It's an Illusion
You're Mistaken
[South Korea is in a Stardus craze. Real-time trends show #Stardus with no signs of fading...]
[Unprecedented popularity... Stardus battle highlight video surpasses 10 million views in record time... makes global trending video lists.]
[International media also taking note... an unprecedented event that turned day to night, ended by Korea's proud hero Stardus.]
[Unmatched popularity among all heroes... the Association's streak of victories continues.]
"Bwahahahahahaha!!!"
After the incident was resolved.
The top floor of the Korean Hero Association.
The Association President sat there beaming.
"Yes. Stardus. You've recovered, right?"
"Yes, President."
"Good! That's our Stardus. This time was truly incredible! Do you know how terrified I was, thinking the country was about to fall? Bwahahahahahaha!"
The Association President kept laughing.
Watching him, Shin Ha-ru felt a growing unease.
'...Was it really me who took that thing down?'
Right.
That final attack she had unleashed against the monster, bursting with light—even in retrospect, its output had been astonishing.
Probably the strongest attack she had ever produced.
But.
Shin Ha-ru had never once believed that attack could actually bring the thing down.
She had only gone in with the resolve to land one solid hit on it at the very last moment.
Her gut told her that thing wasn't the type to go down from a straightforward attack like that. Not unless it had some kind of specific "weakness"...
That was why.
Shin Ha-ru couldn't bring herself to believe she had taken it down with an attack like that.
And then.
"Stardus. Don't worry. I'll take responsibility and contact the International Association Headquarters myself to demand your immediate promotion to S-rank! Bwahaha, an S-rank hero from our Association! Bwahahaha!"
"..."
Watching the Association President, who firmly believed she had defeated it, her discomfort only grew.
...Did I really take it down?
Along with that doubt, a hazy memory surfaced — something she'd glimpsed right before she lost consciousness after the thing fell.
When she launched her attack, there had definitely been a bang — a noise like a gunshot.
And someone had been standing on the rooftop.
...And whoever that was, it was probably—
Just as Shin Ha-ru began to picture someone, the Association President's laughter filled the meeting room once more.
"Anyway, Stardus. I'll make sure you get a bonus, so take a good rest, understood? Go on a trip or something. They say there's a warm beach over on the east coast despite this weather — go somewhere like that and relax. After all that hard work, you deserve a reward. You're a national star now, hahahaha!!!"
"Yeah, Ha-ru. You've earned it, so rest up. Hic. You pulled off something huge, you know?"
Beside her, Icicle also smiled warmly at her, face flushed red.
Next to them, Shadow Walker, who'd been lost in thought, suddenly snapped back to attention and spoke.
"Hmm... Mm, ah? Ah, right. Stardus. Your fight was incredible. Get some rest now. You're the hero of South Korea, after all. Icicle said she'd handle the rest."
"...Excuse me, hic. Ja-hyun? When did I ever say that?"
With even Icicle and Shadow Walker piling on after the Association President, Stardus now felt something bordering on guilt.
...Sure. She had fought with her life on the line to the very end.
But was she really the one who finished it?
The bang, the silhouette on the rooftop.
Someone who knew more than anyone, who used a gun as their primary weapon, who seemed to wear a mask, who always appeared to save her at the moment of crisis.
At the same time, an image of a certain man flickered through her mind, but she shook her head.
...That was too much of a leap. Maybe I'd simply been exhausted at the end and misheard and misseen things. I had no evidence—nothing but my intuition. Besides, he was a villain.
But.
Shin Ha-ru's intuition screamed one thing with absolute certainty.
...That thing wasn't something she could defeat.
Someone else had definitely helped.
And it was probably, surely him...
"Haha! To take down that monster all on your own, Stardus. The more I think about you, the more..."
"President."
Interrupting the Association President mid-boast.
In the end, Stardus — Shin Ha-ru — confessed.
"...No matter how much I think about it, I don't think I was the one who took it down."
The moment her words ended.
A sudden chill gripped the room.
"...What did you say?"
The Association President's face stiffened at her bombshell.
Two people looked even more alarmed than he did.
"...Hic."
".....!"
Those two were Icicle and Shadow Walker, their faces gone pale.
***
"What do you mean, Ha-ru? Of course you took it down. Hahaha, hic. You're not imagining things, are you?"
The first to break the frozen silence was Icicle.
Dain had already told her the full story, so she knew he was the one who'd secretly taken down the monster.
'...And because I timed it perfectly, Stardus will never—cough—know it was me. She'll be convinced she did it herself.'
'...Dain. You swore to me she wouldn't know!'
It was as if she could hear his voice, oozing confidence over the phone. As Lee Seol-ah silently cursed him, she clutched her spinning head and kept talking to Stardus.
"Who else could've taken it down if not you, Ha-ru? Did you hit your head when you passed out? Maybe you're still groggy?"
"No. I definitely saw someone on the rooftop. And I think it was him who took that thing down."
"Stardus. That's not what happened."
"...Shadow Walker?"
Stardus looked at Shadow Walker, puzzled by his sudden interjection.
Under her gaze, Shadow Walker thought to himself.
'...Egostic. He made it clear he didn't want his identity revealed.'
He recalled the events on that rooftop.
The man who had insisted he didn't want to be known, who said he wanted to keep living in the darkness as a villain.
And who had kept coughing up blood, over and over.
From that, Shadow Walker had formed a single hypothesis.
'...He's terminally ill.'
Why did that man live as a villain rather than a hero? Why did he do good while choosing to be branded a villain by the world?
Why would someone who seemed to care more about that world and its people than anyone else do that?
...Maybe he was doing it because he was terminally ill—so the world would not lose hope when he died after serving as a hero.
Since the day he would have to leave was already set... perhaps he refused to form attachments and quietly protected the world from behind the scenes as a villain.
'...Sniff. Egostic. You really are a true man.'
A dark hero protecting the world from the shadows... Egostic...
Having thus composed an entire epic saga in his mind, Shadow Walker reached his conclusion.
Yes. For Egostic, a true hero, how could I not do at least this much?
Don't worry, Egostic. Leave this to me.
Gripped by this conviction, Shadow Walker turned back to Stardus and spoke with a straight face.
"I checked your entire surroundings right before you delivered the final blow. No one was near you. And naturally, there was no one on any of the rooftops."
"...That can't be."
"Trust me, Stardus. You know that even when weakened—at least in the dark—my ability can detect that much."
"There was no one near you at that moment. You're the one who took it down."
"Right, Ha-ru. Who else could have been there? Obviously you took it down. Maybe you've been run-down lately and started seeing things. Want me to recommend a nice vacation spot?"
"..."
"...Hahaha! Yes, Stardus. You must have been mistaken. You gave me quite a scare. Well then, I need to explain to the press how our Association helped, so I'll be going."
"Ah, Ha-ru. I'm heading out too. Sigh. Between corporations and politicians all trying to devour my business, it's chaos. Hic. I need to deal with that... ugh. I'm so sick of it."
"...I'll be going as well. Staying awake during the day really is exhausting... By the way, Icicle, is that alcohol?"
"What. I've been going crazy without it lately, so I have to drink regularly."
"...That's why you've been hiccuping all this time... that. Never mind. Do what you want."
Their voices gradually faded as they left.
Before long, Stardus was the only one left in the meeting room.
"..."
Alone now that everyone was gone.
Left by herself, Stardus quietly muttered, her face still grave.
".....That can't be right. There's no way...."
Everyone except her, as though they had coordinated it, was telling her she was mistaken—that it had not happened.
...It's all in my head?
That's ridiculous. It's nonsense...
With everyone denying it, even she was starting to doubt herself.
...Did I seriously just imagine it?
"...I could've sworn it was Egostic."
Before she knew it, she'd finally admitted it out loud.
...Yeah. Maybe, because she'd come to rely on Egostic too much, she'd imagined it.
Wait. Dependence? I'm relying on Egostic—a villain?
"..."
Her face flushed scarlet.
She shook her head sharply and quickly corrected her thoughts.
No way. She'd just been really worn out lately. That was why she'd imagined it.
...But seriously, it really did feel like Egostic. My gut said so.
"...Am I delusional?"
No.
Even so, it felt like Egostic was the one who took it down.
She murmured words no one else would hear, all alone.
Right.
...This time, I'd trust my instincts.
Thinking that, she suddenly snapped back to reality and looked around the empty meeting room, a little lost.
...Wait. Come to think of it, why did everyone leave me alone here?
Shin Ha-ru sat by herself in the big, empty office for a moment longer, then got up and left.
...That was kind of mean of them.
***
[EgoStar Shipper Tells How Their Soul Got Sucked Out]
So there I was, just another corporate slave, body getting ground to dust that day too
When suddenly, out of nowhere, I hear this goddamn SKREEEAAAAWWWW sound outside
So I go running out all frantic, and the sky's gone dark and freaking monsters are pouring out
Everyone sees it and goes "AUGH!" scattering in every direction
And then suddenly my body stops moving, like someone grabbed me, and I'm getting dragged through the air toward that monster thing;;
Right after that, I feel like someone's yanking my goddamn hair, and at the same time
Something was being squeezed out of my body like the last bit of an ice pop
I mean, I did invest with every last cent I could scrape together, but I never thought my actual soul would get gathered up and sucked out, holy shit lol
Anyway, after it got pulled out, the feeling was weird as hell. I was stuck next to the monster and it felt kinda hazy, like dreaming? I was still barely conscious though
So I'm floating there going "uhhhh" and then suddenly a yellow flash, and I'm back in my body. Without Stardus, I'd have just been stuck as a soul forever, huh? Even thinking about it now gives me chills
Thing I realized today — the afterlife is definitely real...
Sorry this got a bit rambly
Conclusion: Starting today, I'm an EgoStar supporter
=[Comments]=
[That conclusion feels a little off...]
[Lmaooo you had a once-in-a-lifetime experience there]
[Seeing as you've finally awakened to EgoStar, it was a good experience.]
[EgoStar randomly skyrocketing lol but Egostic wasn't even involved in this one, what]
└[Lol well Mango is good and Stardus is good, so if you combine them, wouldn't that be twice as good? lmao]
*
"Ha, cough. Hilarious. Cough. Cough—hack!"
"Big bro! Are you okay?"
"Yeah, course, cough. I'm fi... cough. HACK!!!"
"Aaaah! Big sis Ha-yul!!!"
"I'm coming!"
After everything was over.
I'd passed out cold, and even after waking up, I just kept spewing blood.
Ha. Does it make any sense that teleporting a few times gets you this close to death?
People with shit-tier powers — how are they supposed to live like this?
"You’re going to be the death of me, big bro!"
"Seo-eun... I'm the one dying here... Eun-wol, cough. Another clean handkerchief, please."
"Y-yes!"
Ha.
Seriously, I needed to retire as soon as possible or something.