Chapter 264 - In Case Of Thought

After Stardust captured China's S-class villain Li Xiaopeng, the Republic of Korea was instantly covered with various news articles as always happens after major terrorist incidents.

*

[Stardust defeats China's #1 villain... netizens 'moved to tears']

[Director: "This was only possible thanks to the solid support of the Korean Association." Official statement released.]

[[Analysis] 10 reasons why Stardust is amazing even though Li Xiaopeng wasn't fighting at full strength]

*

Well, it wasn't particularly surprising since Stardust already dominated the hero scene in Korea. At least public opinion was quite positive. According to the previous generation of heroes, the media used to criticize heroes no matter what they did.

In any case, defeating one Chinese villain hadn't changed Stardust's daily life. Since the terrorist attack had been orchestrated by Egostic, it was almost expected that everything would end without major issues.

After all, it was essentially a terrorist attack caused by Egostic...

"Hmm..."

On the rooftop of the Association building, Stardust stood feeling the cool breeze while gazing outward.

Of course, what occupied her thoughts was:

'You are already a shining person.'

"Hmmmm..."

Naturally, she was thinking about Egostic.

...Honestly, she had heard many compliments before. The media had been favorable toward her ever since she caught that falling airplane, and Stardust even had her own fan cafe. Though she never visited it herself, and actually checked Egostic's fan cafe more often...

Anyway, she had heard plenty of praise already. Things like being the hope of Korea, or that she had already surpassed S-class heroes.

And hearing such things never really moved her. Perhaps because of her bad memories of the media that used to criticize her, or because she thought all those compliments were meaningless words that could turn to criticism after one mistake.

She felt nothing when receiving praise from the public.

But.

'You are already a shining person.'

"...Hmmmm."

Why was that one sentence from Egostic still lingering in her mind?

Was it because he said it while looking at her with sincere eyes that showed his firm belief in her? Because it came from a villain directly rather than from the public or media?

...Or was it because Egostic was the one who said it?

"What's so shining about me... a falling star?"

While resting her chin on her hand and looking at the sky, she muttered these words.

Yet whenever she thought about what he said, she couldn't help but smile warmly without realizing it.

...Well, it must be because the words were funny. Yes. Who would say something like "you're a shining person" with such sincerity right to someone's face without blinking? It's not like he was writing poetry... That's why it made her smile. Yes.

As she was lost in these trivial thoughts,

She naturally began to recall other things Egostic had said before, which led her into deeper contemplation.

'Ms. Stardust, you can do it.'

'No matter what disaster strikes, the current Ms. Stardust can overcome anything. You, my arch-enemy whom I trust completely, can certainly overcome whatever comes.'

"..."

Wait, what's going to happen? He should have told me that!

But Egostic had long since departed.

In the end, she was left alone with her thoughts.

'...It's certain that some kind of large-scale terrorist attack will happen.'

It must be something serious.

For Egostic, who had never given her such a warning before, to say something like that.

As for what she could guess... there were too many possibilities to know.

In fact, the so-called "major disasters" she had experienced so far were so diverse.

Giant corporate robots, cult religions, even some kind of demonic regional corruption... she couldn't imagine what would happen next. Probably something shocking.

But she wasn't worried.

When that moment comes, I'll help you too.

She knew Egostic would be there with her.

"...Sigh."

I shouldn't be relying on a villain...

With such meaningless muttering,

Stardust was once again thinking about Egostic.

...No. Let's honestly look at what Egostic has done so far.

When she was struggling with the giant weapon created by those crazy Han Group people, he just teleported in and subdued it.

When that Moon Priestess woman was running wild, even nullifying her abilities, he kidnapped her single-handedly and stopped her.

When that self-proclaimed Demon King, who clearly seemed far beyond S-class, was about to kill her, he appeared and saved her.

He even discovered the location of a murderous weapon sleeping in some bizarre ruins beneath Korea, and cooperated with her to defeat it.

...Honestly, considering all this, it was only natural that she would think about Egostic.

The problem was that he was a villain. One who formed a villain alliance and frequently carried out terrorist attacks.

"...Sigh."

And that was the one issue that bothered Stardust whenever she thought about Egostic.

I believe in you.

Because you are my hero.

...What if Egostic hadn't been a villain?

If that were the case... then she might have...

-Snap.

'...What does it matter what he might have been.'

As Stardust was lost in these thoughts, she suddenly startled herself out of her fantasies and shook her head with slightly flushed cheeks.

And just then.

"Hmm?"

[Ms. Stardust! Where are you right now?]

A call came in from an Association employee.

"I'm on the rooftop of the Association building."

[Ah, I see. That's good. A suspected A-class villain has appeared in Seongbuk District! I'll give you the location, so please head there immediately.]

"...Yes. I understand."

With a sigh, Stardust ended the call, stretched, and then flew into the sky with her blonde hair fluttering.

After taking a breather thinking about Egostic, it was time to get back to work.

...He said something would happen at the end of the year. Until then, I should take care of my condition.

With such thoughts, she headed toward the location where the villain had appeared.

It was about a month or two before the day of the Wolgang Church Disaster.

***

With a little less than a month remaining until the Wolgang Church Gate Disaster.

[Hero Association suddenly expanding underground bunkers... Association states it's "for citizens' safety." Some politicians criticize it as "tax waste."]

"The Director is doing a pretty good job, huh?"

I muttered as I listened to the news playing like a radio.

But who's that jerk calling it a waste of tax money? Lee Seol-ah would probably fire them immediately if she heard that.

With such thoughts, I was preparing for the impending disaster.

Naturally, with Eun-wol.

"Eun-wol, are you ready?"

"Yes, Da-in oppa."

In the front yard of our mansion.

I watched as Eun-wol was doing something with a huge magic circle she had drawn.

What she was doing now was connecting to the magic circles we had previously set up around the country.

In the end, the only solution to prevent this disaster was Eun-wol.

...And as a bonus, setting up defensive magic to protect our mansion from monsters.

"Oppa. I'm done."

"Really? Good job."

After Eun-wol finished setting up the magic circle,

I got up from where I had been crouching beside her.

...It's starting to feel real. That the day from the original story is really approaching.

As I was thinking this.

Eun-wol, who had been looking down for a moment, suddenly grabbed my arm lightly and spoke.

"...Um, Da-in oppa."

"Yes? What is it?"

"...Do you think we can do this?"

"Huh?"

At her sudden, contextless question,

I turned my head to look at Eun-wol.

Only then could I see it.

Her face had gone slightly pale, and she was trembling with anxiety.

'.......'

And then I realized.

...Come to think of it, Eun-wol would be the most anxious. After all, we're fighting against the Wolgang Church leader who had controlled her life. That man.

It must be frightening to face someone who had tormented her all her life. She must be worried about what would happen if we failed.

After she finished installing the final magic circle, I finally noticed her trembling with anxiety that she couldn't hide anymore.

I firmly grabbed her hand.

"Eun-wol."

"Eh? Y-yes?"

Startled by my sudden grip on her hand,

Perhaps because of this, her slightly trembling hand calmed down.

While still holding her hand, I spoke to reassure her.

"Don't worry. Everything will be fine."

"But still..."

She looked down at the ground, avoiding my eyes, and muttered.

I squeezed her hand once more and spoke with conviction.

"We've prepared hard, haven't we? We've made all the plans. We've coordinated with everyone. And most importantly, we've figured out how to stop it."

That's right.

After much deliberation, we came up with an idea to prevent the world's destruction caused by the Wolgang Church's gate creation.

...The dimensional wall between our galaxy and the other world has already weakened too much, so gates will definitely appear. The Wolgang Church is just accelerating the timeline and deliberately making gates open proportionally to population density to kill everyone.

...So, couldn't we just flip that thinking around?

Starting from that judgment, we eventually found a solution.

The key was surviving the initial phase.

"It'll be okay, alright?"

I continued to encourage her like that.

Finally.

"...Da-in oppa, you'll be careful too, right? Promise?"

"Of course."

"...It's a promise. I just need you to be safe..."

At last, I could see Eun-wol shake off some of her anxiety.

...We even linked pinkies to seal the promise, barely.

With that, Eun-wol and I walked back toward the mansion.

...

And so.

As time passed.

As the weather grew colder.

"Phew..."

Finally.

The last month of the year, when the day of disaster would come, had arrived.