I Became The Villain The Hero Is Obsessed With

Chapter 296: Relationship Counseling

~Back in time~

In Busan, after Egostic tricked Stardus and escaped with Ariel.

“Egostic….!”

After a few days of rage, Stardus regained her composure and thought.

“Ha…”

‘…Yeah, don’t get mad, it was probably something he had to do anyway.‘

She didn’t want to get caught in that situation.

Still, to have lied to her like that… It made her sick to her stomach, but there was a bigger problem than that.

There was another woman around him.

‘…I, I don’t mind being second!’

“Ha…”

That’s what she said.

Well, for now, she wants to continue.

Actually, she kind of guessed it, but it was quite a shock to hear it in person. She’s sure the other women who stay with him have similar thoughts, and he’s… living in a house with them.

“…….”

For some reason, the thought made her stomach churn even more.

…Of course, it’s not because she’s in love with him! It’s because having women around him, well, gives him less time to focus on her. Yeah, it’s like that…

“…Ha.”

…That aside, the thought of Egostic holding hands and giggling like she did with another woman made one side of her chest throb, but she managed to push the thought away.

“…..”

That evening after returning home from work, Stardus sat at her desk, propped up by her arms, and sighed.

…Actually, her main concern was that she couldn’t do anything about it, even though he was doing it. Especially since they should be working together to figure out what to do with him, and she’s stuck here alone…

“…”

After the Moonlight Gate Incident, after she had fully realized that he was a villain, but not a bad guy, she no longer had any reservations about approaching him subconsciously…but… The problem is, she doesn’t know what to do. After all, she’s the hero and he’s the villain…

With a sigh, she reached for her mouse and turned on the laptop in front of her. To clear her head a bit….There’s no point in stressing herself out by thinking about this, huh.

As she idly scrolled through the internet portal, she paused slightly when she saw a news article with her face on it.

[[Feature] Stardus, the greatest S-class hero in Korean history, about her]

Curious to see what it had to say, she clicked on it.

Beneath a picture of her standing there, looking off into the distance, the article spoke of her accomplishments as Stardus and the words of praise for her.

…And, in truth, she had grown quite accustomed to such excessive praise by now, thanks to her long residency in the Egostic Fancafe, so she scrolled down quickly.

One sentence in particular caught her eye.

[Stardus is probably just worrying about herself and her country. Even as you read this, she, the hero, is probably only thinking about how she can save them.]

“….”

…So far, she’s been thinking more about how she can move her relationship with Egostic forward…She felt her conscience pricked a bit as she thought about how to move their relationship forward, but after thinking about it, she decided that since Egostic was a villain, thinking about him was a form of protecting the country.

Quickly closing the article before it could sting any further, her attention was caught by another article with a different title.

It was an article with a picture of Icicle freezing the waves.

[A-List Hero Icicle Freezes the Sea, No One Expected Her to Do It!]

“Right, Seola…”

She muttered to herself and clicked on the article.

The article went on to say that Icicle had done quite a bit and seemed to have gotten quite strong, especially when she froze the entire ocean off the coast of Busan, so much so that she was nicknamed the South Sea Ice Girl by netizens…

Reading the article, Shin Haru smiled quietly, unlike when she read her own article. Her friend’s growth was a joy to her but then she remembered.

“…..”

Suddenly, she remembered a scene, and her face stiffened.

…To be precise, the image of Seola smiling at Egostic in Busan the other day, her arms outstretched and holding his hand.

Even though she hadn’t meant to, she had secretly felt like she had something with him…

For Stardus, it was quite unnerving.

And then, a thought crossed her mind.

“…Right.”

She had been worried about Egostream earlier, and now that she thought about it, she had a friend to share her worries with.

Lee Seola, her oldest, best friend, and fellow hero.

So…shouldn’t she be able to talk to her about her own worries about wanting to be closer to the Egostream?

…And.

There was one more reason to ask her.

‘…Let’s make sure Seola knows this once and for all.’

With that calm expression, Stardus thought quietly.

‘Egostic.’

It’s mine.

“…Uh, Seola, are you available? Yeah, can I talk to you for a second?”

***

Then back to the present.

“I. I want to get to know you better. What do you think?”

~Inside the café~

Listening to her friend Haru, who had come to visit her after a long time, speak so calmly while holding a cup of coffee, Lee Seola had all sorts of thoughts in her mind.

First, she realized that Stardus was charging at her, contrary to the words of Egostic, who had said he was keeping his distance.

The second was.

‘…But for Haru to talk to me so openly…’

…Oh, no, no, no…?

Even as she silenced those thoughts in her mind, Lee Seola nudged Haru as if she didn’t know anything.

“By the way, Haru, isn’t Egostic a villain…? I don’t understand what you mean by wanting to be friends with him…”

Having said that, Lee Seola was a bit expectant. Perhaps Stardus would deny something here, or show some sort of embarrassment at what she had said.

However, that was not what she expected.

“Uh, the more I look at him, the more I realize that he’s not necessarily a bad person. I’d like to get to know him better.”

…Hearing the hero say that he wanted to get to know the S-class villain because he didn’t seem to be a bad person.

Lee Seola almost rolled her eyes.

‘…Mr. Da-in…!!!’

Stardus is completely off the brakes now, let alone the distance control…!

Lee Seola instinctively realized that this was a dangerous situation.

A situation in which Egostic seems to firmly believe that Stardus hates him but contrary to what he thought…Stardus had already fallen for him.

It was almost over, especially if she was going to say it out loud like that. It’s like she’s already telling her out loud that she likes Egostic. Though it seemed he hadn’t quite realized it yet.

“I mean…Seola, you’re my friend, can you help me get closer to him?”

And just as Seola was thinking about her answer she looked at Stardus, who had set her cup down and leaned her head close to hers.

She realized that she had a choice to make.

And at that moment.

“….”

The genius businesswoman’s mind began to spin.

The villainous alliance, Egostream, created by Egostic, and the countless women who were his associates.

It was obvious that most of them seemed to like him.

And they live in the same house with him, building a powerful cartel. Tightly knit.

She could tell by the way they’d been wary of her when she’d visited them in the past. Of course, they’ve gotten along better now, but…There was still a danger that they might band together. A full-blown antagonistic force, spending more time together than anyone else.

There was one variable, however, and that was the fact that he hadn’t shown much interest in any other woman except Stardus.

So

I’d rather work with Haru.

Since she’s close to Haru, they’ll work together.

Hero vs. villain, against the great evil force that is Egostream.

“…..”

…It was already an argument with many logical errors, accusing Egostream of being evil just for the simple reason that they spend a lot of time with Egostic, but Lee Seola did not notice until this point.

Of course, another option would have been to tell her, “I think Haru likes Da-in…!” but… No matter how she looked at it, it’s not good for a third party to come between them right now.

‘…Yeah.’

“Alright, Haru, I’ll think about it with you.”

“…Really?”

“Yes. You’re my friend.”

Lee Seola laughed quietly as she said that.

Yeah. Literally, though she doesn’t say it out loud, because her most important friend was Haru.

She decided to help Stardus.

… For your information, she knew that good things were shared with her friends.

‘…Maybe we should change the law.’

***

“….Hmm?”

I, who was working on researching Carqueas, shook my head at the ominous feeling I suddenly felt after a long time.

…What is this strange feeling?

I hope it’s not someone else plotting something shady.