Chapter 96
Chapter 96
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Translator : M.N 1391
Chapter: 96
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Caught off guard by the unexpected turn of events, the man stood there dazed for a moment before snapping back to his senses, clapping his hands in admiration.
“Just as I thought! Our eyes weren’t wrong! You’re exactly the talent we need!”
“Why do you need me?”
“Your ability! Those who don’t know any better mistake you for a mental-type esper. But your true ability is suppressing other espers’ powers! Otherwise, you couldn’t have done that to my colleague!”
As he spoke, something suddenly clicked in Nam Dong-geon’s mind as he quietly hid his presence and waited for an opening. Back when he’d awakened super strength and gone to get revenge on Kyung-wan for beating him senseless with it, his fist had been perfectly fine even after punching concrete, yet the moment Kyung-wan deflected his punch, his knuckles had split open and started bleeding.
If Kyung-wan’s ability really was suppressing other superpowers, that explained everything.
But the one listening, Kyung-wan himself, only tilted his head. Despite the man’s grand, almost flighty explanation, what Kyung-wan felt was simply, ‘That’s it?’
The essence of his ability was sensing and controlling S-particles. He couldn’t immediately manifest phenomena like super strength or telekinesis with it, but interfering with the manifestation process of superpowers was nothing more than a secondary effect, depending on his own capacity.
The reason the muscular man carrying Kyung-wan on his shoulder hadn’t been able to properly use his super strength was because the high-density S-particles surrounding Kyung-wan had been activated by Kyung-wan’s will and concentration, then penetrated the muscular man’s body and disrupted his S-particle activation.
Well, you could call that a power-interference ability, but fundamentally, it wasn’t accurate to say that was the full extent of what Kyung-wan could do.
Still, unlike the meddling man with a severe case of eighth-grader syndrome and a tendency to overexplain, Kyung-wan didn’t bother laying all that out.
“Whatever. I’m not going.”
“... Hm...”
At Kyung-wan’s words, the meddling man used his ability around him. But when Kyung-wan flicked his hand dismissively, the S-particle construct the man was forming nearby got swept away by the flow of Kyung-wan’s S-particles.
Kyung-wan frowned.
“Let’s keep it reasonable. You’re starting to seriously piss me off. You saw the documentary I was in, right?”
“I did, but...”
“Then go back quietly and watch it ten, twenty more times before you decide whether I’m someone you can recruit.”
Kyung-wan was being generous. First, because he wasn’t pissed off enough yet. And second, because of the other side’s potential.
They were trying to gather espers worldwide and aimed for humanity’s transcendence? And the group’s name was Übermensch?
Throughout history, the outcomes of grand ideals boiled down to just two possibilities.
Either they got wiped out completely, or they succeeded in forming a new ruling class.
Kyung-wan gave decent points to the group called Übermensch simply for having the vision of creating something like a global esper organization. Think about the immense influence they’d wield if that vision came true. No one knew whether they’d succeed or fail, but if he made an enemy of them and they actually succeeded, his otherwise carefree life could suddenly become a nightmare.
That said, he hated group life just as much, so this was the maximum level of tolerance Kyung-wan was willing to show.
Maybe because Kyung-wan’s attitude wasn’t all that hostile, or maybe because he looked profoundly fed up with everything,
The Higgs man gave up on trying to kidnap him.
“Our Übermensch will always welcome you.”
“Thanks for that.”
“Think it over carefully. Humans can’t live alone.”
With that, the Higgs man glanced around and added,
“But to them, you’re nothing more than a criminal, or a monster. Right now, you’re useful, so they smile at you. But the moment the situation changes, they’ll rush to strap a bomb with a remote detonator around your neck.”
Was that fear the reason the Higgs man had joined Übermensch in the first place?
It wasn’t Kyung-wan’s problem. He waved his hand dismissively, meaning he’d handle his own business, so hurry up and get lost.
The Higgs man grabbed his unconscious colleague by the nape of the neck, hoisted him up, and leapt cleanly over the high wall before disappearing.
Watching his retreating figure, Kyung-wan muttered in disbelief,
“If you can do that, why the hell did you bother breaking some random wall?”
That it had been nothing more than the muscular man showing off his strength was something Kyung-wan would probably never realize.
Seeing Kyung-wan like that, one of the First Security guards raised his voice.
“What are you doing?! We should be chasing them!”
“You do it, then?”
“...”
At the flat reply, the guard shut his mouth immediately.
Yeah. If you don’t have the ability, keep it shut. Right?
= = = = =
In truth, private organizations of espers like Übermensch weren’t anything new.
In South America, espers had already formed organizations large and small, modeled after the region’s infamous cartels. India, the Middle East, Europe, Russia, Southeast Asia, even China, had seen the formation of countless esper groups. Africa was no exception.
When people gain power, it’s only natural they want to use it. And it’s just as natural for existing power structures to feel threatened and try to suppress it, and for those resentful of such suppression to push back.
Still, the reason Übermensch’s appearance shocked Korean society so deeply was that, at a time when villains like the Dead Reporter, Sandman, the Castrator, and Graphite were still at large, yet another new villain group had popped up and caused trouble, as if shouting, ‘Screw South Korea’s law enforcement! Damn it!’
Was Korea’s vaunted public safety nothing but a thing of the past now? And the name, Übermensch? Aiming for humanity’s transcendence? Just hearing it, didn’t it sound blatantly anti-social and destined to clash with public authority?
For now, aside from a prison wall and gate being destroyed, there had been no major damage. But the very act of pursuing “transcendence” was bound to collide with the existing order. Transcendence meant cutting away everything that could be called restraint or oppression.
As criticism of incompetent law enforcement grew, the opposition party intensified its attacks, calling for the overthrow of the inept administration. The ruling party, in turn, issued stern warnings, accusing the opposition of exploiting a global era of superpower-induced chaos for political gain.
Amid all this, while countless people voiced concern and anxiety over the superpower turmoil spreading even into politics, Kyung-wan was the exception.
As if he alone lived in a different world, he was busy going through the procedures for a domestic furlough he’d been promised earlier.
“This is your furlough permit. Pick up your ID and belongings from the office.”
“What about my inmate funds?”
“Cash, or transfer to your account?”
“Transfer, please.”
Who used cash these days? Cards were the norm.
Even if Kyung-wan had spent his entire social life as an inmate, he still had his own bank account and debit card. He needed to receive the cooperation fees from the FBI, didn’t he? He wasn’t broke anymore.
“Don’t go causing trouble out there. Please.”
Director Hong personally came to see Kyung-wan off.
He was seriously worried. He desperately hoped Kyung-wan wouldn’t cause any incidents during his furlough, because if he did, the responsibility would fall squarely on Hong himself.
Kyung-wan replied nonchalantly,
“I’m not going alone, am I? You’ve got people stuck to me like that.”
He gestured to the two men behind him. One was a surveillance-cum-bodyguard outsourced by the police to Letto Security, and the other was Jeffrey, who’d been present during the Sandman Task Force assault incident.
Publicly, Jeffrey was known as FBI, but in reality he belonged to the NSA. These days, with manpower stretched thin everywhere, inter-agency cooperation meant he’d temporarily been assigned to manage Kyung-wan. Kim Jun was apparently busy back home.
For the record, the Letto Security guy beside him was an esper.
Even after it became known that the Übermensch people had tried to kidnap Kyung-wan and that he possessed the ability to nullify superpowers, they’d still deliberately assigned an esper, not to prevent Kyung-wan from escaping, but to catch or block anyone targeting him. Apparently, there’d also be long-range protection and surveillance.
Now that superpower research was finally getting on track, it seemed the government and corporations were starting to recognize Kyung-wan’s value in that field.
A superpower-suppression ability? For elites and power holders constantly anxious about disgruntled individuals awakening as powerful espers, what ability could be more attractive than that?
Still, the reason they’d assigned esper guards instead of regular police was that the police were already running themselves ragged dealing with Übermensch, the Dead Reporter, vigilantes, and the rest. And then there were the nonstop superpower crimes on top of that.
Looking at the two men behind Kyung-wan, Director Hong asked them earnestly,
“I’m counting on you.”
Please, just make sure he doesn’t cause trouble.
The two men had no choice but to give the customary assurances.
Thus, Kyung-wan headed out to enjoy his furlough with two figurative humps attached, but he didn’t really think of them as burdens.
“Jeffrey. You’ve got a car, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s use your car.”
Instead of a burden, what could be more convenient than a personal chauffeur?
At Kyung-wan’s suggestion, Jeffrey froze.
“···.”
“Why? If I take public transport, won’t it be a pain for you to follow me around?”
It made sense, but honestly, Jeffrey couldn’t help asking,
“Just how far are you planning to go?”
Couldn’t you just stay quietly somewhere nearby?
It was the unspoken thought he couldn’t bring himself to voice.
Kyung-wan answered,
“A food tour. When else am I going to enjoy gourmet food if not now?”
“A food tour?”
As Jeffrey’s eyes widened, Kyung-wan smiled and nodded. It didn’t look like happy surprise, but what did Kyung-wan care?
“Of course. I really dug around online to make the most of this chance.”
It was hard to filter out real good places since most of it was viral advertising.
Kyung-wan turned to the Letto guard standing awkwardly beside Jeffrey.
“Mr. Park Hae-jin. Don’t you want some meat?”
Meat? Of course he did.
When Park Hae-jin nodded, Kyung-wan cheerfully raised a finger and declared,
“Let’s go! It’s on me!”
At that confident shout, Park Hae-jin quietly drifted closer behind Kyung-wan. If someone was buying meat, how could he show any reluctance?
With the balance instantly turning into a two-against-one situation, Jeffrey let out a small sigh, but he didn’t look all that unhappy either.
So the place Jeffrey drove Kyung-wan to was a barbecue restaurant.
“Boss! Five servings of premium sirloin!”
“Yes~! Coming right up!”
In times like these, customers who ordered expensive premium beef right off the bat instead of a set menu were a godsend.
The owner smiled, quickly finished setting the table, and brought out the meat.
But something felt off. Why were the nearby tables staring at them? And what was with the whispering, and people pointing their phone cameras this way?
As he served them, the owner’s ears caught snippets of their conversation.
“Haa~. Being this famous is kind of a problem.”
“We’re not going to get kicked out before we even eat, are we?”
“Shouldn’t we at least put the meat on the grill first? It’s expensive.”
“Isn’t this a bit… much?”
“Hey, I’m a bad guy, but will you still sell me meat? That’d be a weird thing to ask, right?”
Famous? Bad guy? Just how bad did you have to be to be famous, ah!
“Oh? You recognized me.”
Seeing the owner’s expression, Kyung-wan spoke frankly. The owner awkwardly stiffened and darted his eyes around.