"Oh, Oppa, come here and take a look at this."
"Oh, what is it?"
I leaned closer to see what she was showing me...
"The 13th International Ice Cream Festival?"
"Yes! This is its first time coming to Korea. I've wanted to go so badly! Let's all go together next time. Soo-bin Unnie too."
"Um... okay..."
Soo-bin Unnie was smiling shyly beside her.
Soo-bin Unnie...
"Right, okay. So, Seo-eun, you wanted to go to the ice cream festival."
Huh. Seeing her like this, I can tell Seo-eun has brightened up a lot.
It feels like just yesterday she was wary of me, like a wounded baby hedgehog, when we first met...
Now she's even asking to go to an ice cream festival together. Though why on earth such a thing exists, I have no idea.
Yeah, yeah. It's good that she's pure and bright. It's good, but...
Wasn't she supposed to be working?
I thought she was diligently staring at the monitors because she was planning something else! I was feeling proud of her.
...She was planning to go to an ice cream festival.
I never thought I'd be going to an ice cream festival at my age...
"Anyway, we can go to that. So, do we have our next objective planned out?"
"Next objective?"
Hearing my words, Seo-eun put a finger to her lips and began to think, "Hmm..."
"Oh! Right, what was it you mentioned, Oppa? Good Samaritan?"
"Yeah. But that's a large-scale terror attack, so it's not good to execute it immediately after a week. It'll cause fatigue among the public. We need to unleash it with a 'bang!' when the ship terror incident is starting to be forgotten."
"Right, then what did you say we'd do? Villain elimination?"
"Exactly. We should do that in our free time. Any villains you recommend? We've got nothing but time, after all."
"Hmm... what was it you wanted, Oppa? Didn't you say you'd decide based on that 'terror prediction chart' you mentioned?"
Seo-eun tilted her head and asked me.
'Terror prediction chart.' You can interpret that as 'kids who will cause terror later in the original work,' if you read between the lines.
I just roughly explained it as something I knew through some certain method...
"The two most important ones were already eliminated last time, so it's fine. Now we can just pick anyone from the list I gave you, right?"
"Oh, really? Let's see... Soo-bin Unnie, could you bring up the villain list?"
"Yep!"
She replied energetically, manipulating the computer.
Even though we've only lived together for about a week, she seems to have adjusted a bit now.
She was a bit scared of me, so it was hard trying to comfort her for a week. She seems better now, but she still seems a little afraid of me. No, but we're on the same side now, I won't hurt her. Did I scare her too much last time?
"Let's see... Among the A-rank villains, how about this one? The guy who can teleport. Teleporter."
"Him? Ah, he'd be hard to kill."
For me to kill them discreetly, I first need to hold their body with telekinesis, and then either make their head explode with a 'bang' or shoot them. Both must be possible.
But if they can teleport? Then telekinetic body fixation or whatever is useless; they'd just slip away, making it extremely difficult.
"Oppa, usually, the more troublesome an enemy is, the sooner you should deal with them."
"Haa... Is that so."
Right, better to get the beating over with.
Let's deal with that guy first, then.
So please, stop looking at me like I'm some pathetic kid who hates studying, okay?
"Alright, I guess I should start getting ready. And Seo-eun."
"Hm?"
"You've been calling me Oppa for a while now. Decided to drop the act?"
When I said that with a grin, Seo-eun's face started to turn red, as if she'd only just realized.
"Ah, I was calling Soo-bin Unnie 'Unnie,' so... you must have misheard!"
As she started to mumble something, I quickly made my escape.
When she gets embarrassed, she tends to yell at me.