Chapter 342 - Her Confusion
After Egostic's retirement.
Stardus showed no apparent difference on the surface.
...Yes. Only on the surface.
"...Die."
"Urghh...!"
CRASH-BOOM!
In the heart of Seoul.
Another villain appeared, causing terror.
Stardus arrived at the scene and after a brief confrontation, instantly grabbed the villain's neck and slammed him into a building.
She then moved forward in a straight line.
"Gack... ugh."
The villain, his body split across the entire building, lost consciousness.
"Tsk..."
She looked down at him with a cold expression, then casually tossed him to the ground.
After defeating the villain, she contacted the association with an expressionless face.
"S-class villain, Annoying Monkey has been neutralized. Please come handle the cleanup."
[Yes, yes! Understood!]
Click.
After ending the call.
She floated back into the sky, briefly surveyed the chaotic cityscape with a cold glance, then flew away with a hardened expression.
Yes.
Stardus hadn't changed. On the surface.
Except.
Somehow, her method of dealing with villains had become more merciless and aggressive than before.
And the reason for this change.
Though Stardus herself didn't realize it, the reason she had unconsciously become colder toward terrorists was simple.
'...No, it's not you.'
It was the slight expectation that bloomed within her, unknown even to herself, whenever she heard about a villain causing terror.
And when she heard the name of a villain completely unrelated to Egostic.
The bitterness and anger that arose alongside the thought of "I knew it"—and despair.
All these stresses manifested more clearly in the process of dealing with villains who weren't Egostic.
"....."
You're not even Egostic.
Why are you wasting my time?
They say that if other villains had seen Stardus flying through the sky with those dead eyes, they would have fled in terror...
Anyway, she returned to the association.
Sitting in her office, turning on her laptop with an expressionless face, she appeared numb, but inside, a whirlwind of emotions was raging.
Of course, most were related to Egostic.
'If I hadn't spoken so coldly at the end, would Egostic have stayed?'
Self-loathing and regret.
'...That's too cruel. How could he leave so suddenly...'
Resentment toward Egostic.
'Egostic... sniff. Don't cry, not in the office.'
Sadness.
'Still, Egostic must be thinking about me. If I put on a show of jumping off something, wouldn't he come? Ah... I wouldn't die anyway.'
And bargaining.
'...Right. An S-class villain retired, that's good for me. I didn't care about Egostic anyway... These feelings are just temporary, yeah...'
Finally, mental gymnastics.
This had been her constant state recently.
A storm of emotions raging in her heart, seemingly settling on one before resetting again the next day.
Anyway, today seemed to end with mental gymnastics.
...Though for someone who claimed not to care about Egostic, she immediately searched his name online after turning on her laptop...
As she was going through her usual routine.
"Huh...?"
Suddenly, she froze upon seeing a post.
*
[[Breaking News] Egostic begins terrorism with new foreign hero! Was it not retirement but merely a breakup with Stardus?]
*
Her mind went blank for a moment.
What is this nonsense?
Egostic wouldn't do that. He wouldn't...
Even as she thought this, she clicked on the post with trembling hands.
What she saw upon entering was:
A photo of a robot with a cold expression.
*
[[Breaking News] Egostic begins terrorism with new foreign hero! Was it not retirement but merely a breakup with Stardus?]
(Photo of a white robot with its hand on its head)
We analyzed your interests and preferences using big data to create the title most likely to generate the highest views.
Haha, gotcha good!
=[Comments]=
[What the f***]
[Writer, where do you live? I'll send you a "gift"]
[Rushed in after seeing the title but wtf lol]
[Stardus dislikes this post]
[Why are there so many likes? I thought it was real, you crazy people]
ㄴ[Well... I can't be the only one who got fooled...]
[But honestly, Egostic only said he wouldn't play with Stardus, not that he wouldn't cause terror, so it sounds plausible lol]
ㄴ[For real lol]
*
".....Ugh."
SLAM!
"Ms. Stardus, is everything alright?!"
"...Ah, it's, it's nothing, you don't need to come in!"
When Stardus slammed the desk in anger after seeing the post, she quickly responded to the employee's question from the hallway.
"Sigh... These jerks. If you're going to clickbait, why use something like this..."
Stardus leaned her head back against the chair, covering her slightly reddened eyes with her arm as she muttered.
The moment she thought Egostic had abandoned her for another female hero, she felt her insides twist.
If such a thing actually happened, she wasn't sure how she would react...
"Egostic..."
Murmuring his name.
Stardus once again surrendered herself to the storm of emotions.
She had only just realized that she liked him.
Why did they have to be apart at that very moment?
If she had been more honest with herself.
If she had...
As Stardus was wallowing in regret and self-loathing, she didn't know.
...That it had only been three weeks since Egostic's retirement.
And the three-month limit her body remembered as 'life without Egostic' hadn't even arrived yet...
As she was digging herself into a hole, she sighed and thought.
'...Right. I shouldn't just wallow alone.'
Maybe I should get some advice from friends.
As she looked through her contacts.
She thought of Shadow Walker, Kim Ja-heon, who had recently decided to marry his girlfriend.
It had been a while since she last contacted him.
'...Maybe I should meet up with him and Seol-ah.'
Stardus fidgeted with her phone, thinking.
If he was getting married, maybe he could help with her... love troubles.
***
In a home.
A man with dark black hair sat holding a glass of beer.
His name was Kim Ja-heon.
Also known as Shadow Walker, an A-class hero and guardian of the night in the Republic of Korea.
He was watching the news and drinking beer with mixed feelings.
[It's been over a month since Egostic's retirement. He hasn't been seen since his retirement announcement. Since his retirement, the terrorism rate in Korea has...]
"Egostic..."
He murmured quietly, bitterly.
While the news reported on villain Egostic's retirement like common gossip.
Shadow Walker. He knew the truth.
"...Haha, no one knows except me."
About the real reason why the S-class villain who shook Korea retired.
"Egostic... was a true hero."
Yes.
He was a hero hiding in the shadows behind a mask, protecting Korea.
The only person who knew that his villain act was actually to save the world was himself.
And...
There was only one reason why such a person would retire.
"Egostic... because he's terminally ill."
Shadow Walker calmly muttered the truth he believed.
The truth that no one else in the world knew, only him.
That the shadow hero Egostic was actually terminally ill.
Yes. Shadow Walker had once witnessed it.
Egostic coughing up blood and trying to hide it.
And through various logical deductions, Shadow Walker reached the truth...?
Ah, Egostic doesn't have much time left.
He's trying to burn everything he has for the country before he dies.
Since then, Shadow Walker had respected Egostic.
Especially as the years passed and Egostic's achievements grew, Kim Ja-heon naturally nodded in approval.
He had resolved several times to follow his example and fulfill his mission as a hero without complaint.
But finally.
The time seems to have come.
Judging by his retirement...
'...He probably only has a few days left to live.'
"Haah..."
How cruel is heaven? How could it take such a righteous person so early?
But don't worry, Egostic.
After you're gone, I'll take responsibility and reveal the truth to restore your honor to the world.
That's the least I can do out of duty.
As Shadow Walker was making this firm resolution.
...his phone rang, making him flinch involuntarily.
'...Ugh, is it Sook-hee?'
His girlfriend had sternly told him not to drink for a while just yesterday.
...But here he was, chugging beer today, so he felt guilty without realizing it.
As he hurriedly picked up his phone, he unconsciously sighed in relief when he saw the caller.
"Oh... it's Stardus."
It's been a while.
I wonder how she's doing.
Thinking this, Shadow Walker answered the phone.
She asked if they could meet because she had something to discuss.
After briefly exchanging greetings, Kim Ja-heon nodded and agreed to her request.
During the call.
Shadow Walker, Kim Ja-heon, quietly thought.
'...Come to think of it, since Stardus was Egostic's arch-enemy, it might be good to tell her the truth before it's too late.'
That Egostic is terminally ill.
That sad fact...