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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: The Moonlit Night
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Heroes.
Just because they're heroes doesn't mean they work every single day.
In fact, heroes only get a chance to truly shine when villains appear. So, for most of the time when there are no villains—that is, normally—they don't have all that much to do.
As such, heroes tend to spend most of their villain-free time quite leisurely.
Lower-ranked heroes, who struggle to live on the association's salary alone, usually have separate main jobs and treat hero work as a side gig.
And it's not just the lower-ranked heroes; even the A-rank and higher heroes, who are responsible for South Korea, generally spend their leisure time pursuing their own individual activities.
Icicle, Lee Seol-ah. She spends most of her villain-free time running her own company. Lee Seol-ah's Yoo-sung Corporation, already deeply entrenched in politics and finance, with her widespread influence permeating every corner, was already at a point where it could barely function without her. Consequently, Lee Seol-ah practically lives at her company.
Shadow Walker, Kim Ja-hyun. Living like a vampire, sleeping by day and active by night, he mostly spends his time with his girlfriend. Or, during that time, he trains his abilities.
And finally, Stardust, Shin Haru.
She, too, dedicates her remaining time to activities other than hero work. Most notably, her university life. As a fourth-year, graduating student, she attends classes and tackles assignments, living just like any ordinary college student.
However, who is Stardust?
Among South Korea's three A-rank heroes, she is the most exceptional, the only one close to S-rank. And among them, she is the most righteous.
As such, she differed from other heroes who would briefly shine when a villain appeared, then forget all about hero work, villains or otherwise, and dedicate the rest of their time to their daily lives. In other words, she balanced her university life with her hero identity, regularly visiting the association office or working from home, researching how to capture villains.
So, currently,
Shin Haru was sitting at her desk, working on her computer in her association office.
"Stardust. Please call me anytime if you need anything."
"Yes. Thank you."
With the association employee gone,
she clicked her mouse again and, as she always did, entered a certain website.
[Ego-stick Fan Cafe]
"....."
Even though it had been quite a while since she last visited, the familiar yellow interface welcomed her as if she were returning to her hometown.
The sole reason she entered this cafe was to gather information. What kind of information? Naturally, information about Ego-stick.
"Haa..."
She was a hero.
As such, her mission was to capture the villains who secretly operated nationwide, causing terror, and throw them into containment facilities.
And for Shin Haru, the hero currently at the very top in South Korea, to intensely investigate Ego-stick, the villain likewise at the very top, was as natural as the north and south poles of a magnet attracting each other. In fact, even if she spent all day contemplating Ego-stick, no one would blame her. Rather, they would praise her, if anything.
Having finished her elaborate self-justification for browsing Ego-stick's fan cafe, she promptly cast aside her pangs of conscience and decided to first browse the cafe's trending posts.
At a glance, most of the posts seemed quite useless.
Still shots of Ego-stick's terror attacks, Mango-stick cosplay, shipping Ego-stream members...
Still, just in case, she went through all of them, liking posts she found agreeable and even commenting to refute those she disliked, participating actively.
Again, let me reiterate: she wasn't just messing around. She was strictly performing her duty as a hero, learning about a villain.
After diligently reading through all the trending posts,
she returned to the main screen and suddenly felt a sense of futility.
...While she was struggling so hard to get even a tiny bit more information about Ego-stick, his comrades probably already knew everything about him, didn't they?
Thinking this, Shin Haru felt a tightness in her chest.
I'm supposed to be the Ego-stick expert.
Yet, compared to them, I know almost nothing about him.
"Ugh..."
'We're like family. Very close.'
Ego-stick's voice, lingering in her ears, made her feel uneasy again.
...Haa. Anyway, Ego-stick is a villain who has committed several acts of terror. Since he's a villain, I have to catch him...
"...."
She didn't know.
Whenever she thought about Ego-stick, her mind seemed to turn to mush.
He acts like the worst kind of villain, committing all sorts of evil deeds, yet he appears at crucial moments to save her.
...Now, when the time comes for her to put him in prison with her own hands, she's not even sure if she can do it.
"...What am I thinking?"
Right. No matter what, he's a villain. A walking time bomb. He already has dozens of prior offenses.
As a hero, and for the sake of the public who supported her, she couldn't allow herself to think like this.
Right. Time to work.
She refocused on her monitor.
...Alright, what should I look into this time? Maybe reread the reports from the association.
And so, in her cozy office, where sunlight streamed through the window, making her golden hair shimmer, Shin Haru began working diligently again.
Basking in the warm sunlight, Shin Haru resumed her diligent work. Just as she was reading through documents...
Suddenly, her monitor simply went black.
"....?"
What was that? Was it broken?
Just as she was glaring at the monitor, trying to figure out what was wrong...
Flash—.
Light returned to the monitor.
Ah, it's back on.
The moment she thought that...
She realized something... strange.
The screen, which had just moments ago displayed white documents,
was now utterly black. The documents were gone.
And on the screen, dyed pitch-black,
a single, enormous moon hung forlornly.
"....What is this?"
The moon suddenly appearing on her monitor.
Seeing it, Shin Haru immediately felt a sense of foreboding.
Something was wrong.
And at that moment, from her monitor and the association's ceiling speakers, came a sound like metal scraping.
[Ah....]
[Ah... my suns...]
[I am Cheon-Wol-Hwang, the leader of the Moonlight Cult.... It is my first time greeting you all. Are you well?....]
The Moonlight Cult.
As soon as she heard those words, her face immediately hardened.
Along with Ego-stick, they were one of the villains the association was most wary of.
The organization that nearly annihilated Seoul last time, spearheaded by the Moonlight Maiden.
"Stardust!"
"Yes, I'm listening right now."
She quickly gestured to the rushing association employee to be quiet, then turned her attention to the Moonlight Cult leader's words.
The sound from the speakers continued, still in that voice like metal scraping.
[Yes... Ah, yes.... I am extremely pleased that everyone seems happy... Are you all spending your days blessed in your homes and workplaces?]
[The sight of corrupt humans gathering, dragging each other into pits of depravity, is truly... truly delightful indeed....]
[To all of you, who lead the world to ruin every day... who are disasters unto yourselves.]
[I have a gift for you....]
[Look upon the moon in the sky.]
[Is the moon not truly bright?]
The cult leader's command to look at the moon in broad daylight. Shin Haru's face furrowed at his enigmatic, koan-like words, but...
Suddenly.
The very moment the cult leader finished speaking.
"....Huh?"
Just moments before, the fiercely burning sunlight vanished abruptly. Everything turned pitch-black.
The world suddenly plunged into darkness.
"....It's night?"
[...Heheheh.]
[This is the first gift I bestow upon you, you foolish people....]
[And I shall give you... another.]
[In this terrible world where you all try to kill each other...]
[I shall grant you an opportunity to escape and walk the path of salvation...]
[All ye who have not found salvation... with the Moonlight, the path to salvation shall open for you.]
[For apostates, there shall be only death.]
And the moment the cult leader's words ended,
from one side of the city, a grotesque and massive roar echoed.
GWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH—
KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEK—
"Stardust!"
"Yes, I'm departing immediately!"
Already fully suited up, she immediately launched herself into the pitch-black, starless sky.
"....."
The city, suddenly enveloped in deep darkness.
Flying above it, Shin Haru headed towards the source of the monstrous, echoing noise.
Her expression, as she did so, looked more uneasy than ever.
It was ominous.
More ominous than ever.
Her intuition was warning her of just that.
***
The house was instantly engulfed in darkness.
[All ye who have not found salvation... with the Moonlight, the path to salvation shall open for you.]
[For apostates, there shall be only death.]
The moment the cult leader's words ended,
"Damn it. We're really screwed."
I cursed under my breath.
No, damn it. Why, seriously...
"Oppa! What's going on?!"
"Dain! It suddenly got dark outside, what happened?"
"Hey... what the hell is happening right now?"
Amidst the chaos within our Ego-stream team.
[Breaking news! Reports are coming in of an unidentified monstrous creature appearing in a district of Seoul!]
I listened to the voice from the radio, my face hardening.
The Moonlight Cult. The sudden darkness. The monstrous creature.
Damn it. This is definitely that thing from the Moonlight Cult.
One of the Apocalypse Soldiers that appears in the final battle of Phase 2.
"...Eun."
"Huh?"
"Seo Eun-ah, gather all the silver you have. Quickly!!!"
We're screwed.
If we don't stop this quickly, there's no hope.
I quickly moved towards the basement.
No, damn it, you bastard cult leader.
Why are you bringing out the ultimate weapon *now*?
And so, in the city shrouded in darkness,
two individuals stepped forward to prevent disaster.