Incitement and Fabrication
Incitement and Fabrication
"Ngh..."
Flying across the sky, Shin Ha-ru let out a groan.
Could she stop the falling missile with so little strength left?
Honestly, she couldn't be sure.
"....."
The moment she flew up, the missile came into view.
It had already reached the area directly ahead of them. She gritted her teeth at the sight.
Could she stop that?
No. That wasn't what mattered.
The moment she made her decision, stopping it became her only option.
For the civilians who might be caught in the blast.
For the city that might be completely destroyed.
And... to protect one man who might die because of it.
Instead of fleeing the incoming missile, she flew straight toward it.
Then, in a split second,
she threw herself at it.
....
Honestly, she didn't even know how she'd done it.
The instant she collided with it, her insides twisted in agony, pain tore through her flesh, and the impact rang through her skull.
A shock like the one she had suffered while lifting the plane—no, even worse—slammed into her.
It was all the more brutal because the prolonged battle had already drained her strength.
It wouldn't have been surprising if she'd lost consciousness.
But she endured through sheer superhuman willpower.
The missile slowed after colliding with her, but it was still pushing forward.
To stop it,
even on the verge of blacking out, she pushed her power to its absolute limit.
Under ordinary circumstances, it would have been completely impossible.
But she was someone who grew stronger the more adversity she faced—and stronger still when she had someone to protect.
She—
with strength from somewhere she could not explain—
finally—
stopped the missile.
And then,
nearly surpassing her own limits,
she hurled the missile back into the sky.
"........"
How far had her ability surged in that brief instant?
The missile she threw soared higher and higher until it became a star in the sky.
Then she collapsed.
"....Ah."
A short groan escaped her as she fell.
The moment she flung the missile away, her body seemed to shut down after forcing its power past the limit, and all strength drained from her.
Having collapsed in midair, falling was inevitable.
As she plummeted, she squeezed her eyes shut.
Would she be all right if she hit the ground?
No matter how much tougher she was than an ordinary person, she couldn't be sure she'd survive a fall from this height unscathed. She probably wouldn't die... but she'd have to prepare for several days in the hospital.
Just as she braced for the impact—
She floated.
Instead of a crash, she felt someone gently wrap their arms around her.
".....?"
At the unexpected sensation, she cracked her eyes open to see what had happened.
And what she saw was
Egostic floating in midair with her in his arms.
***
"What the fuck?"
My eyes went wide when I saw the missile flying in.
When had they fired that? They hadn't even launched one during the chaos in the Original Work.
Well, the missile itself wasn't much of a problem. I could just ditch the machine and run. Stardus had almost finished powering up... The only disappointment was that things would end before I could make her awaken.
But that was not the issue.
Why had Stardus suddenly flown up?
"To stop that thing...?"
I muttered in disbelief before I knew it.
Why would she stop it? Had someone told her a nuclear bomb was coming? There was no reason to block an ordinary missile.
No, before that—
was she even in any condition to stop it?
"Big bro, what do we do?"
"First, hijack the news broadcast being filmed from that helicopter. Hurry."
"Okay... Wait, we don't have enough equipment here..."
Seo-eun grumbled, but she and Soo-bin immediately began working on the laptop they'd brought.
"Ha-yul, Choi Se-hee, you two stay here. I'll be right back."
After telling the remaining two that, I teleported.
Where? To the very top of the giant machine.
"Achoo! Ugh, it's cold."
A cold wind struck me the moment I emerged on top of the machine. Maybe the temperature had dropped because night was approaching. Not that it mattered.
Standing atop the machine with my cape fluttering, I looked at Stardus.
I didn't know why she'd stepped in, but
could she really stop it?
She hadn't eaten anything and had been fighting me from morning until late afternoon.
Before I knew it, I was biting my nails with worry.
No, this was different from before.
The Original Work had shown her stopping trains and planes with ease, but I'd never seen her stop a missile while this exhausted!
I was practically tap-dancing with anxiety.
Ready to jump in and save her at any moment, I watched Stardus with a pounding heart. The broadcast had already been hijacked, so at least I didn't have to worry about that.
Then Stardus collided with the missile.
I watched with sweaty palms. What if that thing exploded?
Fortunately, the missile didn't burst in midair and set Stardus on fire. I'd brought Ha-yul so she could heal her if necessary, but thank goodness.
Wait, catching the missile was fine, but what was she going to do with it? If she threw it nearby, it would explode there.
As if proving my concern unfounded, she blasted the missile high into the sky.
It climbed higher and higher as though it intended to leave the atmosphere and enter space.
She had thrown it with that much force? No, it was still climbing?
Stardus had obviously awakened. Hmm. I'd planned to strengthen her through the robot battle, but she seemed to have grown another way. Well, all roads led to Rome.
The moment I reached that conclusion, Stardus lost her balance and began falling from the sky. Ah, she was out of strength. That made sense. But it'd be a disaster if she hit the ground like that.
The instant I thought that, my body moved first.
Save Stardus first.
...Then ask why she stopped that thing. Was it really a nuclear bomb?
*
And back to the present.
I was naturally holding Stardus in a princess carry.
"......"
That made her the second person I'd carried like this since coming to this world.
Having Stardus tucked into my arms felt strange. Even through her suit, I could feel how soft she was. How was she still so soft when she did so much hero work?
...Wait. Why was I having such weird thoughts? I hadn't thought anything of it when I carried Choi Se-hee this way. Strange.
Anyway, my eyes met Stardus's as she lay in my arms.
"....."
For a moment, neither of us said anything.
I'd expected her to shout, “You piece of trash! Put me down this instant!” the moment she saw me, but she only stared at me in silence.
She was breathing in short gasps and looked ready to pass out. But why wasn't she saying anything even after seeing me? A hero was in a villain's arms. Thanks to that, my original plan had gone out the window. I'd meant to grin and tease her the moment she berated me, so what was this?
Floating in the air and slowly descending toward the ground, I racked my brain for something to say. Then I smiled and spoke.
"Stardus! You've done something fascinating again. When you suddenly stopped fighting and flew up, I thought you were ascending to heaven!"
I threw out whatever came to mind. Come on, give me something to work with.
But she stayed silent, resting quietly in my arms with her eyes lowered. What was wrong with her? What, had she gone mute?
Fine. I would ask her this instead.
"Then, Stardus, I'm curious about something. Why did you stop that missile?"
Seriously, why'd she stop it?
If she'd left it alone, it would have destroyed the giant machine cleanly and, with luck, taken me out too. Two birds with one stone.
This time, she opened her mouth in response to my question.
Huh. I'd expected her to ignore me again.
Her voice trembled slightly as she spoke.
"...Just..."
"Just?"
"With this... my debt is paid, right?"
She finished speaking, gave a faint smile, and promptly passed out.
Looking at her collapsed like that, the corners of her mouth still slightly raised,
I couldn't smile.
"......."
Her debt was paid?
What did that mean? Was she saying she'd stopped it to save me, not for some other reason?
...Why? For what reason? I was a villain.
What hero in the world threw herself at a missile to protect a villain?
The thought made me feel a little dizzy.
...Had she figured it out? Why I committed villainous acts? My true intentions?
No, that couldn't be. She was stubborn to a fault, and I had a criminal record. Why would she?
...But then what had that reaction just now meant?
Once we reached the ground, I laid Stardus down nearby. She remained unconscious and still.
"....."
I pressed a hand to my throbbing head.
Fine. Whatever she thought of me, that wasn't what mattered now. What mattered was how I handled this situation. Everyone had probably seen her fly up to stop the missile. The problem was why she'd stopped it. If word spread that she'd done it to protect me, things would explode.
...I wasn't talking about dating rumors. Those would explode too, of course, but people could question her qualifications as a hero, and hostile forces might attack her over it.
So what was I supposed to do?
I had to justify her actions.
I thought fast.
The public's distrust of the government, the President's low approval rating, favorable public opinion toward Stardus and me, how easily people got fired up—and the missile, already so far into space that it was nowhere to be seen.
Good. That was the answer.
Once the plan was fully formed, I contacted Seo-eun.
"Seo-eun, did you hijack the broadcast?"
[Yes. And that news camera? I had them turn it off too.]
"I'm about to go live, so toss me a camera... No, I'll come to you."
After saying that, I teleported back into the machine's cockpit.
Everyone looked at me as if asking what was going on.
"Choi Se-hee. Hand me the camera beside you."
"Huh? Here."
"Seo-eun, get ready to broadcast."
"Got it."
I took the camera from Se-hee and moved back to the top of the machine.
Twilight had already begun to darken the ground.
I needed to finish quickly and get out of there.
I took a brief breath and switched on the camera.
It'd been a while since I'd hijacked every terrestrial TV channel.
And with the newly added Ego Stream, my image would now spread across the entire internet too.
Sure enough, the chat window filled the moment I turned it on.
[Broadcast ON like crazy lolololol]
[Why the hell are you only turning it on now lolololol]
[Where'd the epic giant robot battle go?????? Where is it!!!!!]
[I saw Stardus suddenly fly up, and then the news feed cut out. What happened?]
[Wait, what's going on? Why are you outside?]
[Where's Stardus?]
[Why'd Stardus suddenly shoot upward earlier? I'm dying to know]
[I came in all excited, but where'd the giant machine go... It was the only entertainment on the evacuation route...]
I looked into the camera, smiled, and greeted everyone first.
"Good day, everyone! It is I, Egostic!"
Then I continued immediately.
"You're probably wondering why the fight ended so suddenly, but unfortunately, this is where it ends. Stardus has collapsed."
[?????]
[Wait, what does that mean]
[Why did Stardus collapse? Did she lose after all?]
[No, she suddenly flew up before the feed cut. Seems related?]
[Where's my giant-mech goodness!!!!]
"Stardus collapsed after stopping something that suddenly flew toward us during the battle. Everyone, don't panic. Just listen."
I stopped there and drew a breath.
Right. This was where it became important.
From now on, I'd deceive even myself. Incitement and fabrication pushed to the extreme meant getting swept up in my own lies.
This was all for Stardus. I was telling the truth... I was telling the truth...
Once I'd convinced myself, I shouted in the sincerest, most trustworthy voice I could produce.
"The President launched a nuclear bomb at Seoul just to catch me!"
"And Stardus threw herself at it to stop it!"
"This is the truth, everyone!!!"
[?]
[What?]
[??????????????]
[Ah, shit. Why does it sound plausible when he says that crazy President did it?]
[So that was it]
[Whoa, what the fuck, really?]
[It's a lie. No way!!! ...Except, wait?]
[Shit, so that's why Stardus flew up? That gives me chills]
[I always knew those government bastards would pull something someday]
[Yesss~~~ Mr. President, I,,knew,,it,,,,@!! Arrest him,,,right now,,,you bastards@@@!!!]
Now, let the incitement and fabrication begin.
Did you think I'd just sit still?
Let's all get fucked together, you bastard.
***
"How dare he spout such nonsense!!! Prime Minister! Turn that off at once! Block the broadcast!!!"
"...My apologies, Mr. President. Because that man hijacked the broadcast signal, there's nothing we can do from our end."
"Ugh..."
"Mr. President, we have an emergency!"
"What is it now?!"
"The Association president issued a statement! He says... ‘It is true that the President launched a nuclear bomb.’ He is probably trying to protect their hero!"
"....What in the world is happening...?"
The President collapsed.