Chapter 19 - End Of The World

People are tied to a train track, and if things continue as they are, five people will be run over. But if you pull the lever, only one person tied to the other track will die. Will you pull the lever?

That was the dilemma I posed.

In truth, it's a fairly well-known philosophical problem.

The Trolley Dilemma.

If the train continues on its current path, it will hit five people. But if you pull the lever, it will only hit one. From a utilitarian perspective, pulling the lever is the right choice—you'd be saving five lives, after all.

But could you really bring yourself to pull it?

The train hitting five people would be a tragic accident. In this case, it's a tragic act of terror rather than an accident, but still. However, the moment you pull that lever, it's no longer an accident. Those five would die in an accident, but if you pull the lever, that one person dies because you killed them. Someone who could have lived dies because you pulled the lever.

...Well, that's the dilemma.

And I brought this dilemma into the real world.

Stardus solved a situation that couldn't be resolved through mere words—she broke through it magnificently with action.

Rather than agonizing over which way to direct the train by pulling the lever...

She stepped forward herself and stopped the train.

Stardus is a Paranormal Ability User.

A Dual Ability User, just like me. She possesses tremendous strength and can fly through the air. More precisely, she has Superhuman Strength and Flight Ability.

And because she's also a Dual Ability User, her powers have certain flaws, just like mine. Though not quite as severe as mine.

When it comes to pure Superhuman Strength, single-ability users can demolish entire buildings by themselves. As for Flight Ability, some single-ability users can fly through the sky at Mach speeds. Of course, those are both Heroes in America, but still.

Stardus isn't quite at that level. While her strength is certainly formidable, it's not enough to bring down a building in one blow, and though she can fly, she can't reach supersonic speeds or anything like that.

...Of course, even though we're both Dual Ability Users, she's far better off than me with my seriously flawed abilities... But still. The fact remains that she falls a bit short.

Naturally, Dual Ability Users themselves are extremely rare, and since Superhuman Strength and Flight Ability synergize well together, she's ranked A-Rank. But there was always that slight two-percent shortfall.

However, she's the protagonist of this story.

What sets her apart from other ability users is that her powers evolve.

Through hardship and adversity, her abilities grow stronger.

That's why I prepared this strength enhancement event for her.

Make Stardus Great Again.

In reality, her original strength wouldn't have been enough to stop a speeding train, but when faced with the actual situation, her desperate desire to save people caused her power to explosively increase. True to this world's protagonist, she grows stronger in moments of crisis.

And thanks to the terror incident I orchestrated this time, public favorability toward her has greatly improved.

In other words, her popularity—which had declined while she stood in opposition to me—rebounded with this opportunity. The sight of her throwing her body like chaff to stop the train deeply moved everyone watching on TVs across the nation.

Right. Everything up to Stardus becoming likable again was good.

But why the hell did dating rumors suddenly explode?

***

Living room.

Sitting on the sofa there, I'm watching TV with a sense of bewilderment.

After barely managing to teleport home following the incident and sleeping soundly in the Fatigue Recovery Device...

When I woke up, Seo-eun grabbed my hand, dragged me along, and sat me down on the sofa, telling me to watch TV.

The large title of today's broadcast displayed on the TV:

[Egostic-Stardus Dating Rumors]

"What the hell is this now..."

I exclaimed the moment I saw the TV.

But regardless of what I said, the people on TV began saying what they had to say.

"Yes, this is Entertainment News Relay! These two are incredibly hot right now, aren't they? The Villain Egostic, enjoying the greatest popularity in South Korea! And the rising supernova Hero Stardus! Dating rumors between these two are sweeping through South Korea's entertainment industry. Reporter Park, what's the reason behind these dating rumors?"

A terrestrial entertainment news program.

The female anchor posed a question to a professional-looking male reporter.

"Yes, well, this can be understood by looking at Egostic's actions."

The man, who had brought up a panel from below, placed it in front of himself.

A panel with stickers on a white background.

The pink text at the top reading "Egostic♡Stardus" was particularly striking.

"The first reason is Egostic's public courtship."

White stickers were attached to the panel, and when he peeled one off, folded text and a photo appeared inside.

[1. Egostic's Love Letter.]

The man continued with an extremely serious expression. Dressed in a suit with slicked-back hair and horn-rimmed glasses, his expression made it look like a CEO giving a performance report at a shareholders' meeting.

Of course, what came out of his mouth wasn't anything like that, but absurd tabloid nonsense.

"Egostic's first move was the murder of S-Rank Villain Enzodiac and A-Rank Villain Rhino. But that's not what's important. What's important is this."

He pointed to a photo attached to the panel he was holding.

The photo showed letters that looked as if someone had written them in blood. The letters read:

To you, Stardus.

"Now, do you see this message? This is the message Egostic left at the scene after committing the crime. The key point to note is, of course, the last line: 'To Stardus.' In fact, from the very beginning, Egostic has consistently courted Stardus. After eliminating the Villains, he gave them to Stardus as a gift. It's essentially a public marriage proposal."

He explained enthusiastically, spittle flying.

Watching him spout such nonsense alone, I thought quietly to myself:

Uh... that wasn't a gift, I just did it to draw aggro...

What if I commit some evil act and some random Hero gets assigned to me instead of Stardus? That's why I specifically called out Stardus to draw aggro. Stardus hates vigilante justice so much, what is this nonsense...

But my words couldn't possibly reach there, and the reporter opened his mouth again with an extremely serious expression.

"The second reason is terrorism. In fact, Egostic's terrorism was hard to even call terrorism. After all, there were zero casualties in the end. However, what we need to focus on is that in both terror incidents he orchestrated, he called for Stardus, and Stardus magnificently resolved both of them."

As he said this, footage from my terror scenes appeared. Stardus giving a speech to the people on the ship, and stopping the train with her own strength—these scenes played as reference footage. Mm, she does look cool. Stardus really is the best.

"And the words Egostic said afterward are also extremely meaningful. Let's listen."

Then my voice began to play.

After the ship terror incident was thwarted, these were the words I said to her in confusion.

[It was because of you]

[After hearing your speech, everyone suddenly united]

[Yes. Yes. It seems I underestimated you. Something that seemed impossible for anyone else to do. For you, enlightening the masses with a single word would be nothing.]

Ah. Did I really say that?

Before my confusion could even settle, another one of my voices played.

This time, it was from the recent train terror incident.

[Yes, Ms. Stardus. Well done. In a way I never even imagined. To think you'd save everyone in such a manner—I truly didn't expect it. This is your victory.]

The reporter, who had been quietly listening to the audio he'd played, suddenly shot up from his seat.

Whether the startled anchor was watching or not, he suddenly began shouting loudly.

"Look at this!!! If this isn't love, then what the hell is it!!! Look how Stardus finally fell asleep peacefully after Mangostick said those last words and closed her eyes!!! If these two aren't dating, then what does dating even mean!!!"

He began screaming while tearing at his own hair!

That crazy bastard! Is what I'm watching really a terrestrial broadcast?!

"What the hell is this!!!"

I screamed and hurled the remote control at the TV.

Seo-eun, sitting beside me, had been laughing so hard she could barely breathe for quite some time now.

The broadcast ended with a shot of the anchor staring at the reporter with an utterly flustered expression before the screen suddenly cut to commercials.

A caption reading [Technical Difficulties] appeared, confirming it had been a broadcast accident.

Right... Who the hell calls me Mangostick on live television?

I could only hang my head in despair.

No matter how I looked at it, South Korea had gone insane.

I later learned that the reporter was an ardent member of my fan club, commonly known as the Mango Squad.

Despite causing a sudden on-air incident that nearly got him demoted, the broadcast had achieved record-breaking viewership that day. Far from being disciplined, he actually received a performance bonus.

The world truly has gone to hell...