Chapter 94
Chapter 94
-------------------------------------------------
Translator : M.N 1391
Chapter: 94
-------------------------------------------------
“We don’t know that. But we do have a way to track where Ms. Han Young-mi is.”
Isn’t that right?
It was a question contained in the look she gave Kyung-wan.
Kyung-wan nodded with a yeah-yeah motion.
“Got it, so let’s wrap this up quickly.”
Dragging things out like this was exactly what Kyung-wan hated.
Using the Clairvoyance device once again, Kyung-wan’s consciousness flew to the prayer retreat of the Ieul Church, where Han Young-mi had been.
To be honest, using the Clairvoyance device was pretty fun. The freedom of consciousness, imprisoned in the cage called the body, moving at will regardless of gravity or terrain was more exhilarating than any sport. If there was a sport that could even compare, maybe wingsuit flying?
But this was even freer, and far safer.
Following Han Young-mi’s scent, Kyung-wan’s consciousness continued moving east.
As he traced the scent, he felt something was off. Paradoxically, the scent kept lingering the entire time.
That meant she hadn’t traveled by vehicle.
Wasn’t that strange? A vehicle would be far more suitable for escaping, wouldn’t it?
What was even stranger was the distance Kyung-wan had traced. For someone to move that far in such a short time without a vehicle was unrealistic.
Moreover, the route she had taken was through a forest with barely any proper paths. It felt like she had simply sprinted mindlessly in a straight line toward the east.
In the end, the pursuit only ended after Kyung-wan’s consciousness reached the East Sea. Han Young-mi’s scent melted into the waves and was buried under the smell of the ocean, disappearing completely.
“I failed.”
“Failed?”
“It cut off at the East Sea coastline.”
“Oh my? You made it that far?! That’s amazing! A new record!”
At Kyung-wan’s words, Maria seemed to have already forgotten about Han Young-mi’s existence.
“Let’s measure how far Mr. Kyung-wan’s consciousness can go.”
“I don’t remember coming here to be experimented on.”
“Ah… right?”
What Kyung-wan had agreed to was tracking the movements of a kidnapped woman, not testing the Clairvoyance device.
Kyung-wan narrowed his eyes at the disappointed Maria. The more he thought about it, the more certain he was that she had used Han Young-mi as an excuse and him as a bonus to test the device’s performance.
As if she didn’t even notice Kyung-wan’s gaze, she muttered to herself in thought.
“Hmm… Was there an accomplice? To the east is Japan… Could Japan have gotten involved?”
“It’s not impossible.”
If Japan had already greased the palms of even the National Intelligence Service, it was more than capable of identifying Han Young-mi’s existence and attempting a kidnapping. Although Japan’s standing had certainly declined compared to the past, wealth lasted three generations, and Japan hadn’t yet gone through three generational turnovers.
Maria smacked her lips in disappointment.
“What a shame… Research into healing abilities attracts a lot of sponsors.”
“So I can go now, right?”
“Yes. Good work. What we promised will be ready in a few days.”
Just like that, Kyung-wan was able to step away from the Se-rip Research Institute raid incident.
And contrary to his expectations, he found that Maria was quite strict about keeping her promises. A small solitary cell built solely for Kyung-wan was completed just a few days later, exactly as promised.
At one corner of the boundary between the prison and the research institute, on the research institute’s side, a small warehouse-sized prison made of reinforced concrete was constructed. The door faced toward the prison.
Stepping into the cell built just for him, Kyung-wan couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.
“Oh ho!”
A wall-mounted TV connected to the latest game consoles, a soft sofa that doubled as a bed, and even an air conditioner!
Chief Hong, who followed him in, couldn’t hide his bewildered expression.
“Is this a cell or a studio apartment?”
If it had a sink and cooking facilities, it would’ve easily passed as a studio.
Kyung-wan added one more comment to Chief Hong’s impression.
“The wallpaper’s insulated, too.”
Chief Hong closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm the thoughts flooding his head.
This isn’t a prison. This isn’t a prison.
But then he recalled the phone call he’d received from the Minister of Justice last time. The content was simple: follow the proposal of Research Director Kim Maria.
As a corrections officer, Chief Hong’s convictions were defeated by the inherent limits of being a public servant.
While he was spacing out in a moment of existential dissonance, Kyung-wan had already put his shoes in the shoe cabinet and turned on the TV and game console.
Then he exclaimed in admiration.
“Wow~ They even loaded the latest games and all the Game of the Year titles?”
It was considerate enough to make him want to flick his past self on the forehead, the one who had disparaged her as reeking of an outrageous bitch aura.
Chief Hong watched Kyung-wan grab a controller and sink into the sofa with a displeased expression.
“Hey. Do you really think this is right?”
“It’s not hurting anyone. Isn’t it fine?”
“No, I’m asking if this is right!”
Was it anomie brought on by the gap between a corrections officer’s values and reality?
For someone like Kyung-wan, who was indifferent to most things in life, the only thing to give someone as confused as Chief Hong was a blunt strike of facts.
“In an era where killing your own three-year-old child and forging an award certificate get the same sentence, what does right or wrong even matter?”
In a world where someone steals a cup of ramen and, with no connections, gets three years and six months in prison, while someone else commits drunk driving again during probation and isn’t even immediately detained, only getting arrested after days of ‘deliberation’, what exactly was the problem with Kyung-wan receiving this kind of special treatment?
It wasn’t even parental connections. They were doing this purely because they coveted his abilities.
At Kyung-wan’s words, Chief Hong let out a deep sigh.
“Haah… I don’t know anymore.”
“Don’t stress too much. Stress makes it fall out faster.”
At that, Chief Hong shot Kyung-wan a sharp glare.
It felt like a few more strands of hair had just fallen out.
= = = = =
The psychic prison assault incident gave rise to terms like psychic security, psychic policing, psychic guarding, and psychic protection.
It was partly media hype fueled by advertising money from related companies, but it was also half true. The world had already entered an era where psychic powers were widespread.
Amid all that, another incident occurred, yet another kidnapping and exposé involving the so-called Dead Reporter.
Currently, the psychic criminals recognized by Korean investigative authorities, so-called villains, were Sandman, Heuk-ya, the Castrator who had cut off the privates of a chaebol third-generation heir and a National Assembly member, and lastly, the Dead Reporter.
Although there was no proof that the Dead Reporter was a psychic, investigators classified him as a villain.
Because of the nature of his crimes.
Even now, crimes involving psychic powers continued to occur, but those were merely existing crimes with psychic abilities added on like toppings.
Crimes born from motives such as jealousy, vested interests, theft, or poverty.
But those classified as villains were different. Their crimes were based on their own ‘beliefs,’ and those beliefs aimed to destroy the rule of law and undermine national order… or so was the investigative authorities’ stance.
Well, you could see it that way, but at the core of it, there was no denying the resentment of the vested interests toward criminals who had dared to commit what could be called ‘high treason.’
‘How dare they come at us?’
Would a Korean elite cartel armed with the “we’re all in this together” mindset easily submit to such illegal violence? This wasn’t a coup, after all.
Fortunately, major corporations had already invested huge sums to establish psychic security companies and the like, and they were extremely cooperative.
Naturally, they too were part of the vested interests.
Rather than a world where awakened commoners ran wild just because they gained some power, they much preferred a capitalist society, one in which they held massive shares, where powerful psychics obediently submitted.
But the world was full of lunatics, and among them were those who were calmly insane.
Boom!
“Holy shit, that scared me!”
Startled awake by a sudden explosion, Kyung-wan shot upright. It wasn’t a distant blast, it had happened right nearby.
And that wasn’t all. Someone was forcibly opening the iron door.
Kreeeek! The locking mechanism screeched, then finally came the sound of metal breaking as the iron door flew wide open.
Revealed under the moonlight were the shadows of two people. One was ordinary, but the other had an exceptionally imposing build. Muscles that radiated presence even as a shadow made it obvious, he was a Muscler.
Kyung-wan thought that whoever had come up with the term Muscler had done a great job, and he spoke to the two of them.
“I’m sleeping. Close the door and leave.”
At his words, the two seemed momentarily at a loss for words. They clearly hadn’t expected to hear that. And sleep, at a time like this, with sirens wailing all around?
The shadow with the ordinary build stepped forward. He was a young man dressed in something like a casual suit.
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Lee Kyung-wan.”
“I don’t take door-to-door sales. Leave.”
“…Hahaha! Just as I’ve heard, you’re a funny man.”
“Who says?”
“People do. After watching the documentary, I understood it myself.”
As the man spoke, the sirens stopped. Not because the emergency was over, but because they were assessing the situation and preparing a response. The intruders who had suddenly appeared in the prison didn’t have much time.
“I’ll get straight to the point, Mr. Lee Kyung-wan. We want you to join us.”
At that, Kyung-wan tilted his head. Vigilantes? If it were Vigilantes, recruitment would be handled by that telepath, wouldn’t it? Was this an internal schism?
But it wasn’t that.
“We are an organization called Übermensch. We work for the rights of all superhumans in this world.”
“If it’s about superhuman rights, shouldn’t you avoid breaking in like this?”
“Well? Considering the unjust treatment you’ve received, this intrusion is a price they deserve to pay.”
What unjust treatment?
Kyung-wan tilted his head. A room spacious enough to be called a shared cell, a sofa, and above all, a huge wall-mounted TV connected to game consoles, and this was unjust treatment?
Receiving such preferential treatment, hearing talk of injustice felt absurd to him.
But the man wasn’t talking about Kyung-wan’s current treatment, he was talking about the past.
“What did you do wrong to deserve being locked up here? You did the right thing. Locking up someone who did the right thing is unjust.”
What the hell is this guy?
Just in case, Kyung-wan asked one question.
“You really think I didn’t do a single thing wrong?”
At that, the young man gave an unexpected answer.
“If there was anything you did wrong, it’s that you were too reckless.”
“…??? What do you mean?”
“If it were me, I wouldn’t have stormed the National Assembly like that. I would’ve quietly kidnapped Yang Seung-tae without anyone knowing and buried him without a sound.”
Ah… so that’s what he means by wrong?
At that moment, Kyung-wan judged that the guy in front of him was no ordinary nutcase either.
And the best policy with nutcases is not to associate with them.
Kyung-wan stood up and walked toward the door. The man spoke in a tone brimming with pride.
“We want you to freely use your abilities, ”
But he couldn’t finish his sentence. Kyung-wan had slammed the iron door shut with his own hands.
“I was hoping you’d come quietly, but it’s come to this.”
The man jerked his chin toward the iron door, and the muscular man nodded and began to move.
He grabbed the iron door and yanked it open violently. The sturdy door didn’t just open, it tore free and fell off.
“Let’s go.”
“Hey! I said I’m not going!”
Kyung-wan shook his head and pulled the blanket over himself, but the muscular man wrapped him up in the blanket like a roll and hoisted him straight onto his shoulder.