CH 8

300 people.

300 people, a fair number of high school students.

The fact that so many people are gathered together means a lot of things.

Whether the place has that much space for them, or they are stuck together.

In this case, maybe both.

The large number of 300 people are gathered side by side in a large space.

So many people are gathered at the same time but none of them open their mouths.

Then is it quiet? No, it is not.

Because of the woman who is wailing in front of me.

“Waaaaaaaaah! Waaaaaaaah! Wa, waaaaaaaaaaaah.’’

Stop crying, please.

[She’s crying so sadly.]

[He killed seven members of her side. It is something worth crying about. Hahaha]

[Is she going to die soon? She’s pretty though. That’s too bad.]

[You crazy brats. Are you not seeing the shivering hostages,,,, This is not a movie.]

[Yeah, as long as it’s not me~~~~]

[I don’t think he will kill the hostages.]

[Looking at that woman crying so sadly, I’m so worriedㅜㅜ]

[Seriously. That woman is also a terrorist, you crazy brats Hahahaha.]

[This is even more interesting than terrestrial TV. So much fun. Haha.]

Looking at the comments again to see how the atmosphere was,

I realized that I didn’t need to see it anymore. My head is spinning.

“Waaaaaaaaaaaah.”

First of all, this woman is more troubling.

What should I do? She is so loud.

Should I just kill her?

No, but I should at least warn her. I am a gentleman after all.

I squatted down in front of her and picked up the handgun that she dropped.

As I remained low, I made eye contact with the woman.

When our eyes met, I smiled gently at her and said,

“If you keep crying, I will shoot you.”

When I pretended to shoot with the handgun as a joke, she started to panic and tried her best to stop crying.

…Can people hold back their tears by putting the fist in their mouth? I am not sure.

Anyway, it got quieter than before.

Listening to her hiccups behind, I stood in front of the hostages.

What a grand sight as 300 people squatting down and looking up at me.

Their eyes were filled with fear.

I was wondering why but then I realized I just killed seven people in front of them.

How often would people see other people get shot, bleed and collapse in real life?

Wait, or is it a normal thing for people in this world?

This is Seoul.

Asia’s third-largest economy and third-largest terrorist city.

Strangely, the city is considered as the capital of Korea with a large number of heroes and villains with superpowers.

Anyway, people looked very nervous.

I spoke up loudly to them.

“Alright, alright. Hi, everyone. I am the A-class villain, Egostic. Nice to meet you.”

Using my telekinesis, I amplify my voice louder so everyone can hear me.

The atmosphere got colder when I was done talking. Everyone looked nervous. Come on. I will not hurt you.

[I bet he is going to say ‘Now, kill each other’!]

Looking at the comments, I can see why.

What do you think I am? I am not that kind of psychopath.

…Come to think of it, I did set up the scene where whoever between two ships kills the other first gets to live. Gosh, alright, my bad. My bad.

I said to the trembling people.

“First of all, I would like to apologize to everyone here. I’m very sorry.”

I bowed in 90 degrees.

…Really. I even used my telekinesis to keep my bow at the right angle. This kind of detail is important.

When I suddenly bowed to apologize, I could feel people holding their breath.

I straightened my back and continued.

“Although I didn’t commit this, I feel a great responsibility for these copycat crimes committed by my precedents.”

The hostages’ mouths were wide open.

All of sudden, the atmosphere started to get noisy.

[?????????]

[What is he talking about?]

[Is this… a villain? So what are those villains that I’ve been seeing so far?]

The chat window was shocked.

This is how parents would react when they saw their son, who had always gone around and caused trouble, suddenly came back with an acceptance letter from Seoul National University after studying hard for 50 days.

Whether or not, I kept speaking.

“Taking hostages is something that I wouldn’t do, so you can just go back home now. I’m going to send $1000 to each of you who has suffered because of me, so please check your account.”

[??? What nonsense is this???]

[Giving compensation for the damage? Fuck Hahahahahahaha.]

[Mom, I’m going to be a hostage when I grow up! Mom, I’m going to be a hostage when I grow up! Mom, I’m going to be a hostage when I grow up! Mom, I’m going to be a hostage when I grow up! Mom, I’m going to be a hostage when I grow up! Mom, I’m going to be a hostage when I grow up!]

[Is this really… terrorism? What kind of terrorism I’ve experienced so far?]

“I will send $10,000 to each of the three unfortunate deceased people. I know all the accounts, so you don’t have to worry.”

I told you, right?

I am rich.

I wasn’t before, but now spending money is the best I can do.

[ Just… $10,000?]

[Tsk, I know people died but $10,000 is too much…]

[??? Honestly, Egostic didn’t even kill them. Isn’t $10,000 too much?]

[Really? $10,000 is too much for a death compensation…]

[Seriously, he didn’t even kill them in the first place. Hahahahaha.]

Looking at the comments, I regret it. Perhaps I should have said $100,000…

I cannot take it back now, the transactions are already waiting in my account.

How do I know their accounts? Of course, Seo-eun the genius hacker would help me take care of it. I should probably trust Seo-eun.

[….Haa….] TN:Sighing sfx.

I think I just heard a sigh from my in-ear, but probably it was just me. Yeah.

Having said everything, I looked back again.

The unknown female follower was still trembling behind me.

If I just leave her here, she will either die or cause trouble, should I just tie her up…?

[Hyung. Just bring her here.]

I heard Seo-eun speak up through my in-ear.

She wants me to bring her there? This woman? Why?

But I couldn’t raise my voice and ask her.

Hundreds of people are watching me right now, and if I mutter to myself, I would look so stupid…

[I think I know her. If I’m right, she can be a big help. So it’s better to bring her here.]

Hmm, alright.

Seo-eun sounded so sure about it, there must be a reason.

“Lady? Come with me.”

“Whaaaaaaaaaaat?”

I picked the strange crying woman up and held her in my arms.

She started to struggle as if she was shocked. I held her and then greeted the people.

“Well then, goodbye.”

As soon as I said goodbye, I spread my cape in front of me.

Then I disappeared.

[Is the broadcast ended?]

[The ending was a little boring… I give you 6/10.]

[Release Kim Sunwoo. Release Kim Sunwoo. Release Kim Sunwoo. Release Kim Sunwoo. Release Kim Sunwoo. Release Kim Sunwoo. Release Kim Sunwoo. Release Kim Sunwoo.]

[After seeing that, they decided to put Kim Sunwoo to death.]

===[The broadcast has ended]===

And I turned off the chaotic live broadcast, too.

***

[A responsible villain who compensates with money? Real reviews from the hostages. Egostic, who is he? Let’s take a closer look.]

[[Editorial] A villain who killed his terrorist followers, is it a right thing to do?]

[Egostic, the villain who became the main topic from yesterday to 9 o’clock news today… NEWSTREE.]

***

[Writer] Anonymous.

[Title] So it’s true?

An A-class villain suddenly kidnapped two ships and insisted, “Kill each other from now on.”, but ended up not killing anyone.  Then his followers started terrorism the next day so he stepped up to the plate, killed them all, then compensated the hostages and released them? And all of these were live broadcast?

[Anonymous 1] Come on. No way. Hehe

ㄴ[Anonymous 2] I know right haha.

ㄴ[Anonymous 3] No one like that exists in this world. (There is)

ㄴ[Anonymous 4] He even hijacked the radio waves and public TV? I’m sure it’s a lie. (Not)

[Anonymous 5] Seriously, I have never seen a villain like that Mango Stick in my life. It has only been two days but I already engraved him in my head.

ㄴ[Anonymous 6] Who is Mango Stick? Hahahaha

ㄴ[Anonymous 7] Fuck, Mango Stick. Hahaha

ㄴ[Anonymous 8] What villain would name himself Mango Stick? Hahaha.

[Anonymous 9] Honestly, he killed the villains, stopped terrorism and released the hostages… Isn’t he a hero?

ㄴ[Anonymous 10] Hero (Kidnapped ships and attempted to explode them.)

ㄴ[Anonymous 9] But did anyone die? Hahaha.

ㄴ[Anonymous 11] I support the dark hero, Mango Stick.

***

The villain makes the whole nation engrave his name two days in a role, Mango Stick.

…Not that, he is Egostic. She shook her head and corrected herself. She has been scrolling on the community reading the public’s opinions for too long, perhaps her mind was worn out.

“Haru, what are you doing?”

“Oh, unnie.” TN: Unnie means “Older sister”. The term is used when a woman is calling or talking to an older woman whether she is related to her or not.

Inside the cafe.

The college student Shin Haru was doing her assignment with her senior.

When she is a hero, she basically hides her name and wears a derecognition filter all the time, so no one knows that she is a hero.

She wants to enjoy an ordinary college life.

She was living a double life as Shin Haru, an ordinary college student during the day, and Stardus, a hero at night.

“Haru, You don’t seem like you are concentrating. What’s the matter?”

“N-Nothing. I just have something to think about for a moment.”

She shook her hand and relieved her senior by claiming that she was okay and she would work hard now. She took the pen to do her homework again.

But her attention was on somewhere else.

Egostic, what the hell is that guy?