Chapter 56 - Fan

Alright, let's think about this.

A villain has caused a terror incident.

But what are the odds that the hostages taken by said villain are actually his fans?

I don't know what the exact number is, but I seem to have defied those odds right now.

"Mangostiiiiick!!! We're faaaans!!!!"

Female college students were rolling down the window and screaming at the top of their lungs.

Why on earth is this happening to me?

All I wanted was an ordinary family trembling in fear...

Ah, well, they are trembling.

The problem is, it looks like they're trembling from thrill...

"Haha, I didn't anticipate a situation like this..."

I spoke with a hollow laugh.

Heavy metal music was still flowing from the car.

At the same time, their excited gazes pierced through me. Are these... hostages?

[Seriously freaking funny LOL]

[About the incident where the hostages were my fans]

[How can she slam 'Mangostick' right to his face LOL look at that nerve]

[For real, isn't this the first time he's heard the word Mangostick?]

[He mentioned Apple Mango before so he probably knows the nickname LOL]

[But those girls have guts, coming out as villain fans in front of the whole nation. Shiver. Revealing their faces, wearing uni varsity jackets, and just slamming it out there.]

[True madness.]

The chat window was absolute chaos, too.

No, I need to get a grip in situations like this.

This is well within the expected range. If I find my center and smooth it over, there's no problem.

I managed my facial expression again, smiled, and spoke.

"Yes, yes. Hello. I am Egostic. Everyone looks very... um... happy. May I ask for a self-introduction?"

"Yes!!!"

The girls answered energetically.

Right, right.

Being bright is good.

At my greeting, the girl sitting at the window nearest to me spoke first.

"Hello! We are members of Yeonhui University's Hero and Villain club, 'Veritas'!"

She answered loudly with a bright voice.

No, I didn't ask for the university and club name. That's TMI.

They were smiling and greeting the camera like idols debuting on a music show.

...I'm definitely interviewing hostages caught on a bridge by bad luck, right? I'm not hosting Music Bank, am I?

"I am Kim Yeonhwa, the president of this club."

Then the kids behind her revealed their names one by one.

One of them sitting in the back suddenly shouted.

"Kim Yeonhwa over there is Oppa's fan cafe manager!!!"

...Who is your Oppa?

But aside from that, what she said was quite interesting.

"My fan cafe manager?"

Hearing that, I looked at the girl sitting in front of me again.

She blushed, looking slightly shy.

Twisting a lock of her brown bob cut with her finger, she spoke again.

"Yes. Do you happen to know... the Mango Squad? It's fans who like Mango... no, Lord Egostic. For reference, everyone here, including me, is part of the Mango Squad!"

She puffed out her chest proudly and went ahem, clearly pleased with herself.

Ah...

Please stop.

My toes are curling.

Who does this in front of the person involved...

However, I am a pro. A pro of the villain world.

Being a pro... I didn't waver and answered with a refreshing smile.

"I see. It is truly an honor that there are people who like me. However, um... I'm asking because I'm genuinely curious, do you happen to know that I am a Villain?"

I struck at her unexpected blind spot here.

No, I'm thankful they support me.

But have they actually forgotten that I'm a villain?

I thought these 'Mango Squad' guys were just concept trolls on the internet, but my opinion has just changed.

Sparkling your eyes at a terrorist while being held hostage at a terror scene cannot be called a concept.

This is just madness...

Why would someone who looks normal and popular do something like this?

At my question filled with pure curiosity, she asked back in a bewildered voice, as if startled.

"Huh? Wasn't Oppa the S-Rank Hero Apple Mango?"

I almost lost my mind hearing that.

No, I can't listen to this anymore.

I'm running low on cringe resistance. Please stop.

"Yes!!! I heard you loud and clear. That is a very interesting story. Would you like to say one last word?"

I hurriedly threw out the closing comment.

My goal was definitely to plant guilt in the public who were mindlessly trying to take the 100,000 won, but somehow the conversation is lightyears away from that.

It's right to end this quickly.

When I made the gesture to wrap things up, the girls behind her whined, asking why we were finishing already.

Hmm. I think this is the most painful moment since I fell into this world. I'm really going crazy.

Of course, I didn't express those feelings outwardly and just kept a bright smile.

Thank god. The mask covers half my face.

The corners of my mouth behind the mask are trembling furiously.

Setting aside the other kids spouting nonsense from the back, the girl who claimed to be my cafe manager thought for a moment at my words, then her eyes sparkled as if she realized something.

"Ah!"

Then she started rummaging through the bag in front of her.

Seeing that, the other girls in the back also realized something and rummaged through their bags together. What, what is it?

What they took out of their bags were...

Notebooks?

"Please give us an autograph!"

The girls handing me notebooks with shining eyes.

I finally failed my poker face, facepalmed, and let out a sigh.

Please... please stop...

[LOLOLOLOL]

[You can see Egostic is genuinely bewildered LOL]

[Are they actually crazy b*tches LOL]

[It's dizzying, isn't it?]

[So you're saying this is a conversation between a terrorist and a hostage, right?]

[No but why is he actually signing for them LOL]

[God Mango sighing but doing everything they ask LOL]

[Is this really a villain LOL]

In the end, I even gave them autographs.

I just scribbled 'Egostic' in English. Even though I just wrote it carelessly, they really liked it...

Finally, I gave them a few leftover strawberry cream breads each, and the interview ended.

And as I closed the window, they shouted one last thing.

"Ah! And we received the 100,000 won! Thank you!"

Tsk.

This terror plot is a total bust.

***

Anyway, after all the twists and turns, the deadline arrived.

I switched the camera back on, having cut the feed after the interview.

Hovering high above Mapo Bridge, I unmuted my microphone and made the announcement.

Visible behind me wasn't the blue sky, but a massive electronic scoreboard.

Seo-eun had managed to float it there using some kind of CGI tech. Is this that "Metaverse" everyone talks about?

"Okay, everyone. It is now 7 PM, the promised hour. The participatory terror event for the entire nation! Is it 100,000 won? Or is it the bridge and the lives of others? I will now reveal the results of this experiment, designed to test just how selfish human beings really are."

[Badump badump]

[Ah, no way it went over 5 million LOL]

[FR, do you think getting 5 million people is easy? There was no prior notice, it's impossible in such a short time LOL]

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

[We can't let our boy Young-jin down. Let's show them the power of South Korea!!!]

[I don't think Yeonhwa would be disappointed though]

[Sht, if Mapo Bridge goes down, my commute is fcked. No!]

[Passing civil servant here. I'm clasping my hands and praying it doesn't blow up. If it does, I'm screwed.]

"Show us the results! The result is...!!!"

The numbers on the billboard behind me began to climb rapidly.

One, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand... The numbers on the board skyrocketed.

"The result iiiis!!!!"

I was practically screaming now.

The numbers rose insanely fast! Even the videos of the people watching me started to flicker! The flashing screen! My flashing reflection!! The flashing numbers!!!

"The result iiiiiiiis!!!!!"

It reached a point where you could barely see the screen!

The screen illuminating me suddenly turned white with the word 'Egostic' written on it.

Pop. Fireworks exploded around me, lighting me up again.

The number written on the huge electric board behind me was:

[7,523,660]

"Seven million!!! Five hundred!!! Twenty thousand people!!! Have taken the 100,000 won!!!!!"

I roared.

Waaaah! A roar of cheers came from somewhere. Of course, it was just background music.

Clap clap clap. I applauded in response.

"Incredible! Citizens of South Korea! Honestly, I thought we'd barely pass five million, but seven million?! It's beyond my imagination!!!"

I beamed as I spoke.

Spreading my arms wide, as if shouting 'Hurrah'.

"You selfish people, this explosion is for you. Congratulations, everyone!!!"

Behind me, as I stood with my arms wide open.

The electric board had already vanished.

And the bridge that served as my backdrop...

Kuaaaaahng—.

With a tremendous explosion, it began to collapse.

Explosion... is art!

"Thank you for participating in Egostic's terror event! See you next time!! Until then, bye!!!"

I grinned at the camera and waved.

After waving, I cut the feed.

Phew, filming complete without issues today.

Having finished the livestream, I wiped sweat from my brow in mid-air.

Wow, I've been here for like ten hours. It was like a marathon of terror. So tiring...

Floating in the sky, I looked down.

Rumble. The bridge was collapsing with a terrifying sound.

And in the distance, a woman flying towards me at incredible speed.

Our Stardus.

It really has been a long time.

Wearing her red hero suit, her blonde hair fluttering in the wind as she flew—she looked truly magnificent.

The last time I saw her was at that festival? That was ages ago. It really has been a while.

Since I don't know when I'll see her again, let's watch for a bit.

Instead of running away immediately, I floated leisurely in the air with telekinesis and watched. I felt a bit sorry that she had to clean up the mess I dumped on her, but... well, all's well that ends well, right?

She flew in lightning-fast and caught an SUV about to fall from the other side of the collapsing bridge with one hand.

Wow, she blocked trains and planes, and now she lifts cars with one hand?

...No matter how I think about it, I seem to have made her grow drastically faster than in the original work. Well, good things are good things.

Holding the SUV in one hand, she flew towards the sedan on my side.

But the problem is, maybe because she's already carrying an SUV, her speed is a bit slow...?

And wait? That car looks like it's about to dive straight into the Han River?

The car carrying Choi Young-jin—or whatever his name was—which was collapsing cozily along with the bridge, was about to slip through the broken asphalt. Before Stardus could get there.

She was almost right in front of it, but the car eventually slipped right through the gap in the collapsed bridge.

"Ah, sh*t."

And at that very moment. Without even realizing it, I reached out my hand. I pushed my telekinesis to the limit and held the falling car in the air for a split second.

The time I held it was very short, just one or two seconds.

But that was enough time for Stardus to make the save.

In the end, she managed to catch every falling car in time.

"Fck... Huff. Huff.*"

Ah, damn, I'm dying.

Using so much telekinesis so suddenly drained all the strength from my body.

Haru, Shin Haru. Why were you so late... He almost died.

A villain saving the hostage he intended to kill—it would have been hilarious if anyone saw.

Still.

I couldn't let a scratch mar Stardus's reputation of "rescuing all civilians," could I?

It couldn't be helped... I had no choice...

Then, holding both cars, Stardus suddenly turned her face toward me.

Our eyes met instantly. Oh sht*, did she notice?

The moment our eyes met, I whipped my cape around and turned my back.

And then, I teleported straight out of the scene.

I didn't do anything.

I don't know anything...!

***

Stardus. With the collapsing bridge as her backdrop and cars in her hands, she fell into thought.

Egostic. The car falling from where he had been.

It looked like it was going to fall before she could catch it, but.

'Just now, surely...?'

It fell for a moment, then seemed to pause—just for a second...