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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: Stardus's Suspicions
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Actually, for a while now.
Shin Haru had harbored suspicions about Egoistic.
Yes, to be precise, after the airplane terror attack.
The call he made to her was the decisive turning point.
He said he believed in her.
He told her she could do it, to stop the plane.
What kind of villain says something like that to a hero?
Can you even call that a villain?
It was from that moment on.
Stardus began her personal investigation into Egoistic.
He had orchestrated a total of three terror attacks.
A ship, a train, and an airplane.
All with zero casualties.
Perhaps this too could be dismissed as coincidence.
Just as the 'Star Dust Faction,' who supported Stardus herself, claimed, Egoistic had intended to kill, but Stardus blocked everything. That's why there were no casualties, they argued.
But she knew something others didn't.
The last airplane terror attack was orchestrated by Egoistic to ensure zero casualties.
Indeed, when the plane was about to crash and be destroyed, he personally contacted her and had her stop it.
In other words, through this, she could deduce.
Perhaps Egoistic had also set up some kind of mechanism in the previous terror attacks?
Could it be that all the terror attacks were, in fact, designed to prevent fatalities?
Then, the question that arose was this:
Let's assume. If the purpose wasn't to cause casualties, nor to demand money.
Why did he do it?
Why did he plan these terror attacks?
The most common answer was this:
Because he's an attention-seeker. Because he's crazy. Because he's lost his mind.
Yes, that was the most comfortable answer.
However, she had doubts.
Could there truly be no other reason?
Of course, she didn't deny that he was a little... unhinged.
But her intuition.
That intuition whispered to her.
There's something more.
It seemed that this alone wasn't the whole reason.
So, she investigated.
What had changed since those terror attacks occurred.
She looked at newspapers, statistics, articles...
What she found out was this:
Explosive inspections on transportation methods were strengthened. Cyber security for various corporations, including the government and broadcasting companies, was reinforced.
And the crime rate among villains decreased. For one, Egoistic himself had dealt with three villains. Also, villains typically don't act when other major villains are active, so the terror attack rate decreased during Egoistic's period of activity.
However, to claim that Egoistic intended these outcomes was simply too far-fetched to say the least. It couldn't escape the criticism that it was conveniently twisting things to Egoistic's advantage.
In fact, the 'Mango Squad,' Egoistic's fan club, also justified his terror attacks with similar logic.
Actually, putting all that aside, there was one change caused by Egoistic that she felt most strongly.
That was: her own power had grown much, much stronger.
.....
Clench.
She clenched her fist.
Stopping the train. And stopping the plane.
Through these two incidents, her power had grown remarkably. To the extent that the Association had already considered promoting her to S-rank.
Of course, promotion was extremely rigorous. Since the International Hero Association Alliance, not the Korean Hero Association, conducted the evaluations, promotions were rarely granted. To begin with, there were hardly any individuals who had risen from A to S-rank.
So, the mere fact that it was even discussed was a remarkable feat in itself.
Her power had grown at an unprecedented speed.
More than anyone else.
And who should she credit for this?
That guy, Egoistic?
"...What am I even saying?"
No, that couldn't be it.
It must have just been luck, that things somehow worked out and led to this.
Surely, that guy Egoistic couldn't have known that Stardus's abilities grew stronger in crisis situations, and orchestrated terror attacks just to enhance her power, could he?
'Seriously... what baseless fantasies.'
She chuckled to herself at the thought, finding it ridiculous.
[Yes, Stardus. You did well. In a way I couldn't have imagined. To save everyone like that, I truly didn't expect it. This is your victory.]
[So step forward. Clench your fists, put strength into your legs, fly into that sky, and save the people. You can do it. Because that's who you are.]
....
It was an absurd notion.
How on earth could he have known anything about her, or that her abilities would grow?
Yet, recalling his past words, she felt a strange mix of emotions.
'Those were definitely words spoken by a villain... and about a terror attack he himself committed...'
Why wouldn't his words leave her mind?
She shook her head vigorously, dispelling the intrusive thoughts.
It's just delusions of grandeur. Delusions of grandeur.
And Egoistic, that guy, didn't just cause terror attacks to begin with.
The killing of three villains. Including his followers who caused terror, it could be said he had killed quite a few.
His actions of eliminating villains without hesitation, as he pleased. Vigilantism. It sounded good to call him an anti-hero, but killing others as he saw fit, without proper legal authority, was simply murder.
However...
She averted her eyes from the laptop screen.
What she had been looking at was data for which she had received security clearance from the Association President.
Although it was classified as top secret, viewable only by the highest security agents within the Association and the President, it was a file she had relentlessly wrung out of the President. Classified information she had barely gotten approved by emphasizing her A-rank hero status and asserting her right to know.
When she questioned why this wasn't shared with heroes and only circulated internally within the Association, she received the absurd answer that it was unavoidable due to security.
'Tsk... Do they think of us as mere hunting dogs?'
Anyway, this data, which she had successfully 'extracted'.
It was a compilation of information on villains from S-rank to B-rank.
Files boldly marked [TOP SECRET] on the website.
From there, she looked up the villains Egoistic had dealt with so far.
***
[Enzodiac] Real Name: Jeon Jae-hyeok.
S-rank Villain.
Sorcerer.
Apprehended after killing 8 people and attempting to cast a spell using them as sacrifices.
Danger: The limits of his sorcery are unknown.
Classified Level 2: The earthquake on 20.03.24 was caused by him, but it was announced as a natural disaster after [Record Eradication].
*Designated S-rank because he can cause any disaster with enough sacrifices. Heroes belonging to the International Hero Association are also searching for him. Domestic heroes are to be given no other instructions than a /kill-on-sight/ order.
Dealt with by A-rank Villain Egoistic.
***
In addition to this, after looking into other villains Egoistic had killed, such as Rhino and Teleporter, she discovered one thing.
The villains he had actively killed, even those who hadn't caused any major problems yet, all shared the commonality of possessing abilities that could, one day, cause 'large-scale disasters'.
For reference, she also tried to see how Egoistic himself was recorded in that data, but she couldn't, as it was [Class O Classified Information], viewable only by the Association President and the highest-ranking members of the International Association Alliance. When she pressed the President, he merely replied that it was designated by the International Alliance above him, and he didn't know anything more.
Something felt off, but she decided to move on for now.
The important thing was Egoistic. Looking at his actions...
'To simply call him a villain...'
Seeing him commit large-scale terror attacks, yes, he was a villain.
However, his actions showed many ambiguous aspects. Not to mention the suspicious terror attacks that never resulted in casualties, there were many strange points, such as the killing of his followers and the apprehension of Alligatorman.
And then the recent Apple Mango incident solidified her suspicions.
....
Apple Mango.
In truth, she recognized him as Egoistic the moment she saw him.
His voice, height, and actions were identical; how could she not know?
Of course, she was the only one who had seen Egoistic in person, so it seemed the other two hadn't noticed him at the time.
The very act of naming himself 'Apple Mango'... it didn't seem like he was particularly trying to hide his identity.
However, what was important was this:
Why was he there in the first place?
That previous incident had been intentional to begin with.
After receiving intelligence that a large-scale air raid was expected in Busan, the plan was to intentionally leak information to the media that Shadow Walker had fallen, then round them all up at night.
It was probably a plan to safely suppress the terror attack with Shadow Walker, who was skilled in close combat, given the likely number of hostages.
But Apple Mango... that is, Egoistic, had already dealt with the small fry, so there was no real opportunity for them to step in.
Egoistic had spouted nonsense until the very end and then left.
Should she have attacked him right there and apprehended him?
....
Yes.
She had no choice but to admit it.
Her suspicions about Egoistic had become a kind of conviction.
Why would a villain save people on the spot like that?
His outward appearance was that of a madman, but if one followed each of his actions so far... he sometimes seemed like a hero pretending to be a villain, as netizens claimed.
But if so, why not just act as a hero, or at least an anti-hero? Why cause terror attacks?
Was he drawing some grand picture that people, including herself, weren't aware of?
In truth, it might just be that he simply did whatever he felt like, and she was overthinking it.
However.
A highly developed intuition is, in itself, a rational deduction.
She had kept doubting.
And with this Apple Mango incident, that doubt had almost become certainty.
Egoistic was no mere villain.
He could certainly not be called a hero, yet.
He was ambiguous to call an enemy, and couldn't be seen as an ally, yet he was, in effect, helping his allies.
The suspicion that this guy was setting up some grand scheme.
Stardus couldn't help but entertain it.
She couldn't sleep well that night.
'What on earth is Egoistic plotting? Could it be he's actually on our side? No, absolutely not. What if he's actually a senior hero cosplaying as a villain? What are you saying, Haru? You've finally gone mad.'
Thus, she spent the night sleepless, consumed by complex thoughts. Vowing only to uncover his true identity in his next terror attack...
'But why did he really call himself Apple Mango? Is there some hidden meaning to that too?'
***
"This sucks..."
"Why on earth did you call yourself Apple Mango? Tell me, Oppa. You pretended to hate mangoes so much, but was that nickname actually good?"
"Please be quiet... please...!"
Because I'm so embarrassed I want to jump off...