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Translated by BiasNil
· · ────── ꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ────── · ·
Stardust. Shin Haru.
Her parents gave her that name, with the meaning of "Starting a new day."
But these days, she can barely have a new day.
"Haa…"
Looking at her smartphone, she sighed and set it down.
[Let's be honest. What has Stardust done?]
Those words seemed to ring in her ears.
Public opinion centered around the internet.
They doubted the quality of the A-class hero, Stardust.
Honestly, she was very upset.
What had she done wrong?
Her only "crime" was saving people from time to time while attending college.
But public opinion stared her down coldly.
Ever since he appeared.
Why should she be vilified when she did as usual and only ran out when she heard Egostic had appeared in town?
She even let him go and couldn't catch him properly since she was afraid the citizens would be in danger.
She could not understand—
Why people like how Egostic eliminates other villains.
Citizens' dissatisfaction had built up, seeing heroes only capture villains and the judiciary hand out soft punishments to diabolical criminals.
Anger that used to target judges had spread to the heroes before anyone knew it.
You should have killed him on the spot. Why did you have to capture them alive?
Because you capture them alive, they live comfortably in prison…
It was nonsense, but those complaints had already spread quietly among the citizens.
And then he burst out like a comet everyone had been waiting for.
A man who hunts villains appeared.
That was Egostic.
He was the person every Korean had been dreaming of.
…Of course, he staged the cruise ship terrorism. No—to be exact, it should be considered an attempted terrorist incident.
He didn't actually cause any terrorism in the end. No one pressed the button; the citizens were quickly convinced and backed off.
And he resolved the terrorist hostage crisis at Daehyun Tower by himself. That incident was so big that it overshadowed everything else.
When other heroes were unable to do anything because of the hostages, he walked straight into the enemy camp and rescued everyone without a single death. He even gave them money.
And Teleporter, graded A-class due to the danger of his escape skill, was eliminated by him.
The public showed their enthusiasm in many ways. It was no coincidence that almost every community liked him and a fancafe for him opened.
And those who confronted him would naturally become the "evil."
And it happened to be her.
"Haa…"
Shin Haru took another sip of the mango frappé in her hand.
Ashamed and pained, she wondered if this was why she became a hero.
She was shocked to see even a close senior friend saying she liked Egostic lately.
Sitting by the cafe window, she looked outside.
Spring had come; cherry blossoms bloomed beautifully along the street.
She didn't even have time to go see them because of college and hero work.
But even so, people were cursing her.
At the regular Hero Association meeting last time,
She nearly fainted when the general manager smiled and said, "I'm getting more comfortable these days thanks to Egostic."
This wasn't normal. Everyone except her seemed crazy.
"Haa… No. Get a hold of yourself."
She shook her head and decided to finish her assignment.
She couldn't be productive if she kept digging into it like this.
She had to do her homework.
So she pulled herself together and tried to finish it—
Until she got a call.
[Stardust, turn on the TV right now! Egostic is back. He pointed you out again!]
Her face stiffened.
Perhaps it was time for work again.
Shin Haru immediately sprang from her seat and hurried out.
No matter what people say, she is a hero.
She was on her way to do her job.
***
"Long time no see, my fellow citizens! It is your likable villain, Egostic!"
On a cliff with a panoramic view of the railroad,
I greeted the camera.
I was going to be broadcast live on everyone's TV again.
Honestly, even if I only livestreamed on YouTube, the terrestrial stations would pick it up on their own.
This time, I hijacked the airwaves again.
Why? Because it shows my potential.
Since the last hijacking incident, the broadcasting companies seem to have paid a lot more attention to security, but it's nothing more than window dressing to me. Well, I actually did nothing… Seo-eun did it all… but who would know that?
Lowering my head slightly, I glanced at the hologram with my right eye hidden behind the mask.
Using high tech made by Seo-eun, it lets me see holograms in front of my eyes like in Iron Man's world. The important thing is, there was no software to use with it. So I opened the chat window from the YouTube livestream. I opened it…
[The big one is coming. The big one is coming. The big one is coming. The big one is coming. The big one is coming. The big one is coming. The big one is coming. The big one is coming. The big one is coming. The big one is coming.]
[Egostic Live ON. Hahahahaha.]
[I was bored but a fun event came. Hahahaha.]
[What crazy stuff is he planning today? Hahahaha.]
[Ego-Hi (meaning Egostic-Hi)]
[Let's go~ Let's go~]
[Mangostic! Mangostic! Mangostic! Mangostic! Mangostic! Mangostic! Mangostic! Mangostic! Mangostic! Mangostic! Mangostic! Mangostic!]
…But I already regret it… Do they think this is a surprise party?
I checked my reflection in the camera. As always, I wore black from head to toe. A gray half-mask on my face—my signature look. Honestly, I wanted to wear a black wizard hat here, but Seo-eun vetoed it. Next time, I'll sneak it in.
Anyway, back to it.
"I've been getting a lot of news lately. Yes! A lot is coming in. A lot of people like me! I saw my fancafe, too! Gosh, it's fascinating. Haha."
I said with an awkward laugh.
I scratched my head and laughed.
Then, abruptly, my face turned serious.
"But. I think you guys are misunderstanding something."
In a low voice, I walked to the edge of the cliff. The camera followed me, slowly closing in. I controlled all of it with my telekinesis. Phew—lucky I have this power. Otherwise I'd have to hire a cameraman. How awkward would it be to stare at a cameraman on this cliff while grandstanding?
Keeping my voice low, I continued, staring down over the edge.
"I am a criminal, guys. Do they say 'villain' these days? Anyway, that's me. I think a lot of people forgot I'm a villain who eliminated other villains for my vulgar satisfaction—not for you!"
[This brat, he's such a tsundere [1]wwwwwww]
I nearly slipped off the cliff when I saw the chat. Can't I turn this off midstream? I'm telling Seo-eun to add an OFF function after this.
I almost lost my composure, but I'm a professional. I spoke without changing expression.
"In that sense, I've prepared another great project. I think you're not scared of me yet. Now! Everyone, can you see the railroad far away?"
I shifted the camera—by telekinesis—to the train tracks.
The line ran straight, but midway there was a fork leading to another track.
The camera showed people tied up at the end of the straight track.
"Hahahahaha! Can you see this?"
The chat window exploded.
Yes, this is it. This is it! Fear me more!
"I tied them up. People on the tracks. If the train keeps going straight, it'll run over five innocent people tied here. But do you see the lever over there? If you pull it, the tracks switch, and the train will hit the single person tied on the side track."
[I think I've seen this somewhere.]
[Isn't this the Trolley Dilemma[2]?]
[Trolley Dilemma for real?]
I couldn't help but glance at the chat.
Oh, so people in this world know the Trolley Dilemma—unlike in The Dark Knight.
Still, I guess no villain has actually done it yet. I swallowed a sigh of relief.
"Should we turn the lever? I'm not going to switch it. FYI, stopping the train is not an option."
I switched the feed.
Now we showed the engine room of the moving train. The driver was unconscious and slumped over; a masked woman was at the controls. Yes, that's Su-bin. Thank you, Su-bin!
"If you do something stupid, you might flip the train, so keep that in mind. The only option is to turn the lever or not. Well, I'll stop talking. Ms. Stardust, please come. I'll be watching your moral judgment."
Okay, the stage was set.
Now, Shin Haru—your move.
[Stardust again. At this point, this is true love.]
I completely ignored the chat window.
[1] TN: “Tsundere” describes someone who acts cold or rude to hide warm, caring feelings.
[2] TN: Also known as “The Trolley Problem,” an ethics thought experiment.