Chapter 228 - Annihilation
"Damn it! Damn it!!!"
In an underground base somewhere without light,
The headquarters of Shinetia, an organization pursuing knowledge.
The place was currently in chaos.
"Damn it! You said it was accurate information! That it was Kim Cheol-woo! It's not him! What are we going to do now?!"
"B-Boss! What should we do? Egostic has declared war on us! Y-You know how terrifying he is!"
"No! We're all going to die at this rate!"
After confidently broadcasting that Egostic's identity was Kim Cheol-woo,
Egostic himself immediately appeared to refute it, and thanks to his warning, the organization Shinetia was on the verge of complete destruction.
"Damn it... How did this happen?"
The leader of the organization, the boss of Shinetia,
Was currently holding his head in agony at the table.
"Didn't that woman say it was reliable information? Contact her quickly!"
"B-Boss! She's not answering. It seems she's cut ties and fled!"
Hearing his trembling subordinate's words, he clutched his head.
'...She always gave 100% accurate information so I trusted her, damn it. Of all things, she had to spread this kind of false information!'
Though he now regretted trusting her words enough to pound the ground, it was too late for regrets to change anything.
And honestly, he too had been convinced through cross-verification that Kim Cheol-woo was Egostic.
"Damn it! Are you saying it's all coincidence that Kim Cheol-woo disappeared home during Egostic's terror times and was often nowhere to be seen?"
...Had he acted too hastily in trying to bring the underground information organization Shinetia into the light? Should he have investigated more thoroughly?
It was too late for regrets now.
"Boss! What do we do now?"
As his subordinates asked anxiously,
After contemplating, he finally let go of his head and spoke while trying to maintain his composure.
"...Don't panic too much. Egostic doesn't know our location anyway. It would take him ages to find out. So..."
"B-B-Boss!! Something terrible is happening! The floor, the floor!"
"What is... oh shit."
Just as he was trying to control the people at the scene.
Ziiing-
In real time.
Suddenly, an ominous glowing purple magic circle was being drawn on one side of the underground floor.
Seeing the faintly glowing magic circle being completed in the dark basement, he instinctively realized.
That he was fucked.
"...Everyone, FIRE!!!!!!"
And so.
With his scream-like shout, everyone nearby pulled out their guns and fired at the floor where the magic circle was.
Dudududududududu-
Countless bullets raining down on the floor.
But regardless, the magic circle was already complete.
The moment the circle's line was finally connected.
Pung.
Above the magic circle, pink smoke formed.
And then, suddenly three silhouettes appeared.
"Se-hee unnie, Ja-young unnie. We've arrived."
A girl with black hair wearing priestess clothes, kneeling on the floor where the magic circle was.
Behind her stood two figures.
"So... this is the place that spread fake news about our Ego?"
A woman with orange hair, sparks flying from her body, looking ahead with a fierce gaze while cracking her knuckles.
"Yawn... Yeah. Let's get this over with quickly."
A purple-haired woman who looked sleepy, yawning with her hands in her hood.
Seeing the two who had suddenly teleported into the basement, the man spoke frantically.
"Shoot! Shoot!!!"
"Aaaaaaah!"
Ting. Ting ting ting ting.
So a shower of countless bullets rained down on where they were.
But they simply covered themselves with a pink barrier, easily blocking everything.
"Well... shall we start now?"
"Yeah. Hey, want to bet on who takes down more?"
"Sure. I'll win anyway."
Choi Se-hee and Seo Ja-young, known to the public as Electra and Mist of the Ego-stream, chatted and joked around before slowly starting to walk toward where the bullets were coming from.
One with numerous yellow lightning sparks flying from her hands in the darkness.
The other with quiet purple flames burning in the air.
"Aaaaaaah!!!"
Thanks to the Moon Priestess's barrier, the bullets bounced off as they slowly approached through the darkness.
Seeing this terrifying sight, some who had been firing their guns finally turned their backs and fled.
"Where do you think you're going?"
With crimson eyes flashing in the dark basement, Electra's body disappeared like lightning in an instant.
Kwagwagwagwang-
Lightning struck underground, and purple flames blazed.
And so, the collapse of Shinetia began.
***
[Hey. We've finished dealing with this side. We've knocked them all out, what now?]
"Ah. I'll notify the Association separately, so just leave them as they are. Is everyone uninjured?"
[Ha. As if they could hurt us? We handled it cleanly, so don't worry.]
"Good, thanks. Come back safely."
After finishing the call from Choi Se-hee, I took a breath.
Good. We quickly crushed those guys who claimed to have discovered Egostic's identity and caused all that commotion.
The moment they hijacked the broadcast, Seo-eun immediately manipulated something and discovered their headquarters. They supposedly used all kinds of detours and manipulations to prevent being found, but all that was useless against Seo-eun.
Combined with Lee Seol-ah's support, we were able to quickly assess their strength.
And the result was the now-destroyed Shinetia, which was taken down right after I met Kim Cheol-woo and was heading back.
This should serve as a warning to other villains about what happens when they mess with me.
"Sigh... Can I consider this commotion settled now?"
In the car on the way home.
When I muttered that, Seo-eun, who heard me, answered while typing on her laptop.
"Yes. But still... we resolved everything in just one day. Without even involving Stardust, we just took down that villain organization and that was it. I'd say we navigated this crisis quite smoothly, right?"
"Yeah... Phew. I've experienced all sorts of things in my life."
I leaned back in my seat and replied.
Let's get home and rest properly. Rest properly...
***
*
[Unlucky Egostic... Current situation at Kim Cheol-woo's bakery...jpg]
(Photo of people lined up in front of the bakery)
Business is booming lolololol
Cheol-woo, you deserve happiness now~~~~
=[Comments]=
[Lolololol it's a happy ending lol]
[His personal information was exposed overnight and he almost got dragged to an Association detention center, but things worked out well lol]
ㄴ[Honestly, if Egostic hadn't shown up that day, it would have been bad lol]
[The bread they're selling is even funnier, they're sticking mangoes in baguettes and selling them as "Mangostick" lol and it's limited edition lololol]
ㄴ[Lolololololol]
ㄴ[Ah, how could he pass up a free collaboration opportunity~]
ㄴ[Cheol-woo is really rowing hard while the tide is high lol]
*
A few days after the Kim Cheol-woo incident.
The once heated commotion quickly settled down. Everyone seemed to consider it a simple happening.
However, people were amazed at the prowess of Ego-stream, which instantly found and dealt with the villain organization Shinetia that had tried to expose his identity.
*
[Funny fact) Stardust was also at the Kim Cheol-woo incident scene lololol]
(Video)
As you can see, around the 50-second mark, Egostic suddenly says he's going to drop Kim Cheol-woo because he's aware of Stardust?
So when Stardust didn't move and just stood still, he didn't even make eye contact and just left lolol
Star-Mango ship sunk lololol Isn't this proof that Egostic has no interest in Stardust?
=[Comments]=
[Student, take this down^^]
[Sigh... Mangostick fans attack Stardust every chance they get, is this the weight of jealousy?]
[But I don't understand either lolol With Mangostick's personality, I thought he would definitely acknowledge Stardust and say a few words before leaving, but he didn't say a single word till the end lol]
ㄴ[Did they fight?]
ㄴ[They might have fought off-camera, couple's quarrel lol]
ㄴ[You crazy people lolol They're a hero and villain, of course fighting is normal lol]
ㄴ[In love... there are no barriers!]
[.....Sigh. Seeing this makes me angry again.]
[This was also discussed in Stardust's fan cafe lol They were wondering if Stardust's mental state was affected]
ㄴ[Do they talk about Star-Mango there too?]
ㄴ[They're Stardust fans so they analyze Stardust's psychology among themselves and have already concluded that Stardust likes Egostic lololol The cafe manager quickly cuts off those kinds of posts so it's not obvious]
ㄴ[Gasp, so all Star-Mango fans were Stardust spies all along, I knew it]
ㄴ[Wait, what's the conclusion lol]
[Like if you're disappointed in Stardust lolol]
*
...Of course, there were still people saying strange things.
"Hey Seo-eun, what are you looking at?"
At home.
While resting, I asked Seo-eun who was reading my fan cafe on a large tablet next to me, curious about what she was looking at.
...People were making up ridiculous rumors just because I didn't make eye contact with Stardust.
Seeing my incredulous expression, Seo-eun asked with an innocent face.
"What? Is there something strange?"
"It's all nonsense from the beginning."
I said firmly.
Why would Stardust be disappointed in the first place? She'd probably be happy that I didn't cause trouble.
After I explained that, Seo-eun smiled brightly and said:
"Then keep ignoring Stardust whenever you meet her!"
"...No. That's a bit..."
That's too much.
After all, I'm doing all this for Stardust, how could I do that?
'...Maybe after I retire.'
That's all I could think.