CH 177

“Sob… cough.”

The war machine was completely destroyed.

I leaned against it and coughed up blood.

Ugh… I might die.

After catching my breath, I rested for a moment inside the dark machine.

I was in a terrible condition.

I was bleeding profusely, but my healing ability helped to stop it.

…Well, I guess I survived in the end.

I tried to think positively, even though I couldn’t think straight due to the loss of blood.

…Actually, this wasn’t really my plan.

I was just planning to fight for a while until my abilities grew, and then escape while saying something like, “I tried playing a little differently this time, and it was fun. Although I lost this time, I’ll win next time!” I had already planned out my dialogue.

But the problem was that…I got too into the fight and missed the timing to escape when I needed to.

I also misjudged the timing to use Stardus’s ultimate move, the Star Punch. When suddenly a flash of light appeared and a fist came at me, I didn’t know how to avoid it.

Even I, who had planned for all her combat patterns, was caught off guard. She must have grown dynamically even in this short moment.

Stardus… I’m proud of you…

“Cough.“

I coughed up blood again and got lost in thought.

…Anyway, since things turned out like this, I need to think of a plan now.

I forced myself to focus, even though I felt like I was about to collapse, and thought about what to do next.

Right now, my condition is so bad that even moving a finger is difficult.

I’m barely holding on and stopping the bleeding while controlling the war machine. If I use teleportation now…?

‘I’m screwed.’

I could really die. Especially if I teleport far away from here straight to my home? I’ll receive a penalty and die from excessive bleeding. I can only pray for Ha-yul’s healing ability to cover my resurrection.

However, there is still a way out.

It’s the brilliant strategy. It means waiting and enduring until our Ego Stream members come to rescue me. Guys, I’m screwed. Please save me.

Of course, the problem is we don’t know when they will come. Until then, we have to buy time here.

Sigh… If it were Stardus, he would tear down the wall and find out who I am right away.

I looked at myself in a daze and saw that I was already dressed in clothes and a mask. I assumed that my identity would be revealed, so I had prepared to some extent. But I never thought it would happen like this…

I quickly glanced at my bloodstained clothes and shook my head. I have to get rid of them somehow and buy some time. I don’t know how Stardus will react when he sees me, but I have to take advantage of the moment and prevent him from taking me down.

…But what will Stardus do when he sees me like this? As a Stardus expert, I feel like he would just be happy to have caught an Egostic by fluke luck. I might even see him smile for the first time in a long time.

…And that’s a relief, because he might just decide to take care of me on the spot. Of course, we try to avoid executing villains as much as possible, but life is unpredictable. Ultimately, what I say and do will be the most important thing.

As I prepared myself with my barely functioning brain, I finally heard footsteps beyond the wall, and I felt someone standing in front of me.

The sound of tearing begins with a scraping noise.

It’s three seconds before the surprise.

And then, the bright sunlight enters the dark space.

The figure of Stardus appeared in front of me.

At the same time, Stardus looks down and our eyes meet.

“…… Oh…?”

“Cough. Hello, Stardus. Haha… Cough.”

I tried to greet her with a smile as I looked at her.

Of course, there was an unfortunate incident where I vomited blood in front of her, but I think she’ll overlook it.

Although a single line of blood was flowing from my head, I couldn’t see Stardus’ expression properly, but I could still hear her words.

“…. No, this, this can’t be happening…”

What can’t be happening?

I forced myself to focus on her condition with a strange feeling of unease. She muttered to herself in a small, trembling voice. Hmm, why is she doing that? Did she get startled when I suddenly popped out of the robot?

I don’t know why she’s doing that, but it’s a good thing that she’s not rushing at me to knock me down right now. It means I can keep talking.

So I tried to open my mouth and spoke to her with a small smile.

“Haha…I wasn’t originally planning on revealing my identity like this, but somehow it turned out this way. I just wanted to play a little prank…hehe.”

Damn it. I couldn’t speak properly because I was still bleeding.

As I spoke, I looked at her again with my eyes adjusted to the light, and her condition became clearer.

“……..”

She was staring at me as if a soul had left her body, her eyes unfocused and her mouth slightly open.

As I looked closer, I noticed that her hand was shaking a bit.

…What’s going on?

Just as I was feeling curious, she suddenly trembled and focused her eyes again, and started to approach me with a shaking voice.

“Wha, what should I do first…about the treatment…”

As she murmured those words, she came closer to me. Wait a minute, why is she coming? Is she trying to catch me? No, do I have to risk my life and teleport away?

Luckily, my worries were soon over because a huge purple magic circle appeared between her and me, accompanied by a powerful gust of wind.

“So, I tried to speak up, and said to her with a small smile, ‘Haha… I didn’t originally plan to reveal my identity like this, but somehow it turned out this way. I was just trying to play a little prank… Hehe.’

Damn it. I couldn’t speak properly because blood kept gushing out.

Saying this, I looked at her condition again with slightly clearer eyes that had grown used to the light.

‘……..’

She stared at me alone with her mouth slightly open as if some soul had left her eyes while her focus went astray. I noticed that her hands were shaking a bit.

What’s going on…?

Just as I began to feel puzzled, she suddenly shook her body for a moment and then regained her focus, starting to move towards me with a trembling voice.

“H-how… What should I do first…? R-Right, the treatment…”

Mumbling something like that, she approached me. Hold on, why is she coming? Is she trying to capture me like this? No, should I risk my life to teleport away?

Fortunately, my dilemma came to an end quickly. This was because a huge purple magic circle appeared between her and me, accompanied by a huge gust of wind.

“Urgh!”

As the strong wind blew, Stardus pointed forward and was pushed back. Suddenly, small magic circles appeared in front of me, and a little someone appeared in front of me along with a pink cloud.

“Da-in!”

It was Eun-wol, wearing a white nun’s outfit that contrasted with her black hair, jumping up and down in front of me.

“Urgh. You came, luckily.”

“Da-in… What about your body condition…?”

Eun Wol cried as soon as she saw me. She quickly sat down and grabbed me, checking my body quickly before hugging me from the side.

“Da-in, I’ll take you home right away.”

“Yes, Keuk. Let’s go.”

“Don’t say that! Blood is still coming out. Let’s go quickly…”

As Eun Wol muttered incoherently, she began to tap the air a few times. At the same time, geometric magic circles appeared around us.

Phew, I’m finally going back.

I almost got into big trouble by accident. I’m already feeling distant thinking about how everyone will react when I return home in this battered state. I feel sorry for worrying them.

As I was thinking that, the wind subsided and Stardus appeared before my eyes again.

And upon seeing Stardus, Eun-wol also hugged me and gritted her teeth as she glared at it.

And at that moment, the magic circles began to light up and operate, thankfully.

In the midst of it all, I fell to the ground and tried to smile as I looked at Stardus. I should have given an ending remark, but it was too difficult to focus my mind on that…

With such idle thoughts, I looked at Stardus one last time. It would be a little disappointing for her to miss me so closely…

Thinking that, I barely looked at Stardus. And her expression, as she looked down at me…

“….Oh.”

She stretched her hand towards me, looking at me with a somewhat desperate expression. Perhaps it was so regrettable for her to miss me so closely.

Haha… Stardus is really a hero.

As soon as I had that thought, the light flashed from the magic circle on the ground. At the same time, everything went white, and I lost consciousness.

… I must have lasted a long time.

And at that time, I didn’t know, but this whole scene was being captured by a camera from a news helicopter from a certain broadcasting station.

***

[[Breaking News, front page] A-Class villain Egostic currently in critical condition… Survival uncertain…]

(The article contained a close-up photo of Egostic lying in a pool of blood.)

What the hell is going on?

They’re saying this villain called Chaos or whatever is Egostic?

He’s in critical condition right now, what the hell?

=[Comments]=

[?]

[Fuck, what’s going on?]

[No, this can’t be happening, Mango can’t die like this, what the f***?]

[Why did I even bother coming after eating, what’s this random news, this can’t be a joke?]

ㄴ[This is not a joke, it’s all being posted one by one on the main sites of the news companies.]

ㄴ[Really, fuck…]

[Why did he suddenly ride some strange robot and went out, only to come back in critical condition, Mango, why!!!]

***

Suddenly reported in the media, the news of Egostic being in critical condition.

With the news coming out of nowhere, Korea began to stir, and Egostic’s fans began to burn with passion.

Since they didn’t even turn on the broadcast, those who had suspected that Chaos and Destroyer were Egostic were now in a completely helpless situation.

So Egostic rose to the top of the real-time trend, and Korea began to burn with passion.

The next day, Stardus did not show up at the Association.