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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: The Alliance Announcement
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[Trending Post: Full Text of Ego Stream's Announcement....jpg]
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[Ego Stream X Other Villain Alliance Partnership Announcement]
Greetings. This is Egostick.
Ego Stream, the villain alliance of South Korea, is meeting with other villain organizations and signing agreements to foster a better environment for terror.
Therefore, we would like to introduce the villain alliance with whom we have newly signed an agreement.
ㆍLatys (North Atlantic Terrorist Organization)
We deeply resonated with Latys's ambition to expand the seas and conquer the world, and the verbal discussions concluded in a very amicable atmosphere.
Therefore, we hereby announce that Ego Stream and Latys have signed an agreement to respect each other and refrain from mutual hostile acts or infringement upon each other's spheres of activity.
Thank you.
===
This Ego Stream announcement came out when people were wondering why Latys attacked the entire world but spared South Korea...
Do you get the point of this?
Not infringing upon each other's spheres of activity <-- That's it.
So, during this invasion, our country wasn't attacked because it's Ego Stream's territory, lol. It's simply because Egostick went and negotiated first that South Korea remained safe, lololol.
(Image of Egostick with arms outstretched and a halo glowing behind him)
Egostick <--- If he's truly South Korea's greatest GOAT, hit like lolololol
[Likes]6558 [Dislikes]27
=[Comments]=
[Mangostick! Mangostick! Mangostick! Mangostick! Mangostick! Mangostick! Mangostick! Mangostick! Mangostick! Mangostick! Mangostick! Mangostick! Mangostick! Mangostick! Mangostick!]
[Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!]
[We are living in the age of Egostick.]
[Just an S-rank hero lolololol.]
[Saw this and joined the Mangostick fan club faster than anyone else.]
[WTF, so what? Did this incident just coincidentally happen right after Egostick signed an agreement with Latys?]
ㄴ[No, Egostick probably knew about the invasion and negotiated it lol.]
ㄴ[Just looking at the timing of the announcement, it seems he really did divert the attack from Korea lol.]
ㄴ[???: Only I am allowed to commit terror in Korea.]
[Korea's greatest achievement: Possessing S-rank hero Apple Mangostick.]
[If you think the Association should hurry up and become a subordinate organization of Ego Stream, hit like lololol.]
ㄴ[Fr lol.]
ㄴ[Ego Stream does a better job than the Association, even on a global scale lol.]
[S-rank Heroes (can't predict terror, get hit) VS Mangostick (alone stops terror worldwide) Seriously, who's the real hero lol.]
***
The announcement posted on the villain alliance Ego Stream's website.
The announcement, which had been quietly uploaded, spread like wildfire, instantly becoming known to the entire nation.
[While the world suffers from Latys's recent terror attacks, South Korea alone remained unscathed. It is claimed that the reason for this is due to the villain alliance Ego Stream.]
[This is a highly credible interpretation. In fact, it's practically accepted as truth that it was due to Egostick...]
[This news was also reported by foreign media, and overseas netizens are reacting with comments like, 'I wonder how South Korea's small villain alliance managed to sign such an agreement with Latys,' and 'What were our villain alliances doing when Korea was doing that?']
[In contrast, our government and the Association took a step back, stating, 'It's merely a conjecture, not confirmed.' Experts believe they are being cautious because if this were officially announced as fact, it could draw the attention of international organizations. In reality, only Ego Stream has made a claim, while Latys has said nothing.]
Thus, while no official announcement came from the government or the Association, people had already, in effect, accepted that it was due to Egostick.
As the #ThankYou_Egostick event trended in South Korea, fan cafe memberships surged once more, and communities overflowed with praise for Egostick.
Shin Haru, alone, remained silent.
"....."
Association Control Center.
There, the Association President was telling stories to his staff, laughing.
"Last night, the Japanese Association President called, complaining that he was so exhausted he felt like dying. He said he'd have to work non-stop for a week without sleep for post-war recovery, and it almost brought tears to my eyes. Compared to that, how fortunate we are. Hahaha!"
The Association President and his staff were gathered for an emergency response meeting.
However, as South Korea wasn't exactly in an emergency, they were just gathered, ordering Jajangmyeon. The only reason they were gathered was to pretend there was an issue, as the Korean branch of the Association felt awkward doing nothing while other national branches were suffering immensely.
While the Association President cracked dad jokes and the staff chuckled, "Oh, President, hahaha," playing along.
Shin Haru, alone, was lost in thought.
Egostick had joined forces with Latys, a villain organization of global scale.
...Without her even knowing.
Even as an Egostick expert, she had absolutely no idea this was happening.
As she thought about it, Shin Haru felt her mood sink again, for some reason.
...While I had to see the announcement on the website just like everyone else, the Ego Stream members by his side must have known about it all along.
Electra, the Shaman, and the hacker girl—all of them.
"...."
She couldn't understand why thinking such thoughts made her feel even more down.
In any case, continuing to think like this wouldn't be good, so she shifted her thoughts.
Ego Stream had entered into a contractual relationship, and potentially even an alliance, with Latys.
This fact had very significant implications.
Firstly, the fact that a South Korean villain alliance had joined forces with a powerful overseas villain alliance carried a very dangerous meaning for national security.
It was, in effect, a very bad situation where she woke up to find the hostile forces had doubled.
Of course, the Association had released statements to the media claiming the alliance was merely Egostick's media play, but it was widely known that Egostick rarely lied.
It was highly likely to be true.
Therefore, she had to be even more vigilant.
Egostick had become much more dangerous than before. She absolutely had to devise countermeasures.
"..."
Yes, she had to be vigilant. Her opponent was a villain.
She shouldn't let her guard down.
She shouldn't... but...
".....Haa."
She looked down out the window.
The rain from yesterday had stopped, and now, only bright sunlight illuminated the city under a clear sky.
Watching the people far below, living their ordinary daily lives as if nothing had happened.
Shin Haru quietly thought.
...Still.
The fact that this daily life could be protected today.
It was indeed thanks to him.
...Even if I'm a hero and he's a villain.
This much, I suppose I can acknowledge.
Just for today, it was a relief that Egostick was there.
***
"Oppa. As soon as you posted that announcement yesterday, all the news outlets are praising you now, you know?"
I was lying on the sofa, sharing popcorn and watching TV with Eunwol, when Seoeun, who was looking at her smartphone beside me, said that.
...No. You don't really need to relay that.
"Honestly, Oppa, it seems you're hardly trying to hide anything anymore. Why don't we just change our name to a hero alliance? And change the name to Mangostream."
"....."
"But seriously, why did you post that announcement? Honestly, you didn't have to, did you?"
At Seoeun's genuinely curious question, I popped a mouthful of popcorn into my mouth and answered.
"It'll all come out eventually anyway. Plus, this won't be the only time something like this happens, so it's better to reveal it proactively."
"...Well, if you say so. But what about your fans increasing day by day, Oppa?"
"That, you see... Now, just wait."
I operated the remote control and changed the channel.
When Eunwol, who was lying and watching with me, cried 'Ah...!' regrettably as the screen changed, I appeased her by saying I'd paused it, then switched to another broadcast.
"How about this!"
[Egostick has formed an alliance with a foreign villain alliance—this is a truly serious problem! If he's a psychopath like Egostick, it wouldn't be strange for him to invade with them right now, everyone! Don't fall for his superficial trick. This guy was throwing bombs in the streets and committing terror just last time! He's a very bad guy!]
On the broadcast, a very familiar-looking woman was passionately shouting.
"...Uh, why that?"
"See? That anti-Egostick broadcast I used to cultivate, no, sorry, that critical broadcast? It's even airing on public television now. It's growing by leaps and bounds."
"...So?"
"As long as that woman is there, public opinion won't be a problem. With 24-hour Egostick criticism broadcasts now, who could possibly withstand that?"
Soon, negative public opinion about me will sprout up like mushrooms after rain.
YouTube and newspapers seemed to have less effect, so I even got them into broadcasting stations. There's no way it won't work.
It won't be long until Egostick is perceived as an evil villain. There's no resisting baseless criticism, after all. Especially if I consistently commit terror, it's a given.
"...Uh, hmm... Well, if you say so, Oppa, it must be true?"
"Exactly. You'll realize I was right eventually."
"...."
Just as Seoeun made a doubtful expression.
Choi Sehee, who had been sitting below the sofa, dozing off, and then snapped awake at our voices, suddenly asked.
"Hey, but. If you reveal that partnership, or whatever it is, won't other countries come after you? They might come for you as a substitute for Latys, right?"
"No. They won't even pay attention to me."
I said flatly.
Anyway, all the other countries are busy with their own post-disaster recovery, and they absolutely never dispatch heroes to other countries. There's a risk of talent drain.
However, normally the International Hero Association might show some interest, but now they're too unstable to pay attention to me. Especially that woman, the UHN Director, she's probably too busy just trying to keep her organization together. She's busy right after the terror attack, plus there's an internal conflict.
That's why I said confidently.
"Don't worry. They probably won't even remember my name."
***
International Hero Association UHN Headquarters.
The woman sitting in the Director's office there read one of the many reports that had come in, then folded it again.
"South Korea's villain alliance, Ego Stream. And its leader, Egostick..."
...For now, perhaps I'll just remember the name.
She merely murmured that.