I Became The Villain The Hero Is Obsessed With

397 – Encounter with the Stars

On the day Egoistic warned that there would be the god’s declaration of ruin.

The Hero Association of South Korea had been on emergency alert all day long.

“…I’m already sick and tired of this.”

In the Hero Association’s control center, where only a select few were gathered, the head of the association sitting in the middle sighed those words.

And behind him were the head’s closest aides, the A-rank hero Shadow Walker, and…

“…”

Of course, the only current S-rank hero in South Korea.

Stardust stood there with a stern expression.

And so, next to the monitors displaying scenes from cities across South Korea through CCTV, the head repeatedly sighed.

“Ah… what is all this in my old age. Instead of enjoying my longevity as the head, my hair is falling out more each day…”

[Head. Egoistic said it would start soon, so could you please be quiet?]

“Look at this. I’m even getting scolded by a kid young enough to be my granddaughter now. Oh my! You should die when you get old.”

[…]

At those words, Iselle on the monitor beside the head fell silent as if astonished.

As she had to coordinate the national-level response after the apocalyptic prophecy as the president, she was participating remotely from her office rather than the control tower.

Anyway, as the head and Iselle chatted…

Leaning against the wall behind them, Stardust was alone, quietly lost in thought.

‘…Is what Egoistic warned about coming soon.’

The god’s omen that would be the final climax.

…God, huh.

“No… the sun god… But the sun means daytime… I hate daytime…”

Hearing Shadow Walker mumbling sadly to himself beside her,

Stardust quietly prepared for what was to come.

And then.

[Greetings, humans.]

All of a sudden, without any warning.

The voice of god roared loudly in their minds.

“Ugh…!”

“Guh…”

“Uh…”

Along with that, one by one, people in the association grasped their heads painfully.

[Agh!]

[Urgh…]

At the same time, the screens in the control tower showed citizens across the country collapsing while clutching their heads as well.

Of course.

“….”

For some reason, it had barely any effect on Stardust.

Other than a slight tingling in her head, strangely, she was the only one who was not significantly impacted.

In fact, unbeknownst to her, with her nearly complete stellar powers, she was barely affected by the sun’s influence.

[Owww… Mr. Egoistic didn’t say anything about this…]

“Hmm… Is that all?”

Ah, while Iselle on screen had already foamed at the mouth and collapsed, Shadow Walker and some others were enduring relatively well.

Still, as everyone writhed in pain… Stardust listened seriously as the guy calling himself god spoke.

[In my absence… You have grown… Terribly.]

And as expected, his words were the same as Egoistic’s prior warning.

That he was god, and would destroy this world in about half a year.

So in what felt like hours to the listeners…

[…Death is all you humans deserve.]

He concluded his prophecy.

“Ha… Ha.”

Then came the sounds of catching their breath from all around.

…While they already knew the contents here, hearing it directly still brought tremendous shock.

The intimidation and overwhelming power shown by this so-called Sun God… made it impossible not to acknowledge him as the real deal.

“Ugh… My head.”

“Oww… I see. I knew what he was going to say, but hearing it directly like this… This is true horror.”

“Ughhhhh… Tell me about it. It’s like we’re ants standing before a human.”

As the people in the association gradually collected themselves…

Stardust, with a stern expression, woke them from their stupor and opened her mouth.

“Now. We don’t have time. First declare a state of emergency and…”

It was then.

Zing

Here is the English translation:

“Ugh…”

In that moment, Stardust staggered as her head rang, grasping the wall with her hand.

“…? Stardust, are you okay?”

“…It’s nothing. Just a brief dizzy spell… Ah.”

As Stardust struggled to respond…

Suddenly, her head rang again.

And after that last time.

Stagger-

“Stardust, Stardust! Hang in there for a sec…!”

With the association head’s flustered voice fading into the distance her last memory.

As if being sucked away somewhere,

she lost consciousness.

***

And so back to the present.

Flash.

Stardust opened her eyes in an unfamiliar space.

“…Ugh. Where is this?”

As she got up with a frown.

What she saw was…

“…Huh?”

An endless expanse of empty white space.

With the floor and sky all white, as Stardust opened her eyes wide to grasp the situation.

“…Oh.”

She noticed a woman approaching her from the side.

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Just as she tried to get a good look at who it was, a melodic, beautiful voice came from the woman ahead.

“…Hello. My child.”

With shining golden hair swaying behind her like Stardust’s own, dressed in ancient Greek style flowing white robes.

She held a thin shawl-like cloth wrapped over her shoulders and bosom, giving off an mystically beautiful aura like a work of art…

Yet at the same time, she seemed fragile and frail, as if she could shatter at any moment.

“…Who are you?”

Seeing her appearance, Stardust cautiously spoke.

While clearly their first meeting, the mystical woman before her felt familiar, as if they’d met many times before.

The woman smiled gently at the wary Stardust.

Soon, with a compassionate smile, she opened her mouth in a warm voice.

“…I am the one who granted you your power.”

“I was once known as the Stellar Goddess.”

“…Goddess?”

“Yes. My daughter, Haru… it will be a long story.”

To Stardust, still not understanding the situation.

The self-proclaimed Stellar Goddess smiled again, then with a wave of her hand created a white chair and bench before her.

“Now. Sit. …I will explain everything you wish to know.”

With those warm words…

– Don’t worry about reality. Time flows differently here.

Hearing the Stellar Goddess’ addition…

…While completely unsure where this was or what was happening, for some reason Stardust could not refuse this golden-haired woman’s words.

…And her intuition screamed this woman was trustworthy.

Plus some inexplicable warmth she felt…

Unconsciously as if entranced, Stardust sat down.

The Stellar Goddess then sat across from her at the round table she created.

More beautiful than any woman Stardust had seen, yet with a strange resemblance to herself, Stardust shyly avoided her gaze.

Noticing this, the Goddess smiled kindly at Stardust, then with another wave produced drinks on the table.

“Ohoho. Have some and relax as you listen.”

“…Ah, yes. Thank you…?”

Feeling strangely bashful, Stardust carefully took a sip of the orange juice in the glass before her.

…Mango juice.

Her favorite.

‘…Sweet.’

As the refreshing flavor filled her mouth…

Stardust, who had felt somewhat stunned, was able to clear her head a bit.

In the meantime…

The Stellar Goddess smiled affectionately at her, then began speaking.

“Now… let’s start from the beginning.”

“Once again, I am the Stellar Goddess, one of the three gods who once existed in this world. My name is Sīsdus.”

“Sīsdus…?”

“Yes. That is the name you vaguely remembered from our first meeting, which you used for your hero name. Though you tweaked it a little.”

With a playful smile, the Stellar Goddess saw Stardust’s confused expression and nodded, continuing her story.

“Yes. This isn’t our first encounter. When you were young… on the day you lost your parents, I came to find you.”

“And then. I chose you, Haru, and granted you the last of my power.”

“…Haru.”

With those words.

The Stellar Goddess Sīsdus quietly said to Stardust.

“You are the one I chose. The only savior able to stop the Sun God from destroying this world.”

“…What?”

Seeing Stardust’s wide-eyed surprise,

The Stellar Goddess smiled gently and said,

“Now, I will tell you all the secrets. Listen well…”

And so,

the Stellar Goddess’ long tale began.