Chapter 35 - From Behind The Stage

A few weeks before the day when an airplane fell from the sky and Stardus saved it.

In the underground base, I made a solemn declaration.

"All right, let's do this. An airplane terror attack."

At my words, the two nodded.

And so, we began planning an airplane terror attack.

"Oppa, which flight route should we target?"

"Definitely domestic. We can just pick one heading to Jeju Island."

"What about international flights?"

"If we attack a plane going overseas, there's a very high chance foreign heroes will show up. Especially if there are foreigners on board—who knows what could happen? That's why we need to target a domestic airline with only Koreans on board, flying from Korea to Korea."

"Ah... This is getting complicated. Night flights are out too, right?"

"Of course they are. Otherwise that Shadow Walker bastard could just teleport straight onto the plane, mass-teleport everyone away, and it'd be over."

"Got it. Let me see... I think attacking around this time would work?"

"Let me look. Hmm... Yeah, this timing would be perfect. Then we need to prepare in advance. What do we need to get ready?"

"You said you were doing some death nonsense quiz thing. Go learn some nonsense quiz questions."

"Learn nonsense quiz questions? Seo-eun, I already know plenty. Do you know what you call the path a monk takes down in six syllables?"

"...I don't know. What is it?"

"Illegal Download (Buddhist Law Down Road)! Bwahahaha!"

"...Oppa, please find something other than that. While I'm asking nicely."

Seo-eun's cold response.

But Illegal Download is funny, why...

As I was about to try another dad joke, Subin, who had been beside me, spoke up.

"Da-in, should I look into bombs? Should I get them through the same route we used when we did the train terror attack last time?"

"Ah, Subin. We don't really need bombs this time."

At my words, both Seo-eun and Subin looked puzzled.

"Wait, Oppa, you said you were going to detonate a bomb on the airplane?"

Ah, I hadn't explained this part.

"Hmm... Right, let me explain in detail from the beginning."

The Ego Show Implementation Plan.

Hold a nonsense quiz competition aboard an airplane.

If no one answers all ten questions correctly, detonate a bomb.

"Here's the key point—I'm definitely going to make the airplane crash. But if we use a bomb, the plane will be blown to pieces in midair, right? So we won't use a bomb and just make it crash."

"What? What does that even mean?"

Seo-eun's tone showed she didn't understand.

"No... there are so many weird points here. First of all, you say you're definitely going to crash the plane. But what if someone gets all ten questions right? Will you still drop it?"

"I won't do that. But I doubt anyone will actually get them all right... Still, just in case, I've already set up a safeguard."

"What safeguard?"

"The last quiz will have two correct answers. So even if they get it right? I'll just call the other one the correct answer and drop the plane anyway. If that doesn't work, I'll just be unreasonable about it."

"Wow... Oppa, I never noticed before, but looking at you like this, you're kind of demonic."

Seo-eun looked at me as if dumbfounded.

What the hell.

That's just how the world works! This world is all about deceiving or being deceived!

"Da-in, but then what do you mean by crashing it without using a bomb?"

"Ah, that. If we use a bomb, it could damage the aircraft in ways we can't predict and tear it to pieces, right? So we'll only pretend to detonate a bomb, and actually just tilt the plane downward at an angle. But if it falls through the air without establishing a landing point, that's a crash."

As I shrugged and said this, Seo-eun asked again.

"Ah... So our goal is to make the airplane crash and have Stardus catch it, right?"

"Exactly! It raises my intimidation factor and boosts Stardus's popularity. Isn't that killing two birds with one stone?"

"Um... but Da-in, can Stardus actually stop an airplane?"

Subin, who had been searching for something on her computer and calculating, asked me.

When I turned my attention toward her, she continued.

"I was the one who came up with the idea to crash a plane, but... the biggest achievement Stardus has accomplished so far was stopping that moving train last time. Stopping that train was impressive, but trains and airplanes are worlds apart. From what I saw, Stardus squeezed out every last bit of strength to stop that train, but an airplane... it's not just dozens of times faster—when you factor in gravity, weight, and energy, it's hundreds of times harder."

Subin's reasonable doubt.

In fact, it was a doubt anyone might have.

It was like a child who learned addition and subtraction yesterday saying they'd tackle problem 30 of the college entrance exam calculus section today.

That was the logical argument.

How could Stardus, who barely stopped a train, possibly stop an airplane?

However, I could only answer like this.

"Stardus can do it."

That's what it means to be the protagonist of this story.

This world, where later on, enemies pour out who can stop time, dominate space, and cause natural disasters single-handedly.

A crazy worldview where eventually divine beings pop out trying to destroy the Earth.

And the hero Stardus, who alone protected South Korea, protected Earth in that world.

She was the protagonist.

In truth, this world could be said to revolve around her.

And there was only one thing that made this possible.

There was no limit to how much her abilities could grow.

The protagonist doesn't die.

To interpret that meaning in reverse, any suffering that doesn't kill her makes her stronger.

So, as long as she has desperate and earnest 'will.'

There's nothing she can't stop.

"Stardus can do it. So we just need to trust her and crash the airplane."

When I said this with a serious face, Seo-eun asked with a slightly sulky expression.

"That's ridiculous. What exactly about that woman makes you trust her so much?"

I merely laughed off that question.

***

The preparations proceeded smoothly.

We made fake bombs, secretly attached smoke generators to the wings to fake an explosion.

We teleported inside the airplane before takeoff to set up various devices, arranged for the captains to fall asleep midway, tampered with the instrument panel in advance...

The result of combining my plans—which I could devise from having read so many hero comics and movies—with the assistance of two geniuses.

Honestly, for a terror attack of this level... couldn't you say it had reached the realm of art?

Having planned for so long, the terror attack itself was carried out swiftly and decisively.

...

It felt a bit strange conducting a terror attack remotely for the first time, but well, I had to accept that. I couldn't exactly be on a crashing airplane, could I? Safety first. Good, good, good!

"Hello, everyone! The greatest quiz show on Earth taking place at 25,000 feet—no! The greatest quiz show in the sky! Welcome to The Ego Show Live!"

But here's the thing—when I was speaking in front of a camera in an open space, the words just flowed naturally.

Now, speaking into a microphone in a cramped room deep underground, I was starting to feel kind of embarrassed.

Seo-eun and Subin kept staring at me from the side. Please, stop looking at me.

It's so distracting! I can't get my energy up!

"The rules are simple! There will be a total of ten non-sense quiz questions, and you just need to answer them correctly!"

"And if everyone gets it wrong? Boom. The bomb goes off!"

I spoke enthusiastically into the microphone.

On the screen in the base, the people inside the airplane were being broadcast in real-time.

By the way, this footage was also being transmitted nationwide by hijacking the three terrestrial broadcasters' signals.

It looked like they had every kind of technician working together, implementing every possible measure to prevent broadcast hijacking...

Yeah, Seo-eun and Subin just tore through it all like it was nothing. Adios, amigos...

Though honestly, we probably didn't even need to go this far—just uploading a live stream on YouTube would've made them broadcast it as breaking news on their own...

Whatever. It's tradition now.

"Alright! Let's move on to the second question! What's the hottest fruit in the world?"

As I continued broadcasting the non-sense quiz questions, I realized something...

Wait, why are these people answering everything correctly?

Honestly, I thought they'd all be wiped out around the seventh or eighth question.

But they stubbornly persevered through sheer willpower and made it all the way to the tenth.

The last survivor was a balding middle-aged man. Let's see, his name was... Kim Deok-bae? How does he keep getting them right...

"Now! Finally, the tenth and final question! What kind of oil do young children love the most?"

And so my last question was thrown out.

The answer I received was "IU."

Actually, whether they sent "IU" or "May Oil," that wasn't what mattered.

What mattered was that no matter what they sent, it would be marked wrong.

...But he actually got it right all the way to the end. Good thing I didn't accept multiple correct answers, or that would've been a disaster.

"Now, let's check the answer. Let's see, you wrote 'IU.' The correct answer was... May Oil! How unfortunate. Well then, goodbye!"

After saying that, I pressed the button.

Boom! The noise generator we'd set up in advance activated.

The plane began spewing smoke and falling downward. Though it was really just descending.

"Phew, finally over."

I turned off the microphone and sprawled back in my chair.

Just sitting still and talking was so exhausting to maintain the energy...

As I lay there, Seo-eun, who had finished her operations, spoke to me.

"Oppa, what do we do now?"

"What else? We wait until Stardus comes."

"Will she actually come?"

"Of course she will. Do you know who Stardus is?"

And so I waited.

"She should be coming soon."

I waited.

"She must've left by now, right?"

I kept waiting.

"She's on her way now, isn't she?"

After waiting for quite a while.

"Aaaaagh!!! Why isn't she coming?!"

I finally ended up screaming!

Why isn't she coming! If she really doesn't come now, the plane's going to be torn to pieces!

"Ah! Oppa, why are you suddenly screaming and scaring me?"

"Seo-eun! Check what she's doing right now! Hack into nearby CCTVs if you have to!"

"Y-yes... okay."

"Ah, found her. Oppa, Stardus is just watching the plane from the beach?"

"What?! Why is she doing that?!"

This isn't the Stardus I know!

"From the looks of it, she knows too, doesn't she? She knows she'll just get killed if she goes, so she's just staying put."

I jumped at Seo-eun's words.

What! No! Stardus can do anything if she puts her mind to it! If we just get her in front of the plane, she'll awaken and be able to stop it!

"Damn... What do I do? At this rate, there's no way... That's it, the earphone. The in-ear earphone!"

I remembered!

Shin Haru always wore a small in-ear earphone deep inside her ear. If I could just communicate through that!

"Seo-eun, can you forcibly connect to the earphone in Shin Haru's ear? Quickly!"

"Just a moment... Ah, this is connected to an internal security communication network, so it's a bit hard to crack... Unnie! Help me out."

"Got it!"

While the two of them worked together on the computer, trying repeatedly.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

I nervously bounced my leg. I'm seriously dying of anxiety here.

After what felt like an eternity.

"Oppa! We successfully cracked it!"

"Finally!"

I rushed over.

What appeared on the computer was some kind of complex frequency graph.

"Oppa, but the important thing is, if they don't answer on the other end, we're out of luck."

"It's fine. Then we'll just keep calling until they answer."

After responding like that, I sat down.

I took a deep breath.

Whoosh—

Ring. Ring.

The call going through.

And then.

Click.

The call connected.

I opened my mouth calmly and quietly.

"Good evening, Ms. Stardus. This is Egostic."

[You piece of trash...]

The moment the call connected, insults came flying back.

However, getting cursed at wasn't what mattered right now.

"I'm calling because I'm curious about something. Why aren't you going to save them?"

Why aren't you going to save them?

Why are you just sitting there doing nothing?

After hurling a few more casual insults at my question, she finally spoke.

[How am I... supposed to stop... that thing?]

[That thing falling at 1,000 kilometers per hour.]

[Are you telling me to go die?]

Hearing those words, I was shocked.

More than I expected.

Far more than I expected.

I see. So that's what she's been thinking.

This is exactly what she's thinking right now, at this very moment.

Just as I was about to think that the Stardus I knew wasn't like this, I realized that the Stardus of this time could indeed be like this.

The story of Stardus never giving up even when facing an unbeatable enemy—that was from the later parts.

In the early parts of the original work, she only fought enemies she felt she could reasonably handle.

Because I had twisted things, she was currently feeling frustrated.

However, the situation I presented was impossible to resolve with her current abilities alone.

Faced with a disaster that appeared so suddenly for the first time, she had become discouraged.

This won't do.

The Stardus I know isn't like this.

Even when facing seemingly insurmountable situations, she grits her teeth, raises her head, steps forward, and breaks through head-on.

Someone who believes in her own abilities, trusts in her own will, and faces enemies with indomitable resolve. That's Stardus, Shin Haru.

But why isn't she stepping forward this time?

Ah.

Did I give her too high a wall from the very start?

I should have let her overcome walls gradually, building confidence that she could break through the next one too.

Did the overwhelming wall break her will?

Then what now?

What do I do now?

...

What do I do? I know what to do.

I need to restore her will.

I need to make her realize she can do it.

I need to make her believe in herself.

What did she say again?

'How am I supposed to stop that thing? Are you telling me to go die?'

Right. That's what she said.

Having organized my thoughts, I opened my mouth again with a calm voice.

"No, you can do it."

You can do it.

Because you are the protagonist of this world.

Because if you have the will, you are someone who can seize anything.

"You can do it. Stop the plane from crashing."

As I conveyed my sincerity with weight, her quiet voice came through.

[...Does that even make sense? You think I don't know you're just trying to get rid of me with this opportunity?]

Get rid of? Me? You?

I was dumbfounded.

Who's trying to get rid of whom?

Having momentarily lost my composure, I spoke to her with complete sincerity.

"Why would I want to kill you?"

Why would I want to kill you?

"What meaning would I have without you?"

After realizing I'd fallen into this godforsaken comic world, after wandering and agonizing, I resolved to dedicate the rest of my life to you.

"Without you, I'm just a common, ordinary villain."

I can't even simply be called a villain.

Without you, I'm just a stranger in this world. An unnecessary accessory.

Having lost all my family, friends, assets, social status, honor, friendships, love—everything—I am not myself living in this other world.

In this world, what meaning would I have if I didn't live for you?

You.

Only you.

"You complete me."

So step forward.

Clench your fists, put strength in your legs, and fly into that sky to save those people.

You can do it.

Because that's who you are.

After saying that much, I simply ended the call.

Looking to the side, I could feel Seo-eun and Subin staring at me with surprised faces.

Ah, come to think of it, I just poured out my feelings about Stardus in front of those two.

Hmm. How embarrassing.

To the two of them, I could only smile faintly and say this:

"Now, let's watch and see what happens."

I had done everything I could.

Now, it all depended on what Shin Haru decided to do.

***

[Yes!!! Stardus!!! Has successfully!!! Landed the airplane!!! All passengers are!!! Disembarking safely!!! Dear citizens!!! South Korea is safe!!!]

"Wow. Oppa. She really stopped it just like you said. How did you do that? Oppa? Oppa!"

When Seo-eun called out to me, I was already sliding down in my chair.

"Seo-eun..."

"Oppa, what's wrong?"

"Let's go on a trip..."

Seriously, pulling off one terror attack is sooooo exhausting.

I need to rest.

I really need to rest.

"If I do one more terror attack, I'm going to get sick..."

That's three terror attacks in a row.

Let's take a vacation now.

This villain needs a break.