Chapter 353 - Still, Lightning Strikes

After going out with Seo Ja-young alone and coming back...

...After getting scolded by Choi Se-hee for going out with just the two of us.

"Then today, stay with just me!"

I nodded to Choi Se-hee who spoke so confidently. ...It definitely wasn't because I was intimidated by her fierce expression.

"S-sure."

Anyway, as a result, today I ended up accompanying Choi Se-hee.

And what she wanted to do was none other than.

"Ability manifestation?"

"Yeah. I've been feeling really pent up lately. I want to release some of that, and I want you to watch me."

She said while stretching her back and extending her arms upward.

...Fortunately, the training area was right in front of us, so we didn't need to travel far.

In the end, Choi Se-hee set out with a strong determination to shoot lightning again today.

Before that, she was holding hands with our healer Lee Ha-yul to receive buffs.

"Unnie, don't overdo it, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Don't worry."

Lee Ha-yul, with her brown hair tied up, held Choi Se-hee's hands with fingers interlocked, speaking with a concerned voice.

And watching Choi Se-hee respond with a refreshing smile, I felt something warm in my chest.

Right. Come to think of it, in the original work, Choi Se-hee and Lee Ha-yul were always together. As Electra and the Saintess of the villains.

Even though I've completely ruined the original work, as a fan of it, seeing scenes similar to the original brings tears of emotion to my eyes...

"Alright, let's go!"

Anyway, the two of us moved deeper into the forest.

After flying for a while.

"Is that it?"

Flying in the blue sky, I pointed at the gray golems walking between the green forest below.

"Yeah. Those are what Seo-eun made... what do you call them? Test robots or something. We just need to take them down."

Choi Se-hee explained.

From what I gathered, Seo-eun had created durable robots that calculate damage to test Ego-stream's combat power, and scattered them around this mountain.

I wondered if we might get caught, but she explained that Recognition Reduction Filters had been spread around, so it wouldn't be a problem.

"Anyway, I'll be right back!"

"Sure. Go ahead."

I said as I took the towel and water bottle Choi Se-hee handed me.

"Haha... let's have some fun, shall we?"

Cracking her knuckles, with blue lightning sparking from her eyes,

Choi Se-hee flew down with her orange hair fluttering.

Then, streams of lightning burst from her body.

"Hyaaaaaaah!"

KWAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGWANG-

I stuck out my tongue watching Choi Se-hee smashing the forest and robots with blue lightning streams.

...As expected, perhaps due to her unique pent-up frustration, she looked most excited when using her ability to emit lightning.

Actually, ability users like Choi Se-hee who needed to regularly release their power were quite rare. She said if she didn't shoot lightning, her body would get itchy and she couldn't control the urge. It made me wonder if she was actually storing electricity in her body.

Well, that's why she became a villain in the original work because she couldn't control her impulses, and that's how I became friends with her in this world.

Now I've gotten used to seeing Choi Se-hee like this.

...Though she still seemed a bit crazy.

"Kyahahahaha!"

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM-

I nodded as I watched Choi Se-hee still shooting blue lightning from her eyes, destroying the forest.

...Choi Se-hee had definitely powered up. For starters, her lightning color had changed from yellow to blue.

Probably a combination of Ha-yul's buff ability, which had awakened beyond her healing ability, and the fact that she used her ability most passionately among the original stream members.

While it's impossible for ability users to increase their absolute power on their own, they can become stronger by mastering combat skills and ability utilization.

Maybe after experiencing the real power-up event at the start of Phase 4, she might become the strongest member in Ego-stream after Eun-wol.

That's what I was thinking.

Around that time, the sound of lightning strikes finally stopped, indicating she was done.

Looking up, I saw Choi Se-hee coming back, sweating profusely.

"Haa, haa. Water please..."

"Here."

With those words, Choi Se-hee took the water bottle from me, tightly tied her orange hair back, hung the towel around her neck, and started gulping down the entire bottle.

...Somehow, seeing her like this reminded me of those tough senior girls I used to see in alleys during my school days. They would dye their hair that exact color and stand around in tracksuits with that same vibe. It was nostalgic.

The difference was that Choi Se-hee wasn't a delinquent in school, and her orange hair wasn't dyed but a result of her ability...

As I was lost in these thoughts while looking at Choi Se-hee, she must have felt my gaze because after finishing her water, she frowned and said:

"Hey. What are you doing? You were thinking something weird."

"...No. I really wasn't thinking that you looked like a delinquent senior who extorts money."

"What did you say?"

After our banter, Choi Se-hee continued with a sigh.

"...I know how I look. But what can I do if I can't control myself when I don't use my ability? Am I the weird one?"

"You're definitely unique."

"Wow. I'm seriously wronged. Honestly, is there anyone as normal and ordinary as me in our group?"

Hearing her genuinely aggrieved tone, I tilted my head and replied:

"...Is that so?"

"Yeah. Honestly, everyone else is extraordinary. Like the Moon Priestess, the daughter of the world's second-ranked villain..."

Choi Se-hee's explanation made some sense.

Seo-eun, who was kidnapped as a child by the Han Group and survived biological experiments. Eun-wol and Ariel were obvious cases. Even Ha-yul, who seemed like an ordinary college student healer, was the female head of orphaned siblings who ran away from an orphanage.

"And honestly, Lee Su-bin isn't normal either. She was the one who first came up with that idea, you know? Dating you all togeth..."

Choi Se-hee stopped mid-sentence, suddenly realizing what she was saying.

"....."

The silence that followed.

...Whether from the heat of sweat or for some other reason, Choi Se-hee's face turned bright red as she smiled and turned her head away from me.

"..."

"....."

"..."

The silence continued all the way back.

"...Uuugh."

Unable to bear the atmosphere any longer, Choi Se-hee gripped her towel tightly and shouted with a red face:

"Fine!!! I like you! Happy??"

After saying that, she seemed embarrassed and flew quickly ahead of me.

Then she stopped in front of me, turned back with her completely flushed face, and opened her mouth.

"Just wait. Someday I'll make you accept me. Let's see how long you can keep looking only at Stardust!"

And then she flew far ahead with a whoosh.

"....."

'...She really is a delinquent.'

And I was left alone, just blankly thinking that.

***

Time passed after hanging out with Choi Se-hee.

The peaceful days continued.

...Except for Choi Se-hee's face turning red whenever she saw me and her quickly running away, it was an ordinary everyday life. By the way, Seo Ja-young got kicked once for teasing Choi Se-hee about it...

These peaceful days had to pause briefly.

Because something big was coming soon.

"...Next Monday will finally be that event."

Weekend.

Sitting at my desk, I made final checks for what would happen next week.

As usual, it was something that the now fully powered-up Stardust could handle on her own without me stepping in, but...

"Hmm..."

There was the issue of casualties, and I needed something from that guy, so I had no choice but to step in.

My final consideration was whether to wear the Egostic costume or pretend to be someone else in a different costume...

'Since I'll take him down quickly anyway, it probably doesn't matter much.'

I decided to go with my usual outfit.

It wouldn't make much difference anyway.

And...

'I need to check on Stardust's condition too.'

...To be honest, while it's true that I wanted to see Stardust... this time it wasn't just for that reason.

Recently, Stardust had been showing emotionally unstable and self-destructive behavior. I wanted to find out why she was acting that way.

What could be the problem?

Whatever it was...

'I'll definitely solve it, no matter what.'

That's the true attitude of a fan...!

Even as I made that resolution, I still didn't properly understand.

Why Stardust was in that state.

...Until I met her that day. Not at all.

***

"....."

In the dark city.

On top of a building, a woman with blonde hair stood with a blank expression, staring at the night view.

Her name was Stardust.

And what she was thinking about was:

'...Do I deserve to live like this?'

None other than the meaning of her own existence.

It had been days since she'd been able to sleep properly due to nightmares.

Only after he left did Stardust truly feel the enormity of his absence.

'If Egostic really died...'

Would there be any meaning in my own life?

With eyes that looked ready to die, she was unconsciously having such thoughts.

'Egostic...'

If only I could meet him just one more time, just once.

She quietly closed her eyes and thought.

Stardust.

It was two days before she would meet Egostic again.