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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: Troubled Thoughts and a Festival
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"Aaaargh!"
Shin Haru threw the remote control towards the TV.
Of course, throwing it too hard might shatter her new UHD TV, so she consciously tried to throw it as gently as possible.
Though it still hit the wall with a loud bang.
"Haa... haa..."
She was panting.
After that, she calmed her excitement, sat on the sofa, and slowly began to think.
It had been several years since she started her hero activities under the name Stardust.
She first awakened in junior high or high school, so it had been quite a long time since then.
She had resolved to live a hero's life, putting villains behind bars to avenge her deceased parents.
But even back then, she had never once imagined something like this.
A dating rumor with a villain?
"Haa..."
Shin Haru sighed and headed for the refrigerator.
It was so mind-boggling, she needed something sweet.
As she naturally pulled out a cool juice pack and drank from it, she checked the name of the juice she was drinking and scrunched up her face.
[Minute Maid Mango]
Mango. Now, just seeing mango made her think of that guy, Egoistic.
Didn't the followers of that Egoistic guy call him Mangostick?
Ah. She felt as if her brain had been contaminated.
Her favorite thing was mango.
Actually, she disliked mango itself, but she liked mango-like things such as mango juice, mango frappes, and mango bingsu.
But now, she would never be able to look at mangoes the same way again.
Because now, every time she saw a mango, Mangostick would come to mind.
"My brain... my brain has been contaminated..."
She felt a little gloomy. While perceptions sometimes changed over a person's life, she had never imagined it would change in this way.
"Whew..."
She decided to go to the window and get some fresh air.
She opened the window and poked her head out.
A cool spring breeze blew over her.
The faint sunlight reflected off her blonde hair, creating a dreamy, sparkling effect.
As a result, men walking on the street who happened to glance up stared at her blankly, but she was oblivious to it.
She had a lot on her mind. And at the center of those thoughts, naturally, was that guy, Egoistic.
Egoistic. She really thought it was a funny name. Ego-stick? Didn't it bring to mind a frail old man muttering "ego-ego" while walking with a stick? Of course, she'd once casually mentioned that to her close older sister and, after seeing her sister's pitying gaze, decided to keep such thoughts to herself from then on.
She was startled by the thought that perhaps "Egoistic" (the adjective) might sound cooler than "Ego-stick." Why was she even thinking about that villain's name? She shook her head, trying to clear the thought.
Still, whenever she thought of Egoistic, she couldn't help but feel troubled.
Something, something couldn't be easily explained in words.
Complex emotions filled her, becoming a tangle of thoughts she couldn't quite articulate, blooming and fading in her mind.
And she found that strange.
Clearly, when thinking of an evil villain, hatred and disgust should come to mind.
Why were complex emotions surfacing instead?
Among those many emotions, there were definitely things other than hatred or disgust.
Egoistic. That guy was currently incredibly popular online.
No, not just online, but in reality too, his popularity was immense.
Even her close older sister, Chae-hyun, had told her she joined the Mango Faction last time, hadn't she?
In the department chatroom, he was sometimes mentioned as "Mangostick," and it was always good things.
Everyone had watched him commit the train terror in real-time, wondering how he could do such a thing...
At first, people covered for Egoistic, saying there were zero casualties again.
Then, when it was revealed that everyone tied up on the train were criminals who had committed heinous crimes but were released with light sentences, the mindless praise for Egoistic began once more.
It had even reached the point where people jokingly said it would have been better if Stardust hadn't stopped the train at all.
In fact, the South Korean public's fervor for Egoistic had already reached near-fanatical levels.
To a public that had only been fed frustrating "sweet potatoes" until now, Egoistic, who poured "hydrochloric acid" over the mere "cider" they craved, was receiving so much support that the catchphrase 'If you're Korean, please support Egoistic' had become popular.
And that dating rumor she saw earlier.
"Ugh."
She felt her face flush.
All his actions so far—the blood-written letters, his acts of terror—
It was all because he... he liked her?
"That's ridiculous!"
She shouted without realizing it.
Why on earth would he like her?
Because of her face? Yes, that must be it. There was no other reason for him to like her!
As expected, that Egoistic guy must be the type who only ogles her face... she thought.
But one thing was for sure.
She looked down at her hands and clenched her fists tightly.
Her strength had definitely increased compared to before.
After stopping the train last time, she had definitely grown stronger.
Becoming stronger was a good thing, and it was something she had always pursued.
"I don't know..."
She herself didn't know why she was so confused, so her sighs only grew more frequent.
Still, one fortunate thing was that her anti-fans seemed to have disappeared somewhat because of this incident.
In truth, she pretended not to care about public opinion, but she cared more than anyone, so she was quite relieved by the favorable shift in public sentiment towards her.
In fact, thinking that her favorability had dropped because of Egoistic, and then risen again because of Egoistic, gave her a truly strange feeling.
It felt as if Egoistic was holding her life in his hands and shaking it.
In fact, the higher-ups had officially appointed her as the person in charge of Egoistic, so it wasn't wrong to say that.
"Hmph..."
Just then, while she was feeling troubled, her phone rang.
The caller was Kim Chae-hyun.
Her closest university senior.
"Hello?"
"Oh, Haru! The weather's nice, wanna hang out?"
"Hang out?"
Hang out, huh.
Come to think of it, she hadn't really gone out to have fun many times.
Between studying and hero work, time was always short for just those two things.
But to hang out.
Hmm.
It was an offer she would normally have refused.
Balancing academics and hero work was already overwhelming, so she didn't have the leisure time to just go out and play.
In fact, she'd been so busy lately that she couldn't even sit in her association office for long. It was a nice place, getting a lot of sun.
But now, with Egoistic already troubling her these days.
The offer to go out was quite tempting.
"Uh... okay! When should we go?"
"Today! How about it? There's a festival! I've always wanted to go!"
"Oh, a festival sounds good. Today, I think I... can make time. Alright, see you in a bit. But what kind of festival is it?"
"An Ice Cream Festival! Sounds fun, right?"
"Uh, yeah."
After saying that, she thought to herself.
There was such a thing as an Ice Cream Festival in the world?
***
Seoul, where buildings were densely packed, cars moved to and fro, and people bustled about.
Far below the city, deep underground, was our underground base.
Egoistic, the villain who plunged all of South Korea into fear.
Han Seo-eun, the genius hacker who could bring down South Korea's entire computer network with a single finger.
Lee Su-bin, the all-rounder assistant who was good at hacking, housework, and even driving.
This place, where all three gathered, was known as Ego-Base.
Although it was deep underground and didn't get much sunlight, it was a cozy place with LED lights that could substitute for sunshine.
Sometimes, it's good to just rest at home.
Haven't I been living too busily lately?
It's not easy for an ordinary citizen like me to act like a villain.
During the last broadcast, knowing tens of thousands of people were watching me made me a bit nervous. Every single word I said could be immortalized in the news... In fact, what I said last time, "Yes!" when Stardust stopped the train, has already been immortalized and used everywhere. Mostly as evidence for the dating rumor...
Damn reporters.
They're just quick to catch on...
Anyway, there's no benefit to attracting too much attention too often.
Lately, I've just been idly resting at home.
My main activity is playing with Seo-eun.
She's also in her third year of middle school, but she doesn't have a single friend, so how bored must she be...?
Including Su-bin, we've been playing board games or Switch together.
She'd grumble that these were "only for babies," but it was cute how much fun she had when we set them up in the living room.
Yeah, kids should play like kids! It wouldn't be good for them to just stare at computers all day.
Anyway, another day of idly playing passed.
I was eating apples that Su-bin had peeled while watching TV, when Seo-eun, who had been doing something in her room, came scurrying over to me.
Then she showed me something, saying we should go there.
"An Ice Cream Festival?"
"Yes, I told you last time. It's today! We absolutely have to go!"
Seo-eun spoke, her eyes sparkling.
Su-bin next to her also looked like she wanted to go.
Right, now that I think about it, I might have heard about it.
The 13th International Ice Cream Festival, huh... I'd never heard of something like this even in the original story...
Beside me, Seo-eun was explaining that this was its first time in Korea and there was tons to see.
I'd never heard of an Ice Cream Festival in my life, so I felt a bit curious.
Seo-eun, like me, is a homebody who loves staying home the most, so for her to suggest going out first... she must really want to see it, huh? Is ice cream that good?
"Alright, let's go! Go change."
I shouted as I stood up.
Well, nothing much should happen, right?