A Lucky Find Rolled In

Fifteen days had slipped ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠by without me so much as glancing at the status window. Whether it was relief at having cleared the prologue safely or simply because committing villainy didn't sit well with me, I couldn't say. I just didn't feel like opening it. Even now, with the long-awaited Chapter 1 looming, the feeling hadn't changed.

Chapter 1 was, in essence, the stage for Hero Last's debut. It featured a battle against a monster that had wandered into the city through an elevator connected to the surface. Through that incident, the reason humanity hid underground was revealed in fragments.

In Last Man Standing, Earth had been overrun by monsters of the kind commonly seen in hunter stories. They had suddenly appeared while humanity struggled to survive on a sunless planet. The invasion was recorded in the shared history of all surviving nations, and over ninety percent of the human population perished. The remnants fled deep underground, never realizing they were building their own prison.

Standard post-apocalyptic fare. This was also where the background for the First Generation Enhanced Human experiments appeared. Researchers in Minos discovered an unknown substance within monster corpses—an energy source far beyond human comprehension. They weaponized it, creating the First Generation Enhanced Human Project.

By now it should be obvious: once Chapter 1 began, a horrifying number of people would die. A hundred years had passed since humanity retreated underground. No one alive still remembered what it felt like to lose the surface. The casual attitude toward Enhanced Humans—the very weapons meant to fight monsters—was proof enough. If monsters invaded now, the outcome was predictable.

Still, I wondered how to prevent the disaster. My foolish brain produced only one answer.

If the monsters are coming through a broken elevator, why not just repair it in advance?

I'd gone to scout the construction site—the same place I'd sent the aunt far away. The scattered debris alone looked worth tens of millions. Apparently vagrants lived nearby, illegally selling whatever they could scavenge. There was no solution. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I didn't even know when the elevator would break, and if I marched in claiming monsters would invade through it, no one would listen.

So I decided. Maybe it was better to let Chapter 1 unfold as written. Minos would suffer near-total destruction, except for Unhwa, which had prepared for monster threats early. Yujin and Cheolho, who had long ties to Last, would die meaninglessly. But what could I do? It was beyond my reach.

The long-ignored status window suddenly appeared before my eyes, just like before, and began playing something.

The footage showed downtown Cheongang. A nearby water tank had burst during a fierce battle, raining water like a storm.

—Thud.

Last knelt helplessly before a mountain of corpses. Among them were Han Yujin and Han Cheolho.

"I'm sorry... If only ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I'd arrived a little sooner..."

Last pressed his hands to the ground and wept over the bodies.

"......"

I stared blankly at the video, then shook my head hard.

"What exactly are you trying to show me by playing this?"

"You... someone's controlling you from behind, aren't you? Pretending to be a program?"

As if answering my suspicion, the status window ended the video and displayed a message.

—Ding-dong.

Just then, the doorbell rang out of nowhere.

"Ah, ah."

The speaker crackled, followed by a young woman's voice.

"Ah, ah. Is anyone home?"

—Creak.

Without waiting for an answer, the supposedly locked front door opened after a few button presses.

"I knew someone was here, so I came. I'm coming in, okay? Yeah, even if you say no, I'm still coming in."

Standing there was a girl with a ponytail, wearing a white lab coat far too large for her small frame.

* Nadja Herald Punk. Researcher affiliated with the Cheongang Group, mother of nanite technology, and one of the five First Generation Enhanced Humans.

Nadja had a purpose. Revenge against the city that had ruined her and her precious family. That alone had driven her here.

She had always been brilliant. Whether it was thanks to the unknown substance that composed her body or simply how she was born, her extraordinary mind was her greatest weapon.

"Hey, how long are you going to just stand there staring?"

Nadja looked up at Chae Yuha and spoke. The rice was already cooked. She had deliberately mixed defective nanites into the others so the Enhanced Humans would go berserk at regular intervals. Once conflict between Enhanced Humans and civilians reached its peak, she planned to release every limiter simultaneously and turn Cheongang Special City—and eventually all of Minos—into a sea of fire.

But the woman standing before her had ruined everything. With nothing but emotion-driven propaganda, she had swayed public opinion.

"Hey, are you even listening?"

Nadja cast the antimatter laser embedded in her wrist. She had no intention of forgiving anyone who stood in her way. From the moment she resolved to take revenge on the city, that had never changed.

"He-he..."

A faint laugh brushed past Nadja's ear. Chae Yuha was looking down at her, smiling.

Why was she smiling? The bizarre sight made Nadja's body freeze for an instant. Chae Yuha didn't miss that opening. She rushed forward and pulled Nadja into a tight embrace.

Damn it...!!

Nadja berated herself. The speed wasn't even that fast for an Enhanced Human. She had come prepared with a reactive elastic barrier just in case. So why hadn't she used it? No—it felt as though her own instincts had refused to activate it.

Nadja shook her head in Chae Yuha's arms. With her face buried against her, an inexplicable sense of stability and homesickness welled up inside her. Memories of a forgotten past were growing clearer.

She couldn't let that happen. The friends, the family, everything she had—they had all vanished in that explosion that day.

Then who are you? Who are you to make my heart stir like this?

"Big sister."

The voice seeped into Nadja's ears. It had matured so much it was almost unrecognizable, yet it was a voice she could never forget.

"I missed you."

"...Sawol. Is that you?"

Nadja's small hands trembled. Then she wrapped her arms tightly around Chae ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Yuha's back.

"Sa... Sawol... Sawol-ah..."

Tears welled in Nadja's eyes.

"Waaah!!! Sawol-ah!!!!!"

The dam in her heart, blocked for far too long, finally broke.

*

"Sniff, sniff, Sawol-ah..."

How cute, crying like that. I patted Nadja's back as she sobbed pitifully and laughed.

Nadja Herald Punk. A First Generation Enhanced Human whose brilliant mind had laid the foundation for countless new technologies in Minos since childhood. The walking suits currently used by the military in Unhwa were supposedly built from blueprints she had casually doodled as a child in the lab. She really was a lucky find that had rolled right in.

Still, how had she known where I lived?

"Big sister."

"Hm? What is it, Sawol-ah?"

Nadja answered in a gentle voice. It looked like invisible ears and a tail were twitching, so I had the urge to pet her vigorously.

"How did you know I was here?"

Nadja tilted her head, then smiled brightly.

"I had no idea!"

Adorable... No, that wasn't the point. A sudden chill ran down my spine. Then why had she come here?

At that moment, Nadja buried her face in my chest and spoke.

"You know, Sawol-ah. Big sister did a lot of bad things."

"I thought everyone except me was dead... I was so sad and angry. So I tried to destroy everything. I planted defective nanites in the Enhanced Humans' heads."

"But someone ruined my plan. Since I'm a bad person, I was going to eliminate whoever interfered with my revenge."

"But thanks to that, I got to meet you, Sawol-ah. So now everything's okay."

Rub, rub. Nadja nuzzled her tear-streaked face against my chest. It should have been embarrassing, but the words sinking into my ears were so terrifying and shocking that I felt nothing.

So the mastermind behind the prologue incident, which was never revealed even in the original, was you. Then... I almost had my head cut off by her just now...?

"I see. That must have been really hard for you."

I gently stroked Nadja's small head, trying to calm my racing heart and mind.

It was summer.