Flash Mob
Flash Mob
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[Live Egostic Update) He's on the street lol]
(Photo)
What is this lol
=[Comments]=
[Oh what's this? lol]
[Live event ON lol]
[Isn't this dangerous? I genuinely don't know]
[Ah lol, are you filming a movie? lol]
[Dude, you'll die filming that, just run]
↳ [Real man move: filming the crime scene]
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[OMG guys, Mangostic just showed up on the street!]
(Video)
[Oh what? Another terrorist attack? Scary...]
[No! This time they say he's just chasing someone!]
[Gasp, in the video, someone's bleeding and flashing around, isn't that murder? T_T]
[No, isn't that obviously chasing a villain?]
[Dark Hero of the Shadows Mangostic! Dark Hero of the Shadows Mangostic! Take me!!!]
↳ [The hell is the Mangostic fandom lol]
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[Live Trend No. 1]
#Egostic
***
"Huff... huff..."
Teleporter Kim Hak-cheol gasped for air as he forced himself to move.
Normally, he could teleport with ease, but right now, his condition was far from normal.
Clutching the wound on his abdomen to stop the bleeding, he kept moving. And moving.
Only forward. He moved only forward.
His vision was already blurring. His body felt heavy. He felt like he was about to die.
A sudden surge of rage shot through him.
What did I do wrong to deserve this?
All he'd done wrong was rob a few banks.
Sure, he'd killed a few people in the process, but that was entirely their fault. Why did they have to get in the way when he was just going about his business?
He kept teleporting forward. But maybe it was the pain or the dizziness. Moving wasn't easy.
Teleportation normally requires a clear mental image of the desired location or coordinates. But Kim Hak-cheol, having been shot for the first time in his life, had already lost the ability to think clearly.
He simply kept going, over and over, to the farthest point he could see in front of him. Even that was getting difficult as his vision faded.
"Aaah!"
"Wh-what the!"
"Eek!"
He was in the middle of downtown.
In a place packed with people, a man bleeding buckets was popping up here, there, and everywhere among the crowd. It would be strange if people didn't freak out.
But still, he had to keep going forward. Forward.
Because behind him, behind him, that bastard was chasing him.
"Yo, yo, hello! It's me, Egostic!"
"Yes, yes. I'm a little busy right now, you see. Whoops!"
"Ah, ah. Don't be alarmed. I mean you no harm!"
"I'm merely cleaning up some trash for the good citizens! So please, go about your business worry-free!"
A voice rang out from behind him.
That insufferable bastard, Egostic.
Teleporter Kim Hak-cheol knew exactly who he was.
In South Korea, not knowing Egostic would practically get you accused of being a spy. There wasn't a soul who didn't know him.
Just last week, all day long, the TV, the internet, and even every person he met was talking about Egostic.
Kim Hak-cheol knew what Egostic had done.
That he'd assassinated two villains.
But he hadn't been particularly wary of Egostic.
Have you ever seen someone refuse to leave their house for fear of being struck by lightning?
He figured... the villains Egostic had killed so far probably had some personal beef with him.
Logically, you wouldn't just kill those guys for no reason at all, right?
So Kim Hak-cheol had been certain.
Certain that Egostic would not try to kill him.
Certain that Egostic would not know his identity.
And certain that even if Egostic did try to kill him, he could use his ability to escape.
And that certainty was, in real-time, betraying Kim Hak-cheol.
Who in the world expects a guy with a gun to suddenly pop out and shoot them while they're resting at home?
And the consequence of failing to predict that was coming back to him, mercilessly.
"Come on out! I'm taking out one piece of trash today!"
"A-rank villain Teleporter! Time to go to hell!"
"Trash belongs in the trash can, and trash villains belong at the Lord's side!"
Egostic had been spouting insane nonsense like a lunatic.
He had yelled at the top of his lungs as if he wanted the whole world to hear him.
That guy terrified Kim Hak-cheol more than anything.
More precisely, it was his voice that never got any quieter.
His voice kept ringing out without fading, no matter how often he teleported away.
Kim Hak-cheol kept moving and groaning.
"Urgh..."
He felt his head starting to spin.
It was a miracle he'd made it this far in the first place after being shot.
If he didn't have his teleportation ability, and if a body on the verge of death hadn't squeezed out its last reserves...
He'd probably already be dead.
"But unfortunately, it seems your life ends here!"
Listening to the nonsense from behind, Kim Hak-cheol finally collapsed.
His physical strength had completely given out, unable to teleport any further.
As he hung his head, breathing raggedly, a shadow fell over him.
He raised his head to see what had cast the shadow.
A villain in a half-mask stood there, grinning viciously.
"Teleporter! Do you know your sins?"
"Huff... huff... spare, spare me. Please spare me..."
"Ah! Spare you, you say?"
He looked around.
The two of them were surrounded by a crowd of people.
Egostic raised his voice theatrically and addressed the people surrounding them.
"Everyone! This piece of trash stole tens of billions in other people's money and killed four innocent people! He massacred people who were someone's husband, someone's father, someone's friend, someone's son. Should a man like that be spared?"
"Kill him!"
"Kill the bastard!"
The furious shouts of the crowd, screaming for his death, echoed.
A few among them did wonder—hadn't that bastard Egostic tried to drown hundreds of innocent sons and daughters himself?—but faced with a gun-wielding villain, no one was about to say it aloud. Life was precious, after all.
Amid the shouts of "kill him," Egostic looked down at Kim Hak-cheol, shrugged his shoulders, and flashed a smirk.
"They want me to kill you."
"P-please. J-just once. Just spare me once..."
"Yeah? Just once? Fine. Since it's just once... shall I spare you?"
Kim Hak-cheol's expression momentarily brightened at Egostic's positive response.
But before Kim Hak-cheol could even respond, Egostic's hand was already reaching out.
"Sorry, Hak-cheol, but not a chance!"
The moment Egostic's amused words ended, a bang rang out from somewhere.
That was the last memory of A-rank villain Teleporter, Kim Hak-cheol.
***
"Phew..."
Teleporter, finally dead after another shot.
The moment he died, the crowd around me erupted in cheers and applause.
"Thank you. Thank you."
As I bowed in exaggerated thanks, the applause grew even louder.
But... uh...
So, hey. Guys. I was technically a villain, you know?
So, I mean... what were all of you doing standing around me?
This world is surprisingly similar to my original one, except for the existence of superpowered beings like heroes and villains.
But at times like this, I was reminded all over again that I'd come to another world.
When? People were cheering and applauding after watching a man get shot dead right in front of them.
I mean, wasn't it normal to be terrified and scream when someone was shot dead in front of you?
So seeing people smile and applaud in front of a bloodied corpse as though it were nothing left me with a strange feeling.
It reminded me of people watching public executions with fascination in the Middle Ages. Or maybe it was not so different?
Maybe people in this world had grown used to death because of all the clashes between heroes and villains. Or was there some other reason?
Wait, hold on. Putting all that aside, I was a villain, you know? I wasn't a hero. What were all of you doing?
I flashed a smirk at the people still applauding, then turned and said,
"Thank you! Thank you, everyone! But, you see, I'm a villain too. What would you do if I suddenly started shooting at all of you gathered here?"
Only then did people flinch and freeze.
Alright, so they do still have some common sense.
Now?
Anyway, I hadn't meant to really scare them, so I added,
"Just kidding, everyone! I don't randomly harm innocent civilians out of the blue! Whenever I do something big, I always announce it in advance and call the hero, so don't worry! Today, I only came to clean up a villain who was a bit nastier than I'm, so you can all rest easy!"
I could see people relax.
I mean, if they were going to get that scared, why had they come near me in the first place?
[Bro, if you're all done now, get out of there before the heroes come.]
Seo-eun's voice sounded in my ear.
Right, time to head out.
Ah, but I was already exhausted from all that teleporting, and now I had to jump a long distance again. I was dying.
Just as I sighed and prepared to teleport, a loud voice came from the sky.
"Egostic!"
Startled, I looked up.
"Stardus?"
No, what the hell are you doing here?