Villains Excel at Staying in the Shadows -1-
“So you're saying something's wrong with the surface elevator in Cheongang that was completed about a month ago, and monsters are going to come pouring down soon?”
“That's exactly it.”
Chae Yuha spoke while kneading Nadja's cheeks. Squish. Nadja's cheeks stretched like glutinous rice cakes as she tilted her head in confusion. It wasn't because she wondered why her younger sister was doting on her. As far as Nadja knew, Chae Yuha had no ability to read the future. In fact, she had no abilities at all. She was merely the little girl who always trailed after Jinhyun with a bright smile at the research institute. Yet it was difficult to completely dismiss Chae Yuha's words, because just as she claimed, Cheongang currently suffered from numerous internal flaws. It was the inevitable downside of a rapidly growing conglomerate. Suspicious incidents—sudden electrical leaks in certain districts, CCTV failures limited to specific buildings—were routinely buried at the discretion of ordinary employees. Nadja could confirm this because she had risen to the highest echelons of the Cheongang Group herself. Therefore, it was entirely possible that the surface elevator construction, a project tied to the city's very survival, had been completed sloppily.
But whether Chae Yuha could have arrived at that conclusion was another matter entirely. It wasn't that Nadja underestimated her. This was purely a question of background knowledge—the logical steps Chae Yuha would have needed to deduce the elevator's impending collapse. If Nadja could accept those steps, she was willing to help. So she decided to test her.
“Sawol. May I ask you something?”
“What is it?”
“How did you know the elevator was going to collapse?”
Chae Yuha's expression froze. Nadja didn't miss the tiny shift.
“Is there some reason you can't tell me?”
At the continued questions, discomfort gradually spread across Chae Yuha's face. As expected, it had been a baseless leap. Nadja sighed at her cute sister's antics. Meanwhile, just as Nadja suspected, Chae Yuha's mind was burning black with panic.
Had she underestimated Nadja too much? In the original story, Nadja—despite her extraordinary intellect—was a notorious “family-obsessed fool” whenever her siblings were involved. Chae Yuha had assumed a simple explanation would suffice, but that had been a grave miscalculation.
As expected, I can't win a battle of wits against Nadja with my pathetic brain.
In that case, Chae Yuha had no choice but to go all in. She smoothed away her troubled expression and carefully performed the act of regaining composure, praying the gambit would work.
“Actually… I don't have any memories.”
It was the memory-loss strategy.
Nadja was visibly shocked. Her confusion manifested in raised hair and frantic clutching at her clothes.
“What do you mean, Sawol…?”
“More precisely, I have no memories from when I was young. When I opened my eyes, I was abandoned in an empty factory in the city with nothing around me. Surviving alone like this would have been impossible if I weren't an Enhanced Human.”
“Then… you don't remember anything from the research institute either?”
“Research institute…?”
“Iwol, who was blunt but secretly looked after us, Samwol who was always glued to you like a sticker, Owol who was short-tempered and nervous but kind-hearted—do you remember none of them?”
Chae Yuha nodded as though in pain. Nadja's face slowly filled with despair. Yes, it made no sense that there would be no aftereffects from that incident. But did it have to manifest this way?
“Then… how did you recognize me?”
When Nadja asked, Chae Yuha answered with a look of quiet resolve.
“Let me ask you the opposite. How did you recognize me? My face and voice must have changed completely.”
Nadja's mouth snapped shut. How did I recognize you? There's no way I wouldn't recognize my own sister. She wanted to say exactly that. Yet for a brief moment, she truly hadn't recognized Chae Yuha—because she had believed her dead, because too much time had passed, because her appearance and voice were different. But in the end, she had recognized her.
How?
Nadja turned the question over in her mind countless times, yet she could find no logical proof. Still, she understood. Through the warm certainty nestled in her heart.
Only then did Nadja admit it. She wasn't one to indulge in unscientific notions, but this time she had no choice. It was fate—that beautiful, unprovable thing—which had allowed them to recognize each other.
When her thoughts reached that point, Nadja felt her nose sting again.
“I understand what you're trying to say.”
Nadja pulled Chae Yuha into a tight embrace. Even without your memories, you recognized me. Yet this sister of yours didn't even realize it… Tears slipped down Nadja's cheeks.
Chae Yuha, however, felt only bewilderment as she held her.
Why… why is she like this…?
The only things Chae Yuha had said were two short lines: she had no past memories, and how had Nadja recognized her. Yet Nadja, after hearing those few words, had run an entire mental simulation and was now sobbing.
This was exactly why she hated dealing with smart people. Chae Yuha sighed inwardly and spoke.
“You know, sometimes I can see what's going to happen in the future. And I can intuitively feel what I need to do to avoid that future.”
“…Did you awaken your ability late? Well, it doesn't make sense that you wouldn't awaken anything after being stuck in that damned facility.”
Late? Chae Yuha ignored Nadja's muttering and continued.
“Meeting you again like this must be thanks to this unknown power. So… I want you to believe me.”
“……”
Nadja once again began running simulations in her head, trying to stitch together the plausibility of their reunion. Why had she and her sister been granted such a dramatic meeting? It wasn't luck. It was all thanks to her sister's invisible efforts. Love for her sister overflowed in Nadja's heart. Our remarkable little sister… Even when she had worries as a child, she tried not to show them and only smiled… She was physically weak, so every time she underwent those regular drug experiments she would lose consciousness for a week… Before I knew it, she had grown enough to make plans and carry them out on her own…
“Alright. I'll help you.”
The words left Nadja's mouth. Chae Yuha's lips twitched upward—only to droop again. Because now she had no idea how to explain the matter of Last… Jinhyun.
Welcome to Cheongang Special City
WELCOME TO C.G. METRO
Welcome to Tenkou Station
Welcome to Qingjiang Station
“Uwoah…”
Even though it wasn't the first time, her mouth fell open. The original work had described Minos City as “a city of science wrapped in eternal light yet encroached by eternal darkness.” Now that she had regained her composure and looked at the city properly, she finally understood what that meant. Skyscrapers soared as if to pierce the sky, their walls covered in billboards of every size, neon signs sparkling brilliantly as though competing to outshine one another. Yet alongside that brilliance walked people with emotionless faces, as though life itself had grown tedious. Half-dried bloodstains marked the ground here and there, and armed passersby moved with wary vigilance. Cheongang Station—the largest station connected to every autonomous district within Cheongang Special City, and the only station with lines running to other cities like Unhwa and Nago, places that might as well have been foreign countries. Chae Yuha and Nadja had come here to reach the surface elevator located on the city's outskirts. According to Nadja, the elevator strictly prohibited access except during the monthly surface expeditions conducted with Enhanced Humans. However, Nadja was the director of Cheongang's research institute. With her, they should be able to enter without issue. Chae Yuha's heart pounded for countless reasons. In truth, there was nothing left for her to do from this point onward. If something was wrong with the elevator, Nadja would fix it herself. Even the funding problems could be resolved using her authority. Yet if things went wrong for even a single reason, the consequences would be catastrophic. That anxiety was what kept her tense.
“Let's go, Sawol.”
Nadja took her hand and led the way. That small hand was strangely reassuring. It was probably tied to the original owner of this body. She had learned that memories resided not only in the mind but in the body as well.
“Yeah.”
Chae Yuha steeled her resolve and followed Nadja into Cheongang Station. At last, it felt as though the prologue had ended.