Chapter 5: After the Show

“Ah, I feel like I’m gonna die...”

After the terror had ended, I avoided Stardust coming to arrest me and teleported straight to my home. The consequence of this was my immediate collapse onto the bed.

Ugh... What a great ability teleportation is.

That was my last sober thought for the day.

“Ugh.”

Eventually, I blacked out and fell into a deep sleep.

...Life is not easy.

***

When I finally managed to open my eyes, it was already the next morning.

Holding my throbbing head, I got up and turned on the TV to see if there were any reports about what I had done yesterday.

And sure enough.

[News Wide - In-Depth Analysis of the Villain Egoistic]

My story was all over the channels I had randomly flipped to. Well, of course, I had forced all three major terrestrial networks to broadcast my terrorist act; pretty much the entire nation would know by now.

Yet, seeing myself on TV—wearing a black hat and a white mask that hid half my face—gave me a strangely surreal feeling.

Mom, your son’s on TV. I’ve become famous, as a villain. Haha.

Sitting on the edge of my bed, lost in thought while watching the TV, I finally grasped my grumbling body and stood up.

Let’s start by checking the internet; people’s reactions will all be summarized there.

With that thought, I took off my cumbersome cloak, changed into comfortable clothes, and turned on the laptop on my desk.

In my small, sunlit one-room apartment, only the sound of the computer running could be heard.

...I should leave this place soon. I’ve been living here temporarily for too long.

After the computer had booted up, the first thing I did was head straight to the news section of a major portal site.

And, as expected,

“Well... Oh, look at that. Chaos, just as I thought.”

It was indeed pandemonium—almost entirely about the terror incident I’d orchestrated.

The headlines were all about me.

[Live Coverage of Massive Terror... Who is the Villain ‘Egoistic’?]

Starting with an article featuring my photo at the top, the list below was jam-packed with articles revolving solely around me.

Such blazing public attention. Yes, forcing a nationwide broadcast was indeed the right move. Next time, I’ll also have to broadcast on YouTube.

And so, I skimmed through the articles talking about me.

Yesterday’s event had been like a colossal reality show, minus the fact that actual human lives were on the line. Maybe that’s why the public was on the edge of their seats; the online communities were also buzzing with talk. To press the button or not to press the button, that was the question.

At the end, much like a movie, a hero gave a speech that moved people’s hearts, and no one, in the end, pressed the button to sacrifice others for their own safety. It was a warm, humane ending, sparking even more discussions. After all, it was a terror attack, but no one had died.

Having cursorily reviewed public opinion, I assessed the gains I’d made from this act of terror, and I could broadly categorize them into two.

Firstly, making my name known nationwide.

Egoistic. I’d made this unique villain name from the word ‘Egoistic,’ which means selfish, ensuring it wouldn’t overlap with other villain names. Now, every citizen knew it. The name’s uniqueness made it easy to remember, a huge advantage. In terms of public awareness and interest, this was an immense gain for my future endeavors.

Seeing my name “Egoistic” twisted into “MangoStick*, Catch That Guy!” in the comments section made me slightly regret my choice of name, but nevertheless.

The second accomplishment was making the name Stardust known across the country.

Stardust, an A-class hero affiliated with the association, was already somewhat of a celebrity. Unlike me, ordinary people couldn’t recognize her face due to her identity-concealing device, but they could still sense that she was attractive. Plus, there aren’t many A-class heroes to begin with.

The only issue was that her image deteriorated as the story progressed in the original work. The villains increasingly tormented Stardust and swayed public opinion against her, successfully painting her as disagreeable.

The original work was a wretched piece that ultimately led to the complete downfall of not only the hero named Stardust but also her social standing as Shin Haru.

I, who was extremely angered reading this, had no intention of letting it be. I would make sure our Stardust walked on a path of roses, wouldn’t I? I’ll get rid of the interfering villains, and if she only faces me, it will end there. Let’s make a Korea without terror for once.

...Anyway. As a result of this act, Stardust’s recognition shot up dramatically. And not just for her looks, but for her righteousness, her heroism. I’ve essentially cemented a positive perception of her.

The comments on community forms and news articles were full of praise for her, confirming that my plan to let her give a speech was spot-on. Yes, our Haru is also good at speeches. I’m glad everyone recognized that.

“The first step is done...”

After finishing my review, I closed my laptop and stood up.

There was no time to rest, no time at all. I still have so much to do. I have to deal with numerous A-class, and even S-class villains... plan another act of terror... Ugh, being a villain isn’t easy.

“Ah. It’s already time... I guess I’ll have to meet her first.”

Muttering this, I glanced at my smartphone.

As I mentioned earlier, planning and executing everything by myself is tremendously exhausting. That’s why I needed an assistant.

And that assistant is her.

The one who helped me with signal hijacking. In the original work, she becomes an S-class villain, but her future has changed since I recruited her.

I then manipulated my phone to call her.

“Hey Seo Eun, I’m awake... Ah, yeah. I was unconscious till now. Yeah, yeah. Sorry for contacting you late. Were you worried? ...No? Anyway, got it, I’m coming now. Uh-huh.”

After ending the call, I picked up my coat and headed outside. Although I could teleport, my limited abilities would cause me to faint from long distances... so I decided to walk. The weather was nice today, anyway.

***

Outside the window, spring rain gently fell.

A foreign land lies beyond my six-panel door.

...Faced with a sudden drizzle as if questioning when the weather had ever been kind, I eventually opened my umbrella and began to walk. Within about an hour, I arrived at a residential area.

There stood an ordinary house.

I walked up to its door and effortlessly keyed in the 4-digit passcode on the door lock to enter.

But once inside, another door with a lock appeared. A double lock system, perhaps?

Having visited multiple times, I wasn’t surprised. Naturally, I entered another password.

The only difference this time was that the password had well over 10 digits.

Upon entering the password once more, a sound emanated from beneath.

Instead of the door opening, the floor beneath me started to descend as if it were an elevator, taking me downward.

How long had I stared at the black wall in front of me while descending?

After a brief moment, with another low thud, the elevator came to a halt.

What lay before me were pristine white walls and an interior filled with LED lights—a scenery akin to something you’d find in a near-future sci-fi movie.

Hidden beneath this ordinary residential area was an expansive underground space. As I walked through it, a room filled wall-to-wall with numerous displays greeted me, as if I had just stepped into a NASA research lab from a movie.

And there, in the center of all these glowing monitors, sat a child with silver bobbed hair, sitting in a leather chair that seemed at least twice her size.

This child was the one who had enabled me to hijack the airwaves.

Appearing later in the original manhwa as an S-Class villain.

“Seo Eun-ah, your oppa* here.”

“You mean, ‘hyung*’ has arrived?”

It was Han Seo Eun, the genius hacker.

Walking over to where Seo Eun was sitting, I ruffled her hair and asked, “Why do you keep calling me ‘hyung’? Anyway, what were you up to?”

“What do you think? I was taking care of the mess you made,” she replied.

As I stroked her white hair, Seo Eun let out a purr and tilted her head. Petite and undeniably adorable, she was unmistakably a young girl... but she insisted that she was a boy.

Since I already knew from the original work that she was a girl, this insistence merely seemed endearing. I wondered if she had some trauma around being identified as a female. It was somewhat peculiar hearing a girl, who looked like she was in her last year of middle school, insisting that she was a boy.

“Ah, and Seo Eun-ah, you did a great job with the airwave hijacking yesterday. You even edited the broadcast like a pro. What would I have done without you?”

“It’s nothing. Anyone could have done that.”

Her response was nonchalant, but when complimented, she unconsciously licked her lips. I can see her smiling there.

“And ‘hyung’, that’s not the issue right now. We have a situation.”

“What’s going on?”

As she was talking to me, she suddenly seemed to remember something and started tapping on her computer. I looked on, intrigued.

“Do you remember that girl I told you about? Lee Soo-bin? The one who could become our new ally?”

“Yeah, the one active on the dark web? You said she seemed like a fan of mine?”

“Yes. I said that because she was part of a fan community for you... Take a look at this. It looks like she’s entangled in something strange.”

Seo Eun showed me her screen.

Displayed there was:

[Egostic’s followers are currently in the middle of Incheon, holding hostages and staging a terror act! They’ve planted bombs in the building and...]

Unidentified individuals were causing chaos, citing “Egostic” as their cause.

...Who the hell are these people, using my name for their nonsense?

︵‿︵‿୨ * ୧‿︵‿︵

[TN: In the Korean line, the name "에고스틱" (Egoistic) has been humorously transformed into "망고스틱" (Mangostick) in the comment section, with people saying "망고스틱 저놈 잡아라!" (Catch that Mangostick guy!). The joke lies in the wordplay, where "Egoistic" is intentionally misunderstood or altered to become "Mangostick," a nonsensical and trivial term, adding a comical twist to what might be a tense or serious situation. 

Just to further hit home the joke in English, imagine an online gamer who's super proud of their username "CyberKing." But then, folks start calling them "CiderKing." Instead of feeling like the ultimate online warrior, our CyberKing feels like he's selling apple drinks at a fall fair. 🍎🥤

The point to note here is that just how we focused more on the similar pronunciation of 'i’ in "C’i’derKing" and ‘y’ in "C’y’berKing", the Koreans did the same: Hence, the joke worked while preserving the actual meaning of the name "에고스틱" (Egoistic).

But why was it important to preserve the correct name, and why is this joke even funnier? Because our MC "에고스틱" (Egoistic) had a whole reason behind his name! He picked it thinking, "This name is unique and based on the English word 'Egoistic' which means selfish. Everyone will remember me!" And sure, they remembered, but not exactly in the cool, badass way he intended. 

Well, MC’s real words were not what I just wrote, but these: Egoistic(Referring to Korean word-"에고스틱"). I'd made this unique villain name after being inspired by the word Egoistic(Referring to English word), which means selfish, ensuring it wouldn’t overlap with other villain names. Now, every citizen knew it. The name's uniqueness made it easy to remember, a huge advantage. In terms of public awareness and interest, this was an immense gain for my future endeavors.

So, yeah. That's pretty much it. Oops! Looks like I carried away 😅😅

'Oppa' is a Korean term used by females to refer to an older male, while 'Hyung' is used by males to address an older male in a friendly manner. ]

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