Chapter 213 – Only Feeling Left
In a cityscape in Seoul, where tall buildings sparsely stood, and cars rushed through the streets, a man stood on a clear sky, gazing down. Dressed in a black cloak fluttering in the wind, a magician’s hat atop his head, and a white mask partially covering his expression.
This man was the most popular and sought-after figure in South Korea at the moment, Egostic.
After disappearing for several months following his last broadcast, he had suddenly gone live today, igniting immense excitement among the people.
The chatroom on the Ego Stream page, where his broadcast was being aired, filled up so rapidly that it was almost impossible to read.
*
[He’s finally here, hahahahahaha]
[Season 524 and Mango-stick finally makes an appearance, hahahahahaha]
[Finally, damn it!!! I knew it was worth the wait, woohooooo~~~~!!!]
[Hahahaha, today’s chicken is on me!!!]
[Wait, Mango, how many members are there in Ego Stream now? Why aren’t you doing any terrorism? Hyung, do you want to see me go crazy?]
[How to properly welcome an Egostic broadcast: 1) Turn on the TV. 2) Grab a beer. 3) Order chicken. This is the way, hahahahahaha]
[A win for the stay-at-home workers who can instantly tune into the broadcast, hahahahahaha]
[Mango’s broadcast = Time melts away just by watching the beginning, hahahahahaha]
[For the first time this year, my heart is racing, hahahahahaha. Is this… love?]
[After turning on the broadcast and seeing Egostic’s face, my time finally started moving again.]
*
Whether he knew it or not, Egostic continued speaking with his characteristic mischievous smile, his cloak fluttering in the wind as he addressed the camera.
“Yes! Thank you all for the warm welcome. It seems like it’s been quite a while since we did a big broadcast like this, so I’ve prepared something really special this time!”
Ta-da! With arms wide open, he announced as such. Of course, the chat window became even more frenzied with people eagerly asking what he had in store and who he was bringing along.
However, Egostic didn’t reveal anything just yet. With his ever-present smile, he continued, as if it were obvious.
“But as always, a good villain needs a good opponent to truly shine, right?”
“So I’ll wait for you. For my hero, Stardus. Until she arrives.”
“Come on, hurry up.”
He chuckled and finished speaking. At that moment, from one corner of the sky, someone was flying toward them. It was Stardus, with her golden hair glistening, flying to meet him.
***
He had finally arrived. That news was enough to make Shin Haru immediately take flight. Did she rush out as a hero because news of a villain had appeared? Or did she, as Egostic, fly faster than anyone else? Shin Haru couldn’t tell.
However…
Thump, thump.
Since his last act of terrorism, an unusual feeling had grown stronger in her. When she thought about it, her heart raced, as if she had forgotten something, or something had changed.
She had no idea why this strange feeling was emerging or what it meant. It felt like she would understand when she met him.
That’s why Shin Haru was flying, to meet Egostic.
To see him, she had flown through the chilly wind, her hair fluttering in the breeze, all the way to the location where Egostic was appearing, far from the association building.
That’s how she finally got to meet him.
“Hello, Stardus.”
“…Egostic.”
In the chilly, wind-swept sky, in that place, the two of them finally met.
*
[Stardus is finally here, hahahahahaha]*
[EgoStar! EgoStar! EgoStar! EgoStar! EgoStar! EgoStar! EgoStar! EgoStar! EgoStar! EgoStar! EgoStar! EgoStar! EgoStar! EgoStar! EgoStar! EgoStar! EgoStar!]
[If Egostic and Stardus are together, the broadcast ends for the day, lololololol]
[Stardus is his lawful wife, it’s already written in the record*.] *T/N: 고구려 수박도 is actually a comic that went viral because of a funny scene in it, but since it can’t be literally translated, I’ll leave it as ‘record’.
[Wow, the chat is getting deleted while we praise Stardus, what’s going on? ㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷ* Everyone hide!] *T/N: People on the internet uses this alphabet to express them feeling scared of something.
[Oh, so the hacker girl isn’t managing this chat, hahahaha]
[But still, Stardus is the lawful wife]
*
As people in the chat continued their conversations, Stardus silently gazed at him.
“Egostic…”
“Yes, it’s me. You keep calling my name so eagerly. You don’t have to call me like that; I’m not going anywhere. Haha!”
He joked and laughed. However, Stardus, Shin Haru, couldn’t find it in herself to smile.
“…”
Standing there in front of him,
Finally, looking at his smiling face.
Whirling emotions swirled within her.
Time passed by. Those times when you did things for me. Gathered them all.
I, you…
She couldn’t remember anything, but…
…This is not the end.
Even if time goes backward, in the end, it’s just the two of us.
So please don’t cry.
For some reason…
Looking at the smiling Egostic in front of her, she felt a swelling, affectionate emotion. She didn’t know why, but she felt her heart racing. She wanted to stand by his side, be with him, make him look only at her.
Unexplainable, strange feelings, even to herself.
But clearly, unmistakably, those kinds of emotions were rising within her.
However, she managed to suppress her emotions for now. That’s right, they were meeting as a hero and a villain, nothing more. She could deal with these strange feelings after the task at hand was completed.
But…
My heart is getting complicated. It feels hard for me to face you with these confusing emotions. But towards her, he was smiling like it was nothing.
Shin Haru, with a somewhat hurt heart, found herself asking him without even realizing it.
“Why didn’t you come earlier?”
“What do you mean?”
“You said you’d be here soon, so why did you take so long?”
Almost involuntarily, she voiced her feelings, sounding like an accusing tone. She couldn’t help but shoot him a question like that.
“…Haha, did I say that?”
…And in response to her words, he laughed as if to ask what she was talking about.
Seeing his reaction, it was as if he was implying, “What’s the matter with you?” It caught her off guard, and she couldn’t help but chuckle slightly.
She slightly smiled without herself knowing.
***
As the day turned, their first joint terror mission began.
Even though I had just turned on the broadcast and called for Stardus from the sky…
“Why didn’t you come earlier?”
“…Haha, did I say that?”
Stardus gave me a cold look. Facing her like that, I could only respond with a smile.
…Well, I did think I’d meet her soon. I might have actually met her. The events of the doomsday had vanished from our memories, after all.
But there was no way I could say something like that now. I had no choice but to brush it off like that. …No, and I had no idea that she would really question me like that. …She’s not angry, right?
For now, I shifted the conversation and glanced at the chat.
*
[You said you’d be here soon, why are you so late? Wow… isn’t this dialogue between lovers?]
[Wow, what’s going on between these two?]
[I can already hear the rumors pouring in… haha]
[A-class hero Stardus, S-class hero Egostic, the birth of the Apple Mango Hero Couple, lol]
[No way! Moonlight Mango is the national rule for Egostic…!!!]
[No. Isn’t it ElecMango? Stop talking bullshit.]
[Why do they keep fighting? Haha. But it’s clearly MangoStar, why do they keep saying strange things? Over-immersed in their fantasies, lol.]
[Fact) They’re just overreacting, it’s obvious that the hero prepared for the villain’s terror because they didn’t appear, and now their preparations have all gone to waste. Romance my ass, you guys are overreacting.]
[Is that so?]
*
…Thankfully, they seemed to understand and were making sense among themselves. Anyway, that wasn’t the important part. I turned my attention back to Stardus.
“Pfft.”
She looked at me, slightly giggled, and said,
“…Wait, why are you laughing?”
“Just… found it funny.”
“…I can’t believe it you’re laughing at a villain. That’s shocking. Ha.”
While saying that, I couldn’t help but smile back at her. Strangely, on this day, I found myself unable to tear my gaze away from her smiling face.
‘…Am I going crazy?’
I entertained such thoughts for a moment and shook my head. Get a grip. A professional villain shouldn’t act like this. I needed to maintain professionalism and focus on the task at hand.
…Nevertheless, on this day, I couldn’t help but feel a strange sensation when looking at Stardus. She was exceptionally beautiful when she smiled.
So, for a while, Stardus and I found ourselves smiling at each other.
*
[What’s going on with these two in this atmosphere? (´,,•ω•,,｀)]
*
…
Of course, I quickly regained my composure after looking at the chat. No, it hadn’t even been a few seconds, but they were already causing a fuss. Do they realize I can see this? Should I go all out for this terror mission?
Anyway, I laughed and prepared to start the terror mission in earnest. Lately, my instincts had been quite on edge, and I had worried a bit. However, seeing Stardus smiling put my mind at ease.
…Honestly, it’s strange that the terror mission is set in a good atmosphere. Anyway.
With that in mind, I was ready to proceed with the next step without any concerns.
“All right! Ahem, anyway, it’s time to start the terror mission in earnest. Don’t be surprised, everyone. It was really hard for me to contact her!”
“Huh…?”
Looking at the puzzled Stardus, I continued to the next step.
I teleported for a moment to a nearby rooftop.
“Ah, is it finally my turn?”
“Yes, Katana-san. Please show us your skills. Oh, and you do remember, if the situation turns unfavorable…”
“Yes, I understand. I’ll do my best.”
Katana replied, giving a faint smile and shaking hands with me. I reappeared in front of Stardus after introducing her.
“Allow me to introduce! My long-time friend who came all the way from Japan, the number one villain in Japan, Katana!”
“…Hello.”
She slightly bowed toward the camera. She seemed a bit nervous, holding my hand even tighter than before as we stood in front of the broadcast. I squeezed her hand reassuringly, trying to calm her nerves.
And then…
“……Huh?”
Seeing us like this, Stardus, who had been smiling just moments ago, suddenly went completely blank.
A sudden shift in the atmosphere, something darker than before, a turbulent and ominous feeling, and sighing intuition.
…Huh, this isn’t right.
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