Chapter 23 - There Was A Brief Commotion

As I watched the ice cream tower collapsing toward me, I found myself lost in thought.

What the hell did I do to deserve this kind of trial?

...Of course, I'd done plenty of wrong. I had made mistakes, sure.

But wasn't this almost like the world itself was desperate to devour me?

What were the odds of randomly running into someone hell-bent on catching me at a festival?

And then the odds of that person's companion getting entangled with me?

This was absurd. There had to be some conspiracy at work.

In that incredibly brief moment—

In that short span as the precarious ice cream tower crumbled toward me, I had already perfectly mapped out the future.

Those ice creams would splatter all over my body.

Then naturally, given her personality, this woman named Chaehyun would insist on compensating me and ask for my phone number or account details.

Both were serious breaches of personal information. Any information handed over like that would likely find its way to Stardus eventually.

And then, checkmate. No way out.

But running away without giving her anything would also be a problem.

Wouldn't that look incredibly suspicious? If someone got completely covered in ice cream because of another person, then fled without asking any questions?

Ultimately, the problem was whether Stardus had sensed something about me.

Others might think, "How much could she have seen in that brief moment?" or "Why would she suspect anything out of the blue?"

But for someone who'd read the original work, it was a different story. I didn't know how developed Shin Haru's sixth sense—her Super Sense—was at this point, but it had definitely developed to some degree. Having read the original dozens of times, I was certain she would have felt something off about me after seeing me. Absolutely certain.

My thoughts concluded.

The ice cream tower was now just about to make contact with my body.

The moment it touched me, my life could twist in a horrifying direction.

You know how people say when you're facing death, you find strength you didn't know you had?

That was exactly my situation right now.

I had to move.

If I didn't move, I was dead.

"Hup!"

"Whoa!!"

Using my crazed reflexes, I dodged the woman approaching me with the ice cream.

Egostic's ultimate secret technique, Shadow Clone Jutsu...!

It worked. I had dodged it!

"Ah."

...It would have been even better if I hadn't tripped afterward.

Tumble, tumble.

Dust clung to my coat and face.

But sometimes, a man must not fear making a fool of himself. For my future, for happiness in this other world.

So I wasn't embarrassed. Really...

"Oppa!"

"Da-in!"

As I suddenly rolled across the ground, Seo-eun and Subin came running over in alarm.

"Ah, I'm fine. I'm fine."

I stood up, brushing off my clothes.

...Actually, I was covered in dust from head to toe, so the brushing was completely meaningless.

Still, I brushed for form's sake. I wanted to run away.

"Oh my... Are you okay? I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I, I was so clumsy..."

Kim Chaehyun approached me with tears welling up in her eyes.

Thanks to my Super-Dodge, her 3-layer ice cream had been spared from me and was now smashed on the ground. Pressed flat into a line, it looked like a giant rainbow earthworm. The more I looked at it, the more grateful I felt that it hadn't stuck to me.

Setting everything else aside, I needed to get rid of this crying Kim Chaehyun first. Wait, why was she suddenly crying? I was the one who wanted to cry. I didn't want to get any more entangled...!

Behind her, Shin Haru was approaching with a flustered expression. No! Don't come closer! Don't remember my face!

Normally, I would have taught those who resorted to preemptive tears that crying solved nothing in this world, but now wasn't the time. It was obvious that staying here any longer would do me no good. Now was the time to step forward not as the crazed villain Egostic, but as sweet civilian A.

"It's fine. Everyone makes mistakes. I overreacted a bit. Haha, I should have just dodged slightly."

"Sniff, b-but still."

"It's okay. Really, it's fine."

Now tears were streaming down her cheeks. Please calm down. The longer you drag this out, the more screwed I am. Shin Haru is already looking at me from behind!

"Come on, Seo-eun. Shall we get going...?"

I said, trying to hastily leave the scene.

But Seo-eun was glaring at the crying Kim Chaehyun. A face that looked deeply displeased. Subin didn't look too happy either.

Girls, why are you acting like this...

This isn't the time for this—we're all going to die at this rate!

Just as I was about to suggest leaving once more—

Bang.

Suddenly, a tremendous crash echoed from one side of the festival.

"Kyaaaaaaah!"

People screaming.

Bang. Bang.

Sounds that shook heaven and earth.

The peaceful festival suddenly turned into a war zone as screams erupted.

What now, what the hell now?

"Ku-hahahahahaha!!!!!!"

A tremendous roar like something you'd hear at an idol concert.

A voice that shook the brain inside your skull, like when you accidentally turn your Bluetooth earphones to full volume.

"Stardus!!!!! Stardus, come out!!!!!!!!"

Bang. The sound of something else breaking.

People began fleeing in all directions, shrieking.

I immediately grabbed Seo-eun and Subin first. Both looked shocked. Neither had any combat ability, so I absolutely had to protect them.

"Get close to me!"

I grabbed both of them firmly with one hand. In a pinch, I could use Instant Teleportation, so as long as we maintained physical contact, we'd be relatively safe.

Both Seo-eun and Subin gripped one of my hands tightly. Seo-eun in particular was trembling. Having always stayed at home, this was probably her first time in such a situation—of course she'd be scared. Or maybe it was triggering childhood trauma. Either way, not good.

At least Subin seemed a bit calmer. Having actually committed terrorism herself, she probably had much more experience with situations like this. Her usual cheerful, gentle demeanor was gone, replaced by a hardened, cold expression as she scanned the surroundings. Seeing her like this made me rationally suspect that her usual timid act might have been just that—an act.

I glanced at Shin Haru, who was quickly pulling her senior Kim Chaehyun away in the opposite direction from the noise. She was probably thinking to get her senior to safety first. Very much like Stardus, who prioritized people above all else.

"O-Oppa. Let's run away quickly too. Y-your Warp. Hurry."

"Yeah, I will. But just let me see who it is first."

Seo-eun squeezed my hand tightly.

Sorry, just wait a little bit.

How many times had I binged the original work?

One thing was certain—I remembered it well enough to know even the minute details of the timeline almost perfectly.

And there definitely hadn't been any villain committing large-scale terrorism during this period.

The villains supposed to appear right now were Enzodiac and Rhino, but I'd already eliminated those two ages ago.

I crept stealthily toward the source of the noise.

Swimming upstream against people fleeing while screaming 'Aaah!' made me feel like a salmon.

Seo-eun was trembling so badly that I practically carried her to reassure her. Honestly, it would've been better to drop her off somewhere safe with Instant Teleportation, but that would drain me too much. I didn't even know what I'd need to do yet, so wasting energy wasn't smart. Sorry, Seo-eun. Just hang in there a bit longer.

I turned the corner and peeked my face out just enough to see what was happening.

A green monster was smashing through every booth.

A massive creature the size of a house.

It looked vaguely humanoid with its enormous bulk, but its body was green, its face resembled a crocodile's, and it was swinging its tail around wildly.

I knew this bastard well.

A-Rank Villain, Crocodile Man.

But wait—this wasn't the right timing for him to appear.

Why had he suddenly started acting now?

"Stardus!!!!!! Come out!!!!!!"

The bastard was still generating sonic shockwaves that could rupture eardrums.

Seo-eun and Subin had long since covered their ears with their hands. My ears felt like they were bleeding too, but since the two of them had let go of my hands to block their ears, my hands were busy wrapping around their waists—I couldn't cover my own ears. Ugh.

"....."

Either way, I needed to deal with that bastard.

My inadequate brain began spinning at full speed.

My blood type is Type A.

And Type A people—I read somewhere that they think fast in crisis situations. Right? Or maybe not. Whatever.

What mattered was the expected scenario.

That bastard was calling for Stardus.

Given his usual grudge against Stardus, calling her out wasn't strange.

But the important thing was that Stardus probably wasn't in any condition to come right now.

Being a Hero wasn't easy.

First, once your face became known, even your distant relatives could become targets for villains, so naturally you had to apply a Recognition Reduction Device to your face before going out.

And especially in Stardus's case, she couldn't just fly through the air in regular clothes—the friction would injure her body, so she needed to wear specially made latex suits.

But the crucial point was that Stardus was here right now without any of that.

She'd have to go all the way back to the Association to get her equipment, and the distance from here to the Association was particularly far.

And with that bastard causing havoc, casualties would keep mounting.

Right.

Knowing Stardus—knowing Shin Haru's personality.

In a situation like this, she'd jump in prepared to have her face exposed.

"No."

"Oppa?"

I muttered without realizing it.

That absolutely couldn't happen.

In the final arc's issues, a similar situation had led to her face being revealed, and how miserable had she become after that?

Everything I'd done until now was to make our Shin Haru happy, and it was going to fall apart like this?

Over my dead body!!!

"Uaaaah!!"

"Eek, Oppa!"

Pfft.

I warped everyone to the underground base.

It wasn't that far a distance, but bringing two extra people made it tough.

"Huff, huff."

"Ah, we're here. Phew... Huh? Oppa, what are you doing?"

"What am I doing?"

As soon as we arrived, I immediately took off my coat and put on my robe.

Then I grabbed the mask that covered half the face—Egostic's signature.

"Seo-eun, Oppa's got some work to do."

I grabbed the black custom Ego-Bundle packed full of weapons and warped again—a medium-to-long-range jump this time.

Well then, I've had a week of rest, so shall we play another round?

***

*

[Breaking) Assailant causing havoc in the middle of the Ice Cream Festival Shivering]

[Stardus still hasn't gone, where is she?]

[For real, it's been a while since we had large-scale terrorism, scary]

[Wtf how is a person that big]

[Breaking!!!!! Breaking!!!!!! Breaking!!!! Egostic turned on his stream!!!!]

[Yo, Egostic's streaming on YouTube right now, go go]

[Mangostick LIVE ON LOL]

[Let's go~ Let's go~ Let's go~ Let's go~]

[Wait why is he suddenly streaming haha]

*