Chapter 371: The Reaper

Now that I have reached the Final Phase, I know what I must do.

That is to stop the Sun God from finally descending on this world.

If I can stop him, then I will truly have a happy ending, a happy ending that I didn’t see in the original manga.

Of course, that wasn’t all I had to do. There were many other things to do and some of them, of course, were to eliminate other villains, especially those who had become particularly powerful after the inflation.

‘…Now it feels like I’m holding a real, ticking time bomb in my hands.’

There was one reason I felt particularly uneasy.

All of the villains have gotten stronger, and each terrorist attack they unleash is so threatening. If I don’t stop their first attack, the death toll could be really high.

In other words, I was destined to stop them as soon as they started.

‘…That’s a good thing.’

Of course, there were also good news.

For one thing, Shadow Walker is alive now.

Unlike in the original, where he lost his girlfriend, went a little crazy, and then blackened and disappeared, in this world, I saved his girlfriend, and he managed to marry her.

In other words, unlike the original, he’s still working at night.

This means that Stardus no longer has to live in fear of nightly attacks that keep her awake at night…What a relief.

…Of course, this does mean that the villains who terrorized at night in the original will no longer do so, which is a story twist from the original, but it’s a trade-off I can live with, especially considering how much stronger Shadow Walker, who was invulnerable at night anyway, have become since the inflation…I can’t deny it’s been a huge boost to my power.

Regardless, it was clear what was going to happen next.

I had to get rid of one of the villains that would be coming soon, the Reaper.

He wears a mask like mine, and he’s quite powerful.

His special ability is Berserk. His body transforms into a beast, his hands into long knives, and he specializes in mass destruction.

He was also a hedonistic psychopath, a rarity among villains.

If there are villains who have an ideology and will do whatever it takes to fulfill their goals, he’s a disgusting man who takes pleasure in just killing people.

He’s slaughtered hundreds of people since his first appearance, and fled before Stardus even arrived.

…Actually, up until that point, he seemed like a pretty normal villain. Well. Killing hundreds of people was commonplace in the original, a world without dreams or hope but the real trouble comes after his first attack, when he realized that he has another ability, alter ego.

“…..”

The ability to summon up to five alter egos, each with the same powers as his own body, only less intelligent.

Even if one of them dies after being dispatched, with a snap of his fingers, he can make it reappear in front of his body.

…A seemingly simple yet powerful ability for a mid-level boss, it has led to the deaths of many commoners. The worst part is that it’s impossible to find him. The main body is hiding somewhere underground, and he keeps sending out alter egos, leaving the Association helpless.

What if he’s weak enough to be shattered by Stardus’ fist? He’s already killed dozens of people, and he’s just spawned another one.

He sounds like a clueless bastard, but he’s actually killed a lot of people in the original. Especially since the main body hides and only the alter ego comes out, the [Stardust!] fan community had all kinds of stories about this reaper. The writer finally realized that the character was created to kill all the civilians in Korea except Stardus…

Of course, in the original series, the Reaper was eventually stopped.

To be exact, Lee Seola solved it.

‘…Wait, didn’t he say the maximum number of alter egos he could create was five?’

The method was derived from the Reaper’s taunt to the Association during his dozens of repeated attacks that he had five spare hearts.

Instead of killing his alter egos on the spot, she captures them one by one and imprisons them.

…This way, they’re alive, and the Reaper can’t create another one.

It was a fairly hopeless solution, despite the overwhelming despair he displayed.

…Eventually, the Reaper’s reign of terror ended when she captured and imprisoned all five of his alter egos.

The main body was never captured.

“…Ha.”

And now, at this point, the original story has come true.

…I thought that in order to catch the Reaper, I’d have to catch five of his alter egos. It’s a headache just thinking about it.

Still, there was a way to break him.

His main body appeared during the first attack.

“…So, I just have to do it well the first time.”

~The living room of the Egostream House~

I muttered to myself as I sat on the couch, staring at the calendar on the wall.

I couldn’t remember the exact date of his first attack. Not that I’d forgotten, but the original story didn’t specify. Surely it was a few months after the inflation, so it had to be soon…

I was sitting there with my arms crossed over my chin, pondering.

“Hehe Da-in~ What are you thinking?”

Seo Ja-young, who had come from somewhere and was rubbing her eyes, walked up beside me, grabbed me from behind, and looked over my shoulder as she spoke.

‘…’

…With that, I let go of Seo Ja-young who was holding me by the side with a casual touch, and I looked at the calendar, sighed, and said.

“Haha, it’s nothing else…some crazy guy is going to do something soon, and I’m worried about how to stop him.”

“Hmph…Wait, did you push me?”

“If I don’t stop him right away, he’s going to go crazy, haha, we’re in trouble…”

“Hmph…”

She gave me a strange look and snorted.

Then she pulled her hood up to hide her purple bob, and shook her head.

“But what’s the problem with that, you can just beat him up when he comes out?”

I shook my head at her comment.

The problem is, I’m busy.

I’ve got a role in the revamped Cathedral, and I’ve got some work to do with Celeste, so I’ve been traveling quite a bit.

But I’m starting to get very nervous about traveling abroad without knowing when Reaper is going to come out. Ugh…

“…I see. I’ll think about what I need to do after the Reaper comes out.”

I muttered to myself.

Actually, the body of the Reaper itself was pretty crappy. Berserked, beastified. In other words, it specialized in genocide and was a bit weak in 1v1. Even in the original, the main body used a hit-and-run strategy, and all of its alter egos were killed by one hit.

It’s kind of ironic that the Reaper was one of the worst villains in the original. A villain who was clearly the underdog, but who thrived on his brutality and the deceptive nature of his alter ego. Of course, his popularity dropped since by the time he came out, the world was a big mess so not many people cared about him…

Anyway, the body itself is crappy.

That’s why I was thinking to myself.

‘…If he’s as strong as he is, shouldn’t I be able to defeat him?’

I was strong enough. With the power of the same mechanism as Stardus, my telekinesis has reached a certain level, though it’s still a risk.

Anyway, I feel like testing my strength this time. I thought that Seo-eun or Choi Se-hee should be there just in case.

Well, whatever. For now, I’ll wait for the Reaper to show up.

From that day on, I started watching the news every day.

[Breaking news! The villain has launched an attack! He’s currently at Gwanghwamun…]

It wasn’t the Reaper.

[A villain has launched a terrorist attack by shooting fireworks from the sky! Her name is Joy the Wonderful, and she has a criminal record…]

Not the Reaper.

[A villain who calls himself a returnee from another world is attacking Busan! He wields a sword and armor, and…]

It wasn’t the Reaper.

After waiting so anxiously for him, feeling like I was waiting for my auntie.

[Breaking news! A villain has appeared in Seoul! He’s huge, like a beast, with long blade-like hands…]

“Finally.”

The Reaper, finally, appeared.

“He’s here! Uh! Choi Se-hee! Come on, let’s go!”

“Uh, huh? Uh. Okay! Wait!”

“Quick, quick!”

I hurriedly grabbed my mask, put on my coat and cloak, and flew into the sky.

I don’t know how long it’s been since I teleported at bullet speed with only Choi Se-hee.

“Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh! Where’s everyone hiding?”

In a flash, I was at the scene of the Reaper’s attack.

A mask like infrared goggles on his face, long bladed hands, and a huge wolf-like coat of fur trailing behind him as he prowled the streets. The Reaper.

I arrived in front of him.

“Huh? You’re…”

By the time he recognizes me, I’m already in the air, guns pointed down at him.

…Quickly switching on the broadcast.

*

[Egotistic Broadcast ON ]

[Iguoguodun~ Leeguoguodun~ Leeguoguodun~]

[Ah… I feel like I’m back home. This is Mango Broadcasting.]

[The number of viewers quickly reached 10,000]

*

Seeing the chat window that was coming down so fast, I looked down at Reaper, smirked, and opened my mouth to speak.

Okay, let’s get this show on the road.

“Haha, Mr. Reaper. Congratulations, you’ve earned yourself a chance to join us here at Cathedral, how about you come in and join us as one of my men?”

Naturally, here he will refuse.

Then, I’ll just have to kill him.

“…Heehee? Ugh… Yes, it’s good! With you…”

“What? You say no? Well, so be it. Goodbye!”

-Kwagwagwagwagwagwang

And just as he opened his mouth to speak, I quickly replied and began bombarding him with a barrage of words

…He almost caused a broadcasting accident.