Chapter 106
Translator : M.N 1391
Chapter: 106
Naturally, the police and the prosecution were thrown into chaos. The Superpowered Crime Investigation Unit was put on emergency alert as well. Until now, the victims targeted by the villain known as Graphite had been very few in number, but this time, perhaps he had gone berserk, he had created multiple victims.
“Has this bastard finally lost his mind?”
Kwon Odeung, the head of the Superpowered Crime Investigation Unit, muttered the words, but in truth, there was no one within the police force who didn’t know why Graphite was rampaging like this.
Wasn’t Graphite’s objective to force a former dictator to apologize for his past crimes? And that effort had been sabotaged right before it could succeed, by someone else, using the criminal means of murder.
It was more than enough to provoke him.
And so, just as one investigator had once predicted, Graphite, having begun his rampage, became a real headache. As the number of victims increased, the burden on those wielding public authority to protect everyone grew heavier and heavier.
What made it even more troublesome was that, judging from Graphite’s past patterns of behavior, it seemed unlikely that this assault would end with just one incident.
At the very least, unless the old men who had masterminded the poisoning turned themselves in or were captured and punished, the analysis team’s prevailing opinion was that he would continue inflicting injuries on their bloodlines.
The most efficient way to calm Graphite down was to lock up those who had orchestrated the poisoning, but did anyone really think things would go that smoothly?
There was no evidence that they had truly plotted the poisoning (whether none existed in the first place or whether it had been destroyed was unknown), and Graphite was undeniably a lawbreaker. Regardless of public sentiment or popular opinion, there was no avoiding the justification that Graphite had to be apprehended first. Because that was what those in power wanted.
And that burden fell squarely on the shoulders of public authority.
That was why the Superpowered Crime Investigation Unit had to do everything it could. Even if it all proved useless, they at least needed to create an excuse to protect themselves from blame higher up.
“Chief Kim. That fine-grain superpower research institute, was it? They’ve got a piece of equipment called Clairvoyance there, right? How about using that to track that black bastard?”
The fact that the device known as Clairvoyance had played a massive role in tracking down the cult-like group that had attacked the prison was already widely known among those involved.
Section Chief Kim replied to Kwon Odeung’s question.
“Yes, that’s true, but...”
“Why are you trailing off? What’s the problem?”
“I’ve already made inquiries, and... they say that to achieve the same results as last time, you need an exceptionally talented esper.”
“How did you manage it last time?”
“Uh... you know that guy, right?”
“Who?”
“The one who stormed the National Assembly and stabbed a lawmaker in the waist.”
Kwon Odeung’s eyes blinked. It was the kind of reaction that said, ‘Why is that bastard coming up here?’
Everyone knew about the success of Clairvoyance, but very few people knew where that success had actually come from.
The director of the research institute, Kim Maria, hadn’t gone out of her way to publicize it, and she only revealed it to those who asked persistently.
“Haa...”
A deep sigh escaped Kwon Odeung’s mouth. Among investigators, it was already common knowledge that Lee Kyung-wan had refused to cooperate with investigations into so-called villains like the “death reporter” or Graphite.
Was it because he himself was practically a villain, and he didn’t want to cooperate in capturing those of his own kind?
“Is there really no one else?”
“According to the institute director, if the Clairvoyance equipment could be miniaturized, it could be used while moving, which would open up the possibility of employing other espers, but that would require a long development period.”
“Then...”
“Yes. So for now, there’s no esper who can match him. The crime scenes are also far from the research institute where the Clairvoyance equipment is located, so with ordinary espers, it would be difficult...”
“Send me that bastard’s file.”
Clutching at straws, Kwon Odeung personally reviewed the information on Kyung-wan, hoping to find something, anything.
And then, something caught his eye.
“Happiness Home? Didn’t our hero come from Happiness Home too?”
“You mean Cheol? Yes, that’s right.”
“Really?”
And so, Thunder Boy Lee Cheol was summoned to Kwon Odeung.
“You called for me?”
“Ah, yes. I called you because there’s something urgent I need to discuss.”
Kwon Odeung offered Cheol a seat and then got to the point.
“This might be rude to ask, but you really did come from Happiness Home, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“And Lee Kyung-wan also came from Happiness Home?”
“...Yes.”
Cheol hesitated for a moment, then admitted it. He had been prepared for a situation like this to arise someday. Honestly, it was almost strange that he was only being asked now.
“Are you close?”
“We were roommates.”
“What was he like back then?”
At his superior’s question, Cheol searched his memories and replied.
“He was lazy, but a good kid.”
“Really? Hmm... We need his help to track Graphite. Do you think you could persuade him?”
“...”
Cheol hesitated before answering.
Could he really do it? Wasn’t this something multiple investigators had already failed at?
But soon, he found his answer. He couldn’t just leave a rampaging Graphite alone. He had to do something, anything.
He was a police officer.
“I’ll give it a try.”
“I’m counting on you.”
---
Following his superior’s orders, Cheol went down to the prison where Kyung-wan was being held the very next day and requested a visitation.
“Hey! Long time no see?”
Kyung-wan greeted him as if they were friends who met often. Even though this was their first meeting since Cheol had left Happiness Home.
At that greeting, Cheol couldn’t help but chuckle.
“You haven’t changed at all.”
“People die when they change.”
That silly joke was still the same, too. Memories from their days at Happiness Home came flooding back to Cheol.
Kyung-wan prompted him to get to the point.
“So, what is it?”
“You don’t even ask how I’ve been and go straight to business?”
“If your face doesn’t look bad, that’s enough.”
“I became a cop.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“Didn’t you see my documentary? I heard it from Miyeon.”
“Ah...”
Cheol nodded. He didn’t bother mentioning that he hadn’t actually watched the documentary. He had become a police officer, while the younger brother who had shared a room with him had become a criminal who’d done “that kind of thing”...
He was curious, but he didn’t have the courage to watch it.
As if seeing right through his feelings, Kyung-wan said this.
“Man, it’s like a movie. Two brothers who shared the same facility and the same room, one becomes a police officer who protects law and order, and the other becomes a criminal like a villain. Hey, you’re not some kind of superpowered cop, are you?”
Cheol was impressed. Even back in their days at Happiness Home, Kyung-wan had shown an uncanny intuition like this.
“Yeah, I awakened superpowers.”
“Wow~ total cliché, absolute cliché. Don’t tell me you’re some trendy hero or something?”
“...”
For a moment, the name Thunder Boy, his hero alias, flashed through Cheol’s mind, and he was left speechless. Kyung-wan didn’t miss that hesitation.
“Seriously? A hero? A cop? Wow~ even novels have fresher plots than this. So what kind of hero are you?”
At Kyung-wan’s words, Cheol answered honestly.
“I’m too embarrassed to say.”
“Well, if you say so.”
Kyung-wan didn’t pry any further. In that regard, he was surprisingly clean-cut.
“Anyway, so what’s your business?”
“Graphite’s, ”
“No.”
Before Cheol could even finish his sentence, Kyung-wan shook his head.
Cheol’s expression hardened.
“Why?”
“Because he’s pitiful.”
“Who is?”
Cheol’s voice sharpened. As a police officer, he couldn’t accept that Graphite had injured so many people.
But that line of thinking was slightly off the mark.
“The old man.”
“The old man?”
“You know I was the one who stayed with Heuknoya at the end, right?”
Because he was a cop.
Cheol nodded. Anyone who knew about Kyung-wan and investigated Graphite inevitably knew about Heuknoya as well. The power that allowed Graphite to commit these assaults came from Heuknoya, after all.
Kyung-wan continued.
“So why would I help you catch Graphite? There’s such a thing as basic human decency.”
“I thought you were a cold guy. Didn’t expect you to be this sentimental.”
“Isn’t empathizing with victims the normal emotion of a normal person?”
It sounded right, but somehow, the mouth saying it, and the situation it was being applied to, felt off.
“A victim? Heuknoya, who committed murder?”
“He was a victim, wasn’t he? A victim who lost his blood relative to extrajudicial power. If the law had properly punished them afterward, maybe it’d be different, but it didn’t, did it? How desperate do you think he must have been to go mad enough to commit murder?”
“The dead child was innocent.”
“That old man’s child didn’t deserve to die either. He was wronged, but the law was useless? Then how exactly are you supposed to live?”
“...Innocent people are getting hurt.”
“Who’s innocent?”
“The children of those who committed the crime.”
“That’s all karma. You know it too, right? The world doesn’t run according to the law. I know it as well. I know collective punishment has a lot of problems. You, as a cop, must be especially uncomfortable with it. But haven’t we all already experienced collective punishment? You, who grew up in an orphanage, should know that better than anyone, right?”
Wasn’t the whole debate over being born with dirt-spoon or diamond-spoon status the very symbol of economic collective punishment? And yet, those who talked about it often didn’t fully grasp that it was essentially the same thing.
‘They want to inherit wealth, but not inherit guilt.’
It was human selfishness, but was that really so easy?
At Kyung-wan’s words, Cheol closed his eyes. He realized that persuasion through logic was impossible.
He really didn’t want to say this, but...
“Can’t you do it for me? Just because it’s me?”
Appealing to their relationship, to past affection, Cheol tried to ask, but Kyung-wan was firm.
“Nope, can’t.”
At that firmness, Cheol let out a heavy sigh.
Ever since they’d lived in the same room, Cheol had felt it, Kyung-wan’s boundaries were razor-sharp. Sharp enough to cut your heart if you got too close.
“You really haven’t changed at all.”
That one line meant that Cheol had, inwardly, given up on getting Kyung-wan’s help.
In response, Kyung-wan once again spat out his usual flippant, cynical joke.
“I told you. People die when they change.”
---
About a month later, Graphite’s second attack occurred. He struck again just as the victims’ bones were starting to heal.
The police and security firms had already been convinced that Graphite would attack again, and they had set up protection systems for the victims as well as operations to capture Graphite. Even special anti-Graphite equipment used in Thunder Boy’s gauntlets was distributed to superpowered guards.
But as if he had anticipated all of this, Graphite displayed a completely different side from before, almost as if he were a different person.
It could be summarized in two words.
Stealthy and relentless.
He moved late at night when he was hard to spot, striking from unseen places with deadly ambushes.
Faced with tactics that fully exploited the advantages of telekinesis, the superpowered police and guards were overwhelmed in an instant. Unless one had x-ray vision, it was no easy task to quickly detect and respond to attacks coming through walls and doors, from above or from blind spots behind.
The black smoke that symbolized Graphite’s telekinesis would seep in through any gap it could find, and if there was no gap, it would bore small holes through walls, slipping in to strike from blind spots and incapacitate police forces and security personnel.
No matter how much equipment designed to counter Graphite’s telekinesis was issued, no one could block every attack that obsessively targeted blind spots.
“Why! Why do I have to go through this!”
A young man, who had only just managed to walk again after having his cast removed, screamed as he stared at the black smoke coalescing before his eyes.