Chapter 57

EP.57 From Doubt to Certainty

[Last Wednesday, the cleanup of the Mapo Bridge, which collapsed due to the villain Egoistic, was almost complete. The collapse of the entire Mapo Bridge, from its pillars to its structure, was a terrorist act, but thanks to A-class hero StarDust, there were no casualties.]

[Experts predict that it will take several years to rebuild the bridge. Meanwhile, Seoul citizens are complaining about the traffic congestion caused by the bridge's collapse...]

***

Shin Haru.

If someone were to ask Shin Haru who her arch-nemesis is, she would answer without hesitation: Egoistic.

In fact, the reason Egoistic became her arch-nemesis is quite simple.

It's just because Egoistic always called out StarDust.

Egoistic.

To be honest, if you were to ask who the most famous and influential villain in the Republic of Korea is, almost everyone would choose Egoistic.

He has been actively operating for less than a year. Yes, in just one year, he surpassed other villains with decades of history and firmly took the top spot. Not knowing Egoistic would make you suspect of being a spy.

In a way, it's only natural. He live-streamed every terrorist act he caused on the three major TV networks.

Of course, that's just one reason for his fame. If you were to ask why he's popular, there would be countless reasons...

But ultimately, what matters is that he is famous and popular.

And because of this, the popularity of his counterpart, StarDust, has also started to rise.

In fact, B-class heroes, who have no fame or recognition, all hope to fight Egoistic.

In a way, it's only natural. If you become his rival and stand against him, your image will be broadcast nationwide, giving you a golden opportunity to make yourself known to everyone. Being a rival to something famous means you can share some of its popularity.

However, unfortunately, such an opportunity did not exist for them.

This is because Egoistic always called out StarDust as the one who would stop him in every terrorist act.

Egoistic's unusual designation of StarDust is a well-known fact. He named StarDust in both of the first villain assassinations he committed.

At the crime scene, he left a message saying "To StarDust," which seemed to imply that he was giving the villains as a gift.

And the terrorist acts he committed afterward.

On the boat and the train, he named StarDust as his rival.

In these two incidents, StarDust thwarted his terrorism with speeches and force, which greatly increased her popularity.

Because of these events, many people began to talk about the relationship between Egoistic and StarDust. Even rumors of a romantic relationship emerged... A video of Egoistic closing StarDust's eyes as she lay on the ground after barely stopping the train is still a popular video.

And that's what the public knows.

But StarDust herself knows more.

"......"

There was a high probability that he knew about her.

That is, her true identity. Not StarDust, but Shin Haru.

The terrorist act that occurred at the festival she attended.

It was too late to receive recognition suppression from the association, so she was about to reveal her face and step out.

Suddenly, he appeared and suppressed the terrorism.

Just because that villain made her feel uncomfortable, for no good reason.

Sure, up to that point, it could be considered a coincidence.

But what only Shin Haru knew, and no one else.

The words he whispered so no one could hear.

"Don't think about revealing your face anymore."

Your life will become difficult.

When she heard those words, the question that arose in her mind.

How did he know she was about to reveal her face?

Did he know she was there? Did he step in to buy her time?

It was a guess, she thought at the time.

But what he did afterward.

He caused a plane terrorist act and, when she was watching the plane fall, he called her and told her to save the falling plane.

And his usual behavior... terrorist acts with no casualties, assassinations of dangerous villains, and suppressing terrorism in a different identity.

As these events intertwined, she began to suspect.

Egoistic. Is he really just a villain?

Lost in various thoughts, she finally made a decision.

When Egoistic causes his next terrorist act, she would definitely find out what he's after.

But the problem was that he disappeared without causing a terrorist act for four months.

And as she waited, her doubts grew. It was like the uneasy feeling you get when you leave home and aren't sure if you turned off the gas.

As she thought more and more about Egoistic, she eventually started checking his fan cafe to see when he would appear.

Finally, he came. The fourth terrorist act.

As soon as she heard the news, she put on her suit and flew to the association.

Since he called her in the last three terrorist acts, she was confident he would call her again.

However.

Her prediction was completely off.

He warned that he would blow up the bridge as soon as the heroes approached, and what Egoistic did was a kind of social experiment targeting the public.

He said something about giving out 100,000 won.

When Shin Haru heard this, she was reminded of his first terrorist act.

About how selfish humans are...

Sure, during the first terrorist act, he told her to give a speech. Maybe he would do the same this time, she speculated.

But that didn't happen. He just chatted and played with someone he called a fan on the bridge, seemingly not thinking about StarDust at all.

Bad guy.

She had been waiting and worrying about him every day, but he seemed to not care about her at all.

Leaving her in a swamp of suspicion and then acting like he didn't know her.

In the end, he blew up the bridge.

Well, she had expected that. Egoistic is a guy who does what he wants.

So, waiting near the Mapo Bridge at 7 PM as he had announced, she immediately sprang into action when the bridge exploded. As a hero, the most important thing is to save people.

Egoistic, who had been watching her from the air.

Ha. He didn't even acknowledge her until now.

Although it wasn't a pleasant feeling to be cleaning up after his mess, she did what she had to do.

After saving the first car and flying to save the second one.

She realized.

She couldn't save it.

She managed to get very close, right in front of it.

But at the moment she reached out, she instinctively felt that she was just one step short.

The despair she felt.

But at that moment.

The car that was about to fall from her fingertips paused.

The car that seemed out of reach, she managed to save.

For a moment, she thought she might have misjudged.

But the car really did pause in front of her for a moment.

And there was only one person who could do such a thing...

Holding the car in both arms, she looked up.

What she saw was Egoistic, looking at her and lowering his arm.

When their eyes met, he turned his head as if nothing had happened, covered his body with his cloak, and disappeared by teleportation.

...After making eye contact, to suddenly and hurriedly leave like that, doesn't he realize how strange it looks?

That's how she almost became certain.

Isn't he, in fact, not just a villain...?

***

Of course, such a hasty assumption was very dangerous.

First, Egoistic is a villain who has caused four large-scale terrorist acts, destroying property and threatening people, even though there were no casualties by chance.

...Of course, thinking about it now, it's confusing whether it was by chance or if Egoistic intended it all. Anyway.

The important thing is that it's very dangerous for her to think this way alone. If she underestimates a villain, it could lead to big problems later.

So she needed someone to consult with.

A friend who knows her secret and can discuss Egoistic.

And there was only one such friend.

I Seol-a, an A-class hero who grew up like a sister since childhood, responsible for the Busan area, known as IceCicle.

Late at night, they were sitting in an empty cafe.

I Seol-a, who heard that Shin Haru had something to discuss, teleported from Busan to Seoul.

The two, who rented the entire cafe, were sitting on the second floor where the night view was slightly visible through the window.

Seol-a, quietly sipping green tea, listened to Shin Haru.

To her, Haru revealed her suspicions.

The terrorist acts by Egoistic that had no casualties.

The fact, discovered through the association's records, that the villains Egoistic killed were all highly dangerous.

And the two other terrorist acts he suppressed.

Including the call she received from him during the plane terrorist act and the incident where he stopped the falling car this time, which she hadn't told anyone.

She told her everything.

Seol-a, who listened quietly while drinking tea as Shin Haru spoke for a long time, finally lifted her head when the story ended.

And she put down her tea.

With her now free hands, she covered her mouth.

Seol-a said to her,

"Good grief, Haru...! You believe the rumor that Egoistic is the dark S-class hero 'AppleMango'?"

Looking at her friend with wide eyes, as if she couldn't believe it, Shin Haru started to feel regret.

Ah. Maybe I shouldn't have consulted her.