CH 4

“Hahaha… This can’t be happening.”

A cold wind blew on the rooftop.

I was standing there, laughing like I was out of my mind.

“H-Human beings are not such selfless creatures, you know! I thought they were going to press the button but how! How come they didn’t press it?”

I started talking to myself like a madman.

Looking in the sky, my hands floundered in the air.

And at the same time, I stopped my hands and stared at Stardus, standing in front of me.

“Oh”

My short words.

Looking at Stardus, I said.

“It was because of you.”

Of course, it was not because of Stardus.

I ordered the captains to throw the detonators into the ocean right after her hero speech.

But it is a secret between the captains and me.

In front of the cameras that are broadcasting live all over the country.

I pretended to know nothing.

As if this terrorism failed thanks to Stardus’ speech.

I moved my lips.

“Everyone suddenly became united after your speech.”

And I laughed like a madman.

“Ha, haha. Hahahahahahahahaha! Hahahahahahahahahahaha!!”

Gosh, this is so embarrassing.

I held back my shame and kept laughing like a madman.

Stardus’ stared at me as if she was seeing a maniac.

Ugh, do you know how a fan feels when his favorite character looks at him with a scornful face?

I laughed for a while.

The reason why she did not come at me while I was busy laughing was I had the detonators in my hand.

She could not relax until the ships came to the harbor, and everyone got off.

I opened up again after laughing for a while.

“Okay. Alright. I guess I underestimated you. It was something that no one else could do. You wouldn’t just enlighten the public with a single word, right?

Hmm.

We have a problem.

I am starting to have no idea what I am talking about.

Who was I in my previous life?

I was an ordinary Korean man.

I mean, in front of a monster who can kill me in five seconds with just a single touch, I am not used to talking fluently when the whole nation is watching me.

Until now, I said what I prepared but I’m starting to lose my mind now.

The wind is so cold, and I am freezing.

I should have worn a heattech underneath the robe.

Wait, why am I worrying about this now…

I am fucked up. I am slowly losing my mind.

I should get ready now.

Ready for what? Ready to escape.

“Ahem, ahem. My bad. Stardus, I guess I underestimated you.”

“….”

“I’m not going to go easy on you next time. Well then, I’ll see you guys next time!”

Looking at the camera, I grinned one more time.

Then disappeared with the camera.

That means I teleported with my cape turning forward.

There will be a lot of cops around here, so I should teleport far away to somewhere near my place.

Gosh, it takes me a lot of energy to teleport there. I am going to lie down for the next three days.

Man, life is not easy.

“You punk!”

As she noticed that I was about to escape, she ran to me in a flash.

Well, not a chance. Bye-bye.

“Well then, goodbye.”

At the end of my word, I disappeared.

***

[[Exclusive] Terrorism in the midday, no casualties.]

[Who is the A-class villain, Egostic?  The media is trying to find out.]

[[Breaking News] A statement from The Hero Association. ‘The villain’s abilities seem to be telekinesis and teleport.]

[Hijacking a radio in this current time… Will the security of Korean Broadcasting be okay?]

[Who is “Stardus, the hero that got targeted by the radio hijacking villain? Take a look at her achievements.]

[Passengers and the crew, complaints of anxiety and panic disorder. Refuse to be interviewed.]

That day, articles poured down the country.

An unusual event occurred in daily life.

Unlike other terror attacks against certain areas or certain people, this time the attack was live broadcast to the entire nation, which makes the villain a huge difference from other terrorists.

In a word, people have their attention on the aggro.

The whole nation became aware of the incident within a day and the prime mover, villain Egostic, and the hero that confronted him, Stardus, drew attention at once.

Not only Korea but also foreign media were paying attention to the large-scale incident.

The Hero Association of Korea praised, “With the performance of the A-class hero Stardus, we were able to end the attack with zero casualties”, all the articles came out like that.

The full video of the sensational incident topped Youtube’s real-time most viewed chart.

Numerous places have begun to upload posts that summarized and analyzed the villain Egostic.

And of course, among the analysts, there was The Superhero Association of Korea. 

***

“Okay, let’s start the briefing.”

The Hero Association of Korea.

On the top floor, a meeting was taking place.

“The new villain has been revealed, the name is Egostic.”

“Gender is believed to be Korean male, and appears to be in his early to mid-20s.”

“I don’t know about his location, but given the concentration of all the incidents in Seoul, there is a high chance that he is staying in Seoul.”

“Please take a look at the materials about the criminal’s appearance.”

The information that was distributed to everyone attending the meeting included his front and side shots.

He wears an all-black uniform from head to toe. A black robe that looks like a long coat, and a black cape.

And a mask that covers half of his face. Below the photo, it was written as a footnote, “Even though it covers only half of his face, it is presumed that the difficulty of identifying the face is because of a cognitive impairment function.”

“Until now, he has killed two people. An A-class and an S-class villain. Both appear to have been killed by compression or explosion of the head by telekinesis, and it is assumed to be a sudden attack because there were no injuries in other places.”

“How strong do you think his telekinesis is?”

“I’m… not sure yet. First, smashing a skull of a defenseless opponent who stays still into two pieces is something even a C-class can do. Of course, if the opponent was resisting, it’s not even an easy job for an A-class. But it is presumed that he attacked when they were defenseless.”

“Hmm. Does that mean he’s a C-class?”

“We cannot be sure about that either. Because there is also a possibility that the villain did not use his strength on purpose when he attacked.”

“Okay. Keep going.”

“Yes. Although Egostic has only killed two villains himself… It seems like he was also trying to slaughter the normal citizens with the mass terrorism.”

As the briefing went that far, a heavy silence came across the room. The reason they gathered here is because of yesterday’s incident.

“Okay. Let me dive in and explain about yesterday’s incident, which is called ‘The attempted bombing of cruise ships on Han River’. First of all, the bombs seemed to have been attached in advance, and after dismantling them, it was confirmed to be a powerful-explosive bomb that is enough to break the ships in half. It is not yet known where these were obtained.”

The presenter, who has been speaking so far, excused himself for a moment. He took a sip of water and began to speak again.

“And the radio hijacking. It is uncertain how the radio was hijacked and broadcast through the latest security technology. There were no logs left, and the camera was also moved by the villain, so we couldn’t verify it yet.”

“Some people said that he might have a radio-related ability. But there is no data on the superpower related to information technology. And there are also no cases about having three abilities at the same time, so it is only a speculation.”

“Firstly, I think Egostic does have the ability since he easily captured the radio waves of three broadcasting stations. Also, the transmission itself was not blocked by us, Egostic stopped the broadcasting himself after the incident, so it is possible.”

“Okay, I see. I think I get it now after hearing from you guys.”

The president of the association cut him off. The presenter bowed down once and then went back to his seat.

On the long table, only the president’s words rang out.

“This villain is a schemer and holds a lot of information. He can figure out the hideouts and identities of the A and S-class villains and can hack the radio waves of the stations at will. And what else?”

“Yes.”

The presenter earlier who just sat down spoke up.

“Also… It seems that he keeps his words. In fact, when no one on the ships pressed the button, he let them live. And the most important thing is that he’s obsessed with Stardus.”

As he ended his sentence, everyone’s eyes were on someone sitting at the end of the table.

They were looking at Stardus, at Shin Haru, who was attending the meeting.

Stardus, who received everyone’s attention, spoke up as everyone looked at her.

“Yes, that’s right. For some reason, he left me a message at the scene of a villain’s murder, and he targeted me in this situation.”

“Do you know why, Stardus?”

Haru just answered calmly at the president’s question.

“I don’t know.”

“Well… That’s a very odd thing to do.”

Upon hearing her answer, the president of the association began to shake his head and switch to a different topic. Wouldn’t it be right to put his rank as the S-class, the most wanted list? No, it was just an attempt to kill the citizens, he hasn’t actually done it, and it is too early to grade him as an S-class since we don’t know how strong his telekinesis is…

The heated discussion continued all night.

***

At that time.

In a small studio apartment which is just a few kilometers from the scene of the attack.

“Oh, my… Shit, I feel like dying.”

I was just whining on my bed.

It is not easy to live as a villain.