Chapter 324: Planning for retirement

So after the talks with Celeste in Cathedral, I’ve been taking it easy for a while, lying on the couch, munching on popcorn, to be exact.

“Mmmm…”

Rest is the best. This is life. I wonder  if I’ve been running too fast.

I’ve killed the Phase 3 boss, the Wish Granter, too quickly, and there’s still some time to go before Phase 4 begins.

…Sure, there was still a lot to do, but it was a lot more relaxing than before.

“This popcorn is good.”

“Isn’t it?”

I could just lie back and watch TV with Seo-eun like this.

“…I’ll have some too.”

“Here.”

She says that while lying on the couch with her purple short hair hanging down. I put a handful of popcorn in her mouth like a baby bird and turned my attention back to the TV, because there, I heard something I couldn’t help but be interested in.

[According to a recent survey, South Korea is the number one country overseas people want to immigrate to. Reporter Yoo Seung explains how this happened.]

I was watching the program without much expectation, but I was surprised to hear them speak so seriously.

[South Korea’s terrorism rate is currently at the bottom of the list of countries in the Association, and among the bottom 10, it has the lowest terrorism rate. In particular, the safety of public security is the best among all countries, and the annual death rate from terrorism is overwhelmingly low. Nowadays, it is said that South Korea is the safest country with a high GDP.]

“…Is Korea really that good to live in? The last time I saw it, there was all that chaos because of the Moonlight Gate.”

“Yeah.”

Whether I was surprised or not, the anchor continued.

[The number of immigrants, especially from overseas, is increasing… The experts attributed this to the hero Shadow Walker, who makes Korea a safe country at night; the S-class hero Stardus, who has a 100% success rate in stopping terrorism, except for one villain; and especially the villain Egostic, who stops almost all large-scale terrorist attacks and prevents other villains from doing so just by being there]

The reporter said

I mean, the perception of South Korea abroad is that it’s one of the safest countries in the world. The point is that the terrorism rate and death rate are actually very low.

From what I’ve seen in the news, it’s definitely better than other countries. That said, I’ve only managed to catch a handful of mass-murdering villains so far, and considering the source material, South Korea should be a mess by now. Weapon Master slaughtering legions of mechs, Scream Maker poisoning thousands of people at once…

Of course, I prevented all of that by killing them beforehand, and Stardus was also ridiculously stronger than the original.

With that thought, I pulled out my phone and looked up a little more about it.

“…Is this real?”

I’ve been looking around the international community and found that the perception of Korea is very favorable.

Well, we’re on Phase 3, so…

‘Every other country must be fucked up.’

I muttered to myself.

Even though there are still monsters coming out of the gate like in the original, it’s easy to see that the other countries aren’t doing so well given the ever-increasing number of villains. They’ve been hanging in there.

In fact, the terrorism rate in Korea is actually quite good compared to the peaceful Earth I came from. That’s because the rest of the world is relatively fucked up.

As I was thinking about that, Seo-eun was lying on my leg, looking up something on her smartphone just like me.

“Hehe. Da-in, look at this.”

She climbed on top of my lying body, shook her shoulder-length white hair, and pointed her phone at me.

*

[Today’s news made it clear…real fact]

[Just King God Stardus and Rhubarb Mango Ramen, haha]

[Shock! The country of Korea, the country where American billionaires are applying to immigrate and Arab oil wealthy people want to go?]

[The whole world is Gukbong TV… The whole world is Mangppong TV…]

*

“They’re just broadcasting the news here, and they’re all praising you like crazy.”

Seo-eun said that with her eyes sparkling like her silver hair.

It’s been less than a day since my fan cafe was so excited, and I really like Seo-eun. It was so cute to see her smile as if she had heard the praise herself. I wonder if she thinks that about me.

Still, it’s good to be happy about little things like this. That’s why it’s good to have fun while saving the world.

While I was thinking about that, Seo-eun casually clicked on the screen to show me the text.

*

[Honestly, if it weren’t for Egostic, Korea would already be ruined]

No kidding.

Behemoth (the black tentacled monster) <Destroyed Seoul if not for Egostic>

HanEun Group’s giant weapon <Destroyed Seoul if not for Egostic>

The Demon King Who Built His Demon Castle in the Trade Center <Destroyed Korea if not stopped by Egostic>

Moonlight Gate <Destroyed the Earth if not blocked by Egostic>

Besides that, he goes around killing villains like Weapon Master.

It can be said that he was responsible for 70% of the security in Korea….

It’s just…

(Composite photo of Egostic raising his glass to toast)

=[Comment]

[laughs]

[Since there is no such thing, now I wonder if I will fall for the Stardus fan cafe kids hahaha]

[I’m in my 4th year in a separate relationship, so I think that’s true]

[???: So… Honestly, I think it’s because of Stardus rather than Egostic that we’re safe]

ㄴ[Haa?]

ㄴ[Mangbung-chan what does that mean~]

N[Actually, it’s true because Stardus is taking care of all the jerks, but most of the big shit was stopped by Mango]

[Let’s not fight and support Egostar]

N[Hmm, I heard Egostar mood is bad these days…]

[Uh-huh]

[Great Yellow Mango]

*

“Okay, okay.”

After stopping Seo-Eun from showing me all the other posts, I laid back down on the couch and got lost in my thoughts.

Well, it wasn’t a bad story, really.

The safer Korea is, the less I’m needed, and honestly, I think Stardus can handle most of the big stuff now.

This was good news for me as I was planning to retire soon. I can finally leave in peace.

Of course, I’ll have to take care of that first.

A trailer for Phase 4, the ‘Angelic Descent’ event.

“…Phew.”

I sighed.

Phase Four. The final chapter of the original story, where it all ends.

The final boss of this phase is none other than the Sun God.

“…”

Yep. A god is the final boss.

And the main villain of this phase’s narrative is none other than Celeste.

A saint, devoted to the Sun God, leader of the Cathedral, she is the biggest enemy. The Sun God doesn’t really show up until the end, and she’s actually the biggest villain. And that’s also when Cathedral is in full swing, which is why I got into Cathedral beforehand.

Anyway, as a foreshadowing of what’s to come in Phase 4, the event that takes place in Phase 3 is the Angelic Descent.

It’s a heavenly impact and a sacred sight, a messenger of the Sun God falling to earth.

The angel descends from the heavens in a flurry of colors, and a few days later, Celeste is to receive it.

And, of course, it was in Korea that the angel descended.

‘And so, Stardus sees Celeste for the first time.’

This was the event that connected Celeste and Stardus, who had no contact with each other before.

The day the world’s number one villain, who was only indirectly mentioned in the news in the original story, was shown in the manga for the first time.

…And I.

Needless to say, I had no intention of letting that happen. I won’t give the bio-weapon to Celeste, the angel will be mine.

Anyway, after that… A few more bombings and then I can really retire. I’ve got a lot of time before Phase 4, so I’ll be able to take it easy and rest a bit…

“Yeah… I should retire soon…”

I mutter to myself.

“…You’re finally retiring.”

Seo-Eun was lying om my legs, looking at me with a strange smile.

…My legs were heavy.

***

That night Da-in was in a deep sleep.

“…Sister, are you here?”

“Shh.”

In the basement of the Egostream mansion, in a large conference room Seo-eun and the other members of the Egostream were having a secret meeting.

Seo-Eun sat in front of a large desk and sitting next to her was Lee Soobin.

“…..”

“…Haam. Why are you calling me when I’m sleeping?”

Sitting in a circle around her were Baek Eun-woo, Choi Sehee, Seo Jae-young, Lee Han-yul, and Ariel, Egostic’s colleagues, or more precisely, people who liked Egostic.

“…”

Seeing Lee Soobin nodding toward her, she cleared her throat for a moment before opening her mouth.

“…Hmph. Da-in is asleep.”

“Now, before Da-in retires, I would like to talk about the promise we made one last time.”

“…Right.”

Da-in was asleep while the third all-female Egostream-Egostic Non-Aggression Agreement Conference, was beginning.