I Became The Villain The Hero Is Obsessed With

421 – The Story of Those Left Behind

The war was over.

The sun god, who had declared the extinction of humanity, finally transformed into light and vanished, and the procession of archangels that had darkened the sky evaporated naturally.

A victory for humanity, having fought and ultimately defeated the gods.

Thus,

Peace finally visited the Earth.

All the angels disappeared, and perhaps as a consequence of the death of the sun god who had bestowed powers, the supernatural abilities of heroes and villains alike began to gradually weaken.

The world was, bit by bit, returning to normalcy.

…Of course,

That did not mean the world immediately erupted into a festive atmosphere.

With numerous cities having crumbled due to the war with the angels, and numerous sacrifices having been made,

Everyone had witnessed the war against the sun god.

Because everyone around the world had watched, while huddled in shelters, the heroes who fought to save humanity.

…One of them, who had saved humanity, met a certain end.

[…Ha, ha. Mr. Stardus…]

[No… please… why… why, uh, no…]

The land had become a desolate twilight.

There, a woman, sobbing, clung to a man.

…And the man, who had sacrificed his own body to defeat the god.

Egoistic, the villain from South Korea who led the vanguard in the war against the sun god.

…Through the camera still hovering in the sky.

Soon after he sacrificed himself to save the world, and at the moment of his last breath.

Everyone saw him, another hero who fought against the god, turn into black ash in Stardus’s arms and be carried away by the wind.

So, the war was over.

…Naturally, at the end of a war, a hero is born.

It’s more effective to make a dead person a hero than a living one.

Egoistic, his real name, Dain,

Would be remembered by everyone in the world as a figure who sacrificed himself for the world.

Following that, after the world had stabilized and recovered somewhat,

The mourning procession for him was, to put it simply, tumultuous.

[…Following the happy news, we have sad news. During the battle with the god, Egoistic, the S-class villain of our country who led the battle, representing Cathedral, and fought for the world until the end, has died. Our broadcast will continue with a special feature on Egoistic, who, although a villain, never produced any casualties and, with the support of all, saved the country and, in the end, the world before departing…]

[Next news. The International Hero Association has posthumously named Egoistic an S-class hero. The International Association stated, ‘When his life and heroic end are remembered, there is absolutely no reason to not call him a hero,’ and, ‘Even though Egoistic was a villain, he was more heroic than anyone. The association will forever remember him as a hero.’ explaining the reason for bestowing him with the title of hero.]

[Thus, he, who was jokingly called a hero among the masses, in death finally came to be called a hero…]

Besides,

Everyone who had a relationship with him, and everyone who knew him, expressed condolences.

Japan’s representative Katana, China’s representative Li Xiaofeng, Atlantic’s leader Atlas, Germany’s villain Heikin, France’s villain Isabelle, Korean Hero Association Chairman Park Junho, A-class hero Shadow Walker, all heroes affiliated with the Yu Sung Group PMC… Especially some individuals, upon hearing news of his death, reportedly could not believe it and wept.

…Especially.

*

[Don’t be ridiculous x14]

[Is this a dream? x15]

[If you’re just going to follow and die, lol x5]

[Just pissed off so I opened soju, f**k. Is this even real?]

[F**k, bring him back, you crazy bastards. No, really, this is nuts, what is this for, why the f**k, our mango was finally going to live happily and you kill him, really f**k, sh*tty world]

[If you think the world ending is better than Mango dying, lol x11 f**k]

[Really, was there no one who felt choked the moment Egoistic fell? Just everything went dark.]

[Don’t be ridiculous, our Mango can’t die like that, surely he’ll resurrect like Jesus within 3 days, f**k, surely that’ll happen.]

[F**k, do something you’re not supposed to do at the funeral home, surprise everyone with a resurrection, do it now.]

*

The communities, such as fan cafes, that ardently supported and followed Egoistic, were, to put it simply, in chaos.

Posts were being uploaded at a rate of hundreds per few seconds, making it impossible to function normally.

Most of those posts either did not believe in Egoistic’s death, condemned the world, or spoke of a way to resurrect him in a situation where normal conversation was impossible.

In that situation,

…Gradually, people began to realize something strange.

Upon reflection,

Those who were closest to Egoistic in life,

The members of the villain alliance Ego Stream that he formed,

The hero Stardus, who watched his last moments,

Celeste, who was the leader of the Cathedral he belonged to,

And even Lee Seolah, the president of the Yu Sung Group, who collaborated with the countermeasure headquarters.

…All of them had disappeared.

And although people didn’t know,

All of them were gathered in the living room of Egoistic’s large mansion.

“Really, don’t be ridiculous!! What is this!!!”

Choi Sehee, with tear-filled eyes, shaking Stardus by the collar.

And while she was doing that, Stardus was only silently shedding tears, with a blank expression.

After the incident.

…All of them, without knowing why, had gathered in Egoistic’s home.

“Ha ha… it’s a lie, right? Isn’t it? Dain dying, it doesn’t make sense…”

Seo Jaiyong, who always wore an inscrutable expression, was now murmuring with dead eyes, slumped on the sofa, her head hanging down.

“What do we do…uh. Mr. Death Knight… he’s gone too…”

“What, Eunwol, what? Mr. Death Knight?”

“Yes… maybe because he was contracted with Dain oppa and was released from the ring’s seal, uhh… when oppa died, he was sealed, sealed again… uhh.”

“…Ah.”

Eunwol, holding the ring with trembling hands and sobbing, and Lee Hayul, looking at her blankly.

…Well, Death Knight being sealed again meant Dain was truly dead with no chance of revival.

“It can’t be… Dain…”

Even Lee Soobin, who always led them calmly, had long since lost her senses and collapsed.

“…It’s my fault, sniff… it’s my fault. Oh, ahh…”

And beside her, Celeste was also murmuring incoherently, biting her nails and red-eyed.

And at the kitchen table, Lee Seolah was silently drinking her several bottles of wine, brought from who knows where.

…And the spirit looked at them, all collapsed like dolls with their strings

cut, with an awkward expression.

Indeed, all were destroyed, like dolls whose strings had been cut.

…Actually, they weren’t aware,

But all of them had been significantly dependent, both mentally and emotionally, on Egoistic.

Essentially, Egoistic had been the one to redeem and gift them their lives.

A life without him, something they had never even imagined until now.

Therefore, the moment it was confirmed that Egoistic was truly dead without even leaving a corpse,

…All of them crumbled.

To the point where they lost any more meaning in life.

And in that moment when they were like that,

“…Everyone, what, what are you doing right now!!!”

There was one who yelled at them.

With white medium-length hair and eyes red like the others, but still clearly standing on her own two feet, yelling at everyone.

Han Sooeun.

…Even if her voice was tearful, she started speaking firmly to everyone.

“…If you cry like this, will it work? Will, sniff, the dead oppa… come back…?!”

“If so, what should we…”

“We have to look for it! A way to bring oppa back!! Oppa surely… prepared for this situation and left something… Have any of you ever been to oppa’s room?”

So saying, and wiping the corner of her eye with the sleeve of her hoodie,

Han Sooeun, with a determined expression, shouted to everyone.

“First, let’s search through Oppa’s room.”

“……”

Thus,

Minutes later, they were gathered in Dain’s room.

Not much time passed before they truly found something.

“Look! I found something here!!!”

“Is, is that true?”

And that was,

…A record that Dain had kept a while ago, containing knowledge of the original work he knew.

Created so that those left behind could save the world after his death.

It was the Ego Stream Emergency Response Manual, which was set to unseal after Egoistic’s death.

“…! Look at it now!!”

And they quickly gathered around the desk, starting to flip through the diary.

In this way, they were able to see quite a lot of information,

but most of it was a story written in preparation for when Egoistic himself died during the main story.

How the rest should proceed if Egoistic died during the Moonlight Sect Leader battle, how the remaining people should act if he died during the prison break…

It was a manual created with consideration, so that those left behind could live on even in a world without him.

…And they were not particularly interested in that right now.

The final Sun God battle was already over, after all.

From the start, they were not interested in a world without him.

As they quickly flipped through the pages,

…Finally, they found something.

“…Found it! Unnie, I found it…!!”

“What? Really…?!!”

[How to Resurrect the Dead.]

Yes.

The manual did contain information on how to bring the dead back to life.

The sentence written in Egoistic’s handwriting.

Reading those words and filled with hope, they immediately began to read the page with trembling hands.

…Then,

they noticed something strange.

[First. How to Resurrect Stardus.]

[If Stardus is dead, it means the story has completely deviated from the main stream. Stardus is the hero who will save this world, so she must be saved at all costs. The method to save her is as follows. First. Stardus, being a devotee of the Star God, her physical body would have perished upon death. In this case, a wave would occur in the timeline…]

[Second. How to Resurrect the Moonlight Priestess Baek Eunwol.]

[If Baek Eunwol is dead, her soul is likely with the Moon God, only her physical body has perished. However, if you want to resurrect her, a magic circle capable of communicating with the Moon God is required. The first material needed is a substance called moonstone…]

[Third. How to Resurrect Celeste.]

[Celeste, being a devotee of the Sun God, there must surely be a way to save her. I’m not exactly sure of the detailed method, but the following three methods are likely. Firstly, using the Sun God’s relics…]

Exactly.

The methods of resurrecting the dead were only stories about Stardus, Baek Eunwol, and Celeste, the three special cases who were devotees of gods.

And nowhere was there a story about Egoistic himself.

…With that, feeling a palpitation of unease, they hurriedly flipped through the pages.

There, at the very end,

…Finally, the story they desired appeared.

Unlike before,

From noble mtl dot com

As if Egoistic was speaking in front of them,

In a colloquial style.

*

[Extra.]

[In the case of my death.]

[Hmm… Reading this book itself probably means I’m dead, right? hahahaha.]

[I don’t know how I ended up dead, but well. I hope it was a death worth something? I hope so. Anyway, I’ll tell you.]

[First… I have to talk about the afterlife. Souls exist in this world. So, accordingly, there is an afterlife. Right. A place where the souls of the dead gather is real. And this afterlife is managed by the god of space, the Moon God.]

[However… the problem is, this afterlife itself was built a very long time ago by the three gods working together, so entering or managing it might be impossible. As far as I know, the Moon God only takes responsibility and has let go of the details. Especially, even if you manage to enter the afterlife, all the souls of everyone who has died so far are gathered in one place, so finding a specific soul would be harder than finding a single grain of sand on a beach.]

[…And, I may have mentioned this. I’m someone from another world, so I don’t even know if my soul is in the afterlife of this world. hahahaha.]

[So… you understand, right.]

[Bringing me back is impossible.]

[So, forget about me and live new lives. You all have that strength. Lean on each other, understand? I believe in the strength you have.]

[…Of course, it would be better if you never read this. hahahaha.]

[Take care. …Understand? After defeating the Sun God, burn this book and live your own lives. That’s what I wish for. Can you grant my wish? I’ll be believing.]

[Then… Hmm. Goodbye.]

*

“…Ah.”

Thus, after the writing of Egoistic ended,

…Heavy silence just lingered in the room.

Only then did they realize.

That bringing Egoistic back was impossible.

At that moment, when overwhelming despair hit everyone.

“…No.”

In front of the desk,

…A quiet, moist voice was heard.

“We can do it.”

“…Soeun?”

“Here, sniff. Oppa said it here too, didn’t he? That there is an afterlife. If we go there, the soul is there. So… so…”

Gritting her teeth,

In front of the desk,

Han Soeun, who clenched her fist, spoke with red eyes, in front of everyone who was despairing, with sincere words.

“No matter how many years, or decades pass… even if hundreds of years flow by. If we find Oppa’s soul. Even if the soul has gone to another world, then we just have to go to that other world and bring Oppa back…”

Bam.

With that said, and hitting the desk in front of her,

Soon, looking at everyone, with teary eyes, she declared.

“We can find him again. Oppa.”

It was,

A statement filled with certainty.