Chapter 127 - Let There Be Light

# Dark City

In a dark corner of the city, a woman was hiding, crouched against a wall and trembling uncontrollably.

'No... fuck. Where the hell did that monster come from....'

SCREEEEEECH!!!

"Eeeek!"

The woman, who had screamed without meaning to, quickly covered her mouth.

While working at her company, disaster had struck suddenly.

The bright day had suddenly darkened, and the city turned gray in an instant.

That monster had suddenly appeared in the middle of downtown.

When everyone screamed at its hideous appearance, it raised its hand.

People nearby were pulled toward it as if by an invisible force, flying through the air.

Then, after one final scream, they all became cold corpses.

'....It's all over now.'

The woman continued trembling as she thought.

That monster with the most horrifying appearance she'd ever seen in her life.

If that monster raised its hand again, she could be next.

Just like her assistant manager who now lay as a cold corpse right beside her.

BOOM.

BOOM.

Of course, that monster wasn't the only thing in this dark city.

Heroes had rushed to the scene immediately after this disaster began.

At first, people had hoped the heroes would resolve the situation, but...

'....They were wrong.'

BOOOOM.

Another sound of destruction.

The trembling woman turned her head to look behind her.

And around that corner...

SCREEEEEECH!

-Sob...

She saw a hero with flowing blonde hair being overwhelmingly pushed back.

Far from defeating the monster, the heroine was struggling just to block its attacks.

Meanwhile, countless people continued to be dragged from various alleys by the monster, screaming before having their life force drained and collapsing lifelessly to the ground. Becoming cold corpses.

'....Soon it will be my turn too.'

She had already resigned herself to her fate.

It seemed like other heroes were conducting rescue operations, but they showed no signs of coming her way.

Ha, if she'd known she was going to die like this, she would have slapped that condescending manager at least once before dying.

....Was that manager even dead now?

No, that tenacious human might still be alive.

As she was thinking this while now openly watching the battle, she noticed a man standing to one side, holding a phone.

'....What is that guy doing over there?'

Squinting her eyes to see more clearly, she realized he was holding his phone horizontally, seemingly... recording the battle scene.

'....Ha. Things have really gone crazy.'

Ignoring the man who was either livestreaming to YouTube or doing who-knows-what until his final moments, she turned back to watch the battle.

The hero was still being overwhelmingly pushed back.

Her name was... Stardust? Stardust was still fighting back, but even to an ordinary person like her, it was obvious that the hero was losing strength with each passing moment.

Looking at it again, it didn't seem like Stardust would win.

However...

'...Still, she's fighting with everything she has.'

She thought bitterly.

Though this is how things are now, how much longer could she hold out?

Probably soon, she herself would also...

-Help me! Aaaaaahhh!

Once again, people were being pulled through the air.

They clutched at their throats in agony before something white was extracted from their bodies, and they collapsed lifelessly to the ground.

As she watched this scene with lifeless eyes, peeking her head out slightly...

-Thud.

Her eyes met with the monster's.

".......Ah."

She quickly turned her head back and hid behind the wall again.

With her body trembling and her heart pounding, she held her breath behind the wall.

And she realized without even thinking about it.

Now it's my turn.

Looking again at the cold corpse lying next to her, her terror intensified.

Even her teeth were chattering.

Though she had resigned herself to her fate just moments ago, now that death was at her doorstep, she suddenly found herself desperately clinging to life.

'Please.... Stardust... please....'

Peeking her head out again, she began to pray toward Stardust.

Please. PLEASE! Send a miracle, Stardust. Can't you just defeat that thing once? Please.

But Stardust was still being pushed back just like before.

Now she was crashing into buildings and causing chaos.

The monster raised its hand again and charged toward Stardust.

As she watched the battle scene from behind the wall, peeking her head out...

'Oh, no...'

In that moment, the woman felt as if someone had grabbed her body tightly.

As she too was about to have her soul drained like the others.

As she was being pulled toward the monster, screaming in despair...

"AAAAAAAH-!"

A woman's battle cry rang out.

And simultaneously.

At the spot where Stardust and the monster were.

As Stardust swung her fist,

FLASH-

A blinding light flashed from the center.

And finally, as that light shot toward the monster.

BOOOOOM.

CRASH-

A sound louder than any heard before echoed through the area.

Wind strong enough to blow them away swirled around.

The entire city momentarily shone with a massive yellow light, as if a nuclear bomb had exploded at its center.

-RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE.

SCREEEEEEEECH!!!!

".......Aack!"

The woman screamed involuntarily at the intense light and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, what she saw was:

SCREEEE... AAAAAAAAAAH!!!

The monster, floating in the air, howling in pain.

Purple light bursting from between the cracks in its body.

And with the monster's final death throes.

-Whoosh

BOOOOOOM-

With a searing white light, the monster

BANG.

Exploded.

"Eek!"

The woman's body, which had been suspended in the air, fell to the ground.

As she momentarily rubbed her sore backside in pain.

"Ughhhh..."

"Huh? Assistant Manager?"

To the man lying next to her as a cold corpse.

Something white, like a soul, entered him.

He regained his color and began to groan.

Watching this scene, she said:

"Did Stardust... actually de-defeat it?"

She stammered without realizing it.

Soon, people who had been lying as corpses on the ground began to regain consciousness one by one.

The woman, who had staggered up from behind the collapsed wall, not caring about her dirty suit, along with everyone else who regained consciousness at that moment, saw:

The dark sky clearing from the center of the city as the sun rose again.

And at the center, being the first to receive the bright light, still floating in the air with her fist clenched.

Stardust, with only her blonde hair flowing.

Looking at Stardust's silhouette against the rising sun's backlight.

The woman unconsciously murmured:

"....A hero."

So that's what a hero is.

After defeating a monster that seemed unbeatable to anyone else, Stardust floated alone, shining, and her appearance was truly heroic.

And all those who saw her.

Without even realizing it.

Were just staring blankly at Stardust.

Just staring blankly, watching.

The shining figure of the one who saved us all.

The figure of a hero.

And from that day on.

As the video capturing Stardust's battle from beginning to end spread across the country.

Stardust's popularity began to explode.

***

With the darkness gone and the sky bright again.

From the rooftop at the center, I laughed.

"Haha, fuck. Pathetic bastard. One shot, cough. And it's over, right?"

Pressing silver bullets tightly into what might as well have been a bazooka and firing it at the monster, it died with a "screech!" without making another sound.

Since I fired at the exact moment Stardust launched her Star-Punch with that flash of light, anyone watching would think Stardust defeated it. Haru will probably think she defeated it herself!

With such an intense flash of light like a nuclear bomb hit and the monster falling, even I thought for a moment that Stardust had defeated it directly.

Of course, regardless of how strong Haru's Star Punch is, that thing can only be killed with silver attacks, so it wouldn't have been possible, but still.

But it's not bad that she awakened her semi-finishing move, the Star Punch, much earlier than in the original work because of this opportunity.

Under the brightened sky again, Stardust, who had floated briefly after defeating the monster, used up all her strength and collapsed. Leaving her behind, I now started to worry about myself. Stardust will wake up again once her fatigue is gone... now I'm the problem.

"Phew... now how do I get... cough. Home... cough. COUGH."

Ah, fuck.

I coughed up blood again.

It seems that after teleporting this long distance in an exaggerated way, now that the tension has eased, the aftereffects are hitting me.

After coughing up a bucketful of blood on the building's exterior wall, I wiped the blood flowing from my mouth and started gathering my sniper rifle to prepare to go home.

Ha, how am I going to get back?

I also need to explain the situation to Lee Seol-ah who must be very worried... so much to do.

As I was thinking this while gathering my rifle and about to turn around...

"So it was you after all."

At the voice behind me, I froze.

When I turned my head again, what was in front of me was:

"....Shadow Walker?"

It was Shadow Walker with his black hair and heavy dark circles under his eyes.

Though his eyes looked exhausted, his lips were slightly curved upward.

...No, fuck. Why is he here?

While I was stunned by this sudden encounter, he wiped his nose and said to me:

"No need to be so surprised. I knew everything from beginning to end."

"....What?"

"I've already noticed that you're a hero pretending to be a villain. Seeing this now, you're the one who eliminated that thing too, right?"

He's just rambling in front of me. No, so where did he come from, and what is he talking about?

As I just rolled my eyes, he seemed to make some judgment on his own and wiped under his nose again before speaking:

"Anyway... I'll speak on behalf of the heroes. Egostic. I express my gratitude to you on their behalf. Egostic."

Then he gave me a thumbs up and said:

"You are a true man... recognized by me!"

....What is this guy?

"Um... thanks?"

I just gave him that one response as he was singing his own praises.

...Anyway, since Shadow Walker was someone I was planning to recruit, it's good if he thinks well of me.

Though I don't really understand what's going on.

But I should say this.

I added to him as he was still giving me a thumbs up:

"Oh, and. Could you not tell anyone else about what I did?"

"Hmph. Who do you take me for? I understand you have your reasons for doing this. I'll definitely keep your secret."

Yeah. Thanks.

So, could you please leave now?

I feel like I'm losing my mind.

"Yeah, thanks. Now I need to go too, cough."

Ah, shit.

I ended up coughing up blood in front of him.

Seeing blood suddenly spurt from my mouth, his expression hardened.

".....Hey, you. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, cough. Can you go now?"

Ah. Come to think of it, I've been so flustered that I forgot to maintain my formal speech concept.

Anyway, as I waved my hand asking him to leave, he moved his feet while still maintaining his hardened expression.

"...You, um.... No, well. Um.... Alright, I'll go first."

After stammering to himself like that, he trudged over to the rooftop door and went down.

I wondered why he wasn't using shadow movement, but then I realized it's not night anymore.

As I blankly watched his retreating back, I grabbed my head and sighed.

Yeah... somehow managed to solve this surprise event.

Ah. Now how do I get home?

No choice. Though it's risky in this physical state, I'll have to teleport. Let's not take any other risks.

...If I collapse, Ha-yul will treat me, so it should be fine, right? Surely I won't die on the way.

Having made that decision, I attempted another long-distance teleport.

Life is tough.

****

[Yes! This is the footage that just came in from the scene! Stardust finally defeats that monster! Stardust has saved everyone! Let's take a moment to thank Stardust once again for showing us what a true hero looks like. Hooray for Stardust! Hooray for Stardust! Hooray for Stardust!!!]

[Anchor Kim Tae-won, get down from the desk right now! Who climbs up there during a live broadcast! Cut the feed. Cut the feed!]

After that day's incident.

A Stardust fever swept across the Republic of Korea.

A level of fervent support that no hero in the nation's history had ever experienced.

Stardust, who fought to the end for citizens plunged into despair, and finally defeated the monster with a flash of light, bringing salvation to everyone. The public's perception of her was nothing short of a national hero.

And amid the public's passionate love and attention.

Stardust, Shin Ha-ru, who stood at the center of it all...

'....I'm sure at that time, someone on the rooftop...'

Regardless of her popularity, she was trying hard to recall what she had seen just before collapsing from exhaustion.

I'm sure I heard a gunshot sound and saw someone wearing a mask...

Did I mishear? No, I didn't...