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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: The New Member
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Among the numerous villains appearing in the original story, deciding who to choose as an ally was a task in itself.
It wasn't easy to pick villains who could blend well into our Ego Stream team and who hadn't yet fallen to corruption.
After much deliberation, two candidates remained.
A brown-haired man and a purple-haired woman.
Torn between the two, I gave up on making the choice myself and asked Hayul's younger sibling who they preferred.
"The older sister next to me."
With the child's decisive answer, it was finally decided that I would recruit the woman currently standing before me.
And now.
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn't help but wonder if Hayul's sibling had made the wrong choice.
"No."
Seo Jayoung replied to my recruitment offer with a crisp "No."
...Hmm. This wasn't in my predictions.
As I stood there, momentarily stunned.
She chuckled softly, then replied to me.
"Just kidding, I'd love to."
"..."
I felt like flicking her forehead.
***
Seo Jayoung.
She looked at the man standing before her with extremely curious eyes.
...Egoistic. Isn't he the celebrity who's always on the news?
Watching his videos, she'd thought he lived an interesting life, but she never expected to see him in person like this.
And for him to specifically seek her out and offer villain recruitment...
'I don't know what this is about, but...'
She felt like her boring daily life was about to get a little bit more interesting.
Lost in thought, she watched the man speaking in front of her.
She didn't know how he knew her name and abilities, but it wasn't particularly important. It could happen.
Instead, she was thinking about something else.
"What do you think?"
After finishing his explanation of Ego Stream, he grinned and offered her the recruitment.
Watching him, Jayoung brought a hand to her mouth and thought for a moment.
"Hmm..."
It was tempting. She couldn't deny it.
It was true that she was bored from constantly lounging around at home, and this was the first interesting thing to happen in a long time.
And somehow, he knew she'd been itching for some terror lately, and offered to let her engage in it.
The conditions were suspiciously good, though.
Well, that didn't really matter.
She could usually win against anyone with her abilities anyway.
So she usually had no caution. She was confident that she could defeat any opponent and calmly extricate herself from any situation.
But more than that.
She was curious how he would react if she refused.
Would he get serious and threaten her? Or would he try to persuade her?
So she replied like this:
"No."
"..."
At her casual remark, he froze for a moment.
"..."
"..."
And he remained silent for a moment.
Half of his face was covered by a mask, and the other half was obscured by the shadow of his hat, but he clearly looked flustered.
And at his reaction, her lips curved upwards without her realizing it. *Cute.* More accurately, his reaction was *amusing*.
Hmm... Should I stop teasing him now?
"Actually, it was a joke. I'll join."
"...Thank you."
He paused slightly, then sighed in relief as he replied.
To him, she asked what she was curious about.
"Okay. So what now?"
Jayoung asked, suddenly curious.
Knowing that villains also drank Jetty and that she was joining Ego Stream was good, but what now?
And as if to answer her question, he grinned and replied.
"Follow me."
She felt a little better, as if things were getting more and more exciting.
Normally, she rarely went out and just lay around at home.
But this seemed worth going out for; it seemed like it would be fun.
So Seo Jayoung took the hand he offered.
***
Hmm. I was momentarily stunned, but anyway, I succeeded in recruiting Seo Jayoung.
...Actually, thinking about it, she might be the easiest member I've recruited so far. It only took about 10 minutes.
The only problem was that I didn't know when or how she might change her mind. So, I decided to invite her straight to my home.
After teleporting while holding my hand, she followed along without any caution. Long, flowing purple hair, half-closed eyes, and a blank expression.
Wearing an oversized black hoodie with sleeves that hung past her hands, she followed me, looking like someone just out for a casual stroll in the neighborhood.
...She looked incredibly defenseless. But then again, it might just be because she was that confident in her abilities.
Anyway, that wasn't the important thing.
I took her to our Ego-House.
"Woah."
And she let out a short exclamation of awe at the large house spread out before her eyes.
"What is this?"
"This is Ego Stream's headquarters. Everyone lives together here."
"Oh. But is it okay to reveal this to me?"
"Yes. From now on, you're one of our members, so of course it's fine."
I grinned as I replied.
...Actually, since we'd teleported here, she wouldn't know the location anyway, and she was someone who didn't really understand the internet or anything, so I confidently showed it to her, judging that she wouldn't be able to leak any information. But I didn't bother mentioning that.
"...You're not very cautious."
She mumbled it blankly, almost like singing. I just chuckled and brushed off her comment. It was good if she thought that.
Anyway, I pulled her along and opened the main gate to enter.
She looked around the spacious, open wooden mansion with curious eyes, as if it were something new. It felt a bit like introducing a house to a niece.
"Nice house."
For her to say that, it must have looked good.
But that wasn't the important thing right now.
"Alright, first, I'll introduce you to our members."
"Oh. Electra and Moonlight Priestess?"
"...You know them?"
"Yeah. I've seen them a lot on YouTube."
I was slightly surprised by her reply.
Wow, for someone who usually just lies at home staring at the ceiling to know about them, Ego Stream must really have grown big.
As I entered the living room, immersed in those thoughts, a familiar voice greeted me from ahead.
"Huh, Oppa? Did you bring a new member?"
As we entered the living room, Seoeun saw Jayoung and me, looked surprised, and approached us.
".....!"
And Jayoung's eyes widened slightly when she saw Seoeun.
"...Cute."
"Huh?"
Seoeun tilted her head, looking at Jayoung who had suddenly approached her, eyes sparkling.
Jayoung, speaking out of the blue, and Seoeun, still flustered by the sudden turn of events.
Anyway, Jayoung seemed to be in a good mood. It looked like she really liked Seoeun.
"I like it here..."
After Seoeun, Seo Jayoung looked towards the sun-drenched veranda and mumbled.
And I didn't miss that opportunity. Anyone who had read the original novel would know that Jayoung was an eccentric character. As such, I knew it was common sense to seize this chance while she seemed to be in a good mood.
So I immediately made her an offer.
"Oh, right, I haven't mentioned this yet. Would you like to live here too? All our Ego Stream members already reside here."
"Here?"
As she replied and casually looked around.
I immediately made a devilish temptation right beside her.
"If you live here, you can eat three meals a day together..."
"There are many people, so you'll never be bored."
"The house is nice, room and board are free, and it's a chance to live with many superpowered individuals – would you really miss out on that?"
"Hmm..."
She seemed to be pondering, but it was obvious she was already hooked.
Soon, she continued to ponder for a moment, then finally replied coolly.
"Okay."
"Understood."
I grinned as I replied.
Seo Jayoung also wore a satisfied smile, so it seemed she judged it a rational choice. Or, considering her personality, it might just have seemed amusing to her.
Anyway, the important thing was.
...Now that you've stepped foot into my house, you can't escape.
I thought that, and smiled wickedly to myself.
...I succeeded in completely tying down an S-class villain from the original story, on the condition of free room and board.
That woman might not think much of it yet, but once she lives in this house, she'll naturally become close with everyone, and eventually become a true colleague.
Actually, considering her personality in the original story, she's not the type to betray, but just in case. It's safer to tie her down as family beforehand.
Anyway, things progressed smoothly.
Which means she moved in and everything was done.
Thus, Jayoung officially became an Ego Stream member.
Hmm, good. S-class villain coaxing complete. Easy, right?
***
And a week passed.
In that time, Jayoung had already become quite close with the members. She was a bit vacant, like a houseplant, but perhaps because of that, she seemed to get close to everyone quickly. Her straightforward way of speaking also made her unreserved.
Anyway, back to the present.
On a chilly evening, I was currently standing with Jayoung in the forest in front of the house.
She naturally had a blank expression.
"Alright, let's see how strong you are!"
And Sehee was also next to us.
It seemed she got curious about Seo Jayoung's strength after I hinted at it.
"...So, shall I?"
"Go ahead."
As soon as I finished speaking.
In the middle of the dark green forest, with her purple hair cascading down and wearing only a black hoodie.
She raised her hand.
At that moment.
*Flash-*.
The air in the forest.
It was suddenly filled with small, will-o'-the-wisp-like purple flames.
"Oh... wow."
The small will-o'-the-wisps surged even in front of us, making it difficult to move.
Choi Sehee marveled at her ability. I nodded. "Yes, the output is strong too. If she applies this, it'll be amazing."
"Want me to do more?"
"Yeah."
At my words, she gave a short nod and manipulated the purple flames to do various things.
As far as I knew, those flames could even nullify Shadow Walker's abilities.
So.
"Good."
Watching her display, I reached a conclusion.
The next terror attack should be against Shadow Walker. That would be right. Just like in the original story.
Stardust... I'll just skip her this time.
Would there be any problem?
***
"...I wonder when Egoistic will cause his next terror attack."
Meanwhile, Shin Haru was pondering that very question.
At that time, she would naturally have to step forward.
"...This time, Egoistic. Should I try to talk to him? Ask him a few questions. He'd probably answer, wouldn't he?"
How could she make good use of this precious time meeting Egoistic, an encounter that rarely happened and was difficult to even witness?
...To find out his true identity.
She spent her time thinking such thoughts.
And so, the date of Egoistic's next terror attack was rapidly approaching.
It was summer.