Chapter 340 - 3 Weeks Later

# Desolate streets.

Under a sky stained red, with bizarre yellow light swirling around.

The sound of a woman crying could be faintly heard.

'No.... please.... wake up.... hurry...'

'....bro....Brother!... Wake up... Sister!... Hurry... try...'

'...I can't... do anything... with my... power....'

And noises coming from somewhere.

And.

Very faintly, the cracked voice of some man.

'Cough... I'm... sorry....'

'...drawer.... third... row.... must....'

Mumbling, and sobbing heard again.

'Don't... die... you're not... dying... right?... sob... sob....'

Behind the crying woman, the sky was gradually sinking heavily.

'...can't... give up.... can't... send... away....'

I was watching that scene.

Quietly from behind, as if watching a movie.

And then, someone grabbed my shoulder.

As I turned around.

There stood a man wearing a black hat and a white mask covering half of his face.

That man in familiar attire.

He calmly opened his mouth toward me.

Don't make choices you'll regret.

'.....'

As I finished hearing that voice.

"Hssss..."

I woke up from my dream.

"...Haaa."

This dream again.

I sighed while drinking water I had placed beside my bed.

A strange dream I've been having frequently lately.

I don't remember the beginning well, but the ending was always the same.

At the end of a scene of destruction, the image of 'me' speaking to me.

'...Either I'm having these dreams because I'm troubled lately, or.'

Maybe the dream is trying to give me some message.

I muttered that, drank more water, and fell into thought.

'Don't make choices you'll regret.'

That's definitely what he said.

...What exactly would be a choice I'd regret?

With that unresolved question in mind, I went back to bed.

...I seem to have had a serious dream and received an important message, but it's dawn now. I'm already sleepy after coming back from travel.

And so I fell back into a deep sleep.

It had been three weeks since I retired as a villain.

***

After retirement.

We Ego-stream members immediately went on an overseas trip together.

Actually, we spent more time at resorts like hot springs, swimming pools, water parks, and beaches than tourist attractions... come to think of it, they all involve water. What's that about?

Anyway, it was a fairly enjoyable time.

Enough to somewhat soothe my troubled heart at the thought of parting with Stardust.

A trip taken and returned from with everyone - Seo-eun, Ms. Su-bin, Ha-yul, Cha-yoon, Choi Se-hee, Uncle Desik, Seo Ja-young, Ms. Shinryeong, Ariel and others.

Actually... going abroad at this point isn't great. Because foreign countries have much worse public safety than our country. Since villains are gradually appearing more, the probability of getting caught in terrorism is much higher.

But thinking about it, we are those villains, right? We realized that we're too strong for it to be a big problem and went on the trip. Of course, to be safe, we took a private plane that Lee Seol-ah lent us.

Anyway, this was the last time we could go on a trip.

The current time period is equivalent to the middle of Part 3 in the original work.

Originally, this would be when the Moon Light Church monsters were still rampaging, the Wish Granter was beginning to stir, and Han Seo-eun the White Witch - these three would be creating a chaotic collaboration...

But I stopped the Moon Light Church, Seo-eun is now on my side, and I killed the final boss, the Wish Granter, in advance.

Surprisingly, compared to other times, we had quite a leisurely period.

Because I took care of everything in advance.

Of course, there were still some minor things left, and during this time I had the enormous task of persuading Celeste... but still, considering that when Part 4 starts, the world will become completely chaotic again, the current situation is very relaxed.

Yes. Let's enjoy this time.

With that thought, I came out of my room.

Warm sunlight shining through the window.

It was also my favorite thing. They say vitamin D is produced when you receive morning sunlight...

Anyway, since my time in the previous world, I always felt good when this warm sunlight colored my body.

So when I went to the living room, what I saw was.

"Mmmmm..."

Seo-eun hugging Eun-wol from behind like a stuffed animal while lying on the sofa.

And Eun-wol, sleeping with her eyes closed as if dead in Seo-eun's arms.

"....."

And I smiled broadly because the sight of the two was so cute.

Although they've both grown since they were young, it was heartwarming to see two girls of similar build hugging each other while sleeping.

...But while Seo-eun was always a heavy sleeper in the morning, why was Eun-wol like that? That's not like her.

As I was wondering about this, looking at Eun-wol who was lying motionless with her eyes closed, her black hair untied from its usual ponytail spread across her white face.

"Mmm... oh, Brother... are you up?"

Seo-eun rubbed her eyes and got up from the sofa.

Still drowsy and disheveled from sleep.

I stroked her hair with my hand and asked her.

"Oh, Seo-eun. Did you sleep well too? But why is Eun-wol like this? She's sleeping like she's dead."

"Yawn... oh, that."

At my question, Seo-eun grinned and explained.

"It's because she played games yesterday."

"Games?"

Doesn't Eun-wol avoid games? At our house, it's usually Seo-eun and Choi Se-hee who play.

To my confusion, Seo-eun began to explain that wasn't the case.

From what I heard, last night Seo-eun and Eun-wol played board games like chess.

But Eun-wol kept losing, and although she didn't show it, she seemed frustrated(?) and kept challenging Seo-eun, so they ended up playing until dawn.

While Seo-eun, who won everything, went to bed, Eun-wol stayed up all night studying how to win.

...And the result is Eun-wol collapsed now.

Hmm. Eun-wol is quite competitive too...

As I was looking curiously at Eun-wol sleeping in her priestess outfit, Seo-eun, who had been fidgeting on the sofa, grinned and spoke.

"Anyway, Brother. This works out well. Nothing to do today, right? Play with me today."

"Huh? Sure, let's do that."

"Hey, Baek Eunwol. Did you hear what Brother said? I'm going to play with him alone."

"Mmmmm..."

"Did you just say yes?"

Seo-eun laughed mischievously, shaking Eun-wol's body half-heartedly to wake her, but Eun-wol just spat out a groan with her eyes still closed.

Leaving her behind, Seo-eun jumped off the sofa, pointed toward a room with her hand, and said confidently.

"Alright then, Brother, let's go. To our basement!"

"Okay. Okay."

And so Seo-eun and I set off on an adventure.

To the basement.

***

"Now. This is the new relaxation room I created, let me show you."

The basement of the Ego-stream mansion.

More precisely, it's connected by a teleportation device, actually located beneath a house somewhere in Seoul.

Our first residence as Ego-stream - that's where we went down together.

Seo-eun chattering beside me as we walked through the basement together.

It made me reminisce about the old days.

When Seo-eun was about two heads shorter than now. We walked like this back then too. Around the time Ms. Su-bin had just arrived.

To think that Seo-eun, who was like that then, has grown so much now. Well, she grew this much in the original work too... if this were a manga, she'd be destroying South Korea by now.

As I was looking down at Seo-eun, feeling nostalgic.

Seo-eun, who had arrived somewhere, grinned at me, grabbed my arm, and pointed to a room.

"Here, Brother. This is it."

And where Seo-eun took me.

A fantastic space was spread out.

A large, soft-looking bean bag chair placed prominently in the center, and in front of it, a huge movie theater-like monitor on the wall.

And below it, all kinds of game consoles connected to the monitor.

Plus bookshelves full of comics attached to the wall.

Truly a fantasy space for homebodies.

"Ta-da! What do you think, Brother? This is the first time I'm showing you. My paradise!"

Wearing a hoodie larger than her body, Seo-eun put her hands behind her back, smiled, and said that.

"It's amazing. This is more impressive than any manga cafe? Once you come in, you wouldn't want to leave."

"Hehe. I did a good job, right?"

"Yes."

"Then sit down first!"

At Seo-eun's words as she pulled my arm, I laid my body on the large bean bag.

Soft, literally a sinking sensation.

Riding the momentum, I immediately took out a comic from the bookshelf behind, saw a red 19 mark, naturally put it back, and then took out a normal book from the lower shelf and lay down.

"Ahhh... nice."

"Right?"

Seo-eun sat on the bean bag next to me, smiling brightly.

After sitting down, Seo-eun fiddled with some remote control and turned on the large monitor attached to the wall in front of us.

"Sitting here watching this is absolute heaven."

"What is it?"

As I raised my head with interest.

Seo-eun, with her now slightly longer silver bob hair flowing slightly to the side, grinned and pointed in front of me.

As gentle classical music flowed from the speakers above, what was playing on the large movie theater-like monitor was.

**

=[Ego-stream Official Fan Cafe 'Team Mango']=

(Currently #1 Real-time Popular Cafe)

[Mangostick please come back come back come back]

[Mango fans who find life meaningless every day upvote lol]

[Honestly if you're a brain-damaged Mango fan who still believes he'll come back tomorrow upvote lol me first lol]

[Mango fan... I made a memorial altar for the fan cafe, thoughts?]

[It's been a month since retirement but still #1 popular cafe wtf lol]

['If you come at 4 PM, I'll be happy from 3 PM']

[Tears tears... Highlights from the Ego era.jpg]

[Shadow Walker <<< Can't we just put a mask on him, make him retire instead, and revive him as Shadow Mango?]

[☆MUST READ☆ Tonight at 9, Mango Stream Seasons 1-3 late night rerun]

[Speculation: Is Stardust fan cafe manager = Egostic?]

[Breaking: Petition for Mango's return surpasses 1 million signatures]

**

"....."

The image of my fan cafe was displayed enormously on the monitor.

It felt dizzying to see that huge monitor showing an internet community instead of a movie.

As I squinted my eyes, Seo-eun smiled brightly and said to me.

"What do you think, Brother? Fun, right?"

...I had a feeling today wouldn't be easy.

Looking at my own fan cafe is torture for me...