Chapter 104 - Heroes Are Raised To Be Strong

# Celestial Moon Emperor

Celestial Moon Emperor.

As the founder of the Moon Light Cult that worships the Moon God, he aims to connect Earth with a new dimension, summoning gods and monsters from another world to cleanse the current Earth and create a new world.

In the original story, he used the Moon Priestess to devastate Seoul to raise his profile, and after extensive research, he finally opened a dimensional gate to summon monsters from another dimension.

The starting point was the Moon Priestess's first terrorist attack.

After being manipulated by the Celestial Moon Emperor to carry out numerous attacks, she ultimately dies at Stardust's hands.

And in this scene, the Moon Priestess's secret is revealed.

She too was merely a victim exploited by the Celestial Moon Emperor.

"Cough Please... just kill me..."

Stardust, who could never even approach the magical storms she created, finally destroys all the debuff magic circles and reaches the eye of the storm.

And at the center was the Moon Priestess, controlled by the Celestial Moon Emperor.

Despite not wanting to harm people, she had been forced to commit acts of terrorism by the Celestial Moon Emperor. In the end, she begs Stardust to kill her, saying that only her death would end everything.

As a result, Stardust finally kills her, and the terrorist attack that half-destroyed Seoul comes to an end.

And when the Celestial Moon Emperor hears that the Moon Priestess has died, his response is:

"Is that so? Then I guess I won't be able to conquer areas beyond Seoul."

This was possible because he never treated the Moon Priestess as a person, but merely as a living weapon.

Anyway, this episode was one of the most criticized by fans.

Heroes were helplessly slaughtered while doing nothing, the Moon Priestess kept appearing not just once but five times endlessly, and even the ending was unsatisfying. Seoul was already destroyed, the Moon Priestess died pitifully, and the Moon Light Cult continued to exist unscathed. On top of that, the protagonist Stardust remained powerless throughout the episode and fell into depression at the end, making fans cough up blood from frustration.

Although it ended with a hopeful scene of Seoul being rebuilt, that was it.

It was an episode that brought tears throughout the reading.

At least the previous VK Corporation's giant weapon episode ended after a few issues, but this episode dragged on for over ten issues. For months, fans just watched Stardust getting beaten up. As a Stardust fan, it was a time of endless tears.

But now.

Things are different.

"Oppa, what are we going to do with these magic circles?"

"Let's leave them for now."

In the original story, the Association had to beg America to bring in American Exorcists to remove them.

But I have domestic cooperation.

Vine Witch. I'm counting on you...!!

After discovering the locations of the magic circles, which are crucial for dealing with the Moon Priestess, I felt relieved.

If I take care of this, I can avoid the depressing trigger for a while, right? Right?

And for that, the most important thing is to take the Moon Priestess myself if possible.

"..."

As someone who shed buckets of tears when she asked Stardust to kill her in the original story, this is only natural. She needs to find some happiness...!!

At least I have the divine healer Lee Ha-yul, so we can somewhat resolve the curse that the Celestial Moon Emperor placed on her.

***

As I made various preparations, time flew by quickly.

The preparations for the magic circles are almost complete. I've magically modified them to make myself an exception to all their functions. Is this what it means to be in cheat mode?

For now, I've only made myself the exception. Just in case.

Of course, during this time, all sorts of villains poured into Seoul, but they were all defeated in one hit.

Stardust has become much stronger than I expected, taking down any villain with a single blow.

While I didn't want to see Stardust struggle too much, I didn't expect this level of power.

...At this rate, he'll become numb as a hero.

He needs some edge, and watching Stardust turn into an overpowered protagonist makes me increasingly worried.

This won't do. There's no tension at all.

...Right. I guess next time...

With these thoughts, I spent time preparing, managing Stardust's fan cafe, and enjoying everyday life for the first time in a while.

Before I knew it, the day arrived.

"Study well."

"Yes, Da-in oppa."

"Ha-yul, did you pack everything? Nothing missing? Check your admission ticket again. And your ID. Did you bring a watch?"

"Yes, unnie. I packed everything."

Ha-yul went to take the college entrance exam.

...Honestly, I wondered what meaning a university has in this world, and we could just hack the exam scores, so why go through all this trouble? But Ha-yul wanted to accomplish something with her own hands, so I let her do as she wished.

The results were as expected. Slightly better than her usual performance. On the day the exam ended, we all gathered for a celebration party.

We spent time that was ordinary but precious, especially considering what the original world was like.

"Oppa. Are you comfortable?"

"Yeah. It's good."

"But your fans don't look very comfortable."

*

[Egostic<<<When is he coming??????]

I can't contain my anger anymore.

Looking at what's happening, he probably won't come even in the fourth quarter. Maybe next year.

How is an average terror cycle of 4.2 months acceptable?

I think we need to bring in Mangostick for weekly terror attacks.

=[Comments]=

[I agree]

[I support this...this person, to Congress~~!]

ㄴ[TOEIC 2 points]

[For real lol where's the weekly terror?]

[If this is reported to the police, everyone in this cafe will be arrested for national treason lol]

ㄴ[A gathering of domestic traitors lol]

[The real problem is that without terror attacks, all we talk about all day is Ice Mango vs Stardust...]

ㄴ[The truth is Ice Mango]

ㄴ[No, it's Stardust]

ㄴ[Team Stardust lol]

ㄴ[Is Team Ego-Electra all dead? Damn...]

ㄴ[What's Electra, you weeb]

ㄴ[Stop fighting in my comments, you jerks]

*

"...Seo-eun. Why are you looking at that? Please stop."

"No. I'll keep watching until there's talk about the genius hacker from Ego-Stream."

"...But that's not going to happen."

Seo-eun, you've never even shown your face on broadcast.

When I said that, Seo-eun's cheeks gradually puffed up.

"That's the problem! I've been by your side the longest, how does it make sense that people don't know about me?"

"Seo-eun... Being exposed to the public isn't always a good thing."

"Fine. I'm currently making... no, never mind. You'll see later."

After saying that, Seo-eun went down to the basement.

What is it? What are you making? I'm so anxious.

A few weeks later, she emerged from the basement with a refreshed face and never went back down there, which only increased my anxiety. What did she make?

Even when I asked, she only said she'd tell me after the Moon Light Cult situation was resolved. It's ominous...

Anyway, time passed, and the year changed.

The cool autumn had turned into winter, where you couldn't go out without thick clothes.

And soon.

The day of the Moon Light Cult's first terror attack approached.

"To the Director. On the day of the first snow, there will be a terrorist attack in downtown Seoul. Please prepare in advance and evacuate people.... There, this should work."

"Hey. Who writes letters these days?"

"Well, this isn't a letter, it's a secret message."

A secret message is only meaningful when sent anonymously.

If I write something like this and send it to the Association, they should be on alert, unless they think it's a prank.

Actually, using my name would make them believe it immediately, but wouldn't it be strange if I correctly predicted the date of the Moon Light Cult's attack? So I sent it this way. Later, they'll probably think it was an internal leak.

Anyway, I waited.

For the day of the first snow, when the Moon Light Cult's first terror attack would occur, as mentioned in the original story.

And finally.

It began to snow in Seoul.

Everyone celebrated the first snow of the season.

And that evening.

BOOM!

At last, the terror attack began.

***

[An unexplained phenomenon is currently occurring in the heart of Seoul! A giant pink tornado-like formation has taken over downtown Seoul, and despite the intervention of Stardust, Icicle, and even Shadow Walker, they are struggling to penetrate it!]

A rare nighttime terror attack that mobilized all of South Korea's heroes.

Usually, such attacks would be suppressed by Shadow Walker in one go, but this time, even with the other two heroes joining, they couldn't stop it at all.

"Oppa. There's chaos over there, shouldn't we go?"

"Hey. Didn't you figure out something about magic circles to stop that?"

Somewhere in a mountain valley, at the big house in Ego-Base.

While the TV covered the terror attack in Seoul, Seo-eun and Choi Se-hee looked at me lying on the sofa with incomprehension.

"Oh, that. I'm not stepping in this time."

I told them while still lying on the sofa.

Come to think of it, if I intervene from the first attack, the Moon Priestess won't have time to feel guilty.

So maybe I should let her wreak some havoc and step in on the second or third attack? Wouldn't that make it easier to persuade the Moon Priestess?

And...

"Stardust also needs to face an opponent that's difficult to handle, besides me."

With his current skills, Stardust can't defeat her anyway. Not with all the magic circle effects active.

So I decided to use this opportunity to develop not only Stardust's abilities but also his mental strength, just a little bit.

Lately, he's been defeating villains with a single punch, and at this rate, he might become complacent thinking it's "too easy."

Honestly, wasn't the last airplane terror attack the only time she had a hard time facing an opponent?

So. Since I've drastically reduced the elements that would cause extreme despair compared to the original story. Just this once.

"Ha-ru... Just once. No, twice, let's have you face an opponent you can't defeat."

It's adversity that builds a hero!

Just once... Be strong... Stardust!

"I'm sorry..."

But he should be able to endure it once.

I believe in our Stardust!

***

"No! Why aren't my darkness abilities working!!!"

"Haa, Shadow. Please, please be quiet. Huff... huff. Wow. This is bad. What should we do... Huh? Ha-ru, are you crying?"

"......."