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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: The Hunter's Message
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Egostic.
He caused all kinds of terror, was difficult to capture due to his unique escape-specialized abilities, and had formed his own faction by uniting villains.
He was South Korea's most dangerous individual.
Moreover, his terror targeted not only civilians but also other villains, earning him the support of those who favored extreme measures. And whether by coincidence or not, he never killed civilians, which surprisingly garnered him a fanbase even among the general public. His broadcasts also gave him considerable public recognition.
In short, while he hadn't yet caused a truly massive incident,
he was a ticking time bomb, capable of blowing up South Korea at any moment if he put his mind to it.
He commanded two S-class villains, one an A-class villain believed to be immortal, and another a hacker whose abilities were impossible to gauge.
Yes. Egostic. He was a dangerous element who absolutely had to be stopped by any means necessary. This was a common point made by all renowned experts on villains and terrorism in South Korea. Unlike at first, he had now become far too threatening.
...And this was as much as the general public knew about Egostic.
Stardus, Shin Haru herself, who had always fought against him,
knew far more about him than the public.
Beyond the simple fact that Egostic possessed a bioweapon called Behemoth, there was more.
"...Next time, don't step in."
He subtly seemed to know her civilian identity, yet never touched her, instead showing concern.
"You complete me."
He'd encourage her to stop the terror attacks he himself had caused.
"You owe me one this time."
...In the past, he had even put his life on the line for her.
All of this was unknown to the general public.
Of course, they did know that Egostic considered Stardus his adversary. After all, his villain debut began by targeting Stardus, and his actions during the subsequent train terror attack, or his tendency to specifically call out Stardus, made that clear.
However, the deeper and more complex truths about him were known only to Stardus.
In other words, Egostic actually seemed to think of Stardus far more deeply than the public perceived.
But then.
"....Ha. Seriously, this is absurd."
Inside the Association.
Stardus was grinding her teeth that day as well.
The reason was none other than Egostic.
Her usual worries and thoughts about Egostic's potential and overt danger, and occasionally wondering if he was truly evil, were nothing out of the ordinary.
'Smooch.'
'Good work, honey.'
This time, however, she was thinking something different about Egostic.
"...Ha. I seriously can't believe this."
The events of that night.
Mist, with her purple hair, being intimate with Egostic as if they were lovers.
Recalling the two of them even kissing right in front of her at the end, she felt her hands clench without realizing it.
"...Calm down."
She couldn't smash another desk, could she?
She tried to quell her anger and loosen her grip, but the deep fury returned every time she recalled that scene.
...All this time, he was saying things to me like I complete him, and all that.
And it turns out he was smooching and making out with another woman behind my back?
"Haa..."
Clutching her throbbing head, she closed her eyes for a moment and sighed.
She wasn't entirely sure why she was so angry. When she first saw them together, acting like that... she felt her mind seemed to stop for a moment. It was even more shocking because she had never imagined Egostic with another woman.
And after returning home in that dazed state, lying on her bed and thinking it over, all that came to mind was rage. The mere thought of that scene made her blood boil. Something inside her felt like it was cracking.
Why was she feeling this way? What did his actions have to do with her?
As Stardus pondered this for a moment, she thought,
'Right. Egostic collaborating so closely with another S-class villain is a huge problem and a potential threat, isn't it?'
She justified it to herself that way.
Yes. It was not strange at all for her to be angry at him. Rather, it was a natural reaction for a hero. Once again, it was absolutely not strange.
Repeating this to herself as if hypnotizing herself, she soon began to devise a plan.
What should she do then?
Naturally, she had to separate them.
"...Right. Egostic, how dangerous is that man?"
Egostic, a terrorist and the leader of a villain organization.
Indeed, there was no choice but to quickly capture him and confine him in a detention facility.
Once he was imprisoned there, if she met with him for several days and persuaded him, perhaps she could even reform him...?
First, she had to capture him and lock him up...
Just as she was continuing these thoughts that would make Egostic shudder if he heard them,
"Huh?"
At a timing she hadn't expected at all,
Egostic's broadcast turned on.
A sudden live stream began.
And.
In the video, he smiled widely and suddenly blurted out something she hadn't anticipated.
[Mist and I are nothing!]
"...?"
She had been ready to rush out the moment she saw his broadcast, but his sudden words made her stop and turn around.
[She's just my colleague, so please don't misunderstand. Mist was just playing a prank.]
Egostic's confidently smiling face appeared on the screen.
Stardus, who had stopped changing her clothes and was watching him, realized.
It was the truth.
Even by her own intuition, it was not a lie.
Although her trust in her intuition had dropped after the recent series of events, she had to admit it this time. It was indeed the truth.
"....Hmm, well. Why is he saying something like that?"
It was hindsight now, but Stardus actually knew. Yes. Egostic wouldn't be like that.
Thinking that, she found herself wearing a relaxed expression without realizing it.
As Egostic's video ended, she muttered,
"...He's going to hunt villains?"
For some reason, it was a phrase she hadn't heard in quite a while.
...Right. Now that she thought about it, she first learned about Egostic when he hunted villains and wrote his name in blood.
Recalling the events of several years ago, she soon finished preparing to leave.
She had to stop him first, after all.
"Stardus. We can't track Egostic's location right now, so please stand by."
...And just as she was about to leave, she was stopped by an Association employee.
***
Several hours later.
Someone shot a flare from a mountain, and when they went there, they found a suspiciously large cave.
Association agents and Stardus were dispatched to the location.
Now, back to the present.
"...."
Inside the suspiciously massive laboratory-like facility connected to the cave.
After seeing a man who had fallen cold and the message Egostic had left for her next to him,
Stardus moved again to look around.
"Yes, Chairman. As you can see, a significant number of weapons have been identified. They all appear to be operational."
[Hahahaha! So all these state-of-the-art weapons are ours now, aren't they? Wow, this is a goldmine! Get them all right away!]
"Understood!"
She glanced at the Association employee talking to the Chairman via video call, then picked up a weapon from a table.
It was clearly a state-of-the-art weapon. She put it back down, her expression hardening as she looked around.
Weapons, weapons. Weapons laid out everywhere.
Unlike the Chairman, who was simply delighted that they were all theirs now, Stardus felt the gravity of the situation.
...So this many weapons of mass destruction were hidden in the middle of Seoul?
And no one knew but Egostic?
The unease Stardus felt grew even greater as she listened to a staff member's explanation in another underground section.
"...He probably intended to kidnap people and turn them into machines. In short, modification. According to his plan, at least thousands of people in Seoul would die from the explosives and weapons he developed. We need to investigate further, but given the quite concrete nature of the execution plan, it's highly plausible..."
"...."
As the agent mumbled, Stardus's expression naturally hardened.
...At least thousands dead?
The more she explored and understood this weapon storage facility,
the stronger that thought became.
...While such a large-scale terror attack was being planned underground in Seoul, the Association knew nothing about it.
Was this the only place like this?
After circling the area with a troubled mind, she returned to the room where the villain had been lying.
The body was already gone, and only bloodstains remained.
Stardus stared blankly at the message Egostic had left:
"To you, Stardus."
"Ha..."
Even in this situation, you left a message for me.
What could this mean?
Is he asking me if he was truly wrong to kill a villain who tried to kill thousands?
Or is he saying that stopping his terror was a gift to me?
Stardus, Shin Haru, staring blankly at it, soon came to a conclusion.
...Forget everything else.
Egostic. I need to focus all my efforts on catching him.
It seemed like a sudden conclusion, but she had her reasons.
First, he was an incredibly dangerous individual, so naturally, capturing him was the right thing to do.
Additionally, it was to figure out the meaning of this message, how he located this villain, and his reasons for committing terror. All of it.
...And also to stop Egostic from messing around with... no, collaborating with other women again.
Stardus reaffirmed her resolve.
Now was truly the time to use any means necessary to do everything to capture Egostic.
***
"Dain oppa. But why did you write 'To you, Stardus...' at the end? Does it mean something?"
"Huh?"
On the way home.
To Eunwol, who asked me, I replied as if it were obvious.
"No particular reason."
"...Huh?"
"No. I used to leave messages like that to draw Stardus's attention when assassinating other villains. I just remembered that and did it again. It's classic."
"Ah, I see..."
Leaving Eunwol with her ambiguous expression, I was pondering an even more serious concern.
...I clearly had a bad feeling, so I even clarified the dating rumors.
But for some reason, the bad feeling still hasn't gone away.
What is this?
This ominous feeling that things are going to get even tougher.