Chapter 6

EP.6 Imitation Elimination

[The followers of Egoistic are currently carrying out a bomb attack in the middle of Incheon. They have planted bombs in buildings and claim they are planning to cause more explosions. They are currently staging a sit-in without any specific demands, stating that they only wish for death. So far, the death toll is estimated to be at least three.]

My face stiffened as I watched the news that Se-eun showed me.

Who the hell are these guys, calling themselves followers and selling me out?

And what? Casualties? They killed people?

I felt something inside me twist.

I just worked so hard to raise my profile and image yesterday.

And they ruin it the very next day.

You guys have crossed the line. Got it?

Who the hell are you to cause a terrorist attack in my name?

And to do it in such a barbaric and violent way, completely unlike me?

"....."

And people died.

I made a decision when I chose this villain's path: never to cause civilian casualties.

But three people are dead.

Since they are my followers, I am essentially responsible.

For those three lives.

With a stiff face, I spoke to Se-eun, who was sitting in the chair.

"Se-eun, help me one more time. I need to clean up this mess and then do something."

"I knew you would say that and prepared in advance."

Se-eun rummaged through a drawer and handed me a phone.

I held it and walked toward the elevator.

"Hah, hah."

A hollow laugh escaped me.

Really.

Two days in a row? That's too much.

***

The Korean Superhuman Association.

But no one calls it that; it's known as the Hero Association.

The atmosphere at the Hero Association was tense.

"What's the current situation?"

The director asked in a low voice, and the agent sitting in front quickly responded.

"The perpetrators are still staging a sit-in at the scene. It appears that about 300 hostages are trapped inside the building."

"Any additional casualties?"

"It doesn't seem like there are any more for now."

"Got it. Are the heroes on their way?"

"Currently, a team of C and B-class heroes is on standby. However, they are threatening to detonate the bombs, making it difficult to approach."

"Damn, those bastards. Did Egoistic bring them in?"

"An investigation into any connections is ongoing, but it's still unclear."

"Got it. Oh, where is Stardust?"

"She is currently observing the situation nearby. If necessary, she will launch an attack."

Exactly.

Shin Hae-ru, known as Stardust, was currently on the rooftop of a nearby building, closely monitoring the situation.

'Damn, what should I do...'

The reason the Hero Association exists is simple.

It's difficult for ordinary police to capture villains with superhuman abilities.

So, the association was formed under the premise that those with superhuman abilities, or superpowers, would capture each other.

Most of the terrorism in this era is caused by villains with superpowers.

They do it to show off their strength or out of dissatisfaction with the world, leading to their awakening as villains.

So, it's almost unprecedented for non-superpowered individuals to carry out such a terrorist attack in this era.

The reason is...

'Egoistic, that bastard.'

Shin Hae-ru gritted her teeth.

It's clear that his minimal use of superpowers and reliance on bombs to pressure heroes has inspired others.

'No, judging by the timing, it's more likely that he orchestrated this.'

Yes, that's more likely.

Otherwise, organizing such a large-scale terrorist attack in just one day is impossible.

It's clearly a planned crime.

'I should have killed him yesterday... Wait, is that?'

As she noticed something, a communication from her superiors came through her earpiece.

[Stardust, that bastard Egoistic has appeared on the scene. I repeat, Egoistic himself has appeared on the scene. The perpetrator is currently streaming himself on YouTube. Please confirm immediately.]

Even without the urgent message from headquarters, Shin Hae-ru could tell he had arrived.

She could see Egoistic standing in front of the building where the hostages were being held.

"Streaming on YouTube...?"

The message from headquarters mentioned that he was streaming on YouTube.

She quickly turned on her phone and opened the app.

The top trending video on the main screen.

[Egoistic LIVE]

She clicked on the video.

***

A building filled with a cold, tense atmosphere.

An empty street with no one in sight.

There, a black figure appeared.

A black robe covering the entire body.

Black hair matching the robe.

And a half-mask covering the face.

Yes, it's me, Egoistic.

[What is this?]

[Hero live streaming ㅅㅂㄷㄷㄷㄷ]

[Looks like Egoistic is live streaming a terrorist attack ㄷ]

[The greatest villain of this era, Egoistic, appears ㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[Thought I had nothing to do today, but this is pretty entertaining ㅋㅋㅋ]

[There are a lot of crazy people in the chat, this is a crime scene, you idiots]

[As long as it's not me, it's fine~~~~]

[Mid☆High♧Car#Bargain♡Sale×Now□Available☆For♧Immediate#Delivery%Contact>>>0703461555<<<]

[Release Mr. Kim Seon-woo, release Mr. Kim Seon-woo, release Mr. Kim Seon-woo, release Mr. Kim Seon-woo, release Mr. Kim Seon-woo, release Mr. Kim Seon-woo, release Mr. Kim Seon-woo, release Mr. Kim Seon-woo]

[Damn, the chat is flooded]

[Is YouTube not taking this down?]

[Considering he kidnapped a broadcast yesterday, YouTube might not be able to take it down]

...And the scene of me walking was being live-streamed on YouTube.

The phone filming me was fixed in place by telekinesis.

To revive my plummeting reputation, it was a necessary choice...

But as I glanced at the chat, I started to regret it.

Still, I kept walking.

Before I knew it, I was in front of the building.

I entered without any interference and saw a dark interior.

Inside, there were many, many people sitting.

And the standing ones were wearing black clothes and masks, just like me.

But not half-masks covering half the face, full masks covering the entire face.

I entered the spacious lobby of the building through the entrance.

The ones standing with guns initially flinched when they saw me.

But when they recognized me through the black robe and half-mask, a few of them cheered.

Then, a terrorist's voice echoed.

"Look, our hero, Lord Egoistic, has descended upon us!"

Damn, why are these guys like this.

Why is the embarrassment all mine?

Starting with the first one, the surrounding followers began to chant in unison.

"Egoistic! Egoistic!"

"He's here! He's really here!"

"Keeeek!"

The rioters started screaming at the sight of me.

The hostages, on the other hand, were huddled and trembling.

Even though I decided to become a villain,

I was once an ordinary citizen of South Korea before the possession.

Something inside me started to burn.

You ignorant bastards.

This is just a riot.

There's no elegance, no innovative methods, no psychological pressure.

Just primitive fear and intimidation.

How can you call yourselves my followers and use my name to do this?

After entering the building, I still hadn't said a word.

But I turned my head and carefully observed each of them.

All of them in black robes and masks were holding guns.

And one of them must be holding the detonator.

[The guy at 3 o'clock is holding the detonator.]

A voice came through the earpiece.

Indeed, the genius hacker, Han Se-eun.

She always knows what I need.

...I don't know how she figured it out, though.

People were packed between the standing terrorists.

About 300, they said.

"....."

Now, what should I do with these guys.

Hmm... right.

Let's laugh a bit.

"Haha, hahaha."

I bowed my head and chuckled.

Then I laughed again.

"Kukukukukuku, hahahahaha! Hahahahaha!"

A maniacal, boisterous laugh.

In the quiet building, only my laughter echoed.

The self-proclaimed followers seemed to sense something was off and shut their mouths.

After laughing to my heart's content, I abruptly stopped and said,

"I came here when I heard I had followers, wondering what this was all about... Well, well..."

The room tensed as I drew out my words.

"Well, well done! Excellent!"

The followers visibly relaxed upon hearing my words. Relax, go ahead.

One of them, who seemed to be the leader, spoke up.

"Haha! Thank you! We are fervent-"

"Very well done."

I coldly cut him off.

At the same time, I reached into my coat.

"Very well done, you bastards, for-"

As I spoke, I used telekinesis to immobilize the apparent leader and the one holding the detonator.

"-doing this."

As soon as I finished speaking, I pulled out a gun from my coat and shot the two of them.

Bang, bang. Pleasant sounds.

Thanks to the telekinesis, the two of them fell helplessly, bleeding.

"AAAAAAH!"

The hostages screamed as people fell from the gunshots.

The self-proclaimed followers, hiding their panic behind their masks, watched as I reloaded my gun.

Now, it's time for a 're-education' session.