Mind and Manipulation (1)
Four days had passed since the highest-tier aberrants, the high- and upper-tier ones, and Ha Cheolsu—whose presence felt like thorns around his neck—had been erased from the world. Yet no one could explain how the madman had somehow returned to reality.
The entire planet fixated on the incident. Ha Cheolsu, a mental-manipulation ability user, had dragged a Calamity-class aberrant into the heart of a nation’s capital and unleashed a terror that shook the foundations of society.
Until now, the strongest beings that had ever appeared in the Phase World had been upper-tier aberrants. The sudden emergence of a Calamity-class entity had crossed an entire tier.
The problem was the sheer scale of the catastrophe. What should have been another routine report-worthy event had instead become an act of self-inflicted arson—someone had poured gasoline on a burning house.
Global broadcasts captured the 120-story Grand Blue Tower collapsing under the weight of the Grand Turtle. The sight sent shockwaves through every nation. The danger posed by mental-manipulation ability users, of which there were only five in the entire world, suddenly dominated every headline.
Within hours, the World Phase Ability User Association issued a live broadcast. They emphasized that all five existing mental-manipulation users were fully realized individuals.
I remembered the conversation I had been having with Franc and the wind-attribute secretary beside her earlier that day, but IWO and the Association headquarters had stepped in to deliver a calm, reassuring statement on the stability of Spirit Order.
“What is Spirit Order?”
“They say the terms ‘mental manipulation’ and ‘mind control’ carry too much fear and stigma, so they renamed it Spirit Order.”
“Cute euphemism.”
We alone knew Ha Cheolsu had been Class B. No reason to broadcast that fact again, so I stayed silent.
The narrative shifted. The focus turned to who had orchestrated such a catastrophic terror. To deflect the flames, IWO publicly singled out the newly awakened Korean mental-manipulation user, Ha Cheolsu, and delivered a scathing character assessment.
He had awakened in the Phase World as a criminal, failed to overcome his criminal psyche, and surrendered to hatred and revenge. He had then illegally re-entered the Phase World to build power and, in the end, orchestrated this terror.
One hundred percent fact, no embellishment, no omission. Ha Cheolsu’s name was added to the Phase World timeline as a monstrous terrorist responsible for massive civilian casualties.
Of course, my own spotlight intensified. I was the lone ability user who had slain and subdued two Calamity-class aberrants.
Footage of me minimizing damage spread rapidly online. The once-derided “Destroyer” nickname began to soften into something more heroic.
People who had dismissed me as a vengeful, personality-ruined ability user who had dragged his country into ruin now praised me as a noble figure who had rushed to his homeland’s defense without hesitation.
The most important detail was conveniently omitted: that Ha Cheolsu had targeted me personally.
If that angle had been included, the media might have labeled me a Demon King instead of a Destroyer, or perhaps the worst troublemaker in history.
Thanks to that omission, the Ability User Association and IWO began treating me with genuine caution.
While the primary fallout of the Ha Cheolsu terror continued, Ha Cheolsu’s true identity surfaced. The public’s venomous gaze turned toward his legal father, Business Support Department Head Ha Yucheol.
At some point, the narrative shifted. Internet users began circulating the story that Ha Cheolsu was the illegitimate son of Kim Chuhye, Ha Yucheol’s divorced wife, conceived through adultery. The story spread like wildfire.
The source? Predictable.
Normally, the extreme condemnation and hatred that would have been directed at Ha Yucheol would now be aimed at Kim Chuhye—the adulteress who had birthed a child responsible for 77,982 deaths and hundreds of thousands of displaced persons.
Kim Chuhye had been sentenced to divorce in court, received no alimony or property settlement, and was now living alone in a tiny one-room apartment. People began visiting her home, spraying paint and graffiti, throwing rotten food, and dumping trash. If she stepped outside, rotten fruit or spoiled eggs would be hurled at her from nowhere, trapping her indoors.
Unable to endure the universal hatred and disgust, Kim Chuhye eventually hanged herself in her cramped studio apartment.
“The words of a woman who had everything— a husband who was a high-rank raid team leader, countless affairs, and endless pleasure.”
After her suicide, the media turned its attention back to Ha Yucheol. He remained silent, simply doing his duty without comment.
That was correct. When a wildfire breaks out, ordinary civilians should evacuate. Trying to extinguish it only invites the flames to consume them.
Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the internet, people who had once mourned the dead now fixated on me. They celebrated as I had single-handedly slain twenty-nine high- and upper-tier aberrants combined, fought the Grand Turtle for hours, and ultimately killed it.
Broadcast stations that had successfully recorded the entire battle against the Grand Turtle—except for the part where I took a Shockwave to the face, which I was secretly relieved about—highlighted my Space Leaping to redirect the blast into the sky.
That was probably why my reputation had improved.
Footage of me drawing the Heavenly Total Inspection Spear and unleashing Mana Bullets, tanking a fighter jet’s missile barrage, and forcing the Grand Turtle to retreat, followed by the scene of me covering the raging beast with an amber-hued Space Wall to block its Turtle Big Bang, became front-page news.
Extracting Ha Cheolsu from the Grand Turtle’s shell, binding its limbs, and then snapping its neck became legendary moments that aired repeatedly.
Foreign networks were also broadcasting it.
My recognition had grown even beyond the level it reached when Japan submitted. Previously, general audiences in the West had whispered about “a monstrous ability user appearing in Korea” or “that Destroyer?” Now, after the video release, the questions were precise: “Is there really a Korean ability user who soloed a Calamity-class aberrant?” “He’s the president of Grand Blue, right?”
Thanks to this, the existence of Space Wall—my ability to shape it at will—and Space Leaping—teleportation up to 6.75 kilometers—began circulating. Some even speculated that I was more dangerous than a mental-manipulation user.
In the Certifier community, posts questioning whether I was even human started appearing.
…What is the singularity?
The Certifier community’s reactions updated at terrifying speed. From the great powers came cautious voices of concern and worry about my power.
“As expected,” Yeongeun had said.
“Of course. Pulling the trigger on someone is one thing; suppressing a gun-wielding threat is another. The feeling of strength is completely different.”
I had thought she saw me as just a short, chubby guy holding a gun. Turns out I was actually a special-forces operator from an elite foreign unit.
Meanwhile, the general public remained unaware of the undercurrent world. Around that time, the Queen of England personally issued a statement in my defense.
“The president of Korea’s Grand Blue Group took the initiative to embody nobility when no one else would. Even if one possesses power, who among us would willingly face a Calamity-class aberrant alone? Those who have been given much must fulfill their duties. When the consciousness that only seeks rights and ignores obligations is widespread, one must applaud the president of Grand Blue’s decisive action in single-handedly stopping the terror orchestrated by a mental-manipulation ability user.”
Other nations, assuming we shared the same sentiment, swallowed their negative words and began issuing friendly statements, at least publicly.
Basically:
“Pleasures humanity can enjoy?” I wondered. Besides sex and eating, is there more? I was already enjoying daily pleasures with my girls.
Yesterday, Yeongeun had danced the pole dance in a high-leg swimsuit and—erm—
Meanwhile, Canada, Russia, and China issued similar statements, while the United States took a step back and observed quietly—probably because of some internal friction (perhaps related to the time I had given that woman a piece of my mind). Other great powers followed with friendly messages.
Watching the great powers issue one-shot friendly statements without even being prompted was strangely entertaining.
With my popularity at an all-time high, every nation’s current-affairs programs began analyzing what I could do based on previously revealed abilities. They even dissected how much annual income I could generate from hunting high- and Calamity-class aberrants from multiple angles.
One month after the edited footage of me fighting the Grand Turtle was uploaded to the world’s top video streaming site, it shattered every other video and claimed the number-one spot.
The titles that now referred to me were:
“The Strongest Man in the World.”
“The Richest Man in the World.”
“The Man Whose Future Shines the Brightest.”
On the day I captured the Grand Turtle’s corpse, several foreign nations had expressed deep interest and signaled willingness to purchase samples or parts through various channels.
I sold what I could, pocketed what I could, and left what I could. Even after deducting processing, transportation, storage, and maintenance fees, the remaining amount was enough to fund disaster relief and compensation for victims in Gangdong-gu.
Apparently, I had already signed a contract to donate research materials to a world-famous laboratory in exchange for technological knowledge. I had no idea what they were thinking, but Yeongeun and Franc were handling it well.
Most of the profit was directed through donations so that disaster relief funds and compensation for the deceased’s families could be distributed fairly. The government had even tried to award me a medal.
Honestly, my conscience wouldn’t allow it. After all, the biggest cause of the Ha Cheolsu terror was my own actions.
However, my lovers strongly opposed the idea.
“Think about Ha Cheolsu’s personality. Maybe it’s better this way.”
“Franc is right. When a rotten person ages, nothing is more terrifying. It’s better to think that the inevitable explosion happened early.”
That made me happy.
But once the news of my refusal of the medal spread, it was spun into something even more heroic. The media began daily praising me as a hero who refused the award out of mourning for the dead and used the sale of the Grand Turtle’s corpse to fund reconstruction.
Overnight, my status had changed. I was now the strongest man and hero in the world.
That night, I brought home a few dogs and cats and began practicing mental manipulation.
“Ugh… I’ve figured out the pattern, but I still don’t know how to actually use it.”
“It’s not working?”
Franc, who had been teaching Miho ethics and morality, turned to me with a slightly annoyed expression while sipping vegetable juice through a straw and leaning against my shoulder.
“Yeah.”
“It would have been incredibly helpful if I had seen Ha Cheolsu use mental manipulation. I miss him.”
“I don’t miss him. If that bastard had learned to use mental manipulation, something terrifying would have happened.”
When I told my lovers that I could imitate Ha Cheolsu’s Phase Power form to perform mental manipulation, their reactions split.
Yeongeun’s eyes sparkled with admiration and approval. Franc and Hwayeon looked at me with a mix of joy and concern.
Despite the divided reactions, all three of them praised me equally.
The praise from strangers held no meaning, but the praise from my lovers—delivered with soft, beautiful voices—made my body tingle with pleasure.
If I had a lover, I would understand. Nothing feels as good as being praised so gently and beautifully by the person you love.
But… it seemed my lovers had started embellishing my praise with extra titles. Whenever I heard those titles, I would smile and squirm in embarrassment.
Damn it.
Anyway, after analyzing the documents with my lovers and Franc, they concluded that Ha Cheolsu had pushed his limits to perform mental manipulation and had been crushed under the weight of his own power.
But how had he returned to reality? His mind had shattered; he should have had no way to come back.
And how had he obtained two Calamity-class aberrants?
All the aberrants he had brought were reptilian. High, upper, and Calamity tiers mixed together. Of course, the Dark Matter Slime was an amorphous organism, but still…
Maybe he had fallen near the place where the Supergiant Turtle lived?
Even the Floating Sky Islands were home to the Master of the Sky, so most aberrants there had wings. If a gathering of reptiles existed, it could be near the Supergiant Turtle, the Master of the Earth. The Grand Turtle’s appearance had also resembled that of a colossal turtle.
But the only being who could have told me that truth—Ha Cheolsu—had been decomposed and erased from the world. The truth was now lost forever in a labyrinth.
“Speaking of which, not knowing the trigger makes me want to tear my hair out.”
I had brought three small dogs and cats—two Poodles and Beagles about two years old—and Persian, Siamese, and Norwegian Forest cats to practice mental manipulation. I had successfully created the Phase Power pattern, but I still had no idea how the activation sequence worked or how to stimulate emotions.
Back in middle school, I had been fascinated by the euphoric word “dimension” from the internet and had studied two-dimensional, three-dimensional, and four-dimensional spaces. Thanks to that, creating a Klein Bottle with Phase Power had been easy, and now I could instantly transform it into the shape of a Klein Bottle in Mana Mode.
So what? I still didn’t know the activation sequence.
Someone with that type of ability would naturally understand the usage. But I was, at first glance, a special-type detection ability user…
“Ah. Leaving the Dark Matter Slime here is still worrying.”
At my words, Hwayeon, who had been teaching Miho ethics and morality, turned and spoke.
“You don’t have to be so anxious. The Dark Matter Slime moves at roughly the speed of a two-year-old child running. If it doesn’t attack, there’s no danger to us. Just put up a Space Wall and it’s fine.”
“Yeah. Even if another mental-manipulation ability user approaches, they won’t be able to break through the Space Wall.”
It turned out the reason the Dark Matter Slime had become a Calamity-class aberrant was its absorption and release ability. It was harmless if untouched, but once touched, it would disintegrate everything it contacted.
Moreover, like its name suggested, anything it touched was instantly absorbed and melted. No investigation, no touching, no capture…
The first team to discover the Dark Matter Slime had been a Chinese raid team. At the time, they had mistaken it for an ordinary slime and laughed. A high-Phase-Power detection ability user had warned them it was dangerous, but the species trait activated—those who had never experienced true fear charged in and touched it. Only the one who had warned them survived.
After the Chinese government investigated in detail, they concluded it was a Calamity-class aberrant. Its pitch-black appearance had earned it the name Dark Matter.
After discovering that light-attribute abilities could not be absorbed and would instead be shocked, the Chinese government had gathered dozens of light-attribute ability users to attempt a raid. When the combined beam of light struck the Dark Matter Slime, it exploded, spreading in all directions and causing horrific damage.
The Dark Matter Slime had burst out like eggs, entered the bodies of the ability users inside the blast radius, and melted their internal organs.
Without my Space Wall, there was nothing that could stop the Dark Matter Slime. It absorbed and released everything except light-attribute attacks. When hit with light-attribute damage above a certain threshold, it would explode, and anything touching the fragments would melt and die.
Thanks to that, the effectiveness of my Space Wall had spread across the world. It was impenetrable, even to the liquid of the Dark Matter Slime that had melted the Grand Turtle’s neck, and it had blocked its Turtle Big Bang. The amber-hued Space Wall that formed in the shape I desired was more terrifying than a mana-metal.
At that moment, Yeongeun’s signature cherry scent brushed my nose. When I looked to the side, she was rubbing her cheek against my shoulder.
Slap.
I smacked her thigh. She squealed and wiggled her hips as she walked to the sofa and sat down.