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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: A New Terror Plan
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The new terror I'm planning isn't just any terror.
It's a terror that stops the main event of the original story, killing two birds with one stone.
Haneun Group.
One of South Korea's top conglomerates, and a hotbed for lunatics who conducted illegal human experiments on orphans to mass-produce superhumans.
Our Seoeun was a victim of their human experiments. While she gained high intelligence as a result, it goes without saying that she endured horrific pain in the process.
Anyway, the true nature of this insane corporation, known to the public as an ordinary company, is about to be exposed.
The main event, which first appeared in the original story, where people died in droves.
Even after their last human experiments failed miserably, these guys still hadn't learned their lesson and continued their shady dealings in the shadows.
That much would have been fine, but the situation gets messed up by a new lunatic who joins them.
His goal is 'transcending humanity.'
I don't know what kind of bullshit that is, but anyway, this guy plans to create monsters.
And voilà! He actually succeeded in creating a monster, didn't he?
But it's uncontrollable.
A monstrous experimental subject made of black, viscous slime, looking as if a typical building had been laid on its side.
When it moves, it resembles a gigantic black wave.
A horrible creature that corrodes everything it touches.
The problem is, this thing? These things? Anyway, this black squirming mass escaped, didn't it?
Having no eyes, they just charged straight ahead mindlessly.
But wouldn't you know it, these Haneun Group lunatics did this in an underground lab in Seoul?
Yes. They laid Seoul to waste.
After bursting out from underground, they tore vertically through Seoul, heading upwards, ever upwards.
The black, wave-like entities devastated Seoul in a straight line, continuing their advance northward.
Yes. Towards North Korea.
North Korea, which had been minding its own business, was suddenly swept away and devastated by the black monstrous organism from the south.
At least South Korea was safe below Seoul thanks to this starting in the capital, but North Korea's entire territory was ravaged in a straight line.
Because of this, a war nearly broke out, with accusations that the 'treacherous South Korean bastards' were finally trying to destroy the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
What's worse, if these things were going to go straight, they should have gone all the way to China, but they decided to settle down in North Korea instead, driving the North Korean government insane. By the time this thing crossed the North Korean border, it had grown even stronger and could fly.
The North Sea Ice Maiden eventually dealt with them, but that's a story for much later.
At least their weakness was water, which was fortunate. Water is common and easily obtainable, which is why the North Sea Ice Maiden could handle them so easily.
Anyway, this incident was the first truly devastating event to appear in the original story, serving as a signal that this comic would be far more somber than other time-killing hero comics.
The atmosphere of the work, which had been somewhat bright until then, gradually began to darken from this point on.
So, for me, it was something I absolutely had to stop.
My world was suddenly turning into something like 80s Gotham City; how could I just stand by and let that happen?
That's why I'd been agonizing over this for a long time.
How could I stop it?
Actually, the best way would be to prevent the experiment itself, but that's not a good long-term solution.
This incident was the decisive turning point that exposed Haneun Group's hideous atrocities to the world and ultimately led to the disappearance of all their top executives.
Moreover, without such an event, it would be difficult to bring down Haneun Group. Their influence on South Korean politics and media is immense, making it nearly impossible to even scratch them with ordinary means.
So the conclusion is, I need to let that black giant squirming mass run wild while minimizing the damage.
But how?
I pondered for a long time. Then, a sudden realization struck me.
An mention from the original story.
"Ah, there was a bridge crossing the Han River right in its path; if only that hadn't been there..."
Yes.
That was the reason the thing that burst out in Gangnam could advance all the way to North Korea, despite water being its weakness.
There just happened to be a bridge where it was advancing.
If only that bridge hadn't been there?
It would have plunged straight into the river and died. How perfect. Problem solved!
What's more, it was weak right after being born, so it really would have died by falling into the river. Later on, it could fly and cross rivers with ease. If only that Han River bridge hadn't been there.
Yes.
All I needed was for the bridge to not be there.
Then couldn't I just blow that bridge up?
At that moment, a lightning bolt struck my mind.
Eureka.
Destroy the bridge.
This incident is such a major event that the timing is specifically mentioned in the original story, so I just need to collapse it right before.
After deciding to destroy the bridge, I acted without hesitation.
Again, I had Seoeun make bombs, scouted the angles for collapse...
Then, another lightning bolt crackled in my head.
Wait. An explosion. Isn't this terrorism?
So, if I'm committing terrorism, why not just blow up the bridge then?
And so, the terror plan was set.
"We will blow up the bridge."
[9th Ego Squad Regular Meeting]
With my back to the whiteboard, which indicated it was already the ninth meeting, I declared.
"Alright, what do we need to prepare?"
Seoeun asked, her eyes sparkling.
"When is the timing?"
Ms. Soobin, curious about the specific date.
"Um… why are we even doing terrorism in the first place?"
Even our healer, Lee Hayul, wore an expression that said she had no idea why she was there.
To the assembled members, I explained the upcoming plan.
"Hayul, I know you might not understand, but when it comes to terror, the more the merrier. We need to inject some tension into this lax peninsula. The timing is set for a few weeks from now. As for preparations, we'll plan them starting now."
"Oppa, you still haven't thought anything through?"
"Right! Well, first, we have a reason to blow up the bridge, so we're blowing it up. Now let's figure out how to cook this up into a terror attack."
"Okay. Hmm… a bridge, you say. Which bridge are you talking about?"
"That big bridge on the Han River. That one."
"That one? Ah, so that's why you asked me to make the bomb's power so ridiculously high?"
"Yeah. To collapse that, it seemed like we'd need something pretty big."
"Hmm… so we need to create that dilemma situation again, right? And that Stardust guy needs to be involved too?"
"Ahem. Seoeun, 'that guy,' you say. Well, you're not wrong."
"Um, excuse me… why am I here?"
As we were engaged in a heated discussion, a quiet question suddenly came from the side.
Everyone turned their heads towards the source of the sound, and there was Lee Hayul, slightly shrinking under the sudden attention.
"Ah, Hayul. You're practically family to us now. And since you're family, you should help with the family's plan, right? I called you here so we could put our heads together. Collective intelligence, okay?"
She mumbled 'Family...' at my words, then nodded her head. Her gaze became a little more enthusiastic.
...Actually, while collective intelligence was a factor, I also called her frequently to slowly let her be influenced by us. Becoming accomplices is how intimacy grows and bonds deepen. If we keep getting closer, won't there come a day when she reveals her healing abilities to us?
Anyway, we put our heads together. As various ideas emerged and then disappeared, Seoeun clapped her hands, as if remembering something, and spoke.
"Ah! Oppa! You know that thing we didn't use last time? The one you named something like the Good Samaritan Law?"
"That?"
Yes, there was such a thing. It was shelved because we were busy with another terror attack. But that wouldn't be useful for a bridge, would it...?
"No, Oppa, I mean we can modify it now."
With that, Seoeun explained her idea. Oh, that's good?
At that moment, Hayul, who had been listening quietly, also spoke up from the side.
"Um… wouldn't it be better to do it this way here? Since you said there wouldn't be any casualties, like this…"
"Oh. That's not bad either?"
And so, we spent several days refining the plan.
After a few days had passed.
"Alright, this should do it."
The preparations were complete.
***
Shin Haru.
Lately, she had developed a new habit.
[Someone made Egostic 'Mang-Bung' LOL]
[Mangostick legend is the quiz show]
[Mang-expert's take: The train terror was the best]
[Mang-mang-mang, why do all the post titles start with 'Mang'? Is it because this is a 'Mang-cafe'?]
[Day 118 of eating mangoes in gratitude for Egostic's return]
[Why Mangostick *has* to come this week...real fact]
[Repost) 5 reasons why Egostic isn't coming back]
It was reading posts on Egostic's fan cafe. She started looking for new information about Egostic, but reading them daily had become a habit.
Most were meaningless filler posts, but she was just idly scrolling through them to pass the time when suddenly.
A new post appeared.
[Yo Egostic! New video is up!]
"…?"
At the same time.
Posts began flooding the cafe.
[It's here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]
[Holy sh*t, this is awesome lolololol]
[Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you]
[Yo, it's up lolololol]
[What the heck, I'm watching TV lolololol]
[Entering the gallery lolololol]
[The gallery master is back with a vengeance lolololol]
[Mangostick! Mangostick! Mangostick! Mangostick! Mangostick!]
[New adult video appears after 118 days lolololol]
[Holy sh*t, it's up lololol]
[Is this real? Is this real? Is this real? Is this real? Is this real? Is this real?]
[LOL There's a community that likes it when terrorism happens? *mind-blown sound*]
[Go to TV OR YouTube right now!]
[Damn it, I knew it!]
[Yo, where is that? Analyze it quickly lololol]
Shin Haru, quickly assessing the situation, hastily opened YouTube.
Immediately, a video popped up on the main screen.
["Live Stream"Hello, this is Egostic.]
At the same time, a call came in from the Association.
"Yes, yes. I saw it. I'm on my way now."
She quickly stood up and started running.
He had returned.