Chapter 217 Calmly

AAAAAAAAH.

In the Association, Stardus office. Sitting there as usual, Shin Haru held her head with a slightly tired expression.

You jerk.

Haa

Why did I do that. Why did I do that

A few days ago, Egostic attacked with terrorism. Fighting against him, the new villain who had appeared out of nowhere, and then inexplicably

No matter how hard she tried to forget it and focus on her work, that moment kept replaying in her mind, and she found herself silently screaming.

Did a hero really cry and yell at a villain, only to run away in the end? Did she even shed a few tears?

And did she do it in front of Egostic of all people?

.Ugh.

Thinking about that incident, Stardus blushed again.

I must have been insane back then, truly insane.

[Stardus, hows your body? Are you okay? If somethings wrong, let us know immediately.]

At that moment, a notification came through the Associations internal messenger. After checking that it was from the president, she quickly replied that she was fine.

After her fight with Katana, the president seemed a bit more concerned about her physical condition. It wasnt entirely strange. After all, when she thought about it, Katana was probably one of the strongest opponents Stardus had faced to date.

Katana, that woman, was much stronger than I initially thought

At the time of their fight, she had been so consumed by anger and had fought without thinking clearly. Later, she had heard that Katana was considered one of the top-level villains in the world.

Honestly, during their battle, she hadnt noticed any significant difference between Katana and the other villains she had fought against until now. She didnt seem especially strong.

However,

Was she that strong?

Later, when she read the reports in the news and listened to what the president had to say, it seemed that Katana was indeed a formidable villain. She was originally ranked number one among Japanese superpower holders, after all. So, the fact that she had fought Katana on equal terms had become quite a hot topic, even in Japan.

Well

She didnt exactly engage in a life-and-death battle with Katana. The woman had moved as if it were a sparring match rather than with the intent to kill Stardus. Stardus had no intention of killing Katana either, she only wanted to suppress her. Especially considering that Egostic had intervened in the middle of their fight Maybe things would have been different if they had a deadly fight.

Lost in such thoughts, Stardus suddenly recalled the last scene of that day. Katana, almost embraced by Egostic, and herself, who had cried and attacked in a fit of emotions.

Ughhhh

Her cheeks turned red, and with a strange sound escaping her, she eventually collapsed onto her desk.

Why did I do that back then? What got into me?

But, feeling the cold surface of the desk, she quietly pondered.

Back then, for some reason, she had truly felt a pain in her chest

When she saw Katana, the villain woman, embracing Egostic and holding his hand.

Why?

Yeah. For some reason, she felt that way when she saw Egostic collaborating with that Katana. It meant that South Korea was in danger. The danger from the villain factions had increased, so it was natural for a hero to react that way. Besides, Egostic was a bad guy, right? So that was probably the reason.

Yeah, that must have been it.

Was it the only reason?

She felt annoyed because of that simple thing?

Stardus couldnt answer that question.

No, if anything.

Its you who completes me.

Cough, you owe me one now.

Ill take care of the rest.

Maybe theres no other reason.

Like that, Shin Haru

Alone in her office on the upper floor of the towering Association building in the heart of Seoul

She lay there, alone

Lost in deep thought.

Yeah.

Eventually, with slightly reddened eyes, she reached a conclusion.

.Thats it. Its because of Egostic.

Said to me.

Looking at me, claiming myself to be your hero but openly works with other people in front of my eyes Its normal for a hero to feel uncomfortable!

Thats right. She wasnt being weird. Perhaps all heroes that have arch-enemies like her would feel the same way.

And if youre a villain, you should only care about your nemesis, your enemy, right? Thats common sense. Yes, it must be common sense.

Also, I would know if it was his Ego Stream which he referred to as his family. Since he brought in another famous villain I had never seen before, making me fight her, and he was holding her hand and such.

As a responsible hero, as an arch-enemy, as a nemesis, its normal to feel sad.

Yes. Thats it.

.Yeah. Its definitely right to capture and lock them up.

A villain who kept looking at anything other than their hero needed to be punished. First, you should capture them and keep them by your side. Yes, you should catch villains.

Stardus, who had been lying on her desk, murmured with slightly reddened eyes.

In this way, her head, exhausted from not sleeping properly for a while, stress piled up, and her confused and resentful feelings combined.

She eventually arrived at that conclusion.

[How to ambush the opponent]

[How to make the opponent faint]

[How to capture an teleportation ability user]

[How to catch a fleeing opponent]

For a while, her internet search history became quite specialized.

For one person only.

***

[Yes, Da-in. Since were meeting next week, Ill ask you about it then.]

Yeah. Thanks as always, Seola.

[Oh, dont mention it. Im the one who should be grateful. Thank you, Da-in. You introduced me to Katana, and thats helped strengthen our two countries relationship even more.]

Seola laughed and continued.

Well, considering that Seola wields influence in the South Korean political field and Katana has essentially taken control of the Japanese Association and government, when the two of them meet, its practically a diplomatic summit Theyve become quite close, but thats a good thing.

[And about that Anti-Egostic Broadcast is that what its called? You have that broadcasting station you established.]

Oh, yeah.

I perked up when Seola mentioned it. It was the specialized broadcasting station I set up with a journalist and later sold entirely to her. I thought Seola could manage the ownership better than I could since I had no time to deal with it.

[This time, were going with a concept that Egostic has brought an unimportant Japanese villain, and hes profiting from our country]

Oh, that sounds great though. Why?

[Well, its just that were getting a lot of complaints right now, and there are petitions to shut down the program that are going up on our side as well.]

.Well, you cant cave to that kind of pressure. Just keep going.

For those who doubted my identity as a villain, I had no choice but to continue to indoctrinate them. No, what if they praised me for bringing a famous Japanese villain and called it a show? I couldnt let that happen. I didnt think I was wrong. I had to keep explaining rationally and logically why I was a villain.

Honestly, Im not sure whats the point when I had achieved my goal of becoming the villain of villains and even got into the Cathedral But anyway, I still keep it going.

[Im not sure if thatll work out, but okay.]

Thats right, I need to say a few more words to persuade Lee Seola. Then, we talked about the PMC.

[By the way, I was thinking about meeting the PMC members. What do you think? Theyre still under my groups title, but it feels like I havent paid much attention to them.]

Oh, that sounds good. Now that most of them have completed their abilities, its about time we sent them out for practical training. Lets discuss that when the time comes.

[Sure. Take a good rest, Da-in. Ill go see Haru, and Ill contact you again after that.]

Yeah, got it. Thanks.

Click.

After ending the call with Lee Seola, I let out a sigh and put my phone down.

What are you up to? Want some of this?

Hmm? Oh, thanks.

Just then, Choi Sehee approached me, holding out an ice cream bar. I caught it in mid-air and started unwrapping it.

It was mango-flavored ice cream.

Do you have any other flavors besides this?

Nope. Remember, Seo Ja-young ordered a bunch of these mango sticks last time.

But this ones delicious. Why?

With a raised eyebrow, Choi Sehee watched me take a bite of the mango bar.

It was refreshing and sweet; I couldnt deny that it was tasty.

As I ate the ice cream, my mind began to wander.

Katana had returned to Japan, seemingly satisfied with the fight against Stardus. She had even mentioned that it was a good experience and said shed come back anytime if the opportunity arose.

After bidding farewell to Katana, my thoughts turned to a different matter.

Specifically, Stardus. Why did she react that way at the end?

You jerk.

Yes, I am a bad guy

Thats right. Im a villain, and if Im not a bad guy, then what am I?

But Starduss reaction that day felt odd. It was as if she was upset, or disappointed.

And

You jerk.

Hearing those words made my heart skip a beat.

Honestly, I couldnt pinpoint exactly when it started. If I had to trace it back, it might have been around the time when the Statue of Liberty remained intact and when the news of X-Machinas death was announced.

Strangely, Stardus had been catching my attention more than before.

So why did she cry?

I let out another sigh and leaned back on the couch. Well, Ill trust that Lee Seola will find out more about it when she meets Stardus next time.

Listening to the TV in the background, I got lost in various thoughts while absentmindedly enjoying my ice cream.

I also needed to visit Vine Witch sooner or later, but I wondered when that would be.

Oh, by the way, Sehee, arent you feeling cold?

Not at all. Its quite warm. Maybe its because youre eating ice cream?

Is that so?

Did I feel the chill because of that?

As I continued to eat the ice cream, I wondered if it had something to do with the chill I felt earlier.