· · ────── ꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ────── · ·
Translated by BiasNil
· · ────── ꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ────── · ·
"Hey… should I hold it for you?"
"No! I won it. So I have to hold it. I can do it."
Shin Haru looked nervously at her friend clutching the precarious ten-layer ice cream.
It looked like it was going to fall.
And her prediction wasn't wrong.
The ice cream lost its balance and toppled.
"Uh-oh… no!"
Along with Chae-hyun's scream, the ice cream was about to crash onto the man beside her.
She half-expected the man to end up covered head to toe.
But something unexpected happened.
"Hi-yah!"
The moment the ice cream fell, the man rolled away.
It was an exaggerated reflex. She couldn't understand why he had to roll like that…
"Oppa!"
"Da-in!"
The two girls beside the man rushed over to him.
So his name was Da-in.
Even though he was now dusty, he calmly brushed off his clothes and stood up as if nothing had happened.
"Oh, it's alright. It's alright."
His face said "I'm fine," but his clothes said otherwise.
Dust everywhere.
"Oh, gosh… are you okay? I'm sorry. I-I'm pretty clumsy, so…"
Chae-hyun approached him with tears in her eyes. As her friend, Shin Haru felt embarrassed, but she went over too.
As they approached, the man just laughed it off, overly cheerful.
"It's fine. Everyone makes mistakes. I made a big fuss. Haha, I could've just sidestepped a bit."
"But still…"
"It's alright. It's alright."
It looked even stranger, the way he soothed her as she began to cry. For no reason, Shin Haru felt sorry too. This wouldn't have happened if she'd stepped in and caught it.
At least they'd met a nice guy. An average person might've blown up in anger, but he just let it go.
…Well, he was the only one acting nonchalant. The two girls with him looked uncomfortable—and that was the normal reaction. He was the unusual one here.
"Now, Seo-eun. Shall we go?"
The man tried to leave with his friends, as if he needed no compensation. Somehow, he seemed to be in a hurry.
But Chae-hyun wasn't the type to let things end like that. Just as she reached out, about to insist on compensation—
Thump—
A heavy roar.
Thump—
Another.
"KYAAAAAA!"
Screams erupted all around.
Shin Haru was an ordinary college student—but she was also Stardust, a hero.
So her read of the situation was fast.
A terrorist attack.
Most likely a villain.
Thump— Thump—
The ground trembled.
Her first priority was to get Chae-hyun to safety.
"Chae-hyun, follow me!"
"Huh? O-okay…"
Grabbing her friend—half out of it from the sudden shock—she ran in the opposite direction of the sound.
She'd already begun to warm up Stardust's power, so unlike the others she could retreat at speed.
Dragged along, Chae-hyun was terrified.
"Aaaaaaaaah!"
They merged into the crowd surging away.
And from far behind, a voice boomed.
Even from this distance, the roar was enormous.
"Stardust!!!!!! Stardust, come on out!!!!!!"
For a split second, her body stiffened mid-run.
It was so brief that Kim Chae-hyun—eyes half-closed, hand in Haru's—didn't notice.
After that instant, Haru ran again, but her mind was in chaos.
Why? Why was he calling her out of nowhere?
For now, she shoved everything else aside and focused on getting Chae-hyun somewhere safe.
"Huff… huff…"
Before they knew it, they'd gotten far from the scene.
Around them, people who had fled gathered to catch their breath.
They were far enough from the festival site to be safe.
"Oh my, what's going on?"
Kim Chae-hyun, barely keeping her eyes open and drooling a little, finally came to and spoke.
"Haru, you're really fast. H-Haru…?"
But she couldn't finish.
Haru's face was shockingly rigid.
"..."
She stared wordlessly back the way they'd run.
Her head churned.
Heroes have an unwritten rule:
Never go to the scene without the recognition interference device.
This was like the old days, before recognition interference tech existed.
Never, ever take off your mask.
Before heroes could operate barefaced like some do now, the heroes of the past—the "protectors"—always wore masks.
The moment your identity is exposed, a miserable life begins.
One principle shared by Hero Associations all over the world:
No matter how awful the terrorism, don't intervene if your face is exposed.
Heroes are rare.
Especially powerful ones.
Decades ago, abilities suddenly manifested in a handful of people.
"Powers." In other words, superpowers.
Why did these abilities appear? No one knows. Some say it was always in the genes, only in a special few. Some point to space magnetic fields. Others say it was a gift from God…
People who are born with powers—or awaken them as they grow—fall roughly into three groups.
First, those who live normal lives. Honestly, that's most people. Plenty prefer to be ordinary citizens, and most abilities are pretty useless.
For example, reversing plant growth. Aside from ruining reforestation, what do you even do with that? Or "sturdy camouflage." You can blend into anything—so what? Even people with that pick chicken over rocks.
In short, most just blend into society and live normally.
For them, superpowers are only good for showing off at the occasional event: "Hey, you can do that?"
And even some with strong abilities choose normal lives. Do you have to be a hero just because you're strong? The country doesn't force it. Even with powers, you can be an artist, photographer, office worker, designer—whatever you want.
But those who are stronger—and feel a sense of justice—choose to become heroes. They go to the Hero Association, take the competency tests, and sign up.
There still aren't many heroes. Some have big dreams, then get graded B or C and can't accept it. They argue a villain with the same ability is rated A while they're B—but the system's stricter for heroes than villains, that's the long and short of it.
The standards are set so only the rarest dual-ability users or the most overwhelmingly powerful single-ability users make the top. Class S should be the sort of power that's akin to stopping time. If you're strong but uncertain, B class is the ceiling.
On top of that, hero work is brutal—like soldiers, they fight constantly. Many quit along the way, money or not.
And the public is strict about heroes' morality. Slip once and the pile-on is vicious—worse in Korea than most countries.
There may be few heroes, but there are countless villains.
For a simple reason: those with strong abilities usually choose the villain's path.
Honestly, villains who openly terrorize the public are rare. That's why Egostic became such a hot topic.
Most villains hide in the shadows, chasing their own gain.
They stay invisible, living behind the scenes.
But if a hero's personal info leaks?
Villains will eliminate that hero immediately. Heroes are a threat; better to deal with them fast.
So heroes must never expose their faces. That's common sense.
Common sense—but…
Does that mean she should abandon the suffering citizens now?
"Stardust!!!!!"
Thump— Thump—
A building caved in.
Screams split the air.
Was she supposed to ignore all that?
Getting to the Hero Association and back with a recognition interference device would take too long. By the time she returned, it might all be over.
Did she choose to be a hero just to run away now?
"Haru…?"
She set her jaw, foot stamping once.
Okay. There's no other choice.
Not for her own safety—for the citizens.
Just as she was about to kick off—
"It's Egostic!! Egostic is here!!!" shouted the man next to her, eyes glued to his smartphone.
For a moment, she nearly slipped.
Wait... Why did that bastard suddenly show up?