CH 57

C57: From Doubt to Confidence

[Last Wednesday, the disposal of Mapo Bridge, which was blown up by Villain Egostic, is almost complete. The entire Mapo Bridge was completely destroyed from the pillar, and no casualties were reported by the A-list hero Stardus.]

[Experts have suggested that it will take years to rebuild the bridge. Meanwhile, Seoul citizens are complaining about the inconvenience, saying they are experiencing traffic jams due to the collapse of the bridge…]

***

Shin Haru.

If anyone asks Shin Haru who her archrival is, she will answer Egostic without hesitation.

In fact, the reason why Egostic became her arch energy is really simple.

Just because Egostic always called out Stardus.

Egostic.

Frankly speaking, almost everyone would choose Egostic if they were asked to pick the most famous and influential villain in Korea.

It’s only been less than a year since he was active in earnest. Yes, he proudly topped the list in a year, beating other villains with decades of history. If you don’t know Egostic, you’re a spy.

In fact, it is a matter of course. He’s been broadcasting all the terrorist activities he’s caused to three terrestrial broadcasters every time.

Of course, that’s the only reason for his popularity, and there’s a lot of reasons why he’s popular.

After all, the important thing is that he is famous and well-known.

And because of that, the popularity of his enemy, Stardus, has also begun to rise.

Honestly, B-class heroes, who are neither popular nor popular, all hope to fight against Egostic.

Well, in a way, it’s normal. If they become his opponent and confront him, they can be seen live throughout the country, so it is a great opportunity to let everyone know about them in one shot. When you become a rival to anything famous, you can share your popularity to some extent.

Sadly, however, such an opportunity did not exist for them.

Because Egostic called out Stardus as the person who stopped him in every terrorist attack.

Egostic’s unusual behavior of calling out Stardus is actually quite a popular fact. He called out Stardus in both of his first murders, the murders of two villains.

The message, which was left at the scene of the crime as “To Stardus,” seems to imply that it was a gift from the villain.

And the terror attacks he committed afterwards.

On ships and trains, he called out Starders as his opponent.

In both cases, Stardus stopped his attacks with speeches and force, respectively, and her popularity also increased greatly.

These events have led to a huge number of people clamoring for the relationship between Egostic and Stardus. There were even rumors that they’re in a romantic relationship. The video of Egostic closing the eyes of Starders, who collapsed while barely blocking the train, is still listed in the “Popular Videos” section.

And this is what the public knows.

And Stardus herself knows more than that.

“……”

He was more likely to know her.

Well, her identity, which is not Stardus, but Shin Haru.

The terrorist attack at the festival that she went to.

It was too late to stop by the Association and she was suffering from not having a derecognition device, so she was ready to expose her face.

He came out of nowhere to stop the attack.

Just because that villain offended him, for a ridiculous reason.

Yeah, so far, it’s a coincidence.

But what others don’t know, Shin Haru only knows.

The word he whispered that no one could hear it

Don’t try to expose your face from now on.

Life will be tough.

The question she had upon hearing it.

How did he know that she was trying to expose her face?

He knew that she was there? Was that why he came out? To buy her some time?

It’s a speculation. She thought then.

But what he has done after.

When she was watching the crash because he caused the plane attack.

He called her, telling her to save the falling plane.

On top of that, his usual track record… Casualty-free terrorism, assassination of other dangerous villains, and suppression of terrorism in other positions.

That’s how these things came together and she became suspicious.

Egostic. Is he simply a villain?

In the midst of this and that, she finally made up her mind.

If the Egostic guy causes the next attack, she’ll find out what he’s after.

But the problem is that he disappeared without causing terrorism for four months.

And as long as she waited, her doubts grew. It’s like when you’re out of the house and you’re not sure if you’ve turned off the gas before you leave.

That’s how she got to think about Egostic for longer and ended up going into the Egostic’s fancafe, wondering when he’d appear.

Here he is at last. The fourth terrorist attack

As soon as she heard the news, she wore the suit and flew straight from the Association.

He called her out in the last three attacks, so she was sure he would call her out in the next one.

But

Her prediction was wrong.

Egostic conducted a kind of social experiment with the public, warning that he would blow up the bridge as soon as the heroes approached.

What does he mean by giving away $100?

Shin Haru was reminded of his first terrorist attack.

Humans are selfish blah blah…

Yeah, but at the time of the first terrorist attack, she told herself to give a speech. ‘Wouldn’t it be like that this time, too’, she speculated.

There was no such thing. He just flirted and played with his fan on the bridge, and Stardus seemed to think nothing of it.

The bad guy.

She spent her days waiting for him, but he didn’t seem to care about her at all.

The way she put herself in this swamp of suspicion, and he doesn’t even know.

Then he eventually exploded the bridge.

Well, that’s what she expected. This Egositc is a guy who does whatever he wants.

Waiting near Mapo Bridge at 7:00PM., which she had predicted in advance, she was immediately dispatched from the front as soon as the bridge exploded. As she’s a hero, the most important thing is to save people.

Egostic was watching her in the air.

Ha. He didn’t even pretend to know until now, but he just basically stared at her?.

She didn’t like it very much because she seemed to be taking care of something he had done, but she did what she had to do anyway.

The moment she was flying to save the first car and the second car.

She realized.

She couldn’t get all of them.

She was successful in getting right before things ended.

The moment she reached out my hand, she felt it intuitively. She was one step late.

The despair upon her

But at that moment.

The car that was falling from her fingertips, stopped slightly.

She managed to save the falling car that seemed out of reach.

For a moment she thought she had seen it wrong.

Indeed, it seemed that the car stopped falling in front of her for a moment.

And there’s only one person here who can do that…

Holding cars in her arms, she looked up.

And so what she saw was Egostic with her arms down looking this way.

When he made eye contact with her, he turned his head as if nothing had happened and disappeared, covering himself with the cape and teleported.

Doesn’t he realize that it’s even weirder to make eye contact and rush away so suddenly at that time?

So she was almost certain this time.

He’s not just a villain, right…?

***

Of course, such hasty speculation was extremely dangerous.

First of all, Egostic is a villain who caused only four major terrorist attacks that promote destruction and group threats to people. Although there were no casualties by accident.

…Of course, now she’s confused whether it’s a coincidence or if it’s all intended by Egostic. Anyway.

What’s important is that it’s very dangerous for her to think about it alone. If she does something wrong, she may underestimate the villain and lead to a big problem later on.

So she needed someone to consult her.

A friend who knows her secrets and can discuss about Egostic with her.

And she had only one friend like that.

Lee Seol-ah, the same A-class hero and a friend who grew up like a sister with her since childhood. She’s in charge of Busan.

Late at night, they were sitting in a deserted cafe.

When she said she had something to consult, Lee Seol-ah, who teleported from Busan to Seoul on a teleport with the help of Shadow Walker.

The two reserved the whole cafe, they sat on the second floor where the night view was slightly visible through the window.

Seol-ah quietly sipped the green tea and listened to Shin Haru.

Haru talked about the speculation to her.

Terrorism with no casualties of Egostic.

According to the records of the Association, all of the villains that Egostic killed were very dangerous men.

And two other terrorist suppression she did.

On top of that, the phone call she got from the plane attack, which he had not told anyone yet, and the car that was falling this time stopped for her to catch.

She told everything.

Seol-ah, who listened quietly to Shin Haru’s story while drinking tea.

When she finished telling the whole story, Seol-ah finally raised her head.

And put the tea cup down.

Empty hands covering one’s mouth

Seol-ah said to her.

“Oh, my God, Haru…! Did you believe the story of Apple Mango, the S-list hero of darkness?”

Looking at her friend looking at her as if she could not believe her eyes, Shin Haru has already begun to regret it.

Ah. I shouldn’t have said that I needed a consultation.