Chapter 237 – Adult
After meeting with the president, I was lost in thought inside my home for a while.
“…”
Things had actually worked out well. They had worked out quite well, but… it left me with a somewhat uneasy feeling. The president believed my words without hesitation.
So, I was a bit taken aback, but anyway, if I considered the way the president had acted in the original work, it made sense. People are, well, somewhat straightforward…
Still, he wasn’t a bad person. After all, he had managed to hold onto his position as president for quite a long time, which meant he must have had some competence, even if he appeared incompetent at a glance.
“Anyway, whatever. He may not have completely believed me.”
Nevertheless, it seemed like he had understood the warning about the impending danger. That was good enough. The cooperation from the association was essential to prevent the Wolgwanggyo incident.
By the way, on that very day, I contacted Lee Seola to inform her about the situation.
[Yes, Da In. So you finally managed to get in touch with the president?]
“Yeah, I got some cooperation to a certain extent.”
[That’s fortunate. Well, it’s reasonable for the president. I should have a separate conversation with him. However…]
“Yeah?”
[Da-in, how much did you tell him? We need to coordinate our stories.]
I honestly replied to Lee Seola’s question.
“Well… I just mentioned that I’m doing it for the country and that I started the terrorism to raise Stardus’s abilities, more or less.”
[…You told him quite a lot. What about my story?]
“Oh, yes, I mentioned your story too. Just that we’re on good terms… something like that.”
[Hmm…]
Lee Seola, who had been silent for a moment, finally organized her thoughts and spoke.
[Well… After I met Egostic by chance, I started thinking that he was not that bad, and now we’re on good terms. That’s what I’ll say. At least for now, I can’t trust the president…]
“Okay. Let’s go with that for now.”
…Even though I only said that I know Icicle and that we’re on good terms, I had no idea how she’d react once she found out I had already eaten meals and drunk alcohol with her, not to mention collaborating on terrorism. Moreover, Lee Seola shared quite a bit of confidential information with me.
[Yes. Leaving that aside…]
Afterward, we continued to discuss various business matters over the phone, and then we hung up. Talking over the phone was impractical, so we decided to meet up later and have a meal together.
Phew. I had a sense of moving forward, something was happening.
With that sentiment in mind, I left my room.
… It’s a complicated and subtle feeling. I wonder if I can really do this.
Well, I shouldn’t worry too much right now; there’s still some time. Our plan is proceeding steadily.
As I was thinking this, by the time I returned to the living room, I noticed something.
“….Hm?”
I found Seo-eun, who was focused on something, not even glancing at me. She was typing on her laptop, completely immersed in her work.
This was quite unexpected, considering that Eun-wol, Choi Sehee, and even Seo Ja-young had all gone downstairs for training or some other activities.
“Seo-eun, what are you doing?”
“Oh, Da-in. Just a moment.”
Without turning to look at me, she continued to concentrate on whatever it was she was doing.
So, I stood behind her and observed her work.
From what I could gather, it seemed like she was coding something, creating some kind of program.
Thinking this, I reached out to pat her head as she worked diligently. Then, I sat on the couch and turned on the TV, switching to a news channel.
Right away, I came across a story that caught my attention. It was about a gate incident in South Korea, with international reactions.
“Many experts consider this to be the work of villains, but some believe it might be a foreboding sign due to its unprecedented form and the fact that it’s appearing all over the world.”
Following the reporter’s words, footage of the eerie-looking portal that resembled rippling water appeared on the screen.
It was strange that something like that would pop up and unleash monsters. However, the world had become so unusual that it didn’t seem to attract much attention.
In fact, those who thought it was ominous probably didn’t consider the possibility that thousands of monsters would appear in all major cities worldwide.
…Well, I should send some information to the Catedal as well. The conscription day is coming soon. However, there seems to be something more critical than that.
We have South Korea, with both me and Lee Seola, PMC, Stardus…
As I was unconsciously thinking about Stardus, I suddenly remembered the letter I left her during the Scream Maker incident.
“…..”
… Why did I do that?
The more time passes, the more I feel like I don’t know why I wrote that. Probably, when I used my excellent intuition, I had a 99 percent chance that Stardus would frown and tear the letter into pieces, but I was lucky that she didn’t hand it over to the association, so I think the chances of her tearing it or burning it are the highest.
As I was watching TV and lost in my thoughts, Eun suddenly exclaimed next to me.
“And with this, I’m done…!”
“Done?”
“Yes. Ah, it was tough…”
“You did well.”
I said that and encouraged her by gently patting her head, which was leaning over the laptop.
“Hehehe…”
Then, as she lay there for a while and enjoyed my affectionate gesture, she suddenly raised her head.
“Da-in, you don’t have to pet me now.”
“Huh? Don’t you like it?”
“No… it’s not that. I just realized I’m becoming an adult in a few months. So, I should act more mature!”
Placing her hand on her hip, she told me that while looking at me.
…For some reason, Seo-eun seemed to pay a lot of attention to becoming an adult. Well, aren’t there hardly any restrictions that minors don’t have right now? In fact, there’s virtually no difference from being an adult. I don’t know why she thinks it’s so important.
Anyway, if that’s what she wants…
“Sure, our Seo-eun is an adult now. Got it. I won’t do that anymore.”
“That’s right; I’m an adult! But… uh… maybe once in a while, it would be okay?”
Seo-eun asked me while putting on a slightly uncertain smile at the end.
… To be honest, Seo-eun…
Even though she had grown up considerably from the first time we met, she still looked just like the Seo-eun I remembered. Well, not exactly the same as before, but somewhat similar. When I first met her, she was a bit scary…
While I was thinking this, Seo-eun suddenly grabbed my hand.
“That’s right, Da-in. It’s almost complete. I have something to show you. Follow me!”
“Huh?”
With Seo-eun suddenly high on energy, I was pulled down to the basement.
In no time, we arrived at the very bottom.
“What’s going on, Seo-eun?”
“Well, I’ve completed my new Starbuster Model 5!”
In fact, she had been waiting in the living room to show me this. This time, she seemed more confident. As Seo-eun’s technical skills continued to advance, she was now almost at the peak. When we infiltrated the Association’s office last time, Seo-eun temporarily shut down the association’s security network. Considering that in the early stages, the Association’s computer network was practically impenetrable using its independent internal line, it was an impressive advancement.
So when we arrived at Seo-eun’s secret storage, I could finally see the others.
“Hey, Da-in, you’re here!”
A large, open basement. Standing in front, sweating and speaking as she saw me arrive, was Choi Sehee. She probably used her electric abilities to help Seo-eun until now.
And below her…
“Sa…ve…me.”
Lying prostrate on the basement floor, reaching a hand out in our direction, was Seo Ja-young, trembling and asking for help.
“Why is she like that?”
“I don’t know. Seo-eun asked her to summon some small flames for a durability test of Seo-eun’s robots, and after doing that, she just collapsed like this.”
Listening to Choi Sehee’s explanation, I nodded. So she was faking it as usual.
“No! Hey, I had to summon all those flames, and you don’t know how hard it was…”
Of course, Seo Ja-young tried to defend herself, but sadly, her voice barely reached us.
Anyway, on one side of the huge underground space, it was covered by a large curtain-like object.
There, in front of that place, Seo-eun shouted confidently.
“Anyway! This is my masterpiece. It’s called Star Conqueror!”
She pressed a button as she spoke.
The curtain on one side was lifted, and a massive humanoid robot was revealed.
“What do you think, Da-in? I tried to recreate the human form as closely as possible for maneuverability, but the destructive power is several times that of anything before!”
Seo-eun boasted in front of me as if she were proud. In reality, this was the most impressive creation she had ever made.
Until now, everything she had created had a somewhat rugged, military-like feel. However, this was different. It felt like a work of art. Painted in a pristine white color, it looked like she had taken a sleek and elegant robot suit and enlarged it several times. It was so massive that it almost touched the ceiling of the large underground space.
Overall, the first impression was somewhat futuristic and impressive due to its size.
“What do you think? It’s amazing, right?”
And…
“Yeah, it’s impressive…”
I replied like that to Seo-eun while looking at it, but I couldn’t bring myself to smile.
‘…’
That thing…
Different from now, in the original work, Seo-eun was a fallen S-class villain and the final boss of the phase, known as the “White Witch.”
This was because it looked exactly like the combat mechs she used in the final battle.
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