Chapter 359 - Her Fluttering Heart

Korea Hero Association.

...the atmosphere had become quite bright.

"Hello~."

"Haha... yes, hello, Ms. Stardus."

This was all thanks to none other than Stardus, currently the only S-class hero.

For nearly half a year, she had always appeared cold and serious.

...Of course, as a hero constantly walking the line between life and death, that was understandable, but she had always been somewhat quiet and had a sharp atmosphere about her.

She had changed.

".....Hmm."

Somehow she was always smiling now, and occasionally grinning to herself as if she'd had a good thought.

...For the employees who had only ever seen her cold and sharp demeanor, it was an extremely bewildering change.

"...Ms. Stardus, did something good happen to you recently?"

"Who knows... but I'm glad she's brightened up."

Of course, thanks to her, the usually rigid atmosphere of the association had become much more relaxed, and the employees all appreciated it.

Even the Director.

"Hmm. I hear Stardus has brightened up lately?"

"That's right, Director."

"...That's great news! Haha, we can finally breathe! Whew, I thought I was going to die of fear until now..."

Saying this while sprawled in his chair, wiping his shiny head, the Director.

...Having been tormented by the cold Stardus for quite some time, he was quite relieved.

"Well, seeing her change so suddenly, she must have found a man, right? Haha! Whoever he is, I'm really grateful!"

After guessing correctly at a glance, the Director laughed heartily while holding his stomach, not knowing.

...That Stardus's lover was actually a villain.

And that later, when he found out this fact, he would grab the back of his neck and collapse...

Well. Whatever the case.

Recently, Stardus, Shin Ha-ru, was in a good mood.

The best she'd felt in a long time.

'I will never leave you again. I will always be by your side.'

"...Mmm."

After finishing her daily routine that night, evening.

In bed.

Ha-ru lay there, hugging her blanket with a slightly reddened face and a smile.

She had finally confessed her feelings to Egostic. No, should she call him Da-in now? And he had even accepted them.

Could anything better happen...?

"...Hmm."

For Ha-ru, who was smiling brightly like that.

...The anxiety, impatience, and fatigue she had been showing until now had almost disappeared.

In other words, she had almost returned to how she used to be.

Her mind could finally make rational judgments again...!

And perhaps because of that.

When memories of her past embarrassing behavior occasionally surfaced, she would show dramatic reactions.

"Ugh..."

...For example, like now, when she recalled how she had flown to Egostic in tears the moment she saw him.

She couldn't help but feel ashamed...

'...I was really crazy back then.'

It would have been better if she had approached him more seriously. But at that time, she couldn't control her emotions.

No, wait. Perhaps it was because of that that things worked out well with Egostic, and in the end, they were able to k... ki...ss.

"Hmm..."

With her face slightly flushed, unconsciously touching her lips.

She soon felt her chest fill with a sense of faithful happiness.

She no longer felt particularly jealous of Ego-stream, and instead, thinking of them even made her smile.

'...Of course.'

It still made her uneasy that Egostic continued to live in the same house with them...

But it couldn't be helped. He must have his circumstances.

In reality... though she didn't know it, the guilt she felt when she thought Egostic was terminally ill still lingered deep in her heart, making her feel somewhat uncomfortable about taking him away.

Of course, she wouldn't forgive him if he cheated.

"Grr..."

As she unconsciously brought her nails to her mouth with dead eyes and a chilling aura, she was startled and quickly pulled her hand away.

...Right. She shouldn't have such dark thoughts.

Instead, she should look for a house that wouldn't attract attention, just in case. A basement would be good, so he couldn't escape. Where no one could approach.

Lost in such thoughts and unable to sleep, Ha-ru eventually sighed and stared at the ceiling.

Of course, not everything was resolved.

The biggest problem was the difficulty in contacting each other. When told that it could be troublesome if their relationship was discovered by Ego-stream and others, Stardus had strongly agreed. Because they didn't know how the others would react if they knew about their relationship.

Although she had his contact information... the fact that opportunities to meet were remote was sad.

Especially after having such an intense relationship last time.

"...I miss you."

She hugged the pillow beside her and murmured.

I miss you. I miss you. I miss you. I miss you.

She wished he was lying next to her. She wished he would embrace her again like before. She wished he would smile at her. She wished they could kiss again. She wished they could spend the night together...

With such thoughts, Stardus rubbed her eyes and tried to sleep.

Waiting only for the day when she would meet Egostic again.

'...Maybe I should talk to Seol-ah. I can tell her...'

She had such thoughts only in her half-asleep state.

***

Late that night.

After Egostic had left the president's office.

Lee Seol-ah looked at the moon rising in the night sky and grinned.

"So it all went according to plan."

Egostic and Stardus had finally come together.

That meant she had taken one step closer to her grand plan.

She had made many preparations for this day.

The reason she hadn't actively denied that Egostic was terminally ill to Ha-ru, and hadn't informed Egostic about Stardus's condition, was all for this purpose.

As Ha-ru's best friend, Lee Seol-ah knew almost everything about her.

She knew that if Ha-ru mistakenly believed he was terminally ill, she would show a dramatic reaction when she saw Egostic again. And that the moment the misunderstanding was cleared, she would confess everything.

Otherwise, the two would still be frustratingly going in circles... this was the right choice.

Anyway, she had successfully brought them together as planned.

That meant that a path had finally opened up.

"...If he had connected with Ego-stream first, ugh..."

There might not have been room for her. There was a strong bond between them.

But if Stardus was first, it was a different story.

Because she was her best friend.

'Stimulate Ha-ru, connect with Ego-stream...'

Good. Good.

This must be the best approach.

Already when she had seen them before, the eyes of the Ego-stream members...

They had eyes that showed they had no intention of giving up.

'Ugh...'

Lee Seol-ah shuddered just thinking about it.

...Right. She had to prevent Egostic from being kidnapped and having his body cut into ten pieces.

This was for the greatest happiness of the greatest number.

...Egostic probably didn't know. Her tearful struggle behind his back.

"Haah... good."

With such thoughts, Lee Seol-ah looked at the city lights below the night sky.

'...I need to consider the ability inflation Egostic mentioned, there's a lot to do...'

She sighed as she organized the tasks she needed to do.

It was a night where various thoughts intersected.

***

Phase 4, where the Sun God's descent draws closer, strengthening his influence and enhancing all ability users' powers, throwing the whole world into chaos.

In the original work, no one had predicted it, and even the readers were shocked by this development.

But I, who knew everything in advance, had no intention of letting the world suffer such a great shock because of this.

'...Really, the original author was the most vexing.'

It started with one of the heroes smilingly taking a hit from a villain much weaker than themselves, and then suddenly their head exploded. It made me wonder if they were even human. I was really furious about how far they were willing to push Stardus.

"...."

I, who had vowed to make Stardus happy in this world, wielded my pen accordingly.

Actually, there was no need to worry about Stardus's body itself. Because she was the biggest beneficiary of this Phase 4...

To explain simply, everyone's abilities strengthen in Phase 4 because the Sun God's descent is approaching. That means the Sun God's influence has grown.

And Stardus, who grows stronger in the presence of the sun's power, becomes many times stronger when a god made of 100% pure solar power approaches Earth. In other words, she enters a constant state of awakening.

If the enhancement of other ability users' powers was addition, Stardus's was multiplication. That's why I said it was enough for Stardus to be this strong for now. She's already much stronger than in the original work, and if she gets boosted from here, it would be enough to reach the limit of her ability. There was nowhere higher to go.

Anyway, why does such a strong Stardus become devastated after Phase 4?

...Obviously, it was because of others, not herself. With the power enhancement, numerous villains ran rampant, bringing society to near anarchy. Many died among themselves even before the Sun God arrived. That was probably the Sun God's intention too.

In any case, I had no intention of watching the world fall apart and making Stardus cry. ...Even more so now.

That meant I needed to do something about Kathedal, the villain alliance that had led the world's destruction.

And to do that, I needed to meet Celeste.

All for Stardus.

I muttered to myself as I put on my mask, preparing to meet Celeste at the next Kathedal.

'Is this the weight of being a provider...'

I thought.

Whew, it's not easy.