Chapter 326: The moment finally arrived

~A conference room inside the Egostream underground mansion~

From there, women’s voices echoed.

“So… Now that Da-in is retiring, can we do as we please?”

Sitting in a chair, arms crossed and giggling, was a woman with yellow hair, Choi Se-hee.

Hearing that, Lee Soobin nodded her head.

“Yeah. As long as you don’t go too far, I don’t mind.”

“Ae-hyo, I’ve been waiting a long time. Mmmm…”

Seeing Choi Se-hee say that while stretching out, Han Seo-eun had mixed feelings.

…I know my sisters are all nice and good people, but still… I never thought I’d feel like we’d become a real family.

But whatever,

Actually, it’s probably better this way.

I don’t want to disrupt the current scenery.

…even if it means some sacrifices.

Anyway, that’s how the meeting ended, with a general discussion of how to stop Stardus’ and what to do afterward, when everyone else took over.

“…”

Han Seo-Eun stood up from her seat, looking both complicated and somehow cool.

Haha. Well, I guess it’s all Da-in’s karma.

Anyway

That’s when it was confirmed that she was going to retire from the company and start organizing her relationship with Egostic.

“Ugh…”

Da-in was grunting on the bed, having a nightmare about being crushed by a bunch of people.

‘Save… Save someone…’

***

“Da-in, why are your eyes so bloodshot?”

“Huh? I guess I didn’t sleep well.”

~The next day~

Unlike me, who was sitting on the couch yawning as usual, Seo-eun approached me, looking strangely refreshed and cheerful. She had two cups in her hands.

“Here. Drink this.”

“Huh? Oh, thank you.”

Seo-eun handed me a cup of tea with a clear light green color.

As I sat on the couch, looking up at her and accepting the cups, I suddenly felt that Seo-eun looked taller. Well, she’s almost as tall as Soobin now.

…Or maybe it’s because she’s wearing an oversized dress shirt. No, isn’t that mine? But, she must be wearing shorts underneath, right? I was about to point out something, but I decided to stop for fear of sounding like an old man. Well, she can wear it comfortably at home.

Anyway, as I was doing that, Seo-eun, who was sitting next to me, suddenly turned to me with a sparkle in her eyes and asked.

“So, what are you going to do now?”

“Now? Um…”

I paused in thought.

If the story is true, the angel’s descent is about to happen. We should go there and kidnap the angel.

When I said that, Seo-Eun’s eyes lit up.

“So that’s it, you’re really retiring now, right?”

“Uh huh…”

“You’ve been saying you’re retiring for months, putting it off for months and months, but now it’s for real, right?”

“…It’s real. I’m really retiring in three months.”

“Really?”

“I promise, I promise. If I don’t do it in three months, I’ll do what you say.”

When I said that so casually, Seo-eun froze for a moment.

“…Are you sure?”

“…Yes.”

“Hmph… Then I guess we can take it a little slower.”

…It must have been my imagination that her eyes looked dangerous for a moment, right?

Anyway, I sighed and opened my laptop.

As soon as I entered the internet, I saw Stardus’ face on the main news page, her blonde hair shining behind her.

‘…Too bad.’

I thought to myself as I looked at it.

…I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed. I’m looking forward to seeing Stardus’ face soon, but when I retire as a villain, I’ll hardly ever see it.

Considering that everything I’ve ever done has been for her, it’s a bittersweet feeling to be cut off from her. I guess I’ll just go back to watching her on TV.

…But still.

‘Right. Leave while they’re clapping.’

It’s time to end our relationship. It’s not productive, it’s a waste of time, and it’s only going to upset Stardus….Stardus’ mysterious beauty queen schemes have been distracting me lately.

I’m going to try to stay away from her.

I’m sure she’ll be happy to hear I’m done…

…and.

‘Maybe…’

Really, maybe.

Maybe we can be good friends when it’s all said and done. I harbor a small hope. If I explain that my villainous acts of terrorism were for a cause I…

Anyway, I’ll make sure my last attack is a big one.

…And until then, I’d better go over the angel kidnapping plan.

With that thought in mind, I passed the time until the Angelic Descent event.

And then I got a call from Atlas.

[Uhm…Egostic are you there?]

“Yes, Atlas. Go ahead.”

[Hmmm. Do you remember those black beasts in the sea I described earlier?]

“Ah yes. Krullu or something?”

[Yes, that. And Tulu. Anyway…I think they are variants of the moonlight monsters that fell into the sea before, but that’s not important.]

Having said that, Atlas pauses for a moment, then speaks.

[One of them has disappeared towards your country now.]

“…What? Really?”

[Yes. They violate all the laws of science, so I can’t trace them… Don’t worry, I’ll tell you the tricks I’ve learned from dealing with them so far, so if they come, you can deal with them like this.]

That’s how I learned to deal with the strange beasts of the sea.

I’ve had a good, fulfilling time.

“Finally, today.”

The day finally came.

[Breaking news! There’s a white light in the sky right now…]

“Seo-eun, I’m going to catch an angel.”

***

Meanwhile,

‘…Well, goodbye, Stardus.’

“Ha…”

Stardus was having a bad day.

Ever since the last time they broke up, when he almost ignored her, she had been feeling worse and worse.

On the outside, she acted as if nothing was wrong, while in reality, she was festering inside.

“What the hell is wrong with you…?”

She muttered to herself, tapping her fingers on the table.

…What’s wrong, is it the pressure of being so close to the prison, or is it that he’s starting to hate me…?

Stardus was in shock, as she had never before seen such callous behavior from the man who had always approached her.

She’d been having nightmares about him abandoning her every day lately.

“Ugh…”

…It seemed odd for a hero to rely on a villain, but she couldn’t help it. It never occurred to her that she would do that in the first place.

In fact, after everything he’s done for her…

Sacrificing his own life.

Stepping in and saving her whenever she’s in danger.

Smiling when he’s been beaten for misunderstandings.

…dropping everything else to be there for her when she needed him.

He’d been that way so consistently that even one day of acting differently was enough to break her spirit.

…Okay. It must be temporary. It must be temporary.

He must have had a bad day, yeah.

She thought to herself, winning a mental victory.

Still, it was undeniable that she was more sensitive than usual.

…Lately, she’d been going to the Egostic fan cafe every day to see if there was anything about her.

And then, by chance, she’d stumble across something like this.

She couldn’t help but fly into a rage.

*

[Honestly, I feel like Stardus is abandoned these days.]

A villain should hang out with a villain, not a high-minded hero, and he must have realized that.

Honestly, maybe the whole pretending to like Stardus was a concept. Now that he’s sucked up all the honeydew, he’s throwing it away.

The electric boom is coming!!! Electric grilled mango, let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!

=[Comment]=

[Uhhh… This kind of talk will make Stardus mad as hell.]

[You… what are you talking about?]

[Hacker mango is more likely than electric mango, lol]

[What’s wrong with hacker mango?]

[Lol, Stardus is a dinosaur now, and honestly, I’m kind of sick of Egostic…]

[Don’t be ridiculous, what do you think you know, you don’t even know.]

*

“…Shut up. What do you know…?”

Anyway, lately, she’d been pounding away at her keyboard in anger.

…Yeah. Surely, it’s temporary. Yeah. That much conversation in prison. It can’t have happened overnight. He said he’s gotten his memory back. Next time we meet, he’ll be all smiles, like he always was…

One day, while Stardus was still suffering.

News broke.

[Look at the sky right here, as if something divine is descending…]

A strange phenomenon was happening in Korea.

Naturally, it was time for her to go.

She was languishing, but a sudden thought made her jump to her feet.

…something very strange happened in Korea, something she couldn’t understand.

Then…surely…

‘Will the Egostic come, too?’

Her transcendent intuition kicked in for the first time in a long time, and she hurriedly prepared to take to the skies.

Not to investigate the anomaly but holding onto the faintest hope that she might find Egostic.