Chapter 362 - Message

After negotiating with Celeste and securing her cooperation, I returned home and was busy with various tasks.

Phase 4 was now looming on the horizon, but there was still some time left.

Before that, there were things I had been thinking about.

First, infiltrating Kathedal to gain control of the villain faction.

Second, cooperating with Lee Seol-ah to stabilize the Republic of Korea.

And third...

'Ahem...'

...it was about Stardust.

Stardust. The protagonist of this world, beautiful, with a lovely personality, and just all-around wonderful.

Phase 4 was when she would finally reach her peak after all her struggles in the original story.

Both in terms of her suffering and her recognition.

'How exactly did that go again...'

Right.

First, I need to understand the principle behind how ability users' powers strengthened.

Gods.

The Sun God, Moon God, and Star God.

These three gods don't exist in this world. Like when I saw the Moon God before, they exist in another dimension.

And currently, the Sun God was trying to cross over from another dimension into this world.

To destroy this world.

In other words, the Sun God's body was gradually getting closer to our world.

And Stardust's ability—the power to grow stronger in the presence of those with the power of the sun—more precisely, it was an ability that grew proportionally stronger depending on how 'close' someone with the power of the sun was.

So now that the Sun God's body, made of pure solar power, was getting closer to our world?

Literally.

It means Stardust's power would suddenly go berserk.

'In the original story...'

Stardust experienced explosive growth, suddenly reaching first place in the unofficial world hero rankings. Of course, she's already among the top 10 in skill, so it makes sense.

In other words, Phase 4 is completely Stardust's stage.

An epic battle between Kathedal, who wants to destroy the world, and Stardust standing against them.

Of course, I had no intention of letting Stardust struggle like in the original story. Why else would I have joined Kathedal?

So my plan was to quietly infiltrate Kathedal from the shadows and help Stardust without being noticed by her...

Well... the situation has... changed a bit...?

'I love you, Egostic.'

'Please don't leave me ever again.'

"Ahem, ahem. Hmm hmm..."

Her blue eyes welling with tears, the small breath I felt in front of me—it all still appeared before me as if she were right here. I swallowed as I suddenly recalled the sparkling night sky that had stretched out behind her.

...To be honest, what happened then still felt like a dream.

Especially since we hadn't contacted each other at all since then.

However...

[Stardust has defeated an S-class villain refreshingly again today! Wow, her smiling face looks so gallant!]

...Seeing her on screen, defeating villains with a bright face rather than the tired look she had before... I could only think that something must have happened.

Honestly. I still couldn't believe it.

...That Stardust would like me. Weren't there no signs of it? ...Or were there? Thinking about it, maybe there were. Either I didn't notice or I pushed her away thinking it was a honey trap.

Of course, I had my reasons. I had worked hard my entire life in this world to be perceived as a bad guy by Stardust. For things to turn out like this. A complete miscalculation in my plan. Of course I wanted to deny it.

As such, I should have rejected her confession on the spot. Both to perfect my plan... and because I had Ego-stream.

However...

"....."

That look in her eyes.

The look she gave me that day contained desperation.

A desperation that made me instinctively feel that if I rejected her confession, something worse would happen.

...And, to be honest.

"Ahem..."

I also liked Stardust... probably much more than she thought. I just gritted my teeth and suppressed my personal feelings because it was work. After all, my goal in this life was her happiness. It was also my motivation for being in this world...

'.....'

That day.

'Are you okay...?'

That meeting, not long after I fell into this world.

I had already decided then.

That I would use this life for her, who shone so brilliantly before me.

"Ahem..."

Anyway...

We had confirmed our feelings for each other, but what came after was the problem.

'What exactly can a hero and villain do together..?'

In terms of dating, it would be the ultimate secret relationship.

The moment we're discovered, both she and I would die. She by the Association, and I by my Ego-stream colleagues...

Of course, we couldn't even contact each other right now...

"....."

...Sigh.

So many problems.

That dawn.

...As I was lost in these various concerns, unable to sleep.

-Ding

'...Who could it be at this hour?'

The sun had already set, and even the moon was nowhere to be seen.

Only starlight filled the sky in the early dawn.

As I sat at my desk, unable to sleep and lost in thought, I turned on my phone with a puzzled mind.

And the message that had arrived was...

...From an unfamiliar yet familiar contact.

The one I had secretly saved that day.

*

Sender: [☆]

*

"...Hup."

From her.

From Stardust, Ha-ru, a message had come to me.

I momentarily lost my breath.

***

[Where the hell did Egostic go???]

(Photo of Egostic floating in the sky in front of Stardust)

Where did the two of them go??? What were they doing???

Damn, this is the first hint we've had in nearly half a year and there's nothing to go on!!!

=[Comments]=

[For real, everyone was excited then... and they just disappeared]

[At least we know he's alive? Isn't that good enough?]

[I heard this was fake]

ㄴ[Wtf how could this be fake]

ㄴ[No it's definitely fake, experts from Yu-seong said so]

ㄴ[Yeah probably fake, otherwise all the major networks would have reported it]

ㄴ[Hmm... but why do all these fake news spreaders have recent join dates? Strange, isn't it?]

ㄴ[Are they paid trolls?]

[Egostic is alive and well, don't worry. ^^.]

ㄴ[?]

ㄴ[@newday313 This person has been a loyal member of the cafe for quite a while... Looks like they finally went crazy from waiting. Poor thing]

[Egostic!!! Where did you go!!@!! I'm dying~~~]

*

"Hmph."

At night.

Stardust, Shin Ha-ru, lying in bed looking at her phone, unconsciously smiled with a snort.

The Egostic fan cafe she used to visit to find information about Egostic.

...And even now, after learning where Egostic lived. She was still habitually checking the fan cafe.

Of course, the difference from before was...

Now, she could look down at those wondering about Egostic's whereabouts much more comfortably, with a smile on her face.

As she smiled while scrolling through the posts, she suddenly had a thought, got up from her seat, and sighed.

"...Haah."

...Come to think of it, what was the point?

She hadn't seen Egostic—Da-in—since their last meeting either.

Stardust played with her blonde hair, thinking with slightly vacant eyes.

She wanted to be with him. She wanted to know what Da-in liked, what he disliked, what he did in his daily life. She wanted to know everything and do everything together.

However...

As things stood now, even proper communication was difficult. Because of that damn Ego-stream.

"....."

...Should I just blow it all up? Announce that Egostic and I are dating?

As she thought this with cold eyes, Stardust suddenly came to her senses, shook her head vigorously, and thought with a blushing face.

...That would still be problematic. It would be troublesome if citizens lost trust in her. A hero dating a villain. All kinds of criticism would pour in from the public...

Still...

'...Still.'

Even if they couldn't meet, she at least wanted to contact him...

Late at night.

As she rolled around in bed wearing her pajamas, holding her smartphone and continuing these thoughts.

By the time it had become dawn.

With a slightly hazy mind from being half-asleep, she suddenly had a thought.

"...Wait."

Come to think of it, it's dawn right now.

Da-in would be alone at dawn too.

...So, wouldn't it be okay to contact him?

After going through this thought process, she entered the messaging app with a slightly pounding heart.

His phone number that she had received during their last meeting.

As she entered the messaging window for that contact, she suddenly found herself wondering what to send.

After some deliberation, she typed:

[What are you doing?]

But then she thought:

'...Come to think of it, he might be sleeping right now, right?'

She should first ask if he was asleep.

With that thought, she deleted the unsent message and typed again.

[Sleeping?]

But then she thought:

'...Isn't this too short?'

"Umm..."

S-class hero Stardust.

For her, this was her first romance...

After much deliberation.

She finally managed to send a message.

[...awake?]

"...Good."

After sending it, she smiled with a satisfied expression.

Who would have guessed?

That the villain's nightmare who wore such a cold expression at terror sites, instantly crushing villains—always dignified and cold-faced, receiving admiration from hero followers.

...Would be smiling with satisfaction after sending a single text to a villain.

After sending it, she began to feel anxious.

Will he reply..? What if he's already asleep?

And making her wait seem pointless.

"...!"

A reply came from him immediately.

Stardust, Shin Ha-ru, who had been lying blankly in bed, immediately sat up.

And so, after their last meeting where they had kissed.

In the middle of the night, their first conversation began.