Chapter 343: Shocking Truth

Chapter 343: Shocking Truth

It's dusk and the sun is slowly setting.

A man with dark circles waves from the restaurant.

"Hey, Stardus. Over here."

"...Kim Ja-hyun."

Kim Ja-hyun, Shadow Walker.

A plainclothes woman with blonde hair walked into the room he was in.

Her name was Shin Haru and her hero name was Stardus.

Early at night, the two heroes met for the first time in a long time at a bar.

"Where's Seola?"

"Oh. She couldn't make it."

"...Well, okay."

Shin Haru replied casually, taking a seat, and Shadow Walker shook his head, but accepted.

Today's meeting was organized by Stardus.

Shadow Walker had only come at Stardus' request to catch up with him.

"But really, it's been a while."

"I know."

Shin Haru nodded at Shadow Walker's words.

They were both heroes, but their paths had crossed quite rarely.

For one thing, Shadow Walker is invulnerable at night, so he's only active after dark, while Stardus is almost exclusively active during the day and rests at night.

Shadow Walker, in particular, sleeps during the day, so their encounters were even less frequent.

"Anyway, I heard you're getting married, so congratulations."

Shadow Walker was grateful for Stardus' simple congratulations.

His face was tired, with dark circles, but a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"Let's get you something to eat."

And with that, they ordered food.

Shadow Walker, Kim Ja-hyun, glanced at Stardus' face.

'...You look fine, don't you?'

His attention was on Stardus' condition.

He had been secretly worried that Stardus' condition seemed to be unstable when he heard the news and people from the Association lately, but she looked better than he thought.

'...But why did you ask to meet after so long?'

Was there something troubling her?

Shadow Walker thought to himself quietly.

He had agreed to meet with her today for one reason.

He'd heard that Stardus had been going through a lot lately, and he wanted to talk to her about whatever was bothering her, to help her heal.

Perhaps that's why she called him.

...Actually, his guess was spot on.

It's just that the problem is relationship counseling...

Yeah. Stardus was thinking to herself.

If he's getting married, he might be able to give her some advice from a man's perspective.

How to, um, get back together with Egostic...

Anyway, after such a long time, they caught up.

"So, it's been a bit of a rough time overseas lately..."

"Uh, the number of villains keeps increasing, and the number of heroes is decreasing. The head of the association said that the Korean association is upset. They want to borrow us."

"...Really?"

"Yep. Honestly, with our power, we're pretty strong now. I know I shouldn't say this, but I still play a bit at night. You're an S-class, so it goes without saying. Aren't you at the top of the World Hero Rankings now?"

"Ah...So what happened?"

"Nothing much. We can barely defend Korea, let alone go anywhere. Honestly, we haven't had another A-class hero since our generation."

"Hmph..."

Talking about world affairs.

"Hmm. ...My love story? I don't know why you're curious about that, but um. How did Sook-hee and I meet...?"

Shadow Walker's love life.

...He didn't know why Stardus, who had never been interested in such things, would suddenly be so curious, but Shadow Walker explained it anyway.

How, on his way back from a nighttime raid, he'd met a woman on the roof of his company who was smoking a cigarette while leaning over the railing.

Shadow Walker's girlfriend was a regular late-night worker at the company.

Out of spontaneous curiosity, he talked to her and listened to her whine about the stresses of her job without paying much attention to his hero status... From then on, whenever there was a terrorist attack in the area, he would always go to that rooftop, and she would always be there...

It's a long story, but it's a story nonetheless.

As they ate, Stardus listened intently as Shadow Walker went on at length.

...occasionally asking questions about how his girlfriend approached him, or something like that.

Anyway, the conversation went on like that.

Finally, at Stardus' prompting.

"Oh, yeah, and that S-class villain, Egostic, retired, right?"

The topic naturally turned to Egostic.

Oops.

'......'

Sipping her drink, Stardus silently thought to herself.

...So now she's gotten the conversation going about Egostic, she'll tell him that he doesn't seem as bad as he thought, and if his reaction is positive, she'll confess that she's interested in him, ask for his advice, and...

Her canned response, having painted such a big picture, is.

"Uh... Egostic."

Shadow Walker's sigh at the mention of the word, and her mouth fell open for a moment.

"Egostic. That's right, S-class villain. He was your arch nemesis, wasn't he?"

"...Uh."

And with that, she sliced the steak with her knife.

Shadow Walker spoke quietly, in a matter-of-fact, truthful tone.

"He's on a time limit."

"....."

The moment he spoke the words, Stardus' hand holding the goblet remained still.

Shadow Walker, looking down at his stake, didn't notice.

"Honestly, I don't know what you'll think, but I don't think Egostic is a bad guy. ...I can't say much more than that, as it's a man's duty, but it's a shame. It's a shame, I guess he's nearing the end of his life this time. Haha...Why does the heavens always take people like this...?"

After saying that, Shadow Walker raised his head with a sigh.

"Hmm...?"

He looked at Stardus, who remained still, and frowned.

...Come on, shouldn't Stardus, who's been with him for years, have noticed it already? Even I, who's only known him for a few days, noticed it right away.

...Convinced of the truth of his own conjecture, Shadow Walker rather wondered at Stardus for not noticing that Egostic was dying.

Well. Some things can only be recognized from a distance, and I suppose there's some resentment involved. Still, Stardus is known for her coldness toward villains in this world, if not more.

Maybe she doesn't like the idea of him disappearing without his capture.

As Shadow Walker pondered such idle thoughts, Stardus stared at him with blank eyes and unable to hide the tremor in her voice, she asked.

"What do you mean...?"

"Huh?"

"Deadline...Egostic?"

Stardus asked with a pale face.

Shadow Walker, who had covered his face with his hands and was once again in his own world, thinking of Egostic, who was nowhere to be seen.

"What do you mean...Stardus, don't you know, he coughs up blood every day."

"...Wait... Ah."

Stardus' gaze went blank, as if realizing something.

Without rationale, logic, or anything else, Shadow Walker began to speak, completely absorbed.

"The darkness... It must be hard for him to be so active when he's dying. He may be a villain, Stardus, but when I think of all he's done for the world with that body, I weep. I'm in tears."

"No... No, no, no, that can't be..."

"I can't even tell you why, but... He said it was a secret. Alas... What a noble sacrifice."

Stardus was beginning to panic, unaware that tears were welling up in her eyes.

Shadow Walker muttered the words in a gravelly voice.

There was literally no basis, no logic, no reasoning behind what he was saying. It was literally just his speculation.

But there was something deeply appealing about the way he spoke, his voice tinged with bitterness and sadness as he spoke of the fact that, with all that triviality, the only thing that mattered was the fact that Egostic was dying.

It was enough that even if he heard it next to him, he'd think to himself, "What, I'm dead?" for a moment.

"Anyway... I guess what I'm trying to say is that Egostic retired because he didn't have long to live... Wait. Stardus...?"

Shadow Walker looked up with a sigh, and only then did it dawn on him that Stardus was in a strange state.

"No...that can't be... that can't be... Ah... Aah..."

She sobbed silently.

Leaning forward slightly, she looks down, trembling slightly.

"Stardus...?"

"What have I done, what have I done... Ah..."

And with that, Stardus burst into tears.

"Hmph!"

Kwaaahhhh.

And then, almost smashing the desk, she jumped up, sobbing, and took off running through the window.

"....?"

Shadow Walker was left alone.

Blinking, he finished chewing the steak in his mouth.

Then, just in time, a call came in from Lee Seola.

"Hello."

[Hello. Uh, it's Kim Ja-hyun. How did it go? Are you still seeing her?]

"Um, no... Shin Haru left first."

[Oh yeah? So, how did it go? Did you listen to her troubles and give her a mental boost?]

"Um..."

At her question, Shadow Walker thought back to Stardus, who had smashed the window while crying, and had flown away.

In a quiet, calm voice, he told her.

"Well, I think we're screwed."

[...huh?]

***

Ever since Stardus had heard of Egostic condition from Shadow Walker three months had passed and in all that time, Egostic has never been seen.