Chapter 289: Complex Minds

Chapter 289: Complex Minds

After returning from Cathedral I sat at home for a few days, thinking about things.

I realized one thing after my trip to Cathedral.

"This is not easy..."

I realized that the last half of the original was not easy.

The final boss was a problem, but Celeste seemed to be a big problem too. Can I stop her...?

...Well, there was still time, so I didn't get too excited and worried. However, I realized that I would be in trouble if I didn't come up with a countermeasure soon. After all, the best plan is to appease her without turning her into an enemy in the first place...

"I don't know, I don't know..."

I started to do what I could, one step at a time.

Right now, I'm trying to figure out the villains that are going to appear in this phase.

The biggest problem, Seo-Eun, is completely my ally... but that doesn't mean the other villains are okay. Right off the bat, Dungeon Maker is not normal and it's not unusual to have villains who act differently from the original.

I decided to get these crazies out of the way first, so I could get on with whatever else I was doing, whether it was beating up bosses or something else. Get them out of the way and get ready for Phase 4.

So back at the house, I picked up my laptop and got to work.

"...."

As a result, the members of our Egostream became depressed again.

"Hey...Are you having fun?"

"Seo-eun... Do you think Da-in is having fun...?"

It's a sunny spring day again.

Birds are chirping in the mountains, and the bright sun is shining through the trees in the front garden of the big house.

I'm sitting on a bench, tapping away on my laptop, and Seo-Eun is sitting at the table across from me, her cheeks puffed out.

"This is too much, too much. You can take a day off on a day like today~"

...Of course, Seo-Eun, who said that, was also assembling a cube or something with a strange toolkit and while we were sitting at the table in front of the garden Choi Se-hee, who was playing with lightning when Seo Jae-young next to her, came down from the sky, flipped her hair back, and said to me.

"What the hell did you do at that villain meeting? You're suddenly so eager."

She asked me as she casually sipped my drink from the straw on the round table.

I narrowed my eyes at her before turning back to my laptop.

"It's just... I thought it would be a good idea to prepare for the future."

Even though I had crossed the big mountain of the Moonlight Gate, I still felt nervous about something.

...It's not because I want to finish and retire. It's because I'm afraid something will happen....

Anyway, I don't know what kind of surprises will come my way, so I decided to get things done while I still have time. Just like with Dungeon Maker... It's good to be prepared for anything.

So this time, I'm looking into the main events of the original Phase 3.

In particular, as the main disaster was a major prison break, I was mainly investigating events related to the Eastern Superhuman Detention Center, also known as Isk Karkeris, where villains are imprisoned...

Something has been bothering me for a while now, and I've been looking into it.

...However, I've gotten to the point where I'm getting a little stressed out about the lack of information.

And. There was something more troublesome.

Recently, there was a memory that stuck in my mind.

'You don't like holding hands with ....?'

"Ha..."

I muttered, looking at my laptop screen with my head down.

...Ever since then, the image of Stardus has been haunting me. That day must have been a bit of a trigger.

To Stardus, I'm nothing more than a masked, rolling, talking potato. She doesn't care about me at all...

...

'...I don't care if it's with you.'

"....."

...Ha.

I don't know.

I don't know why I've been thinking about this lately. I'm getting lost.

That's when I was lost in thought, staring blankly at the monitor and scratching my head.

-Bam.

Suddenly, the laptop slammed shut.

From where the screen was, the face of a woman with purple hair, Seo Jae-young, appeared.

"...?"

"Uh-huh."

When I gave her a puzzled look, she took her hand out of her large hoodie and wagged her finger in front of me.

She then laid down my laptop on the table and leaned in close to me.

"You shouldn't be working so hard. You need to take a break to clear your head and get some fresh air, okay?"

Seo Jae-young looked at me with wide eyes and said that with a serious face.

At that time, Seo-eun was nodding her head while saying, "Yes, big sister."... I was surprised because it was the first time I saw Seo Jae-young speak so seriously. Was she a girl who could speak like this?

And when I was thinking that Seo Jae-young began to melt on the table.

"And... I need you to deal with Choi Se-hee instead of me... I'm tired......"

"Hey Seo Jae-young, where did you run off to, aren't you coming back to train?"

I saw Choi Se-hee smiling down from the sky, and Seo Jae-young covered in sweat on closer inspection, so I concluded.

I realize now that she ran away from a duel with Choi Se-hee that was supposed to be a game using her powers.

...Yeah, well. I suppose it's okay if I take a break to stretch my legs.

With that, I left Seo Jae-young lying on the table and stood up, smirking at Choi Se-hee.

"Hey. Let's do it with me from now on."

"Huh? ...Are you feeling okay?"

"Of course."

"Hmph...Well, you can't cry if you lose."

"...Haha, that's an interesting thing to say."

I said as I looked at Choi Se-hee, who had her orange hair tied back and was giggling and bouncing lightning bolts.

The black tentacles attached to my body like a bulletproof vest and slithered toward my arms. It was the Behemoth, which had been with me for years and had almost become a part of my body.

I fought Choi Se-hee with my right arm covered in black tentacles...for quite a while, but I had to stop when Soobin asked me to eat.

For the record, I almost won the fight....

***

Anyway, that's how my day went.

The only difference is that I took breaks from time to time to research the villains harder than before, and Seo-Eun eventually started to help.

...However, I was still a little worried about Stardus. I mean, I've been strangely self-conscious since our last meeting. I shouldn't be. This should be a strictly business villain-hero relationship. I'm a big fan of hers.

Of course, I've always been known for my mental toughness, so I quickly calmed down. Yeah. Forget about Stardus, I'm sure she's already forgotten about it. After all, if I didn't see Stardus for a while, I would naturally forget the feel of her hand in mine, or whatever.

So I went back to focusing on learning more about the Eastern Prison and the more I did, the more I realized something was amiss.

"....I don't know what's going on here."

I spent the next few days trying to figure it out and the next morning, after some research, I realized.

"Ha..."

"Da-in, are you up?"

After saying good morning to Soobin, I sat down on the sofa in the living room, turned on the TV, and thought about it.

...Okay. I guess I can just settle this matter this time and be done with it. All I have to do is go out and do some fieldwork.

In other words, I can rest for a while.

With that in mind, I took the remote.

[101 reasons why it's obvious Stardus loves Egostic!]

...and frowned at the ridiculous prose that popped up.

It was ridiculous.

And this was on channel 2 of this station, and the opposite was being shown on channel 1 earlier.

No, they're still talking about me and Stardus, that's how they get ratings?

It was ridiculous.

[Reasons why Stardus is a fan of Egostic! The first one is...]

"..."

Still.

...Just in case, I need to see what kind of bullshit he's talking about. Let's take a peek.

And that's when I turned down the volume on the TV and sneakily looked at the screen.

[......Breaking news!]

Suddenly, the screen changed, and an urgent news report popped up.

...Well, I knew it, that's why I had the TV on.

The anchor began to urgently convey the situation along with the data screen.

[A tsunami of epic proportions is currently bearing down on Busan, the largest ever recorded, and is believed to be the work of a villain...]

With those words the scene changed to one where a massive tsunami is heading towards the city.

In the background, there's a whirlwind in the ocean, clearly a man-made terrorist attack. ...Who the hell is this villain that can do that?

'...Is there such a villain?'

Just as I was thinking of all the water-related abilities the anchor hurriedly began to give more information as the camera captured the figure floating on the tidal wave on the screen.

And then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a girl in an aqua suit with blue hair standing on the waves.

"...Ariel?"

At the same time as I mumbled that in a daze.

[The villain who caused the current terror seems to be related to the villainous organization Latis...!]

The anchor's words also began to ring in my ears.

What's going on?