Chapter 321: Rational reasoning and incorrect predictions

~After the terror was over~

Back at the mansion, I was alone, deep in thought.

“Ha…”

Leaning back on my  chair, looking up at the ceiling, I sighed and patted the armrest.

The attack had been successful. It’s over, but…

There’s something else I care about now.

‘…Then, I saw Stardus.’

Why did I react that way?

As I’ve always said, I’m a very methodical person.

That means I never let my emotions get in the way of my work, especially when it comes to my relationship with Stardus. I live for her as a fan, but I never thought of it as anything more than that. Not once.

But yesterday, when I saw her, I felt…

‘…weird.’

My heart was beating like a middle schooler’s when he realized his first love.

Unable to look away from her eyes, wanting to be with her just a little longer.

I never felt that way before I lost my memory… Even  if I did feel it, I was angry and surprised to see the emotions I’d buried deep inside bubbling to the surface uncontrollably.

No matter how I look at it.

‘…It must mean that something happened when I lost my memory.’

I thought, keeping my face stoic.

I felt like everything was connected, including the message I’d left, “Stardus seems to like me.”

As someone who prided himself on being a quick thinker, I thought it through and came to a conclusion.

‘…I, the amnesiac, have a crush on Stardus.’

And that was my conclusion.

For the week I was imprisoned, I thought that Stardus must have been involved in some way. I was in jail for a week, and there’s a story about Stardus disappearing for a week, so maybe she kept coming to visit me.

I’d made arrangements for that before I went to jail, so it shouldn’t have been a problem. For more details, you can ask Lee Seola, who sleeps only 3 hours while working these days, what she knows when she’s free.

So the natural conclusion was that I had a crush on her… and that the crush didn’t go away and is still there.

This was actually the most plausible theory.

First of all, there’s no doubt that there was some kind of interaction between me and Stardus during my amnesia. I even told myself to ask Stardus  if anything happened on the recorder I left for the amnesiac me… because the first thing she said when she saw me yesterday was, “Did you get your memory back?”

And this speculation.

[Stardus seems to like me.]

The message I left after I lost my memory turned into confirmation.

‘This asshole…You want to believe that because you like Stardus.’

Well, I don’t blame my amnesia. Stardus was my favorite girl in the first place, so meeting her in real life might make me a little less rational. …I’m just surprised to find myself possessed by a comic book, but, well. Given the way Stardus has been using her beauty quotient to lure me in lately… Well, I suppose I’d have a point  if Stardus had done the same to me after losing my memory.

‘…Honestly.’

Even me now.

If I stay with Stardus, and she continues to attack me like she did back in the Labyrinth.

Even  if I know it’s just a fantasy.

…I thought I might get drunk on the sweet fantasy and fall for it.

I’m glad that hasn’t happened yet, but you never know.

I smirked as I recalled my unforgettable comment.

“…Stardus likes me.”

Yeah.

The amnesiac me never experienced the event, so it’s understandable to think so. He only saw Stardus in cartoons, and he doesn’t really know her.

But I’m different. I know she wouldn’t like me. Only I, the Stardus expert, knew.

For her, there’s a gap between villain and hero.

‘…But this isn’t about what Stardus thinks of me.’

I thought, and then shook my head.

Actually, that wasn’t the problem. The problem is that I’m starting to like her now.

It was a quick getaway now, but later? I might not be able to control myself.

Which means I’ll get into trouble. Of course, no matter what I do, Stardus will snap his fingers and it’s over… The problem was our Egostream.

‘…..’

…I quickly came to a conclusion after that horrible thought.

Okay. I guess I should really do it now, before it’s too late.

My retirement.

“…Well, I guess there’s no reason to terrorize anymore.”

I muttered to myself as I turned on my laptop.

Now that I’ve easily defeated the final boss of part 3 of the original four-part story early on, the ending is in sight.

I’ve been wondering  if there’s any point in continuing my reign of terror, especially now that Stardus is already strong enough, especially now that villains with all kinds of abilities are slowly coming out.

I’ll just have to add the members of the Egostream to the mix, and I’ll have no problem growing her abilities. Egosquad would be complete without Egostic.

Originally, I would have delayed it a bit longer, but with the original story coming to an end, and Stardus being as shaky as she is now…I don’t think it would be a good idea to get involved with her.

In fact, it’s a bit awkward for me to do, since I’ve already destroyed the original storyline, but I wondered  if I need to come to the forefront more since all the important things have already been done. That it’s time to leave when they applaud, that it’s time to step back from the front lines of terrorism. Nothing good comes from my involvement with Stardus.

“Yeah, maybe it’s time to get out of it for her sake.”

I muttered to myself, fiddling with my mask on my desk.

…Actually, now that I think about it, I probably meant too much to her. I kept bothering her and calling her my archenemy, which eventually drove her to the extreme of becoming a beauty queen (…). That never happened in the original.
TLN: Stardus used her beauty to seduce him, something that never happened in the original.

I didn’t think it was right for me to keep making her care about me, considering there’s a lot of story that’s going to unfold in the final chapter. I shouldn’t be doing it anymore. …Sure, I’ll still be out there, just not terrorizing, but I’ll have less to do with Stardus …I predicted.

Anyway, I’ll continue to prepare for Phase 4 in the meantime. I’ll probably be more outgoing than I am now, and since I don’t have time for terrorism anymore, I might as well announce to her that I’m not going to do it anyway.

…The biggest reason is that I want to take a break. Honestly, I think I’ve done my job for Phase 3.

“Retirement, retirement~”

I muttered and tapped on my laptop.

I’ve done all the big things, including the HanEun Group, Moonlight Gate, and the Great Jailbreak. It’s time to go. What terrorism at my age.

…Of course, before I leave, I was planning to do a few more attacks.

And there are still those events left. It’ll be fitting to retire after that.

What about the last one?

It’s going to be the biggest one yet, and it’s going to be spectacular… And at the end, I’ll just announce to the nation and to Stardus that I’m retiring. Okay, perfect.

And with that, I started planning my retirement plan, in earnest.

…Slowly, I’ll prepare to move away from Stardus.

~And a few days later~

“Hey, Da-in, we’ve got a message from Cathedral.”

“…..”

There comes a moment when my retirement doesn’t matter.

‘…Ugh, no matter how I think about it, I think Celeste has noticed.’

Something else would happen  if I went, but I still had to go.

I had to go, because the centerpiece of Phase 4 was Celeste and Cathedral.

In fact, up until this point, Cathedral had almost no presence in the original story, which is set in Korea. In the final phase it’s where they really come into their own.

In other words, all of the buildup with Cathedral up until this point was really for this.

“Okay, let’s go.”

I said, and rose from my seat.

…Slowly, it was time to go.

~A few days later~

“…Hey, Egostic, it’s good to see you. I haven’t seen you in a while.”

“Egostic. Over here…”

I walked over to the Cathedral Roundtable, first greeting Li Xiaoping and Katana, who were sitting down and waving at me.

Li Xiaoping, in particular, had a widespread smile on his face.

From what I heard, his organization, the Fire Dragon, had finally conquered China once and for all. Just like the original.

He called me the other day and said it was all thanks to me passing on classified Chinese government information. …Actually, he didn’t need me, but I just laughed it off. I’m glad he thinks so.

Anyway, it was time for our trilateral villain alliance to get into full swing, and I was thinking that I should start meeting with them more often.

“Where’s Mr. Atlas?”

“Oh, he can’t make it today.”

For the record, Mr. Atlas can’t come because there’s a crawl in the ocean. Apparently, he’s been attacked by some kind of creature. I don’t know, but it seems like there’s a lot going on in the ocean.

“You’ve all come.”

Anyway, the meeting was finally called to order by Celeste, who appeared in a white saint’s robe with her eyes closed.

“…Then I’ll speak next.”

As she did so, I could feel something.

‘…No.’

Celeste stared at me, so openly…

Ouch. I’m in trouble.