Ch.168Chapter 7. A Week of Turbidity (4)

“Yi-seon, what are you doing?”

“I’m at war.”

Yoon Yi-seon was intently typing something on her smartphone.

“I can tolerate people insulting me, but I can’t stand them insulting my OTP.”

“Is this some kind of idol competition?”

“Something like that.”

Ymir felt awkward saying anything as Yi-seon’s eyes seemed to be burning with passion, but somehow she felt this might be related to her.

“What kind of program is it?”

“Well, it’s not an idol competition, just internet gossip like ‘They’re a Couple Now.’ Oh, but that person on the other side is pushing something weird as their OTP.”

And Ymir is not the type to back down with an “Oh, I see…” in this situation.

“Let me see.”

“……”

“What’s this? Platinum Sun is Goblin’s official partner…?”

“Um, well….”

Yoon Yi-seon flinched when Ymir suddenly leaned in right next to her.

“This is you, right Yi-seon? You said your parents are from Chuncheon. Hmm, I get the Firefox part. So Chuncheon Firefox’s OTP is Platinum Sun? As Goblin’s partner?”

“W-well…”

“Nice. Thanks. For many reasons.”

“…Yeah.”

Yi-seon felt a surge of emotion as she sensed the malevolent power pouch weighing on her shoulder, but what surprised her more was Ymir’s friendliness, closing the distance so naturally overnight.

“But why do you do this kind of thing?”

“I-I think public opinion needs to change a bit.”

“Public opinion?”

“About people associated with Goblin. Even if Goblin is considered a villain by the government, he’s popular among people.”

“That’s true.”

Goblin is popular among people.

It’s too widespread to call it a cult following, but not something people can openly express their admiration for.

“He’s popular, but you can’t just openly say ‘I love Goblin’ or something like that, right?”

“That’s how it’s been until now.”

Because he’s a villain.

A villain officially recognized by the government.

“U-until now, people paired him with Snow White, right? They clashed a lot after all.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Articles about Snow White might get taken down, but pairing Goblin with someone else isn’t really a problem.”

“Because he’s a villain?”

“Yes. Because he’s a villain.”

Of course, being a villain actually makes it easier to spread gossip.

“There are stories about scary men coming after you if you spread rumors about villains, but I’m not insulting him, just praising him, so why would they come to execute me? It’s actually when you insult heroes that men in black suits and sunglasses come for you. Or the government.”

“……”

“If you insult heroes, you get sued, but with villains, there are fewer lawsuits.”

At least as long as you’re not a hero, neither management nor the person themselves will sue you for spreading weird rumors on the internet!

“So people have been creating couples with Goblin for a long time. The country even encouraged it.”

“Encouraged it?”

“They said if a female ability user paired up with Goblin and made him a citizen of their country, they’d pardon all his crimes through a plea deal and make him human or something.”

Not just Korea, other countries were actually making laws and planning the same thing.

“So there have been many women paired with Goblin. Ability users, celebrities, even businesswomen… Snow White was the most popular, but now things are different.”

“Now it’s Platinum Sun’s turn?”

“They’ve appeared together several times, right? Now she’s considered Goblin’s arch-enemy, or rather, arch-hero.”

“Platinum Sun is?”

“Yes.”

“…Hmm.”

Ymir felt strangely pleased to hear she was positioned as Goblin’s counterpart.

“If she’s paired with Goblin, Platinum Sun’s recognition increases, and more importantly….”

Yoon Yi-seon clenched her fist in a fighting pose.

“I support Platinum Sun. Being paired with Goblin.”

“Don’t you like Goblin?”

“I do. As a fan.”

“Then what if Goblin actually marries someone like Platinum Sun or Snow White, or even has a child?”

“I’ve been asked this before.”

Yoon Yi-seon looked up at the ceiling with a somewhat enlightened expression.

“Then I’d wish for their happiness. I’m a fan inspired by Goblin’s actions, not someone who wants to be embraced by him. Oh, by embraced I mean….”

“I understand what you mean. And about the comments you’re writing, I appreciate it, but you don’t need to get so fired up.”

“Why?”

“Well….”

Because I’ve already seen everything there is to see.

Should I tell her?

Would I just be shattering Yi-seon’s fantasy?

And there’s no reason to give Yi-seon unnecessary information.

Not unless Goblin brings it up first.

I’m already anxious enough that I should contact him for advice, and I don’t want any more strange variables.

“Platinum Sun.”

Having made her decision, Ymir straightened her chest.

“Even without this public opinion campaign, Platinum Sun is already his official partner.”

“…You’re serious?”

“Of course.”

That much is certain.

“Whoever was there before, now Platinum Sun will be by Goblin’s side.”

Having made up her mind, having allowed everything, Ymir has no intention of backing down.

Even if her opponent isn’t Snow White but the executives of Yimemangryang, or even the “Chairman” at the very top, she won’t back down.

The goal of Ymir, this one woman, is to reach a position at least equal to the Chairman, or even higher.

For that goal, Ymir will only move forward.

“If that’s what you think, alright. But I need to discipline this troublemaker who’s picking a fight.”

“…What if they’re not a kid?”

“They definitely are. They’re clearly an ability user trying to stir up trouble for fun.”

“What do you mean?”

“Think about it.”

Yoon Yi-seon pointed at the comments one by one and smirked.

“It’s not like there aren’t male S-class ability users in this country, and the age gap isn’t even over 10 years, so why would they push Goblin? This person is just stirring up trouble. They’re pushing Goblin because they don’t like other S-class men.”

“……”

The gender ratio of S-class is currently 4:3, four men and three women.

The two oldest hold the 1st and 2nd positions among S-class, and almost in age order, Armored Taejo occupies the last 7th position.

“Or maybe they’re trying to pair Baek Seol-hee with other S-class users by deliberately stirring up trouble with Goblin.”

“What do you mean?”

“Like this. Oh, here comes a serious scholar.”

A comment appeared.

[Hong Gil-dong]: What are you talking about? Of course our country’s S-class should be patriotic and have hero children together. How can you suggest marrying our S-class to a man who might not even be Korean?

“…As you can see, there are also people against international marriage.”

“What if Goblin is Korean?”

“Then of course these people would want Goblin to marry Snow White too, right? What matters to patriots is that Koreans marry each other and produce ‘Korean heroes.'”

Yoon Yi-seon shrugged her shoulders grumbling.

“Well, I don’t think bloodline is important. What really matters is nationality. Look how many Korean ability users have spread abroad. We’re in a global era now. There’s nothing wrong with international marriage, right?”

“Um… actually.”

Thinking it would be okay to talk about herself, Ymir quietly spoke up.

“I haven’t told anyone this, but I’m actually….”

She whispered softly.

Yoon Yi-seon’s eyes widened at Ymir’s words.

“Really?”

“It’s true.”

“No matter how I look at you….”

“It’s because I drink a lot of maple syrup.”

“Oh, y-yeah. Surprise. Wow…. Thanks for telling me. That’s really surprising… heh.”

Yoon Yi-seon lowered her head toward Ymir’s chest, then bit her lower lip.

“…I’m jealous. So it’s all about genetic differences.”

“Um, you know.”

Ymir lowered her voice again.

“There’s a way to enhance them with abilities.”

“…Really?”

“Yes. Let’s try it-“

[Attention please. We will be arriving at Sejong Island in 10 minutes. Students, please gather your belongings and prepare to disembark. Once again…]

The announcement sounded.

“Great. Then… let’s do it as soon as we get to the island. We’re on break for the rest of the training anyway.”

“…Huh?”

Ymir’s expression froze.

“R-right away?”

“Yeah. Why? Do you have something urgent?”

“W-well, not exactly urgent, but….”

Ymir made a sad face.

It was nice to make a friend, and it was nice that this friend was quite sensible, considerate, supportive, and making various efforts for her.

“Why? My room is safe. No one else will find out. The student council president gets a single room.”

“…That’s not it.”

“Since we became close during training, no one will think it’s strange. Hehe, good. I’m looking forward to working with you.”

“Yeah.”

To think that showing kindness to a friend would end up becoming a burden.

* * *

While the Tavern Owner was boiling meat for lunch, I reviewed materials about The Syndicate’s movements with Taowu, who had just finished showering.

“Thanks to Goblin stepping in, the chaos has subsided, and now it’s time to counterattack using Dueoksini’s death.”

Taowu handed me a photo.

It looked crude, like a document photographed with a phone camera, but it wasn’t difficult to make out the contents.

“The Chairman decided to bring the people who were Zenros-ed to Sejong Island.”

“As expected.”

If they’re deliberately coming to Sejong Island, they’ll obviously be hidden where the righteous can’t easily interfere.

“52 people in total. If any of them have been switched, or if their whereabouts can’t be determined…”

“They’ve been taken to the Demon Research Institute.”

Even with Dueoksini dead, they wouldn’t want to lose 52 experimental subjects.

“As soon as their whereabouts are confirmed while staying on Sejong Island, we’ll immediately raid all the Demon Research Institutes on the island.”

“Just the two of us?”

“No.”

Taowu winked at me.

“If you’ve had fun flirting with two heroes, isn’t it time to get down and dirty with two villains?”

“…Who’s coming?”

“Qiongqi.”

We will.

“If you’ve played house with heroes.”

Using the Zenros-ed demons, we will destroy all the Demon Research Institutes on Sejong Island.

“Now you need to play with us more intensely, don’t you think?”

Like proper villains.