Ch.3535. Choi Min-seo Came on His Own

“Drink up, drink up! Let’s eat and drink like there’s no tomorrow!”

“Hey, this guy’s down too! Who can outdrink Director Emma!”

“The Lord is coming down! Everyone stand at attention!”

As I descended alone, my subordinates who had been drinking heavily saluted me. I acknowledged them lightly and ordered them to rest.

“Lord, it’s starting soon. The ‘Nameless End-of-Year Hero & Villain Rankings’!”

A quick-witted subordinate reported.

Right, that program existed.

It’s a program like an awards ceremony broadcast at the end of each month by an unaffiliated ability user of unknown identity called Nameless.

It comes out every year on an untraceable frequency, and it’s considered quite credible because the content is accurate, though no one knows where the information comes from.

It’s a ranking based on achievements throughout the year, not just data.

In reality, it was an event where GMs announced player rankings, but here, there might actually be a real ability user called Nameless somewhere.

As the broadcast began and the image appeared on the large screen in the hall, my subordinates cheered.

“Hero Category. Rank 1. Red Dragon. S-Class. Affiliation: Seoul Hero Association. Ability: Red Dragon. Level: Immeasurable. Affiliated Sentai: Dragon King Sentai…”

“That’s obvious!”

“Show us the villains already!”

“Call out Vengeance’s name!”

“Vengeance!”

“Vengeance!”

My subordinates excitedly chant the name of Vengeance.

“2nd Place. Pink Wings.”

“3rd Place. Silver Mirrored.”

“4th Place. Blue Saber.”

“5th Place. Yellow Cloaker.”

“6th Place. Absolute Seven.”

“7th Place. Exile.”

“8th Place. Green Nature.”

…

After the hero rankings were mentioned, the screen changed. From white to a black background.

“Villain Organization Category Rankings.”

“Ohhhhh!”

“Here it comes!!”

“1st Place. Holy Tree. Level 9 Villain Organization. Leader CEO E.lena. SSS-Class Villain. Second-in-command Finisher. SS-Class Villain. 1,129 members. Annual Social Risk Impact Index: 972.”

“Tsk. As expected, Holy Tree is first.”

“Can’t expect to be full on the first spoonful.”

“Actually, just making the top 10 is impressive. We’re complete newbies.”

“SinzWork’s impact index last year was 25.”

My subordinates’ shoulders slumped as their enthusiasm deflated.

But the next moment.

“2nd Place. Vengeance. Level 3 Villain Organization. Leader Gerogius. B-Class Villain. Second-in-command Dark Matter. SS-Class Villain. 86 members. Annual Social Risk Impact Index: 924.”

“What!!”

“2nd place?!”

“We killed it!!!”

My subordinates screamed, danced, and raised their glasses. The DJ started playing music, and the hall began transforming into a scene of frenzy.

Emma, Illusion, Deep Dive, Count, Hans—everyone could be seen enjoying the party.

A satisfying result.

This much achievement in just a few months, not even a year.

It seems that our actions to damage the Dragon King Sentai, which is considered to be contributing most to this society’s peace, received high scores.

This ranking doesn’t directly affect growth stats, but it proves that my direction wasn’t wrong.

Currently, we have 86 members.

That number includes 12 actors including Kim Duk-bae, but I’m only gathering usable A-class or higher villains, not just any riffraff.

“Everyone! I’d like to say a few words!”

A man’s voice echoed through the speakers. It was Kim Duk-bae, who had played Dr. Hyun.

“Until recently, I was a worthless old man with no family or friends, who couldn’t even pay the monthly rent. Gerogius, who discovered my talent and came to find me, and who wrote the world-shocking masterpiece of Red Dragon’s resurrection, is a great prophet and will be the king of the world! Everyone, applaud his insight and achievements!”

Applause poured from my subordinates. I raised my hand lightly in response.

“Old man Duk-bae, show us your acting!”

“Yeah! You were great! The whole world was fooled!”

The drinking party was heating up. Kim Duk-bae immediately began immersing himself in emotion.

“Oh, my lord. Beware of jealousy. It is a green-eyed monster that mocks and feeds on people’s hearts.”

◈ ◈ ◈

“Five seconds until the New Year!”

“4! 3! 2! 1!”

“Happy New Year!!”

My subordinates shouted loud enough to make the building float away. I came out to the balcony and closed the window, yet their voices still made the windows visibly vibrate.

This is a place provided after establishing a cooperative relationship mixed with considerable checks and balances with E.lena.

Leaving the damp underground fighting arena with minimal operations, we’re now using an entire building with a penthouse.

Moving to the new hideout has sent my subordinates’ morale through the roof.

We’ve come under E.lena’s surveillance to that extent, but the advantages outweigh the disadvantages as we can also avoid the eyes of the Hero Association.

The Association President and Dragon King Sentai must be searching desperately for Red Dragon.

“Geo, happy New Year.”

Lee Lu-a stood beside me. We leaned against the railing, looking at the sparkling city.

“I wish you well this year too.”

After returning her greeting, I took out the gift I had prepared and handed it to her.

“Happy birthday.”

Lu-a opened her eyes wide like a goldfish, sucked in her lips, then smiled broadly as she received my gift with both hands.

Lu-a examined the wrapping paper for a while, holding it up to the dim light. Then, seemingly pleased, she hugged it tightly to her chest.

“I like it.”

“You haven’t even checked what it is.”

“I still like it.”

“Open it.”

Lu-a carefully untied the ribbon on the package and unwrapped it layer by layer to check the contents.

“Hair… ties?”

“Your hair is long, so. Use them during operations if it’s uncomfortable. I matched the price of the product you gave me.”

“There are two.”

“It’s easy to lose such things.”

“I won’t lose them.”

Lu-a answered while lovingly looking at the two hair ties.

“Or should I tie my hair in two ponytails at once? Which do you prefer, Geo?”

“Well, I…”

Two ponytails.

“I don’t particularly like or dislike either. Wouldn’t tying it in one be more comfortable?”

“Yes. Okay.”

“Emma has prepared a cake too. The weather is chilly, so let’s go inside and eat.”

“Um, Geo.”

Lu-a turned to look at me.

Midnight. Even with the threat to humanity hanging over our heads, the city lights celebrating the New Year regardless illuminated her brightly.

She looked straight at me and calmly conveyed that fact.

“I’m an adult now.”

◈ ◈ ◈

“Hehehe, hehehehe.”

Choi Minseo stood in front of the mirror, laughing. She tried on various outfits, choosing the most flattering one.

Jung Ui-seok had contacted her.

Just her, very secretly.

Just the fact that he had kept his promise made Minseo feel like she could fly.

A light dress with an elegant coat. She grabbed her luxury bag and was leaving her private room when she encountered an unpleasant face.

It was Ji Se-hwa.

“What’s with you? That outfit?”

Ji Se-hwa frowned deeply.

“It’s training time soon. Where are you going?”

Minseo had been in a good mood, but now she felt irritated.

“It’s not your business, senior. I already told you. I’m not training with you anymore.”

“You bitch. Didn’t you learn anything from the Pegasus battle? I’m finally trying to put in some effort, and you’re throwing cold water on me.”

“Since when were you ever diligent? You should have done that when Ui-seok was here.”

“That’s…! That’s why I’m doing it now! If we defeat the Galaxy Empire from now on, maybe Jung Ui-seok will look at me again…!”

Ji Se-hwa shouted loudly.

She always reacts like this.

This is why Ui-seok doesn’t like you.

I’m different from you.

I’m going to meet Ui-seok right now.

If I train with Ui-seok, I’ll get much stronger than you guys in no time.

Hehe, just kidding.

Well, actually I don’t care about that.

I just want to be acknowledged.

I just want someone to recognize my efforts, my talent, and watch over me.

You guys never looked back at me.

From the beginning, weaklings like you have no right to acknowledge me anyway.

“I’m not going out to play. Just know that I’ll train on my own and come back.”

“Hey. Do you want to get beaten like a dog by me, like the Association President did, before you come to your senses?”

“Is violence all you can boast about?”

“That day when Jung Ui-seok told me to cut off my arm, you rushed at me. Did you think I forgot?”

“You should be grateful. You were trying to cut off your own arm, so I threw myself to stop you.”

“What…?”

That was all it took.

At the time, Ji Se-hwa wasn’t in her right mind and couldn’t grasp the situation around her, and at the end, the four of them became entangled in one mass, so it would have been impossible to distinguish who was who.

“I’ll be busy for a while, so don’t call me except for deployments. Bye.”

Choi Minseo snapped at Ji Se-hwa and left the association.

◈ ◈ ◈

Choi Minseo arrived at the meeting place with Jung Ui-seok. An abandoned factory with no people around. Inside, training facilities had been set up.

“Ui-seok!”

“Oh, Minseo.”

Noise began to fill Choi Minseo’s head. She ran to Jung Ui-seok and immediately embraced him.

“Ui-seok, it’s been so long! Good job on your business trip to America! How were the villains there?”

“Nothing special. Have you been taking good care of the house?”

Jung Ui-seok patted Choi Minseo’s head.

“Hehe. But why did we meet here again…?”

Choi Minseo looked around. When Jung Ui-seok clapped his hands, a woman walked in.

She had long black hair tied to the side and wore a mask.

“She’s a junior hero who joined recently. You agreed to be her training partner, remember?”

“Training partner? Did I? Well, if Ui-seok says so, it must be right! I’ll do my best!”

Choi Minseo smiled broadly as she approached the junior and offered her hand.

“Hello, junior!”

“Green Nature, nice to meet you. I’m Lee Lu-a.”

Choi Minseo tilted her head.

She thought she had heard that voice somewhere before.