Chapter 238 – Ranking
Seo-eun, our Ego Stream’s information communication and hacking expert responsible for creating all kinds of tools for us.
Now, she’s just our adorable youngest member of Ego Stream, but in the original work, she was quite different.
In the original story, her image was a very cold and cynical antagonist. She was quite tall, and unlike her current short haircut, she had long hair.
Because her first appearance in the original work was several years after the current point in the story, her adult form couldn’t be avoided. With her hacking abilities already at their peak, she managed to infiltrate the Villain Penitentiary, orchestrate a mass jailbreak, and show up with dozens of mechs.
Especially the jailbreak event, which in the original story involved all the villains introduced up until that point showing their faces again, might have felt like an all-star showdown to the readers, but to Stardus, which had to deal with it all, it was nothing but a catastrophe.
…Of course, the current Seo-eun is quite different from her gloomy appearance in the original story.
“Huh? What’s wrong, Da-in?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. You did a great job.”
“Hehe”
I said so, patting her head, and she chuckled involuntarily.
Oh, right. I told her not to do that just a moment ago.
But well, now that we’re here, it’s not a big deal. I thought as I gazed at the massive combat robot created by Seo-eun.
Its surface was smooth, gleaming with a bright white color. Seo-eun named it the Star Conqueror.
Indeed, this introduction by Seo-eun, which she seemed so proud of, marked the beginning of my concerns. It was just that this resembled too much the combat mech Seo-eun used to send into battle when she was an S-class villain in the original work.
Of course, there were some differences from the original appearance. In the original work, it was a bit more polished than this, bigger, and had more functions. It had even gone through mass production.
Still, the overall appearance was strikingly similar, and that was a bit unsettling. Besides, the fact that she had already created this at the current point in the story was impressive. She seemed to be in a better mood than she was in the original work, and we had our Ego Stream comrades, which might explain it. It even felt like she was smarter than in the original work. Perhaps there’s more room for growth.
“Da-in, is something wrong?”
As I was quietly pondering while looking at the robot, Seo-eun noticed something was amiss and grabbed my sleeve, asking with a worried look.
…Yeah, the current Seo-eun is different from the Seo-eun in the original work, so there’s no need to worry. We have a family now. We’ve already spent three years together. It’s different from the original work.
So, I smiled a little and told Seo-eun that nothing was wrong as if to reassure her.
“Oh, it’s nothing. I got lost in thought for a moment. Now, can you introduce this to me?”
“Sure, Da-in. Look at this. I made this with Sehee…”
With Seo-eun brimming with excitement, I followed her and approached the machine… No, the more I look at it, the more astonishing it becomes. How can something like this even be made?
But anyway, I nodded in encouragement to Seo-eun, who believed that this would be enough to defeat Stardus. …In the original work, Stardus ended up destroying the robot Seo-eun created, so let’s pretend not to know about that.
And so, several days after Seo-eun introduced her machine to me.
“Oh, is it already this late?”
I glanced at the calendar and said suddenly.
The day of the villain council’s catechal was fast approaching…
***
In my room, located on one side of the mansion.
Sitting at my desk, I was lost in thought.
“Hmm…”
Tap, tap.
[Recently, the S-class villain Mortega from France has appeared in the UK, causing fear in European society. Mortega is a member of one of Europe’s largest villain organizations and has declared, ‘I will destroy the power source of the Machine Kingdom, the UK,’ while hiding somewhere in the UK. In response to this, the French association has caused a significant controversy by stating that they will not provide any assistance to the UK. The UK association expressed great displeasure, using strong language, referring to the two countries’ deteriorating relationship…]
Meanwhile, on the monitor, a video was playing that provided information on the world situation. The video showed dynamic scenes from various countries.
“Hmm…”
And while I was watching that, what I was actually focused on were the villains, particularly the villains from other countries invading our own.
Yes, this situation became increasingly common in the later part of the original work. As the world went down into chaos, our country seemed to have had enough, and villains began to go to other countries to cause trouble.
This was a rather difficult situation for me. Well, what would happen if I had no idea about villains from other countries invading mine? There were already plenty of villains in South Korea, and dealing with them was a handful. If villains from other countries joined in, it would be unbearable.
Of course, for fear of such a situation, I’ve been actively participating in the Cathedral meetings… There, I’ve done meaningful things and expanded my influence, somewhat helping to prevent villains from other countries from invading.
However, for some reason, it felt like this was not enough.
“…”
Tick, tock. Tick, tock.
I pressed the end of the pen while lost in thought.
Yeah, if I consider the later parts of the story, it’s not enough. Especially by that time, a genuine ‘international threat’ finally emerges, and other countries start fighting each other. There will be accusations like, “Because of you, our country was ruined,” and wars may even break out. Fighting villains is already challenging, but heroes fighting against each other will lead to utter chaos.
And what’s even scarier is that our country is not exempt from this, especially after the incident with the Moonlight Teacher.
That’s why I’m currently thinking one thing.
‘Maybe… forming alliances with other countries is the right thing to do.’
Especially with neighboring countries.
Japan, well, they already had a close relationship with Katana, one of the top players in the field. We talked together last time. We roughly complained about how hard it is to run an organization. Plus, Katana gets along well with Yi Seol-ah.
However, it still feels insufficient.
“Hmm…”
Yes, the only thing I’m thinking right now is this.
“How can I… make this work?”
Could I create an East Asian villain alliance?
I had been contemplating such a plan. In the chaotic international community, if the Association opposed it, even villains should come together, especially considering the future turmoil.
As I pondered this idea, I examined the map. Ultimately, we would have to persuade the prominent villains of the continent…
“Li Shaofeng…”
The leader of the Hualong, China’s largest villain organization, and a villain with the ability to summon a fire-breathing Eastern dragon.
I wondered how to handle this guy…
“Hmm…”
While I was dreaming of creating the largest villain alliance in Asia, the video on the monitor broadcasted my name.
“…?”
I raised my head at the sudden mention. A villain ranking, was there even such a thing?
[This is almost unprecedented among villains with weak combat abilities. Notably, the main points were ‘The heroines are reluctant to take action as they have the support of the public’ and ‘he commands numerous, even stronger villains under him with his unique charisma and leadership.’ It’s been nearly ten years since a South Korean villain made it into the HVC rankings…]
Oh, that’s right. I remembered it when I heard HVC. The world’s largest hero-villain research institution that releases rankings every year. Since the Association generally classified all heroes and villains as S-rank if they exceeded a certain threshold, this organization was established to provide a more detailed classification of their strength.
The reason I knew about this place was because of Stardus. In the original story, Stardus could not even get into the HVC or whatever hero ranking, and there was a time when he was attacked for that.
Of course, now? I’ve been on the rankings for a long time. And it was a while ago that my name was first on the list. I felt quite proud back then. Even if it was unofficial, it sounded like Stardus was recognized in a place with some authority.
But I didn’t know that they would even rank villains here. Does it have an impact? Well, in the first place, in the Association, I’m only A-rank. Well, that’s what Stardus is, too.
I decided to search this up while having those thoughts. Oh, it seems like it’s pretty real. As soon as I searched, there was only talk of me getting onto the ranking.
After doing a search, the entire ranking came up. But it seems that half of it is pretty much the humorous part, considering that I had entered the ranking for the first time this time and was ranked 50th.
“…?”
Wait, didn’t they say I wasn’t on the ranking at all until now? This is quite high, isn’t it?
With such thoughts in mind, I took the opportunity to skim through the entire villain ranking.
First place was naturally Celestia. She was the leader of the Cathedral and… I was ranked just below, with Katana and Li Shaofeng above me. Katana’s rank was obviously high, considering that she was currently conquering Japan. Since the ranking was based on influence and danger, it made sense.
There was no sign of other villains from South Korea. Well, once Wolgwanggyo appeared, they should quickly climb up the ranks…
In the end, all this showed was that there were many individuals with extraordinary abilities around the world. Most of them were in the United States, but what’s with a villain who has the power to cause volcanic eruptions?
“How interesting…”
I thought lightly and moved on. Whether I was ranked 50th or 500th doesn’t really matter. After all, it’s not an official ranking by the Association.
…Yeah. I didn’t know back then. The consequences of this event would be set in motion.
