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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: What Would Have Happened If Mangostick Hadn't Broken the Bridge... Real Fact
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Today, let's delve into the Black Tentacle Mass incident (a.k.a. the Black Monster) that recently occurred in Seoul.
Assuming the Black Monster originated from the Haneun Group headquarters in Yeongdeungpo District, then proceeded straight across Mapo Bridge.
The districts of Mapo, Jung, Jongno, Seongbuk, Gangbuk, and Nowon, all north of Seoul's Han River, would have suffered catastrophic damage (estimated hundreds of thousands of casualties).
Uijeongbu, Pocheon, and Cheorwon would also have been utterly destroyed.
Furthermore, it's estimated that North Korea, China, and Russia would have sustained significant damage.
And do you know what's even scarier?
According to data recently released by the American Hero Association, it states:
"Footage of the early behavior of the Korean-Black Disaster (Black Calamity) suggests that this entity possesses a degree of intelligence. While its initial movements appear to be random, straight-line progression due to it not being fully aware, it is anticipated that once its intelligence is fully awakened, it will be capable of actively changing direction."
Simply put, it's as if the Haneun Group bastards created Cthulhu. American netizens are actually calling it Cthulha or the Worm.
Analysis suggests that even if two or three American S-rank heroes fought it all day, victory would be uncertain. It's truly fortunate that its weakness is water.
However, even with a weakness, the problem was its apparent intelligence. If it were just a mindless creature moving in a straight line, it might have been dealt with somehow, even if it just died from rain. But with intelligence, it's hopeless. If it avoids heroes, even S-ranks would have a hard time dealing with it.
And even if it were eventually eliminated, by then, millions of people in northern Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, and North Korea would likely have perished.
Conclusion: Praise Mangostick.
[Likes] 1255 [Dislikes] 6
=[Comments]=
[The Mangostick Faction, or whatever they're called, is already going crazy with praise on Ego-stick's fan cafe, lol.]
ㄴ[Seriously, the Mangostick Faction, which used to get so much hate, is back with a vengeance! LOL]
[I live in Seoul, and seriously, I thought I was going to die. I was just minding my own business when this terrifying scream, loud as a siren, vibrated through everything. I thought the world was ending.]
[Damn, I saw the Black Bastard's movement path that was uploaded, and my house was directly in its way, lol. I almost kicked the bucket right there.]
[Seriously, everyone can laugh about it now because that bastard died so anticlimactically, but if it had lived, hundreds of thousands would already be dead and a national emergency would have been declared.]
[I was in Yeouido, and it was really terrifying, for real... I was at the supermarket when suddenly the sky vibrated and there was a screaming sound like glass scraping. Kids were crying, peeing themselves, it was chaos.]
[There's even a rumor that the government and the Association were so shocked they almost declared martial law, lololol.]
[Now I'm more curious about Ego-stick than that monster bastard who's already dead. Isn't this guy seriously S-rank hero Apple Mango from the future?]
ㄴ[Even the 'old-timers' have to admit it now. Ego-stick is a hero.]
ㄴ[The Association bastards are so useless. Ego-stick is still listed as a villain due to a system error;;]
ㄴ[Seriously, lol. These guys are neglecting their duties.]
***
Where the world's strongest heroes gather.
Where equally heinous villains converge.
And where the Hero Association's power and intelligence are most formidable: America.
While the Korean Association, dazed by the sudden incident, could only repeat the public message, 'It appears the problem has been resolved, so please resume your daily lives with peace of mind,' it was the American Association on the other side of the globe that first released a report on the event.
The American Association named it the 'Black Disaster.'
And it was reverse-imported, leading the Korean Association to officially name the incident the 'Black Calamity.'
This incident had plunged South Korea into shock.
A monster suddenly emerging from the ground, emitting spine-chilling sounds across Seoul and collapsing buildings with mere twitches, was startling even for Koreans accustomed to sudden terror attacks by villains.
Indeed, those who were in Mapo District at the time and witnessed 'It' firsthand, experiencing cosmic horror at its terrifying, sky-obscuring form, even reported psychological distress.
Thankfully, unlike its overwhelming presence upon first appearance, it vanished rather anticlimactically, leaving many people bewildered. Well, a good outcome is a good outcome, isn't it?
Now, the cause had to be found.
What on earth happened underground for something like that to emerge?
What? It came out from beneath the Haneun Group headquarters? Get all the Haneun Group executives here! Are these bastards insane?
...What? All Haneun Group executives and employees are out of contact?
These bastards?
Thus, many figures, from the Haneun Group president to key personnel like Dr. Kim Seon-woo, disappeared and became wanted fugitives. Yet, no trace of where they fled could be found.
And so, the Haneun Group, once one of South Korea's leading conglomerates, collapsed overnight.
As the full circumstances became somewhat clear and time passed, diluting the fear, people began to think differently.
Wow. It would have been a disaster if it hadn't fallen into the river and died.
Huh? They say there was originally a bridge on its path.
But that bridge was broken, which is why it died, they say.
But who broke it?
Ah! Ego-stick was the one who destroyed it.
Among so many bridges, that creature 'accidentally' tried to cross the very bridge Ego-stick had destroyed, and Ego-stick 'accidentally' destroyed it, preventing it from crossing.
Such a coincidence...?
A coincidence... twice?
Wait. No, thinking about it logically.
Could this really be... a coincidence?
[How is this a coincidence, lololol]
As the title of a certain community post suggested, yes.
People began to consider the possibility that this wasn't a coincidence, but an intentional act.
Ego-stick, who, by preemptively destroying that bridge, ended up saving South Korea.
The attention of the entire nation began to turn to him.
Numerous conjectures began to surface about him.
[S-rank Hero Apple Mango... I'm sorry for misunderstanding you until now ㅜㅜ]
Rumors that Ego-stick was actually a hero cosplaying as a villain.
[Upvote if you think Mangostick-nim has precognitive abilities, lol.]
Rumors that he actually possessed the ability to see the future.
[Can't you tell just by looking? He must have known those Haneun Group bastards were up to something through hacking and stopped them preemptively, lol.]
Even rumors that he deduced such an incident would occur at the Haneun Group and stopped it in advance.
A common characteristic among all those who viewed the Mapo Bridge collapse not as an accident, but as Ego-stick's intentional act, was this:
That he orchestrated the Mapo Bridge terror incident previously to save South Korea.
Public opinion, which until recently had condemned Ego-stick as an unforgivable villain who undermined national prestige and branded his supporters as traitors to the nation,
Flipped overnight, like turning over a hand.
To the extent that one could feel it just by turning on YouTube.
[15 Surprising Facts About Ego-stick You Didn't Know.]
[In-Depth Analysis) Is Ego-stick a Hero or a Villain?]
[Poll Results on Ego-stick Among MZ Generation... 92% Find Him 'Likable,' Overwhelming Support.]
[Petition Appears to Erect an Ego-stick Statue... Just How Far Will His Popularity Go?]
[This is the latest must-have item for 20-somethings at convenience stores? I tried Mangostick myself.]
[Japanese Association President, Finally in Tears! 'To have a villain like Ego-stick exist, Korea is truly a blessed place.' The Land of Eastern Courtesy, Korea, where even villains care for the nation? The K-Villain craze sweeping the globe raises South Korea's diplomatic standing!]
***
"Good evening. This is the 9 O'Clock News. Today, we have a villain who has become the talk of the town. Tonight's 9 O'Clock News will begin by looking into Ego-stick. Here with us is Dr. Jeon Won-bong, a professor of Parahuman Abilities at Seoul National University. Dr. Jeon, welcome."
"Yes, hello."
"These days, it's rare for Ego-stick, this villain, not to be mentioned. The number of members in 'Mangostick Faction,' the nickname for his supporting fans, is said to be explosively increasing. Why has he suddenly become so popular?"
"Well, Ego-stick. He's an ability user with dual powers, telekinesis and teleportation, and a villain already quite well-known to the public for having caused four terror attacks. The reason he recently gained renewed notoriety is due to the incident commonly referred to as the 'Black Calamity'."
"The Black Calamity, wasn't that caused by the Haneun Group? What does Ego-stick have to do with this incident?"
"To be precise, the bridge Ego-stick destroyed during a terror attack played the biggest role in stopping this calamity. If the bridge had been there, the monster would have crossed it directly and advanced further into northern Seoul. Looking at the outcome alone, one could even say we averted the disaster thanks to Ego-stick."
"Ah. But wasn't that a complete coincidence?"
"Netizens think differently. There are even rumors circulating that he has precognitive abilities and knew in advance to destroy the bridge to save South Korea. The incident where S-rank hero Apple Mango, presumed to be Ego-stick, stopped Monkey Spanner's terror attack in the past seems to be the basis for these netizens' current speculations."
"So, Dr. Jeon, you think differently?"
"Yes. The idea of precognitive abilities is absurd. It's more likely that this was a truly astonishing coincidence. However, personally, I believe Ego-stick did know in advance and stopped it. Just not through precognition."
"Meaning...?"
"Perhaps he knew that some kind of experiment was roughly underway in the Haneun Group's basement. That's my thought. Given the hacking abilities he has demonstrated, it's entirely plausible... "
Click.
Press.
Shin Haru, who had been listening up to that point, turned off the TV.
There was no need to listen anymore.
Thump.
Leaning back into the sofa's cushions, she closed her eyes and slowly began to think.
Ego-stick.
Privately assassinating other villains. The terror attack where he made people kill each other. The terror attack where he tied a train to the tracks and forced it to run over people. The terror attack where he threatened to drop a plane if a quiz wasn't answered correctly. The terror attack where he threatened to drop a bridge if money wasn't received.
The countless terror attacks he had caused definitively labeled him a villain.
However.
Terror attacks where no one died, his advice not to reveal identities, suppressing terror attacks instigated by his own followers, assassinating other villains, the trust placed in him to save the plane, the terror attack he stopped while masquerading as Apple Mango, stopping cars from falling off a bridge.
And now, even stopping this calamity.
Then what do these incidents classify him as?
Right.
At this point, even she had no choice but to admit it.
He was extreme, anti-social, arrogant, unpredictable, and killed other villains without a second thought.
He also caused terror, threatening the public, and when he did intervene, he claimed it was simply because he felt like it.
Yet, when it came down to it, in terms of results.
He had never killed anyone, eliminated villains who threatened civilian safety, and when a terror attack occurred, he stepped in to stop it under the pretext of being provoked, mentioned, or simply bored.
"....."
She admitted it.
What?
That she herself no longer knew what was what.
"Haa..."
Late at night.
Moonlight quietly illuminated her home through the window beside her.
Beneath it, she could only sigh in confusion.
It had already been several years since she began her activities as a hero.
But no villain had ever confused or bothered her as much as he did now.
"Ego-stick."
She found herself uttering his name aloud without realizing it.
Ego-stick, what a ridiculous name.
But you.
What on earth are you?
A villain, just a villain, and yet.
Why do you bother me so much?