Ch.9090. The Fourth Scenario Discarded, Countdown Begins

I’m floating alone in outer space.

I remember being like this not too long ago.

But the feeling is quite different now.

A message arrived in my system window.

—–

Goal Achieved: <Lord of Evil>

You are a villain who stands at the apex!

All villains look up to you!

Notice: You have cleared the scenario “Song of the Final Duel Beyond the Galaxy”!

Notice: The scenario “Nameless Queen’s Solo Blues” will begin soon.

Notice: Causality Destruction Rate of scenario “Nameless Queen’s Solo Blues”: 92%

Status: Modifying…

—–

The second scenario has finally ended.

The third one, Civil War, is already finished, so there are two left.

The system is announcing the start of the fourth scenario.

Originally, the Galaxy Empire should have ended three months ago, and the Civil War should have started then. There should still be time until the Civil War ends.

The Causality Destruction Rate number also concerns me.

92 percent.

Of course, I’ve changed Lua and Lena’s fates significantly, but has history become that distorted?

Or maybe wiping out the heroes was the problem.

The main antagonists of the fourth scenario are monsters called “Artificial Monster Squad Asura.”

Like the Dark Kingdom, it was a story based on a TV series. They were monsters born from human desire-driven research.

—–

Modifying…

Modification failed.

Modifying…

Modification failed.

Modifying…

Modification failed.

Notice: The scenario “Nameless Queen’s Solo Blues” has been canceled.

—–

Hmm.

It seems the Artificial Monster Squad has disappeared from this world before even being born.

That’s good.

So this can happen too.

Perhaps Boksil was originally the deterrent that prevented this kind of situation.

Or maybe it was always possible to cancel scenarios from the beginning.

Even knowing that, I couldn’t have prevented the Dark Kingdom, Galaxy Empire, or Civil War from happening.

So does this mean I only need to clear one more scenario to finish?

The fifth scenario.

I don’t know what this one is about either.

I was possessed during the fourth scenario of the original game.

Well, let’s check it out.

—–

Notice: The scenario “One for All, All for Victory” will begin soon.

Notice: Matching scenario opponents.

Notice: 12,928 hours remaining.

—–

I’ve been given 1 year and 6 months until it starts.

That’s the progression period until the fourth scenario ends.

I’ll need to slowly deduce what it’s about.

“Matching” an “opponent.”

Unique wording. That should be a clue.

While lost in thought, I saw a large mecha approaching me from beyond the system window. It gradually decelerated, then a door opened and someone jumped out.

It was none other than Somi, wearing a spacesuit.

She was shouting something at me, but no sound could be heard in space.

Somi swam straight toward me and embraced me tightly. She put a portable spacesuit over my head and pressed her forehead against mine. Only then could I hear her breathing through the vibrations.

“I’m pretty sure I saw a scene like this not too long ago.”

“Really, Ui-seok, you’re pushing yourself too hard again…!”

Somi glared at me with an angry face. I shrugged.

“I can hold my breath for a long time. You know that.”

“Why did you leave me behind?”

“I didn’t abandon you—I followed the most efficient strategy. Did you really think I sacrificed myself and only saved you? That’s impossible. I planned for you to come get me like this.”

Somi stared at me intently, as if she couldn’t believe me.

“It’s true. I still have a lot to do—I wouldn’t die alongside someone like Choi Minseo.”

“Haa… I understand. Then Minseo is…”

“I finished him. Your revenge too.”

At my answer, Somi’s lips trembled slightly.

“So the Dragon King Sentai is… completely gone now.”

“It needed to disappear. It was my mistake.”

“No, it wasn’t a mistake. It’s because of all those people and processes that we’re still here now. You’ve always made the best choices, haven’t you?”

“Of course.”

“Maybe the Dragon King Sentai is the reason we’ve been able to stay together until now.”

Her words might be right, in retrospect.

After all, hypotheticals like “what if I had done this back then” are meaningless.

“I still haven’t shown you the world I created as a villain, Somi.”

“Hmm… that’s true.”

“It’s better than you might think.”

Now that the revenge is over, I finally feel like the hero Red Dragon Jung Ui-seok has disappeared from within me.

I can now confidently say that the justice I pursue as a villain isn’t so bad either.

“I’ll show you.”

“I look forward to it.”

Somi smiled lightly.

A flickering light began to shine on us. It was Vengeance’s spaceship.

I could see Lua at the controls, excitedly waving at us.

Time to go back.

***

After Dorado died, the Galaxy Empire’s ground forces lost their command structure and were easily eliminated.

The cities suffered considerable damage, but various organizations responded quickly and began reconstruction.

Recter, an army of hundreds of thousands of low-level combat troops, and finally a falling spaceship.

My team and Vengeance stopped all of that.

Because of this incident, Vengeance came to be treated as heroes by the citizens.

The official name became “Supranational Armed Enforcement Organization Vengeance.”

Though the same powers still ruled society.

They were firmly controlling political circles and business sectors behind the scenes, but now they also had public support, which deepened the concerns of national leaders.

That’s even better for me.

The meaning of the word “villain” has changed quite a bit too.

Since only those with abilities belonging to the now-legal armed group Vengeance could be called villains, the term essentially replaced “hero” in meaning.

A strange phenomenon even emerged where unaffiliated criminal ability users were called heroes instead.

Well, the meaning of language is always changing.

The difference is that Vengeance’s villains are by no means good guys.

They didn’t need image management, and they still openly committed crimes like before.

However, I started to establish a system to ensure they couldn’t target civilians.

Well, I left such external matters to my subordinates. The first issue I needed to address personally was, of course, the matter of Vengeance on the evil sentai side.

“Let me formally introduce myself again. I’m Han Somi.”

A few days after the final battle with the Galaxy Empire, after handling urgent matters, the five of us gathered in my office and sat around the table.

More precisely, Boksil was crawling on the floor, sniffing Somi’s butt and feet.

“Um… you were a former hero in the same sentai as Ui-seok, right? His girlfriend…”

“Yes, that’s correct, Lua.”

At Somi’s calm response, Lua fidgeted uncomfortably and looked at Lena, but Lena just sipped her tea.

“But why are you a monster? I heard you were an executive in the Dark Kingdom from the beginning.”

“There was an accident. To be precise, my body is a monster, but my soul is still Han Somi. Since then, I’ve been infiltrating the Galaxy Empire to help Ui-seok.”

“Hmm, a beautiful spy? You look scary. You smell weird too.”

When Boksil wrinkled her nose, Somi handed her some beef jerky. Boksil quickly took it and smiled broadly.

“I like you! Welcome!”

Somi smiled gently and stroked Boksil.

“Sigh, I don’t really understand all this talk about souls and whatnot. If Ui-seok wants to accept you as a sentai member, I won’t object.”

“That’s not what’s bothering you, is it? Keeping things bottled up will make you sick, Lua.”

At Lena’s advice, Lua sighed deeply and stretched both arms across the table.

Somi glanced at me.

“You have charming colleagues, Ui-seok.”

“They’re both strong.”

“Let me confirm one thing—besides gluttony and wrath, are there any other unlocked demerits I don’t know about?”

I explained to Somi about the additional sins that had appeared.

“I see. As expected…”

“There are plenty, but you don’t need to worry about them anymore. The values still decrease over time, but the demerits have disappeared after being overcome.”

“Really? Thanks to the Armageddon form?”

I nodded at Lua’s question.

“But don’t you need the sin values to use the Armageddon form’s skills?”

“That’s right.”

I checked the remaining values.

—–

Maintenance Condition Lv. 7: Conqueror of Sins

Pride: SUPERBIA 9/10 (10)

Greed: AVARITIA 0/10 (5)

Envy: INVIDIA 0/10 (10)

Wrath: IRA 4/10 (5)

Lust: LUXURIA 0/10 (5)

Gluttony: GULA 2/10 (5)

Sloth: PIGRITIA 5/10 (10)

—–

The numbers on the right indicate the amount needed to use a skill once.

“I can’t use any right now. I don’t even know how to charge up envy.”

[Envy: ■■■■■ ■■℃■■Å■ ■■ ■■■■■※ ■■■■■ ■■※■■■]

Perhaps because I forced it open, the explanation text is completely garbled.

I might as well discard it since it’s difficult to use anyway. It’s also not a very manly skill.

“So you still need to accumulate sins regularly. That’s good news. We’ve piled up mountains of Galaxy Empire monster corpses.”

“I still have to eat monster steaks? This is driving me crazy. At least make it pork belly.”

“Didn’t you say there are two more enemies as strong as Recter left? Eat plenty and grow strong. You have so many mouths to feed now.”

Lena glared at me and chuckled. There was somehow malice in it.

“About that, it somehow got reduced to just one. It will appear in 1 year and 6 months.”

“…1 year and 6 months.”

For some reason, Lua reacted to those words and bit her lip hard.

“I understand. Then, Ui-seok, could you excuse us for a moment?”

I was a bit surprised by Somi’s request.

“What are you going to talk about without me?”

“It’s a women’s secret.”

That’s a bit ridiculous.

I decided to leave the office and play a game of billiards with the quick-witted guy.

***

After Jung Ui-seok left the office, Lee Lu-a tried to figure out Han Somi’s intentions, but soon realized there was no need.

“You two like Ui-seok, don’t you?”

“Argh! What! No! Ack!”

“……”

At Han Somi’s calm question, Lee Lu-a’s face turned bright red as she slammed the table.

In contrast, Lena just fiddled with her teacup as if she hadn’t heard anything.

“Boksil loves Master too! Don’t leave me out! Oh, chin. Purr.”

When Han Somi scratched her chin, Boksil started purring.

Lu-a glared at Somi and protested.

“So what if we do? You were clearly Ui-seok’s lover, and you died tragically, and miraculously came back to life, but that doesn’t mean you’re dating again…”

Lu-a stopped mid-sentence and clutched her head.

“You never even broke up! What is this dramatic relationship?! There’s absolutely no room for me to get in! Waaah!”

Han Somi gently placed her hand over Lu-a’s, who was overcome with a sense of defeat.

Lu-a looked up at Han Somi.

Han Somi slowly opened her mouth.