Chapter 66 - Wrong Encounter

Perplexity.

My feeling upon facing Stardus for the first time was one of pure perplexity.

No, why is she coming out of here?

You didn't come here in the original work!

But there was no way I could actually say that.

So we stood there, facing each other in a strange silence without saying a word.

....No, I mean, how was I supposed to know we'd suddenly cross paths like this in a deep basement hundreds of meters underground?

Stardus, who looked just as flustered as I did, quickly gathered her composure and returned to a cold expression.

She questioned me coldly.

"....You. Why are you coming out of here?"

That's what I want to ask.

"...No, Stardus. Why are you here yourself?"

"I'm a hero. Naturally, there are monsters and dangerous materials in here that threaten the citizens, so I have to come and deal with them."

She answered as if asking something obvious.

Right, she was right. She was right, but....

I'm telling you, you didn't come here originally!

While I kept my mouth shut and screamed silently in my head.

She suddenly grinned and started cracking her knuckles.

"And... this worked out perfectly. It's an unexpected harvest."

Wow, I think this is the first time I've seen Stardus smile since I came to this world.

The sight of her smiling while cracking her fists was truly like a goddess.

It would have been great if that smile hadn't come from the thought of catching me.

"It won't hurt much if you surrender quietly."

She lunged at me the moment she finished those words.

Yep, teleportation.

I teleported behind her as she rushed toward me.

But as if she had anticipated it, she immediately turned her head and swung her arm behind her.

I had no choice but to teleport even further back.

"Wait!!"

"Wait for what!"

Despite my desperate cry, she continued to fly toward me, her blonde hair fluttering behind her.

What the hell are you doing in this narrow corridor?!

"Wait, let's take a time-out! Time-out!"

As I kept dodging her strikes with teleportation, she eventually gave up on trying to grab me and clenched her fist.

Hey, are you crazy? If I take one hit from your punch, I'm dead!

"Excuse me, Ms. Stardus! Just calm down for a second!"

However, as if she couldn't hear a word I said, she flew straight at me and threw a punch.

Fortunately, I managed to escape with teleportation by a hair's breadth, but the innocent wall ended up taking the blow instead.

Boom-.

She must have held back so as not to kill me, but the wall shook with a thunderous roar upon impact.

Because of that, the ceiling shook, dust scattered, the lights flickered, and everything turned into a total mess.

"Are you trying to destroy the whole place? Please, just calm down and listen to me!"

The basement was still trembling.

Only after half-demolishing the corridor did Stardus finally calm down.

"...What do you have to say?"

Ah, so she's going to listen to me now.

Fixing her sky-blue eyes on me, she rested one hand on her hip as if she wouldn't attack for the moment.

Okay, I really need to talk my way out of this now.

Otherwise, I'm going to be dragged away....!!

"First of all, I have no intention of fighting. We didn't expect to run into each other here anyway, did we? How about we just go back to our own business?"

"...Are you telling me to just let you, a Villain, roam around this Class 1 secure facility as you please?"

Hmm, I guess that won't work.

"No, I didn't come here to do anything bad anyway. I just thought the Haneun Group was being obnoxious, so I was going to do a Broadcast."

I said that and showed her the camera.

"...You Broadcasted this place?"

Her expression was getting even worse.

Was this a mistake too?!

Stardus seemed to be clenching her fist and preparing to attack again, so I hurriedly spoke up.

"Wait! How about we form a temporary alliance?"

"A temporary alliance?"

Despite her gaze that looked at me as if I were talking complete nonsense, I stood my ground and spoke.

"Stardus, you don't know how dangerous this place is either, do you? Since things turned out like this, how about we form an alliance and go together until we reach the deepest part? Honestly, even if you try to catch me, I can just escape with Teleportation. Rather than that, since fate brought us together like this, let's help each other out, yeah? I'm curious about what's down here too."

Hmm, even I think that's pure nonsense.

It wouldn't be strange if she immediately rushed at me in a rage, shouting, 'You want me, a Hero, to form an alliance with a Villain?'

Man, what should I do now? Should I just run away? Goodbye, my Behemoth, my power-up....

Just as I had already made up my mind, she frowned for a moment and then suddenly relaxed her expression.

Then she replied like this.

"..Fine, okay. Let's go together until we reach the bottom."

"Huh?"

"...Why are you the one surprised after suggesting it?"

As I became flustered, she actually gave a slight smile and turned her head.

"Follow me. It was going to be difficult to handle on my own anyway, so why don't you help out a bit."

"Huh? Ah, yes. Alright."

Watching her take the lead toward the lower levels again, I had no choice but to follow her blankly, as if possessed.

Wait... what?

Even though I thought it was nonsense coming out of my own mouth, seeing her accept it so readily left me utterly confused.

What is it? What's her scheme? The Stardus I know isn't someone like that.

I expected her to charge at me, saying there's no compromise with a Villain, so I couldn't help but be flustered by her sudden change.

And so, she and I ended up walking through this underground together.

...What on earth is happening?

***

Stardus.

The things she encountered as soon as she descended into this underground were countless monsters.

They looked horrific, as if they had melted, and they all shared the common trait of being white.

They all turned to dust and vanished with a single punch from her, but the fact that each one possessed some kind of ability sent a chill down her spine.

And that feeling grew even stronger as she entered the laboratory area.

The horrific records of their research.

The test subjects that should have been confined behind glass walls had long since escaped, leaving only their records behind.

*

《RKCB-0064》

[Temporary Name] Hell Cat

[Notes] Extremely fast. Use caution when feeding.

*

*

《RKCB-1107》

[Temporary Name] Teleporter

[Notes] Can escape using Teleportation, so maintain Grade A security at all times. Use caution as it attacks from behind.

*

"Horrible..."

Monsters likely born from inhuman experiments.

She shuddered at the thought that they would have continued human experimentation in the heart of Seoul if this accident hadn't exposed them.

If only that accident hadn't occurred.

And if Egostic hadn't destroyed the bridge.

It was clear that horrific things would have unfolded.

"....."

She continued forward, slowly eliminating every monster in her path.

As she descended deeper underground, communications cut out, and flickering lights cast an ominous glow.

Countless paths branched out like a tangled maze.

Yet, she did not hesitate.

Her Intuition, sharpened over time, guided her forward.

At the end of the path where her senses led her...

"Gah!!!"

Egostic stood there, swinging a knife in a startled panic at her sudden appearance.

Honestly...

She was just as flustered as he was.

Who could have guessed Egostic would be here?

But she quickly regained her composure.

This was an opportunity, regardless of the circumstances.

She didn't know why he was here, but she would catch him first and ask questions later.

She lunged toward him.

"Wait!!!"

"Wait for what?!"

She tried to seize him, but as usual, he slipped away using Teleportation.

It was only after she nearly brought the Basement down by punching a wall that she stopped to listen.

He explained he was here for a Broadcast.

"A temporary alliance?"

He proposed they work together until they reached the bottom of the facility.

Stardus scoffed inwardly. Why would she ever ally herself with a Villain?

She was about to refuse and resume her attack.

But then, a thought crossed her mind.

'Wait. This guy can just teleport away whenever he wants, can't he?'

It was true.

She had overlooked it because he was only using short-range blinks, but Egostic could leave this place in an instant if he chose to.

Hadn't he always vanished right before her eyes after his previous terror attacks?

...She couldn't let that happen.

Would there ever be another chance to meet him like this, with no one else around?

No, likely not.

Given his personality, the next time they met would be on a stage of his making, in front of cameras for all the Citizens to see.

This might be the only time she could be with him without being manipulated by his theatrics.

'...If I refuse, I won't be able to catch him, and he'll just disappear before I can learn anything.'

In that case...

If she kept him close, she might finally understand him.

The questions she had about Egostic might finally be answered.

By keeping him by her side, she could uncover his true motive for being here.

Besides, he had never actually tried to harm her... and if it came to a fair fight without him running, she would easily overpower him.

The risk was minimal.

'Fine. If he's going to escape anyway, I might as well get some information out of him first.'

Offering a justification to no one in particular, she finally spoke.

"..Fine, alright. We'll go together until we reach the bottom."

"Wait, really?"

Even though he had been the one to suggest it, he seemed taken aback by her easy compliance.

How funny. He probably just threw it out there, expecting me to refuse.

Come to think of it, I think this is the first time I've seen him flustered.

Until now, she had always been the one caught up in his pace.

"...Why are you the one surprised when you're the one who suggested it?"

Feeling strangely amused, she let out a small chuckle without realizing it.

Right, I didn't even expect to catch him today.

Instead, here, this might be a chance to resolve the questions she's always had about Egostic...

***

Since Stardus accepted the temporary alliance proposal, we entered the labyrinth together.

...What on earth is she thinking? I still don't get it.

So, I followed behind her, not lowering my guard.

A villain worrying about being backstabbed by a hero—is this even right?

As we went deeper inside, nothing much happened between us.

The experimental subjects that occasionally approached were taken care of by her with a single punch.

It wasn't even scary. I was a little bit nervous when I was alone, though.

I'd crack a joke every now and then, and she'd just ignore it, and so on.

Of course, it was a bit cute when she occasionally failed to hold back a laugh.

She'd quickly fix her expression and glare at me, telling me to be quiet.

I know your sense of humor perfectly.

Was the end near? Countless laboratories began to appear.

She rummaged through various documents with a serious expression.

What was I doing? She wouldn't let me see anything, so I just looked at her.

Honestly, being able to watch my favorite character this closely for this long...

Maybe this is a reward?

Stardus, with her blonde hair flowing, rummaging through the lab in her skin-tight red Hero Suit—it was quite a sight.

Nice, very nice.

Did she find out something eventually? We headed further inside again.

No, why is there no end to this place? It's like an anthill.

What was even more surprising was Stardus, who strode forward as if she knew where to go.

Did she research the geography of this place beforehand?

...No way her Super Sense has developed already. Surely not.

Anyway, this time it felt like we had truly reached the end.

Because I felt a breeze coming from somewhere.

....But how is there a breeze underground?

As we kept walking, what we faced was the [Top Secret Area].

And next to it was a passage sloppily painted in red.

"...What is this place?"

To her question, I only replied with a shrug.

"Let's just go in for now."

"Hmm..."

After some deliberation, she chose to enter, and we went inside together.

Walking down the corridor, we came across a small room.

"Paranormal Ability Suppression Room...?"

She muttered, looking at the sign posted in front of the room.

Paranormal Ability Suppression? Does that mean abilities won't work inside?

No, Haneun Group had this kind of technology? This is some seriously dangerous tech...

While I was looking at it with a serious expression, Stardus turned back and spoke.

"...Egostic, you go in first."

"...Me? Why me?"

When I said that, she quietly raised her fist.

...Right, right. I'll go in.

"Yes, yes. I understand."

And so, I ended up stepping into a tiny, six-square-meter room.

It was a sealed space, walls covered in pure white. Aside from a single clock hanging on the wall, it was completely empty.

So, does this mean I really can't use my abilities here?

As a test, I tried to use Telekinesis on the bundle I had brought with me.

"Hmph?"

Oh, it really doesn't work.

Then what about Teleportation?

I tried to focus my mind, but as expected, nothing happened.

This is actually quite fascinating.

"How is it? Are your abilities really unusable?"

"Yes. It seems so. I wonder what the principle behind this is?"

As I was glancing around, she stepped inside as if she wanted to test it for herself.

"...They really don't work."

While she was testing her powers, I was examining one side of the room.

If I could utilize this properly, it would be a total game-changer. I wonder how it works...

Just as I was engrossed in my investigation of the wall, a sudden thud- echoed from behind, and the room shook. What was that?

Startled, I whipped my head around to find Stardus, who had just slammed her fist into the wall.

Even with her abilities suppressed, her natural strength was so great that the wall now had a fist-shaped dent.

When I looked at her with an incredulous expression, she awkwardly avoided my gaze.

"No, I just wanted to see if everything was truly being suppressed..."

"I mean... even so, how could you just mindlessly hit the wall like that?"

If something had gone wrong, we could have been flooded and died!

Just as I was about to argue, an alarm suddenly blared from the door we had entered.

The open entrance was suddenly blocked by blast doors that slid down from above.

Thud-.

"Wh-what's going on?"

She was visibly flustered by the sudden turn of events.

Of course, she wasn't the only one caught off guard. I was dumbfounded too. What's happening all of a sudden?

A concrete barrier had suddenly dropped, cutting off the space that led back to the corridor.

"....."

Uh...

So, the current situation is...

Deep underground in this sealed room, Stardus and I are now trapped together, both of us having lost our powers?

"....."

"....."

In that cramped room, only a heavy silence lingered.

Hmm.

We're screwed.