The Unseen Interrogation
After the invisible psychological warfare, the questions continued exactly as planned. The core topic was, as expected, not the fabricated past he had created, but the life she had actually lived. Of course, she had already touched on that once before, so he was probably just trying to confirm it again. In a way, that was the part they were most curious about. From the looks of it, they had already finished their background check, so the identity of a girl with no records at all must have been a complete mystery to them. If the previous session had only skimmed the surface, this time he clearly intended to conduct a thorough interrogation disguised as an investigation. But no matter how hard he pressed, nothing useful would come of it. She simply repeated that her memories of the past were hazy, like they were shrouded in fog. And that wasn't entirely a lie. After all, she had no past as "Kim Seoa" to begin with—only the memories of "Kim Seojun" existed, and even those were fading. She parroted the same story about being dragged around by strangers as a child, while simultaneously using her Transform skill to adjust her body's rhythms in real time. Heart rate, body temperature, blood pressure, pulse—every physical reaction that could betray a lie was perfectly controlled. Back when she was an ordinary human, she never could have attempted something like this, but now that she understood the human body down to its smallest details, it was child's play.
She wondered if she was overdoing it, but this too had been Ulthar's advice. Just before coming here, the cat had appeared briefly and left her with a meaningful warning: don't focus all your attention on the person in front of you. Always remember that another pair of eyes might be watching. At first, she hadn't understood what he meant. But the moment she entered the room and glanced around, she began to grasp it. The small room was arranged with a round table and chairs at the center, surrounded by piles of miscellaneous objects. Hidden among those objects were "them"—cameras cleverly concealed and all pointed directly at the table. One inside a box with a small hole, another tucked at the top of a pole, and several more in positions that would be nearly impossible to spot with a casual glance. Without her enhanced vision, she never would have noticed them. The man across from her acted like he knew nothing about the surveillance, but Ulthar's words had been right—someone else was definitely watching. And whatever their intentions were, they couldn't be good for her. Considering the unbelievable technology she had seen here, they might very well be able to detect whether she was lying.
When her answers failed to satisfy him, he pressed her several times with a frustrated expression. Each time, she pretended to think hard before shaking her head, deliberately wearing down his patience. After repeating the same vague responses for a while longer, he finally gave up and stopped asking about her past. The next questions were simply a routine check of the fabricated personal information he had created, confirming there were no inconsistencies. He asked if there was anything she wanted to change or correct, but she shook her head. The "orphan" setting bothered her a little, but what did it matter now that she had become this unidentified monster? Come to think of it, the human Kim Seojun had also lost both parents and had no relatives to contact. Even if he went missing, no one would bother looking for him. There had been a few people he knew from his porter work, but they were all too busy surviving day to day to care about someone they weren't particularly close to. They would probably just assume he had moved to another region. The thought suddenly made her feel depressed. At its root, the problem lay in how she had built her relationships, but the reality that no one would notice or care if she disappeared overnight was still a bitter pill to swallow.
She tried to hide the painful emotion, but she couldn't completely stop it from showing on her face. Ironically, that very expression affected the man across from her. The lively girl from moments ago had suddenly become downcast, and he couldn't help but worry. No matter how flexibly he tried to steer the conversation, this was fundamentally an interrogation meant to extract information, so the mental fatigue must have been severe. In the end, Yuhan decided to end the session earlier than planned. She had been lost in thought and was slightly startled by his sudden action, but inwardly she felt a deep sense of relief. After all, from the perspective of someone being questioned about a past she had to hide, there was zero desire to stay here once the original purpose had been achieved.
Having stumbled upon this unexpected stroke of luck, she stood up while remaining conscious of the cameras still watching the room. She thought about the presence observing from beyond them. She didn't need to wonder who had installed all those surveillance cameras. The man she had spoken with directly was the manager who had brought her here. It was unlikely he would have set up cameras inside the room himself, so by process of elimination, the culprit was naturally that woman. Since this place was part of the research department, the probability that the woman managing all its facilities was responsible was objectively very high. Last time, she had carelessly exposed information about her... but she wouldn't make that mistake again. With that resolve in mind, she followed the staff member waiting outside the door.
—
"Pulse, blood pressure, and even micro-muscle movements show no abnormalities. All body rhythms within the monitored categories are normal."
"So you're saying the things that child just said weren't lies?"
"...Based on the observed data, the possibility of her lying is extremely low."
In a room filled with darkness, the staff member seated in front of the monitor answered the superior's question in a mechanical voice. The woman standing apart from the other staff, staring at the large screen ahead, clicked her tongue in disappointment. Dressed in a white lab coat, she had a somewhat decadent air about her—it was none other than Jeong Ha-yeon, the head of the research team. Ha-yeon gazed at the girl on the screen, her expression tinged with regret that her prediction had been off. The sharp, cat-like child with gray hair that no Korean would naturally possess. On appearance alone, she was unusual, but not particularly noteworthy. While rare, there were indeed cases among Awakeners where their appearance changed. The real issue was the girl's unknown past and her abilities that defied common sense. "Hmm. I thought this would be the chance to find some clue about her past. Maybe I was being too sensitive..." Ha-yeon thought to herself, sinking into deep contemplation.
Right after being rescued, the girl had claimed she couldn't remember her past clearly—only that she had been dragged around by strangers, and that she had woken up inside the dungeon where she was found. But the moment Ha-yeon met her face-to-face, her instincts had told her the child might have been lying. That hunch had come largely from her natural researcher's intuition. No matter how she looked at it, the girl didn't seem like someone whose memories were truly hazy. There was a sharp, rational glint in her eyes that made it hard to imagine she was someone with unclear recollections. Combined with the suspicious points she had noticed during their conversation, Ha-yeon had internally concluded that the girl was lying. Yet the results from the precision instruments now made that certainty feel ambiguous. A mysterious girl with no identity, as if she had suddenly sprung from the ground, possessing power close to immortality. The vivid memory of the analysis returning "interpretation failed" was still fresh in her mind. The girl beyond the screen was shrouded in many veils—a true embodiment of the unknown. Whether this Irregular would ultimately be a boon or a bane to them remained to be seen.
"That said, the child is quite bold. To propose a deal in that kind of environment, right in front of a stranger... Honestly, I was surprised."
"Huhu... Indeed. Aside from being oddly cute, she's far more mature than her age would suggest. On the other hand, that unpleasant manager has never sat well with me since the beginning."
At the staff member's quiet mutter, Ha-yeon frowned slightly as she spoke. She never would have imagined the girl would use the previous experiment as leverage to propose a deal in that situation. It felt like she had glimpsed another side of the child she hadn't known existed. She had worried the girl might reveal everything that happened that day to the man, but fortunately, she didn't seem inclined to do so. For Ha-yeon, it was best to keep the events of that day as hidden as possible. A girl with immortal power—if even a hint of that spread to the public, it would cause no small stir. On top of that, the girl was a minor with no proper guardian. Whether for research or for power, countless hands would reach for her; that much was obvious without deep thought. It would be far better for them to "protect" her instead—while simultaneously advancing their stalled research on non-human entities. After all, it was clear that the abnormal awakening in the test subject had been triggered by the girl. Furthermore, judging from the girl's attitude earlier, she likely had some understanding of her own powers.
Ha-yeon, lost in thought once more, was roused by another staff member nearby.
"Then why did you assign the interrogation to that man? Why go through the trouble of involving an outsider when Dr. J could have done it directly?"
"That's right, that's right. The smartphone you gave the child was personally modified by you, Team Leader. If you like her that much, I don't understand why you went out of your way to use this roundabout method."
"!!!......"
Hit with the sudden barrage of questions, Ha-yeon hid her troubled expression behind a cough. Their words weren't wrong. In fact, they were an undeniable truth. She could have handled the matter herself without any issue. So why had she gone through the trouble of calling in that man's manager? Because she still wasn't ready to face the girl directly. While she was wary of the child, she had caused that incident just a week ago... Even a researcher like her, who sometimes got a little too obsessed with her work, still felt a basic sense of guilt. She had confidently assured the girl with the anxious eyes that everything would be safe, only for things to turn out that way. Even now, she resented her past self for it. Of course, it had allowed her to glimpse a hint of the power dwelling within the girl, but the shock the child must have felt was probably immense. She could easily imagine what kind of reaction the girl would have if they met now. That was why she hadn't shown herself in front of the girl even once over the past week. From what she had observed so far, the girl didn't seem to have developed any psychological trauma from the incident, but appearing now might still stir up unpleasant memories. Even if it hadn't been intentional, this too was part of the responsibility she had to bear as the one who led the experiment. Staring at the screen, Ha-yeon let out a deep sigh. For now, staying out of sight would be much better for the girl as well.