Chapter BONUS - Side Story: Return Of The Stars (12)

# Before Da-in

Before living with Da-in, time used to pass slowly.

When our relationship was suddenly reset by fate's prank and we had to rebuild it from the beginning... it certainly seemed too slow.

But after meeting Da-in again.

Standing by his side once more, being able to stay together. Time truly flew by.

What did we do again?

Ah, this was when we first revealed ourselves to the public.

'Today, the government, the Association, and all of Seoul will end here.'

'No one in this city will survive... Wait, who are you... Gack! Argh!'

A giant octopus-shaped robot from Han-Eun Group appeared in the middle of Seoul.

The thing that exuded such tremendous force, what it defeated as soon as it appeared was...

"Hello everyone. I'm Egostic! And beside me is Stardust. Due to certain circumstances, we'll be working together in specific situations for the time being, so please take note!"

"What are you saying, Egostic? Not just for the time being, but we agreed to be companions for good, didn't we?"

"...Haha. Well, that's basically the same thing! Anyway, we'll be appearing together from now on, so we ask for your continued interest. Thank you!"

-??????

-Like if you're part of Team Mango and don't understand what's happening right now lol

-Villain GOAT and Hero GOAT collab lol

-Well done Mangostick, you finally seduced even a hero

-Egostic is just an S-class hero pretending to be a villain, so nothing strange here lol

-Like if you're part of Team Ego-Star and can't believe this situation, just crying and clapping lol

-Korea Hero Association Director <<< about to be bombarded with media interviews lol

She smiled as she looked at the chat window, which she could now see because it was shared with Da-in.

The final boss of Han-Eun Group, as Da-in called it. Anyway, working with Da-in, it took less than a few minutes to defeat it. We infiltrated the control room using Da-in's teleportation, and that was it.

Perhaps the difference was that unlike last time, no missiles were launched this time, probably because Egostic was with her, a hero, from the beginning.

After that day when the two of us first appeared together, she and Egostic went everywhere together whenever important incidents occurred.

To the Association Director who kept asking what they were doing, she just explained that she quickly earned her S-class rank for stopping Han-Eun Group, unlike in the previous timeline. With her power now almost greater than the Director's, she claimed she had persuaded the villain Egostic.

To the public, they announced it was just a temporary collaboration with a villain.

Anyway, since Egostic already had a very good image with the public, who practically considered him a hero, there wasn't much of an issue.

And so.

In everything that happened afterward, she was with him.

"Hello, Ms. Choi Se-hee."

"...Egostic?"

"And I'm here too."

"You're... Stardust?!"

They recruited Electra, Choi Se-hee, together.

"Seol-ah. My partner has something to give you."

"...What are you talking about? What's this USB... Huh? Wait, what is this? Who... Who's your partner? Don't tell me..."

"That's right. Egostic."

She also helped with recruiting Icicle, Lee Seol-ah, as Ha-ru, her friend.

And so.

Most of the colleagues Egostic recruited afterward, Ha-ru was also involved.

...Dividing the casting of these people between the two of them from the beginning, to prevent them from becoming too close to Da-in.

It was a decision made because she didn't know how Da-in might charm people if he only recruited women.

...Even in this life where she had no memory of saving Da-in together, she had no intention of sharing him.

Anyway, perhaps it was the combination of Da-in's strategy and Ha-ru's power.

Events that had been so difficult in the past now passed by so easily and quickly.

Moonlight Church, Baek Eunwol's first terror attack.

"Argh! Why isn't my ability working!... Stardust?"

"Take a rest, Shadow Walker. I'll go with Egostic."

"Haha. We'll go in first!"

The pink storm that nullified all abilities.

That storm that had frustrated her in the previous cycle... now a storm whose identity she knew. A storm created with the power of the Moon God. It was no problem for Stardust, who had grown strong enough to overcome the Moon God's power.

So she just took him and entered the storm.

Tearing through the storm with her power as they headed toward its center.

"Oh, um... Who are you? Have you come to stop me...?"

At the center, she smiled at Baek Eunwol, whom she hadn't seen in a long time, whose eyes were trembling wildly after witnessing such overwhelming power.

"Ms. Eunwol. Abandon the cult-like Moonlight Church."

"Would you like to join us instead?"

And with Da-in's persuasion.

Moon Priestess Baek Eunwol, successfully recruited.

...Well.

It was all like this.

Da-in and she would appear together, and whenever a strong villain showed up, they would defeat them together. They repeated this almost like a formula.

...Though Egostic staged a few terrorist attacks for appearances' sake, no one really thought of him as a villain anymore. He was already essentially treated as a hero.

And.

<The two people who stop terrorism and chat affectionately... The growing romance rumors between Egostic and Stardust!>

As Egostic and Stardust were together every day, articles about their relationship were inevitable.

"They say we're dating? What do you think, Da-in?"

"Haha. Well, entertainment tabloids always play around like that. No need to worry about it."

"That's true. Alright~."

However, the people involved didn't care at all.

Da-in was the type to ignore such fake news anyway, and Ha-ru... was the type who wanted to make those romance rumors a reality. So she didn't deny anything to the press.

As a result, their romance was almost officially recognized by the public. It wasn't really an important story...

However, there was a bit of an issue with the international villain alliance meeting, Kathedal.

"I managed to get an invitation to the Kathedal meeting by asking Atlas, but... I'm not sure how they'll react to me there. I'm basically a villain in name only, and I've always been with you, a hero..."

Da-in expressed his concerns.

Since he was practically a hero now, it didn't make sense for him to go to the villain alliance meeting and manipulate them...

"I don't think that will be a problem?"

"What?"

"Just tell them that you're controlling me. Say that you're dominating Stardust like a slave. Yeah, I should go with you from the beginning."

"...What???"

At her words, Da-in strongly objected, saying it was absurd and how could they do such a thing...

"Hey Stardust, water."

"Yes, Mr. Egostic... Here it is."

"Let's see... Ah. Hey. I told you to prepare cold water. It's lukewarm. Can't you do anything right?"

"...I'm sorry."

"Tsk. Gulp, gulp... Phew! Now I feel better. Ah! Everyone, I apologize. Seeing all you world-class villains made me thirsty. This is my subordinate, please don't mind her."

"..."

"..."

"...Hmm."

In the end, he turned out to be quite good at acting when it came down to it.

At the round table meeting of Kathedal, he brought Stardust along in casual clothes and claimed through method acting that this hero was completely infatuated with him and under his control.

...The others seemed to have a lot to say, but when Celeste, the leader, remained quiet due to the immense aura emanating from Stardust, everyone else stayed silent too.

It also really did look like Stardust was completely infatuated with Egostic...

Anyway, things continued to progress like this.

"I am the Demon King... Arghhhh!"

"You talk too much."

The battle with the Demon King, where Stardust had previously realized her feelings after seeing Egostic come to rescue her, was easily won with Egostic's assistance.

"You...! You crazy girl, how dare you do this! I am the leader of the Moonlight Church! I am the Celestial Moon Emperor! I am..."

"Moonlight Church leader, why are you showing up so late?"

Even the Moonlight Church leader, who nearly turned Seoul into a sea of flames... was no match for her.

And so she advanced rapidly with Da-in.

Time really did fly by. They were able to save many more people than in the previous timeline. This was a great joy for her as well.

Of course, there were other good points too.

"Da-in, what are you doing?"

"Oh, Ha-ru. I was just drinking some juice I made this morning."

"Really? Let me have a sip."

"Sure, here."

In the morning, she half-embraced Da-in from behind as he sat on the sofa, naturally putting her lips on the straw he had been drinking from.

And watching this scene, Han Seo-eun, sitting at the dining table, muttered in disbelief.

"Ugh. Do I have to watch my brother and sister flirting first thing in the morning?"

"Haha..."

"No. What's even weirder is that you still claim you're not dating while acting like this."

If Ha-ru had any regrets about the previous timeline, it was not realizing Da-in's feelings from the beginning. And not knowing or expressing her own feelings.

And now with all those brakes removed, she was only moving forward in her relationship with Da-in, much more than before.

"That's what they're saying, Da-in. What do you think?"

"Haha..."

This time, she wouldn't let him go.

That thought had been in her heart from the beginning...!