Chapter 295: Carqueas
Since the arrival of Ariel, daughter of Atlas, the Ego-House became even noisier than before.
“Wow! This is delicious!”
“Really? Do you want to try this one?”
“Yes!”
First of all, thanks to Ariel making a fuss while eating every meal time, I feel like I’m eating while watching a foreigner’s Korean food mukbang YouTube video every time. I was already mass-producing Gukbong TV, and I was curious about what the reaction would be if I filmed and uploaded a video titled: Ariel, daughter of an S-class villain, bibimbap mukbang.
Anyway, like that, Soobin was happily spreading the rice, and Eun-woo was also watching with a quiet smile, slightly embarrassed, because she was like that when she first came to our house after escaping from the Moonlight Church…
Other than that, Ariel adjusted well.
I don’t know why, but she speaks Korean so well that she’s watching my fan cafe with Seo-eun without any translation magic, etc…
Other than Ariel, I was most excited about Choi Se-hee.
Because she had one more person to train with.
“Okay, Ariel, do you want to try again today?”
“Yes, I’m in!”
“Okay, that’s the way!”
Choi Se-hee usually likes to fight with her abilities, but Ariel was her optimal opponent. Not only was she stronger than her, but we didn’t have a lot of combat-type powers in the house to begin with. Eun-woo and Seo Jae-young? Shinryong doesn’t really like to fight in the first place, and Seo Jae-young…She’s always running away.
-Kwagua Kwagua Kwagua
“Children… Fight in moderation.”
I said that with a sigh, looking out the window at the lightning flashes and the rain that was suddenly falling.
When I glanced outside, I saw Choi Se-hee, whose orange hair was tied back and who was wearing only a tank top, flying through the air in a wet state, fighting, and the blue-haired Ariel, who was silently laughing and splashing water at her.
…Yeah. You hear me, enjoy it while you can.
It was new to me, though, to see Ariel running around in such good health. In my memory, she was always bedridden and frail.
“…Well, that’s enough.”
With that thought, I turned on my laptop.
I did a little searching and found a lot of reactions to the incident.
Ariel’s terrorist attack in Busan, and my intervention to stop it, was, as usual, a pretty big deal.
[Shock! Ariel, daughter of Atlas, head of the world’s largest villainous organization, Latis, enters the Egostream…]
The part that drew the most attention, especially from overseas, was Ariel joining Egostream.
Overseas villain experts have already confirmed that the woman responsible for the attack is Atlas’s daughter Ariel, and before I could say anything more, she made the announcement. Ariel is now a member of the Egostream.
And since then, it’s made quite a splash overseas.
How do you know that? Just look at Korean news organizations.
[[Analysis] What does Ariel’s joining Egostream means? The unbreakable bond of the Latis X Egostream revealed by this opportunity]
[S-class villain Ariel. 10 things you didn’t know.]
[Why did the head of one of the top 3 most powerful villain organizations in the world entrust his daughter to Egostic? Overseas hero experts are all in awe! “It’s unusual…A sign of great trust. It’s frightening to see how friendly Egostream is with everyone around them.” This is the kind of thing that makes experts freak out, the U.S. freak out, and Japan freak out! What are the limits of Egostic connections that even foreign countries have taken notice of?]
…Yeah. I feel like it’s enough to look at a KookPong TV article with a longer title than usual.
It seemed that everyone was surprised that Atlas, who usually showed a closed and solitary appearance, entrusted his daughter to me. Actually, he didn’t entrust her, but Ariel came to me on her own…Well, I suppose that’s not the point.
Anyway, now that I’ve gained a powerful ally for once, I decided to get back to my work.
…I’m sure the commotion abroad will subside soon enough, and it’s not a big deal since everyone in Cathedral already knows about my close relationship with Atlas. All the powerful villains I really need to watch out for are in Cathedral anyway.
Of course, that doesn’t mean Korea is safe.
“Where are all these assholes…?”
On this peaceful morning, I, the head of Korea’s largest villain organization…I was thinking about how to protect South Korea today.
The first problem is the villains of Phase 3.
How should I stop these bastards with so much personality?
Especially since I had completely changed the direction from the original by blocking the Moonlight Gate, it was difficult to predict who would appear and when.
Of course, some things never change, like the villains who will participate in the final event of Phase 3, the Great Jailbreak.
Surprisingly, the Eastern Camp, which houses all of Korea’s most notorious villains. East Carqueas was not hit at all during the Moonlight Church’s rampage. Well, that’s to be expected. The camp was heavily guarded during the prolonged Moonlight Gate incident in the original, so I’m not sure why the International Association’s technological prowess would have caused them to be so utterly destroyed in the original.
Anyway, Carqueas, the camps for the able-bodied, were built all over the world, and Eastern Carqueas was built in South Korea.
Almost a graveyard for the able-bodied, it’s known for its tight security and the fact that once you get in, you never get out. A tomb of the mighty.
Built like a fortress on an artificial island in the Sea of Japan, it’s home to every super-powered villain ever captured. In fact, there aren’t many names because I killed all the bad guys with a grand escape in mind… but there are still villains I’ve fought in the past, like Crocodile Man and Monkey Spanner, who are now nostalgic names, and newer villains like Dungeon Maker, who are still trapped.
It’s a truly terrifying place, with ancient villains locked up since before the beginning of the story. It’s a testament to Carqueas incredible security that it was safe from them and all the monsters that attacked during the Moonlight Gate Incident.
…And our original Seo-eun managed to neutralize it and break them all out.
“…”
Actually, this is still a mystery. In the original, Seo-eun…I mean, the White Witch had sent out a warning to the whole country, just like I do now, and it was all breached in one fell swoop. It’s a mystery why and how a place that’s supposed to be so secure exploded.
And there was a bigger question.
“Do you want me to destroy the camp? Um, Da-in, why on earth would you think I would…?”
Seo-Eun replied with a dumbfounded look in her eyes when I asked her if she had just gotten the urge to destroy the prison.
But more importantly, she takes a moment to look at me and then shakes her head in disbelief.
“Hmm….After looking into this, it seems like it would be difficult to break out of prison in the first place.”
“…Huh?”
“The security here has created its own network with separate powers, like the Association and you, so it’s not easy to break through with my skills. If I spend years on this, I might be able to…”
“Hmm, I see…”
Seo Eun’s explanation shocked me greatly.
How did the original Seo Eun managed to break through, and even then, she wouldn’t be with us, she’d be self-taught, and her abilities would be lower than now…
‘…She must have had a helper.’
After thinking about it, I came to a conclusion.
That’s right. This is probably right. Of course, it’s just a guess, but… Considering the original, it’s possible.
With that, I went back to work, refreshing my memory as best I could.
Especially in order to prevent the ‘thing’ that was being studied in the camp from coming out.
Even if there wasn’t a mass escape like in the original… it could still happen.
It wasn’t easy, of course, but…
‘Yeah. We’ll do it all ahead of time.’
It’s all for Stardus, for her to move forward with the fate of the world on her shoulders.
In fact, I’m already starting to dread the aftermath of lying to her and getting away with it during Ariel’s last attack…
“Phew.”
She’s probably hard at work right now, and I can’t play.
With that thought, I continued my research, digging through my archives. I kept thinking that sooner or later, I’d have to do some terrorism.
***
And that time.
“…Huh?”
Lee Seola, president of the Yuseong Group and a close friend of Stardus’, Hero Icicle.
Stardus is her friend who has come to visit her after a long time. She was a little nervous about meeting Shin Haru at the cafe, but then she heard the words that came out of her friend’s mouth and immediately panicked.
“…What?”
“I want to get to know Egostic better. How do you think I should do that?”
Listening to Shin Haru say that with her ears slightly reddened, but still calmly Lee Seola silently screamed inside.
‘…No, Da-in, you said that you and Haru have definitely adjusted your distance…’
Did you…?
…Of course, her cries went unheard by Egostic who was lying at home.
