Chapter 20 - Coincidence

"Aaaaaaaagh!!"

Shin Haru hurled the remote control toward the TV.

Of course, throwing it too hard might shatter her newly purchased UHD TV, so she consciously tried to throw it as gently as possible.

Though even that still hit the wall with a resounding thud.

"Haa... haa..."

She panted heavily.

After calming her excitement, she sat down on the sofa and slowly tried to think things through.

It had been several years now since she'd started her hero activities under the name Stardus.

She'd first awakened her powers in middle school, so she'd been at this for quite a while.

She'd resolved to live as a hero, throwing villains behind bars to avenge her late parents.

But back then, she had never once imagined this scenario.

Dating rumors with a villain?

"Haa..."

Shin Haru sighed and headed to the refrigerator.

This was too absurd—she needed something sweet.

Naturally reaching for a cold juice pack, she checked the name of what she was drinking and grimaced.

[Minute Maid Mango]

Mango. Now she was going to think of that bastard Egostic every time she saw mangoes.

Wasn't it Egostic's followers who called him Mangostick?

Ugh. She felt like her brain had been contaminated.

Mango was her favorite thing.

Actually, she disliked mangoes themselves, but she loved mango-like things—mango juice, mango frappes, mango bingsu.

But now she'd never be able to look at mangoes the same way again.

From now on, every time she saw a mango, Mangostick would come to mind.

"My brain... my brain's been contaminated..."

She felt slightly dejected. People's perceptions do change over time, but she'd never imagined they'd change like this.

"Phew..."

She decided to go outside the window and get some fresh air.

Opening the window, she stuck her head out.

A cool spring breeze rushed toward her.

Faint sunlight reflected off her blonde hair, creating a dreamlike shimmer that sparkled and gleamed.

As a result, men walking on the street who happened to glance up stared at her in a daze, though she remained oblivious.

She had much on her mind. And naturally, at the center of those thoughts was that bastard Egostic.

Egostic. She thought it was such a ridiculous name. Ego-stick. Didn't it conjure images of a frail old man walking around clutching a stick while going "ego-ego"? Of course, when she'd casually mentioned this to her close unnie, her unnie had looked at her with such pity that she'd decided to keep such thoughts to herself from then on.

Wouldn't Egoistic be cooler than Egostic—the thought startled her. Why am I thinking up names for that villain bastard? She shook her head, trying to clear the thought away.

Still, whenever she thought about Egostic, she couldn't help but feel unsettled.

Something... something she couldn't quite explain.

Complex emotions filled her, forming a tangled mass of thoughts that bloomed and faded in her mind, unable to be fully expressed.

And she found that strange.

Surely when thinking of an evil villain bastard, hatred and disgust should come to mind.

So why were these complex emotions surfacing?

Among those numerous emotions, there were clearly things other than hatred or disgust.

Egostic. That bastard was currently enjoying tremendous popularity online.

No, not just online—he was incredibly popular in real life too.

Just the other day, hadn't her close unnie Chaehyun told her she'd joined the Mango Squad?

Even in her department's group chat, whenever Mangostick was mentioned, it was all positive talk.

She'd wondered how everyone could react like that even after watching him commit train terrorism in real time...

At first, they'd covered for Egostic, saying there were zero casualties again this time.

Then later, when it was revealed that all the people tied to that train were bastards who'd committed heinous crimes but received slap-on-the-wrist punishments and been released, the mindless Egostic praise started up again.

There were even jokes going around that it would've been fine if Stardus hadn't stopped the train.

In fact, the Korean public's fervor for Egostic had already reached near-fanatical levels.

For citizens who'd been fed nothing but sweet potatoes until now, Egostic—who poured not just cider but hydrochloric acid down their throats—was supported to the point where the catchphrase "If you're Korean, please support Egostic" had become trendy.

And then those dating rumors she'd just seen.

"Ugh."

She felt her face flush hot.

Those blood-written letters, his acts of terrorism, everything he'd done up until now—

All of it because he li-liked her?

"That's ridiculous!"

She shouted without realizing it.

Why on earth would he like her?

Because of her face? Right, that must be it. There's no other reason he'd like her!

Egostic must also be one of those bastards who drooled over her face... or so she thought.

But one thing was certain.

She looked down at her hands and clenched them into tight fists.

Her strength had definitely increased compared to before.

After stopping that train last time, she had definitely grown stronger.

Getting stronger was a good thing—it was something she'd always pursued.

"I don't know..."

Not understanding why she felt so confused herself, she could only sigh.

Still, one fortunate thing was that this incident had reduced her anti-fans somewhat.

Actually, while she pretended not to care about public opinion, she cared more than anyone, so she was considerably relieved that public sentiment had turned favorable toward her.

Thinking about how her favorability had dropped because of Egostic, and risen again because of Egostic, gave her a strange feeling.

As if Egostic was gripping and shaking her entire life.

Since upper management had officially appointed her as the Egostic handler, it wasn't exactly wrong.

"Ugh..."

Just as she was feeling unsettled, a phone call came in.

The caller was Kim Chaehyun.

Her closest university senior.

"Hello?"

[Hey Haru! The weather's nice—want to go out and have some fun?]

"Go out?"

Go out and have fun, she said.

Now that she thought about it, she hadn't actually gone out to have fun very many times.

Between studying and hero work—just those two alone left her constantly short on time.

But going out to have fun?

Hmm.

Normally, she would have declined such an offer.

Balancing academics and hero work was already overwhelming enough; she didn't have time to leisurely go out and play.

She'd been so busy lately that she couldn't even sit in her own Association office for long. Which was a shame, since the sunlight there was so nice.

But still, given how unsettled she'd been feeling lately because of Egostic...

The invitation to go out was actually quite tempting.

"Um... sounds good! When should we go?"

[Today! Right now! How about it? There's a festival! I've always wanted to go!]

"Oh, a festival sounds nice. I think I can make time today. Let's meet up in a bit then. But what kind of festival is it?"

[An ice cream festival! Sounds fun, right?]

"Uh, yeah."

After saying that, she thought to herself:

There's such a thing as an ice cream festival?

***

Seoul—a city packed with buildings, cars weaving every which way, and people bustling back and forth.

Deep beneath that city, far underground, lay our secret base.

The villain who plunged all of South Korea into terror: Egostic.

The genius hacker who could bring down the nation's entire computer network with a single finger: Han Seo-eun.

The all-purpose assistant who excelled at hacking, housework, and even driving: Lee Subin.

This place where all three gathered was called the Ego-Base.

Though it was deep underground where sunlight couldn't reach, it was a cozy place with LED lights that served as a substitute for the sun.

Sometimes it's good to just relax at home.

Haven't I been living too hectically lately?

For someone who used to be an ordinary citizen, putting on a villain act isn't easy.

During the last broadcast, knowing tens of thousands of people were watching made me a bit nervous. Every single word I said could end up immortalized in the news... Actually, that "Yesss!" I said when I saw Stardus stop that train has already been captured and is being used everywhere. Mostly as evidence for dating rumors...

Those trash reporters.

They're quick to notice everything...

Anyway, constantly drawing aggro too often wouldn't be good either.

So lately I've been lazing around at home.

What I mainly do is keep Seo-eun company.

She's in her third year of middle school without a single friend—she must be so bored...

With Subin joining in too, we've been playing board games or Switch together.

She grumbles that these are things only kids do, but when we set them up in the living room, she plays with such obvious enjoyment that it's adorable.

That's right, kids should play like kids! It wouldn't be good if she just stared at a computer all day.

In any case, another day spent lazing around.

I was watching TV and eating the apple slices Subin had peeled when Seo-eun, who'd been doing something in her room, came scurrying over to me.

Then she showed me something, saying we should go here.

"An ice cream festival?"

"Yeah, I mentioned it before, remember? It's today! We absolutely have to go!"

Seo-eun's eyes sparkled as she spoke.

Subin beside her also looked like she wanted to go.

Right, now that I think about it, I do remember hearing about it.

The 13th International Ice Cream Festival... I don't recall anything like this even in the original work...

Beside me, Seo-eun was explaining how this was the first time it was coming to Korea, how there would be tons to see, and so on.

Having never heard of such a thing as an ice cream festival in my entire life, I felt somewhat intrigued.

Like me, Seo-eun was a homebody who preferred staying inside above all else, but if she was the one asking to go out first, she must really want to see it... Does she like ice cream that much?

"Alright, let's go! Go get changed."

I stood up from my seat and called out.

Well, it's not like anything major will happen, right?