Chapter 221: What I Want to Do (10)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 221: What I Want to Do (10)
As I sat there, reviewing the ledgers sent from the Director’s PC, the sudden realization hit me: I couldn't just stay like this.
Working while overheated narrows your vision and oversimplifies your thoughts. Sitting here fuming would only tank my efficiency, and more importantly, there were people waiting for the data I had just transferred.
While scouring the settlement details was important, these records concerned my girlfriends. Discussing it with everyone was the top priority.
First, to clear my head, I backed up the files from the Director’s PC onto an external hard drive and stood up.
I had hoped the walk home would cool me down, but even the biting wind of Christmas Eve failed to steady my nerves.
The more I reviewed the statements, the more frustration and irritation welled up inside me. Thinking about everything my girlfriends had endured until now made it feel like a personal insult.
My fists clenched and unclenched repeatedly as I fought the urge to fly to the Earth Defense Union and punch the faceless Director right in the jaw.
If I hit an ordinary human in my current state, they would 100% die. That wasn't hyperbole; I truly felt that level of impulse. I took another deep breath to reclaim my composure.
When I finally arrived home, still carrying a heavy tension, I was met by the gazes of my girlfriends the moment I stepped into the living room. Fiddling nervously with the strap of the bag containing my laptop, I slowly approached them.
"How did it go?"
"I got everything. What about your end?"
"There was a bit of a crisis, but we handled it."
Given the weight of the task, I had expected some risks. Fortunately, it seemed they had wrapped things up without any major fallout, so I decided not to worry unnecessarily.
"Did you find anything?"
"...I did, but..."
My relief at Yubin’s words was short-lived. At Yura’s question—usually playful but devoid of laughter today—my voice sank, betraying the fact that I had found something unexpected.
I wanted to relay the news as calmly as possible, but unfortunately, my emotions weren't cooperating.
The weight of being the one to confirm that their years of hard work had gone unrewarded felt like a cold stone in my chest.
Sensing the gravity of the situation from my expression and tone, the girls didn't press me with more questions. They simply waited for me to speak first.
The silence felt like a different kind of pressure. I swallowed hard and placed the laptop on the living room table.
"I'll explain everything, step by step."
I wondered if I could actually get through this without losing my temper again.
Contrary to my fears, however, the anger didn't flare up further. Instead, I felt a stifling sense of frustration that went beyond mere rage.
I projected a hologram from the laptop so everyone could see the screen.
Then, I calmly began to explain the records I had briefly verified.
For the past several years, the wages meant for Team Hunter Killer had been funneled into the Director’s personal accounts. And it wasn't just them; the wages of other Superhumans were being embezzled as well.
The girls remained eerily calm. No one exploded; they simply stared at the records I had uncovered.
But their lack of an outburst didn't mean they weren't angry. Like a dark, clouded sky before a storm, everyone was exercising immense patience, suppressing a rage that felt ready to burst at any second.
"He really helped himself to a feast, didn't he?"
Su-ah was the first to speak. Though she was financially well-off, being wealthy didn't make the theft of earned wages any less infuriating.
"I should have just flattened him with that sofa earlier."
I was curious about what that meant, but I sensed now wasn't the time to ask, so I kept my mouth shut.
"Let's look closer. Oppa, you came back in the middle of checking, right?"
"Yeah, that's right."
Since there were many more documents to go through, we began examining the other records as Yubin suggested.
The more we searched, the more evidence of the Director’s embezzlement surfaced. Unlike Su-ah and Yura, who were watching with deep scowls, Yubin stared at the monitor with an unnervingly calm intensity.
"Wait a second."
"What is it?"
At Yubin’s word, I stopped scrolling, and everyone’s eyes turned to her.
"I didn't notice it when looking at the quarterly stats, but looking at the monthly breakdown... the ratios are weird."
Everyone’s gaze shifted back to the monitor.
Just as Yubin said, while the total amount funneled to the Director remained consistent quarterly, the monthly breakdown showed discrepancies.
In some months, more of Su-ah’s pay was taken; in others, it was Hayoung’s. The total amount embezzled remained the same, but the specific sources varied, which is why the quarterly ratios didn't look suspicious at a glance.
"Is there another hole where the money is leaking?"
Eunha’s quiet observation broadened our perspective. I had been so focused on my girlfriends that I hadn't looked closely at the other Superhumans' data beyond the fact that they were also being robbed.
We found the other leak almost immediately.
"There are no records of deductions for Team Guerrilla."
Team Guerrilla, who were no longer at the Seoul Branch, had been receiving their wages normally. It was less than what Team Hunter Killer—who always secured victory and results—should have been getting, but it was several times more than what my girlfriends had actually been paid.
"Did he take from the other Superhumans to take care of Team Guerrilla?"
"It means they were accomplices. But why Team Guerrilla?"
While Yubin was speculating, Hayoung spoke with conviction. However, she couldn't find a single reason why the Director would favor Team Guerrilla, and the furrow in her brow didn't soften.
"Maybe they had something on him?"
"Did Team Guerrilla catch the Director embezzling?"
Yubin quickly built on Eunha’s suggestion, piecing the situation together.
"Does that have anything to do with why Team Guerrilla disappeared?"
I tilted my head at Su-ah’s comment while waiting for an insight only the Seoul Branch members could provide.
"Team Guerrilla disappeared?"
"Yeah."
While I was unconscious in the hospital, I had heard that Team Guerrilla was under police investigation. At the time, the report was that everyone except a guy named Gainsborough had been questioned but refused to give straight answers.
Since I hadn't heard anything else, I assumed the investigation was still ongoing. I hadn't expected them to have vanished.
"After the initial police questioning, Team Guerrilla’s whereabouts can't be traced anywhere."
"...I met the Director at Headquarters earlier, and he called Superhumans 'consumables.'"
Team Guerrilla had only been questioned immediately after the incident, and then they vanished. Superhuman experiments, disappearances... Hayoung shared the story of her encounter with the Director, likely following the same train of thought as me.
"Consumables?"
One of the things I had focused on while researching Superhumans was their lifespan. Whether it was their actual biological lifespan or the 'lifespan' of their powers wasn't clear, but there was a limit to a superhuman's physical capabilities.
It was still a hypothesis, but I was certain of it, and the word 'consumable' only reinforced that certainty.
"Consumables... Does that mean Team Guerrilla was 'used' somewhere?"
But a hypothesis is just a hypothesis. No matter how many theories you build without data, they never become facts.
And since we now had the chance to find that data, it was better to focus on the search rather than spinning more theories.
"This is strange."
While we were distracted by the conversation, Yubin had been glued to the laptop, and she let out a quiet remark.
"What is it?"
At Yubin’s low voice, Su-ah sat beside her to look at the monitor, and I scanned the hologram floating in the air.
"The payment method is definitely weird."
The money paid to Superhumans originally came through the international alliance known as the Earth Defense Union. That was the system for the first three years after the Union was established.
Afterward, the management of the Union was handed over to individual national facilities, and superhuman wages were covered by national taxes rather than international funds.
Normally, you’d expect the state to pay the Superhumans directly, but the Earth Defense Union’s payment system had too many anomalies.
"The structure makes it suspiciously easy to embezzle money."
The funds didn't go directly to the Superhumans. They were first paid to the Seoul Branch, which then distributed them to the individuals.
"The method itself isn't necessarily unheard of, but..."
I nodded at Yubin’s words. There was nothing inherently wrong with the method. Paying a lump sum to an organization and having that organization distribute it is a common practice worldwide.
It was the same on Earth as it was in Spacetro. I also received my pay through Headquarters.
However.
"However..."
It was a structure that was incredibly easy for the Director to interfere with.
"It's a structure that's incredibly easy for the Director to interfere with."
As if reading my mind, Yubin said the exact same thing, word for word.
"What are you going to do?"
I was the one who had set the stage to secure the data, but since this was so closely tied to my girlfriends, I wanted to leave the decision regarding the embezzlement to them.
Naturally, I asked Yubin, the team leader, first. She didn't answer immediately, instead checking the expressions of her teammates.
"We have to report it. Whatever the case, this is our chance to blow that disgusting Director sky-high."
The others nodded in agreement, but their expressions weren't bright. It was natural given the circumstances, but it felt like they were thinking about something more than just being in a bad mood.
"But where did all this money go?"
The trail of the money was cold. Despite embezzling an unimaginable amount, there had been no outward sign of it within the organization.
Naturally, our eyes drifted back to the monitor. The screen showed the wages paid to Team Guerrilla.
"By the way, what kind of guy is this Gainsborough?"
"Huh?"
The name Gainsborough suddenly caught my eye. To be honest, there was one thing that had been bothering me from the start.
When I woke up and heard about the progress of the case, Gainsborough was the only one who hadn't participated in the police investigation and had been missing from the beginning.
And while there were discrepancies in the wages paid to other Team Guerrilla members, Gainsborough’s pay was consistent.
"We don't know much about Gainsborough either."
"We just know him as the guy who was always stuck to Indigo’s side. He never really did anything that stood out."
I had run into Indigo a few times, but I didn't have much of an impression of Gainsborough either. If anything, Khaki, who was always shouting next to Indigo, was more memorable. Gainsborough was practically a ghost.
"Let's think about it while we keep searching."
"Right. Let's figure out how to release this information first."
We decided to turn our attention to what we could do right now rather than unconfirmed mysteries.
The problem was the method of reporting. If we handed the data to a newspaper, it would definitely become a story.
"People might not care much if we just say superhuman wages were stolen, though."
People on Earth are interested in Superhumans, yet strangely indifferent at the same time.
If Superhumans cause a problem, the public is ready to pounce, but they couldn't care less about stories of Superhumans being victimized or exploited.
"I have a way."
A brilliant idea struck me then.
There was no need to make it about Superhumans at all. If I used provocative phrasing and made it a viral issue, I was certain interest in the Superhumans' plight would follow.
"What are you planning?"
"Just trust me and leave it to me."
A cynical smile spread across my face at the thought of taking down that repulsive human being. It was a look I had never shown my girlfriends before, but I couldn't hide it. They simply tilted their heads in confusion at my expression.
The end of the year arrived, and the world was buzzing with Christmas excitement.
With snow falling to create a White Christmas, everyone in the world seemed happy.
I, too, had wanted to spend Christmas with my girlfriends. I had agonized over who to spend it with and how, and even when Christmas Day arrived, I hadn't found an answer. But it seemed I wouldn't have to worry about that anymore this year.
It was a shame, but our first Christmas together wouldn't be a peaceful one.
However, there was one gift I could give them.
I spent Christmas sitting in my office at Headquarters, scrolling through a monitor, but I don't think I've ever been this excited for a Christmas since coming to Earth.
[Director of Earth Defense Union Seoul Headquarters Embezzles Billions in Public Funds Over Several Years]
I had anonymously distributed the summarized ledgers and the originals to every major newspaper.
The public funds the Director embezzled were taxes paid by the citizens of South Korea. There was no way the public would let it slide once they learned an individual had pocketed billions in tax money.
Even though everyone was in a festive mood for Christmas, scandalous news travels fast, especially during a holiday.
Even if they tried to hide the truth, an investigation would be inevitable. Even if they tried to conduct a sham investigation, the citizens, hearing that their taxes had been stolen, wouldn't stay quiet.
Furthermore, public sentiment toward Superhumans and the Earth Defense Union had already hit rock bottom after the terror incident. No matter what he tried, he wouldn't get out of this unscathed.
"Ugh, man. Why is it snowing so much?"
As I was chuckling to myself while looking at the monitor, a familiar voice—one I hadn't heard in quite a while—came from behind me. I turned my head.
"Huh?"
"Oh, Sen-bae! What are you doing in the office on Christmas?"
I locked eyes with a young man with a blonde two-block cut and deep bronze skin. The moment he saw me, he gave a bright, welcoming smile. I smiled back, happy to see a familiar face.
"Alt. You're finally here?"
"Yes, sir! Just flew in from Japan this afternoon!"
The very first Bioroid I had ever met, and the first one to call me 'Senior.'
Alt, now a full-fledged member of Spacetro, had returned to Korea from Japan.
"I'm glad you're back, but what's with the way you're talking?"
"I watched way too much anime in Japan, so I ended up like this, sir!"
Alt, who had always been easily influenced by local cultures, sounded a bit different than when we last met.
I don't think his skin was that dark before, either.
*
Silver stood by the window, staring blankly at the heavy snowfall that was turning the world white.
She let out a sigh as she brushed back her silver hair—not quite as white as the snow, but shimmering with a healthy luster—and her breath fogged up the glass.
"!"
Startled by a rustling sound behind her, she spun around.
Silver, who had been visiting and cleaning the room with the hospital's permission for some time now, locked eyes with the dark-brown-haired young man she thought might never wake up.
"...Who are you?"
Kruger, having finally woken from his long slumber, lay in his hospital bed and asked the identity of the woman he had never seen before. Silver couldn't hide her shock at seeing him awake, but soon, a smile touched her lips.
"I'm your caregiver. How are you feeling?"
Despite hearing she was his caregiver, Kruger, still not fully conscious, simply stared at her intently.