Chapter 294: Dashes
On the sea off the coast of Busan, inside a giant wall of water droplets, Stardus stared uncomfortably at Egostic, who was offering to take Ariel with him.
The villainous organization Latis suddenly unleashed a terrorist attack on Busan.
And the truth behind the attack, she realized, was simple.
…She, Ariel, wanted to be with him. To get his attention.
From the sounds of it, they’ve known each other since the beginning, and it seems that he refused to let her join his villainous organization, the Egostream. And her terrorism is the result.
So, to summarize, another woman came forward and said she wanted to be with him.
And this is the situation.
“…I guess you two know each other? More than that, your house?”
Stardus didn’t like this, not at all.
She said it with her arms crossed and a cold voice.
Why did it make her uncomfortable that he had another woman in his home, when surely there was nothing between him and her?
‘…No.’
As she thought that, she changed her mind.
No, they weren’t. He and she, hero and villain, bound together by their mutual enmity.
And he had told her that she was important to him…
I mean.
It’s not weird to feel this way.
And when a villain is about to recruit a new villain, it’s natural for a hero to be angry.
…Actually, she’s not sure that’s the only reason.
Anyway, it was in this state of mind that Stardus opened her mouth to speak, her face still cold as she turned to face the panicked Egostic.
“Stardus.”
Suddenly, he turned to her.
“…Huh?”
He came out of nowhere, out of thin air, toward her.
Before Stardus could question, “What is this?” he was moving toward her with such speed and ferocity that Stardus panicked.
Before Stardus could think further, Egostic was standing in front of her.
“…What, what?”
She crossed her arms and looked up at him, trying to keep a cool face, but inside she was extremely confused.
And whether she knew it or not when they were within breathing distance of each other, Egostic looked into Stardus’ eyes and spoke.
” Stardus, do you know that I actually value you more than anyone else?”
“…Huh?”
They were both soaking wet from the rain that had been falling all the way up to the ocean.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtWith his hair shining with a slight reflection of water, as if he had just gotten out of a bath, Egostic smiled quietly.
“You’re so good, always putting others before yourself, that I never for a moment thought you weren’t great, and you’re more beautiful than anyone else.”
“…Wait, what are you talking about?”
“Actually…so, there’s something I wanted to say to you, Stardus, that I didn’t want to say here.”
Egostic words come out of nowhere.
Caught off guard by the unexpected turn of events, she forgot about her anger at Ariel and became dazzled by what was happening.
In fact, there was a blue-haired Ariel in front of her, her face covered with an embarrassed blush.
“…I, I don’t mind being second!”
What the hell is she talking about?
While Stardus was blushing red in embarrassment at this sudden turn of events Egostic suddenly grabbed her hand.
“Stardus.”
“Uh, huh?”
At that moment, Stardus looked at the serious face of the man holding her hand and didn’t know what to do, so she didn’t even think about grabbing him.
“I’m sorry.”
“…Huh?”
With those words the figure in front of her flashed and disappeared.
He appeared behind Ariel, and then disappeared again along with her.
And just like that, the watery composition that made up the place lost its power and disappeared.
“…….”
Left alone, Stardus stared at his hands in silence, then muttered.
“…Ha?”
Egostic bounced away.
The attack ended without casualties….except for a dazed Stardus.
***
[(Breaking News) Busan terrorist attack over]
It looks like Egostic ran off with the kid who caused the terror?
Anyway, today’s S-class hero Mangostick won 1 victory in a gentle manner.
=[Comments]=
[Now it’s just everyday life haha]
[Korea is not going to go back without Egostic]
ㄴ[If it weren’t for Egostic, the world, let alone Korea, would have already been destroyed by the Moonlight Gate LOL]
[Just mango <- lifelong villain should do it ^^]
ㄴ[shakes his head]
ㄴ[Mango is… Unravel the 3-way face-to-face video!]
[So what happened? Anyone want to clarify the situation?]
[1. A woman from Latis started a terrorist attack 2. It ended with Egostic taking her away]
ㄴ[What happened to that woman?]
ㄴ[It’ll end up with a mango coupling between the two of them…]
ㄴ[Ahhhhh]
*
After ending Ariel’s terror in Busan I returned safely with the help of Eun-woo, who was waiting nearby.
Ariel and I were sitting on the couch.
“…Ariel?”
“Da-in?”
“Ha…”
It had already been quite a while, and the sun was setting outside.
In the sunset-lit living room, I sighed and looked at Ariel.
“…Shouldn’t you go home?”
“……No.”
Ariel looked up at me with her emerald eyes and said so.
At such a stubborn response from her, I sighed, and explained why she had to go back.
Truth be told, even I wished Ariel had stayed with me.
For one thing, she’d proven herself capable with this attack. She had water manipulation powers almost as strong as an S-class hero, so of course she’d be a great addition to the force but if there was a problem.
“Wouldn’t your father be worried?”
Yes.
It was that she was the daughter of Atlas.
Atlas is the world’s top S-class powerhouse and my trusted guardian. There’s no way he’d allow his daughter to stand beside me in Korea, far away from him.
…I thought.
[…She said she wanted to be there. Ha ha, Egostic, are you okay?]
“…What, Atlas, you don’t object?”
[Haha, if she says she’ll stay by your side, there’s nothing to worry about. Even if I don’t trust everyone else, I know who you are, haha, and I think it’s not bad that she can experience the world.]
“…Hmm.”
…Don’t you think you trust me too much?
I had my doubts, but I had to admit it. Atlas has always been like that.
[…By the way, tell Ariel that if she ever runs off with my men like this again, I won’t let her get away with it.]
“Haha, yeah…”
Anyway, with that dire warning, we exchanged a few more words.
I decided to let Ariel into my Egostream after all, since I had no reason to refuse if Atlas would let me.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm[I’m sorry if I’ve been a pain in the ass to you, but next time you come over, I’ll treat you to a big meal, and you’ll have to take care of my daughter, haha!]
Anyway, with that, […I’m going to call you son-in-law after this, haha!], the call ended with a joke from Atlas that I found hard to take.
“…Okay. Okay, Ariel. You’re coming to live with us starting today.”
“Really?”
Ariel’s emerald eyes sparkled with delight.
She became the tenth member of our Egostream.
Afterward, I announced the news to the rest of the Egostream, who were watching us curiously from across the living room, and introduced her.
“Hi, I’m Ariel!”
“Yeah. Nice to meet you.”
Everyone smiled warmly, including Soobin and Eun-woo, and welcomed her as a new member.
Even Seo Jae-young thought it was funny, saying, “Da-in, you’ve picked up a new girl again.:
“Haha… Another competitor…”
…Of course, in the case of our Seo-eun, she had a bit of an embarrassed reaction.
“Oh, Seo-eun, you’re the famous genius hacker Southsilver, right? You’ve been with in Egostream since Egostic first attack!”
“Uh, huh?”
Ariel looked at Seo-Eun, her eyes sparkling as she approached, and then looked momentarily flustered as she saw Seo-Eun looking at her enviously and clasping her hand.
“I’ve been a huge fan of yours, you’re the one responsible for all of our hacks, right? And wow, I think you’re even cuter in real life.”
“…Ehehe, really?”
She smiled at Ariel, who smiled and bombarded her with compliments.
Hmm. Ariel will fit right in.
Anyway, the day went by in a blur.
That night, after showing Ariel to her new bedchamber, I finally made it back to my room and had some time to myself.
Sitting on my bed, I replayed the events of the day.
From traveling all the way down to Busan to stop Ariel, to meeting Icicle and raising her and then meeting Stardus.
‘Come with me.’
Before fleeing with Ariel, I briefly approached Stardus, flustered her, and ran away, feeling like I was going to get caught.
“….”
…Something tells me I’m going to get screwed if I see Stardus again, but whatever. I had other things on my mind.
I’m sure it’s not, but… For some reason, I’ve been having strange thoughts lately.
“…No way, Stardus is going to kill me.
…
No. Of course not.
That can’t be right. I must be overthinking things again, then.
I’m lying in bed thinking about it.
“….”