Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator : M.N 1391
Chapter: 53
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‘The power I never thought would leave me has left me. The power I never thought would abandon me has abandoned me~.’
‘Uh… hey, wait a second!’
Now that the strength that could bend steel doors, warp metal bars, and punch holes through concrete walls had vanished, the guy panicked and held both palms out toward Kyungwan. But Kyungwan, still humming, showed no sign of stopping as he approached.
‘I can’t easily forget the bulked-up strength. Too late, the bulk-up is already over~.’
‘….’
Realizing he couldn’t win, the guy finally turned and ran.
Kyungwan hummed as he chased after him.
‘Oh oh-oh-oh, oh oh oh oh. Don’t call me a harsh man. Oh oh-oh-oh, oh oh oh oh. You made a mess, now take responsibility~.’
‘Aaaagh! Arghhh!’
How far could he even run inside a prison filled with metal statues everywhere? The guy was soon caught, and his screams echoed through the facility.
= = = = =
The so-called Super-Strength Inmate Incident was wrapped up quickly thanks to Kyungwan’s “efforts”(?). But that wasn’t the end, nor was this phenomenon limited to Korea. The entire world was suddenly suffering from an outbreak of newly awakened superpowered individuals.
Some cases were like this, bizarre super-strength, but many showed overall physical enhancement or heightened senses.
Scholars classified the phenomenon as the birth of a Singularity. Opinions differed on the exact moment it began, but most agreed that it likely happened sometime before the Olympics where a flood of new world records were set. Thinking back on today’s situation, it was difficult to explain those record-breaking performances unless they were the early symptoms of superpower awakening.
Then what caused all this?
The leading theory was that an event occurred where the dimension overflowing with the so-called Singularity Particles, S-Particles, a proposed “fifth force”, overlapped with the human world’s dimension.
Otherwise, how would such forces, unrelated to electromagnetism, gravity, the strong force, or the weak force, suddenly appear? That was the academic consensus. Some scholars even argued that this event was strong evidence supporting the multiverse theory.
The issue of dimensional collision spread quickly to religious communities as it became intertwined with the chaos surrounding newly awakened superhumans.
‘Judgment Day is coming! The Lord’s day of purging the world with fire is near!’
Sensing an opportunity, cults sprang up everywhere, demanding that their followers donate all their possessions.
‘I, I didn’t want to kill them!’
A student who had been constantly bullied awakened a power while being beaten and ended up killing or crippling the delinquents tormenting him.
If Korea was like this, imagine the rest of the world. In South America, a drug cartel of awakened individuals waged war to expand territory. In the U.S., where the wealth gap was severe, superpowered robberies skyrocketed.
Europe was already a mess with refugee and immigration crises, while the Middle East, already ravaged by religious and ethnic conflict, fared no better.
Ironically, China and Russia were relatively stable. Their method? When superpowered criminals rampaged, they simply blasted them with overwhelming firepower and broadcasted the scenes nationwide. After that, no one with powers dared think about committing crimes.
Governments worldwide were overwhelmed but still responded quickly.
The U.S., in particular, created a special anti-superpower crime response team composed mainly of awakened individuals. They deployed them first around Washington, the Capitol, and the White House. After all, the biggest concern was awakened individuals trying to influence politics with their newfound strength.
It wasn’t an excessive fear, such attempts had happened even without superpowers. The name for that was terrorism.
[Intruder infiltrating the White House captured. But the White House looks like a warzone. Superpowered individuals, should we really leave this unchecked?]
‘That was close. Really close.’
Warden Hong closed the international news article on his monitor and looked ahead. Kyungwan was savoring the mountain of food arranged before him.
Warden Hong smiled kindly.
‘Anything else you want to eat?’
‘No. How am I supposed to finish all this myself? Most of this is definitely going to be left over.’
‘If there’s leftovers, the others can eat it.’
The food piled in front of Kyungwan was the guards’ way of expressing gratitude. If he hadn’t held off the super-strong inmate and eventually subdued him, things could’ve gone terribly. In other prisons, there had even been casualties, and they ended up resorting to firearms.
Compared to those prisons, ○○ Prison practically owed its safety entirely to Kyungwan. A thank-you like this was only natural. The fact that the inmate’s limbs were broken and shattered, requiring months in bed, was something everyone conveniently ignored.
‘But how exactly did you subdue him?’
‘Didn’t all that get recorded on CCTV?’
To prevent inmate suicides, solitary cells all had CCTV installed. Warden Hong had, of course, watched how Kyungwan handled the guy. But seeing didn’t necessarily mean understanding.
If everyone understood just by watching a professor’s lecture notes on a chalkboard, then why would we need master’s and doctoral degrees? The movements Kyungwan showed in that footage were so unbelievable that stunt actors, dancers, acrobats, and fighters alike would want to call him “professor”.
‘I watched it, and it still doesn’t make sense. So I’m wondering… did you awaken too?’
‘Superpowers?’
‘Yeah.’
‘I’m not sure.’
Kyungwan tilted his head. He had been interacting with the so-called S-Particles through his sixth sense recently, but he didn’t feel any noticeable increase in physical strength.
His senses did seem sharper, but whether that counted as a superpower was still unclear. In short, more observation was needed.
Seeing his uncertainty, the warden continued.
‘I can’t understand how his fist got injured. When he activates his ability, his fists get harder too. Yet when he fought you, his fist was damaged. I can’t help wondering if you were the cause.’
‘A reasonable question, but… all I can say is I have no idea.’
He really didn’t. He hadn’t even been paying attention to why the guy’s fist broke.
Kyungwan changed the topic.
‘How far has Korea progressed in studying superhumans?’
‘Remember the guy who drove a truck into the National Assembly building?’
‘Yes.’
Kyungwan nodded. That man remained in his memory as Korea’s first criminal who tried to directly influence politics using superpowers. Whether he was blackout drunk or half-insane didn’t matter.
Even if his intent was nothing more than drunken venting, the fact that he attempted direct violence against lawmakers had immense social implications.
Conservatives would naturally push for heavy restrictions and regulations on superhumans, but Kyungwan could say one thing for sure.
Power is power. And power, inevitably, intertwines with money and authority. Even if that power came in the form of superhuman abilities, it was no exception. After all, government authority ultimately came from physical force that ordinary citizens could not resist.
There would be chaos, sure, but the world was already a mess. Nothing would change meaningfully. Humanity would simply adapt to the new normal. Human adaptability was frighteningly strong.
Warden Hong continued.
‘This guy Choi Pilsoo… his ability is unusual. Conditional activation.’
‘What condition?’
‘He has to be drunk for his super-strength to appear.’
Apparently, he tore apart that gap-investment mother-daughter pair while completely blacked out.
Well, alcohol did reduce self-control. The only reason alcohol-related crimes were endless despite everyone knowing this was because the law was garbage, or because judges handed down rulings however they pleased.
Considering recent cases, it seemed more like the latter. Judges never got fired or punished for trash rulings, so of course they handed down whatever verdicts they wanted. ‘I intervened but had no authority to intervene, so he’s not guilty.’ Nonsense like that was the norm these days.
‘Then what about the guy who caused trouble in this prison?’
‘Still investigating… but apparently he’s the type who regains super-strength for a certain period after a certain cooldown.’
Recharge type, or maybe cooldown-based.
‘Everyone must be busy.’
Warden Hong nodded, interpreting his words as referring to the chaos at other prisons dealing with superpowered inmates.
‘Everyone’s scrambling to overhaul containment systems. So about that…’
‘There you go again. You’re making me nervous…’
Watching the warden hesitate with a request coming, Kyungwan instantly sensed annoyance.
Warden Hong finally spoke.
‘They’re planning to transfer superpowered inmates to our prison.’
‘…And why are you telling me this?’
Kyungwan’s innocent expression clearly meant: “And why is that relevant to me?” But Warden Hong already had him figured out. That innocent act meant one thing, he didn’t want to hear anything troublesome.
If someone were even slightly sociable, they’d help ease the tension when someone looked like they were about to make a difficult request. But pretending not to know anything now? That was either dense or brazen. And on top of that, he was younger!
Grumbling inside about how shameless and cold this guy was, the warden continued.
‘They released emergency funding to renovate the cells, but it’ll take time. So until then, they want to hold superpowered inmates in a prison capable of handling incidents.’
At those words, Kyungwan looked at the warden silently.
Warden Hong’s eyes darted away. He knew very well how nonsensical his explanation sounded.
Superpowered inmates? What, were the guns for making soup?
‘At this point, I don’t know if I’m an inmate or a correctional officer.’
‘Ahem!’
‘Stop with the nonsense and tell me the truth.’
‘It is true! That’s exactly what the official document says!’
The warden insisted, but Kyungwan wasn’t buying it.
‘What did the document say?’
Warden Hong summarized. The government planned to house superpowered inmates at ○○ Prison, and would provide financial and personnel support accordingly.
Kyungwan tilted his head.
‘Sounds like they’re trying to build a dedicated superpowered-criminal facility.’
‘Really?’
Warden Hong raised his eyebrows. He himself didn’t understand the government’s decision. If they gathered all the superpowered criminals in one place and they bonded,
Some might think criminals uniting was unlikely, but humans were creatures who fought over nothing yet bonded just as easily over nothing.
Koreans who barely know each other suddenly acting like old friends when meeting abroad; alumni helping strangers in the workplace simply for being from the same school, if things like that happened, then sharing the identity of “superpowered” made it easy for criminals to develop camaraderie.
And since they were all inmates who had committed crimes, forming common ground would be even easier.