Chapter 35

After Gayeon and I escaped using teleportation, we headed to the Eclipse Headquarters.

“Since the villain caused a terrorist attack nearby, going straight back to the cafe would be a bit difficult.”

Probably, with heroes and police scattered around, it was obvious they’d come and bother us.

Plus, there were a few things to take care of within Eclipse.

“Should we go to the office?”

After teleporting to the training ground, Gayeon tilted her head, looking at me.

“I don’t think that’s necessary.”

I shook my head at her question. It wasn’t like we were on a mission or dealing with a terrorist attack, so there was no need to report.

“I’m planning to meet the Doctor after a long time.”

“The Doctor?”

She made a puzzled expression at my words.

“Ah, have you not met the Doctor yet?”

The Doctor.

Like the previous Doctor, he’s someone who takes care of the organization’s combat personnel.

Among them, the Doctor leads a team of researchers and is responsible for supplying items that could help the combatants and executives.

“He’s someone I have some connection with.”

I turned my gaze to the wooden dummies fixed in the training ground.

Dummies that were clearly far away.

*Huuup—*

After properly aiming, I swung the object in my hand.

*Whoosh—!*

*Crack!*

“Ah, missed.”

As I swung, the whip instantly extended and struck around the wooden dummy.

It was a spoil from the villain we fought today.

‘He’d probably like this if I brought it to him.’

*Whack whack—*

A strange object with no elasticity, yet it extends when swung.

I plan to leave this with the Doctor.

‘It’s an interesting material, so even if he just remembers it, it might be useful someday.’

Or I could just carry the whip around.

“Please wait a moment. If he’s with Narin, I’ll go.”

“Will it take long?”

“It’ll be quick.”

*Hmm.* With that sound, Gayeon propped her chin with one hand, pondering.

Then, removing her hand from her chin, she looked up at me.

“If you come back quickly, I’ll give you one date ticket.”

“…Usually, people expect some reward for being late, right?”

“That’s only for penalties. Playing with me is a reward for you too.”

Gayeon looked at me with a confident attitude.

‘Why is that a reward for me…?’

Where did she learn such shamelessness…?

“Then I’ll have to come back as quickly as possible.”

Though it felt a bit dizzying, what could I do?

I smiled and patted her head.

***

Inside Eclipse’s laboratory.

“Gasp! Maker! Please wait a moment!!”

As I entered, the startled researchers told me to wait and then rushed inside.

After waiting for a while.

“Aii~goooooo~~!!!!”

From afar, a figure came running, sliding to kneel before me and bowing his head.

“Maker! You’ve come!!!”

“…Doctor.”

He was the head researcher of Eclipse, the Doctor.

“It’s been a while.”

“It’s been sooo long since I’ve seen you!! I, the Doctor! Seeing Maker’s face after so long, I’m moved! So moved…!”

“Enough, bring out the main personality.”

“Yes. Understood, Maker.”

At my words, the Doctor instantly changed from a goofy appearance to a cold-faced man.

That was his ability.

‘Honestly, it looks more like a mental illness than an ability.’

Anyway.

“What brings you here after so long, Maker?”

“I have a personal request. Can you help me?”

“Anything within my reach.”

He then switched to kneeling on one knee and bowed respectfully.

…That also seems like a weird personality, but whatever.

“Thank you. I think you’ll like it too.”

I took out the whip from my pocket and showed it to him.

“This is…”

“It’s something I took from a villain I encountered today. It’s a surprisingly interesting weapon.”

“So, you want me to figure out the weapon’s mechanics and the properties of its materials, etc.?”

‘He’s quick to understand.’

I nodded.

“Then…”

*Whoosh—*

In an instant, the Doctor’s eyes flipped.

His body trembled for a moment.

“Hic, huuu…P-please leave it to me, brother…”

“Sad has come out.”

“Yes…”

The Doctor, shrinking his body, looked at me with tears streaming down.

“I-I’m…hic, not as great as Joy or Guri…but hic. I’m good at this kind of thing…”

Sad. One of the Doctor’s sub-personalities.

A personality specialized in analysis with technical knowledge.

‘It’s a fascinating ability, the more you see it.’

Multiple Personality.

Unlike in the original world, it’s a genuine ability, not a mental illness.

The Doctor exists as his main personality and the sub-personalities of his ability, each with their own expertise, knowledge, and personality.

‘And they switch personalities as needed to utilize their specialized fields.’

“Then I’ll trust you, Sad.”

“Sniff…Thank you for trusting meee…huuu…”

With tears streaming down, he thanked me, and I left the laboratory.

***

*Boing! Boing boing! Boing!*

“Puhaha! Try harder, Gayeon~”

“Eek…”

After leaving the lab, I went straight to the room assigned to Narin.

Carefully opening the door, I saw two girls playing with game consoles.

‘They seem to be having fun.’

I watched them fondly and deliberately made a sound with the door.

Hearing it, both girls turned their gaze towards me.

“Oppa.”

“Older brother, you’re here?”

Gayeon ran up to me, and Narin smiled and waved at me.

“I’m back.”

“Sit anywhere. I’ll get you something to drink.”

Narin said that and headed to the fridge.

“What do you want to drink?”

“I’ll have cola.”

“Cola…got it. Older brother, what about you? Want some tea from the cabinet?”

“That would be great, thank you.”

“Okay, got it~”

Now, unlike when we first met, Narin speaks casually to me.

I told her to speak comfortably.

‘No matter how I think about it, the gap between when we first met and when she found out my identity was too big.’

So, after we got somewhat close, I told her to just speak comfortably.

Narin seemed a bit uncomfortable at first but quickly accepted it.

I also asked if she could stop calling me “older brother,” but that was flatly rejected.

She said it was her fan heart or something…whatever.

As I was lost in thought, Narin came back with snacks, tea, and cola.

“So, is there something you need from me, older brother?”

Handing me the tea, Narin asked, and I nodded.

“Yes. Can you hack some CCTV for me?”

I briefly explained what happened today.

“Hmm~ Okay!”

And just like that, I got her help.

***

A few days later.

Hearing that she had secured and edited the footage, I went to her room.

“Narin. I heard you finished editing, so I came.”

“Older brother, I did as you asked! Want to see?”

She smiled and waved a USB.

Plugging it into the computer, we played the video.

‘I cut out parts where I saved Phantom Luna and some conversations…’

“Hmm. This should be fine.”

Given it was a terrorist attack scene, the editing gave off the vibe of only taking parts of the damaged footage.

“So, is it really okay to upload this, older brother?”

She looked at me, a bit cautious.

“Yes, it’s fine. Wasn’t this what you were doing before?”

“Well, that was more like a hobby…I didn’t think I’d be doing this again after joining under you…”

“I’m planning to manage the fans a bit from now on.”

Maintaining fans is a bit bothersome, but for someone like me who wants recognition, it’s somewhat necessary.

A fan club with security that even the Hero Association can’t easily breach.

‘Just maintaining these guys will make the Association feel threatened.’

Plus, there’s not much to maintaining fans.

What the fans want is the actions I’ve shown so far, meaning I just need to keep up the act of looking cool.

That should be enough.

“So, it’s okay to upload? Right? I’ll upload it?”

“Go ahead and upload it.”

Well, this time it’s just a regular terrorist attack footage, so uploading it or not doesn’t matter.

But it’ll still help maintain recognition.

“Yay~!”

Finally, some bait!

She giggled and typed on the keyboard, uploading the video.

“Huh?”

But when we spread the video online and saw the reactions,

I was puzzled by the unexpected response.

---