In a nation where every day is rife with all sorts of incidents and accidents.
In the latter part of the story, as chaos unfolds with the emergence of deific beings and the threat of Earth’s destruction that not even America’s multitude of S-class beings can halt, it is none other than our Stardust who steps up to prevent the apocalypse.
I might have gotten a bit wordy, but in essence, what I’m saying is that Stardust must endure hardships and power up to prevent Earth’s impending doom.
And now, it’s my job to administer those hardships.
Compared to the unpredictable troubles caused by various civilian casualties and other unaccounted-for villains, wouldn’t it be better for Stardust to face a well-structured hardship curriculum meticulously tailored by me? Anyway, it’s bound to be better.
And the first part of my hardship gift set is stopping a charging train.
Yes, it might be tough. Tough indeed, but our Stardust will persevere. Stardust, fight on!!
At that moment, Stardust collided with the train.
Kwaang— An enormous roar that could be heard all the way here.
[Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!]
…And audible amidst the roar was Ms. Subin’s scream.
I’m sorry, Ms. Subin. Just hang in there a little longer…
With my mouth agape, I watched the scene unfold.
The dust clouds billowed about, but the train kept on its course, albeit certainty slowing down.
Someone must be resisting it at the front.
With a screeching noise, the train, which had been slowing down, finally came to a halt just before the five tied-up people. Done! It stopped! Phew. I let out a sigh of relief when no one was looking.
But wait, Stardust must be alright, right? I clenched my fist, hoping she had withstood the impact. She must have. My Stardust wouldn’t fall from something like this. Yes, she must have pulled through.
I could feel my saliva going down with a gulp. An unprecedented situation. Slowly, the dust began to clear.
A surge of anxiety started to creep in again. What if she’s dead? Oh, that can’t happen.
A moment of dread.
Then, as the dust cloud fully dispersed…
Emerging from within was the figure of Stardust, standing firm.
I unclenched my fist and blurted out without realizing,
“Yes!!!… I mean, Oh! Oh… Oh! She withstood it. She really did. Wow, to overcome this. Yes. Though, it wasn’t quite what I had planned… Yes. Well, she found her own way out of this dilemma. Hmm. Yes.”
[Why are you shouting ‘Yes’? Hahaha]
[It seems like you are the happiest person to see Stardust in good shape.]
[Mangostick, this guy who named the villain after Stardust, turned out to be the biggest fan of her hahahaha]
[‘Yes! I mean,’ blah blah blah hahaha]
[EgoStick is so adorable.]
[But how did Stardust withstand that? How the hell?]
[For real, wasn’t that speed like 140km/h? How could anyone handle that?]
[It’s not just anyone; it’s a ‘hero.’]
[Stardust! Stardust! Stardust! Stardust! Stardust! Stardust! Stardust! Stardust! Stardust! Stardust! Stardust! Stardust!]
[When I grow up, I’m gonna be Stardust! When I grow up, I’m gonna be Stardust! When I grow up, I’m gonna be Stardust!]
[These guys were criticizing Stardust and now they flip the script haha]
[Seriously, even if Stardust had pulled the lever or not, she would have been criticized, but to pull through like this hahaha]
[Critics of Stardust, show yourselves!]
[Is it for real that EgoStick managed yet again to avoid any casualties? EgoStick is a legend…]
[Petitioning the association right now to appoint EgoStick as an A-class hero immediately, goddamn.]
The chat reactions were very positive.
Yes, this is it! Stardust deserves this kind of recognition!
I felt as though I could breathe freely again. Good, good. Although it seems like more people might suck up to me because of another incident with zero casualties… yes, for our Stardust, this level of sacrifice is bearable.
Engrossed in my own emotions, I saw Stardust collapsing in the distance. Uh-oh.
Immediately, I moved toward Stardust.
Collapsed and lying on the ground, Stardust was covered in dust, barely opening her eyes and panting as if she could lose consciousness any second.
“You… you….”
With a dying voice, Stardust called out to me.
Feeling considerable guilt for making her suffer, even though it was needed, I crouched beside her and spoke up.
“That’s right, Stardust. You did well. You found a way I could never have imagined. To save everyone in such a manner, I never expected that. Victory is yours. I shall leave now, so rest well. Other heroes will soon arrive.”
I softly spoke to her and closed her eyes with my hand.
Initially trying to resist, she soon gave in and completely lost strength. As her eyes closed, she finally succ*mbed to exhaustion and fell asleep. It must have been hard.
I stood up, brushing off my knees, and bid farewell to the camera.
“Alright, this concludes my terror campaign. To everyone who tuned in, thank you.”
After settling Subin, who seems to have fainted in the engine room, I’ll make my way home.
After delivering the sign-off, I turned off the camera.
As the broadcast ended, so did the chat.
[What’s with the atmosphere between those two?]
That was the last message in the chat.
And that night, the dating rumors between EgoStick and Stardust exploded.
Is this… Korea?
✧˚·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥·̩̩̥͙✧·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥˚·̩̩̥͙✧ 𝑔𝓇𝒶𝓋𝒾𝓉𝓎𝓃𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁𝓈 ✧˚·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥·̩̩̥͙✧·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥˚·̩̩̥͙✧
