A Minor Attack
A Minor Attack
Everyone was huddled together in the forest in front of Ego Stream's headquarters, the Big House.
To see this Death Knight I had brought.
[Ah! Being freed from the seal makes me feel alive again!]
This guy, clad in a helmet and full armor, clattered his helmet as he laughed.
A black spirit body was visible through his gray armor.
His body was made of a black soul, which wore the armor.
Our Desik, who looked ecstatic to be out of the ring's seal, was so chipper. Seeing him, Choi Se-hee asked me with great curiosity.
"What is this? A ghost?"
"A ghost...? Well, I suppose you could call him one."
Ghost. Soul. Thought-form. Familiar. Guardian spirit.
Whatever one called him, it was hard to call him human by then.
One could touch him, but that was about it.
"...My goodness, something like this exists. What on earth is it? If only I could study it properly..."
Amidst this, Seo-eun, being the science type, was analyzing the Death Knight with sparkling eyes.
[Hahaha! You said your name is Dain? Thank you for freeing me! The taste of freedom after so long is truly sweet. As thanks, I'll help you with anything I can. Just say the word!]
He declared boastfully, pounding his armor with his fist.
He said he could do anything. Uh...
"Uh... Desik. I don't really have anything for you to do."
[What's Desik? And what, you have nothing for me to do?]
The Death Knight flinched in surprise.
Seeing him like that, I really had no choice but to say that.
I hadn't expected any specific role from him from the start.
I had only meant to take a powerful future villain off the board early. Nothing more.
And besides, based on what I'd seen in the Original Work...
"You disappear if you're out for more than a certain amount of time, don't you?"
[How did you know that? Yes, that's right. If I wander this world for too long, my energy depletes quickly and I must rest. But right now I'm full of energy, I can hold out a few more hours!]
The Death Knight spoke confidently.
Yeah, but because he'd been sealed in the ring for so long, he seemed to be at full power then.
That meant I could use his power at full strength for a while...
I wasn't sure. I hadn't thought about it.
Actually, I'd planned to just take the ring, confirm the guardian spirit inside, and seal him back up.
No... I didn't expect him to be this cooperative...
"Hmm. Okay. I'll ask you later. Let's go back in for now."
[What?! Wait! Hold on! I can... Aaaaargh!]
With one last scream, Desik was sucked back into the ring. The ring gave a faint hum as it vibrated.
The moment I sealed him again,
something suddenly flashed through my mind.
Right.
Aside from the long cooldown after each appearance, Death Knight had shown tremendous strength in the Original Work.
So... if he was this cooperative,
why not simply add him to my villain alliance, Ego Stream, as a new member?
I began to seriously consider the idea.
Yeah. There were powerful villains I planned to establish as major threats. But I would have to recruit them from scratch, and that took time.
That meant there would probably be another three-month gap after the Busan attack.
Should I just outsource one to him?
I could keep my face off camera, have him stage the attack, and broadcast only that through Ego Stream.
Since it would air under the Ego Stream name, everyone would know the attack happened under my orders, and it would demonstrate Ego Stream's strength too.
It would also give Stardus more training.
With villains beginning to pour out, she would receive some training anyway, but fighting a powerful villain I'd personally refined would feel different.
I'd already dealt with or recruited every villain strong enough to truly trouble Stardus. The remaining villains were comparatively weak and could only help her maintain her edge, not grow stronger.
Only I could make her grow. Hahaha.
Death Knight had eventually earned an S-rank designation in the later part of the Original Work, so he was quite powerful.
In that case...
Maybe I could send him out for a minor attack instead of a main event.
Running only main events would get stale. I needed something lighter in between to change the pace.
All right. Let's call him back out.
I manipulated the ring again and brought out the Death Knight.
[...Thank you. Ah... I never knew the air could be so precious!]
The Death Knight, upon being released, knelt down and spread his arms toward the sunlight in rapture.
...No, this wasn't his character. I distinctly remembered him being quiet and serious during his few appearances in the Original Work. What was going on?
Anyway, I approached this guy who would be crying his eyes out if he had eyes instead of a helmet, and spoke.
"Want to work with me?"
[Good! Just tell me what to do!!!]
"You'd break a few buildings and fight an ability user. How does that sound? Oh, but you can't hurt anyone."
[What? Destruction? Combat?]
After saying that, he drew a breath, then suddenly threw his head back and laughed.
[A man never refuses destruction and battle! Good! I shall do it at once!!!]
This bastard... He understood a man's romance after all.
My opinion of Desik rose a little, and I nodded to him.
"That's the spirit! Are you ready to stage an attack with me like a real man?!"
[Yes!!! I don't know what that means, but if I can move freely, I, Saint Petr—]
"Death Knight."
[...Death Knight. I'll show you the power of Death Knight!]
"Good!!!"
Let's try a light one before the next main attack!
"...Big bro’s become even more of an idiot."
Seo-eun just muttered that.
An idiot? She should have called me a man.
Anyway, we immediately began preparing for the next minor attack. Since it was small, all we had to do was teach Death Knight basic common sense and his lines and actions, then we could head out...
***
[Isn't EgoStar only supported by complete has-beens?]
New wine belongs in new wineskins.
Let's let Stardus go... Honestly, hasn't she been tied to him for long enough?
Icicle <--- the wave of a new era. Accept it, lowly mortals.
The age of Ice Mango is coming!!!!
=[Comments]=
[Stardus = washed up / Icicle = innovation. The change has begun.]
[Honestly, his banter with Icicle was more fun than with Stardus lol]
↳[They barely even talked. What are you on about? lol]
[Yeah, I can't give up the first wife, Stardus~ Mango made his villain debut by writing a letter to Stardus in the first place~]
↳[The lawful wife, "Stardus." Truly irrefutable lol]
↳[What's hilarious about the Ice Mango squad: He's attacked with Stardus five times so far, and with Icicle only once! Yet you keep comparing Icicle to Stardus lol. Yep, a fivefold difference~]
↳[The entire Stardus Fandom showed up lol]
↳[You have to look at the trend... Icicle has the momentum right now, for real lol]
↳[If the next attack happens in Busan too, watching the Stardus Fandom rage will be hilarious lol]
*
[Sigh, our Egostic fan cafe really is dead.]
Now they're even holding a bracket tournament over which hero suits Mango best lololol
Why the fuck have they been talking about this all day? Don't they get tired of it?
=[Comments]=
[For real... This is all Mangostic's fault for not staging attacks or turning on the broadcast lol]
↳[Exactly. If he staged an attack, we'd be talking about that instead of pointless threads like this. It's all our Shitgostic's fault.]
↳[They even added a broadcast section to the Ego Stream site, but they never stream, fuck.]
[For real lol, pathetic lol. But Ice Mango is the trend, honestly.]
↳[OP][For real lol]
↳[Why is OP agreeing after cursing them out? lol]
↳[The bracket tournament is bullshit, but Icicle is definitely the main girl lol]
↳[Stardus Fandom, admit it! Egostic's arch-enemy is... Icicle...]
*
"Ha... seriously."
Seoul Hero Association.
Shin Ha-ru, sitting in her office looking at her laptop, unconsciously gritted her teeth.
Out of habit, she had entered Egostic's fan cafe and was reading posts, but ever since the last attack, ridiculous claims that made her blood boil had kept appearing.
...Claims that Icicle was Egostic's counterpart—his arch-enemy.
Egostic. She was the only one who knew him best and understood him best, so where did Icicle come from? Seol-ah had known nothing about him to begin with. Shin Ha-ru could vividly remember Seol-ah cursing Egostic to her before.
Before she knew it, her hands were already on the keyboard. Click-clack. She typed a comment.
[Stardus is the only one who truly understands Egostic and stands against him. There have been far too many ridiculous claims lately.]
After pressing enter and posting the comment, her heart felt slightly uneasy because of what she'd seen earlier.
↳[If the next attack happens in Busan too, watching the Stardus Fandom rage will be hilarious lol]
"..."
No way.
Egostic wouldn't start the next attack in Busan too, would he?
Was he tired of facing her and planning to deal only with Icicle now? Then what?
Her gaze darkened without her realizing.
...Could it be?
Just as she returned to the main screen of the cafe in a slightly down mood.
[Ego Stream livestream ON lolololol]
[What, it hasn't even been that long since the last attack lol]
[What, it hasn't been long since the last terror lol]
[It's in Seoul lol. Ice Mango squad utterly destroyed lololol]
[Stardus Punch! Stardus Punch! Stardus Punch! Stardus Punch! Stardus Punch! Stardus Punch!]
[Let's go let's go~]
"Stardus! There's another terrorist attack in the middle of Seoul!"
A moment later, an Association staff member burst through the door,
but Shin Ha-ru had already changed and launched herself through the window.
The corners of her mouth had risen without her noticing.
Right. There was no way Egostic would stop attacking Seoul.
As expected, she was his opponent.
Thinking that, she flew toward the scene.
As she cut across the sky, listening to an Association employee urgently relay the location through her earpiece, she thought,
Egostic. It would be good to face him directly again after the robot attack.
***
"Big bro, you’re not going out this time? Why are you staying home?"
"Death Knight will handle everything. I've got a drone up as the camera, so it's fine."
Outsourcing the entire attack was so convenient.
Home really was the best.
"...Should we make popcorn?"
It wasn't as though my absence from the scene would change much.