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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: The Aftermath
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The gradually weakening purple storm.
In the final moments of the video, broadcast live nationwide, a blimp was seen gracefully disappearing through the storm.
"Hahahahaha! Well then, everyone, farewell!"
The masked man, Egotistic, laughed at the camera and waved a simple goodbye before vanishing.
And the Moonlight Priestess, still held in his arms, blushing and quiet.
And finally, a woman in a white robe standing calmly beside the two.
As the blimp disappeared far into the night sky, the broadcast finally ended.
And after that night, the next day.
South Korea,
both in reality and online,
was in absolute chaos.
*
General Broadcast Debate Channel.
"I mean, just look at everything Egotistic has done so far! Wouldn't it be perfectly fine to call him a true hero at this point?"
"Uh... please don't say strange things like that. No matter what, Egotistic has committed acts of terrorism until now..."
"So what! Was there even a single casualty?! Was there?!"
"...There haven't been any casualties so far, but if something had gone wrong, there easily could have been..."
"Be quiet!"
A man yelling, and a middle-aged panelist sweating in response.
The jurors sided with the man who supported Egotistic.
*
Current Affairs Program.
"Egotistic. He's been known to everyone as an A-rank villain until now. But tell me, have you ever heard the rumor that he was once a hero?"
"Our program, 'I Want to Know That,' has thoroughly investigated a man who, long ago, entered a terrorist site at a hotel in Busan, claimed to be an S-rank hero, and then disappeared."
"An A-rank villain. And an S-rank hero. What, truly, is the truth?"
*
News.
"Good evening. This is the 9 o'clock news. The Moonlight Priestess's second act of terrorism, which had been burning Seoul until now, had many citizens trembling in fear. That act of terrorism concluded in the midst of its third phase. And it was none other than the villain, Egotistic, who ended it. Kim Dong-han reports on this unbelievable news."
*
Economic Newspaper.
[KOSPI Rebounds for First Time in a Month After Egotistic's Anti-Terror Operation... (Photo: Cheering Stock Market Employees)]
*
YouTube.
[America shocked, Japan overturned, and even the Queen of England surprised, as South Korea's prestige is recognized worldwide thanks to K-Villain Egotistic? "I want to live in Korea, where villains are no different from heroes." Record-high immigration to Korea expected!]
*
Egotistic's fan cafe, needless to say, was no different.
[World's best villain lololol]
[Best villain alliance of this era, upvote lolololol]
[There are still motherf***ers reporting an SSS-rank hero as a villain?]
[Firepower request) Petition Congress to re-evaluate Egotistic as a hero, go go]
[Only the shippers who've been camping the cafe non-stop yesterday and today, upvote lol]
[Mangostick <- This guy just does everything well lololol]
[Worth waiting almost half a year, f*** yeah lol]
[No f***ing way, the Egostream members are legends now lol]
[3 A-rank heroes <<<<< 1 Egotistic, for real lol]
*
"Hey, God. Why aren't we starting the meeting?"
(Roughly a meme of God looking straight ahead)
"Egotistic has not arrived yet."
=[Comments]=
[Are you serious? 0 comments but 1000 likes lolololol]
*
[We are living in the age of Egotistic]
For real, if it weren't for Mangostick, Seoul would have been on the brink of destruction.
He somehow just... charmed the Moonlight Priestess? No, seriously, how the f*** did he do it lolololol
=[Comments]=
[He's good at terrorism, good at charming women, there's nothing he can't do lololol]
ㄴ[No, seriously, I think he literally charmed her lolol. Did you see her blushing?]
ㄴ[First time I saw the Moonlight Priestess, and she was blushing in Mangostick's arms, wtf lololol]
[Moonlight Cult or whatever just got NTR'd lololol]
ㄴ[Chad Mangostick... or just Chadstick lol]
ㄴ[Woohoo wwww Got the Moonlight Cult's priestess ☆]
ㄴ[No, but when he flipped off the camera, I really thought he was a Chad lol]
*
[Mangostar and Icemango were all duds lololol]
Now it's the era of Moonlight Mango.
(Photo of Egotistic hugging the Moonlight Priestess)
(Photo of the Moonlight Priestess blushing in Egotistic's arms)
Are there any other girls Egotistic has had this much skinship with?
Ah lol, if it was just fanfiction before, now it's the real deal lololol
=[Comments]=
[Hopping on the Moonlight Coin train like crazy lolololol]
ㄴ[For real lol. Plus, they're on the same Egostream team, so the chances are super high lololol]
ㄴ[Electra is also a villain... has Egotra been forgotten?]
ㄴ[Who's that? I don't even remember.]
[Didn't they even catch a new girl at the end of the video? The one in the white silk outfit.]
ㄴ[Yep, it was even mentioned on the Egostream website this time. Moonlight and Saintess were added. Saintess must be that girl?]
ㄴ[Mangostick having a suspicious number of women around him, whoa.]
[Yeah, it was leaked online that Egotistic stroked Stardust when she collapsed before entering the storm~ Can't lose Egostar.]
ㄴ[? Where did you see that?]
ㄴ[Hold on a sec]
ㄴ[No, f***, someone uploaded it on a blog just a moment ago, but the whole blog disappeared, what the hell?]
ㄴ[Delusional bro....]
ㄴ[Is this the average Egostar fan...?]
ㄴ[No, f***, it was really there!!!!]
ㄴ[Looks like the Egostar faction can't win with facts, so now they're fighting with agitation and fabrication tsk tsk.]
ㄴ[No, f***, I'm dying of injustice.]
[But I'm super curious about the Association's reaction right now lolol. What could they be doing?]
***
The Korean Association of Superpowered Individuals.
Also known as the Hero Association, in its conference room.
"Hahahaha!! I feel so incredibly refreshed!"
"Chairman... please, a little decorum..."
"No, how can I help but be happy? Ah! Seriously, this time I thought we were screwed, to put it crudely. It was to the point where we might have had to abandon Seoul and move the capital. But then Egotistic, that guy, just popped out of nowhere and solved everything, so how could I not be in a good mood? Hahahahaha!"
The Chairman's booming laughter echoed in the middle of the conference room.
The Association officials sitting nearby spoke to the Chairman with embarrassed expressions.
"Um... but Chairman. I don't think this is the time to be laughing. The media keeps publishing articles asking what the Association was doing while a villain solved the incident..."
"Oh, that? What was our media response team doing? Tsk. Alright, I'll tell you what to say, so go and have an article published like this. *Clears throat*. 'Thanks to our Association's heroes who persevered until the very end, this incident concluded with minimal damage. Although the villain's affiliation has changed, the Association will not waver and will continue to strive forward.' Something like that."
"Yes. Understood."
"Hahaha! Anyway, this is no problem at all. It's better than Seoul being destroyed!"
After laughing for a long time, the Chairman finally composed his expression and began the serious part of the meeting.
"So. What are our heroes doing right now?"
"Stardust is currently receiving treatment at the hospital, and Icicle has returned to Yoosung Corporation to provide support to the victims. Shadowwalker... is still holed up at home, apparently."
"Sigh. Kim Ja-hyun, that friend really... A man can experience failure once in his youth. Why is he so sulky about it?"
"His girlfriend is apparently still trying to contact him... but it doesn't seem to be doing much good."
"Tsk. Well, I suppose he'll get better with time. Let's think about that later. Is there anything else that needs to be reported?"
In response to the Chairman's question, one of the staff, who had been watching for a cue, slowly opened his mouth.
"Um... also, we've been getting a lot of inquiries about Egotistic lately."
"What did you say?"
"They're asking when he'll be promoted to S-rank. They're saying that the Moonlight Priestess under his command is already S-rank, so why is Egotistic, who leads a large alliance of A-rank villains, still only A-rank?"
"That? Didn't we send an inquiry to the International Association's General Committee about that last time? Have Stardust and Egotistic still not been promoted to S-rank?"
"Yes. Apparently, the headquarters is in chaos right now due to a villain attack, so it seems to be causing delays."
"Really? Was the headquarters in America? Those Americans never have a peaceful day. Anyway, that's fine. Are you tracking the Moonlight Cult as Egotistic mentioned?"
"Yes. It seems our previous deductions were correct. It's presumed to be a religion that worships its leader as a divine apostle, and that leader appears to possess special abilities. However, the organization is so secretive that it's quite difficult to obtain information."
"....How on earth did that Egotistic fellow know all that? Anyway, well. Still, since Egotistic took that 'Moon Priestess' person from them, wouldn't that be a huge blow to them too? Hahahahaha!"
***
Deep underground. An otherworldly cathedral located there.
In that shadowed place, a cultist approached the Grand Master, knelt, and spoke.
"...I apologize, Grand Master. It appears the connection with the Moon Priestess has been completely severed."
At his words, spoken in a low voice.
The Grand Master, seated in a chair, fell silent for a moment, then a quiet, rasping voice echoed from him.
"Yes, I understand. After all, there is no eternal life granted to a heretic.... She was merely a slave of the gods, so whatever happens will be her own karma.... There is no problem with our plan, so it does not matter, my child. You may go now."
The Grand Master spoke as if it were nothing, but.
The cultist, seeing the Grand Master's hand gripping the armrest of the chair tremble violently, bowed his head and quickly exited as if fleeing.
And the Grand Master, once again alone.
Quietly, he muttered.
"Egotistic..."
"Indeed."
"....A memorable upstart, indeed...."
***
The Moonlight Grand Master was fretting.
Koreans were praising.
And the entire world was watching, the guardian of Seoul, K-Villain Egotistic.
"Oppa. Why on earth did you stroke Stardust? Are you just advertising to the whole neighborhood that you like Stardust?"
"Hey. That... hugging that priestess and touching her face in front of so many people... wasn't that, well, a bit too suggestive?"
"Dain. Lee Seol-ah is still calling you, you know?"
"...."
As for me, I was currently having an in-depth discussion with my members about my relationship with Stardust and the process of recruiting this villain.
With the Moon Priestess, Baek Eun-wol, still clinging tightly behind me.
"....Help me."