Chapter 324 - Retirement Plan

After the negotiations with Celeste at Kathedal ended.

I had been taking it easy for a while.

More specifically, lying on the sofa and munching on popcorn.

"Mmm..."

Resting really is the best. This is what life's about. Haven't I been running around too frantically until now?

Since I killed the Phase 3 boss, the Wish Granter, so quickly, there's quite a bit of time left before Phase 4 begins.

...Of course, I still had plenty to do. But it was true that I had much more free time than before.

"This popcorn is delicious."

"Right?"

Enough free time that I could relax and watch TV with Seo-eun like this.

"...Give me some too."

"Here."

Seo Ja-young was lying spread-eagle on the floor below the sofa, her purple bob splayed out. I put a handful of popcorn into her mouth as she opened it like a baby bird, then turned my attention back to the TV.

Because something caught my interest there.

[According to recent studies, the Republic of Korea has been ranked as the number one country where wealthy foreigners want to immigrate to. Our reporter Yu Seung-yeop will tell us how this came to be.]

...Tsk. Has the national pride TV finally taken over public broadcasting too?

It's probably just another survey (sample size: 3 people). So predictable.

I was watching without much expectation, but I was surprised when they started speaking quite seriously.

[The Republic of Korea currently has one of the lowest terrorism rates among Association member countries, and the very lowest among the top 10 countries. In particular, public safety is among the highest of all countries. The annual death rate due to terrorism is overwhelmingly low. Recently, Korea has been called the safest country among nations with high GDP.]

"...Was our country always this good to live in? There was that huge incident at Moonlight Bridge recently."

"I know, right?"

Whether we found it strange or not, the anchor continued.

[Foreign immigration continues to increase... Experts attribute this to heroes like Shadow Walker who makes the country safe at night, S-class hero Stardust with a 100% success rate in suppressing terrorism except for one villain, and especially villain Egostic, whose mere existence prevents large-scale terrorism and stops other villains.]

The reporter explained it like this:

Recently, Korea is perceived internationally as the safest among relatively wealthy countries. The key point is that terrorism rates and death rates are extremely low.

Looking at the data shown on the news, the public safety really was better compared to other countries. Well, I have been catching major villains who cause mass casualties like they were mice. Actually, if we consider the original story, Korea should be a complete mess by now. Weapon Master massacring people with his machine army, Scream Maker killing thousands simultaneously with poison gas...

Of course, I prevented all that by eliminating them in advance, and Stardust has become unbelievably stronger compared to the original story.

Thinking about this, I took out my smartphone to look into it a bit more.

"...It's true?"

After browsing some international communities, I could see that the perception of Korea was extremely favorable.

Well, now that we're around Phase 3...

'Other countries must be in chaos.'

I muttered to myself.

Although monsters are emerging from gates like in the original story, considering that the number of villains keeps increasing endlessly, it's easy to guess that other countries aren't doing well. They were barely hanging on as it was.

Actually, if you think about it, even Korea's terrorism rate in this world is quite bad compared to the peaceful Earth I came from. It just seems good because all the other countries are relatively in shambles.

While I was thinking about this, Seo-eun, who was lying against my legs and searching something on her smartphone just like me:

"Heh. Oppa, look at this."

She climbed on top of me as I was lying down, shaking her shoulder-length white hair as she thrust her smartphone toward me.

*

[Today's news confirms it...realfact]

[Just King God Stardust and Great Mango get upvotes lolololol]

[Damn, national pride TV wasn't showing up lately but now it's back with a vengeance lololololol]

[Shocking! American billionaires applying for immigration and Arab oil tycoons competing to come to Korea? Impossible! (*It wasn't impossible?!)]

[The whole world is national pride TV... the whole world is Mango-biased...]

*

"Everyone's broadcasting the news here! They're praising you like crazy!"

Seo-eun's eyes sparkled like her silver hair as she said this.

It wasn't the first time my fan cafe had been making such a fuss, but Seo-eun was so happy about it. She was smiling contentedly as if she herself had been praised, which was quite adorable. It made me wonder if that's how she thought of me.

Well, it's good that she finds joy in these little things. That's what makes saving the world fun.

While I was thinking this, Seo-eun naturally clicked on the screen to show me another post.

*

[Honestly, without Egostic, Korea would already be destroyed lololol]

No joke

Behemoth (that black tentacle monster) < Seoul would be destroyed if Egostic hadn't stopped it

Han-eun Group's massive weapons < Seoul would be annihilated if Egostic hadn't stopped them

That demon king who built a demon castle at the Trade Center < Korea would be shattered if Egostic hadn't stopped him

Moonlight Bridge Gate < Earth would be destroyed if Egostic hadn't stopped it

And he's been killing tons of villains from Rhino to Weapon Master.

Basically he's responsible for like 70% of Korea's public safety lololololol

Just...

(Photoshopped image of Egostic raising a glass for a toast)

GREAT MANGO

Stardust fans, have a drink too~

=[Comments]

[lolololololololololol]

[Since there's no haters now you're picking on Stardust fan cafe people lololololol]

[I'm a 4-year Stardust fan and this seems accurate]

[???: H-honestly, I think it's thanks to Stardust rather than Egostic that we're safe]

ㄴ[What?]

ㄴ[Mango fanatic, what are you saying~]

ㄴ[To be fair, Stardust does handle all the small fry so that's true lolol But Mango led the way in preventing all the huge incidents]

ㄴ[Stop fighting and support EgoStar]

ㄴ[Hmm I heard the EgoStar atmosphere isn't good these days...]

ㄴ[Ahem]

[GREAT MANGO]

*

"Okay, okay."

After stopping Seo-eun from showing me more posts, I lay back on the sofa and fell into thought.

Well, it wasn't bad news.

The fact that Korea has become safer means I'm less needed. It means they can do without me. Honestly, at this point Stardust could probably handle most of the big threats.

This was good news for me as I was planning to retire soon. It meant I could leave with peace of mind.

Of course, before that, I need to take care of one thing.

The preview of Phase 4, the 'Angel Descent' event.

"...Sigh."

I sighed.

Phase 4. The final chapter of the original story, where everything ends.

The final boss of this phase is...

None other than the Sun God.

"..."

Yes. A literal god as the final boss.

And along with him.

The main villain driving the narrative of this phase was Celeste.

The Sun God's devotee and the leader of Kathedal, the Saintess. She was the biggest enemy. The Sun God only appears at the very end, so she was essentially the main villain. This is also when Kathedal begins its full-scale activities. That's why I infiltrated Kathedal in advance.

Anyway, the event that serves as a preview for Phase 4 during Phase 3 is the Angel Descent.

An incredible impact that splits the sky and a sacred sight as the Sun God's messenger falls to this land.

After the angel descends from the sky in a rainbow of colors, Celeste comes to take them away a few days later.

And of course, the place where this angel descends is none other than Korea.

'That's when Stardust sees Celeste for the first time.'

This event connects Celeste and Stardust, who had no contact points until then.

The day when the world's #1 villain, who was only indirectly mentioned through news in the original story, first appeared in the comic.

...And I...

Naturally, I had no intention of letting things flow as they were. Would I hand over that biological weapon to Celeste? From now on, that angel is mine.

Anyway, after handling that... and doing a few more terrorist acts, I can truly retire. There's plenty of time before Phase 4, so I can work at a leisurely pace with my newfound free time...

"Yeah... I need to retire soon..."

As I muttered this.

"...Finally retiring, huh."

Seo-eun, lying between my legs, was looking at me with a strange smile.

...My legs felt heavy.

***

That night.

While Da-in was deep in sleep.

"...Unnie, are you here?"

"Shh."

In the basement of the Ego-stream mansion. In a large conference room.

Seo-eun and the other Ego-stream members were having a secret meeting.

A large table.

Seo-eun sitting at the front.

And Lee Su-bin sitting next to her.

"....."

"...Yawn. Why call me when I was sleeping?"

And sitting in a circle around them.

Baek Eunwol, Choi Se-hee, Seo Ja-young, Lee Ha-yul, and Ariel.

Egostic's companions.

More precisely, those who liked Egostic. After confirming everyone was present, Seo-eun:

"..."

After seeing Lee Su-bin nod at her, she cleared her throat and began speaking.

"...Ahem. Now. Since oppa is asleep."

"I want to revisit the promise we made before oppa's retirement."

"...Right."

And so. In the dead of night while Da-in slept.

The 3rd Ego-stream-Egostic Non-aggression Pact meeting with only women present was beginning.