Chapter 178 - Explanation

Empty space.

White light filling that space.

A voice echoing in that strange place.

Child... only you... can...

Please.

Please... this world...

...I'm sorry.

And with those faint final words,

My vision changed again.

A sky stained red.

Devastated streets.

Collapsed buildings.

'...bro...brother!... Wake...up...! Quickly... sister... try...'

'...I can't... I can't... nothing... with my... power....'

And noises coming from somewhere.

Then.

'Cough... I'm... sorry....'

'...third... line... must... even without me... please...'

Mumbling, and sobbing heard again.

'Don't... die... you're not... dying... right?... sob... sob....'

'.......'

'....sorry...'

'No.... can't... give up... can't... let... go....'

Tearing noises coming from all directions, piercing my ears.

Something howling, the sky brightening simultaneously, surroundings darkening.

And then.

Screeeeeeech.

"Huh! Hah, hah."

With that final tearing noise, I woke up from my sleep.

The first thing I felt was my body soaked in sweat.

Damn, seems like I had another weird dream.

As I was holding my throbbing head, a loud voice came from somewhere.

"Brother!"

"Ugh."

Suddenly feeling weight beside me.

I managed to open my eyes while still clutching my head.

"Haa... haa. Da-in, you're finally awake."

And across from me, I saw Ha-yul with her hand on my stomach, forcing a smile.

"Sob... brother..."

"Oh Seo-eun, I'm fine now. Why are you crying again?"

"Sniff, if, if only I had made it a little better, this wouldn't have happened..."

Seo-eun suddenly started crying.

When news of my awakening spread, everyone gathered around, and the room quickly became crowded.

Only after confirming I was awake did everyone feel relieved. After things calmed down and I finally managed to comfort Seo-eun.

When I got up, I realized I was completely fine except for being a bit hungry, but I was shocked to hear Su-bin's story.

"What? I've been unconscious for 5 days already?"

"That's right. Da-in, do you know how worried everyone was?"

With slightly reddened eyes, Su-bin unusually raised her voice as she explained what had happened.

While Stardust and I were fighting fiercely, they watched worriedly as the battle continued without any special instructions from me. Then at an unexpected moment, I suddenly got hit by Stardust's finishing move and was shattered, which shocked them so much that they rushed over immediately.

Su-bin explained that Eun-wol flew at the speed of light and rescued me just in time, otherwise it would have been really bad. I was brought in unconscious and covered in blood, with shattered bones and ruptured internal organs. Ha-yul had to use all her strength to barely heal me.

The treatment went well, but the problem was that I still didn't wake up. She said everyone kept watch over me with sleepless eyes.

"...Brother, from now on you can't go anywhere alone. If you want to go somewhere, go with us. Understood?"

Seo-eun held onto me with puffy eyes as she said that.

And unusually, Seo Ja-young, who was sitting blankly beside me, chimed in.

"That's right... Seo-eun is right. You're too reckless with your body."

She said while poking my arm with her finger. Choi Se-hee, who was sitting nearby, nodded in agreement with a concerned look.

So I had no choice but to promise from my sickbed that I wouldn't be reckless with my body anymore. Though it feels like I've made this promise several times already...

Anyway, after recovering a bit more and having some porridge, I sent everyone away and rested. Then I asked Su-bin about the reaction to my surprise attack. Even though I was pathetically defeated at the end, I still fought Stardust on equal terms, so there must have been some positive reaction, right?

I casually asked Su-bin about it.

Her answer to my question was shocking.

"What? There are rumors that Egostic is dead?"

I couldn't hide my bewilderment as I asked.

Why would such ridiculous rumors...

Seeing my reaction, Seo-eun, who was sitting next to me, narrowed her eyes and said while tapping on her phone.

"Of course, brother. Your injury was caught on the broadcast station's camera, so wouldn't everyone think that? Look."

Seo-eun showed me her phone screen. It displayed an article.

[A-class villain Egostic severely injured... Ego-stream 'no comment'. Netizens speculate death...]

Below that sensational headline was a photo.

It was taken from far away and zoomed in, so the quality was poor, but my figure and the pool of blood were clearly visible.

"It's chaos right now, brother. People are saying you might be dead."

"Come on... would I die that easily? Why is everyone like this?"

"You almost died for real this time! Sigh... anyway, it's all over the news."

"...Really?"

Seo-eun showed me a few more things. Like how "Egostic's death" was trending in real-time, or how the video of Stardust and me fighting was still #1 on YouTube's trending videos in Korea. It was just ridiculous.

....This is serious.

I was shocked. I mean, villains can get hurt during terrorist acts. Why would that lead to speculation about death? It's common sense that no matter how badly injured a villain gets, they escape and reappear completely healed later, right? At least that's how it was in all the hero stories I've seen.

Anyway, I found my phone and quickly searched for public opinion. There were indeed quite a few rumors circulating that Egostic had died. Even the Egostic fan cafe was in flames.

And I took this matter quite seriously.

...A villain dies after getting beaten while playing with his alter ego? This is too much of an image loss...

More importantly, if people seriously start believing I'm dead, new villains might emerge. Claiming to be the second Egostic. The villain scene is all about recognition. It's hard to gain popularity, and rumors of my death create the perfect opportunity to grab attention. Who knows what might happen during my absence. Especially considering I'm the most influential villain in Korea.

...And though I doubt it, it would be problematic if Stardust believed this too. Until she becomes strong enough, she needs to see me as her main enemy, as a goal to become stronger, but what would happen if I suddenly died?

Looking at the Korean citizens showing collective abnormal symptoms over rumors of the country's #1 villain's death, I made a decision.

"This won't do. Let's broadcast right now."

"...Broadcast? Now?"

"Yes. Just a broadcast to let everyone know I'm alive. This is getting out of hand."

I made my decision.

To quickly end this unexpected controversy.

I mean, this incident was nothing special. It was just a preview of the main event to come, so why all this fuss?

...Of course, after convincing Su-bin, who was glaring at me asking what broadcast I could do in this condition, that I would just sit in a chair and talk.

I turned on the camera and started broadcasting.

Alright, the joke ends here.

I'm perfectly fine, you fools.

***

After the first report of Egostic's alleged death.

South Korea was literally burning over rumors of a single villain's death.

Online communities were in chaos, with Egostic's fan cafe Team Mango and Stardust's fan cafe facing off against each other.

Additionally, experts warned that if Egostic's death was true, other villains suppressed by him might flood in, and foreign villains might invade Korea, causing ordinary citizens to take this matter seriously. There were also concerns about what would happen if Ego-stream went berserk after losing their leader.

And just when something seemed about to explode.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Egostic's broadcast turned on.

[Hello everyone, this is Egostic!]

A broadcast that turned on completely unexpectedly.

On the screen was Egostic, looking perfectly fine, lazily sitting in a chair and talking.

The content was that he had tried to play a prank but failed, and promised to win next time without such incidents.

And after saying just that, with a final "The terror continues!" the broadcast simply turned off.

A broadcast that turned on suddenly and ended suddenly, lasting only a few minutes.

However, its impact was tremendous.

[[Breaking] Egostic reported alive... appears to be in good health]

[Egostic's death revealed to be a false rumor...]

[Egostic: 'Will work harder on terrorism in the future.' Netizens relieved.]

Countless articles began pouring in just minutes after the broadcast ended.

And so, in just a few hours, the Egostic death rumor incident ended cleanly as a simple misunderstanding.

*

[Like if you never once thought Egostic was dead lolololol]

Yeah, as if our Mangostick would fall so pathetically lolololol

Like if you never doubted it lolololol

[Likes] 3884

=[Comments]=

[Like lolololol]

[Look at how fast the likes are increasing lol. Wasn't this the place where people were asking yesterday what if Mango really died? My heart feels petty...]

ㄴ[Ah lol I was just saying that lol]

[Like if you felt really relieved after seeing this broadcast lolololol]

ㄴ[For real lol]

ㄴ[Just smiled as soon as I saw Mangostick's face lol]

ㄴ[Seriously, life would be boring without Mango, absolutely not. Half the meaning of life would be gone]

[What's with being happy that a villain is alive rather than dead lolololol]

ㄴ[? This incident was about an A-class hero challenging an S-class hero, what are you talking about?????]

ㄴ[Is this person a troublemaker from the Stardust cafe??]

ㄴ[Go!!!!!!! Faith is!!!]

*

As South Korea quickly regained stability as if nothing had happened.

"....Ah."

In a dark room, Shin Ha-ru, sitting alone on her bed, unconsciously dropped her phone after seeing the news article.

...Thank goodness.

"Thank goodness, thank goodness..."

She unconsciously muttered with a slightly wet voice.

A hero feeling relieved that a villain was alive was something she could never have imagined before.

But now. She didn't have the mental capacity to think about that.

...I'm glad he didn't fall.

That was the only thought she had.