Memory
Memory
[Request for Best Post) Full Ego Stream Notice...jpg]
===
[Ego Stream x Foreign Villain Alliance Partnership Notice]
Hello. This is Egostic.
Ego Stream, South Korea’s villain alliance, has been meeting with other villain organizations and signing agreements to create a better environment for our activities.
We are therefore pleased to introduce the villain alliance with which we have recently concluded a new agreement.
• Latis (North Atlantic terrorist organization)
We strongly sympathized with Latis’s ambition to expand the seas and conquer the world, and our verbal talks concluded in an exceedingly amicable atmosphere.
We hereby announce that Ego Stream and Latis have entered into an agreement to respect one another and refrain from mutual acts of hostility and encroachment upon each other's spheres of activity.
Thank you.
===
The Ego Stream notice that went up right when everyone was wondering why Latis was invading the whole world but not attacking South Korea...
You see what the point is here?
Refrain from encroaching upon each other's spheres of activity <-- that's it
So Korea was the only country they didn’t attack because it’s Ego Stream’s turf lol. Egostic went ahead and cut a deal, and that’s why South Korea alone got out safe lol
(Image of Egostic with arms spread, a halo glowing behind him)
Egostic <--- upvote if he’s simply South Korea’s GOAT lol
[Upvotes] 6558 [Downvotes] 27
=[Comments]=
[Mangostic! Mangostic! Mangostic! Mangostic! Mangostic! Mangostic! Mangostic! Mangostic! Mangostic! Mangostic! Mangostic! Mangostic! Mangostic! Mangostic! Mangostic!]
[Thank you thank you thank you thank you]
[We are living in the age of Egostic]
[Just an S-rank hero lol]
[Saw this and joined the Mangostic fandom faster than anyone]
[Nah, wait, so what actually happened? Did Egostic make the pact with Latis and then this whole invasion just happened to break out right after?]
↳ [nah it looks like Egostic already knew about the invasion and went to settle things lol]
↳ [If you just look at the timing of the notice, it's basically confirmed he got South Korea excluded lol]
↳ [???: I'm the only one allowed to terrorize South Korea]
[South Korea’s greatest national achievement: being home to the S-rank hero Apple Mango]
[Upvote if you think the Association bastards need to hurry up and become a subsidiary of Ego Stream lol]
↳ [fr lol]
↳ [Ego Stream does a better job than the Association, even on a global scale lol]
[S-rank Heroes (couldn't predict a single attack, got their asses kicked) VS Mangostic (the only one in the world who stopped the attack) fr who's the real hero here lol]
***
A notice posted on the Ego Stream villain alliance homepage.
The notice had been posted quietly, but it spread like wildfire until the entire country knew about it.
[While the whole world is reeling from Latis's terror, South Korea alone has sustained no damage. A claim is now being raised that the reason lies with the villain alliance Ego Stream.]
[It's a highly credible interpretation. Hasn't the accepted theory become that it was, in effect, thanks to Egostic...]
[This news has also been reported in the foreign press. Overseas netizens are reacting with comments like, 'How did a small villain alliance from South Korea manage to make such a deal with Latis?' 'What were our own country's villain alliances doing while South Korea pulled this off?']
[By contrast, our government and the Association have taken a step back, stating it is 'only speculation and nothing is confirmed.' Experts suggest they are being cautious because an official announcement admitting the truth could draw the attention of international bodies. In fact, only Ego Stream has made the claim, while Latis has remained completely silent.]
So while no official statement came from the government or the Association, the public had already effectively accepted that it was thanks to Egostic.
And so, while the #ThankYou_Egostic event was trending in South Korea, the fan cafe gained another surge in members, and communities were flooded with posts praising Egostic.
Shin Ha-ru was alone, keeping her silence.
.....
The Association Control Center.
There, the Association President was laughing, regaling the staff with stories.
"Last night I got a call from the Japanese Association President. The man was moaning about how he was worked half to death. Said he won't be able to sleep for the next week, stuck working overnight to handle the post-attack recovery. It nearly brought a tear to my eye. Compared to that, how lucky are we? Ha ha ha ha!"
The staff, including the President, had gathered for an emergency countermeasure meeting.
But since South Korea wasn't exactly in a state of emergency then, they merely sat around ordering jajangmyeon. The only reason they'd gathered was that the Korean branch couldn't be seen doing nothing while every other country's Association branch suffered like dogs, so they were pretending to have something to handle.
While the President cracked dad jokes and the staff laughed along, the room was practically a party.
Shin Ha-ru was alone, lost in a tangle of thoughts.
Egostic had joined hands with Latis, a villain organization operating on a global scale.
...And he'd done it without her knowing.
She, who was supposed to be an expert on Egostic, had not known this was coming. Not one bit.
Realizing that, Shin Ha-ru felt her mood sink for a reason she couldn't name.
...I had to find out through a website notice just like everyone else, while the Ego Stream members at his side must have known long ago.
Electra, the Moon Priestess, and that hacker girl—all of them.
....
She couldn't figure out exactly why that thought made her mood sink even further.
But dwelling on it would only make things worse, so she forced herself to think about something else.
Ego Stream had entered a contractual relationship with Latis—potentially even a full alliance, depending on the circumstances.
This fact carried enormous implications.
First, a South Korean villain alliance joining forces with a powerful foreign villain alliance was a matter of grave national security.
And now that they had awakened, the number of enemies had doubled.
Of course, the Association had released materials to the press claiming the talk of an alliance was just Egostic's media play, but the well-known fact was that Egostic hardly ever lied.
There was a high probability it was true.
Which meant she had to be more on guard.
Egostic had become far more dangerous than before. She had to formulate a response.
"..."
Right. She had to be on guard. He was a villain.
She couldn't let herself be at ease.
She couldn't, but...
"...Haah."
She looked down out the window.
The rain from yesterday had stopped. Now, only bright sunlight illuminated the city under a clear sky.
She watched the people far below, going about their ordinary daily lives without a care.
Shin Ha-ru quietly thought to herself.
...Even so.
...Still.
Today’s ordinary life had been protected because of him.
Even if I’m a hero and he’s a villain...
Can’t I admit at least that much?
Just for today, I’m glad Egostic was there.
***
"Big bro, the news has been praising you ever since you posted that notice yesterday."
I was lying on the sofa sharing popcorn with Eun-wol and watching TV when Seo-eun, who'd been looking at her phone beside me, said that.
...Look. You don't really need to give me a running commentary on that.
"Honestly, big bro, at this point it barely looks like you’re trying to hide it. Why don’t we just become a hero alliance? We could rename ourselves Mango Stream while we’re at it."
"..."
"No but, seriously, why did you post that notice? Honestly, wasn't that something you could've just not posted?"
At Seo-eun's genuinely curious question, I tossed a piece of popcorn into my mouth and answered.
"It was all going to come out eventually anyway. On top of that, this kind of thing isn't going to be a one-off, so it's better to just get out ahead of it and be open ahead of time."
"...Well, if you say so. But what about how big bro's fans keep multiplying by the day?"
"About that, well... here, wait."
I grabbed the remote and changed the channel.
Eun-wol, who'd been lying next to me watching, went "Ah!!!" in dismay when the screen changed. I placated her by saying I'd paused it, then put on a different broadcast.
"How about that!"
[Egostic has formed an alliance with a foreign villain alliance. This is a very serious problem! With a psychopath like Egostic, it would be no surprise at all if he joined them in an invasion right this moment, everyone! Don't be fooled by his tricks. This is the same bastard who was throwing bombs in the street and committing acts of terror just last time! He's a truly evil man!]
On the broadcast, a woman with a very familiar face was shouting passionately in an agitated voice.
"...Uh, what's that about?"
"Look. You know that anti-me smear broadcast—no, I mean, critical broadcast—I've been cultivating? Well, now it's on network TV. It's growing up nice and strong."
"...So?"
"It means as long as we have that woman, the public opinion war is no problem. There's going to be a 24-hour Egostic criticism broadcast now. Who's going to stand a chance against that?"
Before long, a whole crop of negative public opinion about me was going to sprout up.
YouTube and newspapers had seemed somewhat limited, so I'd even secured her a spot on a television network. There was no way it wouldn't work.
It was only a matter of time before Egostic was seen as a wicked villain. Nobody could stand up to a smear campaign, especially if I kept staging attacks.
"...Uh, um... well, if big bro says so, I guess it must be true?"
"It is. You'll see eventually that I was right."
"..."
Just as Seo-eun was making a dubious face.
Choi Se-hee, who'd been dozing at the foot of the sofa and had roused herself at the sound of our voices, suddenly asked.
"Yeah but. If you reveal the truth about that partnership thing, aren't people from other countries gonna come try to catch you? They might figure they can't catch Latis so they'll settle for catching you instead."
"No. They won't care about me at all."
I said it flatly.
Anyway, every other country is completely swamped with their own post-attack recovery, and originally no one ever dispatches heroes to another country. There's too much risk of talent drain.
Normally, the International Hero Association might have taken some interest. But it was so battered now that it could not spare me a thought either. The UHN Director in particular would be too busy holding the organization together after the attack and the threat of internal division.
So I said it, with total confidence.
"You don't need to worry. They probably won't even remember my name."
***
International Association Headquarters, UHN.
There, the woman seated in the Director's office looked over one of the countless reports piled up, then folded it closed again.
South Korea’s villain alliance, Ego Stream. And its leader, Egostic...
...For now, I’ll at least remember the name.
That was all she muttered to herself.