Chapter 5. I messed up the hypnosis.
Chapter 5. I messed up the hypnosis.
"Then I'll be going now! See you in two days!"
"Get home safely. I gave you plenty for the taxi fare, so you shouldn't be short."
"You're so kind!"
Lim Seo-yoon bowed 90 degrees in front of the entrance and turned around. Choi Yeon-ju kept waving with a face that looked like the kindest person in the world until Lim Seo-yoon turned her back.
That woman's two faces are too much to handle.
While I was thinking that, Choi Yeon-ju closed the front door first. Watching her expression turn cold in real-time along with it gave me goosebumps. I wonder what this woman's real identity is.
"She's gone. Let's sit down and talk some more."
"I want to wash up too..."
"If you wash up, you'll get sleepy, so let's talk first, then you can wash up."
Who are you to dictate my actions? I wanted to say that, but seeing her turn around and walk toward the sofa in the living room to sit down, it seemed like it would be better for me to just sit down too.
"What is it?"
"Wouldn't it be better to discuss what we need to do from now on?"
"Didn't we already cover that? I do the training, go into the Gate, gather materials, bring them to you, and you make things for me?"
"I'm asking seriously—do you really have no questions?"
Choi Yeon-ju asked me with a suspicious look. What is that? That 'Surely not' look. She seems to be expecting something from me, but I have no clue. Since I wasn't the type to not feel pressure even after seeing that expression, I racked my brain for a bit, then remembered a question and asked.
"Aren't you sorry about experimenting on Lim Seo-yoon?"
"Is that something you should be saying?"
"Um...."
It was such a fair point that I was left speechless. In the end, Choi Yeon-ju was in a state of being hypnotized and was a body loyal to me, and I was the person most excited about using Lim Seo-yoon as a test subject. Come to think of it, I'm quite something myself. Honestly, hasn't this situation progressed too quickly? It's only been two days since I hypnotized Choi Yeon-ju, and it's already turned into this.
The drive behind this would even make Hitler cry!
As I scratched the back of my head in embarrassment, Choi Yeon-ju, who had sighed after seeing my appearance, began to explain one by one.
"What is a scientist?"
"Someone who invents things?"
"Ugh."
"Why now?"
Choi Yeon-ju sighed as if she couldn't take it anymore and looked at me with pity; there probably isn't anyone who wouldn't be hurt by that. I was also being hurt in real-time. When I asked, Choi Yeon-ju even waved her hands around and scolded me.
"A scientist is someone who researches. And I am a genius scientist."
"Aren't you embarrassed to brag about yourself?"
"What can I do if that's the truth? Don't you know how impressive it is to be a [Hunter Association] research director at just twenty-six?"
"That's true, but..."
"The reason I ended up like this is 90% your fault and 10% the country's fault."
"What fault?"
I didn't want to admit the answer that it was 90% my fault, but since Choi Yeon-ju said so, I thought it would be better to just ask. Choi Yeon-ju crossed her arms arrogantly, even huffed, and began to explain in detail.
"Items from inside the Gate have immense value as research materials. But the country is blocking that. It's not that I don't understand it. Rapid social change is the primary cause of economic collapse."
"Wouldn't the economy get better?"
"Nonsense. The emergence of next-generation industries accelerates the downfall of existing ones. It happens in an instant for people who can't adapt quickly to end up on the streets. Isn't it like that even now?"
"What is...?"
"Are you asking because you really don't know?"
Now she has such a shocked expression that I don't know what to say or how to say it. What am I supposed to do if I really don't know? As I just watched her eyes and kept my mouth shut, Choi Yeon-ju let out a hearty laugh, "Hehe," and buried her back into the sofa.
She's a woman who instinctively tries to crush the other person's spirit, not just with her tone, but with every single action.
"Anyway, putting those problems aside, I have no choice but to feel aggrieved, don't I? Intelligence? No problem. Cost? No problem. Skill? No problem. But I just had to be told not to do it, so can you imagine how frustrating that must have been?"
"Hmm..."
"Do you know how I feel when there are piles of things I want to research just by reaching out my hand, but I can't?"
"No, I don't know. Because I don't want to do research."
"You really have a talent for making people angry, don't you?"
Wouldn't you be the same?
"I also thought about secretly smuggling materials out at first. But I gave up. Unless I'm an ability user, a helper who is an ability user is indispensable, and I couldn't trust anyone."
"But then I appeared?"
"Didn't you hypnotize me? So, while I'm in a position to swear loyalty to you, it can be called a win-win in the end."
"What's win-win about it?"
"Do you know why you've never seen an ability user with mind control powers?"
Choi Yeon-ju asked in a meaningful tone. Come to think of it, I had never seen an ability user with powers like mind control, hypnosis, or brainwashing until now. That was why I was incredibly excited when I got the hypnosis ability, even if it was disposable.
When I tilted my head, Choi Yeon-ju answered.
"Because they were all murdered."
"...They all died?"
"Yes."
"Who killed them?"
"Who else? The government."
"No, why kill them?"
"Are you asking that as a question? It's an ability that strips away other people's free will, so would they leave them alive? Who knows what kind of hypnosis they might cast on whom, so would they leave them alive?"
That makes sense...
Hmm...
Then am I in danger too?
"That's why you're a lucky person. Because the hypnosis ability is gone now. I'm the only one who's been affected. I know your secret, but I can't betray you, so we can be called partners in destiny."
"Other than that, I think it would be better if we were 'husband and wife as one body'."
"Shut up. Anyway, I got you, a reliable person who can smuggle out byproducts from inside the Gate if you just support me, and you got me, who will bring women to you by using that. How is it?"
"What?"
"I'm asking how you feel."
"I hypnotized her wrong."
"Hmph."
As if she couldn't believe it, Choi Yeon-ju smirked and scoffed at my retort. She's a subordinate who is beyond impudent. Judging by what she's said so far, it seems like there are quite a few problems with her mental state as well. She was a woman with a more extreme way of thinking than I thought. Doesn't it mean she doesn't care if she hands other women over to me just to satisfy her research desires?
But honestly, there was no part of that I could criticize. I was a guy with a conscience, too. From the moment I hypnotized Choi Yeon-ju, strictly speaking, I had become a criminal. It's hard to do it once, but twice is easy; now, thinking about doing all sorts of nonsense with Choi Yeon-ju, I even felt my heart racing.
Am I trash?
"By the way, why did you pick Lim Seo-yoon? And how do you cast hypnosis and brainwashing?"
"I will explain that calmly, one by one."
When I asked, Choi Yeon-ju cleared her throat and opened her mouth to start explaining.
"First, it was because she was the woman who was most necessary, safe, and had a high probability of success."
"Can't you explain it in more detail?"
"Lim Seo-yoon is a [Solo Player]."
"What's that?"
"It means an ability user who enters the Gate alone, just like your future."
At Choi Yeon-ju's explanation, something from our earlier conversation came to mind. Lim Seo-yoon had definitely boasted to me that she could do solo play. So that's what solo play meant?
"But why does that matter?"
"Ugh. Most ability users work in crews to reduce the risk of losing their lives. At least two, at most four. Do you think it's possible to just snatch one person from such a place without a sound?"
"Aha."
"Since Lim Seo-yoon is basically a [Solo Player], she's the type of person that few people would find troublesome or look for even if she's not seen for a while. She's the perfect use for our experiments. Besides, since she's a [Solo Player], her abilities are excellent, so if we succeed, your Gate trips will become incredibly easy."
"Wow."
Choi Yeon-ju looked at me after explaining that. Does she want some back-and-forth? At the sudden request for a response, I thought about it carefully and then threw out a question that suddenly came to mind.
"Then can't I just ask her to run Gates with me for money from now on?"
"That's not possible. The risk of getting caught during the distribution of byproducts is incredibly high."
"I'm the one taking my share and giving it to you, so what's the problem?"
"Byproducts are originally supposed to be reported to the [Hunter Association] after acquisition. Have you never been to a Gate?"
"No, I haven't."
"Because [Hunter Association] employees are guarding the entrance, if the byproducts you and Lim Seo-yoon are carrying don't match up, you'll be caught on the spot. There's also the fact that they conduct luggage inspections."
"Then isn't it the same if I go alone and get the byproducts?"
"It's different then. Because I'm going to come up with a solution."
Somehow, the more we talk, the more anxious I get, and I wonder if this is normal. As I kept listening to the explanation, I realized that I'm the one taking the risks in our current position. I'm already stressed to death about risking my life going into and coming out of the Gate, and now I hear that if I can't pass the luggage inspection after coming out, I'll get arrested.
Meanwhile, this Choi Yeon-ju will be listening to music and drinking coffee in this nice house, right?
Is this right?
Anyway, since we haven't started yet, it didn't seem to matter if I put off the decision on what to do later. I nodded, saying I understood, and then asked about the part I was most curious about.
"How do you cast hypnosis? Brainwashing?"
"That's simpler than you think. Here. Stand up."
"Huh? Why?"
"Because it's easier to understand if I show you the reality of what hypnosis is."
"You're going to hypnotize me?"
"It's nothing special. Hypnosis is something that happens often in daily life."
What kind of bullshit is that.
At Choi Yeon-ju's words that hypnosis was nothing special, I had no choice but to stand up from my seat, even though I was suspicious. As I stood up, Choi Yeon-ju also stood up and approached me. I couldn't help but feel anxious about the sudden hypnosis demonstration, so I was incredibly tense, but when Choi Yeon-ju, who had come right in front of me, placed her hands on my shoulders, the tension reached its peak.
Choi Yeon-ju said.
"You just have to look down."
"Huh?"
I looked down like that.
In that state, Choi Yeon-ju pulled her waist back a little, and then she kneed me right between my legs.
My mind went completely blank.
"Argh! Fuuuuck...!"
Startled by the sudden knee-kick, I screamed before I even had time to dodge. I was so surprised that the knee rising at lightning speed looked like it was in slow motion. My butt clenched tight! My knees buckled, and I got goosebumps.
Fortunately, Choi Yeon-ju's knee stopped right before it touched my balls.
Only then could I breathe.
"Ugh! Huff!"
"How is it?"
Choi Yeon-ju asked.
I can't stand this.
"How is it, what?! You crazy bitch! What the hell was that!"
"That is hypnosis."
"What?"
I was so dumbfounded that I couldn't even speak.
Choi Yeon-ju clicked her tongue while looking at me like that. Then she began to explain.
"It didn't even hit you, but didn't it hurt? Didn't you get goosebumps? I didn't actually crush your balls, did I?"
For now, I think I could vaguely understand what Choi Yeon-ju wanted to say.
It's truly easy to understand. So, she's saying that all these kinds of phenomena are related to hypnosis, right? It's certainly easy to understand.
But.
"Please use your turn signal before you come in, okay? I was seriously scared shitless."
"If I had told you, you wouldn't have had that reaction."
This woman never lets me win a single word.