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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: The Terror Begins
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On the rooftop of a building.
I stood there, looking down.
Beside me was a large camera.
Gazing down at the alley below, I spoke.
"This is Ego. Control Tower, respond, respond."
[...Control Tower? What are you watching now? Anyway, I'm here.]
"Right. Is it about time to commence the operation?"
[...Yes. This time seems most appropriate. All nearby CCTVs have been disabled.]
"Alright. Then all that's left is to do it. Choi Se-hee?"
"...Hmph. Yeah."
"Go on, then. Just stick to the plan. Okay?"
"...Okay. But you *really* have to come get me at the end, alright?"
"Of course. That's why I brought the camera. Don't worry."
As I said this, shaking the camera I had levitated with telekinesis, she nodded and took a deep breath.
"...Sigh. I'm going now."
Though Choi Se-hee claimed to be nervous, a faint hint of excitement showed beneath her face as she flew into the sky, extending her hand.
And so, the terror began.
***
An intersection in Seoul.
A place bustling with the vibrant energy of busy cars and people.
In this lively yet peaceful place.
Suddenly, lightning struck.
CRASH—
"Ack!"
Completely out of the blue.
A bolt from the clear sky.
It wasn't just one or two bolts falling from the sky.
All of them began to strike the nearby street trees with resounding crashes.
"Aaaargh!"
At the sudden turn of events, people scattered in a panic, fleeing for their lives.
Only those in their cars paused, peering out their windows, wondering what on earth was happening.
And at that moment.
BOOM—
At the center of the intersection, the largest bolt yet, like a colossal yellow pillar, descended from the sky with a thunderous boom.
The lightning struck with immense power, tearing up the asphalt of the intersection as if intent on destroying everything.
Only then did people realize something serious was happening, and they panicked, driving away while honking their horns.
In the middle of the intersection, as the smoke cleared from where the lightning had struck, a woman appeared.
Her orange hair, tied in a ponytail, fluttered in the wind.
She seemed to float in the air, standing atop an electrical storm that raged around her legs.
Thus, she appeared, radiating electricity in mid-air.
Making her first appearance, she took a deep breath, then let out a fierce cry.
And at the same time.
Hundreds, even thousands, of sparks, too numerous to count with the naked eye, began to intensely radiate from her body in all directions, destroying everything in the intersection.
This fact was immediately reported to the Association.
That a villain was causing terror in the heart of Seoul.
***
Shin Haru.
She appeared to be an ordinary college student, but she harbored a secret she couldn't tell others.
The truth was, she was an A-rank hero, Stardust.
Though she attended university classes, she wasn't always on campus.
Aside from being at a cafe with her senior or at home, her primary location was her office at the Hero Association.
She received constant reports on villains, and her office was the most convenient place to deploy from when a villain appeared, so she was usually there when not meeting with her senior during the day.
And so, now.
Sitting in her Hero Association office, she was looking at a website she habitually checked on her computer.
*
[Egoistic Fan Cafe Statement]
We, the 100,000 Mango Brigade, collectively state:
The elegant, new paradigm, genius, zero-casualty, nationwide live-broadcast terrorist has not committed an act of terror for two months.
Despite the pleas of his supporters, he has gone into hiding without a shred of pity or remorse.
We demand severe punishment for the wicked and inhumane villain 'Egoistic'.
Egoistic, end your silence immediately and give us an update!!!!!
Please... I'm going to die if this continues...
Why aren't you here? Why aren't you here? Why aren't you here? Why aren't you here?
[Comments] =
[I support this ^^]
[They say he's not Egoistic, but Bongostic]
[Seriously, 3 months or more is practically a passive skill for him now]
[A terrorist? Not committing terror? Isn't that dereliction of duty?]
[I'm cold... Why isn't he here?]
[Seems like only Stardust is happy not working, everyone else is miserable lol]
ㄴ [Seriously lol, even the Stardust Brigade says they're bored to death these days]
ㄴ [Why them?]
ㄴ [Because without Mango, only the nobodies come out to fight, and they get one-shotted, so it's not exciting lol]
ㄴ [Ah, lol, now that I think about it, they've always only called for Stardust until now]
ㄴ [Stardust without Egoistic is like a steamed bun without its filling, isn't it?]
ㄴ [But regardless, Stardust must be genuinely grinning about how easy things are these days lolol]
*
"Haa..."
Haru sighed, watching them laugh and chat, oblivious.
In her opinion, Egoistic... no matter how she thought about it, he seemed to be dead already. That was her belief.
And whenever that fact was brought to mind again, a corner of her heart would ache slightly.
...What does it matter if just one villain dies?
Why am I so bothered and guilty about this?
As she sat there absently, feeling a little down.
CRASH. The office door burst open, and an Association agent entered.
"Stardust. A villain has appeared in downtown Seoul again! You must deploy immediately!"
"...Understood."
She rose from her seat.
No matter her current mood, she was a hero.
Immediately, she moved to subdue the villain.
***
The Sky.
Donning her suit, she cut through the sky, flying toward the incident site while receiving reports from the Association.
[The culprit appears to be a woman in her twenties, possessing electrical abilities.]
[She is currently randomly destroying objects at the intersection, but all citizens have been evacuated, so there are no casualties.]
[A B-rank hero near the scene attempted to subdue her but was immediately struck and is currently incapacitated.]
[Please be careful.]
"Understood."
Having grasped the general situation, she continued towards the location, mulling over her thoughts.
In any case, a few swings from her would quickly subdue them.
Most villains now couldn't stand against her power.
...Except for Egoistic, who always had something up his sleeve.
"Tsk."
Having thought of him again, she shook her head and refocused.
When fighting a villain, one must always maintain maximum concentration.
After a short flight, she arrived at her destination and assessed the situation from above.
The deserted intersection, where everyone had fled.
At its center, a single figure was visible, surrounded by countless electrical waves.
In the midst of the electrical storm, she was firing electricity at objects in all directions.
Already, everything in the vicinity—street trees, traffic lights, utility poles, transformers, the asphalt ground, building exteriors—was being utterly devastated.
There were no casualties yet, but there was no telling what would happen if this continued. From her current state, it appeared she was losing control of her powers. Immediate suppression was necessary.
Having reached her conclusion, she descended from the sky.
THUD. She landed on the ground with a hero landing.
And at the sound, the villain reacted.
She stopped indiscriminately unleashing electrical waves and destroying things, turning her head to look at Stardust.
The villain, her orange hair swaying, looked at Stardust and then, as if expecting her, spoke.
"Ah. So you're Stardust?"
"Villain. Cease your terrorist acts immediately and surrender. If you do not surrender at once, I will subdue you."
Stardust declared, following protocol.
Towards her, the orange-haired villain opened her mouth with a sneer.
"Surrender? Not a chance."
At the same time, the villain launched an electrical projectile at her.
Stardust dodged it and flew towards the villain, intent on capturing her.
And at the same time, the villain, generating a storm of electricity, shot into the sky.
Soaring high, she unleashed sparks from her hands and shouted to Stardust, and to those who might be watching.
"My name is... Electra!"
Engulfed in electricity from head to toe, the villain, Electra, looked at Stardust and spoke, a smile on her face.
"For him, Stardust, I've come to face you."
As she said that, she fired streaks of electricity in all directions.
Stardust dodged the barrage of electricity aimed at her, gritting her teeth.
She didn't know what it meant for Electra to have come to face her, or who 'he' was.
But all of it would naturally become clear once she took Electra down.
Stardust clenched her fists and once again plunged into the electrical storm.
The battle had begun.
***
Meanwhile, the entire scene was being captured by the camera of a broadcasting helicopter hovering above, and aired live on the news.
As people watched the battle on their TVs or phones, wondering what was happening now.
I stood on the rooftop of a nearby building, directly observing the spectacle.
Hah. Choi Se-hee. All those long hours of one-on-one lessons I gave her really paid off.
Look at her, holding her own against Stardust like that. Is this for real? My heart swells with pride...
Still, eventually, she'll start to get pushed back as time goes on, so I'll have to step in around then.
I munched on the popcorn I had brought beforehand, watching the battle unfold live.
"Engaging."
Nothing beats popcorn when you're watching a fight.
The popcorn is sweet, so sweet.