Chapter 27

“The Maker Gallery, huh…”

Created just yesterday.

For something made yesterday, there were surprisingly many people hanging out inside the gallery.

– Sharing Ice Queen’s moaning sounds!

– What’s this older sister’s product number?

– Is Maker really insane? Lol, how did he manage to do that to Ice Queen in a live broadcast? Lololol.

– Damn, I was watching that with my mom, and we were both super awkward…

– Who’s the kid next to Maker?

– Lol, noooooo, lololol.

“Aren’t the Association going to shut this down?”

If it were just an individual, maybe not, but if a group made a place like this, there’s a 100% chance of sanctions.

Usually, it disappears within a day, but…

[Why isn’t this disappearing? Aren’t villain-related galleries supposed to be impossible to create?]

Someone who seemed to share my thoughts posted a question.

Then, the comments responding to his question.

– Juddak here is a hacker.

– A hacker?

– Yeah, so this gallery’s security is insanely high, and no one can mess with it.

“A hacker, huh…”

– (Poster) Damn; so this is how you do a Maker fan thing…

“Right.”

Who could it be?

Even if they’re skilled enough to make the Association back off, they should have appeared in the original work in some form.

This isn’t the first time.

When I was going around killing villains last time, there was an anonymous person spreading videos of me killing villains.

‘I thought the Organization handled it… Was I wrong?’

There are only about three people from the original work that come to mind.

“Hmm…”

One is from the hero side, so they wouldn’t show me any favor.

Another has never even seen me.

Then, there’s only one left.

‘Good. I can’t just keep worrying. Should I go meet them?’

“Oppa..?”

“Ah, Gayeon. You’re awake?”

“Ung…”

The moment I got up to go meet her, Gayeon woke up and looked at me.

“Are you sleepy?”

“Ung…”

Still half-asleep, she sat on the bed, rubbing her eyes.

“Where are you going..?”

“I’m thinking of going to meet Yeri.”

“Chicken coop unni..?”

…Since when did Ahn Yeri start being called chicken coop unni?

I decided to just go with it and continued.

“Want to come with me?”

Nod…

Gayeon nodded her head, got out of bed, and scurried over to me.

***

“Hee, heehee… heehee…”

Whoosh- pat.

“Heehee… eheehee…”

“Hi, chicken coop unni.”

“KYAAAAAH!!!!!”

In an instant, I and Gayeon warped into Yeri’s room.

At Gayeon’s greeting, Yeri, who had been giggling at something, screamed.

“Why is your face red?”

“Y-you suddenly teleported, so…!!”

“Really? But what were you looking at?”

“!!..”

Her face turned red as if I hit a nerve.

Yeri hurriedly tried to hide what she was looking at.

“Huh? Why are you hiding it?”

“N-nooo..!”

“It’s okay. If it’s chicken coop unni, she’ll understand. Show it.”

“N-no, I said no..!! And I’m not a chicken coop…!!!”

Gayeon, curious, tried to see what Yeri was looking at, while Yeri tried to stop her.

“Huff… I said nooo..!!”

After a while, Yeri started to tear up.

‘…I should probably help now.’

No matter how long I waited, the situation didn’t seem to calm down.

“That’s enough, Gayeon.”

Tap.

I lightly tapped Gayeon’s head with my hand.

“Whyyy?”

“You can’t bully unni.”

Then, turning to her, I pointed in one direction with my finger.

“Huff… sniff… M-Maker… sniff…”

“Ah.”

“Do you understand now?”

I sighed lightly and caught Yeri, who was rushing towards me, familiarly.

“Waaah…!! Gayeon…! Gayeon…!!”

“Yes, yes, Gayeon was really bad. I’ll scold her properly later.”

“Waaaaah…!!!”

“…Is that the training room?”

I agree, Gayeon.

But what do you do if you say that in front of her?

“Sniff… huff… WAAAAAH!!!!”

See, she’s crying more…

“Shh… it’s okay, it’s okay.”

“Gayeon… huff…!!”

Yeri, stop rubbing against me…

“Gayeon. No matter what, you shouldn’t say that. Understand?”

“Okay.”

“See, Gayeon is reflecting like that.”

“Sniff… huff…”

“And Yeri, you’re an adult, right? You’re all grown up now, what will you do if you cry? Your pretty face will get ruined.”

Yeri is twenty-three.

She can’t be compared to Gayeon, who’s fourteen, and she’s even older than me at twenty-one.

Pat pat.

“Sniff… huff…”

Yeri unni…

Please stop crying…

‘I kind of expected this… Maybe I should have just walked here alone for 30 minutes…’

After a month of this pattern, I thought I was getting used to it, but it’s still a bit overwhelming.

“Your pretty face makes my heart ache. So please stop crying.”

“Sniff… okay…”

After continuously patting her, Yeri finally stopped crying.

‘Phew…’

At least I’ve gotten used to it, so I managed to stop her crying relatively easily.

…But is it right to feel proud of this? It feels a bit weird.

“Here, have some water.”

“Okay…”

I handed her water, and she sipped it.

“S-so… M-Maker… why did you come…?”

Finally realizing my presence, she asked me.

“Then, I’ll get straight to the point.”

I showed her the Maker Gallery site.

“Is it you, Yeri, who created this gallery of mine and spread videos of me killing villains on the community for a month as an anonymous hacker?”

One of the three outstanding hackers from the original work.

Actually, in the original work, her hacker side isn’t as highlighted as the other two.

‘Her skills are definitely inferior to the other two. After all, those two have abilities specialized in hacking.’

But in the latter part of the original work, she alone managed to block the hero side’s hacker for a while.

And considering her skills when she easily hacked the research lab last time, it was clear that she was a skilled hacker.

‘Besides, if it’s not Yeri, who else would help me like this?’

The possibility of it being someone else is low.

“It’s not me..?”

And I was completely wrong.

Guess it was someone else.

“Huh?”

“Y-yeah..?”

“Huh?”

Then who is it?

***

A while later, I explained the situation to her.

“U-um… so that’s what happened..?”

“Yes. It seems that the only person around me who might know about hacking is you, Yeri.”

“M-me..?”

At my words, Yeri giggled.

“T-then… is there anything I can help with..?”

Like… destroying that gallery?

‘Hmm.’

I thought for a moment.

“No. I don’t think that’s necessary. After all, it’s beneficial to me.”

“I-is that so..?”

In a way, it’s like the first villain to create a civilian fan club after the related laws were established.

As long as I continue my terrorism and they maintain it, my influence will naturally grow.

‘It’s just a bit annoying that I can’t control it…’

But since I’m planning to meet them soon, it shouldn’t matter.

‘If it’s not Yeri, and it’s obviously not the hero side, then there’s only one left.’

I don’t know why someone I’ve never met would do this, but there’s only one eccentric who could do such a bizarre thing so casually.

“Then, we’ll be going now, Yeri.”

“E-eh? A-already..?”

Yeri looked at me regretfully.

It was still early in the morning, but we had already been here for about two hours. It’s time to go.

‘I’ve got a rough idea, so I should probably find them quickly.’

“Sorry for coming so early without notice.”

“N-no..! I-it’s okay..!”

“Then…”

I nodded and gave a simple greeting.

“I’ll come play later.”

“O-okay…”

And Gayeon waved goodbye to Yeri.

Yeri smiled awkwardly at her greeting.

Whoosh-

Gayeon and I teleported back to my room.

***

“Ta-da. We’re here.”

Thanks to Gayeon’s teleportation, we were back in my room in the blink of an eye.

“Thank you, Gayeon.”

Purr… purr…

As I said that and patted her head, she made a purring sound like a cat, clearly in a good mood.

Seeing her, I smiled faintly, took my hand off her head, and walked to the closet to take out a gray coat.

“Gayeon. Sorry, but could you hang out with me a bit longer?”

“Date?”

“…Something like that.”

“Okay.”

Well, if I’m going to find someone and play with her, it counts as a date, right?

“Have you ever been to an arcade?”

“Arcade?”

Gayeon made a puzzled expression.

***

“Phew… I guess it’s stabilized now…”

In a dark room with no lights on.

The girl staring at the brightly lit monitor pressed enter and stretched.

“Those bastards. What did I do to make them peck at me everywhere…”

She just wanted to experience fandom for the first time in her life.

And she wanted to share that feeling, so she made a site!

“Just because it slightly violates the law, they’re attacking me so pettily!”

This is why old-fashioned heroes are the worst.

Grumbling, the girl crunched a candy.

“First, I’ve rebuilt the defense program, the gallery’s traffic is fine… but the mafia’s traffic is a bit shaky.”

The mafia site’s traffic suddenly spiked after his recent terrorist attack.

‘It seems like the Red Heroes’ downfall caused a massive influx here…’

Anyway, this part can be handled by increasing the traffic capacity.

Whoosh- crackle. Crackle.

Tap… tap tap… tap.

“Ugh… now that I’ve finished all the work, should I go relieve some stress?”

After a while, the girl, having dealt with the major issues, got up from her chair and grabbed her coat.

“Alright, let’s go~!”

Unaware of what would happen today.

And so, she stepped out the door.

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