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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: A Bright Day
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It was a bright day. Bathed in the sunlight streaming through the balcony, I sat in the living room, working. The sound of the TV drifted from in front of me.
"[Stardust dealt with a newly emerged A-rank villain yesterday. The notable point is that it took less than 10 minutes to defeat the villain...]"
The economic news ended, and a report about Stardust came on. I looked up, and there she was on screen, standing triumphantly after vanquishing the villain.
Her expression seemed relaxed, almost leisurely. After the Demon Lord's Castle incident, Star Punch must have truly awakened her power; she was single-handedly smashing everything in her path.
At this point in the original story, she would have been battered by one villain after another, leading a grueling existence catching the few demons that escaped the Demon Lord's Castle. Seeing her grin like that now, I almost felt a smile creep onto my own face.
...But then I remembered, this wasn't the time to be smiling. Stardust was strong, yes, but she needed to become even stronger. Especially if she was to prevent the impending destruction.
In other words, if she kept catching only weaklings, she might get complacent and her skills could actually decline. I needed to keep pitting her against stronger enemies. There was a reason I always made my PMC members train against increasingly powerful dummies.
Anyway... it was truly time to prepare for the next attack. Since the Demon Lord's Castle incident, she'd been enjoying peaceful days without major events. As her arch-nemesis, shouldn't I show her something?
Yes, a new terror. A new terror that would test Stardust's limits. ...What could that be?
"Hmm..."
I crossed my arms, deep in thought. Actually, the solution was surprisingly simple. I just needed to deploy our EGOSTREAM members again. Electra and Seo Ja-young, with Hayul's buffs, would be enough to temporarily hold their own against Stardust. Then there was the inherently strong Moonlight Priestess Eunwol, Seo Eun who was developing Starbuster 4, and even Desik, who always managed to show up like a necessary sidekick.
In other words, just combining a few of them and deploying them would do the trick. In fact, that would be the simplest way to handle it. I wouldn't even need to step in. Just let them fight for a bit and then make their escape, and it'd be done.
...However, there was a problem with that.
'...This attack would follow the unprecedented Demon Lord's Castle incident... If I presented another terror that felt too familiar, my standing as an arch-nemesis...'
Right. It was the symbolism of the terror. Coincidentally, this would be my first attack after the Demon Lord's Castle, so it was bound to attract a lot of attention. Especially since I'd stepped up a bit with the Spear of Light during the last incident, my name was still circulating widely in the media...
"Hmm..."
...As the saying went, 'new wine in new wineskins.' It seemed best to recruit a new villain again...
"Now... the timing..."
I quickly racked my brain. Right, anyway, terror attacks using our EGOSTREAM members would continue long after the Moonlight Gate event. There was no need to rush into that now. It wasn't too late to focus on gathering members first.
It had been two months since the Demon Lord's Castle incident, and even longer since I had personally stepped out in Seo Eun's suit...
I looked at the calendar, recalling the original story's schedule, and pondered. Soon, I made a decision. Right. I'd recruit a new villain now and go terrorize Stardust with them. If I was going to call myself Stardust's arch-nemesis, shouldn't I at least do this much?
"Alright, let's go!"
I made my decision. Right, that person... or should I say, that divine spirit. Meeting them, recruiting them, corrupting them into a villain, and then launching an attack would be perfect timing. Considering the power they showed in the original story... Stardust would have a tough time dealing with them. It would definitely help her grow.
Having come to that conclusion, I began to formulate the next plan, recalling the original story. It wasn't a bad plan at all. And so, time passed.
"Phew, finally done. Hey, what are you doing?"
The members who had been training and sparring outside returned. Lately, after seeing Stardust's exploits, they'd been working hard even without my prompting, all saying, "We'll definitely beat her!" Choi Se-hee, in particular, seemed to be the most dedicated these days.
"I was planning the next terror attack. Hmm..."
Choi Se-hee, who had been wiping her wet hair with a towel while watching me, soon flopped back onto the sofa behind her. Then Seo Eun came staggering in, groaning as if dying. She stumbled and then collapsed beside me.
"Oppa... I'm dying..."
She had been busy lately, doing this and that to perfect Starbuster 4, and even training. Soon, Seo Eun began to nod off while sitting, letting out soft sighs. ...Just how tired was she?
As I covered Seo Eun with a nearby blanket, Eunwol also approached from one side, looking tired.
"Hmm... Dain Oppa, I'm going to get some sleep too."
Then she sat next to the dozing Seo Eun, sharing the same blanket, and began to nod off while leaning on the sofa. ...Eunwol, usually strong enough to be relatively unfazed after sparring, must have found it tougher to deal with everyone as they grew stronger, getting tired quickly.
As I watched Seo Eun and Eunwol dozing while leaning on each other, a thought suddenly struck me, and I turned my head. Wait. If Seo Eun and Eunwol were this exhausted, what about Seo Ja-young, who was always tired every day?
So I looked around a few times and immediately spotted Seo Ja-young. She was already asleep, having spread a blanket in front of the living room entrance. ...Fast, huh.
Everyone was fast asleep from exhaustion. As I watched them, I quietly lowered the TV volume.
"What, everyone's asleep?"
Turning around to pinpoint the source of the voice, I saw Choi Se-hee, her eyes sparkling. While everyone else was tired and dozing, she was sitting alone on the sofa, drinking a banana milk she'd opened at some unknown point.
"Hey, aren't you sleepy? Just from the sounds, it seemed like a fierce fight this time."
"Ah, me? Heh. I've always been confident in my stamina, you know?"
She said that and coolly grinned. Hmm, but since the kids were dozing, we were speaking in low voices, and it was hard to hear.
So I got up from my seat, went to the sofa where Choi Se-hee was sitting, and plopped down beside her.
As I sat next to her, Choi Se-hee made a questioning sound, still sipping her banana milk. I glanced at her slightly bobbed, orange hair that reached her shoulders and her yellow eyes looking at me, and then impulsively spoke.
Right. I originally intended to go alone, but it might be better if two of us went.
"Want to come with me?"
"....Huh?"
As I said that, she suddenly dropped the straw from her mouth and began to panic.
"S-suddenly? No, wait. Where?"
Watching her suddenly ramble incoherently, I calmly said,
"To recruit a new villain. I was originally going to go alone, but I thought it wouldn't be bad if we went together, if you're up for it."
"...A new, villain. Right, I knew it.... But wait, just you and me?"
Her eyes, which had instantly turned cold at my mention of a new villain, returned to normal at the idea of just the two of us going.
"Yeah. There doesn't seem to be a need for everyone to go."
Actually, it wouldn't matter if I went alone, but just in case, I thought it wouldn't hurt to have one person come along. And Choi Se-hee's remark about her good stamina impulsively made me think of asking her. Why is stamina important? Because we had to climb a mountain.
"Well, alright. Let's go, anywhere."
Choi Se-hee replied with a grin, blissfully unaware of the tragedy that was about to befall her. I faced her, smiled, and thanked her. "...Thanks. It would've been a bit much to go there alone...!"
***
A few days later. On the very day I decided to recruit a new member, I told everyone and soon began preparing to go to where that person was.
"...No, why do I have to pack a down jacket? It's not even winter yet."
"There's a reason for everything. Here, put this scarf in too."
"...We're not going to the South Pole, are we?"
"Dain, here are the hot packs."
"Ah, thanks, Soobin."
"...Oppa, you're not doing anything dangerous again, are you?"
"This time, it's really not, so don't worry."
...That is, if no major problems arise.
After soothing Choi Se-hee, who had been grumbling from the moment we left home, we set off on our journey, already bundled in winter gear even though it was only early autumn.
Across rivers, over bridges, through tunnels, we finally arrived at our destination.
After getting off again and wandering for a long time, consulting the map and walking, we finally reached our destination.
"Is this it?"
"Yeah."
Pushing through grass and trees, we arrived at our destination: a massive, snow-covered mountain, strangely appearing deep within a valley, blanketed in snow.
"...No, has there ever been a place like this in Korea?"
"It's hidden, so ordinary people wouldn't know."
"Anyway, are we supposed to climb up here?"
"Yeah. It's probably somewhere near the top."
"Oh... it feels like we're going on an adventure after a long time, it's exciting, isn't it?"
She looked at the high mountain and said that with a subtly excited expression, as if eager for a challenge, then suddenly, as if remembering something, asked me.
"No... wait, but now that I think about it, who exactly lives at the top of this snowy mountain? Are they even human?"
"Human... can you call them human?"
They're closer to a divine spirit than a human, but they can probably transform into a human, too. I'm not sure, though.
"Anyway, let's go up. You'll see."
"Well, if that's the case... Okay, let's go!"
Choi Se-hee said that with a grin and began to take her first step towards the mountain. I followed behind her, starting to move my feet.
Wait, Stardust. I'll bring you a fresh new villain!