CH 173

It is widely known that the latter half of the original comic [Stardus!] takes a severely deteriorating turn for Stardus.

However, it is not only Stardus that suffers in this world, as the entire original universe itself becomes increasingly dismal.

As superpowered individuals continue to emerge worldwide, the majority of them end up becoming villains, leading to a situation where all countries are gradually struggling.

Especially in the United States and Europe, where the villains are so strong that they cannot even compare to the villains in Korea, which was already a mess to begin with. However, there are still many powerful heroes there, so the balance of power is somewhat maintained, although it is becoming more and more difficult. This is especially true since even the last bastion of heroes in the United States has fallen.

And such chaos was not limited to Korea or any other particular country.

In Japan alone, the situation was a complete mess, with the yakuza taking over half of the country and confronting the government and association. It could be argued that the government was more corrupt than the yakuza, but either way, the situation was not good. Even though Korea was in chaos, the rebels did not take over half of the country.

Of course, in the latter half of the original comic, the yakuza were betrayed and dismantled by the government, but since the government was already corrupt, the situation only worsened. It was as if a war was about to break out.

And then there’s China, which is even more ridiculous. There is a villainous organization called the Hualong that nearly takes over this huge country in the latter half of the original work. Even a few heroes join their side, so you can imagine how bad it was.

Anyway, it’s a mess just to hear about it.

And Korea, which has a place among the East Asian Three Kingdoms, shows a chaotic state that is no less than neighboring countries.

As for heroes, there’s only Stardus, who works alone, busy Icicle who runs Yuseong Enterprise, and Shadow Walker, who turned dark after his girlfriend died. They are the only power there, but there are so many villains in small countries that public safety begins to deteriorate. Then, with the Wolgwanggyo opening a portal to another dimension, even monsters are joining in.

In other words, it’s still relatively peaceful because I’m covering it up, but the country will continue to be more chaotic in the future.

Especially as the proportion of ability users increases, the number of villains will continue to increase as well. Already, the number of terrorist attacks in Seoul has increased subtly compared to before. Even though I haven’t been doing any terrorism lately.

And if this chaotic situation continues, it’s obvious that Stardus will suffer. The level is cute now, but later he’ll be a pain in the ass. Stardus may be strong, but she only has one body and can’t work overnight without rest. Especially since public safety is collapsing after the Wolgwanggyo.

To prevent this nonsense, what I’m trying to establish is PMC.

Why don’t ability users become heroes? Even B-class heroes are criticized heavily if they can’t do much even though they’re paid a lot of money. Will A-class heroes who earn a lot of money not do it, so others will?

Thus, there are idle personnel with abilities who don’t do hero work. And some of them become villains as soon as their livelihood becomes difficult or there is an opportunity

The conclusion I reached after thinking about it for a long time is this: Let’s just hire them ourselves by throwing money around. Who wants to be a hero who can’t make any money and only gets criticized? Instead, let’s create a private military company that can make a lot of money and avoid criticism. Don’t waste your abilities.

This is a two-birds-with-one-stone business of not only preventing potential villains but also fostering religious heroes.

That’s how the PMC business plan came to be.

The business concept itself is simple: just hire talented individuals privately and train them as you please to create a formidable force. Done. Then, they will be useful when Korea falls into chaos later on.

But, there are a few problems with this plan.

No, it’s not just a few problems; there are many.

Even if you have the funds, how are you going to gather people? The government, organizations, and associations would object to gathering those talented individuals and forming a rebel force.

That’s where Lee Sola comes in.

Lee Seola, who has already seized control of other corporations, the government, and the legislature. If her startup hires them, who can stop her? She has almost taken over the media, too.

After successfully persuading Lee Seola to work with us on the PMC project, we have been preparing diligently for quite some time.

“Phew… We’ve done it all, Da-in. There won’t be anyone in the political sphere or associations who can interfere with us now.”

And today, finally, I received confirmation from Lee Seola that all the preparations are complete.

“Thank you. You’ve worked hard.”

“What hard work… then buy me a drink later.”

“Last time, we drank wine together here, right?”

“Not here, outside.”

“Sure, sure.”

“Indeed, things work out well when you become friends with the top-ranked company in Korea. If I had done it alone, it would have been futile for years.”

“Anyway, after a few practical discussions, we officially decided to launch the PMC business of the Yuseong Enterprise. It’s the largest scale in history as well since we merged with them financially.”

“So now, all we have to do is announce that we’ve launched. Therefore, we just put up advertisements everywhere.”

“The PMC business, a joint project of the shadow hero leading Korea from behind and the villain, has finally landed in Korea.”

***

[What is this?]

(Yuseong Enterprise PMC Recruitment Ad)

“The Yuseong Enterprise is now recruiting talented people hahahahahaha. The rumor was that they had eaten up all the companies and the political circles, and now they are trying to create their own association hahahahahaha.”

=[Comments]=

“It seems like the goal is to inform the entire nation.”

“It’s just a matter of time before the Yuseong Group conquers Korea.”

“Isn’t the government sanctioning this? In fact, the company is trying to have a military organization.”

ㄴ[When did Yuseong Enterprise conquer Korea hahahahah]

ㄴ[There is no one left in Korea to stop them…]

ㄴ[Conspiracy theories OUT.]

“But seriously, why did Yuseong give such a high salary? Hahhahaha. Who cares about the association now? Hahahahaha.”

ㄴ[I have some skills, I’m seriously interested in this Hahahahaha.]

ㄴ[Hahahahaha I can’t resist a few billion Hahahahaha.]

ㄴ[This is the first time that highly skilled people are being treated this way.]

*

[The Yuseong Enterprise announced that they are currently recruiting talented people. The CEO of Yuseong Enterprise, Lee Seola, who announced that they will create a private military company (PMC) composed of skilled individuals to overcome the rapidly changing international situation and chaotic circumstances, asked for the support of many strong candidates and declared that they will provide 100% identity protection and the best investment ever. Those who come in after the interview will be taken in by the Yuseong Enterprise and become part of their family, receiving personalized management and training…]

A quiet country house.

A young man who was sharpening his knife listened to the radio in the background of the sound of rain.

“… Yuseong.”

He stopped.

He put down his long knife and turned up the volume on the radio.

“A life where he only slaughtered as a hunting dog.”

It was the moment he, who had lived quietly while cursing his ability, became interested in something for the first time.

And elsewhere.

The girl who was hiding in a building to avoid the rain and the boy who was working at a fast food restaurant.

Slowly, one by one, everyone began to take an interest in PMC.

***

“…Gosh. Hey. What the hell did you do?”

“Why?”

“No, this PMC or whatever is everywhere when you turn on the TV. How much did you spend on advertising?”

“Well… I spent quite a bit on that.”

“Look at it now. Whenever you change the TV channel, all you hear is that the Yuseong Enterprise is recruiting people with superpower.”

Choi Se-hee looked at the TV with wonder.

… Well, the first impression is important. You have to attract attention like this to break even.

When I was roughly explaining that, Seo-eun, who was sitting next to me eating an apple, asked with a curious look.

“But Da-in, I still don’t understand.”

“What?”

“There are many hidden ability users, but who will participate in that? They wrote that there would be fights…”

Seo-eun trailed off.

Yeah. The truth is, even if it sounds good to participate in PMC, will many people really risk their lives fighting someone?

To her question, I answered as if it was obvious.

“Of course, there won’t be many.”

“Anyway, where are those few people?”

Yeah. Wherever there are even a few capable people, especially if there might be a genius among them.

Also, this is just my guess, but there are probably a lot of people who are on the verge of becoming villains among the new recruits. Those who have been pushed to the brink.

Anyway, since it’s now the first group, if the first group succeeds, the second group will be even larger. And if we ask the first group to train the second group? That’s how we automate it.

Anyway, that PMC business is just a façade of a successful company, but in reality it’s all mine. How much capital have I invested there? And even later, I plan to become independent from Yuseong. My talk with Lee Seola is also finished.

In short, now everyone who comes into this PMC is part of my organization. It means that I can do whatever I want.

For now, if we take the time to train them properly, we can hunt down even B-class villains from A-class villains. It’s not necessary right now, but we still have to prepare ahead. I plan to personally indoctrinate the first group and teach them one by one. It’s the birth of my direct organization, Mango Squad… no, Ego Squad. They probably won’t even realize it.

Anyway, this is about done.

I’ve set the recruitment deadline long enough. I’ve thrown out the bait, so I can just harvest later. Now that I’ve taken a breather, I can think about the rest after recruitment is over.

Yeah. Well, for now, the PMC is more or less over.

Now it’s time to think about something else.

I was sitting at my desk, with my arms covering my face, lost in thought.

… When was the last time I fought in a terror attack with Stardus? Excluding when we first met, it seems like it’s been a really long time since I fought directly.

Yeah. Wow. That beach terror attack was the last one.

“…”

It’s been too long since I last fought in a terror attack with Stardus. Even the last time I checked my combat skills was ages ago.

Yeah. In short, right now, I miss Stardus.

… Sigh. What kind of terror attack should I do?

Anyway, Stardus probably doesn’t even want to see me.

But still, I have to prepare for a terror attack for my hero.

Even so, I am her villain after all.