Chapter 128 - Misunderstanding
# Republic of Korea is currently swept by Stardust fever. Real-time trends show #Stardust with no signs of disappearing...
[Record-breaking popularity... Stardust combat highlight video surpasses 10 million views in a short time... Makes it to the global popular video list.]
[Foreign media also focusing on this incident... An unprecedented event where day turned to night, ended by Korea's proud hero Stardust.]
[Unprecedented popularity among heroes of all time... Association's winning streak continues.]
"Hahahahaha!!!"
After the situation was resolved.
At the top floor of the Korean Hero Association.
There, the Director was beaming with joy.
"So, Stardust. Are you feeling better now?"
"Yes, Director."
"Great! That's our Stardust. This was really amazing! I was so shocked I thought the country was doomed! Hahahahaha!"
The Director continued laughing.
And watching his reaction, Shin Ha-ru felt uncomfortable.
'...Did I really defeat it?'
Yes.
The attack she had launched against that monster, spewing light, had an output that was surprising even to her now.
Probably the strongest attack among all the abilities she had demonstrated so far.
However.
Shin Ha-ru had never once thought that attack could defeat the creature.
She had only done it with the determination to land one final blow on the monster.
Her intuition told her that the creature wouldn't fall to such a simple, straightforward attack. Unless it had some kind of "weakness"...
Therefore.
Shin Ha-ru couldn't believe she had defeated it with such an attack.
And then.
"Stardust. Don't worry. I'll take responsibility and contact the International Association Headquarters to demand your immediate promotion to S-rank! Haha, an S-rank hero of the Hero Association! Hahaha!"
"....."
Watching the Director who firmly believed she had defeated it, she felt increasingly uncomfortable.
...Did I really defeat it?
Along with that doubt, came a hazy memory she saw before losing consciousness after the creature fell.
When she launched her attack, she definitely heard a bang- sound, like a gunshot.
And someone was clearly standing on the rooftop.
...And that someone was probably.
Just as Shin Ha-ru was thinking of someone, the Director's laughter filled the conference room again.
"Anyway, Stardust. I'll give you a bonus too, so get some good rest, okay? Go on a trip somewhere. I heard there's a warm sea on the east coast despite this weather, go somewhere like that and rest. You deserve a reward for your hard work. You're a national star now, hahaha!!!"
"Yes, Ha-ru. You worked hard, so rest. Hiccup. You really did something amazing, didn't you?"
Beside her, Icicle also smiled warmly with a flushed face and said that.
Shadow Walker, who had been lost in deep thought beside them, suddenly came to his senses and spoke.
"Hmm.... Um, ah? Oh, yes. Stardust. Your fight was truly magnificent. Get some rest now. You're the hero of Korea, aren't you? Icicle said she'll take care of everything else."
"Excuse me, hiccup. Ja-hyun? When did I say that?"
As the Director, followed by Icicle and Shadow Walker, all addressed her this way, Stardust's feelings now bordered on guilt.
...Yes. It's true that she fought to the end, risking her life.
But was she really the one who finished it?
The bang- sound, the shadow on the rooftop.
Someone who knew more than anyone else, who used a gun as their main weapon, seemed to wear a mask, and had always saved her in moments of crisis.
At the same time, the image of a man flashed through her mind, but she shook her head.
...That's too much speculation. Maybe I just misheard and missaw things because I was exhausted at the end. There's no evidence other than her intuition. Besides, he's a villain.
However.
Shin Ha-ru's intuition strongly insisted on one thing.
...That it wasn't something she could have defeated.
Someone else must have helped.
Probably, surely it was him...
"Haha! To think you defeated that monster single-handedly, Stardust. You really are..."
"Director."
Interrupting the excited Director.
Finally, Stardust, Shin Ha-ru, confessed.
"...No matter how I think about it, I don't think I was the one who defeated it."
The moment her words ended.
The atmosphere suddenly froze.
"...What did you say?"
As the Director's face hardened at her bombshell statement.
There were people even more surprised than him.
"......Hiccup."
".....!"
They were Icicle and Shadow Walker, who were now wearing pale expressions.
***
"What are you saying, Ha-ru? Of course you're the one who defeated it, hahaha, hiccup. Are you confused?"
The first to break the frozen atmosphere was Icicle.
Having already heard the full story from Da-in, she knew that he had secretly defeated the monster.
'...And because I timed it perfectly, Stardust will never, cough, know it was me. She'll be convinced she did it herself.'
'...Da-in. You said Ha-ru would never know!'
Recalling his confident words over the phone, Lee Seol-ah mentally blamed him while holding her throbbing head and continued speaking to Stardust.
"Who else could have defeated it there besides you? Ha-ru, are you having headaches after fainting and waking up?"
"No. I definitely saw it. Someone was on the rooftop. And I think that person was the one who defeated it."
"Stardust. That's not true."
"....Shadow Walker?"
At Shadow Walker's sudden interjection, Stardust expressed doubt.
Meeting her gaze, Shadow Walker quietly thought to himself.
'....Egostic. He definitely said he didn't want his identity revealed.'
He recalled the memory from the rooftop that day.
The man who adamantly refused to be known, who wanted to continue living in darkness as a villain.
And the man who kept coughing up blood, again and again.
From there, Shadow Walker formed a hypothesis.
'....Is he terminally ill?'
Why does that man choose to live as a villain rather than a hero, doing good deeds while willingly accepting the stigma of being a villain in the eyes of the world?
Why would someone who seemed to care about this world and its people more than anyone else do that?
...Could it be that he's terminally ill, and is preparing for people not to lose hope if he dies while active as a hero?
Since he has a predetermined day to leave... not getting attached. Quietly protecting the world from behind as a villain.
'....Sniff. Egostic. You truly are a real man.'
A dark hero protecting the world from the shadows... Egostic...
Having created an epic saga in his mind, Shadow Walker reached a conclusion.
Yes. For the sake of the true hero Egostic, I can at least do this much.
Don't worry, Egostic. Leave this to me.
Possessed by this conviction, Shadow Walker brazenly told Stardust again.
"I checked all around you just before you were about to defeat it. No one was near you. Of course, there was no one on any rooftop either."
"....That can't be."
"Trust me, Stardust. You know that even when my abilities are weakened in daylight, I can still notice that much."
"There was no one around you then. You're the one who defeated it."
"That's right, Ha-ru. Who else could have been there? Of course you defeated it. You must be seeing things because you're exhausted. Should I recommend a good resort?"
"......."
"...Hahaha! Yes, Stardust, you must be mistaken. I was really surprised for a moment. Well, I need to go explain to the reporters what kind of help our association provided, so I'll be off."
"Ah, Ha-ru. I need to go too. Sigh, these days all the corporations and politicians are trying to devour my company, hiccup. I need to come up with countermeasures... Ugh. It's really tiresome."
"...I'll be going too. Being awake during the day really makes me sleepy. ...By the way, Icicle, is that alcohol?"
"What? I need to drink this regularly these days or I'll go crazy, okay?"
"....You've been hiccupping all this time... That's... No, never mind. Do as you please."
As their voices gradually faded away.
Soon, only Stardust remained in the conference room.
"......"
In the place everyone had left.
Left alone, Stardust continued to mutter with a serious face.
".....But it wasn't me, it couldn't have been...."
A situation where everyone except her seemed to be in cahoots, telling her it was just a misunderstanding.
....A misunderstanding?
That's absurd, it doesn't make sense...
With everyone denying it, even she was becoming confused.
....Did I really just imagine it?
"....It really seemed like Egostic."
She admitted without realizing it.
...Yes, perhaps she had imagined it because she was too dependent on Egostic.
Wait. Dependent? Am I dependent on Egostic, a villain?
"......"
Whoosh.
Her face reddened without her realizing it, and she shook her head quickly to correct her thoughts.
That can't be. I'm just exhausted and imagined it.
...But no, it really seemed like Egostic. My intuition says so.
".....Am I delusional?"
No.
Still, it feels like Egostic was the one who defeated it.
She could only mutter words that no one would hear.
Yes.
....This time, I'll trust my intuition.
As she was thinking this, she suddenly came to her senses and looked around the empty conference room in bewilderment.
....Wait. Come to think of it, where did everyone go, leaving me alone?
And so Shin Ha-ru, sitting alone in the large empty office, dusted off her seat and left.
...They're all being too much.
***
[Telling the story of how my soul got sucked out]
So there I was, this corporate slave Mangbung getting torn apart at work as usual
When suddenly I hear this KRAWRARA~ sound from outside
So I rush out and holy shit, the day turns dark and monsters start popping up
Everyone's like AHHH! and scattering in all directions
Suddenly it's like someone grabbed my body and I couldn't move, then I'm floating in the air being pulled toward that monster;;
Then it feels like someone's pulling my hair? And at the same time
It feels like something's being squeezed out of my body like a popsicle
I've made a lot of all-in investments but I didn't know my soul would literally get sucked out lol wtf
Anyway, after getting extracted the feeling was super weird, like I was attached to the monster but feeling dreamy? I was vaguely conscious
So I'm like uhhh and then suddenly there's this yellow flash of light and I return to my body. If Stardust hadn't been there, I'd probably still be a soul? Shit's scary just thinking about it
What I realized today is that the afterlife definitely exists...
Sorry if this is all over the place
Conclusion: Decided to support EgoStar from today
=[Comments]=
[That conclusion came out of nowhere?]
[LMAO you had a rare experience in life]
[Looks like it was a good experience since you finally realized EgoStar.]
[EgoStar suddenly trending lol even though Egostic wasn't even involved]
ㄴ[Ah lol since both Mango and Stardust are good, combining them makes them twice as good lol]
*
"Ha, cough. That's funny, cough. COUGH!"
"Oppa! Are you okay?"
"Yeah, of course, cough. I'm fi— cough. COUGH!!!"
"Kyaaah! Ha-yul unni!!!"
"I'm coming right now!"
After all the events ended.
I, who had been unconscious the whole time, was still coughing up blood even after waking up.
Ha. Does it make sense to be dying just because I teleported a few times?
How are people with weak abilities supposed to live without feeling miserable...
"I really can't live because of you, oppa!"
"Seo-eun... I can barely live myself right now... Eun-wol, cough. Can you get me a new handkerchief over there?"
"Yes, yes!"
Ha.
I really need to retire soon or something.