Republic of Heroes
Table of Contents
Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Chapter 47 Chapter 48 Chapter 49 Chapter 50 Chapter 51 Chapter 52 Chapter 53 Chapter 54 Chapter 55 Chapter 56 Chapter 57 Chapter 58 Chapter 59 Chapter 60 Chapter 61 Chapter 62 Chapter 63 Chapter 64 Chapter 65 Chapter 66 Chapter 67 Chapter 68 Chapter 69 Chapter 70 Chapter 71 Chapter 72 Chapter 73 Chapter 74 Chapter 75 Chapter 76 Chapter 77 Chapter 78 Chapter 79 END ExtraChapter 28
In this grand stadium, no more than two hundred people have gathered for the performance by the famous popstar in Tokyo, Karen, who is now appearing on stage in her dress. The audience is cheering and screaming with joy, anticipating her song as the show begins.
With her microphone at hand and smiling pleasantly towards the public, she opens her mouth as music begins to play. The show begins, with lights shining brightly in the arena as fans swing their purple light sticks, some having their phones out to record or take photos of this whole ordeal as she dances wildly through her singing.
"The wind blew by my side,
While I was gazing into the city
For some reason, my heart yearns for love.
That I never knew before.
Love is a beautiful thing.
But it can be painful as well.
The world can be cruel sometimes.
And it will tear us apart.
I am just a mere human.
Not a goddess or a deity.
Even though I want to reach heaven,
My wings cannot carry me so far.
Despite it all, I will continue to fly.
For a chance to touch the stars.
Life may be hard sometimes,
But we must persevere and reach for the sky.
Love is a beautiful thing!"
Dancing across the stage with her microphone at hand, she grins widely with joyous energy, completely in sync with the flow of her song. The fans are shouting as they enthusiastically jump up and down. They scream even louder when the second part begins.
Deep down, as she continues her play of being their idol, Karen can't help but comment on how she is deserving to be worshiped like a princess, viewing these idiots as nothing more than ants beneath her feet. But even so, she kept that to herself and continued her charade of being friendly around them.
Karen continued to sing and swayed to the music, dancing gracefully and smoothly along with it as she twirled around, bouncing back with elegance. Every moment that she takes to perform makes the crowd wilder than before.
Her voice is beautiful and harmonious, like that of a true goddess. It is truly a gift from the gods above. However, not even a single ounce of her thoughts mattered to her, for what she desired wasn't simply fun but the popularity and fame of becoming a popstar, even going as far as deceiving others by making up personas at this stage.
Idiots—a lot of them are. They never deserved to be her equally, and she always enjoys having her fans below the stage; it's simply amazing for someone of her status to inspire them no matter what. Still, those fools will never understand how she only sees them as sheep waiting to be led to slaughter, delirious of how they had the chance to actually be her friends, let alone spouses.
As she was close to finishing up her performance, she finished singing her lines, stopping midway and taking a deep breath, glaring at the fans who still cheered and shouted for more as she prepared herself for her last words of her final song.
"Dream on! Dream on!" Karen pointed towards the masses and said, "I know that your dreams are as possible as mine!" Finishing the last line, she slowly bows to them while putting up a forced smile on her face. The people all around her applauded as her performance ended with the curtains closing before her.
Just when the curtains came down, she immediately dropped her friendly facade and shook her head in annoyance, rolling her eyes as she made her way backstage, the curtain hiding her from the public. Behind the stage, a couple of staff members rushed towards her and gave her compliments for her singing talent. As usual, she would ignore them and make her way through the hallway.
"Karen!" An old man wearing a fancy business suit called out to her, carrying her bag over his shoulders, "Good show you have done out there, my dear," handing it to her and having to take a moment to catch his breath, "but what the meet and greet with your fans?
Stopping in her tracks, she narrowed her eyes and asked, "What did you say? Her once-pleasant display quickly faded into irritation at being interrupted. Glaring dangerously at him for doing so, she clutched her hands into a fist as her teeth grinding with rage. "Meeting my fans? Seriously?!" Snorting at this notion like some sort of pig, he said, "If those low lifes had the audacity to even talk to me, the greatest idol of all Japan, I might as well slap them myself," walking away with angry stomps, heading towards the dressing room.
Disgusting. Even having the guts to ask such an absurd question like that makes her sick to the core, and she doesn't even know why the old man is still working under her service to begin with, knowing full well he could do better as a politician than an assistant manager or creep nonetheless.
"Wait, miss Karen!" The old man called out as he quickly caught up to her, following behind her in quick speed. "This is important for our brand after all," he stressed out, desperately trying to make her see the bigger picture at hand. "Image is everything; if your fans start losing trust in you and your company, then what do you think is going to happen afterwards?"
Tired of listening to him speak more nonsense, she slapped the man without thinking twice, leaving a red mark on his cheek. "Just shut up, alright!" She screamed, scowling in anger at her employee, "Listening to your constant complaining and stupidity makes me lose brain cells, idiot! Did your parents not teach you that? That no one cares or understands what the fuck you're babbling about, you old pervert! Huh? Can't even understand simple sh*t like this? Just fucking die already and disappear from this earth, bastard!" She scoffed in disgust as she finally arrived at her dressing room, slamming the door in his face.
She released a breath of relief, glad to finally be free of this hell, and relaxed her tense shoulders, trying to calm herself by meditating. Breathe in and out; relax. Breathe in and out. A few moments later, she was back to being her cheerful self with a smile on her face; this was no longer the real Karen that people knew; this was an act to hide.
"Just be happy, and everything will be fine," repeatedly said those words, convincing herself that this was reality itself and there was no problem. And with those last thoughts, she shook her head before deciding to leave the place altogether. "I just want to go home, she whispered, her whispers drowned out by the cheers of fans outside.
Exiting her room, she ignored the row of staff staring fearfully at her as she made her way to the back of the exit, meant for staff only. Leaving the building and then closing the door behind her, Karen looked up at the starry sky above, admiring its beauty.
Stretching her body like a bird, she said with a satisfied sigh, shaking off any negative energy that lingered within her, "I may not be able to turn invisible, but at least I can enjoy the sights around me," referring to the heavens above; enjoying the breeze of wind caressing her hair as she looked on in awe, "so pretty..."
However, her sight was short-lived when she looked around; she was in the same dirty and filthy alleyway at the back of this building, with trash and rats littering the ground. Karen frowned, not understanding why they hadn't even bothered cleaning this place to begin with.
"Dirty place," she remarked with disdain, clicking her tongue as she turned her gaze elsewhere. "Disgusting to always exit here after a long show," Karen thought, stepping over piles of scattered trash as she walked away in this alley, leaving this place entirely with thoughts still in her mind.
She's satisfied with getting back home already; the day she just had was utterly exhausting and annoying. If only she was rich enough to do so when her daily income wasn't being held hostage and stolen by those scammers she called manager in exchange for being their popstar.
Pieces of filth that they are, making her sign an illegal contract before the world knew of her true talents. Wasting all the hard work she put into her craft as a singer and making her one of their puppets without even telling her about it, making her into their puppet on strings—until now, this is the only skill she has.
Singing and dancing to entertain a bunch of creepy guys as her dedicated fans who wished nothing more than to be with her. Some went so far as to manage to have her phone number and send degenerate messages about how she looked so sexy in that video or pictures that she posted online or in magazines.
But sadly for them, that little mistake of doing that was her growing hatred against her own fans about this matter, and Karen made sure to do something about it. She couldn't just give them what they wanted and leave them hanging when they deserved punishment for committing heinous crimes by pissing her off.
"Hey!"
The sound of someone screaming in surprise jolted her from her train of thought, snapping her head over her shoulder and looking forward. The girl was in disbelief when she realized who it was. It was none other than her presumed fans.
He wore a hoodie and black cap with jeans and white sneakers, no doubt attempting to disguise themselves. Two additional guys also approached from behind with the same outfits but the same intentions as the first one. All of them are men who seem to be around the age of twenty-five.
For a moment, she almost snapped but refrained from doing so, knowing the risk of revealing her true self by being selfish and telling them to fuck off. No, instead, she stayed calm and remained silent, looking at them with a smile, wanting to know what they wanted.
"Guys! It's the idol!" The third fan recognized her, pointing his finger and saying, "Dude, I can't believe she's really here!" He exclaimed, feeling excited over what just happened. It was indeed the person he thought it was—the very one he admired.
Another one of the guys approached and said, "Karen!" He shouted in enthusiasm, "Do you remember me? We talked for a while a few months ago and exchanged numbers!" He asked with pleading eyes, begging for an answer as she stood frozen.
Who the hell do these idiots think they are? Making things up when she had never met them in her life, she said, "I'm sorry but..." She faked her cough, holding onto her skirt to avoid the temptation of revealing who she was in front of them: "I don't think we have met, nor do I remember anyone that is like you guys," bowing in respect as she excused herself.
One of them blocked her path from behind, standing directly in front of her, saying, "You're not going away," cautiously pulling out a revolver from his pockets. "Come with us in our truck or else I'll kill you here right now," he warned, while his other friends also pulled out their pistols at her too.
Under normal circumstances, a lone woman in a dangerous night while being threatened with being kidnapped is a nightmare for any girl. But she isn't normal, especially when the thought of being captured is nowhere in her mind; Karen was simply furious over how dare they try threatening her and, most importantly, treating her like an inferior piece of trash that cannot defend herself.
Turning around to the person blocking her path, she bared her teeth angrily as veins appeared on her forehead, clenching her fists while her once charming expression swiftly turned into one that was full of rage and disgust from this little respect she was getting.
"Just shut up, shut up! Shut up! Do any of you three have any idea who you are dealing with? What the hell is this? I don’t get it. Why do I have to go through this? I'm Karen, the most beautiful idol in all of Japan! Being the most important and magnificent creature in the world deserves the best treatment and praise, not this shitty crap that you just did! Look at me! I'm supposed to be their goddess that everyone looks up to, worshiped, pampered, and adored for what I've achieved so far in this cruel world! Instead, all I ever got were shits and giggles of having to be some stuck-up brat and then getting beaten up by them whenever they felt like it! So why? Why do people do this to me? Is this what it means to be treated like a lowlife? Unforgivable, truly unforgivable. Some do not understand the importance of greatness. Really, this is getting obnoxious, infuriating, irritating, and all-over unpleasant to deal with in general! The fact that they consider themselves high and mighty yet treat others like utter garbage is laughable! It makes me wonder if their brains had completely rotted as a result of their own shortcomings! And I have rights, you know! I'm special to everyone I meet; therefore, I deserve the best, especially to be treated the best! Is this even funny, huh? Because I don't need anyone, not even friends, family, or whatever it's called! The only people I trust are myself. I have the right to do whatever I want, and no one can stop me from achieving that! Is this the reason why you three started to rob me because of how I am the indisputably asserted, worthiest being alive!? Come on, is this even worth a reason? You want money from me, is that it? This is why I despise the creeps and perverts who keep coming at me! How stupid are you to try and make yourself a celebrity by abducting a real one? Even if any of you have the audacity to try kidnapping me, who the fuck do you think you are? Clearly, you are not worthy enough to have even dreamed of meeting me! You do realize that, right, you morons? Do you not know who the hell I am? I'm the one who gets to decide what to do to the likes of you who believe you are capable of capturing the one and only idol! What will happen if I am gone? My fans and reputation are ruined just because you decided to take my life for ransom and cash. What do you even plan on doing with this much money to the point that you go this far? Oh wait, this is because you're going to violate me, isn't it? Are you just lusting over my beautiful appearance to satisfy your own pathetic desires? Disgusting, gross, vile, and hideous men are capable of Being a one-night stand for cheap sluts just to please their manly instincts This is something that I will never forgive you for doing. Fucking perverted, twisted, and depraved bunch of beasts, all of them! Only using me as their sex toy as if I'm just their private whore, waiting to be used and thrown like garbage after using all my worthiness up! Their shameless lusts are something that no decent person could ever endure or survive; it's just wrong. But it's just like any desperate man, huh? All of them are the same, regardless of race, religion, gender, skin color, or sexuality; they all fall into the same category. Pathetic pigs, the lot of them... Disrespectful bastards such as yourselves aren't qualified to lay their hands on someone like me! If I were to die because of this, just because you decided to go ahead with such selfish action, Then I would rather commit suicide with my own hands than be violated by perverts like you! Of course, you won't kill me because you would end up hurting yourself in the process. Knowing that you would do such a thing as that is something that no one wants to happen after all, so you wouldn't dare hurt a hair on my head. There will be consequences. The amount of pain and suffering you'll receive afterward will be tremendous! Even worse, the only ones responsible for this outcome would be yourselves. Because even though the only ones you thought you saw were just us, all of them are watching in secret, and it's clear what they're planning! It's just like every other story. Menacing and horrid nightmares they just keep having—those fears will come true. You'll find yourself being hunted down and brutally murdered by everyone else. Especially those people who had trusted you before and that you thought had no choice but to stay beside them, no matter how much you hate or despise them. Having to spend the rest of eternity by their sides until they die. Or worse, maybe even longer than that. Everyone involved in this incident will have their hearts broken and suffer endlessly! Those who live in fear, despair, guilt, and anger will feel the same pain. They will also wish to die as soon as possible. Because this can't go on forever! Even the victims who died early due to unfortunate accidents would still wish for death while wishing to be born again into a different life, hopefully a better one than the last one. It will all be over in an instant. Until one day, when a new adventure awaits them all! Then I'll be the one to decide whether or not that's possible! However, I'm feeling generous today, so you three have the chance to leave peacefully! Leave and never come back! I'm as generous as it gets, so what do you think? If any of you are too ignorant to leave, then what happens to all of us is not my fault. Because this is what you deserve, and even though what I said before was just a lie, you still went ahead and attacked me nonetheless. Right now, everything that's happening is your own damn fault for refusing to listen to my advice. If anything, you should be grateful for the mercy that I showed, for I gave you all a second chance, something that no one has given before. If it were me, I would've easily killed you all instantly. Anyway, get lost already. Let's all end this chapter of our lives with no more deaths. Come on, wake up, and see the bigger picture! After all, the world needs someone like me for its survival! Because if someone like you was born, then it's best that all of humanity should die. It is disappointing to know that your kind would even dream of murdering me, a higher being. Remember how I am super important in this country—even more important than the country itself? So, in the name of protecting everyone from being a tyrant like me, leave, or else I'll make sure all of you regret even being born on this planet! And before you leave, don't ever laugh or tell anyone about this! If desperation got you three here for me, then it's better to just find someone else to mess with besides me since there are many other celebrities who aren't as famous as I am. It would also make things easier if all of you just forgot about your misfortune and found new goals in life rather than going after me again, because that wouldn't end well for all of us! Be smarter about it; honestly, I should probably just kill everyone if I wanted to, but I won't. Because why? I don't want blood in my hands or the police to hunt me down, especially since I have such an important career as an idol. Everything is fine; everything is fine; everything will be alright. I am sure no one here wants to get severely injured or die at my hands, right? If only all of you knew what the true meaning behind the word living was. None of you probably know what it means to live, as the three of you came here to attack and threaten me after all. Thinking about the concept of life is fucking stupid in general. Most people just focus on one thing, like their jobs or school, which is totally meaningless in the big picture of things. They barely even think about their own personal thoughts or feelings because all of them seem so insignificant to other humans. Some people believe that their own minds and thoughts are worthless, even when the only person who actually cares about them is their parents. But me? I'm the opposite; I know my worth goes beyond being just some singer in some popular idol band, despite what many people think. Because deep down inside, I feel like there is something special inside of me—something greater than just being famous, smart, or beautiful. Maybe I can bring joy and happiness to other people around me by changing their views of life forever. Or perhaps it could be possible to change humanity as a whole into a better person if I make a difference in society. Either way, I'm not going to let myself become victimized anymore. Never again... And no, it's not a fucking dream. Neither is it some crazy delusion nor the ramblings of a psychopath, either! Who cares if everyone thinks so poorly of me? I don't care anymore because all I ever want is to be appreciated, respected, and loved. By other people more than anything. Fuck all of you anyway; no one should impose on me whatever they are saying right now. It's their own opinion about themselves anyway. Only those who leave me alone should be deserving of life, while those who disrespect or mistreat me deserve nothing but to suffer greatly through death. And those who harm or abuse people in any way should also pay for their crimes equally in kind, regardless of how much sympathy they try to use or how many excuses they make after doing so. Even still, I'm not the judge or executioner, as much as I wanted to be. Although those who knew about my situation and did absolutely nothing to help out might as well be just as guilty as the others, Especially when they claim to care for someone only when it's convenient or profitable in whatever way imaginable. People like that deserve to be punished severely. It's true that I never liked my fans in the first place, but as idiots and pigs they are, all they want from me is to see my beautiful self up close, hug me, and kiss me on my feet without hesitating or having regrets afterwards. This is why I both hate and love my fans at the same time—my adoring fans that keep cheering for me, hoping to meet the idol named Karen herself one day or another. Those are the kinds of fans whom I am willing to cherish, protect, and adore, but not all of them share the same emotions as well, unfortunately. Unfortunately, many do not appreciate what they have until they lose it. They haven't learned that I'm still a person outside of my career! Can't all of you see that? Stop thinking of me as someone who does not matter! Because guess what? I'm Karen, the world's greatest idol and your greatest rival! Not some low-class street walker who would do anything to please pathetic men! This situation is probably a disgusting fantasy in itself: being threatened by three criminals in a dark alleyway, ready to rape a defenseless woman at anytime. These types of fantasies are things that girls from my generation can't possibly imagine. To them, such scenarios are horrifying and disgusting to hear about. It makes the world look ugly and corruptible. It makes it seem like there's no such thing as decency left in society, only devils disguised as humans walking among them, like insects hiding under a rock that nobody wants to find out about. Which is why I never talk about it. All because people like those perverted stalkers managed to get hold of my private cellphone number. You creeps must've gotten themselves into trouble when you heard my voice answering on the other end of the line. Well, sorry to say this, but I'm not some average bitch who's willing to follow whatever orders you give without question! Screw those disgusting pigs that managed to get their hands on my number and send those disgusting, dirty, and vulgar messages to my inbox every day! Seriously, I can't believe it took all three of you—"
Bang!
The bullet immediately froze at her back, nearly inches away from her flesh, as she turned around to the two men, angrier than before. "You...you tried to kill me? Her furious tone mixed with a hint of confusion in the atmosphere
One of the two guys dropped their gun on the ground, saying, "Wha—what the hell? He took a step back, seeing the bullet still frozen near her. No way, your posthuman!" His partner also took a step back, staring in terror and saying, "What the fuck, dude!"
"That's it!"
Karen wasted no time in telekinetically bringing the bullet down on the ground before manipulating gravity itself, throwing the two men with her mind: "I never wanted this! I never wanted to become an idol or be in this industry in the first place! When all I ever want to do in life is just be myself and not some cutesy and innocent doll that all those people out there expect me to be, All because I was born with those stupid powers, everyone kept calling me special! Everyone kept talking about how lucky I am! She kept rambling on while madly throwing them around like ragdolls.
"Stop it, you crazy bitch!" One of the two stalkers said, gritting his teeth.
"Why are you acting like you didn't do anything wrong?" Karen pointed accusingly at them, saying, "Because of all the bad attention that you gave me, all those comments online and in the media about me, what the hell does this have to do with me?"
Eventually, she dropped them down; their bones broke and blood dripped out from their wounds. Unconsciously lying on the ground with all those cuts and bruises across their faces, she said, "Be generous about how I'm not going to kill any of you! I don't want to deal with the consequences behind it! So learn this lesson, all of you: never screw around with someone like me! That's final!" She demanded, walking past the bodies and leaving the area.
Leaving the remaining kidnapper at his spot with his revolver still pointing at the back of Karen, who is currently walking away from the scene, he then asked to himself, "What have I gotten myself into?" He said this in a shaky voice, sweating profusely at the scene that played before his eyes.
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