Ep.2 The Sky Opens (3)
“You really are a bastard, huh???”
“Uh… I guess so……”
I pressed my temple.
My head was pounding.
Yeah… this guy wouldn’t have stayed quiet if I hadn’t said anything.
If Kim Juwon had been the kind of human capable of judging the situation before it blew up, he wouldn’t have yelled at me like that.
I should be grateful that he asked for my advice before reporting to his superiors.
“Aw, damn. How thoughtful.”
“What am I supposed to do now… really……”
Kim Juwon kept wiping his dry face and whining.
But I didn’t have any brilliant ideas either.
After all, I was just a useless orphan.
The only option I had was to drag Moon Sangjun into this…
Moon Sangjun wasn’t close to Kim Juwon; he was close to me.
It felt uncomfortable to tell him about something that might happen, even though the odds were low.
Although his attitude toward me could easily be misunderstood, Moon Sangjun was calculating and cold.
He kept his inner boundaries perfectly clear, but outside that circle there was no one more ruthless than him.
“Hold on. Let me think about this.”
“Ung.”
Still, I should at least mull it over.
Moon Sangjun was a human rights lawyer.
Recently he had won a lawsuit against the Ministry of National Defense exposing internal corruption and shot up in fame.
With that momentum he was probably going to run for the next year’s southwestern regional constituency.
Since his grandfather, Lawmaker Moon Jintae, was the party leader.
He could also enter politics through proportional representation with a high ranking and become a National Party member.
Anyway, that was the situation.
If the worst case happened.
Would the card of Kim Juwon be a win or a loss for Moon Sangjun?
“Still?”
“Wait.”
First, the win.
By messing with the military, I could lock in support from young men and push the awakened persons’ rights issue to extend the Moon Sangjun brand’s fame.
Next, the loss.
Or rather, why Kim Juwon was useless.
Moon Sangjun was a star human rights lawyer born with a silver spoon.
Only a month or two remained until next year or the year after, and his political entry was already decided.
His grandfather was the party leader and his father ran a major law firm, so his path was clear.
He had no reason to take risks.
Finding one NCO dismissed for internal betrayal was nothing for a general or two to lose their position, but exposing biological experiments to VIPs was a huge deal.
If Moon Sangjun just says “Yoo Siwol! Too righteous! Next year’s party secretary!!!” and moves on cleanly, that won’t work.
To the public, Moon Sangjun was still just a righteous young human rights lawyer, and he didn’t have the concrete support base that mid-level politicians had.
In a muddy fight, it would be hard to avoid losing support.
Lawmaker Moon Jintae would also try to stop his own grandson.
If it came to that, it would hit him too.
Then if Moon Sangjun protects Kim Juwon…
For a brand that wasn’t certain but was already “righteous human rights lawyer,”
he would have to face the military high command head-on,
scrape the VIP,
and clash with the political backer Moon Jintae.
No matter how I think about it, the loss seems bigger than the gain…
Of course, if the military’s reason for conscripting awakened persons was something healthy like establishing special forces, all these worries would be meaningless.
But I always had to think about the worst case.
“Hey. Kim Juwon.”
“Communication security. This useless prick Kim Juwon is here.”
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
I tapped the frying pan with a spoon.
“First, once you enter the unit, you surrender no matter what. Don’t use your abilities at all, and don’t act tough for no reason.”
“I know that too……”
“And get an air card as fast as possible. From now on, don’t submit your phone. Always carry it so you can reach me anytime, no matter what happens. And if something happens, call me immediately.”
“Why do I have to do that?”
“Yeah, you have to.”
The possibility was low, but it existed.
So this felt a little insufficient.
I glanced at the time.
Somehow time had slipped by so quickly; it was half past five.
“When’s your next vacation?”
“A month from now.”
“Endure until then. Probably nothing will happen, but you never know. I’ll think about it from outside too.”
“Thanks……”
I might need to arrange a place for Moon Sangjun and me…
Kim Juwon, who had checked the time following me, got up with a drag.
“Let’s go. The duty officer said to come by 17:00 today.”
“Why? On the internet it said until 8 PM or something.”
“I don’t know. It’s a rest week, but I don’t get why they’re making such a fuss. Ah— I really don’t want to go.”
We left the restaurant and headed back to the guard post.
The sun was at the end of the afternoon but still hot.
And under the shade at the guard post, the soldier we had seen earlier was standing there.
Girlfriend?
No no. Just a friend.
Then introduce me.
He’s a guy.
The low sunlight reflected the sweat droplets flowing down the soldier’s jaw.
Kim Juwon was chatting casually with a fresh, clean face.
That sight stuck in my eyes.
“Then I’m going. See you in a month.”
Kim Juwon waved and walked away.
I said behind his back as he left.
“Wait a second.”
I didn’t know if I could say this.
“If something really happens. And if I can’t call you.”
At least it would buy some time.
If something went wrong…, I’d get scolded by hyung later.
“Then tell any human who looks like a brain. That you’re close to Moon Sangjun. If you disappear, Moon Jintae will look for you.”
Kim Juwon looked back at me.
And with a face that showed no intelligence at all, he said.
“Who is that?”
Yeah, he was always like that.
“There’s one. A close older brother and his grandfather.”
“Got it. Take care, even if your feet hurt.”
“Yeah.”
Kim Juwon turned and walked away.
I stared at his back until he disappeared, then limped out of the unit.
*
Back at Wasuri, I took the bus.
By the time we were entering Seoul, the sky was already dark.
I sat by the window and organized my thoughts.
I was pretty good at studying but not particularly smart.
Like not informing Kim Juwon about my transformation this time.
So when something bothered me, I had to point it out from the beginning.
When talking about the soldier who disappeared at the new military academy.
Something flashed in my mind.
What was that exactly?
I had become a dragon, and Moon Sangjun had become a superhuman.
Although weaker, Kim Juwon might also be on the level of a superhuman.
If I looked at YouTube, the views on the video I posted exceeded fifty million.
That meant my transformation and the awakening incident had captured the national interest.
In this situation, how would the major media react?
- The awakened superhuman, famous singer Seo Mo, killed his manager Kim Mo…
- Citizens, please be vigilant and report…
It was glossed over like a joke, but the attitude of the established media had clearly too radical a side.
No matter how hot the issue was these days, it had to be in moderation.
The fact that they had firmly identified the identity of ‘Seo Mo’ who was already famous as an entertainer as an ‘awakened superhuman’ was one thing.
Dealing with incidents related to ‘awakened superhumans’ for a week was another.
Using words like ‘thorough reporting spirit’ to attach to as if it were red beans was another.
Of course, there was the possibility that many social issues had occurred, but the estimated number of domestic awakenings was at best a few thousand.
It wasn’t small, but only that much.
It was a small number to make such a fuss.
Then I had to think why they were doing that.
If Kim Juwon’s words were true, the military was conscripting awakened persons for some reason.
I didn’t know the behind-the-scenes.
It could be selecting special forces members or biological experiment subjects.
But in either case, what was clear was that the military was already judging the value of awakened persons.
The media was proceeding with demonizing awakened persons.
Amid the military and media taking this stance, it was impossible that politics wasn’t involved.
Humans were political animals, and the media couldn’t be free from politics.
- Tock. Ttok.
Light rain fell outside the slowly moving bus window.
Suddenly, I remembered a fantasy novel I had read before.
I thought for a moment, and wrote the letter S in big letters on the window of the bus.
S-grade hunter.
S-grade awakened person.
S-grade awakened superhuman.
The single S letter in front.
Like the 1++ on beef, a red stamp with a finger.
It wasn’t a symbol of power and authority that appeared often in novels.
It was the meaning of the quality of an item.
In other words, it was saying it was super delicious.
It also meant super useful.
It also meant that someone had judged them.
And being judged meant that there was someone who evaluated and managed them.
To catch a beast, you had to drive it into a corner first.
Only then could you refuse the outstretched hand.
Only then would the meat in your hand look sweeter.
…Maybe.
Was someone already thinking about arming the awakened?
I took out my phone and called Moon Sangjun.
I was a dragon.
And I was an awakened person.