Chapter 293: People’s Reactions
A dark cloudy sky with heavy rain.
A great spherical space, made of blue water, floating in the air.
I stepped into it, along with Stardus, who had come to help me…
“…Well, Ariel, I think you’ve got a big misunderstanding.”
I was sweating profusely, trying to explain to Ariel, who was sobbing in front of me.
Ariel’s shocking statement came out of nowhere. When she asked me if I was dating Stardus, I was dumbfounded. What could she possibly see that would make her think that? …Is it because my infatuation has spread abroad?
“Big brother, I’m not stupid.”
Ariel says that while suddenly wiping her tears with her clothes.
…Why was she crying? I couldn’t understand… but… Before I could say anything else, Ariel continued.
“First of all, you’re obviously dating from the way you’re acting on TV, and how can anyone not notice that?”
Ariel’s eyes narrowed, her fists clenched tightly in each hand as she shouted.
…Naturally, it sounded very ridiculous to me. …Of course, well. It might look like that in a place where there are no cameras… I mean, I might have done something that could be mistaken for something else, like holding hands, or just blurting out weird things when I’m alone with my emotions… Things like that… Of course not, but things that could be misinterpreted by a third party who doesn’t know me well.
However, I, Villain Egostic, can swear I’ve never done any of those things on camera. In the first place, we have a businesslike hero-villain relationship. We never mix emotions….Maybe.
In any case, I glanced at Stardus in disbelief, because now was the perfect time for her to be just as annoyed as I was. Imagine being told by a hero, “You’re actually dating a villain, aren’t you?” That would piss me off.
I looked back at her, expecting Stardus to speak for me, and…
“….ha? I don’t know what you’re talking about…”
She actually did say that.
…Not because she was angry, but because she was still a little flushed from ear to ear, scratching her cheeks and avoiding eye contact.
“And what, what, what, when did I…”
Looking at Stardus muttering seriously to herself with reddened cheeks, I decided to just take care of it myself. She looks a little flustered. Yeah, well, it’s not often that she gets to hear this stuff in person….Maybe?
Yeah. I’m about to embarrass myself, so let’s stop thinking about this.
“I… I don’t care who you’re with, I’m just happy to be with you, and that’s all that matters, is that so hard?”
And while we’re at it, my Ariel is still spouting off words that will make me kick my futon even in a month’s time when I think about them at night.
I was a little disoriented by the whole love and war thing, but I had to say something.
So I did.
I sighed and replied to Ariel in a low voice.
“…Ariel. I don’t know what you’re thinking, but it’s not true.”
“…Not what?”
“I mean really not. Has your brother ever lied to you?”
“…”
As I said that, as if to calm her down, Ariel gradually calmed down.
“…Really?”
To Ariel who asked that with slightly reddened eyes, I beat my chest in frustration.
“Huh. Why on earth did you think that? The last time you asked me, I said there was no such thing.”
“…You did.”
Ariel calmed down, wiped her eyes, and stopped crying.
…and only then did she realize what she’d done, her cheeks flushed. Yeah, I’m glad you’re embarrassed. Good thing you know how to be embarrassed…
“So, Ariel. Why did you cause this?”
After Ariel had calmed down a bit, I looked at her and said, “Look at the storm, look at the tidal wave, look at the mess.” Of course, there was the unexpected income of growing Icicle…
Anyway, I had a rough idea, but it’s better to hear it from the horse’s mouth.
In response to my question, Ariel answered quietly.
“…You told me I was too weak to enter Egostream, so I wanted to…”
“You wanted to show me what you could do?”
“…Yes.”
As expected.
I sighed deeply at the answer, which was no different from what I expected.
…No, then I’ll tell her, she’s that strong.
Of course, even if I did, I don’t think I’d accept it because of Atlas… Wait. Aside from that, Ariel created this huge storm all by herself?
I pointed that out and asked.
“…Oh, I did have some help from my dad’s fishermen, ahaha…”
I could hear Ariel’s words as she smiled and admitted the truth.
…Haha.
“…Okay, Ariel. We’ll talk about it later when we get back to my place. Okay?”
“Yeah…”
And with that, I left Ariel.
In effect, the incident in Busan was over.
The only thing left was.
“…Home?”
Stardus, who was blushing earlier, is looking at me with a cold gaze again.
[Da-in, what the hell are you doing in there, there’s a whole bunch of people outside right now who can see everything you’re doing.]
…the public’s reaction to witnessing the sudden hijinks.
So, to be fair, they were both problems.
***
After a massive terrorist attack in which a tsunami crashed into Busan the public went into a frenzy at the unusual southern terrorism.
*
[Oh shit, it’s Busan, but suddenly I’m making a disaster movie…]
(photo of a huge tsunami)
No. What’s wrong with me?
=[Comment]=
[I’m watching the news right now and this is the first time I’ve seen Busan being terrorized…]
[Now can you understand the pain of Seoul people?]
[Busan people who lived without any terrorism are suddenly distracted by the spicy terrorism they are experiencing for the first time…]
[We’ve all been through the monsters jumping from the Moonlight Bridge…]
[Now they’re all running towards the interior…]
[Busan doesn’t even have a Stardus? Big deal]
[Stardus will be called, like she’s on her way]
[Icicle shows me once???]
[Honestly, waiting for Stardus would be quicker]]
[But now it’s said that it’s Latis who did the terrorism, but isn’t there a collaboration between them and Egostic? Until now, even during the simultaneous invasion of the whole world, they terrorized except for Korea, but suddenly?]
N[That’s a little weird]
N[Didn’t you fight with them?]
N[The scale of their terrorism is smaller than their average, but I don’t know what it is.]
N[According to the latest news, it was a woman who caused the terror?]
ㄴ[Gasp]
ㄴ[Ah haha]
ㄴ[Oh, if I sleep like this, isn’t there a good chance that Egostic will come to Busan?]
ㄴ[Huh?]
ㄴ[I live in Busan and was running away, but when I saw this, I turned the car around and headed back to the beach. Haha. I bet on my life that Egostic will appear. Haha]
ㄴ[You crazy guy haha]
*
[(Breaking News) Real appearance of Egostic Busan.]
(Photo)
Just got caught on a broadcaster’s camera.
Ahh…Is it you again MANGO-AT
=[Comment]=
[wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh]
[Shit I did something last time and it was MANGO-AT]
[Thank you MANGO thank you GOAT]
[He’s faster than Stardus now haha]
[Honestly, if Egostic is more reliable than Icicle, then I’ll just go for it.]
ㄴ[He shakes his head lol]
ㄴ[Icicle is an A-level hero and Mango is an S-level hero, but it can’t be helped]
[But why is it not broadcasting? But why is it not broadcasting? But why is it not broadcasting?]
ㄴ[Huh?]
ㄴ[Is it true?]
*
After that, people calmed down as quickly as if they hadn’t seen it before.
While the media calms down to the point where they send out a broadcast saying that now that Egostic is here, you can rest easy.
Meanwhile, people started saying strange things again.
*
[Latest] Icicle X Mangostick What the hell is that?]
(A picture of Icicle smiling and chatting with Egostic)
Hmph… What are you two doing?
Icicle Mangostick resurrection?
=[Comment]]
[Ohhhhhh]
[Ice-mango rice cake resurrected after 100,000 years]
[Hey, what are you doing? This is adultery!]
ㄴ[Adultery pure love!]
ㄴ[You crazy guy haha]
ㄴ[Ice Mango supporters also admitted that it was an affair haha]
ㄴ[Mango cheating on Stardus~]
[Stardus will arrive soon.]
[(Fact) Ego Star is just a fuss from fans, the two actually have nothing to do with each other haha]
ㄴ[?]
ㄴ[Haa?]
ㄴ[What are you saying now?]
ㄴ[???]
ㄴ[You guy… what are you talking about?]
ㄴ[Look at the comments from the Ego Stars running wild haha]
[In the meantime, even when the hero and villain talk naturally, people don’t react at all haha]
ㄴ[It’s just everyday life now haha]
*
In addition to the community, the stranded people also gathered in the station’s chat room, where cameras were broadcasting the situation from afar.
Still, it was calm there, too…
*
[Stardus even mouthing off]]
*
After Stardus’ arrival, it exploded.
Even though it was too far away and the angle was obscured by the ice crystals that froze the sea, it was hard to see… but still, people were eagerly writing down their speculations.
Especially after Stardus flew off somewhere with Egostic.
People were dying to know what the hell was going on in there, seeing Stardus and Egostic go into that strange sphere of water and not come out.
“…”
Inside that sphere of water, I was now planning my next move.
…To be precise, I was planning to take Ariel and run away from Stardus.
