Chapter 20

EP.20 Coincidence

"Aaaaaah!!"

Shinhae threw the remote at the TV.

Of course, if she threw it too hard, the newly bought UHD TV might break, so she consciously tried to throw it as gently as possible.

Of course, it still hit the wall with a loud thud.

"Haa... Haa..."

She panted heavily.

After calming down and sitting on the sofa, she slowly began to think.

It had been a few years since she started her hero activities as Stardust.

Since she first awakened her powers in middle or high school, she had been doing this for quite a while.

She had vowed to put villains in jail to avenge her deceased parents.

But back then, she had never once imagined something like this.

A rumor of a romantic relationship with a villain?

"Haa..."

Shinhae sighed and headed to the refrigerator.

She needed something to calm her down.

Naturally, she took out a cold juice pack and started drinking it, but when she saw the name of the juice, she frowned.

[Minute Maid Mango]

Mango. Now, every time she saw mango, it reminded her of Egostick.

His followers called him Mangostick, right?

Ah, she felt like her brain was contaminated.

Her favorite thing was mango.

Actually, she didn't like the fruit itself, but she loved mango juice, mango frappes, mango shaved ice, and other mango-flavored treats.

But now, she wouldn't be able to look at mango the same way again.

Every time she saw mango, she would think of Mangostick.

"My brain... my brain is contaminated..."

She felt a bit depressed. She knew that perceptions could change over time, but she never imagined they would change like this.

"Huh..."

She decided to go outside and get some fresh air.

She opened the window and stuck her head out.

A cool spring breeze blew towards her.

The faint sunlight reflected off her blonde hair, creating a dreamy, shimmering effect.

As a result, men walking on the street who happened to look up were mesmerized by her, but she didn't notice.

She had a lot on her mind, and at the center of her thoughts was, of course, Egostick.

Egostick. She thought it was a funny name. Egostick? Doesn't it make you think of a weak old man saying "ego-ego" while holding a stick? Of course, when she mentioned this to her close older sister, the sister's pitying look made her decide to keep such thoughts to herself.

She was startled by the thought that maybe Egostick would be cooler if his name was Egoistic.

Why was she even thinking about the name of that villain? She shook her head to clear her mind.

Still, whenever she thought about Egostick, she couldn't help but feel conflicted.

It was hard to describe.

A mix of emotions filled her, forming a tangled mess in her brain that she couldn't fully express.

And she found it strange.

When she thought of the evil villain, she should have felt hatred and disgust.

Why did she feel a mix of emotions?

Among those many emotions, there were definitely things other than hatred and disgust.

Egostick. He was incredibly popular on the internet.

Actually, not just on the internet, but in real life as well.

Her close older sister, Chae-hyun, had even mentioned joining the Mango Gang the other day.

In the department chat, whenever someone mentioned Mangostick, it was always in a positive light.

People were shocked that he carried out a train terror attack while everyone watched in real-time.

At first, they tried to cover for Egostick, saying there were no casualties.

Later, it was revealed that the people tied to the train were all violent criminals who had been released after lenient sentences, and the blind praise for Egostick began again.

Jokes like "It would have been fine even if Stardust hadn't stopped the train" started circulating.

In fact, the enthusiasm of the South Korean public for Egostick had reached a level of fanaticism.

To a nation that had only been eating sweet potatoes, Egostick, who poured hydrochloric acid instead of soda, was so popular that the catchphrase "If you're Korean, support Egostick" became a trend.

And that rumor of a romantic relationship she just saw.

"Ugh."

She felt her face heat up.

Those fiery words, his terror attacks, and everything he had done so far—

Was it all because he liked her, liked her?

"Ridiculous!"

She said it without realizing.

Why would he like her?

Because of her face? Yeah, that must be it. There was no other reason for him to like her!

Egostick must be one of those guys who only likes her for her face, she thought.

But there was one thing she was sure of.

She looked at her hand and clenched it into a fist.

Her strength had definitely increased.

After stopping the train, she had definitely become stronger.

Becoming stronger was a good thing, something she had always pursued.

"I don't know..."

She sighed, not understanding why she was so conflicted.

Still, one fortunate thing was that some of her anti-fans had disappeared because of this incident.

She pretended not to care about public opinion, but in reality, she cared more than anyone else, so she was quite relieved by the more favorable public opinion.

It was a strange feeling to think that her popularity had both decreased and increased because of Egostick.

It felt like Egostick was controlling her life.

Actually, since the higher-ups had officially appointed her to handle Egostick, it wasn't an incorrect thought.

"Ah..."

Just as she was feeling conflicted, her phone rang.

The caller was Kim Chae-hyun.

Her closest senior at university.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Ha-re! The weather is nice, want to go out and play?"

"Go out and play?"

Thinking about it, she had rarely gone out to play.

Studying and hero activities left her with no time.

But now, she was being invited to go out.

Hmm.

She would have normally refused.

Balancing studies and hero work was already challenging, and she had no time to play.

Lately, she had been too busy to even stay at her association's office for long. The office had nice sunlight.

But, with everything that had been bothering her because of Egostick, the invitation to go out was quite tempting.

"Um... sure! When?"

"Right now! How about it? There's a festival! I've always wanted to go!"

"Oh, a festival. That sounds good. I think I can make time today. Let's meet up later. What kind of festival is it?"

"An ice cream festival! It'll be fun, right?"

"Um, yeah."

After saying that, she thought to herself.

Is there even such a thing as an ice cream festival?

***

In Seoul, where buildings were densely packed, cars moved around, and people hurriedly came and went.

Deep underground, far away, was our underground base.

Egostick, the villain who terrified all of South Korea.

Han Seo-eun, a genius hacker who could bring down South Korea's entire network with a single finger.

Lee Su-bin, a versatile assistant who was good at hacking, housework, and driving.

This place, known as Ego-Base, where all three of them gathered.

Although it was deep underground and didn't get much sunlight, it was a cozy place with LED lights to replace the sun.

Sometimes, it's good to rest at home.

Haven't I been living too busy lately?

It's not easy to act as a villain when I used to be an ordinary citizen.

Last time, when I was told that thousands of people were watching me, I was a bit nervous. Every word I said could be turned into news... like how my "Yess!" after seeing Stardust stop the train was used as evidence for the romantic rumor.

Those damn journalists.

They're just getting more perceptive...

Anyway, it's not good to keep drawing attention.

Lately, I've been relaxing at home.

Mostly, I play with Seo-eun.

She's in middle school but has no friends, so she must be very bored...

We play board games or video games with Su-bin.

Even though she complains that these are for kids, she looks cute when she gets into it.

Yeah, kids should play like kids! It's not good to always be in front of a computer.

Anyway, another day of lazing around.

While watching TV and eating an apple that Su-bin had cut, Seo-eun, who was doing something in her room, came running to me.

Then she showed me something and said we should go there.

"An ice cream festival?"

"Yeah, I mentioned it before. It's today! We have to go!"

Seo-eun said, her eyes sparkling.

Su-bin, who was standing next to her, also looked eager to go.

Thinking about it, I had heard of it before.

The 13th International Ice Cream Festival... I hadn't heard of such a thing in the original story...

Seo-eun was explaining that it was the first time in Korea and there were many things to see.

I had never heard of an ice cream festival before, so it was a bit intriguing.

Seo-eun, who usually stays at home, was eager to go out. She must really want to see it... Does she love ice cream that much?

"Okay, let's go! Change your clothes."

I stood up and said.

What could go wrong?