Chapter 257 - It Wasn't

"Haah..."

After capturing the strange creature called the 'Knight of God' with Egostic, Stardust had been lost in deep contemplation for quite some time.

"What was that... really..."

There were too many questions to count.

Why was there an Egyptian-style ruin sleeping beneath Gyeonggi Province? What was the deal with that powerful enemy?

And above all, how did Egostic know about it?

"Hmmmm."

...Of course, her contemplation wasn't yielding any definitive answers.

She even went back to where the ruins had been, but there was nothing there. The place had definitely collapsed, so there should have been at least some debris remaining.

Obviously, the easiest way to solve this mysterious secret would be to ask Egostic directly, but...

'...Later, I'll tell you everything.'

Well... when exactly would "later" be?

One thing she was certain about from just hearing his voice was that Egostic had hesitated greatly when saying those words. More precisely, she felt that he was extremely uncomfortable about speaking on the matter.

...Right. He'll tell her someday.

She decided to let it go for now.

Based on his reaction, it didn't seem like there were more strange things like that remaining in the Republic of Korea at the moment.

He would probably tell her eventually.

However...

"Hmm..."

At the Hero Association office, where sunlight streamed through the window.

There, Stardust twirled her golden hair, which sparkled in the sunlight, with one hand as she fell into thought.

The battle at the ruins back then.

Egostic continuously giving her orders.

And she, following his words, acting with complete trust in him.

"....."

It was quite an impressive experience for her.

Almost like she and Egostic had become one, with their thoughts resonating together...? It was the first time she'd felt something like that...

"What am I thinking..."

As she pondered this, she muttered while pressing down on her chest.

...Ha-ru. What are you thinking, having such thoughts about a villain? Get a grip.

Egostic is a villain who commits terrorism... a bad... well, not exactly bad...

Anyway.

'Once again, I received help from Egostic.'

That's what she thought.

Lately, she'd been stopping all sorts of dangerous villains with Egostic's help. From Scream Maker to strange monsters.

No, actually, it wasn't just lately. From the beginning, from the Han Group incident, from the Moonlight Church typhoon incident, Egostic had always been by her side.

Now, she couldn't even imagine a life without Egostic.

And for her.

That was very troubling.

"...."

Stardust.

She considered her identity to be that of a hero.

Righteous, always punishing evil, dedicated to helping people. A hero.

And villains were all targets of eradication, enemies that heroes couldn't compromise with.

...That's why she couldn't help but feel confused about her feelings toward Egostic.

She wanted to dislike him, but she couldn't. She should feel anger rising when she saw him, but instead, the corners of her mouth turned upward. She could no longer imagine a life without him.

He was a villain. She shouldn't feel this way about a villain...

If only he weren't a villain...

"What am I saying."

As she absentmindedly touched her lips while continuing that train of thought, she suddenly startled and stopped her thoughts with slightly reddened cheeks.

...Right. Now is not the time for such thoughts.

News. Yes, let's turn on the news.

So she turned on the TV while cooling her flushed face.

And there.

"Huh..?"

Egostic's face was plastered across the screen in breaking news.

[Egostic Forms East Asian Villain Alliance!]

...What is he up to now?

As she felt bewilderment, momentarily seeing a photo of Egostic and Katana smiling and shaking hands, her eyes narrowed.

Meanwhile, the Republic of Korea was ablaze with talk about it.

The Korea-China-Japan villain alliance formed under Egostic's leadership.

About that absurd development.

***

[RECKA) Hello, this is Egostic.]

Hello, this is Egostic.

Our Ego-stream has formed an alliance with the Chinese villain organization Fire Dragon and the Japanese villain organization Samhyeop-pa.

Our East Asian Villain Alliance will move forward firmly as sworn brothers. Thank you.

(Photo of Egostic, Katana, and Li Xiaopeng clinking glasses together)

This is all that was posted on the Ego-stream website lol the content is lolololol

=[Comments]=

[What is this seriously lololololol]

[East Asian Villain Alliance has entered the gallery wwwwww]

[What is this? Why are those three sitting together smiling so amicably? I get Katana, but when did the others become friends? lololol]

[The governments of Korea, China, and Japan don't get along, but their representative villains are friendly lol]

ㄴ[Come to think of it, why is this happening? lol]

[This was also posted on Fire Dragon and Samhyeop-pa's sites lol. There's a lot of flowery language, but they both say Egostic led this?]

ㄴ[For real, the Chinese Fire Dragon side explicitly wrote that they're grateful to Egostic for giving them this good opportunity lolol]

ㄴ[Crazy lolol]

ㄴ[Republic of Korea-led Greater East Asia (Villain) Co-Prosperity Sphere wow]

[I get that Katana was close enough with Egostic to come to Korea, but how did he become friends with that Chinese villain? lolol]

ㄴ[Egostic, the charismatic man who enchants both women and men wow]

ㄴ[Pheromone-stick wow]

[Well done Mangostick, go turn all of East Asia into Team Mango]

*

[Egostic←Upvote if you think he wasn't just playing around lololol]

I thought he was just playing around since he wasn't committing terrorism or streaming, but upvote if that wasn't the case lolol

=[Comments]=

[Smashing that like button]

[Ego-stream, Korea's largest villain group x Samhyeop-pa, Japan's #1 villain organization rumored to have eaten Japan x rebel alliance, is this for real? My heart is truly swelling...]

[This was reported in foreign media too lolol They say this scale of villain organizations forming an alliance is truly unprecedented lolol]

[Breaking news) After this announcement, Egostic's villain ranking went up 2 levels lololol]

ㄴ[Damn, even rankings are about connections lololol]

ㄴ[??? lololol]

[Is Mangostick trying to become the king of East Asia?]

[We are living in the era of mango]

*

"So it's having quite an impact?"

On the roof of the Ego-stream mansion.

There, with my legs stretched out, listening to people's reactions that Seo-eun was reading to me, I muttered while resting my arms behind me.

"Yes. There are already many articles about it overseas. I think it's because an alliance between adjacent countries' villain organizations is truly unprecedented in history."

"I see..."

As I responded while wearing sunglasses and slurping my smoothie.

Seo-eun, who had come up to the roof with me, smiled slightly, then sat down with her knees pulled up to her chest, put down her smartphone, and asked me.

"Oppa, honestly, you don't care what happens now, right?"

"What are you talking about? I care very much."

I answered while taking another sip of my smoothie.

Announcing this trilateral villain alliance has great significance. For one thing, it's now much harder for other countries to mess with our country than before. Given my personality, if Korea gets attacked, I'll step in regardless of whether it's villains or heroes, which would mean ultimately antagonizing all three countries.

Of course, I'd have to step in if Samhyeop-pa and Fire Dragon were attacked too, but based on what I saw in the original work, that possibility is slim. Once we've united, our scale has grown to the point where other countries would find it awkward to touch us.

But that's that.

Now it's time for a break.

As I felt the cool breeze on the roof, lying on the sun bed I had set up in advance and sipping my smoothie, I muttered.

"I'm just taking a short, short break."

Right.

I've been running non-stop, catching several villains, smashing the Knight of God, and establishing the Korea-China-Japan alliance. I've done everything.

So a moment of leisure with a smoothie should be fine...

Right now everything is focused on catching the Moonlight Church, but once we catch them, life should become much more manageable.

In the original work, which consists of 4 phases, the Moonlight Church is the final boss of phase 2. The final boss of phase 3 is Seo-eun, so we've essentially already prevented that.

Of course, we're almost there with the Moonlight Church too.

After the final preparations, soon, the fateful day will come.

...Until then, although there's the issue of needing to prepare.

Should I start working now?

"Seo-eun."

"Hmph. What?"

Seo-eun, with her face resting on her knees, her slightly longer white bob hair hanging down, narrowed her eyes.

It seems she's upset because I didn't listen well when she was reading the fan cafe comments earlier...

I ruffled the hair of our Seo-eun, who's still childlike despite being almost an adult, then got up from my seat, took off my sunglasses, and said.

"Don't be like that, shall we go out? Let's just call you and Eun-wol, and take a walk."

"Really? Where?"

At the suggestion of going out together, Seo-eun showed interest, glancing in my direction.

Looking at her, I smiled and said.

"Yeah. Let's go to Seoul first?"

To lay out magic circles to block the Moonlight Church gates.

And so began the journey of Egostic, the wandering villain.

...For a month.