Welcome, California
The air in the room froze solid the moment Dohyun finished speaking.
The Director of the CIA. The Director of the FBI. The Director of Immigration.
Each occupied a unique position within the federal government, wielding power of a distinctly different flavor.
Politicians, every last one of them, in the end.
The rank-and-file agents and mid-level officers down below were a different story, but no one climbed to the director's chair without playing politics.
"I hear the CIA tried to secure evidence that I was Genocide back in Korea. There are even reports you were ordered to fabricate it — though surely, I trust, that can't be true. And the FBI, I'm told, attempted to pin Washington's string of serial murders on me. As for Immigration, apparently you were reviewing whether to revoke my Honor Visa card."
With every word out of Dohyun's mouth, the directors' faces drained whiter.
All of it was true.
Blatantly illegal conduct — and worse, they'd done it at the behest of Senator Parks, a man guilty of crimes against children. Their careers wouldn't end with a quiet dismissal; they could rot in prison for years.
And then—
"I understand your position completely. You all acted out of concern for America, after all."
"??"
The three men stared at Dohyun, dumbfounded.
"If you did what you did out of love for this country, I have no great desire to make an issue of it. Instead, there is something I need from you — for America's sake. Would you be willing to grant me this one request?"
"Anything! Just say the word!"
True politicians to the bone, all three grasped Dohyun's meaning instantly and scrambled to answer.
"First — give me access to the CIA's database."
The CIA Director hesitated, then nodded.
"I'll issue you a top-level ID for CREST — the CIA Records Search Tool."
Dohyun's eyes went cold.
"This is a favor for America's sake, and yet you don't seem to grasp my sincerity. I'm rather disappointed. Or is your devotion to this country only worth that much, Director?"
"Y-you mean access to Triton? But that's—"
CREST was the CIA's public database.
Triton, by contrast, held the agency's most classified intelligence — records even most insiders could never touch. Triple-encrypted, partitioned into sealed layers, hence the codename.
"You needn't grant me clearance to all three layers of security. Even you couldn't manage that, Director. Access to Layer A alone will suffice."
The CIA Director swallowed hard.
Handing an outsider like Dohyun clearance to Layer A was a gamble with his own neck.
But still—
"...Al-alright. I'll find a way to make it happen."
Inwardly, Dohyun rejoiced.
As for Layers B and C, I'll grind up my Psychic Hacking proficiency and crack them later.
The value of information went without saying.
Dohyun in particular was sorely lacking in concrete knowledge of America's inner workings, and now, in a single day, he'd seized hold of the CIA's intelligence apparatus itself.
"As for Immigration..."
"We hear you're headed to California! I'll personally contact the California immigration office and ensure you receive treatment befitting Kim's heroic achievements!"
"That won't be necessary. What I'd like instead — can you procure staff members to assist with my settlement? People of my choosing?"
"Of course! Just tell us who you want!"
"They wouldn't happen to be government employees of yours, though, would they? It may require you to flex a little muscle."
"W-we'll make it happen somehow!!"
"Her name is Nora Cecil."
"What an elegant name. It alone suggests she's eminently qualified to support Kim. Just tell me where she's from and—"
"I couldn't say where she is right now. Inquire with the Federal Bureau of Prisons and you'll find her without difficulty."
"...A Bureau of Prisons employee?"
The Immigration Director cocked his head. The BOP was, after all, the agency that managed inmates.
"Not quite. She's currently incarcerated."
Only then did the director realize why the name 'Nora Cecil' sounded so familiar.
"The Dollar Princess, Nora!"
The financial criminal who had toyed with Wall Street itself — sentenced to a staggering 572 years and serving her time as they spoke.
I need a capable workhorse.
There was so much to be done ahead. He needed someone to shoulder the endless drudgery for him.
And just how formidable Nora's talents were — after America's collapse, when countless gangster crews and cult followers had carved up the land, she had taken Armageddon, once a minor street gang, and built it into a cartel dominating more than half of the ruined nation.
"Director, see to it that you negotiate well with the Bureau of Prisons."
"I-I'll do my best."
Extracting someone sentenced to over five hundred years wouldn't be easy — but that was the Immigration Director's problem to solve.
Last came the FBI.
The FBI Director regarded Dohyun with an attitude unlike the others.
"I've done nothing wrong. Kim, it's true that you're Genocide, isn't it? And true that you're the man behind Washington's serial murders?"
The FBI hadn't pressed Dohyun on Senator Parks's orders in the first place.
They'd simply done their job. If anything, one could argue they'd only gotten saddled with someone else's filth by taking that call from Parks at all.
"Don't misunderstand. I know full well how devoted the FBI is to this country. So here is my request to the Bureau."
Dohyun's lips curled at the corners.
"Keep chasing me. Diligently. The harder the FBI works, the more my sincerity toward America will shine through. Ah — Roder, was it? That young man seemed remarkably dedicated. Assign him as my personal investigator. I'm counting on you."
He stayed in Washington a while longer.
The fame from what he'd accomplished there had yet to fade, so he fielded the flood of interview requests and worked to lay down a foundation of connections.
Honestly, it was a colossal nuisance — but important, and so he couldn't skip it.
Once Nora arrives, this kind of busywork will thin out considerably.
Dohyun found himself looking forward to meeting her.
He'd never crossed paths with her in person, but she'd been infamous enough.
A woman who rose to near-dominance of America during the chaos after the nation itself collapsed. Handling her won't be simple.
But keeping a notorious, dangerous predator on a leash and putting her to work — that was Dohyun's specialty.
Korea's villains all grew tiresome in the end. A fresh face should be a refreshing kind of fun.
Several more days slipped by, and just as he was wrapping up his business in Washington and preparing to head for California, an unexpected call came in.
"A donation, you say?"
"...I apologize for asking you this the moment we meet, Kim. There are many orphanages around Baltimore, near Washington, that are struggling terribly. Might you be willing to lend even a small helping hand?"
Dohyun folded his arms.
The culture here is different from Korea's.
In Korea, charity carried an unpleasant stigma, but in America and the broader West, society expected the wealthy to give back as a matter of course.
More than that, a huge portion of American society actually ran on donations. It wasn't just the rich — even ordinary middle-class families made giving a routine part of life, whatever they could afford.
"My donation will go to the orphans themselves, yes?"
"Yes. I promise."
Dohyun sensed no trace of any appetite in the man before him — which told him this one was genuinely upright.
He'd said it before: he didn't dislike people who lived those 'romantic' sorts of lives.
"Very well. I'll donate one million dollars to the orphans of Baltimore."
"O-one million dollars?"
The man was taken aback by the outrageous figure.
Well, pocket change, compared to what I'll be earning going forward.
"In return, one condition. Keep my donation out of the press."
"Why on earth...?"
The man asked, bewildered. People who gave large sums usually wanted their good deeds trumpeted far and wide.
"It's a personal principle of mine — children shouldn't be used for the convenience of adults."
The man's face filled with admiration.
"...Forgive me, but might I dare ask one more impossible favor?"
"What is it?"
"Would you consider visiting the orphanage in person...? So many of the children look up to Kim, the man who saved America, and dream of seeing him. Ah — ah! Just a passing thought, truly! Please don't feel any obligation whatsoever. I'm sorry for speaking out of turn!"
The man looked positively mortified for having raised it at all.
And then—
"Very well. I'll visit the orphanage."
"...I'm sorry?"
"On the same condition, of course. No photography, no promotional footage, nothing. I'm only going to see the children, so please keep it entirely private."
At Dohyun's words, the man could only stare, slack-jawed.
Is Kim... an angel?
Celebrities visiting orphanages was hardly unheard of.
But it was almost always for publicity. Those who came for genuine service were rare indeed.
The vast majority would line the children up, snap a few photos, and leave — and some made no effort at all to hide their disgust if a child so much as brushed against them.
Kim was not like that.
He was truly playing with the children.
"Alright! Everyone, 'ten-shun! THIS is the Fist of Justice!"
"WAAAAH!!! KIM!! KIM!!!"
"Oh-ho? Are villains really going to fall to voices that tiny?!"
"WAAAAAAAHHH—!!!!"
In all her years, she had never seen anyone play with the children so sincerely!
Baltimore was infamous as one of the worst cities in the entire country, and there was no need to explain how hard the orphanage children's lives were.
And yet today, thanks to Dohyun, those children wore the happiest expressions in the world.
"Thank you."
Kathy, the orphanage director who had invited Dohyun, was blinking back tears.
"Don't mention it. I'm used to playing with children."
"Oh — are you married? I assumed you were single."
"Haha, single, I'm afraid."
Though, in truth, somewhere around the middle of one of his runs—
there had been a time when Dohyun was completely broken.
He'd all but given up on saving the world when he met a woman, and they'd found comfort in each other. They'd even had a child.
It wasn't exactly a happy time, though.
If anything, that had been his most agonizing run.
But that experience was why Dohyun had come to abhor those who exploited and harmed children above nearly all else.
And yet the reason I've never abandoned the world, run after run — it's because of those memories.
A scruffy little girl shuffled up to him.
"Nancy? What is it, sweetie...?"
"I have something to tell Kim!"
The director glanced nervously at Dohyun, and he smiled and nodded.
"What is it?"
"...Don't go to California. A terrible disaster is coming to California soon."
Dohyun let out a soft oh.
A precognitive awakener, is she.
Probing her, he found she was no high-tier awakener. C-rank at best?
And yet the vision she'd just had was accurate.
It's true that a great catastrophe will strike California before long.
"Don't worry. Whatever disaster comes, I'll take care of it."
Dohyun said this as he gently ruffled the little girl's hair.
She peered up at him timidly, then spoke.
"Then... can Kim save this world?"
Dohyun was silent for a moment. Then he nodded.
"Of course. However many times I fail, I won't give up. I will save this world — so that children like you can be happy."
He set off for California.
This time he flew commercial, touching down at LAX, Los Angeles's international airport.
It's been a while.
Dohyun had spent part of his childhood as an immigrant in California.
Hm... though it seems the place has changed a lot since then.
RATATATATATA!!
Gunfire erupted across the airport. Submachine guns, no less.
A torrent of bullets came screaming straight at Dohyun.
Welcome, California!!