Spreading Conspiracy
I looked at the three students standing before me with defiant expressions. “You kids are still too young to understand, but cigarettes are bad for your health...”
“Ah, fuck off! You reek of ginseng. Just go on your way, old man with nothing better to do.”
Look at the way this disrespectful little shit talks... I’ll make sure you get devoured by my monster. Also, what’s with the ginseng smell? I’ve heard of dentures, but this? Kids these days have creativity I can’t keep up with.
“You brats! Do I have to call the police for you to listen?”
“Puhahaha! Did you hear that? ‘You brats’?”
Acting was harder than I thought. Just hit me already, you bastards. Yuria was hiding and watching. She wouldn’t step in unless I took at least one hit.
“Just scram, grandpa. Unless you wanna die.”
Oh, I’d love to die.
“That’s it. I’m calling the police myself—”
Thwack! My phone slipped from my hand and hit the ground. One of the students had smacked my arm. Maintaining the expression of a righteous middle-aged man about to lecture them, I bent down to pick it up—while making sure to drop the wallet from my breast pocket.
Greed flashed in the students’ eyes the moment they saw it. One of them snatched the wallet before my slow hand could reach it. After exchanging silent glances and nodding in agreement, one of them approached and threw a punch.
His speed was decent, but the power... well, it wasn’t much. Still, I had to sell the pain.
Thud!
“Urgh!”
I let out a convincing scream and staggered backward, slamming into the wall. As two of them closed in to hit me again, I covered my face with both hands.
At that moment—
Whoosh! Crack!
A small stone flew out of nowhere and struck one student squarely on the back of the head.
“Aagh! Fuck...!”
The student cursed and looked around, but no one was there. Of course not. Did they really think they could find Yuria? She was always good at staying hidden, and after all these years of sneaking around...
Whoosh! Whoosh!
More stones kept flying, striking the students one after another. As expected of a perfect marksman. After taking several more hits to the face, the terrified students threw the wallet aside and fled for their lives.
While I stood there with a bewildered expression, scanning the alley, Yuria appeared on top of the wall and leaped down. She landed lightly, picked up the wallet, and walked over to me.
“Mr. Taegon, are you okay?”
“Y... Yuria? What is all this...”
“Get up first. If anyone sees us, they might think I’m trying to rob you.”
“Ah, right...”
Still dazed, I stood up and accepted the wallet she handed me with both hands.
“Thank you.”
“Your suit’s covered in dust.”
I brushed myself off and said, “It’s been a while. Have you been well?”
“So-so. You said it yourself, didn’t you? If it’s fate, we’d meet again. The world’s smaller than you think.”
“Hmm...”
“Looks like our fates crossed after all. The world really is small, isn’t it?”
Yeah, keep thinking it’s small. Do you have any idea how hard I worked to engineer this situation? It’s a little disappointing that no one appreciates it. This powerless middle-aged man act was all deliberate. It was groundwork for my future sexual relationship with Yuria—both to satisfy her fetishes and to manipulate her. She probably saw me as some naive idealist right now. At the same time, she was likely thinking I resembled her father.
“You’re right. Thank you for saving me.”
“No matter how righteous the path, if you lack the strength, you have to know when to turn back.”
“I couldn’t just stand by and watch such bright young people with promising futures...”
“That’s just like you.”
“Like me? What do you mean...”
“No, it’s nothing. By the way, why didn’t you contact me? I gave you my number...”
She looked slightly annoyed. Of course she would be. She hadn’t seen someone who looked exactly like her father for over a week. Maybe she’d even lost sleep over it? Her eyes did look a bit sunken.
“I wasn’t sure if I needed to...”
“And?”
“Now that we’ve met again, I regret it. We’ve only met twice, but I guess it really is fate.”
Yuria’s expression brightened.
“Then you have to contact me next time.”
“I used the napkin you wrote your number on to wipe my mouth... and threw it away.”
Her pretty eyebrows twitched. Seeing my thoroughly apologetic face, she said, “Give me your contact info.”
“Excuse me...?”
“Your number. You said it was fate, so exchanging numbers should be fine now, right? Put it in here.”
Her tone was quite fierce. I got the feeling something bad would happen if I refused. Pretending to be reluctant, I slowly entered my number into Yuria’s phone—the dedicated number I’d prepared just for contacting her.
“Wait a second. Let me check.”
“.... Are you saying I might be lying?”
“I just thought that if it’s you, it’s possible.”
“We’ve only met once. You’re jumping to conclusions.”
Yuria didn’t respond. She simply waited to see if my phone would ring.
♬♪♬♪—!
When the default ringtone sounded from my breast pocket, Yuria finally looked satisfied and answered my earlier remark.
“My father was the same way. I can’t help but know.”
“Don’t tell me... you actually believe I’m his reincarnation?”
“Yes. I’m not certain, but I think the possibility is high.”
“Hah...”
“Does it sound ridiculous? What can I do if that’s what I think? By the way, why are you so dressed up this early in the morning? Where were you headed? It’s Saturday.”
“Business doesn’t take weekends off. I’ve been delayed, so I should get going... Can we continue this conversation another time?”
“Sure. I got your number anyway... I’ll let you go for today. Make sure you answer when I call, okay?”
I stayed silent. Yuria pressed again.
“Okay?”
“.... I will.”
“We’re connected by fate, so we’ll meet again somehow. Don’t even think about ignoring me. Good luck with work, Mr. Taegon.”
Maybe because she’d gotten my number and confirmed it, Yuria let me go easily. Carrying a healthy dose of patheticness, I left the alley. Once her figure disappeared in the opposite direction, I immediately returned to Seoul.
This second meeting had gone well. I needed to arrange a third meeting soon and grow even closer. After that, I’d have to carefully nudge the heroic spirit buried inside her.
**
“How about this?”
Sehwa twirled in front of me as she came out of the fitting room, the light pink tennis skirt fluttering. Her flawless, smooth legs were exposed all the way to her thighs, drawing an involuntary gasp of admiration. With her white T-shirt tucked in, she looked refreshingly cute. Calming my heart, I said, “It’s pretty. Let’s buy that and look at some others too.”
“Okay.”
She had excellent fashion sense. Until now, she’d only been rotating similar clothes because she didn’t have money. I was in for a real treat today. Being out with me seemed to make Sehwa especially lively. She giggled no matter what we did, and whenever we moved, she linked her arm with mine and refused to let go.
After shopping for a long time, we headed to the parking lot to watch a movie. The car was already packed with shopping bags. The trunk and back seat were completely full.
“I told you, we could’ve just had it delivered... or crammed everything into a few bags.”
Dark circles were heavy under my eyes. Planning sinister schemes was so much more fun than this... Wandering around a department store with no purpose was exhausting. Of course, watching Sehwa try on various outfits was visually pleasing, but from now on, I was definitely sticking to online orders.
“The clothes will get wrinkled! And why are you complaining again? I even got my nails done.”
Sehwa raised both hands and wiggled her fingers, showing off her pale red nail polish. When we’d passed the nail art shop inside the department store, she’d casually mentioned that it would look pretty if she got them done—and the moment I agreed, she’d rushed straight in.
“I said it would look pretty, not that you should get them done.”
“I thought you meant I should. You said I could do whatever I wanted. Is it... not to your liking?”
“It’s more than to my liking. Get in. We’ll be late for the movie.”
“Okay.”
Sehwa climbed into the passenger seat, smiling bashfully at me before fidgeting uncomfortably with her legs. She was wearing the tennis skirt from earlier. Yet she made no move to cover it with an outer layer. Glancing at her sideways, I said, “You’re a real temptress, you know that?”
“The shorts underneath feel uncomfortable... It’s hot...”
“Ah, so that’s the excuse you’re going with?”
“Seriously... Can we just go?”
“Fine.”
Chuckling, I started the car. As we drove toward the theater, Sehwa’s phone rang. I caught a glimpse of the saved name: [My Baby]. If it was “My Baby,” it had to be Yu Seunghyeon. It was the same name I’d seen last time.
Sehwa stared at the caller ID for a moment before setting her phone to silent and tucking it into her bag. Pretending not to know, I asked, “Who was it?”
“Seunghyeon...”
“You’re not going to answer?”
“He’s probably working right now anyway... Even if I called, it’d just be a short conversation... I’m with you today, so I don’t feel like answering. I can just text him a few times later.”
Hah. Yesterday’s events must have really upset her. Enough to ignore his call. Feeling guilty for bringing it up, Sehwa changed the subject.
“By the way, I have something I’m curious about. Yeonsu’s been going around saying something big happened to you at school... Did you tell her?”
Yeonsu was Sehwa’s close classmate. Her surname was Oh, and she was pretty close with me too.
“Yeah. She called the other day. I told her I’d be taking a week off for personal reasons. You know how chatty she is. I figured if I told her, she’d spread it everywhere—and I was right.”
“Do you talk to Yeonsu often?”
“Not often. Maybe once every few days.”
“I see... How is she?”
She was getting jealous. Sehwa was so easy to read—it was fun to tease her.
“She’s fine. Pretty, nice personality, dresses well.”
“Really...?”
Sehwa lowered her head and looked at the clothes she was wearing, as if trying to evaluate her own outfit. I should have a meal with Oh Yeonsu sometime soon. It wouldn’t be strange at all for me to get a girlfriend. After all, Sehwa already had Yu Seunghyeon as a boyfriend. I had no intention of actually dating Oh Yeonsu. I was just planning to use her as a tool to stir up jealousy—once Sehwa’s heart was properly under control, of course. Doing it now would be bad timing.
Beep—! Beep—!
While we were driving to the theater in an ambiguous atmosphere, a foreign sound came from the car speakers connected to my phone. The display showed Dr. Cash’s name. Meeting Sehwa’s eyes, I pressed the call button on the steering wheel.
“Go ahead, Doctor.”
-Are you with Sehwa right now?
“Yes.”
-Evilion energy has been detected. I know. I already told Marcela today.
“What!? Where, and what percentage?”
-Eight percent, and it’s slowly rising. Near Mount Fuji in Japan. Just like last time with the sea monster, it could spike suddenly, so prepare yourself. Your current location is... Yeongdeungpo-gu? I’ll come pick you up, so wait on the rooftop of any building.
“Understood. Has the equipment modification been completed?”
-Everything’s done except for the blades that attach to the shoes. While you’re waiting, you should explain everything to Sehwa. It’ll be better than her being confused after transforming.
“You’re deploying her into real combat right away? How are you going to equip the gear?”
-I’ll handle it while flying, so don’t worry. The call ended.
I immediately scanned the area through the windshield for the tallest building nearby. Spotting a shopping mall that looked tall enough, I turned the car toward it.
“Looks like the movie will have to wait until tomorrow. Suddenly heading overseas. I wonder if we’ll need passports...”
Sehwa giggled at my silly joke.
“Dr. Cash will take care of it. This time, I’m going to deal with it the moment it appears.”
Her voice was filled with determination, as if trying to make up for what happened last time.
The third monster was an animal—a saber-toothed tiger the size of a house. It wasn’t the monster that was supposed to appear according to the original flow. It was much weaker than Amducias or Aktoa. It was barely even worthy of being called a boss—more like a named monster in an RPG game.
There was a reason I was sending out this kind of creature as the third one.
‘Dealing with the cubs is going to be a headache.’
It was a quadrupedal monster with high speed. Even the swift Leona would take quite some time to eliminate all of them. Dr. Cash and I would need to provide fire support, and if we wiped them out right when Leona’s Device energy was nearly depleted, it would be perfect.
There were two things I stood to gain by deploying this saber-toothed tiger. First, after the battle, Dr. Cash would want to increase the Device’s capacity, which would force her to rely on me. Second, the negotiations Dr. Cash was conducting with various governments would accelerate rapidly.