Her Despair
Her Despair
After her last fight with Death Knight, a member of Egostic's Villain Alliance,
Stardus—Shin Ha-ru—had been living a relatively peaceful life.
'I'm Paprikana! I'll turn you into paprikaaaaaaa!'
Whenever costumed lunatics occasionally popped out, she took them down with a single punch.
'My name is Sarestian. Stardus, I have come to defeat you. Heh heh, I shall cut you down right here!'
...
'...Sob. I'm sorry. Please spare me... Aagh! Stop hitting me! This is excessive force!'
Even villains who came at her with unique abilities all received the same fair treatment: one punch.
"..."
Like that, she lived a tranquil life, mechanically eliminating villains without the slightest trouble.
"...Haah."
...And as those days repeated,
[The villain organization led by A-rank villain Egostic has remained dormant since it last deployed Death Knight. Experts now generally agree that Ego Stream stages one attack per quarter. Cheol-gyu, do you believe Egostic will launch another attack this year?]
[A-rank villain Egostic's Villain Alliance has continued its period of dormancy ever since its last operation when it deployed Death Knight. The prevailing theory among experts now is that Ego Stream stages one terrorist attack per quarter. Cheol-gyu, do you believe Egostic will launch an attack this year?]
[Ah, that's impossible to predict. In fact, this quarterly-terror idea is just a baseless rumor among netizens. If you look at the attacks Egostic actually commits, they are highly irregular. However, if you examine the pattern of his attacks so far, a distinct cycle does emerge.]
[And what is that?]
[If he stays off the air long enough for people to start forgetting him, that is exactly when he bursts back onto the scene—bang! The interval he considers “long” appears to be roughly three to four months. In other words, we cannot predict the exact date, but once three or four months have passed, he is certain to appear.]
[Aha. So that means while attacks could theoretically happen a week apart, at the very least he won't let more than 4 months pass since his previous attack?]
[Exactly. And the point to note here is that it doesn't necessarily have to be a terrorist attack. It could be a self-introduction of a new villain, or a method such as intercepting another villain's attack; he can appear in any number of ways.]
[Then by when can we say for certain that Egostic will appear again?]
[By the end of this year or early next year. He may appear before then, but if he hasn't, he will definitely show up during that window.]
Beep—
Occasional talk of Egostic drifting from the TV.
And whenever his name came up, Ha-ru quietly changed the channel.
...Though, to say she changed it the instant it came on would be a lie—she did watch everything worth seeing before switching over. But anyway.
Lately, as she dealt with small-time villains, she made a conscious choice not to think about Egostic.
As if to prove her own resolve, she hadn't visited Egostic's fan cafe even once in recent times.
"..."
Of course, by now it had become habit, so there were moments when her fingers would hit the bookmark without thinking. Even then, she only skimmed the top posts before leaving and didn't do anything else.
'Ha-ru. Don't you think you're focusing on Egostic a little too much?'
That was what she realized after her friend Lee Seol-ah said that to her.
Right. Up until now, she had been thinking far too much about Egostic. To the point where it was affecting her daily life.
Come to think of it, he was just another villain.
There are so many villains in the world. Wondering what a villain is doing when he's not even attacking anyone is simply a waste of time.
So she worked to reduce the amount of time she spent thinking about Egostic.
The thought of what he was doing when he wasn't staging a terrorist attack, she threw that out.
The thought of what his real name was, and how he spent his ordinary days, she threw that out too.
The thought of why the hell he carried out terrorist attacks in the first place—out.
The thought of why he had singled her out right from the start, out as well.
And the thought of why, for a villain, he cheered on Shin Ha-ru herself, even throwing his own body on the line for her sake—
All of it, every last bit.
She packed it up tight and buried it deep inside her heart, trying desperately not to think about it anymore.
He isn't staging any attacks right now.
When he isn't showing himself, there's simply no way to catch him anyway. So rather than fretting over him when he's not even around, it's better to focus on other work.
...She reasoned it out logically like that, sure, but.
"Haah..."
Even so.
Without Egostic around, everyday life passed peacefully—or, put another way, tediously.
Her abilities had grown so much stronger by now that every villain who came at her basically looked like a punching bag.
Finding herself reminded once more that only Egostic could make her use her full strength,
She unconsciously found herself waiting for the new year.
'...Will he come next year?'
And just like that, a year passed.
***
In the end, until the very last day of that year, Egostic never reappeared, and things passed peacefully.
A new year began.
"Right. This letter. It's a tip claiming a terrorist attack will occur in Seoul on the day of the first snowfall. To be honest, there's a high probability it was sent as a prank. But you never know, so that day, prepare to be on high alert."
That was a statement from a regular Hero Association meeting.
And as it turned out—exactly as the tip had said.
On that Seoul evening when the first snow fell.
BOOM.
Right in the middle of Seoul, a terrorist attack truly happened.
The moment she heard about it, Shin Ha-ru wondered if it was an Egostic attack, but seeing that no broadcast had been activated, there was no way it could be him.
Just when she'd felt a slight pang of letdown, the Association informed her that Shadow Walker had already been dispatched and that she needn't worry. They chuckled, saying it'd been a while since anyone was stupid enough to stage an attack at night.
Since Shadow Walker had never, not once, failed to swiftly resolve any attack that occurred in the evening, she thought to herself as she suited up that by the time she arrived, the incident would probably already be over.
But.
When she actually reached the scene, the state of battle was completely different.
Countless citizens screamed as they evacuated. Buildings crumbled without resistance.
"Aaaagh!! Why won't my abilities work?!"
Whooooooosh.
A bizarre pink glow filled the city’s night sky, along with a storm of tremendous winds.
Ahead of it all, Shadow Walker was clawing at his own head, screaming as he lost all reason.
Seeing the ominous pink glow filling the heavens, Shin Ha-ru finally realized.
Something was very, very wrong.
***
It hadn't been long since the peaceful downtown, full of people savoring the first snow, had started to fall apart like this.
A woman in white ceremonial robes walked into the middle of the otherwise peaceful city street.
Whoosh—
Suddenly, a storm of pink light began to whirl around her.
Before long, it had become a pink tornado spinning at a terrifying speed.
Whoosh—
KABOOOOOOOM.
The sudden appearance of a pink vortex visible from far away sent the attack-weary citizens screaming and running for safety.
Starting with screams and sirens that echoed through the city center, the peaceful night was gradually swallowed by the ever-growing, colossal pink tornado.
As if in some dreamlike CG sequence, the pinkish twister grew larger as if it meant to devour the entire city right in the middle of the desolate gray downtown.
One by one, purple star-shaped objects began to appear in the air.
The gale made it nearly impossible for anyone to remain standing. Then purple stars materialized within the tornado.
They began hurtling through the air with physical force, indiscriminately destroying the city.
BOOM.
BOOM.
The evening metropolis was reduced to utter chaos in the blink of an eye.
But the people were less panicked than one might expect.
Because it was a night attack.
Because Shadow Walker, who was just about invincible in the evening, would handle everything.
But right now, that Shadow Walker—
"Aaaagh!"
—was doing nothing but thrashing around helplessly in front of that pink storm, clawing at his own head like a madman.
***
"So you're saying the closer you get to that pink typhoon, the weaker you become?"
"Yeah. I can’t even use my secret technique—Shadow Movement!"
In the heart of Seoul, bathed in pink.
Thanks to the tip-off letter, the Association had pre-positioned agents and lower-ranked heroes throughout the city, and all civilians had already been evacuated from the area. The heroes were standing in the streets, holding a grave meeting.
As Shadow Walker ranted, Icicle tilted her head in confusion.
"No, seriously. Is it actually that bad?"
"It is. Strangely, the closer you get to the center of that storm, the more your strength drains away and your abilities stop working. And if one of those purple star-shaped orbs flying through the air hits you, your body gets blown right back."
"...We're in serious trouble."
Icicle, who had been in Busan and was brought to Seoul by Shadow Walker, looked at the pink typhoon occupying the city with a grim expression.
If even Shadow Walker, nearly invincible at night, could not beat this opponent, did she stand any chance?
"Right. Stardus—what about Ha-ru?"
"She said she'd go have a look and went inside."
And the moment Shadow Walker said that—
Thud.
From within that pink storm, Stardus was flung out as if she'd crashed into something and plummeted to the ground.
"Ha-ru!"
Icicle cried out in shock and rushed over to her as she rose, wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth.
"Are you okay? You..."
Icicle quickly examined her, but the moment she met Stardus's eyes, she recoiled in alarm.
Stardus's eyes, staring at that storm—
Her eyes burned with fierce determination as she stared at the storm.
"Move. I'm going again..."
"Uh... Uhm..."
Lee Seol-ah stepped back at the force in her voice.
And passing right by her, Stardus walked back into the storm.
After a moment of hesitation, Icicle followed in behind her.
***
'Again.'
Shin Ha-ru clenched her teeth as she stepped into the villain's storm.
Her long hair whipped around wildly. The gale was so fierce it was a struggle just to keep her eyes open and walk.
And eerily, the moment she was inside, her strength rapidly drained away.
"Hngk."
Barely forcing her eyes open, Shin Ha-ru managed to punch away a massive violet star-shaped projectile hurtling straight at her.
Bam. Bam.
The wide city center had been smothered in pink wind.
In the midst of it, unidentified purple stars drifted and flew at her.
And when, after several tries, she had blasted through them all and managed to edge closer to the center—
Vzzzzzzzzt—
From somewhere unseen inside, some kind of violet beam shot out.
—KABOOM
"Kghh..."
She had tried bracing by crossing her arms in an X in front of her chest, but in her weakened state there was no way she could endure it.
In the end, she couldn't withstand the recoil and was thrown back out.
"Aaaah!"
Seol-ah’s scream rang out beside her.
The two were hurled backward by the barrage and lay there gasping for breath.
While Shadow Walker was still grunting and straining, determined to punch through the storm,
Shin Ha-ru gritted her teeth.
Right. Things had been too peaceful lately.
How had she not known? That world was full of malice.
There were always enemies stronger than her lurking somewhere.
There was a villain right in front of her, destroying the city, hurting people,
And she could do nothing about it. The despair of that fact crushed her.
Was this a punishment for all those years she had gotten cocky, taking down every villain with a single punch?
For the first time since Egostic had dropped that plane, a sense of utter defeat and powerlessness flooded her.
And this time, Egostic was not beside her to encourage her.
And this villain— she wouldn't just smile and retreat like Egostic did.
And of course, Egostic was not showing up now.
She ground her teeth even harder.
This was the real thing.
And only in a situation like this did she realize it once again.
Egostic had been going easy on me this whole time.
The attacks I had faced with him had been nothing but games.
This was what a real terrorist attack looked like.
"...We're in big trouble. What do we... Huh? Ha-ru, are you crying?"
And at Seol-ah's words from beside her, she was finally jolted back to reality.
"...What are you talking about?"
At Seol-ah's remark, she reached up to her face to find out what she meant.
Only then did she feel it.
Without her realizing it, a single tear had run down her cheek.
***
"Aaaaaah!!! Sob, sob, Ha-ru!! I'm so sorry!! I'm coming right now!!"
"Big bro, are you insane?! Calm down!"
"Hey, what's wrong with you! Sit down!"
"Dain, please get ahold of yourself! You said you were only going to watch today!"
I had jumped up from my seat, tears flooding out without my noticing as I watched the TV, and the companions at my side physically forced me back down.
"No! Our Stardus is crying! How am I supposed to sit still when she’s crying because she’s upset?!"
"No! Starduuuus! I'm coming for yooouuu!!"
"Big sis! We've got no choice now. Just zap big bro with a little electricity!"
"Let go! I'm leaving... Gruaaaaaagh!"