Genius Scientist Choi Na-yul (1)
The Ability Management Department—.
Forty years ago, in the early days of ability manifestation, it had been a relatively small organization under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, much like the present-day National Police Agency or Fire Agency.
Now, however, its prestige had risen dramatically. Long since separated from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and elevated to full ministry status, it handled the management of heroes, reviewed certifications for ordinary people who used abilities across various industrial sites, meticulously recorded and managed the powers of the ever-growing number of ability users, and oversaw virtually every matter related to abilities. It was a vast administrative organization.
And because it was inevitably tied to “heroes,” which never failed to draw public eyes, the level of popular interest it commanded far outstripped that of other major cabinet-level agencies. Its headquarters had been built on a grand and magnificent scale, so imposing that it easily overshadowed the somewhat aged Ministry of National Defense building standing right next door.
...Well, if you add up all the money that actually flows in, its budget exceeds even that of the Ministry of National Defense.
Anyway, the moment I stepped through the entrance of that enormous Ability Management Department building, a nearby agent in a black suit caught sight of my face, startled, and hurriedly rushed over to speak to me.
“Hup! Mr. Smile! I didn’t receive any report that you’d be coming today. I’ll contact the Minister right away!”
“No, that’s fine. More importantly, I’d like to use the hero training facilities for a bit. Is that alright right now? Please show me the sturdiest one—something that won’t collapse easily under impact.”
“Yes, sir! Then I’ll escort you to the S-class hero exclusive training room immediately!”
“Huh...? Who’s this? Don’t tell me it’s Smile...?”
...But just as I finished explaining my business to the young agent who had gone stiff at the sight of me, a beauty with a messy nest of purple hair and a large chest that stood out even from a distance—someone whose face carried a faintly sly cast—came running over and abruptly stepped in front of the agent who was about to guide me.
“Hehehe! What, it really is Smile? It’s not even time for license renewal, so what brings you here? Don’t tell me you came to see me? Ahaha, well! As if!”
“Ah, Director Choi Na-yul. It’s been a while. I just dropped by to use the hero training facilities for a moment.”
“Aww, why the stiff title in front of others! Even if I’m the older sister, just call me by my name casually.”
Sssst—.
“...Well, more than that, if that’s the case I’ll guide you myself. After all, the only training room around here sturdy enough for you is the one in our research institute next door.”
“...Hmm, by the way. Why the sudden search for a training room? It’s not like it’ll be much help to you anyway.”
“Just something I need to check for a moment. I don’t plan to take long— a few minutes should be plenty.”
I answered the purple-haired beauty guiding me, taking the chance to slowly look around her research institute for the first time in a while.
Director Choi Na-yul.
She was the head of the Choi Na-yul Research Institute under the Ability Management Department, the place that researched and developed all sorts of essential gear for heroes and the police who supported them—special restraints for capturing villains with powerful abilities, rescue anesthetics highly effective on heteromorph ability users whose body structures differed slightly from ordinary people because they had been overtaken by their own powers, and the like.
We had a bit of history, so even if we didn’t see each other often, we had known each other for well over ten years.
“Hmmm...? Is that so? I was hoping we could spend a little more time together since it’s been so long. You and I are both so busy that this is the first time since last year, isn’t it?”
...And for the record, the woman currently wearing nothing but a white lab coat stretched so tight across her chest that there was nowhere safe to look, pressing herself against me in a rather embarrassing display...
was nevertheless a high-ranking civil servant of the Ability Management Department.
(Heroes, for their part, could operate quite freely as long as they followed a few rules, so they were not truly full-time government personnel.)
At only thirty-two—just two years older than me—she held one of the highest positions in this entire building. A rather impressive figure.
...I didn’t know the details, but since the Ministry of National Defense building stood directly opposite, if one were to compare her to a military rank, someone of Director Choi Na-yul’s stature at the core of the Ability Management Department would almost certainly be at least general officer level.
And strictly speaking, she founded the research institute—now under the Department’s umbrella—right around the time she returned to Korea at nineteen. With talent like that, the actual authority she wields inside the Department is even greater.
...In any case, she had a rather dark past. As a child she had been kidnapped by some Doctor Hetra—or Heto, or whatever the name was—one of those mad-scientist types common in hero stories, a no-name criminal whose name I could barely remember now. She had been dragged off to an overseas laboratory and subjected to human experimentation.
But years ago, during a large-scale joint operation I conducted with America’s number-one hero—the one who blasted golden beams everywhere—we took down that octopus-faced villain and rescued her. Ever since returning to Korea she had lived as a thoroughly respectable civil servant (well... her attire was another matter) and an outstanding scientist.
“Fufu! Anyway, we’re here. Just use that pure white room. The walls are thickly reinforced with the new material I developed this time—sturdy enough to take several missile hits.”
Sssst, lick—.
“...But are you really just going to use the training room and leave right away? That would make me a little sad. Once you’re done, why not have a cup of tea and rest a bit?”
...Yet the very next moment after I had been praising her as a fine, respectable person, just as I reached out to open the large door into the training room, she suddenly gathered her enormous breasts with her hands, leaned against my arm, and began making extremely blatant sexual appeals.
True to her nature as a snake-related heteromorph ability user, she even licked her pink lips in a strange way with a tongue far longer than a normal person’s.
Mmm, she’s always been the teasing type, but it was never this bad. Ever since she passed thirty the year before last, hasn’t it gotten a little excessive...?
...Sure, women supposedly grow bolder in these matters as they approach marriageable age, but the way she made such open sexual appeals—something she had always done without the slightest hesitation—would make any outsider who didn’t know her personality think she genuinely liked me.
In fact, there had been a time when even I had wondered, Wait, does she actually like me...?
...Of course, the moment I tried to bring it up she would bolt as if fleeing for her life. And once we had both gotten a bit older—roughly from the time Ravi debuted as a pro hero about five years ago—she only ever teased like this, never once showing any real intention of confessing.
So, rather sadly, I had long since realized that it was all just mischievous teasing and that she didn’t actually see me that way.
...Which meant that, knowing all this, even though she was a beauty, having her press against me so aggressively was honestly a bit much.
Save that sort of thing for the person you actually plan to marry. Why keep raising false hopes with me of all people?
...Unlike Ravi, whom I had known since she was tiny, Na-yul and I had met when she was already grown, so I definitely registered her as a woman. Every time she glued herself to me like this, even my mind—tempered into true hero-level mental fortitude thanks to that damn status window—would occasionally flush red.
...Sigh. Sua I’ve known since she was a little kid, so even when she’s nice to me I never get the wrong idea. But when Na-yul does this I keep wondering “what if.”
Honestly, constantly being made to harbor those illusions by someone who has no romantic interest in me is pretty pathetic, you know?
...And now that I looked closer, she wasn’t even wearing anything under that slightly translucent white lab coat. I hastily averted my eyes from the stimulating sight.
...Deep down I wanted to look a little longer, but if I did, there was no telling what that damned status window would do to my heart again.
Sssst—.
“Heheh, what? Are you embarrassed right now? Hmmm, does that mean I still have a chance...? I thought I lost my opportunity years ago when I acted like an idiot out of shyness and that little brat snatched it all away.”
“...I have no idea what you’re talking about. First of all, you should fasten your clothes properly. It doesn’t matter to me, but you’re the director who represents this research institute, aren’t you?”
“Heheh, still saying such boring things. ...Well, whatever. With a young beauty like that trailing after you, there’s no way I’d even enter your field of vision.”
She muttered under her breath.
“Haa, back when you were younger I should’ve just snatched you up for good...”
Clank—.
“...Anyway, unless you concentrate all your power on a single point, the room is sturdy enough to take your attacks without issue, so use it without worry. And the training equipment inside was made for exactly this purpose, so it doesn’t matter if some of it breaks.”
With that, Na-yul finally released the hands that had been gathering her breasts, let her snake-like tongue flick once more, and operated a few buttons to open the massive door behind us. She guided me into the pure white room packed with complex equipment used for testing abilities.
...Alright then. While I’m here, why not practice the sense of power control properly? Since Na-yul went so far as to say all that, this time instead of just dabbing paint with a cotton swab...
KWAANG—!!!
...I can at least try hitting at the level of piercing tissue paper with a toothpick.