Chapter 155 - Her Fury

Egostic.

A terrorist who causes all kinds of attacks, difficult to catch due to his specialized escape abilities, and has formed a faction by gathering villains.

The most dangerous individual in the Republic of Korea.

Moreover, his terror targets not just citizens but other villains as well, earning him support from those who favor extreme justice. Whether by coincidence or not, he never kills civilians, which has earned him fans among the general public, creating numerous problems. He also broadcasts, increasing his recognition.

In other words, although he hasn't done anything major so far.

If he sets his mind to it, he could blow up the Republic of Korea at any time—he's like a ticking time bomb.

With his hacking abilities that no one can estimate the limits of, an A-class villain presumed immortal, and two S-class villains under his command.

Yes. Egostic. He is a dangerous element that must be stopped by any means necessary. This is something that all prominent villain and terrorism experts in the Republic of Korea commonly point out. Unlike before, he has now become too threatening.

...And that's what the general public knows about Egostic.

Stardust, Shin Ha-ru, who has always fought against him.

She knows much more about him than the general public does.

Beyond the simple fact that Egostic possesses a biological weapon called Behemoth.

"..Next time, don't get involved."

Strangely, he seems to know about her civilian identity, yet never harms her and even shows concern.

"You complete me."

He encourages her to stop the terrorism he himself commits.

"This time, you owe me one."

...In the past, he even risked his life for her sake.

These are all stories the general public doesn't know.

Of course, they do know that Egostic considers Stardust his counterpart. After all, he began his villain debut by targeting Stardust, and through his actions during the train terrorism incident and how he usually only calls for Stardust.

However, only Stardust herself knows the deeper facts about him.

In other words, Egostic seems to think about Stardust much more deeply than what appears to the public.

But.

"....Ha. I'm seriously speechless."

Inside the association.

Stardust was grinding her teeth that day too.

All because of Egostic.

Egostic's potential and explicit dangers, and sometimes wondering if he's really as bad as he seems. It was nothing unusual for Shin Ha-ru to worry and think about Egostic.

'Smooch-.'

'Good job, honey.'

But this time, she was thinking about something different regarding Egostic.

"...Ha. I really can't believe this."

That night's incident.

The image of Mist with purple hair, being intimate with Egostic as if they were lovers.

Recalling how they even kissed in front of her at the end, she felt her hands unconsciously tightening.

"...Stay calm."

She couldn't break another desk.

She tried to calm her anger and relax her fists, but every time she recalled that scene, she felt a deep irritation.

...All this time, he's been saying things to me like I complete him and whatnot.

But it turns out he's been behind my back, kissing another woman, doing all sorts of things?

"Haah..."

Holding her throbbing head, she closed her eyes and sighed.

Actually, she wasn't sure why she was so angry. When she first saw them together doing... that kind of behavior, what she felt was... a sort of momentary mental freeze. She had never imagined Egostic would be like that with another woman, which made it even more shocking.

And after returning home in that dazed state, lying in bed and thinking about it, what emerged was anger. Just imagining that scene made her blood boil. It felt like something in her heart was cracking.

Why was she feeling this emotion? What business was it of hers what he did?

As Stardust briefly thought about it.

'Right. The fact that Egostic is so deeply involved with another S-class villain is a major issue and potential threat, isn't it?'

That's how she justified it to herself.

Yes. There's nothing strange about her being angry at him. Rather, it's natural for a hero. Again, there's absolutely nothing strange about it.

After repeating this to herself like a self-hypnosis, she began to consider countermeasures.

So what should she do?

Obviously, she needs to separate them.

"...Right. Egostic, that dangerous bastard."

Terrorist and leader of a villain organization, Egostic.

Indeed, she needs to quickly capture him and lock him up in a detention center.

After confining him there, if she visits him over several days to persuade him, maybe she could rehabilitate him?

First, capture and confine him...

As she continued these thoughts that would make Egostic's skin crawl if he heard them.

"Huh?"

At a timing she never expected.

Egostic's broadcast turned on.

A suddenly started live stream.

And.

In the video, he grinned and unexpectedly said something she never thought of.

[Mist and I are nothing to each other!]

"...?"

She had been preparing to rush out upon seeing his broadcast, but at his sudden statement, she momentarily stopped and turned around.

[She's just my colleague, so I hope there's no misunderstanding. It was just Mist playing a prank.]

The image of Egostic confidently smiling on the screen.

As she paused changing her clothes and briefly looked at him, Stardust realized.

It's the truth.

Even by her intuition, that wasn't a lie.

Although her trust in her intuition had decreased after the recent series of events, she had to admit it this time. That was indeed the truth.

"....Hmm, why is he saying such things."

In hindsight, Stardust actually knew. Yes. Egostic wouldn't be like that.

Thinking this, she unconsciously had a relaxed expression.

After Egostic's video ended, she muttered.

"...Hunting villains?"

Somehow, it felt like a phrase she hadn't heard in quite a while.

...Right. Come to think of it, she first learned about Egostic when he hunted villains and wrote his name in blood.

Recalling the events from a few years ago, she finished preparing to leave.

She had to stop him first.

"Ms. Stardust. Since we can't track Egostic's location right now, please wait for now."

...And as she was about to leave, she was stopped by an association employee.

***

Several hours later.

Someone fired a flare on a mountain, and when they went to check, they found a suspicious cave.

Association agents and Stardust were dispatched there.

Back to the present.

"...."

Inside what appeared to be a suspiciously large laboratory connected to the cave.

After seeing a coldly collapsed man and the message Egostic had left for her.

Stardust moved on to examine the surroundings.

"Yes, Director. As you can see, a significant number of weapons are confirmed. They all seem to be in operational condition."

[Hahaha! So now all these latest weapons are ours? Wow, this is a gold mine! Gather them all immediately!]

"Understood!"

Glancing at the association employee having a video call with the Director, she picked up one of the weapons on the table.

A clearly state-of-the-art weapon. After putting it back down, she looked around and her expression hardened.

Weapons, weapons. Weapons scattered everywhere.

Unlike the Director who was simply happy that these were now theirs, Stardust felt the gravity of the situation.

...So there were this many lethal weapons in the heart of Seoul?

And no one except Egostic knew about this.

As Stardust continued to feel uneasy, her concern grew even more as she listened to an employee's explanation in another underground area.

"...It seems the culprit was planning to kidnap people and turn them into machines. In other words, modifications. According to his plan, at least thousands of people in Seoul would have died from the explosives and weapons he developed. We'll need to investigate further, but judging by the detailed execution plan, it seems highly feasible..."

"...."

At the agent's words, Stardust's expression naturally hardened.

...At least thousands of deaths?

As she explored this weapon storage cave and understood more.

That thought became stronger and stronger.

...While such a large-scale terrorist attack was being planned under Seoul, the association knew nothing about it.

Could this be the only one?

With a troubled mind, she returned to the room where the villain had collapsed.

The body had already been removed, leaving only bloodstains.

Stardust blankly stared at the message Egostic had left.

...In the past, she would have been filled with rage at Egostic who acted like justice while killing others as he pleased.

But now... she wasn't sure. Was he really wrong?

If he hadn't done this, thousands might have died.

To you, Stardust.

"Ha..."

Even in this situation, you left a message for me.

What does this mean?

Is he asking me whether killing a villain who was planning to kill thousands was really wrong?

Or is he saying that stopping the villain's terrorism is a gift to her?

After staring blankly at it, Stardust, Shin Ha-ru, finally reached a conclusion.

...After all, none of that matters.

Egostic. She needs to focus all her efforts on capturing him.

Though it seemed like a sudden conclusion, she had her reasons.

He's an incredibly dangerous individual, so it's only right to capture him.

Plus, the meaning of this message. How he knew the villain's location, why he commits terrorism. She needs to find out all of this.

...And also to prevent Egostic from playing around with... no, colluding with other women.

Stardust reaffirmed.

Now is really the time to do everything possible, by any means necessary, to capture Egostic.

***

"Da-in oppa. But why did you write that message to Stardust at the end? Does it have any meaning?"

"Huh?"

On the way home.

To Eun-wol who asked me, I answered as if it was obvious.

"No particular reason?"

"...What?"

"No. I used to leave such messages when assassinating other villains to draw Stardust's attention. I just remembered that and did it again. It's fundamental."

"Ah..."

Leaving Eun-wol with an ambiguous expression, I was contemplating something more serious.

...I clearly felt uneasy so I even clarified the dating rumor.

But somehow that uneasy feeling still hasn't gone away.

What is this?

This ominous feeling that things are going to get tougher from now on.