I Became The Villain The Hero Is Obsessed With

351 – The Shaking Lantern

After the incident with Celeste was settled.

I returned and started working normally again.

“Cough.”

…Sigh.

Before that, I wiped the blood coming out of my mouth. Ah, I overdid it with my telekinesis in the Sun God’s temple after such a long time, and now I’m coughing up blood again…’

“Anyway, I was working.

…Of course, just saying that, the thing I was most interested in was.

“No, really, what’s going on with Stardust these days?”

It was all about Stardust.

The world is in turmoil lately. Listening to the news from around the world, there are stories about villains taking over the capitals of countries, and the economies of some countries being shattered by ongoing terrorism. Especially with more countries like Japan and China being occupied by villains, they say our country’s diplomacy is not easy. Not all villains are like Katana…

Anyway, because of that, our country’s news seemed to be trying to show only hopeful things related to our country as much as possible. In other words, they started promoting ‘South Korea is safe, everyone!’ by highlighting the heroine Stardust.

In fact, Stardust was very good at defeating villains, so there was really nothing to worry about. However…

‘…That’s strange.’

Such a fact couldn’t deceive my eyes, as a Stardust expert.

Stardust, as seen on the screen lately, was somehow strange.

Her expression was always stiff, but lately, it felt even more subtly expressionless.

More than that, she seemed tired. To be precise, she seemed empty, as if she had lost her purpose, and was just habitually defeating villains.

And Stardust…

‘…She’s doing something too self-destructive.’

Holding a pen, I watched the screen with a serious expression, thinking about it.

As a Stardust expert, and even more so as someone who had seen her through the original work from a first-person perspective, I was more sensitive to this matter.

For example, just look at today’s video.

[Oh no, the villain Widarmak is emitting flames nearby! It seems he’s trying to distance himself from Stardust… Ah! As I’m saying this, Stardust just flies straight through the flames!]

As the enemy spewed fire, Stardust simply pierced through it.

…She never used to do this before.”

Stepping back, she looked for a way to bypass the flames. If there was one, she would take it; if not, she would wait briefly for the flames to die down and then charge in.

However, she didn’t do that and instead seemed to wait for the flames to come towards her, piercing through them.

Of course, as she had grown stronger, there weren’t any significant injuries, but the problem was that this behavior was recurring.

“…..”

Watching her like that, I rested my hand on my chin and quietly sank into thought.

Seeing her like this, the public would simply think, ‘Ah, Stardust has become really brave!’

But I knew. Recently, Stardust’s behavior was no different from a kind of self-harm. As if death wasn’t scary, she kept repeating risky actions. To anyone watching, it seemed like she had lost the will to live.

And such behavior had already appeared similarly in the original work.

‘…When her closest senior in college, Kim Chae-hyun, died, she showed this aggressive behavior for a short time out of anger.’

But the problem was that her senior hadn’t died, and while she had acted like that for only a day back then, recently Stardust had been continuously behaving this way.

There was no reason for it; she had been fine even after my retirement, but suddenly she began acting like this recently.

‘What happened?’

As I pondered this alone, I soon shook my head and thought.

Right. What can I do by mulling over it alone? I should ask someone close to Stardust.

With that thought, I took out my cell phone and dialed a number.

“Hey, Seol-ah. What are you doing?”

***

Yoo Seong Group’s Chairman, Lee Seol-ah.

…I visited her office and greeted her, who was staring blankly at one of the mountain of papers piled up on her desk.

“Hey, Lee Seol-ah. What are you doing?”

“…Ah. Da-in!”

She lifted her head as if she had been waiting for me and replied with a bright smile. Then, she signed one of the papers and threw it behind her, standing up from her seat.

“Haha. Did you come?”

“Yeah… but you seem a bit busy?”

“Ah. Ahahaha. That’s right. Life isn’t easy, is it?”

Smiling, she replied to me and then plopped down on the small sofa in front of the visitor’s table in the middle of the office, leaning toward the armrest as if lying down.

“…Are you alright?”

“Ahaha. I’m fine, except for being a little busy… Well, no. Actually, I’m very busy and pissed off because of some jerks… But other than that, I’m fine.”

Laughing like that, Yiseola didn’t look alright to anyone.

Even though she was smiling and talking, she looked almost crazed.

Especially now, she had discarded her usual suit and tie somewhere and was lying on the sofa in a dress shirt, laughing softly, an image far from a typical corporate executive.

She must be going through a tough time these days…

Leaving her behind, I turned my head toward the TV that was on alone in the spacious office.

Her voice was coming from there.

On the screen, Yiseola was giving a speech on a podium in front of hundreds of people dressed in suits and reporters.

[“Our Yuseong Group will do our best to cooperate in protecting South Korea’s economy, national security, politics, diplomacy, and peace in Northeast Asia, and for this purpose, we announce our first three-year economic growth plan…”]

Below Yiseola, who was speaking like that, the headline read, “[Breaking News] Yuseong Group, De Facto Intervention in Domestic Affairs Officialized?”

“What’s this? Are you just going to reveal that you’ve taken over South Korea now?”

In response to my question, Yiseola, who was lying on the sofa with her legs on the armrest and playing with ice crystals in her hand, answered.

From noble mtl dot com

“Ahaha. Yes. It seems like it’s getting harder to hide anymore. There are also connections with other countries. Anyway, the media and public opinion are on my side, so it doesn’t matter.”

“But you didn’t touch this news agency? They’re openly talking about your interference in domestic affairs.”

At my question, Yiseola replied with a lazy smile and a languid voice.

“Ah, that was also my order. If I choke them too much, the opposition could explode, so it’s less awkward to have a place like that. Anyway, they’re all on my side, so I’ll gradually make them turn to me.”

“Ah…”

“I have to slowly let them know who the real owner of this country is.”

“`…So you had a plan all along, Seol Ah?”

As I nodded, I suddenly felt uneasy and covered my mouth with a handkerchief from my pocket.

“Cough, cough.”

I felt the bitter taste of blood in my mouth and spat it out onto the handkerchief.

Phew, it’s a good thing I had a handkerchief to throw up blood. I overdid it last time when I became S-class in the Temple of the Sun God.

And that scene…

“…..”

Half-sitting up on the sofa, Lee Seol Ah looked at me with a serious expression on her face.

Feeling embarrassed about that scene, I tried to change the subject.

“Ah, it’s nothing. Anyway, the reason I’m here… It’s about Stardust.”

Her complexion grew even darker as I mentioned Stardust.

Sensing that something was going on, I opened my mouth.

“…You’ve seemed a bit off lately. What’s going on?”

She sighed, avoiding my gaze.

Lee Seol Ah sighed again as she saw the bloodstained handkerchief still in my hand.

“Sigh… Anyway, are you really okay, Da In?”

“I told you, I’m fine.”

“Look me in the eye and tell me the truth. Are you terminally ill, Da In?”

“…What are you talking about?”

After a long argument over my health, she finally realized that I wasn’t terminally ill and sighed.

“…As for Stardust… Sigh… I don’t know either. Let Mr. Egoistic take a look at it later.”

“…Alright.”

I nodded as I looked at Seol Ah, who had lain back down on the sofa, covering her eyes with her arm, and spoke with a troubled expression.

I’ll see her again soon, anyway. I should be able to figure it out then.

After exchanging a few more words with Seol Ah, I left.

“And don’t be surprised when some strange guy shows up in Seoul next week.”

“Yes… Yes? Who is this strange guy? It’s not another calamity-level thing, is it?”

“It is.”

I gave her a friendly warning before leaving.”

“Isn’t it better to know and get hit than to be hit without knowing?

…Or was it the opposite? Anyway.

***

After Ego-Stick left.

“Sigh…”

Sitting back in her seat, Lee Seol-Ah fell silent and lost in thought.

In fact, she knew the current condition of Stardust.

…She thought it was because Ego-Stick was on borrowed time.

But the reason she couldn’t reassure Stardust was…

‘Isn’t this really life-threatening…?’

From the beginning, she had no confidence.

In fact, she had even coughed up blood today.

However, she said it wasn’t terminal, so…

‘When the two meet in person, their relationship will probably progress.’

Looking at the sky outside, Lee Seol-Ah murmured and sank into thought.

…Until she remembered that she still had a lot of work to do and realized that she wouldn’t be able to sleep for even two hours today.

***

Anyway, I came back that night.

After sinking into thought about what to do next.

‘Right. I still have time before the next event, so let’s rest and think about it after taking a break until the day after tomorrow.’

I made a decision and went to sleep.

The next day, when I woke up feeling a sense of weight.

“Are you up?”

“Ugh…”

Seo Ja-Young was sitting on my stomach, staring intently at me.

…It seemed she had come into my bed during the night, which wasn’t surprising.

“…Hmm. Seo Ja-Young, why?”

“Nothing special.”

After saying that, she looked at me with her purple eyes and said,

“Let’s play together today.”