Aftermath and Reactions
Aftermath and Reactions
["How could your own country's president—! Do something like this—in a place full of his own citizens! Even a brutally vicious villain like me wouldn't do that!"]
After Egostic's exposé video racked up tens of millions of views and swept the nation, the news talked about nothing else.
"Following villain Egostic's exposé, the president's approval rating continues to plummet daily. It has hit a record low of 9 percent, collapsing below double digits..."
"The Hero Association president has held an emergency public press conference. The central point was that the President did indeed launch either a nuclear weapon or a missile with comparable destructive power. He stated that, without the hero Stardus, thousands of civilians would have died."
"The Presidential Secretariat has moved to contain the fallout. They explained that it was merely an ordinary missile, not a nuclear one, but public sentiment remains icy. Outraged netizens responded with, 'So it wasn't a nuclear bomb but a hydrogen bomb? Isn't that the same thing?'"
"The administration is facing its greatest crisis since taking office. Amid mounting calls to impeach the president..."
"Separately, support for the Hero Association continues to rise. Praise for the Association president's principled statement and Stardus's appropriate response is growing louder by the day."
"Breaking news. Foreign media reports indicate that the International Hero Association Union is discussing the promotion of Korea's hero Stardus to S-rank. Experts judge that her performance in this recent battle was likely the deciding factor. Unlike A-rank, which can be designated domestically, S-rank requires authorization from the International Association Union."
"Additionally, villain Egostic is also reportedly being considered for promotion to S-rank. Unlike Stardus, whose discussion has just begun, an Association official stated that discussion regarding Egostic has been ongoing for months and an official announcement is likely scheduled for the end of this month."
***
[Breaking) Egostic S-rank promotion coming soon]
Article Link
=[Comments]=
[Finally]
[What took so long]
└[From S-rank onward, an international body makes the call, I guess?]
[S-rank hero Kingple Mango is coming, holy shit]
[Looking at this performance, he's basically an S-rank hero, right? Right?]
*
[Mangostic is a hero. Even the ancient Goguryeo murals say so.]
Zero casualties, thwarted terrorist attacks dozens of times, if you add up the bridge he blew up last time and this time's robot hijacking, I don't even know how many people he's saved
Hey, you still not backing Ego after this? You're hardcore, so hardcore lol
=[Comments]=
[Honestly, if you're Korean, how can you not support Mango?]
[Upvoted lololol]
[All facts.]
[At thirty-forty-five years old, I've never seen a villain like this]
*
[Pro Tip: How to Understand Egostic]
No wtf why is a goddamn villain saving people and going apeshit (X)
Ah! Egostic was a hero all along! (O)
=[Comments]=
[That's it right there lol]
[fr you gotta change your mindset]
[Why is a villain acting like this? (X) Oh, he's not a villain! (O)]
[He is just... ^a wannabe villain^]
└[Is that a compliment or an insult lol]
*
[fr the thing that makes the president so goddamn infuriating]
He hijacked a giant war machine the government couldn't even stop and saved Seoul
And instead of a commendation, they fired a missile at him
fr are these people even human?
=[Comments]=
[He can just teleport so they can't even kill him, idiots lol]
[Hero-related stuff should be handled by the Association, why the hell is the government stepping in]
[But that guy ended up screwed anyway lol his term's almost up, he's gonna get hit with a massive lame duck]
└[Honestly, they should just impeach him lol]
*
[But how did the Association president cut the President loose with such uncanny timing?]
He just straight up announced it was a nuclear warhead
Isn't the Association supposed to cover for the government? Aren't they in a cooperative relationship?
=[Comments]=
[Nah the Association and the government aren't close. This administration's thing is they think the Association threatens them so they check their power like crazy. Same goes for the Association.]
[1. The president is a sinking ship so they're ditching the rot / going for the last hit. 2. To back up Stardus.]
└[Personally, I think it was No. 2. If the President had started demanding to know why Stardus stopped it, the Association would have been in a bind. Technically, the missile really was fired to eliminate a villain. They probably cut him loose before he could start raising hell.]
*
[A Mangostic fan uncovered a chilling fact... scary]
Everyone who has stood against Egostic so far
They all fell spectacularly, holy shit
Yakostic... how deep does his power go...
=[Comments]=
[Stardus:???]
└[Ah lol the girlfriend is the exception lol]
*
[Breaking: Electra Fandom destroyed... photos from the last incident released]
(Photo)
A photo was released of Egostic catching the falling Stardus in a princess carry in midair lololol
Apparently some guy nearby snapped it perfectly with a telescope lol
Yeah lol it's Ego X Star lol
Egostic's heart has already gone to Stardus, hasn't it? At this point isn't this just established fact?
=[Comments]=
[That's fabricated]
└[Fabrication claim has entered the chat lol]
└[???: It's fabricated anyway]
└[Are you even awake?]
└[Unable to accept reality lol]
[Kyyaa lol]
[fr there's definitely something going on between Egostic and Stardus lol]
*
[Fact: Egostic liked Stardus from the very beginning]
The one he killed a villain for and left a letter was Stardus
The one he called out after his first terrorist attack was Stardus
Anyway the one he's entangled with is Stardus
And now he even saved Stardus this time, holy shit
True love, acknowledged?
=[Comments]=
[At this point, this is not delusional shipping anymore. It is reasonable suspicion lol]
[The photo's authenticity is a bit iffy, still under debate though]
[As an EgoStar supporter, when Ego first called out Stardus I was filled with pure hype lol]
*
[Stardus's popularity is through the roof these days]
Membership in the Stardus Fandom cafe reportedly jumped 2,000 percent, holy shit
She's just the biggest beneficiary of this whole incident yeah...
=[Comments]=
[Crazy lol what the hell]
└[Korea's first slated S-rank... and she basically saved all of Seoul's citizens so of course her popularity is through the roof]
└[If the EgoStar two get married, do they become an S-rank Couple? lol]
[The manager of the Stardus Fandom cafe is losing it lol. They are handing out fried chicken to the members and everything]
└[That person is fr true love lol they basically live for Stardus]
[Honestly, fighting a giant war machine one-on-one in a straight-up slugfest was kind of epic lol]
*
[Yuseong Corporation donates relief supplies to Seoul evacuees]
Separately, they even donated billions of won, holy shit
=[Comments]=
[Is Yuseong Corporation the company whose chairman's granddaughter is Icicle?]
└[Yeah Lee Seol-ah is there, that's right]
[Yuseong Corporation is earning some goodwill lol]
[Now that Han-eun Group collapsed and Yuseong Corporation hit No. 1 in South Korea's business world, looks like they're managing their image too]
└[They've been going crazy acquiring and merging other companies lately lol]
└[Buy their stocks, fr they'll rise endlessly lol]
[Yuseong Group controls South Korea from the shadows! And the A-rank hero Icicle is the mastermind!]
└[Hello, valued commenter. This is Yuseong Corporation's Legal Team. If you do not delete this comment by 10 PM tonight, the company will pursue legal action, including criminal charges and civil suits, for defamation and spreading false information.]
└[Real-life consequences have entered the chat lol]
***
Busan.
Yuseong Group Headquarters.
The top floor.
A suited employee approached the woman who sat gazing at the night view, leaning back in her chair and stroking a cat.
"Ms. Seol-ah, the manipulation of public opinion is largely complete. This administration is now beyond recovery. We have also reached an agreement with the Association president."
"And how did that other matter go?"
"Yes. We successfully approached and recruited the leading candidate for the next presidential election. From now on, he'll do as we say."
"Good. It's all going according to plan. Is there anything else?"
"...The Chairman said he would delegate all authority to you, CEO Seol-ah."
"Finally. That's good news."
At the news, she smiled faintly for the first time and swiveled her chair away from the window to face forward.
With her long sky-blue hair,
cradling and stroking a white cat,
the woman smiling softly was
Lee Seol-ah, the heiress to Yuseong Corporation, publicly known as the A-rank hero Icicle.
"Now that things are more or less settled... shall I go see Ha-ru?"
***
A grand mansion hidden deep in the mountains, known as the Ego Stream Headquarters.
And there, a man sat with his hands interlocked on the desk, deep in serious contemplation.
That man was me.
"..."
What was I agonizing over?
The President? That was not my problem. He floundered and fell from power in the Original Work anyway.
The S-rank promotion? I had expected that to some extent, and it happened in the Original Work too, so it was not much of a problem. No, there was a problem, but I could probably solve it.
Yuseong Corporation's conquest of South Korea under Lee Seol-ah? I was planning to get a piece of that action anyway, so it was fine.
The real problem—the one I was agonizing over—was something else.
'With this, the debt's repaid, right?'
Ever since that day, it kept popping into my head.
Stardus's face, the way she looked, smiling faintly and saying that to me.
That.
No matter how I thought about it...
"She figured it out, didn't she?"
I'm scared.