Chapter 280 - End Of Rest

After returning home from the amusement park outing with everyone, I continued to rest comfortably. Honestly, I could take a month or two off. Just waiting for the attention on me to die down.

...Though I'm not sure if it has yet.

*

[What would have happened if Egostic hadn't been there... for real]

The Moon Cult's terrorist attack at the end of last year that nearly destroyed the world

(Photo of Seoul city in ruins)

The situation is already a mess with construction sites everywhere and new buildings going up all over the place outside of Seoul.

But what if Egostic hadn't been there?

It was Egostic who found and defeated the Moon Cult leader who caused that disaster, and it was Egostic who used Ego-stream to stop the monsters

It was also Egostic who relocated all the gates to the ocean using the Moon Priestess

So if Mangostick hadn't recruited the Moon Priestess into the Mango Family from the beginning, we'd have been completely screwed lol. Just pure foresight, GOAT

We'd probably still be underground watching monsters roam above us, for real

Remember how the cult leader opened some dimensional portal and sent Stardust away in his final desperate move?

The camera was off so we couldn't hear their exact conversation, but based on what the leader said before dying, he sent her somewhere she could never return from

But then Egostic just jumped in and rescued her, which completely broke the cult leader's brain lol

We would have lost S-class hero Stardust, the greatest GOAT in Korean hero history

Honestly, if Stardust had disappeared there, the mood in Korea would have been terrible... Looking at her record, most villain takedowns in Seoul are basically Stardust's one-woman show lol

Honestly, it's only because Egostic, a Korean, stopped this as quickly as possible that foreign countries are praising Mangostick, Team Mango is growing, and there's not much criticism

If we couldn't have stopped it and the damage had been much worse? Korea definitely wouldn't have escaped the blame lol. People would 100% be asking how we managed our citizens so poorly. The damage was already twice as bad as other countries since the terror attack happened in Korea, so if it had gotten even worse...

(Photo of Egostic with his back turned, cape fluttering)

Just like if you love him lol

Korea is simply a Mango-possessing nation

[Likes] 8704 [Dislikes] 11

=[Comments]=

[I don't usually say this but this guy is truly the GOAT lol]

[Mangostick! Mangostick! Mangostick! Mangostick! Mangostick! Mangostick! Mangostick! Mangostick! Mangostick! Mangostick!]

[I'm Team Stardust but I have to agree with this]

ㄴ[But Stardust also did amazing this time, right?]

ㄴ[For real, we definitely couldn't have caught that giant monster without Stardust lol. Just incredible style]

ㄴ[Korea's current ability user pool is just a golden generation lol. Stardust on the left, Egostic on the right, Shadow Walker who always does his part, and all the S-class ability users gathered in Ego-stream... makes my heart swell with pride]

ㄴ[The chemistry between Stardust×Egostic is insane. Even foreigners are obsessed with their romance... the whole world is just Team Starmango...]

[Honestly, the Association deserves credit for handling this terror attack well too. They sounded the sirens before the gates even opened and got everyone into underground bunkers, saving lives lol]

ㄴ[99% chance that was also Mangostick's tip]

ㄴ[Damn lol]

[If I didn't have Egostic's broadcasts, I'd be living half a life lol for real]

[He's earned lifetime immunity from criticism lol]

*

"....."

After skimming through the heated community reactions, I could only sigh.

...The problem with this post is that it's not even from my fan cafe. This is just what I see when I visit any random community site.

'...Well, it's not like this is super important anyway.'

I decided to just accept it.

After all, I've practically raised Stardust, stopped the Moon Cult leader, and joined Kathedal as a villain. The public opinion doesn't matter anymore. A few terrorist attacks and the opposing opinions will quickly emerge again. Probably...?

As I was thinking about this, I suddenly remembered something that had been bothering me.

[I'm sorry, sponsor. I... I think I need some time to think.]

It was that woman who had been running the anti-Egostic broadcast I was funding. She contacted me saying she had doubts and needed a break from broadcasting.

I was surprised since no one criticized me as deliciously as she did, but before I could convince her, she apologized and disappeared.

...She'll come back, right?

"Well, it doesn't really matter anyway."

I leaned back on the sofa, crossed my legs, and muttered while sipping my tea.

In reality, it's just conspiracy theory channels and some tabloid media hyping me up as amazing, but other countries aren't any different. Perhaps because I spoke to Kathedal, other world-class villain alliances also helped heroes prevent this catastrophe.

So... by that logic, everyone's a hero. You're all accomplices too. Even if they want to say I'm not a villain, they can't criticize me because they did the same thing.

Right. People tend to overestimate villains. Villains are people too. Do you know why most villains in this world cause terror? It's one of three reasons: they want attention, they're psychopathic killers, or they dream of world domination. Sometimes all three.

Anyway, all of this is only possible if the world remains intact. Which means we villains don't want the world to be destroyed by someone else.

In other words, any other villain in my position would have stopped the Moon Cult leader without hesitation. So I felt no shame whatsoever.

"But oppa."

"What?"

"Since we all worked so enthusiastically to stop it, isn't it kind of dishonest to hope people won't praise you? There were already plenty of people who liked you before."

Seo-eun, who had heard my thoughts, asked with genuine curiosity.

"...Well, that's not what's important."

I just said that while taking another sip of tea.

What matters is that we stopped that horrible disaster. Everything else after that is trivial and can be ignored... or so I'd been thinking recently.

So I took quite a long break.

...To the point where I started wondering if it was okay to rest this much. Shouldn't I be doing something as a villain?

Hmm, and I should start planning my big retirement plan. And prepare for the next terror attack.

Just as I was starting to think about these things.

An incident occurred.

[Breaking news! An unidentified villain has appeared and is threatening people! The Association has announced they will dispatch Stardust soon, and citizens are advised to stay away...]

A few months after the terrible disaster, as buildings were being reconstructed and society was finding stability again, villains who had been biding their time started to become active once more.

I was quietly resting during my terror-vacation period, but other villains wouldn't do the same. As a result, terrorist attacks started increasing again like before. ...Even more than in the original story. Back then, many villains would have been a meal for monsters, but now they were all still alive, which created problems.

So I was carefully observing these villains, but they were all just weak. Anyway, they're all one-hit wonders against our Stardust's star-fist, right?

That's why when I heard the breaking news about a terror attack on TV, I wasn't particularly moved. Just another extra villain #1, whatever.

...Yes. That's what I thought.

"Wait...."

Until I saw his outfit on the broadcast.

Wait, isn't that guy...?

Instantly grasping the situation, I immediately got up and grabbed my cape and mask.

"Huh? Where are you going?"

To Seo Ja-young's question as she was lying next to me eating snacks, I replied while changing my outfit.

"Oh, I'm just going to stop that guy real quick."

I need to step in for this one.

These gimmick-type villains can't be handled by Stardust's power alone.

Sigh. My break is over now. Right. I've rested long enough. My body's getting restless anyway, time to get back to work.

...Of course, I had an ominous feeling that if I stepped in now, the public would again create forced narratives about me being a hero and make a fuss, but Stardust was more important to me than that.

Come to think of it, this will be the first time I see Stardust this year since last time.

...After parting ways last time, meeting again like this might be a bit awkward. Haha.

"Seo-eun, oppa will be back soon."

"Huh? Where are you going, oppa?"

After saying goodbye to Seo-eun who had just arrived in the living room, I teleported away.

With my camera in hand.

***

"Sigh..."

At the Hero Association office.

Hearing about another villain appearance, Stardust was preparing to deploy and unconsciously sighed.

Recently, whenever she heard about a villain causing terror, she would always get excited wondering if it might be Egostic.

And every time, that excitement was betrayed, so she no longer had high expectations. ...Though she still had a little hope each time. I mean, is it that hard to meet and have one conversation? He doesn't even answer his communicator...

So once again, it was not Egostic but another new villain appearing.

For this reason, she was still sighing as she prepared to take action. With a mindset of getting it over with quickly, without any particular emotion.

'...Couldn't he just appear out of nowhere with a poof?'

As she departed with this futile hope, Stardust didn't know.

That the opportunity to meet the person she had been wanting to see would come today.