BXBX NOVEL Chapter 43: The Talk of the Town
"Oh, the hero\'s name is Apple Mango? It\'s very affectionate."
"That\'s right. He\'s a person who\'s been heating up the Internet lately. Let\'s take a look."
Two women disappeared from TV, and another video soon was shown.
Someone must’ve secretly filmed it with a smartphone.
There, someone sitting on a tower of chairs was talking.
The voice from that guy in a yellow mask.
[Did you ask who I am? I\'m an S-class hero, Apple Mango.]
His words echoed in a haughty voice
The video was cut off there, and the two women came out again.
"Yes! Aha. Did he refer to himself as Apple Mango?"
"Yes, that\'s right. During the last Busan Signature Hotel terrorist attack, he oppressed the terrorists faster than any other heroes. After that, when three other heroes came, this was what he said."
"Yes, but I heard he said something weird afterwards."
"Oh, let\'s also listen to it."
The screen changes again.
It\'s the same as before. It continued the yellow-masked man’s words.
[But aren\'t you all A-class heroes? The difference between a senior and a junior is like heaven and earth, so use honorifics when everyone talks to me.]
"Yes, it\'s very uh… impressive. What does he mean, ‘use honorifics’?"
"That\'s right. As many people see, you can see that the heroes are a little lost in his sudden remarks. After that, he continued his strange behaviors."
[I ate, drank, and went to a sauna with your president!]
"Hehe… Is this true?"
"It\'s likely not true. Since then, he has left suddenly, giving a variety of strange remarks and unexpected advice to his junior heroes."
"Yes, it\'s such an odd thing. Is that why he\'s now the center of attention?"
"Of course it\'s not just this. There are many reasons, let\'s take a look."
Bigger numbers on the screen.
There was a big text in the caption.
[Self-proclaimed S-class hero, Apple Mango. Actually, he\'s the villain Egostic?]
"Oh, what is this about?"
"Literally. The netizens found a lot of evidence that he, the one self-proclaimed as a hero, was actually Egostic. Let\'s take a look.”
The video comes out as the screen changes again.
The resolution is much worse than before. In a sneaking video, the terrorists were seen falling down by a sudden burst of gun shots.
"The first evidence is his telekinesis. Apple Mango showed guns floating in the air, which is perfectly similar to Egostic\'s ability. That\'s not all."
Another video. There was an image of Apple Mango, who disappeared from his seat in an instant after speaking.
"As you can see, he also used teleportation. This also perfectly matches with Egostic. Among them, the ability itself is extremely rare, and you can see that the ability of the two overlaps completely."
"Wow, that\'s what we call it these days. You cannot deny the fact, right?"
"That’s not the end. When we did the video analysis, Egostic and Apple Mango are almost identical in body shape as well. Let\'s listen to his voice."
"Yes, the first terrorist attack of Egostic. This is the voice of the ship terrorist attack."
[After listening to your speech, everyone suddenly became united. Hahahahahaha!]
"And this is the voice of Apple Mango."
[Villain? Me? Hahahahahaha!]
"What do you think?"
"They’re… exactly the same"
"Yes. Many people pointed out the similarity in their voices. They’ve been arguing that they were exactly the same!"
"At this point, we can be sure that Apple Mango is Egostic, right?"
"Yes, the association hasn\'t given us an official statement yet, but it\'s now established that Apple Mango is Egostic. Mangodan, Egostic\'s fan club, is excited that Egostic recognized their nickname, Mango."
"Mango Union… Apple mango. Isn\'t this enough to reveal who he really is?"
"That\'s right. So some people finally expressed their position as "a strong welcome" as Egostic abandoned villain cosplay and tried to transfer to a hero. The association even filed a petition to officially recognize the S-class hero Apple Mango.”
"I see. But it\'s hard to explain this popularity with just that. The second reason why Apple Mango is so hot! Let\'s find out together."
Once again on the screen, the big number 2.
The caption below is ‘Egostic and his relationship with the association, what is it?".
"The relationship between Egostic and Association… What does this mean?’.
"Literally. Apple Mango mentioned the name of the association president before he changed his name, so let\'s listen together."
[…Do you know this? The president\'s name is Park Junho, right? That\'s a new name. His original name is Park Makchun. Makchoon, you\'ve been whining all the time because you don\'t like your name, but you changed it secretly]
"This is very… new. There is an argument that the name of the president of the association has been changed. He changed his name from Park Makchun to Park Junho."
"The association denied it for now. He said that the name of the president of the association is a groundless rumor. Netizens don\'t believe it. It is true that the association is not commenting on just that position, and given the reactions of the heroes."
"It\'s fascinating. If that story is true, how does Apple Mango, or Egostic, know that?"
"That\'s a hot topic among netizens right now. In the first place, it is argued that the name of the president does not remain in the computerized information, so it is not a fact that can be known except for family and old friends in general."
"So how the hell does he know that? An old acquaintance of the real president of the association, or…?"
"So there are some conspiracy theories about this. In fact, EgoStic was really an S-class hero in the past, but it means that he has been at odds with the association since then and became a villain. It\'s a rumor that hasn\'t been confirmed at all, but… it\'s a pretty interesting story."
"In fact, this conspiracy theory explains that three A-class heroes missed Apple Mango, right? In fact, it can be interpreted that they let go because he\'s a senior."
"That\'s right. We\'ll find out about this later."
"Yes! I see. So what\'s the third story about the last apple mango?"
"Yes, this is the third story!"
the accompanying subtitles
[3. What is the ability of an Egostic?]
"It\'s about the ability of Egostic. What is this?"
"It\'s about what you showed me this time. So far, the association and experts have speculated that Egostic\'s telekinesis and teleportation are quite weak. It\'s also commonly known that dual-powered people are much weaker than single-powered people."
"But you mean he’s not?"
"That\'s right. The act of holding guns with his telekinesis that you showed me this time… This is a very difficult technique. Until now, it seemed like no one could do it with the ability that Egostic showed, but he did it this time. The same goes for teleportation."
"Oh, how did he stay in Busan when he was always active in Seoul?""
"That\'s right. At the moment of the terror attack, it suddenly appeared. Based on this, there is a story that he can actually teleport from Seoul to Busan."
"It\'s very interesting. Does that mean that Egostic has been hiding his power so far?"
"Maybe he is. Nothing has been confirmed yet, but Egostic. It doesn\'t seem to change that he will be the center of the conversation in Korea for a while.”
"Egostic. This is why attention is focused more on his future steps."
She just turned off the TV she was watching.
Press it hard.
The TV turned off when she pressed the remote control.
The empty black screen showed Shin Haru\'s face.
"….."
She looked very complicated on the TV screen.
Egostic. Egostic. That Egostic.
She lay tired on the sofa, pressing her eyes and acupressure.
A few days after the incident.
The incident at the hotel was already known throughout the countrywide.
And about Egostic.
"…."
In fact, she was already convinced that Apple Mango or something was Egostic.
No, she’s sure she noticed it before anyone else at all right? She\'s one of the few people that already saw Egostic in person.
As much as she was, her feelings were complicated.
As she continued the investigation into the recent events of Egostic, she didn\'t expect to see him again because of this incident.
Suspicions that have been around since last time
And until this time.
She had no choice but to admit it.
Recently, something has begun to spring up in her mind.
Egostic.
Is this guy really, really a villain?
So, can he be defined as a villain?