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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: The Ambush
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At the very moment Egoistic infiltrated Weapon Master's hideout.
"F*ck… what the hell is going on…?"
In a room deep underground.
Geum Dong-geun sat there, clutching his head as he stared at the video on the screen.
Three figures had invaded his secret weapon storage.
A girl who looked like a delinquent, a girl in a shaman's outfit, and a man with a fluttering black cloak.
He knew all of them well.
The most famous villain in South Korea right now, Egoistic, and his companions.
"No, seriously, why the hell… out of all the people in the world, why me?!"
He cried out, almost choked with fury.
He couldn't understand why, out of all the villains, this bastard had somehow found out his identity and base, and attacked. If he was a villain, shouldn't he be hunting heroes instead of harassing him?
But the deed was done, and now it was time to think about a countermeasure.
"F*ck… F*ck…"
Geum Dong-geun had been developing weapons in his room, just like any other day.
He harbored a simple dream: to one day arm mechanical humans with his weapons and slaughter all the people in Seoul. As he diligently crafted cutting-edge weapons in his base, an alarm suddenly blared.
No one had ever expected an intrusion here, so it was natural for him to be flustered when the alarm, which he'd installed merely as a decoration, went off.
He fumbled to put on his glasses, frantically checked the screen, and seeing Egoistic was his first shock. Then, with trembling hands, he opened YouTube to see Egoistic declaring he would hunt him down, which delivered a second shock.
"…Go to hell. Do you think I'll just die like this?"
But Geum Dong-geun steeled his resolve.
His dream. His psychopathic desire to one day massacre people with all these weapons and be known as the ruler of fear.
He had just finished almost all his weapons and was about to kidnap people to convert them into mechanical humans to build an army when Egoistic suddenly appeared. It was like spitting on a finished meal.
For a moment, he considered abandoning this armory and fleeing, but it was clear that if he ran, Egoistic would gobble up everything.
Given Egoistic's intelligence, which had managed to track him down despite his hidden existence, he judged that even if he escaped, he would likely be caught eventually.
So, what on earth should he do?
"…F*ck, this is my home, my home turf. Do you think I'll lose here?"
He muttered like a madman.
He soon made up his mind. He would slaughter Egoistic and those bitches right here.
"Damn it, but how do I take down those monsters…?"
However, the problem was that it seemed impossible for him to defeat them with his own abilities.
How could he, alone, handle one S-class villain and two A-class villains?
If only they had arrived a little later, after Geum Dong-geun had succeeded in creating his mechanical humans, he could have sent them to deal with the threat.
But to his misfortune, they had appeared just before he could execute his mechanical human project.
He even thought about just blowing the place up with a bomb to kill them, but the place was too precious to him. Destroying the weapons and human experimentation labs he had spent his life building? Unthinkable.
Yet, he couldn't take on the three of them himself…
So, while he grumbled, unable to escape,
An opportunity, arose.
"Wait…"
The three who had been sticking together, split at a fork in the path.
The two women separated, and Egoistic was seen walking down the corridor alone on the screen.
Egoistic strode forward, his black cloak fluttering.
Watching him, Weapon Master Geum Dong-geun suddenly began to harbor hope.
"Wait… if it's just Egoistic…"
Now that he thought about it, that bastard always dressed in a neat suit, wore a mask, and talked in a mysterious way.
But wasn't he actually quite weak in combat?
His subordinates were monstrously strong, but he himself wasn't, was he?
Geum Dong-geun ran the calculations in his head.
And then, he came to a conclusion.
"Right… honestly, if it's just Egoistic, I can take him."
Filled with sudden confidence, he finally made up his mind.
He would capture that Egoistic fellow right here and now.
Since the bastard wasn't much of a fighter anyway, if he launched a surprise attack with his cutting-edge weapons, he could definitely take Egoistic down.
And after killing him first, he could somehow eliminate the other two while they were flustered.
"F*ck. I'll show them."
With that grim determination, Geum Dong-geun quickly changed into his suit, grabbed his weapons, and left his room through a secret passage.
One shot from this gun from behind, and even the great Egoistic wouldn't stand a chance…
He checked Egoistic's location on the screen.
Based on that, he predicted Egoistic's path, then secretly hid beside the door of the room Egoistic was about to enter, taking his stance.
How much time passed?
Finally, Egoistic arrived at the room.
"Hmm… what kind of place is this?"
Soon, a voice came from in front of him.
Hearing it, Weapon Master quietly aimed his gun at Egoistic.
It was a silent explosive gun he had personally modified and created.
One shot from this, and Egoistic, who had no special abilities, would be instantly dismembered without even knowing what hit him.
'F*ck, die, you bastard.'
With a wicked grin, he pulled the trigger, aiming at the unsuspecting Egoistic.
As the explosive bullet silently flew towards Egoistic, and Weapon Master was certain of his victory,
Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieek.
Something unexpected happened.
The moment he pulled the trigger and the bullet flew towards Egoistic, something black suddenly surged from Egoistic's body.
Like a black liquid floating in the air, it spread wide between him and Egoistic, and black tentacles swallowed the bullet.
Then, with a thud, the bullet exploded.
But the hideous black tentacles had already enveloped it, so the explosion had no impact whatsoever.
"Wh-what the f*ck is that?"
At the sight of the eerily grotesque black tentacles, Weapon Master involuntarily collapsed to the floor.
Egoistic grinned as he turned to face him.
"Aha."
You were here, weren't you?
***
"Hmm…"
Watching Weapon Master trembling and collapsed before me, I found myself grinning.
Right. This bastard, I knew he'd do this.
Knowing his personality from reading the original story, I had been waiting for a long time.
And sure enough, he came to attack me when I was alone.
Unaware that I was hiding an ace up my sleeve.
"Go, Behemoth."
I casually controlled the black tentacles that had blocked the explosion with a flick of my hand.
My Behemoth. I got it from the basement of the Haneun Group, and aside from using it against Stardus, I hadn't had any use for it, so I just kept it like a bulletproof vest.
No, to be more precise, I intentionally didn't expose it to broadcasts. Why? Because it's always good to have an ace up your sleeve.
That way, people like him get complacent.
"Ughhhhhh!"
Behemoth, made of black tentacles, wrapped around Weapon Master, who was sprawled on the floor.
Soon, the bastard was dangling in the air like a cocoon caught in a spiderweb.
He seemed to be trying to say something, but he was already enveloped in sticky black tentacles and couldn't speak properly.
"Mr. Geum Dong-geun… Mr. Geum Dong-geun. It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Egoistic."
"Ughhhhhh!"
"Yes, yes. You must be upset and feel wronged. I understand completely."
I said that, then pulled out the gun from my coat.
Seeing it, the bastard convulsed even more violently.
…It's funny. He's already killed several people, and later he'll slaughter people in Seoul, but he's afraid of his own death?
Well, he was like that in the original story too. After killing thousands, he eventually dies at Stardus's hands. He's one of the few people Stardus actually killed.
Unlike other villains, he was rotten to the core from the start.
"Don't feel wronged, Geum Dong-geun… no, Weapon Master."
"Ughhhhhh!"
"You're going to die anyway later. So, wouldn't it be better for humanity, and for you, to die now rather than later?"
"Ugh! Ughhhhhh!!!"
I loaded the gun, watching him struggle, wrapped in black tentacles.
From the context, he seemed to be begging for his life, but did he ever spare anyone else?
"So, farewell."
"Ugh!!!"
And with my final words, I aimed the gun at him.
Bang.
"....."
Soon, the struggling figure stopped moving.
"Phew…"
Still, I handled him pretty easily.
I sighed and put the gun back in my coat.
It's a relief I had a chance to stop him like this, but I don't know what I'll do about the villains whose names and bases I don't know.
…Perhaps raising Stardus and training other B-class ability users is the best solution after all.
"It's all done. You can come now."
After finishing up, I contacted the two, and within a few minutes, Eun-wol and Choi Se-hee arrived where I was.
"You did well, Dain Oppa."
"Hmm…"
Eun-wol showed no agitation even seeing the bleeding, fallen man. Unlike Choi Se-hee, who was slightly trembling.
Perhaps it's because she developed a tolerance while being in the Moonlight Cult.
"Alright, since we've dealt with him, let's just grab a few of the useful weapons, set off some fireworks, and leave."
The association would gobble up all the remaining weapons.
And in fact, that's what I intended. Considering the latter half of the original story, it's nothing but good if the association stockpiles as many weapons as possible. Things are going to get chaotic, so they need to be prepared in advance.
Thank you, Weapon Master. Your weapons, which threatened South Korea's security, will now be used for South Korea.
After a brief moment of silence for Weapon Master, the weapon maker, we decided to take only the most useful weapons. The most fun part is always the looting after defeating the boss.
And before we left, we'd just set off some fireworks at the mountain entrance to announce the location and disappear.
The association would get the weapons, and I would regain the title of a cruel villain who kills people without hesitation.
It would be perfect for making Stardus's hostility towards me boil. Stardus hates this kind of vigilante justice, especially murder.
Oh, right, and before I go. If I'm going to draw aggro, I might as well do it right.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
Choi Se-hee, standing beside me, gasped in horror as she watched me, gloved, writing something in blood next to the corpse.
"Just wait. It's a classic, in its own way."
I replied, and began writing something in blood.
"To You… Star… Dus…"
Good. It's done.
When Stardus sees this, won't her rage boil over again?
Perfect.
With satisfaction, I finished writing, set off some fireworks on the mountain near the entrance, and left the place.
***
To you, Stardus.
"...."
In an underground base somewhere in the remote mountains, where Egoistic had committed his crime.
Stardus and the association staff descended into the place, which resembled an ant farm.
The staff were busy quickly investigating the scene and clearing hazardous materials.
Standing before the villain, presumed to have been killed by Egoistic, Stardus looked down at the message written in blood beside him.
The words Egoistic must have written.
The words Egoistic must have written for her.
As she looked down at it,
Stardus, Shin Haru, felt a peculiar emotion.
She had seen this message before.
Before she even knew Egoistic, he had written this message twice already.
Certainly, in the past, seeing it had filled her with intense rage and loathing for Egoistic.
"…To Stardus, huh."
Yet, for some reason,
This time, she felt none of those emotions.
"…Am I, going crazy too?"
"And this victim also appears to be a villain. And these traces also… huh?"
"Ah. It's nothing. Please continue your explanation."
As she listened to the officer's explanation, she quietly mumbled to herself without realizing it.