I Became The Villain The Hero Is Obsessed With
chapter-424

Chapter 424: If we could meet again

The Underworld….where the sky remains pitch-black, with only one small star shining lonely beside the moon.

…Stardus continued to walk there with an emotionless expression.

Around her, the other transparent spirits continued to sit languidly.

Walking the paths of the great canyon, not even glancing at them, Stardus followed her intuition, wandering the Underworld again today.

It had been a long time since she had arrived here, a long, long time.

She couldn’t even remember how long she’d been here now.

‘…Ugh. Stardus…I’m sorry, please, please find Da-in…’

A long time ago even the members of the Egostream who had accompanied her for some time but were not godlike like her, eventually reached their physical limits and left.

Since then, Stardus has wandered the Underworld alone, searching for one person, and one person only.

“…….”

Da-in, the man she cherished above all others, the man who possessed the power of the stars like herself.

Thus, Stardus, who had gained the ability to detect those with the power of the stars, continued to follow her intuition today. She was wandering the Underworld in the direction she sensed a soul with star power.

Of course. Every time, she arrived with hope.

‘Hmph…? Child, who are you?’

It’s just that she didn’t meet the people she expected.

These spirits, the most complete form of themselves before death, have distinct characteristics that set them apart from humans.

Aside from their transparent bodies….they are here without all of their desires, unlike when they lived on earth.

As such, most of the spirits simply stood or sat on the ground with a languid expression, having forgotten all desire.

No pain, no resentment, just looking peaceful.

The few that were active were only occasionally engaged in conversation with the soul next to them. Most remained seated or standing, unmoving, except in the rarest of cases.

And there were times when she paled at the sight, wondering what if Da-in was like that, too, and didn’t want to go back.

…For now, it was all pointless worry.

In the first place finding Egostic seemed like a long shot.

It had been a long time.

In that time, she had encountered so many different stellar powers.

There were thousands and thousands of them, in this vast netherworld. One after another, each separated by ridiculous distances, over and over again.

They were all different personalities.

Most were the children of Star God who loved humans.

Most of them were good heroes who saved humanity in their lifetime.

‘…Hmph, you’re looking for me, child? It’s been a while since I’ve seen a child of the stars like you.’

That’s how she met them.

At first, Stardus was disappointed that they weren’t an Egostic and quickly flew on to her next target.

…After a hundred, some of the spirits of the stars, seeing her weary expression, spoke to her first and most of them would speak with her.

“So…You want to find your loved one. I hope you do. You’ll find them.’

She hadn’t found Egostic in all these years, despite their cheerfulness.

No matter where she went, wherever she felt the power of the stars, he was not there.

She had even met someone who wasn’t Egostic, but still recognized her face.

‘…You.’

A Western man with blond hair, like most children of the stars, was lying there, surrounded by people, his head propped up by his arms, he’d muttered that when he’d seen Stardus.

Stardus recognized him.

…Ex Machina.

Another savior from the same generation as her, the one she’d seen on the news, the one with the power to turn back time.

‘You failed, too. …No. You’re alive, thank God….This world survived, didn’t it?’

‘…Yes. It is. That’s good. I’m glad.’

Upon meeting her, he, unlike other spirits, was unusually curious about the affairs of the real world.

…While she was wondering at the familiar face she had seen for the first time in all her travels through this vast world, Ex Machina turned to her and asked dryly.

“By the look on your face…You’re looking for someone, aren’t you?’

Stardus nodded and said, “Yes.”

‘I’m looking for a man named Egostic.’

And somehow, he seemed to know him, either because he was of the same generation, or because he knew more than she did.

At that, Stardus asked him.

…He is, in fact, from another world.

Do you think that makes him different from other souls?

Ex Machina nodded, a sad smile on his face.

…I don’t know but being a soul from another world, I don’t think it will be easy. Still, I will support you.

With that, Stardus nodded and took to the skies again.

And, she thought quietly.

‘…Just like that.’

The last soul with the power of the stars that she felt in this world was Ex Machina.

So far, she has found all the star spirits she has felt in this world but Egostic wasn’t among them.

“…..”

She didn’t believe it at first so she kept looking and kept coming back to the spirits with the power of the stars but still, there were only the same people she’d always seen.

Egostic was nowhere to be seen.

“…Ah.”

In the middle of the Underworld, amongst the countless souls, with dead eyes, alone and silent, she muttered.

“Now… What now?”

That’s when she realized it.

In the peaceful afterlife…for her alone, hell began.

From then on, she no longer flew through the skies, searching.

She continued to walk without stopping, scouring the Underworld for the faces of the nearby souls, one by one,

Though she failed to find Egostic among those with stellar souls, as she had first planned…she did not feel him, but believed he was out there somewhere in this world.

For countless years, she wandered the netherworlds, searching for Egostic.

Along the way, she’s encountered some of the very villains she’s defeated.

[….? Wait, there! That’s you! That’s Stardus!]

She even encountered Death Knight.

Dressed in black knight armor, he stood beside a beautiful middle-aged woman.

…When Stardus approached, surprised to see her, he chuckled and said, “I’m back here again.”

He was back here again, with his wife.

And yet….he said, with a wistful look.

[…I’m back here, and you’re here looking for someone. Egostic, it means he is dead.]

[I’m already out of contract, so I don’t know his status, so I won’t be much help… but… cheer up, I’ll ask the spirits around here as well.]

[…hmm. I can’t feel his spirit here. Yeah… still. He might not know.]

[If he knew, I’m sure he’d leave a message for you to find him, that’s the kind of person he is, so keep looking with hope.]

After that conversation, they parted ways, but she continued to look for him.

…Not surprisingly, he was nowhere to be found.

The Underworld still stretched out before her.

Death Knight, too, was nowhere to be found.

“……”

Somewhere in the Valley of the Dead, she was still wandering around today, as well.

She had no sense of time.

Years had passed already, or perhaps decades. In her soul state, she could not even sense the concept of time.

However, she reached her limit.

“…Ugh.”

The woman who was walking expressionlessly today suddenly burst into tears.

“…Nothing.”

Nothing. Nothing.

Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing.

“…Nothing. Hmph. Hmph…”

With those words, she slumped to the floor, her knees buckling.

…Her spirit, too, had finally reached its limit.

She had realized it before, but only now did she admit it.

Egostick has no place here.

…No. I can feel it, though. Now that she’s ascended to Godhood, she can sense all the whereabouts of stellar power. Beyond reality and the afterlife, there’s a faint starlight she has yet to find.

But I do not know if his soul is hidden, or if he has passed on to another world.

What was certain was that he was not in this world, including the real one.

Here, his aura could not be felt.

“…I should go back.”

I should go back.

With the hopeless realization that he was nowhere in this world she contemplated giving up.

Should I give up?

She thought, silently, that she should.

Now that she realized there really was no hope.

Now that she realized there was no him here.

But

If I go back, what will I find?

“….”

Stardus lifted her head and gazed out into the pitch-black night sky.

In the beginning life had been meaningful because of Egostic.

What was the point of going back to a world without him?

Maybe she should just stay here, forever.

Idly, Stardus thought to herself.

‘…Stardus.’

Somehow the words that Egostic had once said seemed to echo in her ears.

‘You can do it.’

‘Clench your fists, strengthen your legs, fly up there and save people. You can do it, because that’s who you are.’

“…Ha ha.”

The words that Egostic had said to her when she was about to give up, during the plane attack.

Those words, perhaps, were the beginning of everything that led to their relationship.

“…Yeah. I won’t give up now.”

Just like that….Shin Haru, who had been on the verge of collapsing at any moment, steadied herself, wiped away her tears, and stood up.

If Egostic is not here I’ll find him, even if it means chasing him to another world.

As she thought that, she looked up at the black night sky.

“…Huh?”

It was then that she realized something.

In the black night sky of the Underworld a large moon was shining and next to it….there was a small, faint star shining.

“…A star.”

A star. Why is it there?

Until then, she had only thought that star was cheering her on. She had never thought deeply about that point.

But now.

‘…If that moon means the moon god, the one who created this other world in another dimension.’

What could that star mean?

A small star. Another dimension.

The dimension where Egostic came from.

What happened to his soul then?

If it’s not here, it must have gone to another world.

But, according to Egostic, those from other worlds can’t go back.

“…But, surely.”

The souls of this world must have been made to come here automatically after the death of their bodies.

Then, the soul of Egostic, too.

…Surely, after his death, he would have tried to go to the world he was born in.

But what if it didn’t?

What if it never reached the destination it was meant to reach, but stayed somewhere else?

“…..!”

As Stardus thought that far, she realized something.

She’d been thinking wrong all along.

The Egostic she knew…had always, always, always reached out to her first, in her most desperate moments.

Then surely, even now, if he knew she was doing this he would have reached out to her first. The last thing he wanted was to see her in pain.

“…Ah.”

And so, only then did she realize that the little star she had seen since she first came to this world….had been shining faintly at her the whole time.

As if to say, “Come this way.” Small but clear, it was guiding her from above.

“…Ahhhh.”

Looking at the scene Stardus smiled for the first time since he arrived here.

Tears welled up in her eyes, and she sped up into the sky.

Hope was in sight.

Guided by a faint star, she traversed all of space, stopping in various dimensional shards that were connected to the Underworld until she reached a certain space.

“…Hah.”

Somewhere beyond the broken dimensional wall, there was a gap in the warped dimension.

There, she landed on the ground, straightening her windblown blonde hair.

Beneath a light blue sky shattered like broken glass, was a small field of golden wheat fluttered in the wind and at the end of it.

“…..”

…a man.

He stood with his back to her, looking out at the blue sky.

“….”

…Stardus walked towards him, silently.

Because….if she walked any faster, she felt like she couldn’t hold back the emotions that were rising.

When she arrived behind him, he looked back at her and smiled.

“…Welcome.”

He looked at her with the kind smile he always gave her.

Seeing him like that she swallowed back the sobs that were rising and smiled brightly.

“Yes.”

“…Haha. I see, it took you long enough. It looks like you had a hard time.”

As he said that Stardus took another step forward to the person she had been looking for.

With a single tear in her eye, she smiled and took his hand.

“Yes… It’s been a long time, I mean, I mean…”

“Let’s go back now. Home.”

At those words….Da-in looked at her, smiled quietly, and nodded.

With that the world was engulfed in light.