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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: The Revelation
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Somewhere in South Korea, a hidden, secret place.
In that dark, empty, church-like place, where light barely penetrated.
Towards the old man, who stood with his hands clasped behind his back, silently gazing out the window, a man in a blue-tinged priestly robe bowed his head and spoke.
"...Patriarch, the experiment concluded successfully. The foreign missionaries have opened a portal, a gate, to the dimension where the gods reside."
He then detailed the specific figures and results. After his explanation of the monsters and the outer dimension, projected onto a screen in the air, concluded.
He bowed his head once more, then withdrew.
The old man, Patriarch of the Moonlight Cult, who had been listening with his eyes silently closed,
unclasped his hands from behind his back and muttered in a raspy voice.
"Yes... that day is finally drawing near."
The Moonlight Patriarch, Chun Wol-hwang, slowly continued, raising his clenched fist.
Finally, the moment to purify this wretched world is slowly approaching.
The moment to judge those who worship the false gods, and for a new god to descend upon this universe, one who will shatter the old world.
The world will then realize, to its very bones, who their true god is. What the meaning of Moonlight truly signifies.
"Hmph hmph hmph. Hmph hahahaha. Hahahahahahahaha!"
And so.
Like a burst of dry coughing, the mad old man's raspy laughter echoed through the empty church.
"Cough, cough. Yes... the Day of Judgment approaches. I wonder how those fools will thrash about when it comes... I look forward to it."
As he spoke, he opened his hand.
And in the old man's gnarled palm, a small black orb hummed like a black hole, seemingly sucking in everything around it.
The experiment was a success.
For now, it's just one, but soon, we'll be able to create dimensional conduits all over the world.
And when that time comes, everyone will be powerlessly crushed before the judgment of the outer dimension. The priestess who betrayed him and left, and that bastard who took her, the one I could never get enough revenge on – all of them. They will be swept away at an unexpected moment.
In the end, it will be our Moonlight Cult, guided by the Moon God, who has the last laugh.
"Hmph hmph hmph. Hahahahahahaha!"
No one will even imagine what we are doing. Unable to recognize the dimensional conduits, unable to even conceive that destruction is coming, they will die powerlessly on the Day of Judgment.
Lost in such thoughts,
the Moonlight Patriarch stood alone in the empty church.
Alone, he wore a chilling smile.
***
[A portal that opened in France has become a major topic as monsters have emerged from it. Regarding this seemingly anomalous incident, the French Association has stated they will 'conduct a thorough investigation.' A social media post from the British Association, upon hearing this news, has also become a hot topic...]
"Ah. Is that what Mr. Dain was talking about, that dimensional conduit or whatever?"
The top floor of the Yoo-sung Corporation building, the chairman's office.
There, watching the news, Lee Seol-ah immediately recognized the Moonlight Cult's secret weapon and nodded.
"So this is... what those Moonlight Cult guys were preparing among themselves."
With her long, sky-blue hair flowing, she calmly muttered something that would have made the Moonlight Patriarch seize his neck in shock if he'd heard it.
Lee Seol-ah, looking at the magnified photo of the incident, paused, crossing her arms in thought.
In the photo, suspended in the sky, was the so-called portal Mr. Dain had mentioned – the appearance of a dimensional gate. The sight was so alien, like a child who had just learned Photoshop had pasted a circular image of space onto a sky photo. She fell silent for a moment.
'...So, he said these would eventually appear all over the country, right?'
According to Mr. Dain, these were gates to an outer dimension opened by the Moonlight Cult. He said that eventually, such things would cover the entire world, with monsters pouring out from all directions – too many for just a few heroes to handle.
'That's why he said we needed to increase the number of heroes from way back.'
He said that as society became more chaotic, more powerful superhumans would be needed. Since Stardust, Shadow Walker, and she alone wouldn't be able to stop all the monster attacks.
That's why Mr. Dain's first preparation was that PMC.
He said their training was already mostly complete, with only practical exercises remaining. And then they'd recruit a second batch.
Just as Lee Seol-ah was lost in thought,
her secretary knocked and announced her schedule.
[Chairwoman Lee Seol-ah. Your appointment with your acquaintance is due.]
"Ah, right. It's about time I left."
Yes. Today was the day she was meeting Haru after a long time. Lee Seol-ah smiled and rose from her seat.
Though her schedule was always packed, she always made time for her few precious friends.
And...
'Mr. Dain had also asked me to.'
He'd asked her to subtly inquire why Stardust, Haru, had looked so troubled after the last terror attack he caused, and if she was alright now.
With that, Lee Seol-ah got up and headed to where Haru was waiting.
***
A few hours later.
Lee Seol-ah was at a cafe, enjoying coffee and dessert with Shin Haru.
"Isn't this place nice?"
"Yeah, it's good."
Shin Haru took a bite of her slice of cake with a fork, a faint smile on her face. Lee Seol-ah watched her, smiling contentedly.
There was no one else around them; the cafe was completely empty. Lee Seol-ah had rented out the entire place, after all.
Even if they both concealed their identities, two beautiful women with blue and golden-yellow hair sitting together would naturally draw all eyes. But the biggest reason, of course, was that hero-related conversations couldn't be held in crowded places. Shin Haru, who had known Lee Seol-ah since childhood, understood her personality and accepted it without a word.
After meeting and having a meal, they had been chatting for a while, now eating dessert at the cafe.
Shin Haru, perhaps because she was meeting a friend after a long time, seemed quite relaxed, even letting out a laugh now and then.
As they chatted about this and that, Lee Seol-ah subtly brought up the question she was curious about.
"Oh, right, Haru."
"Hmm?"
Haru set her fork down, answering with a slight smile. Lee Seol-ah then got straight to the point.
"It's nothing big, but about that last terror attack, you know?"
"The last terror attack? That villain with golden wings swinging a spear?"
"No... not that one. The terror attack Egoistic caused."
"Ah."
At that, Haru's smile faded slightly. But Lee Seol-ah, as if not noticing, continued naturally.
"Last time, after the attack, when I saw your face at the Association, you looked a bit down. Did something happen?"
Lee Seol-ah asked casually, as if just passing by, with a hint of concern.
In response to her words, Shin Haru stirred the ice in her glass with her straw for a moment, then opened her mouth.
"It's just..."
"Just?"
"It's just. I had a bit of a problem at the time."
After saying that, she stared blankly into the distance for a moment.
Then Shin Haru took another sip of her drink through the straw, and continued with a slightly serious expression.
"I was troubled, you see. It was a bit suffocating, and negative emotions would just surge without reason, things like that..."
Her voice trailed off, then she smiled faintly and looked at Lee Seol-ah.
"But now, I've more or less found a solution. So you don't have to worry. Thank you."
"Oh... I'm glad you found a solution. If you ever have problems, tell me too."
"Okay."
Haru smiled again, picking up her cup and drinking. Watching Haru, Lee Seol-ah fell into silent thought.
'...It really looks like she won't say anything more. She told me not to worry, so I guess it means I don't need to ask further.'
'Well, for now, she seems fine.'
With that, Lee Seol-ah naturally changed the subject and began talking about other things.
After chatting for a while, starting from the mention of Egoistic, they began discussing hero-related work.
"Right. Busan and this area have really few villains, but strangely, Seoul has a lot, doesn't it? I feel bad that you seem to be the only one struggling, Haru."
"Oh, it's fine. I actually think it's a good thing. It's better for terror attacks to happen nearby than far away."
Lee Seol-ah then naturally brought up the PMC.
"Right. I told you before, didn't I? That I'm gathering some strong superhumans and training them."
"Ah... yeah. I think I remember."
"I'm thinking of deploying them to the field soon. Could you possibly help out when you have time?"
Lee Seol-ah added that these new recruits could handle enemies that were a bit too weak when Haru was busy, yet too difficult for B-rank heroes, and subtly asked.
"Of course. It's about protecting people, isn't it? I'll help out when I have time."
"Really? Thank you."
And as expected, Shin Haru readily agreed.
No matter what anyone said, she was more like a hero than anyone, truly dedicated to protecting people, so there was no reason for her to refuse something that helped maintain public order.
After chatting for a few more tens of minutes, long past their initial meeting time, they parted ways.
Lee Seol-ah then got into the back seat of her car, once again protected by her escorts.
"Whew..."
She smiled, replaying the conversation they'd had today.
Meeting Haru after a long time and chatting with laughter had been a great source of strength. There truly was nothing like talking with a friend to relieve stress. Plus, she'd gotten a promise that Haru would definitely visit the PMC later.
However...
"...Hmm."
Lee Seol-ah hummed thoughtfully, falling into quiet contemplation.
Haru had answered her question about why she looked troubled after Egoistic's terror attack with the katana, saying she had a lot on her mind.
She had looked a bit down when she said that, but then she said she'd found a solution and smiled brightly again.
'...What exactly was that solution?'
Since she didn't even know what the problem was in the first place, the solution remained unknown too.
However, Haru looked incredibly relieved when she said it.
"..."
Lee Seol-ah felt a slight sense of unease, a typical businessman's intuition, but she tried to ignore it. 'Nah, no way. What could possibly happen?'