Chapter 36 - Let's Go On A Journey

"Alright, let's go!"

We left the house in the SUV I'd bought a while back.

Our destination: Busan.

Seo-eun said she'd never seen the ocean before, so we decided to take this opportunity to go see it.

"Oppa, can't we still take the KTX?"

Seo-eun grumbled from the back seat.

"Seo-eun, see those bags in the trunk behind you? Those are all full of guns and stuff. How are we supposed to take those on a train?"

"Seriously... How much are you planning to use there? It's only two nights and three days—why'd you pack so much?"

Seo-eun turned her head and started rummaging through the bags behind her.

What is she doing while I'm driving? That's dangerous.

"Oppa, what's this mask? I've never seen this one before."

Seo-eun pulled a mask out of one of the bags.

Unlike the half-mask I usually wore that only covered part of my face, this was a full-face mask.

"You never know what might happen down there. Just in case, we need something to cover our faces."

At my words, Subin, sitting in the passenger seat, asked with a puzzled look.

"Didn't you use Recognition Interference?"

"Ah, I didn't. Seo-eun and I haven't had our faces exposed to the public yet."

"Oh..."

Subin trailed off.

Wait, now that I think about it, Subin's the only one here who used Recognition Interference for this trip.

And I was the one who broadcast Subin's face to the public during that live stream.

Hmm.

Let's not talk about this anymore. I feel bad about it...

In the back, only Seo-eun was playing on her phone without a care in the world. Must be nice to be so carefree.

And so we drove to Busan.

Five hours of driving is seriously exhausting...

***

"The ocean!"

We arrived at Haeundae.

Seeing Seo-eun so happy makes me happy too.

She ran off to play while I laid out the mat and sat down under the parasol.

Even standing is tiring. I need to sit for a bit.

Subin came and sat next to me, having bought two drinks and handing one to me.

The sun was blazing, but there weren't many people at the beach, which was nice.

This is why you should travel on weekdays.

Subin took a sip of her drink through the straw, then swept her hair behind her ear and said to me.

"I haven't seen the ocean either... The last time was when I was very young, so it's been a long time."

"It's been a while for me too."

This was probably the first time I'd seen it since falling into this world.

Of course, the ocean is just the ocean... but still, there's something about seeing it that clears your mind.

In this world.

Villains I've dealt with: four.

Terror attacks I've committed: three.

I've been living way too busily.

Chaos is good, but sometimes you need to take a proper rest like this.

"...I'm always grateful to you, Da-in."

As I was staring at the ocean... what do you call it? Ocean-gazing? Water-gazing?

Subin quietly spoke from beside me.

"Grateful? For what?"

"Just... for everything. I'm grateful you spared my life at the beginning instead of killing me... and grateful that you treat me well..."

"Haha, what are you talking about? If anything, I'm more grateful to you. You always take care of all the housework and even assist Seo-eun."

"Thank you for saying that."

Subin smiled softly as she said that.

What's with this atmosphere?

Is this some kind of flag?

In manga, whenever someone says stuff like this, they always die or betray you in the next volume, don't they?

I'm scared!

Before I could ask why she was suddenly saying this, Seo-eun, who had run off alone to look at the ocean, came back.

"Back already? Did you see everything?"

"Yeah. I mean, the more I looked at it, it's not that different from the oceans I've seen in games. It just feels kind of familiar."

Good grief.

She's seen the ocean so much in games that seeing the real ocean for the first time feels familiar.

Is this... a positive influence of gaming or a negative one?

I'm not sure, but I think we need to regulate your gaming when we get back.

"Still, walking barefoot on the sand was refreshing. I'd give it 3 out of 5 stars?"

...This is the first time I've seen someone rate a beach trip with stars.

And she's being harsh! At least give it 4 stars!

"Well then, shall we go eat?"

Let's do that.

***

We came to a rice soup restaurant.

When you think of Busan, you think of rice soup.

"Oppa, it says here to pour the kkakdugi juice into the rice soup. Is that for real?"

"Um... If you want to eat it that way, go ahead."

Not for me.

Seo-eun went ahead and poured the kkakdugi juice into her rice soup anyway. Why would she do such a thing?

"It's pretty good."

Surprisingly, Seo-eun's reaction was that it was edible.

Really? Is it a matter of taste?

Well, it's nice to see her eating well.

People shouldn't eat home-cooked food every single day; slurping rice soup from a sizzling earthen pot like this should be on the menu now and then.

And the place piles on the meat—nice.

The wall-mounted TV was running the news.

[The Association issued a formal denunciation of A-Rank Villain Egostic, stating it is "doing everything in its power to apprehend him." However, investigators are struggling because the suspect can teleport and manipulate information networks. Netizens reacted with comments such as "Egostic is terrifying," "Did you see Stardus vs Egostic? Legendary..."]

Of course they're talking about me. Still, something about the report feels off...

I was crunching kkakdugi while staring at my own face on the screen when Seo-eun, seated across from me, asked a little too loudly, "Oppa, why did you pick the name Egostic?"

Kkakdogi nearly shot out my nose.

What's she doing, yelling that in a crowded restaurant?

I frantically glanced around; mercifully, no one seemed interested.

While I gaped at her in panic, Seo-eun frowned, then went "Ah!" and fished something from her pocket.

"Relax. After you complained last time, I built a noise canceller."

She set a walkie-talkie–sized gadget on the table.

"What is it?"

"Makes sure no one else hears what we say."

"Oh? When did you whip this up?"

"You told me not to mention identities in public, so I dug through Haneun Group's blueprints at home. Those guys have everything."

"Handy."

"So, why Egostic?" she asked, grinning mischievously. Hadn't she already asked this?

"I told you—it's from 'Egoistic.' Doesn't it just sound right?"

"Not really. Sounds like you just glued 'stick' on. Why drop the 'i' in the middle?"

"Why? Because I did."

Stardus became Stardus, after all.

If I can shorten that, why not Egoistic → Egostic?

"And Stardus again... I honestly don't get why she chopped off the 't.' You should've dropped the 'tic' and gone with 'Egois.' Way better."

"If I'd been there when you named yourself, I could've helped. Shame."

Subin, quietly eating beside us, chimed in.

"Keep this up and I'm changing your name to Mangostick. Next terror scene you'll greet the cameras with, 'Welcome to the Mango Show!'"

"That's kind of cute? I vote yes!" Seo-eun beamed.

My heart ripped in half.

She's joking... please be joking...

The broadcast moved on.

[Breaking: A-Rank Hero Shadow Walker has collapsed. The Association blames "excessive daytime ability use during special operations" and promises swift treatment. Netizens fire back: "The Association is useless," "Faking it," "President should resign."]

"Why'd he suddenly faint?" I stared at the screen.

Surely not because Stardus ferried me to Jeju and back? If so... sorry, man.

[Meanwhile, Stardus's fan café, "Star Dust Squad," is exploding. Founded after the plane incident, it rocketed past 100,000 members in days—unprecedented for a Korean hero.]

"Whoa!" I dropped my spoon and focused on the TV.

Knew it! Rolling around like a dog worked!

"You look happier than when your own fan club opened. Geez—anyone'd think you're Stardus's dad," Seo-eun muttered.

Maybe I overdid it.

[Another bulletin: Experts examining the plane incident say "the bomb may not have detonated," sparking uproar. The aircraft is submerged, but last photos show no blast residue. Salvage is under way.]

"How the hell did they figure that out?"

The universe has it in for me.

"Oppa, just give up. Real-time trend number one: #WeAlwaysBelievedInMangostick."

Seo-eun flashed her phone. The awful truth glowed on the screen.

Reality can't be this cruel.

"Wait. Whether the bomb blew or not, I still crashed the plane. There are people covering for me?"

"They say you planned the big picture—no civilian casualties this time either. The Mango Squad is backing you hard."

"That's insane. I did do something, you know."

"I'm baffled too. It's like they're all on happy pills. Look at this."

She handed me the phone.

===

**[Mangostick <--- If you always believed in him, mega-like LOL]

**