Dark Night
Dark Night
It had already been several hours since the pink-tinged storm smashed through downtown Seoul.
MOONLIGHT
With the two characters blazing pink across the dark evening sky, it was over.
The villain who had caused it all vanished without a trace, along with the pink energy she had summoned.
And where she disappeared, only the heroes remained.
"I... ME... at night... to be this useless... this is ABSURD!! Waaaaah... I should just go die. What's the point of living?"
Shadow Walker, huddled in a corner by himself, digging at the ground.
"Ugh... why isn't Dain picking up? Hah... honestly..."
And off to the other side, Icicle, phone pressed to her ear, muttering as she called someone with an anxious look.
And in the middle of it all.
With a face more somber than anyone else's, Stardus stood gazing at the place the villain had left.
"..."
The spot where the villain had been, now reduced to ruins.
A city that had been bustling with people just this afternoon was wrecked like this, in a single night.
In this desolate, debris-strewn place, empty of everyone.
Shin Ha-ru clenched her fists and gritted her teeth.
...The city being destroyed wasn't the real problem. Buildings could be rebuilt.
The problem was that they'd gone this far and still failed to catch that villain.
And the villain who had vanished after writing only the word “Moonlight” across the sky would almost certainly return.
And the biggest problem of all.
When that villain came back to attack again, she still wouldn't be able to stop her.
"..."
The moment she realized that fact anew.
A despair beyond description crashed over her.
That villain would probably come back.
And hurt more people. Destroy more livelihoods.
And she would be just as helpless as she was now.
Lost in those thoughts, she suddenly lifted her head and looked up at the sky.
She had felt this kind of despair before.
But back then, someone had been there to lift her up.
And sometimes, he had stepped in himself and stopped things before they even started.
Though she hadn't understood it at the time.
He had been a far greater source of strength than she had realized.
How horribly things could go without him.
Only now, in this moment when he was gone, did she finally understand.
"..."
And.
Having realized that he wasn't coming this time.
Having realized he probably wouldn't come next time either.
That realization made her feel strangely abandoned.
It had no business hurting, but it did.
So she just stood under the dark night sky, facing the ruins laid out before her.
Blankly.
She continued to stare blankly at the ruins.
***
[After the terror, the word “MOONLIGHT” lit up the night sky—what does it mean?]
[The terror that lasted hours — why couldn't the heroes stop it?]
[[Exclusive] Shadow Walker revealed to be currently confined to his home...]
[Association announces plans to establish emergency evacuation protocols for civilians during crises. Concerns raised that "this does not fundamentally solve the issue."]
[The identity of the woman in the shrine-maiden robes who declared herself Moonlight — the Association calls her the Moonlight Priestess — search underway.]
The Pink Storm incident had devastated an entire section of Seoul.
The culprit's identity remained unknown — only the two characters for "Moonlight" had been revealed — and this single event had thrown South Korea into chaos.
Only one reason explains why Korea, already fairly accustomed to villain attacks, was this shaken.
Because three A-rank heroes had confronted her and still lost.
The shock was even greater because one of them was Shadow Walker, considered near-invincible at night.
Fortunately, casualties were low, but there was absolutely no guarantee things would go the same way next time.
With all three heroes out of action, the Association told the media it was considering countermeasures. That was all.
That was how much South Korea was boiling over.
And the online communities were no exception.
*
[Seriously, wtf is this Moonlight Priestess or whatever, is she really that strong?]
Can barely even see her face.
Fine, she painted the entire city in some pink tornado or something, whatever.
But how do Stardus and Shadow Walker both attack her and still lose?
I couldn't even understand how Shadow Walker had lost in the first place.
[Upvotes] 1 [Downvotes] 0
=[Comments]=
[Apparently Shadow couldn't even get close to where the villain was? He just got wrecked without a chance.]
[Experts say there's a high chance that shrine maiden or whatever has something that weakens heroes' abilities.]
└[So, what, she's summoning typhoons, shooting stars, AND has nullification powers? How do you beat that?]
└[That's exactly why everyone's losing their shit right now, because you can't.]
└[Some even say electronics don't work near her lol]
[At this point shouldn't we borrow an S-rank hero from overseas?]
└[With the nullification ability, I heard no one wants to come... plus Stardus is practically S-rank and Shadow is basically S-rank at night, and they still got stomped, so...]
[We're just fucked.]
*
[At this hour... the person we miss most...]
During the hotel terror in Busan, 'that person' handled it solo in one shot.
When the insane giant worm was crawling around, 'that person' blocked it by destroying the bridge in advance.
When Han-eun Group went crazy and invaded Seoul with a giant robot, 'that person' hijacked it and stopped them.
The ultimate GOAT of this era.
"Mangostic." If you miss him... let's hit that upvote?
[Upvotes] 3807 [Downvotes] 127
=[Comments]=
[Ah... only when the flower is gone do we realize it was spring...]
[S-rank Hero Apple Mango, please, come back.]
[Egostic T_T Where did he even go? Ego Squash or Squad or whatever—hurry up and recruit that woman and take her away!!!]
[Fuuuck, my house was destroyed in this attack and there's nowhere to file a damage claim... Egostic always used to handle that.]
└[Isn't it messed up that he even did that in the first place? lol]
[Things really were best when Egostic was the one doing the terrorist attacks.]
[Sigh, Mango... for real, can't you just close your eyes and help us out just this once? Stardus, Shadow Walker, all those guys are finished, and you're the only one left...]
└[Wtf man lol Egostic is a VILLAIN you idiot, snap out of it!!]
└[If Egostic gets involved in this attack, he'll probably help that Moonlight Priestess, not the heroes. Why would he help heroes?]
***
Yeah. I was planning to help.
"Hah... should I just step in during the next attack?"
"Big bro, you said you'd stay quiet through at least two attacks and step in for the third one, didn't you? What are you doing?"
"I know, but... gah! Our Stardus is struggling like that, how am I supposed to just sit here and watch?!"
"Dain... but you already smashed the magic circles that boost that villain's power, so the damage is limited."
"Yeah. And you've been telling me the whole time that this is a necessary process for Stardus to develop. That you cut it from the originally planned four attacks down to two. But if we only do it once, what's the point?"
"Fine... fine."
I raised both hands in surrender and flopped back against the sofa.
Right. It was agonizing, but it really was a necessary process. With Stardus defeating everything in one blow lately, chances for her to struggle like that had become scarce, so we had to make the most of it. Besides, because I was separately managing the magic circles, I could adjust the difficulty. It was a safe opportunity for growth that wouldn't come again.
The problem was that watching Ha-ru get beaten down made tears well up before I knew it... Ugh. Fine. Just one more time. I could hold out.
While I was thinking that, Ha-yul came up to me from my room, holding a phone.
"Big bro, someone named Lee Seol-ah keeps calling?"
"She's still doing that? Just turn it off."
"Is that okay?"
To Ha-yul's tilted-head confusion, I nodded.
I had no choice. If I told Lee Seol-ah the truth, Shin Ha-ru might instinctively notice that Seol-ah was far too calm.
It could not be helped. If I told Lee Seol-ah the truth, Shin Ha-ru might instinctively notice that Lee Seol-ah was a little too at ease.
Telling her that I would personally intervene and stop the third attack would have put her mind at ease, but that was still out of the question. Besides, the Original Work event where Lee Seol-ah headed north to defeat Behemoth had disappeared, so letting her grow through this incident would not hurt.
...Though, of course, I was pretty sure I'd catch an earful once the whole thing was over.
"...Hah."
Seeing Stardus clench her teeth on TV, I swallowed another sigh.
I was sorry, Ha-ru. I swore I would be there the time after next.
So she only had to hold on until the next time. All right?
"Guhhh!!"
"Hah... he's going to be like this until this whole thing ends, isn't he? This is a disaster..."
As Choi Se-hee clutched the back of her neck and collapsed beside me, I focused on the TV.
As a devoted Stardus fan, I just had a feeling the time ahead was going to be absolutely hellish.
Sigh.
***
And even after that incident, time kept marching on.
While organizing Stardus photos to post on the fan cafe, I bawled my eyes out again.
When I heard Stardus had shut herself away to train, I cried again. Ha-ru, training like that still won’t make you win!
The Association reissued countermeasure protocols and emergency evacuation guidelines to the public.
People began speculating that the word “Moonlight” might be connected to a secretive religion called the Moonlight Church...
And shortly after I'd sent yet another letter to the Association, it happened again.
And then, once again,
a massive pink vortex appeared in the middle of Seoul.
The Moonlight Church—the Moon Priestess's second terrorist attack—had begun.
"Oh no!! Ha-ru!!!"
"Big bro... please..."
And Shin Ha-ru and her friends were getting thrashed again.
My heart was breaking.