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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: A Seaside Respite
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The rhythmic crash of waves against the shore.
A gentle, refreshing breeze.
"Ah... this is the life."
I lay on a sunbed, took a sip of the drink beside me, and let out a sigh of contentment.
Yes... this is what life is all about.
"Oppa. Are you just going to lie there?"
"I'll rest a bit more, Seo-eun. You go ahead and play."
"Honestly... fine. But come quick, okay?"
"Alright, alright."
Watching Seo-eun run across the sand, I put my sunglasses back on.
Whew, this is nice.
Yes. This is life. Sipping a mojito while gazing at the ocean...
Yes.
Our Ego Stream members had come on a trip.
To a beach somewhere in the east.
***
"Wow... so this is the ocean..."
"No, you know what the ocean is. Why are you so surprised?"
"Ack! Se-hee unnie, don't splash water!"
"If you're at the beach, you should play!"
Hmm, quite boisterous.
I slowly sipped my lime green mojito through a straw, watching the kids play.
Yeah. Everyone really seems to love being at the beach. It feels even more vibrant than our regular hiking events.
As soon as my body felt a bit better, we immediately rushed to the beach.
Of course, if I overexert myself now, I might still cough up blood, but as long as I don't use telekinesis or teleportation excessively, it's fine. In other words, no big deal.
Watching them splash around and play, I stretched my legs out on the sunbed again.
"Dain, would you like one of these?"
"Oh, yes, thank you. Hmm... Oh, this is delicious."
"Right? They were selling them over there, with a line."
I munched on the dakgangjeong Subin handed me.
This is good.
"I'll put it here, so let's share."
"Okay. I should buy a few more when the kids come back later."
I said, still munching on the dakgangjeong.
Currently, it was just Subin and me lying on the sunbeds.
The adults were sitting and resting, while the kids were happily playing on the beach.
Hayul and her younger sister Cha-yoon were over there building a sandcastle with Dasik. By the way, Dasik was wearing a mascot costume and playing with Cha-yoon beside them. It seemed like there might be a bit of a problem if a ghost in black armor appeared on the beach, so they'd arranged that as a temporary measure.
The ones splashing around and playing on the beach were Seo-eun and Eun-wol. And Choi Se-hee. I wondered why she was acting like that when she wasn't a kid... but well, she looked like she was having fun, so it was fine. Her mental age might actually be similar.
"...The weather's so warm, it's really amazing."
I never imagined I'd be able to go to the beach in this season.
But I didn't know such a place existed.
A beach managed exclusively by a heat ability user. Only this place is warm, like Southeast Asia.
Of course, since a heat ability user, who seems to be at least B-rank as a hero, is stationed here, the usage fee is quite expensive, but that's not my concern.
Anyway, I took another sip of my mojito.
There were quite a few other people on the beach besides us. Everyone seemed to be enjoying their vacation.
However, thanks to the powerful perception-blocking magic Eun-wol had cast on all of us, no one seemed to notice us.
Even though our hair colors were varied—black, white, orange, etc.—no one even gave us a second glance.
That's why I had the guts to bring all the Ego Stream members here.
Honestly, there's no way we'd be caught.
Just as I was about to take another sip of my mojito, Subin, who was lying on the sunbed next to me, sunbathing with me, suddenly murmured.
"...It feels like a memory."
"Hm?"
"Remember when Dain, Seo-eun, and I went to Busan? Back then, the two of us were also sitting on sunbeds like this, and Seo-eun was playing in the ocean. It suddenly reminds me of that time."
"Ah... that's right. And then when we went to sleep at the hotel, terrorists suddenly appeared and woke us up."
"I remember... Dain stepping forward and calling himself an Apple Mango back then. Pfft."
"Oh, please... forget about that incident..."
My head throbbed as I recalled that embarrassing past.
As I pressed my hand to my forehead as if dizzy, Subin let out a clear laugh beside me.
"Haha. Still, looking back, that time is a fond memory. I never would have thought back then that there would be so many more people now, making it so lively..."
She said, gazing towards the beach.
I also leaned back on the sunbed, a mojito in one hand, and looked at the ocean.
Our members laughing and playing, couples playing with their children as if they came as families, and people running around.
...This is a scene unimaginable in the original story. By this time, everyone's lives would be so ruined that a resort like this wouldn't be functioning normally.
Yes. Come to think of it, this is the scenery I created.
Well... it doesn't seem bad.
Plus, I got to know the heat ability user who's in charge of this beach, someone who didn't even appear in the original story, thanks to this opportunity.
She's probably that woman over there with the life vest, red hat, and sunglasses. To heat up such a large area of the sea, her ability must be quite strong, right?
It might be worth looking into later.
"Dain. Where should we have dinner later?"
"Let's all grill some meat at the pension behind us. A barbecue. It's always fun with this many people."
"Hehe. Sounds good. Should I prepare the ingredients?"
"Choi Se-hee probably already took care of everything... but I'll check in a bit."
I said, looking behind me.
The pension directly facing the beach.
That's the pension we plan to stay at for two nights and three days.
For your information, I've stuffed all sorts of things in there.
Guns, masks, even cameras. I had a strange feeling, so I just prepared everything.
This became a habit after the Busan hotel 'monkey wrench' incident last time.
You never know what might happen where... Though I don't think anything special will happen this time.
"Oppa! Unnie! Don't just lie there, come play with us!"
"Yeah, you guys! Is it even right to come all this way and not get wet?"
As I was thinking that, I heard voices calling us. Seo-eun and Se-hee were waving at us from the front. Eun-wol also had sparkling eyes.
"Subin, should we go play a bit now?"
"Yes. Let's."
With Subin's smiling reply to me, I stood up.
Since both of us were already wearing swimsuits, we just shed our cardigans and headed into the ocean together.
"We're coming now!"
Ha. It's been so long since I've been able to clear my head and relax like this.
Yes. I've been living too busily until now, I need to rest too. People die if they overwork themselves.
Surely nothing will happen on such a joyful day, right?
If God takes pity on me, it can't.
With that, I walked into the ocean.
What could possibly happen?
***
"...Dain must be playing at that beach right about now."
Lee Seol-ah, who had been working, suddenly put down her pen at that thought.
She remembered him talking about going on a trip with the Ego Stream members, speaking with an unconscious joy.
....
Egoistic. It's unthinkable for him to go over to the villains.
For Lee Seol-ah, who had been planning to slowly pull him over to the hero side, to her side, this was like a bolt from the blue.
Considering the other Ego Stream members who had shown excessive caution towards her, it was enough to give her a headache.
"...Right."
Pouring herself another glass of wine, Lee Seol-ah fell into thought.
Egoistic. He definitely showed a slight obsession with Stardus.
And that was what she was most wary of.
Someday, Ha-ru would learn all of Egoistic's secrets, and Egoistic liked Stardus.
If Egoistic and Stardus were to become a team.
It wouldn't be easy for Lee Seol-ah herself to wedge her way between them.
As Lee Seol-ah thought this, her perspective changed with this opportunity.
Yes. It's true that Stardus needs to be kept in check.
However, even more dangerous people were subtly ensnaring Dain without her knowing.
The Ego Stream members. What if they snatched Dain first?
"...Even if I handed him over to Ha-ru, that wouldn't do."
No. If his ties with those who were wary of her and Egoistic's relationship grew stronger, they might even try to persuade him to sever ties with Lee Seol-ah herself.
That, at least, cannot happen.
Then, what if she thought in reverse?
It's a fact that Dain considers Stardus special, whether as a fan or something else.
In that case.
....
Ha-ru wouldn't recognize him as Egoistic anyway, since he'd be under perception-blocking magic.
Dain himself had boasted that one of his members had mastered an unprecedented level of perception-blocking magic.
If he could meet his beloved Stardus in person, in private, and even get a little closer, wouldn't Egoistic's heart gradually lean towards the hero side?
Hero Apple Mango. She looked cute in the videos.
Yes, disguised as a coincidence...
Thus, Lee Seol-ah, somewhat irrational due to alcohol.
After devising a plan that would make Egoistic clutch his neck and collapse if he heard it.
She turned on her phone and began to call Ha-ru.
"Hey~ Ha-ru. What are you up to?"
"It's nothing much, but how about we go see the ocean?"
***
Living room, sofa.
Shin Ha-ru, who had been idly lying on the sofa during a rare break, was fiddling with her phone.
However, only her fingers were on the phone; her thoughts had long since drifted elsewhere.
'...That was definitely Egoistic, I think...'
She had definitely seen someone on the rooftop.
But since no one else had seen him, she just felt frustrated.
"Haa..."
Come to think of it, this is all I've been thinking about lately.
...Right. Maybe it's strange for her to believe that he, a villain, appeared at that scene.
...My head hurts.
As Shin Ha-ru was thinking this, her phone began to ring.
"...Seol-ah?"
What's up?
She answered the call, feeling puzzled.
"Oh, Seol-ah."
"What, the ocean? You want to go right away tomorrow? There's a warm place, you say..."
At Lee Seol-ah's sudden suggestion to go to the beach tomorrow, Shin Ha-ru, who would normally have refused, began to slightly hesitate.
Right. My head's been hurting lately, just thinking about Egoistic.
Going to the ocean and forgetting all that might not be a bad idea.
After a moment of thought, Ha-ru replied to Lee Seol-ah.
"Alright. I'll go to the beach."
***
"Ah, I should've brought a water gun, I forgot."
"Oh my, Se-hee. Are you a kid?"
"What, a kid? You think I can't splash without a water gun? Take that!"
"Kyaa! Unnie, why are you splashing me too!"
"...Wait. Hey! Dain, aren't you going to stop that? Water bombs with abilities are cheating!"
"Nope. Layers of perception-blocking, so no one will notice~"
"Wait! Surrender, surrender!"
As I was happily playing, the thought of Stardus suddenly crossed my mind.
...I wonder what Ha-ru is doing right now.
Well, knowing her personality, she's probably either at the association or resting at home.
Come to think of it, I won't have a chance to meet her again until my next terror attack.
Thinking that, I threw a water bomb at Choi Se-hee.
"Ack. Hey!"
Ah. This is kinda fun.