Is this it?

[Yes, it is.]

The next day, after the day she heard from him.

Shed fallen asleep with nervousness, or something else, and woken up the next morning with another call from him.

So she donned her hero suit and came to this ruin-like place, as he had asked her.

So, theres a villain down here?

[Yes. And a very scary one at that.]

Stardus pricked her ears as she listened to his words.

They were talking to each other through this device that resembled a pair of wireless earbuds, given to her along with the communicator by Egostic.

What he wanted was for her to take care of the villain lurking in the underground ruins.

[Well, not exactly a villain, more of a killing machinebut youll have to see for yourself.]

Thats how he explained it.

It was too powerful for him to handle, so he needed Stardus help.

Too much even for the Ego Stream members? Stardust thought so.

I see, so where exactly am I?

[Youre almost there, more likeyeah, thats it.]

Not in Seoul, but in a ruin somewhere in Gyeonggi Province.

It was supposed to be a forest, but a villain had gone on a rampage and burned everything down, so it was now a desolate place, like a desert. Theres sand everywhere, so it really looks like a desert.

[At this point there should be a magic circle nearby, do you see it?]

Magic circle?

[Yes, Ive already marked it]

Wait

She muttered, and then spotted a purple magic circle drawn in front of a huge yellow boulder on one side of the ruins.

Found it.

[Yeah, good job, now go hit that rock with your fist]

Okay, wait.

She took a breath, then did as he said and punched the rock.

-Kwaaaaaaaaaaah.

?!

Even though she had only hit the rock, there was a tremendous boom and shockwave, as if the ground had exploded, and she panicked.

What?

Something, like invisible glass, shattered and behind the shattered rocks, a tunnel-like passage opened up.

Is this it?

[Yes, thats right, hes in here.]

Okay.

With that, she took a deep breath before entering.

It had been a bit confusing when shed first gotten the call, but she was a professional.

At the mention of a villain threatening people, shed kept her cool ever since.

When it came to dealing with the enemy, she was always cool.

As she calmed herself before entering, she suddenly heard Egostic voice in her ear.

[Arent you worried?]

About what?

[Im the villain, youre the hero, this could be a trap Ive set for you, you dont know where you are or what youre doing.]

He says, sounding so intimidating, just before she goes underground.

But rather, the words sound more like advice and concern so Stardus smirked and answered him.

If you were going to deal with me, you would have done so long ago, when you had plenty of opportunities, and now you do?

[Still]

I trust you.

She said, just like that, cutting to the chase.

How many times had he saved her life? How many times had he always come running to her in her hour of need, giggling, telling her it was okay now, saving her?

She didnt worry about that, not at all.

His voice pauses at the word trust and then, just as she was about to enter, he spoke again, in a tone of concern.

[I mean, you believe me, but you dont believe the other villains either, do you? Villains are evil, almost everything they say is a trick or a trap, and you know you shouldnt go in just because they tell you where to go]

Apparently, he thinks shes so trusting of the other villains that shell just go along with whatever they say.

She doubted it.

Shes a battle-hardened hero, and shes a professional at being skeptical and wary of anything a villain says.

But

Not the others.

Because its you, Egostic, I trust you.

Okay?

[]

He closed his mouth, as if her words had left him speechless.

And then she smirked at his silence.

Stardus continued walking into the ruins.

***

Wow

She didnt know how long she walked through the dark tunnels but eventually, white marble began to appear around her, and before she knew it, she was in an open chamber large enough to hold dozens of people.

It looked like a temple, to be exact.

Where am I?

This place looked like an ancient ruin.

In a subterranean temple, buried in the ground and faded by time, where yellow lanterns glowed softly, illuminating unidentifiable symbols and shapes painted on the walls.

In a bewildered voice, she said.

[This is a temple, a sun temple to be exact]

A temple? Wait

She muttered and looked around.

Sure enough, it was a temple. There were ritualistic objects scattered about and geometric paintings.

But it was too big, buried in ochre-colored sands and looking like it had been abandoned for centuries.

It looked as if it had been eroded for over a thousand years. To be precise, it was more Egyptian or European than Korean.

How is it that a ruin of this magnitude hasnt been discovered yet?

She muttered.

Egostic must have been listening to her on his communicator, because he replied,

[As you saw earlier, it was still blocked by the crystals.]

He replied as if it was obvious.

Why in the world would an ancient, cordoned-off temple be buried beneath the ground, and even in Korea? How did he know this?

It wasnt like he was going to give her much of an answer if she asked, but she decided to press on.

So where the hell am I?

As she walked through the ochre-colored temple, she asked in a grumbling tone, Cant you at least tell me where I am?

Egostic was surprisingly forthcoming with his answer.

[This is the ancient temple of the Sun God. To be precise, it is the Sun Gods own pre-arranged temple, built a long time ago, long before the first manifestation of sentience in this world.]

He speaks as if he was telling an old story but Stardus didnt quite understand what he was talking about.

A Sun God? What mythology is he talking about?

[Well, it doesnt matter to you, for now, all you need to know is that the guy under this Sun Gods temple is a bad guy.]

Knight of God.

-Egostic explained.

An ancient weapon of the Sun God, driven only by destruction, a scourge that will burn the nation to the ground when it awakens one day and a scourge that will be hard to defeat if not now.

Whatever, I just need to take him down, right?

She asked, pressing her head in confusion.

There were a lot of questions she wanted to ask, like why was there a Sun God ruin in Korea, and why was there a murder weapon down there, and how the hell did Egostic know all of this but for now, she decided to take care of the immediate threat before she thought about it.

Whatever it was, there had to be something to it, since he had warned her about it.

And with that, she walked down the strange ruins with confidence.

In the meantime, Egostic continued his explanation in preparation for the upcoming battle.

[Stardus try tapping the in-ear communicator in your ear.]

This?

She tapped the round earpiece in her ear at his command.

Then.

?

Suddenly, a pair of holographic glasses popped up in front of her, centered on the communicator, and floated in front of her eyes.

The holographic glasses looked like something out of a sci-fi movie.

She looked through the hologram and saw something bouncing around in her field of vision.

[This is the next generation of hero aids Ive created. Its designed to increase your field of vision somewhat, and when youre attacked, a red light flashes to your right, just like in games and as a bonus, I get to share your vision with you.]

Interesting. But is this really necessary?

She watched it curiously, clenching and unclenching her fist in front of her eyes, and when she said that, Egostic said it as if it were obvious, as if he could see her nodding.

[Stardus, the enemy youre about to face is no pushover, and youll never be able to defeat him if you dont know the right tactics, and his attack patterns, so this time you have to follow my words. I will instruct you where to hit and how to dodge.]

He said with a serious voice and hearing that voice, she realized that this was very important to him.

and that he was worried about her, too.

So Stardus could only nod, reassuringly, and reply.

Okay, Ill take your word for it. So what do I do?

[Yes. Soon]

With that, she walked down the stairs to the far end of the ruins, discussing the plan.

At the end of it, they passed through a massive ochre-colored door with strange symbols and incantations on it.

This is it.

It was a huge, cathedral-like place that could fit hundreds of people.

The stained glass windows on the walls gave off a strange glow that couldnt possibly be underground, softly illuminating the place.

[There you are, Knight of God.]

In the middle of it all, in a large coffin.

..

Something that looks like a giant paladin, clad in silver, heavy armor lay still in it, hands crossed.

What now?

She asked in a low whisper and he replied calmly, as if it were obvious.

[Hit him once and hell wake up. Hit him with all your might.]

..

Is this okay?

She hesitated for a moment, looking at the paladin lying still and silent, but then she made up her mind and clenched her fists.

Yeah, whatever. If I hit him, hell do something.

With that, Stardus raised her fist.