BXBX NOVEL Chapter 222: Ep.222 Awareness
Several hours later.
Unlike the PMC members who were sitting on the floor, gasping for breath, Stardus was standing there, looking quite composed.
‘…Well, they still have a long way to go.’
– But they seem quite strong at this level.
She thought to herself as she relaxed her hand.
She fought, wearing only her T-shirt, but she hadn’t even broken a sweat.
…With a little more training, they wouldn’t be bad. She thought that since they had only sparred among themselves until now, she could provide some training for them if weaker villains showed up in her name.
However…
“Hmm….”
Shin Haru, who felt something strange, looked down at the four trainees recovering on the floor, lost in thought.
‘…There’s something about their fighting style that feels familiar.’
Fighting, then retreating when at a disadvantage, luring the opponent into complacency and striking their weak points, and so on. Why does it feel familiar…?
“….”
Overall, this place felt familiar too. While pondering this, Stardus took a quick look around the training center. She sensed familiarity here as well. …What should she call it? A familiar atmosphere? It shouldn’t be a big deal, right?
Anyway…
…Could someone have trained them separately?
Stardus wondered about it. They had learned techniques from sparring among themselves, but in some places, it felt quite professional. A bit more specialized. Familiar as well.
Well, considering she had fought countless villains up until now, she might just be mistaken, having experienced a variety of combat styles. But anyway…
‘…Let’s observe them a bit more.’
She thought so. Yeah, now that they seemed to have rested enough, shall I call them out again?
Especially…
As she thought about it, Stardus looked at the little girl with blue hair was leaning against the wall with her eyes closed as she rested. She was No.4, right?
The girl who created large water droplets in mid-air, the weakest among them.
However…
‘Her ability will be enhanced around the water droplets, right?’
Yeah. She had a very unique ability. The ability where she is enhanced when she’s around the water droplets. For some reason, it didn’t work on Stardus herself, indicating some limitations, but it was definitely an intriguing ability.
‘…But when fighting villains, wouldn’t their abilities also be enhanced so it would be pointless?’
However, she only had such thoughts.
…It might not be very useful in ordinary terrorism situations, unless she was fighting civilians or animals.
Still, if she controlled the distance of the water droplets well, it could be useful when fighting alongside others, enhancing their abilities.
Yeah. Should we try experimenting it right away?
With the four of them seeming to have recovered, Stardus calmly spoke to them.
“All right, this time, all four of you attack at once.”
Still wearing just a T-shirt, she spoke as if she could easily defeat all four of them at once.
“…Yes, ma’am.”
They just calmly prepared again. The four of them, who had never had real combat experience, versus Stardus, who had faced hundreds of villains on the brink of life and death, the gap in their skills was inevitable.
And so, another battle unfolded.
Unaware of another gaze watching them.
***
“…Their fighting skills are certainly good.”
Below the Ego Stream underground facility, there was a giant screen. Watching Stardus and the PMC trainees fight while eating popcorn, I muttered.
I didn’t expect to use the CCTV set up in case something happened in the underground training area like this… Anyway, it’s a considerable profit. It gives the feeling of directly checking how strong our Ego Squad members are, and it’s a chance for Stardus for me to see as well.
‘…But it’s the first time I’ve seen Stardus fight in casual clothes…’
Well, I’m not saying that Stardus is pretty whether she’s wearing a suit or a T-shirt.
“…Hey, are you focusing on the fight, Da-in?”
“Huh? Uh, yeah, of course.”
Seo-eun asked me with a sharp and cold gaze from the side, causing me to nod in response. Yeah, I was concentrating. Uh-huh.
“It does seem like we’re just watching…”
However, our PMC Egosquad members were doing well. Maybe it’s because I personally trained them, but I felt proud for some reason.
And so, the sparring with Stardus came to an end. Obviously, Stardus won, but I conclude that it was a great success.
“Hmm… Not bad.”
With that thought in mind, I got up from my seat.
All right, PMC should be satisfied with today. The rest, Stardus will take care of it herself. And after that, Stardus will help them grow.
Thinking so, I gave a final glance at the screen. It seemed like today’s schedule was over, with everyone dispersing.
Watching that, I left the room with Seo-eun. Now, the remaining tasks were eliminating a few villains in advance and perhaps visiting our Vine Witch once more.
“Oh, right! Da-in, I’ve made a new device this time. Would you like to see it?”
“What is it?”
“Heh. It’s a Variable Constant Converter, which means…”
While chatting with Seo-eun like that, I closed the door.
…I had done everything thoroughly, so there shouldn’t be any issues. The meeting Stardus and our PMC members had all been arranged.
Yeah, what could go wrong?
***
“No matter how you look at it, teacher Da-in seems to be Egostic.”
That night, the four of them sat together, discussing this with serious expressions. Since No.1, Lee Se-geom, had already explained the various pieces of evidence he had in mind, they all sat with serious expressions.
“…Yeah, it seems so.”
“…Seo Chae-young?”
At that moment, Seo Chae-young, the girl with a blank expression and reddish-yellow hair, murmured with her mouth slightly agape.
When he first told her that Da-in was Egostic, she had frankly denied it until the end, much to the amazement of the others. In a slightly lifeless voice, she mumbled.
“Stardus… She looked incredibly beautiful. There’s no way I wouldn’t like a woman like that…”
“She had a derecognition filter anyway, so I don’t think we saw her probably though?”
At that moment, as No.3’s innocent curiosity chimed in from the side, No.2 muttered with a weak voice.
“No… Even if it wasn’t there, I can still feel it. What did you even see? Aaah, why do I have to go through this…”
While Seo Chae-young was torturing herself, grabbing her hair, the remaining three gathered together, sticking their heads to each other and whispering.
With a curious expression, No.3 Heo Dahee said.
“…So let’s say Da-in is Egostic, then why did he teach us? Egostic is villains, isn’t he?”
“Well… Maybe he wants to turn us into anti-heroes?”
“Wow. So, are we villains now? …Is that a good thing, actually?”
As No.3 and No.4 were talking, No.1, who had been listening, shook his head and said
“…No, that’s not it. Don’t you remember the heroic spirit he always talked about?”
“Oh, right.”
When No.3 understood after hearing that, No.4 spoke in a quiet voice again.
“…I mean. If Egostic is a villain, maybe he’s training us to be heroes at first and then planning to corrupt us into villains. Kind of like fallen heroes, you know?”
“Hmm.”
Hearing this, Lee Se-geom closed his eyes and pondered. Fallen heroes… Heroes who pursued justice but fell into corruption, betraying humanity and wielding their blades against them.
…It seemed plausible.
“…That could be it.”
As Lee Se-geom said so with a slightly perplexed look, suddenly, Seo Chae-young, who had been sitting there absentmindedly, slammed the floor and said.
“….Anyway! Whether Da-in is a villain or not, that’s not the important thing. What’s important is now that we know Da-in is a villain, what are we going to do?”
“…What’s important about that?”
Lee Se-geom answered indifferently to Seo Chae-young’s words.
“Whether Teacher Da-in is a villain or a hero, we’ve already decided to believe and follow him. So that’s not what’s important.”
“Yeah, I’ve already received him grace.”
“Right! Um… But we’re not the Yuseong Squad, we’re actually the Ego Squad, right? Ego Squad… it actually rolls off the tongue better, doesn’t it?”
“Ego Squad. That’s a cool name.”
Seo Chae-young furrowed her brow as they talked, and she spoke up as if she couldn’t believe it.
“No, what are you talking about? That’s obvious. Now, the important thing is what we’re going to do. Are we just going to go to Da-in and ask him if he’s Egostic?”
“Hmm…”
At that remark, Lee Se-geom fell silent. In the meantime, Heo Dahee suggested her opinion.
“Let’s just say it! We all know Da-in is Egostic, but we don’t care. We’ll believe and follow her even if she doesn’t hide it.”
“…Right. I think that’s a good idea.”
As No.4 San Sua also nodded in agreement, Lee Se-geom shook his head and said.
“…No. It’s not time yet. We don’t have 100% certainty that he’s Egostic, and we don’t know much about him either. Right now, it wouldn’t be strange for the villain who is undoubtedly Egostic to be working with hero Lee Seola, would it?”
“Oh! Come to think of it, you’re right?”
When Heo Dahee slapped her thigh and said that, Lee Se-geom nodded with a serious expression.
“Yeah. So let’s learn more about him and… later on, let’s be honest with him. Until then, under no circumstances should we tell anyone.”
“Got it!”
“Yes.”
“Heh… I understand.”
That way, the ones who began to identify themselves as the Ego Squad quietly started to learn about Egostic.
“Wait, does Da-in really like Stardus? Isn’t this like the ‘We Got Married’* level?” *T/N: An old Korean variety show where two celebrities were selected to experience a marriage life with each other as a couple.
“‘We Got Married’? What’s that…?”
…They’re so diligent.
***
“So, if we put mint chocolate cake in here? Ta-da! It becomes a tiramisu cake. Huh? What’s wrong with you, Da-in?”
“Ah, it’s nothing. Please continue explaining, it’s fascinating.”
In the underground basement, as I was looking at the device that Seo-eun had made and suddenly felt a strong sensation again, I glanced around, but then refocused on Seo-eun’s words.
…It seems like my energy levels have dropped lately. I should consider taking the tonics that Soobin gave me again.
I felt like my ears were burning.