-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: Let's Summarize the Facts About A-Class Villain Egostic... For Real
-----------------------------------------------------------------
[Author]Anonymous
[Title]Let's Summarize the Facts About A-Class Villain Egostic... For Real
1. Eliminated S-Class Villain Enzodic.
2. Eliminated A-Class Villain Rhino.
3. Aired "The Dilemma of the Special Cruise Ship" which brought tension to the bored citizens of South Korea (0 casualties).
4. Suppressed his own followers' terror attack and even paid compensation to the hostages.
5. Eliminated A-Class Villain Teleporter. For reference, the Hero Association officially stated he would be extremely difficult to catch.
Honestly, Egostic doesn't seem like a villain, lol.
=[Comments]=
[Anonymous1]Where's the villain? All I see is a true "hero"?
ㄴ[Anonymous2]LOL, seriously.
[Anonymous4]Honestly, Egostic seems better than Stardus LOL.
ㄴ[Anonymous5]Seriously, what has Stardus even done so far? Has she caught one or two A-class villains at most? Our King God Egostic has already caught an S-class, lol.
ㄴ[Anonymous6]This is a bit much;; No matter how much Egostic is being hyped up these days, comparing him to a hero is going too far. Crossing the line...
ㄴ[Anonymous7]Stardus fan club exposed.
ㄴ[Anonymous15]Hero spy exposed.
ㄴ[Anonymous16]What's a hero spy?
ㄴ[Anonymous17]A spy for the Hero Association.
ㄴ[Anonymous6];;;;
[Anonymous8]He eliminates villains~ He provides entertainment~ Honestly, he's growing on me, lol.
ㄴ[Anonymous9]Liking a terrorist, what the hell.
ㄴ[Anonymous8]Oh, so were there any casualties, lol?
[Anonymous10]So why is Stardus getting hate? I genuinely don't know.
ㄴ[Anonymous11]Isn't it just because she's being compared to Egostic and getting trashed?
ㄴ[Anonymous12]It also seems like she's had the least activity among the three A-class heroes, lol. Honestly, Shadow Walker and Icicle both save dozens, even hundreds of people by themselves, but Stardus hasn't done much so far.
ㄴ[Anonymous13]Honestly, Stardus is just a pretty face, lol. Let's just demote her to B-class and make Egostic an A-class hero.
ㄴ[Anonymous14]The Hero Association should immediately designate our Mangostic as a new hero!
***
Tsk...
That night, after defeating Teleporter.
I looked at the computer screen and groaned.
Things were turning out worse than I expected.
Was the problem that Teleporter fled, forcing me to chase him into the city?
It seems people saw me, who defeats villains, as a hero.
This is absurd...
Sigh...
With a frustrated expression, I entered an internet cafe.
This place, labeled [Egostic Official Fan Cafe].
Already, the number of members... This many?
"The future of South Korea is bleak..."
I sighed, staring into space.
A nation whose citizens support a villain, how can such a country exist?
Of course, that was a problem, but a bigger problem was Stardus.
My suspiciously large fan club...? had started pouring out criticism against Stardus.
It seems they... really dislike Stardus, who has practically become my dedicated hero.
"This isn't it... This isn't how it's supposed to be..."
I never wanted it to turn out this way.
No, how could they even think of idolizing me in the first place?
Have they already forgotten my cruise ship bombing event?
...Then again. I was dumbfounded when I saw someone who was on that cruise ship say in a YouTube interview, "Actually, looking back, it was kind of fun."
It seems South Korea in this world has gone a bit crazy.
I went through all that trouble to raise public favorability for Stardus, but instead, I lowered it.
What a sinful fan I am.
"This won't do. Time for a second terror attack, immediately!"
I made up my mind.
I'll show those ignorant masses just how terrifying a villain can be.
And I'll engrave into people's minds once again just how beautiful, righteous, diligent, cute, and cool Stardus is!
"Seo-eun, operation starts now!"
I strode into the living room.
There, Seo-eun and Soo-bin were coincidentally sitting on the sofa, watching TV.
"Geez. You were just groaning in bed, and now you're full of energy again..."
Seo-eun chided me. My body had recovered quickly after a few days of rest. Didn't I tell you how good the fatigue recovery device was?
I plopped down next to Seo-eun.
Soo-bin, who was sitting next to Seo-eun just like me, was peeling an apple while watching TV.
"Dain, you're on TV again!"
Soo-bin's eyes sparkled as she pointed at the TV.
After living together for about two weeks, Soo-bin had become quite close with me.
Yes. She had come to realize it. How harmless a person I truly was.
Although our initial encounter wasn't ideal, my continuous gaslighting... no! My continuous kindness. With kindness, she had opened her heart to me.
The same logic applied to her calling me by my name. Dain. It would be funny to call me Egostic-ssi when we live in the same house.
Dain. That was my name. My name, completely unrelated to Egostic. Now, in this world, only Seo-eun and Soo-bin knew that name. Of course, I was now more famous as Egostic than Dain.
After we started calling each other by name, Soo-bin became very energetic. She was doing all the cooking, laundry, and dishes! Seo-eun and I were living comfortably without lifting a finger. It wasn't that we were bad. We just *had* to let her do it because she'd tear up and plead, "I have to do *something* like this..." Honestly.
The conclusion was that Soo-bin no longer feared me. Which was good. It would be awkward if she was still scared of me, living in the same house and all.
Anyway, I looked at the TV she was pointing at.
What was playing was a current affairs discussion, the kind that often comes at the end of the news. The topic displayed below was:
[Egostic, Becoming a New Icon for the MZ Generation.]
.....
To think I'd see the term 'MZ generation' even in this world.
I slapped my forehead and groaned.
The MZ generation, a term generally referring to the younger generation. Unlike its actual definition.
So what they were saying was that I had now become an icon for young people.
"Wow, Oppa. You've gotten popular?"
Seo-eun said with a teasing laugh.
Yeah. I guess I have gotten popular. Even in a good way.
I ate an apple Soo-bin had peeled for me and watched the TV. Let's hear what they're saying.
Soo-bin also watched the TV intently, like me. No, she seemed even *more* focused than me. Why are you doing that, it's embarrassing... I'd rather you be on your smartphone like Seo-eun next to you.
[It is a slight problem that the MZ generation so fanatically follows a villain like this. Currently, this is the main news on the portal site, and if you look at the comments, the overall atmosphere is one of defending Egostic. This is unprecedented. In fact, it's a well-known fact that the MZ generation doesn't particularly like existing heroes. Isn't there an image that they just got lucky with their powers and used them to get ahead? That's why there were many complaints about heroes not doing their jobs, or being slow to respond when incidents occurred.]
A middle-aged man, who appeared to be a panelist, swallowed after speaking that far. Then, excusing himself for a moment, he began to drink water. Next to me, Soo-bin started taking notes while listening to it. Soo-bin... What are you doing...
On TV, the panelist opened his mouth again.
[But now, this villain called Egostic has scratched exactly where the citizens were itching. Weren't there many people dissatisfied with heroes merely subduing villains instead of killing them? There were many complaints about villains who deserved the death penalty simply being locked in prison... that the sentences were too lenient. But when this villain, Egostic, executes them on the spot? Citizens find it exhilarating.]
[Still, didn't this villain also cause a terror attack on a cruise ship?]
The panelist replied to the host's question.
[Now, that has been considerably diluted by him preventing his followers' terror attack last time. And in fact, that terror attack also resulted in zero casualties.]
"Exactly!"
I sprang to my feet and shouted loudly, startling Seo-eun and Soo-bin beside me.
"You startled me! What's wrong?"
"This can't go on. I need to launch a new terror attack immediately!"
"Huh? Weren't you going to launch a new terror attack after eliminating at least one villain?"
Seo-eun tilted her head and asked, but I shook mine.
"No. My image is improving day by day. This can't happen! I wanted to be a villain who opposed Stardus, not suddenly be treated like a hero out of nowhere... It seems, then. I need to show the citizens of South Korea what a 'true villain' is. Right now!"
As I shouted, burning with zeal, Seo-eun's face turned sour.
"Alright... I get it. So what are you going to do this time? Are you going with that Good Samaritan thing from last time?"
"No, I'm going with something different. Something even more wicked."
"Haa... Fine. I'll have to prepare something new. Just tell me."
"Alright... The plan is..."
Wait for me, Stardus.
I'll definitely make you rise again.
***
[Breaking News) Egostic just went live lololol]
Turn on your TV right now lolololol
[Likes]43 [Dislikes]0
[??? Is this for real?]
[??? Why is this real?]
[Something big is happening lololololol]
[Let's go~ Let's go~ Let's go~ Let's go~ Let's go~ Let's go~ Let's go~ Let's go~ Let's go~ Let's go~ Let's go~ Let's go~]
***
On a bridge where the wind howled.
Standing alone there, I grinned at the camera.
Countless people were probably watching.
Towards them, I shouted loudly.
"Long time no see, citizens! It's your favorite villain, Egostic!"
Alright, let's put on a show once more.
Let's see if they can still like me after this.