Chapter 408: Interlude – Let’s Walk the Night. It was Summer. (Part 2)
Chapter 408: Interlude – Let’s Walk the Night. It was Summer. (Part 2)
“Hmm.”
Due to the nature of my ability, I intentionally delayed my entry, yet the scent of death hanging in the air is thicker than I imagined.
Just how many people have died?
It seems the Management Bureau intends to use this incident as an example.
A warning to those who oppose the new order. Of course, there will be a bit of information manipulation mixed in, but those who know will know.
Tsk, tsk. What a pity.
Judging by the scale of the organization and its founding intent, it was never meant to end like this, but they stepped on a landmine.
Awakened Eugenics, of all things.
From my perspective as a humble member of the medical profession, it’s nothing short of nonsense.
Becoming an Awakened is purely a matter of chance; it doesn't create a hierarchy among humans.
As a military doctor who has cut open countless people, I can say this with near certainty.
Of course, there are cases where the body changes due to certain special abilities, but those come with their own pros and cons. To call it superiority is…
“Besides, once the Story ends, the power even returns to its source.”
While some Heroes retain remnants of their time as Heroes, that is far from being superior.
In the first place, the very concept of eugenics makes no sense.
Even if Heroes who retain their reproductive capabilities marry and have children, there hasn't been a single case where The Child was born an Awakened.
Granted, there have been many reports of cases where a slight Supernatural Power exists, but even then, they aren't particularly superior to ordinary people.
As I walked down the hallway, continuing my academic musings, several corpses came into view.
In some cases, the bodies had been hidden away, while in others, they were simply left where they fell.
My ability, sensitive to death, quickly caught onto all of them.
Countless deaths have taken root in this basement.
As someone who usually participates as a medic alongside soldiers, I rarely have the chance to work with these people, and I find it difficult to understand their thoughts and actions.
Life is a precious thing, after all.
It’s a bit rich coming from someone registered in the Assassination Team, but these fellows really need to undergo a group psychiatric evaluation.
I imagine the records would be filled with enough mental abnormalities to keep Carte busy for a long time.
Even from my non-specialist perspective, I can spot numerous issues immediately.
As I walked down the hallway, contemplating the many problems present in reality…
“Hmm?”
A sensation rare for this place struck me.
Amidst this location overflowing with death, there was a single living breath.
The moment my ability caught it, I hurried toward her to fulfill my duty as a medical professional.
I found her—a woman with beautiful blonde hair stained with blood—collapsed and bleeding from a gunshot wound to the head.
Upon finding her, I immediately began assessing her condition.
A clean entry wound without distortion.
Burn marks and irregular lacerations around the entry point.
The wound was caused by a single shot to the temple at close range.
Judging by the angle of entry, the bullet had burrowed straight into the brain.
Based on this, the culprit was likely Svetlana.
However, one thing was strange.
Svetlana is always bothered by work, but she’s usually thorough because she knows that sloppy work makes the cleanup even more tedious. So, she failed to finish the job?
The corpses scattered nearby had multiple Shadow Spear wounds or extra gunshots, as if she wanted to make sure they didn't survive the first hit.
Setting aside that doubt, I proceeded with emergency treatment.
“Ah. I see.”
I soon realized the reason.
The pouring blood stopped; instead, it began to be absorbed back into the wound.
Material Recovery Regeneration.
The gunshot wound wouldn't heal instantly, but that was likely only a matter of time.
She probably had an ability that allowed her to regenerate as long as it wasn't an instantaneous death.
Usually, blowing someone's brains out results in death, but perhaps she has the ability to regenerate even that, or maybe the bullet just happened to take a favorable path.
Regardless, this woman wasn't on the list, so there was no absolute need to kill her. Just as I was about to celebrate her survival…
She opened her eyes.
“Ah… ugh… aaah.”
The woman let out grotesque sounds, as if her language centers hadn't recovered yet.
“Ah. You’re awake.”
I spoke in a calm voice to soothe her.
She stared at me blankly for a moment, then suddenly pushed herself up and reached out toward me.
An action recognizing me as an enemy and attempting to attack.
It was a quick judgment and a good move, but…
“My, your wounds haven't fully healed yet.”
The moment I spoke, the woman’s posture collapsed.
Since her brain was damaged, her movements naturally wouldn't be normal.
Even if she had managed to stand, her arms were trembling uncontrollably in every direction instead of reaching for me, so she wouldn't have been able to cause any harm.
However, the reason her posture collapsed wasn't her fault.
It was the influence of my ability, which had instantaneously manipulated her internal signals.
“Ugh. Uh. Ah…”
She still couldn't form proper words.
I spoke again to reassure her.
“You possess a regeneration ability. It must be hard to grasp the situation, but there is currently a bullet lodged in your brain. If we can just do something about that…”
Just as I tried to calm her by telling her the truth of her situation…
“Ah?! Ugh! Ah!”
She suddenly began to struggle and thrash about.
“Please, stay calm! If you thrash around, the bullet might damage your brain further!”
I immediately activated telekinesis to forcibly hold her down.
I don't particularly enjoy forced medical treatment, but this was an emergency, so I had no choice.
Perhaps my words got through.
She stopped shaking her head, though she still moved her limbs in an attempt to escape my restraint.
“Aaaaaah!”
She continued to emit those strange sounds.
I let out a sigh and spoke to her.
“Is it difficult for you to recover your speech? Your motor skills seem to have recovered to some extent, so if you understand me, please blink your right eye twice.”
The moment I finished speaking…
Blink. Blink.
The woman’s eye blinked twice.
“Hmm. Then please listen carefully. Even for a regenerator, brain damage can be difficult to recover from. So, if you stay still, I will perform surgery to remove the bullet and…”
Her limbs began to shake again.
As if to say that wasn't it.
What exactly was going on?
There was some risk, but I suppose it couldn't be helped.
“Then I have no choice. Excuse me for a moment.”
As I said that, I strengthened my telekinesis and grabbed her face with my hand.
Consciousness connection through contact.
Because I have no talent for mental-type techniques, I can only activate it through contact, and depending on the opponent, there’s a risk of my brain overloading and breaking. But to save a person, I had to do it.
Steeling my resolve, I attempted the contact. Fortunately, I felt the link connect quickly.
‘Can you hear me?’
I spoke to her.
‘…I can hear you.’
She seemed to understand immediately that this was telepathy and sent back a quick response.
She then tried to pour out a flood of questions.
I blocked all of her incoming thoughts and spoke firmly.
‘What matters most right now is the patient’s recovery. So, I will ask you directly. Tell me the range and type of your regeneration ability. Otherwise, I cannot proceed with the surgery.’
When I sent that thought, her chaotic consciousness quieted down, and a single answer came back.
‘…It’s not a regeneration ability.’
‘What do you mean?’
Looking at how the wound had recovered, it was clearly a regeneration ability.
‘…It’s a Time-manipulation Ability. I can rewind my body’s state to a few minutes prior. It also has a function that activates automatically just before I die. Though it’s an ability I can turn off of my own will, not a forced one.’
Indeed, if that was the case, it wasn't pure regeneration but a variant ability.
The problem was that such an ability made surgery even more difficult.
A surgery to extract a bullet without touching the brain at all.
In an Operating Room equipped with all sorts of tools and assistants, it might be one thing, but in this field environment, the difficulty was extreme.
Even so, I would do it.
Just as I made up my mind…
‘…Doctor.’
A thought that seemed to have given up on everything flowed into my mind.
‘What is it?’
I sensed something there and sent back a gentle emotion.
‘You said there’s a bullet lodged in my head, right?’
‘That is correct.’
I didn't lie; I told her the firm truth.
White lies do not help in medical practice.
‘…And the time?’
‘That… I cannot say.’
‘…Then it’s over.’
‘What are you talking about? You mustn't give up yet!’
I shouted, unlike my usual self.
Because I couldn't bear to lose someone in my arms again.
‘…You’re kind. But it really is over. I’ve tried rewinding time as far back as I can, but the wound still won't heal.’
I understood then.
She had already received a fatal injury, but the conditions for the ability’s activation hadn't been met yet. Because of that, a large time discrepancy had formed between the moment she was wounded and her death.
Even if she rewound time from the point of death to her limit, the wound that should have killed her remained.
A wound that should have been lucky became the worst stroke of luck for her.
Because she was shot at an angle that allowed her to barely survive, the timing of her ability’s activation was delayed, trapping her in an eternal loop of death.
If only she had died instantly the moment the bullet hit.
But it was fine.
She wasn't dead yet.
Thinking that, I tried to persuade her. Her, who had already accepted death.
‘It’s alright! You’re still alive, aren't you? If we treat you now, you can survive…’
‘What are the chances of that?’
I was at a loss for words.
Because even I couldn't guarantee it.
But her mockery continued.
‘Even if I survive, can I ever reclaim my original life?’
‘That is…’
Brain recovery.
That was still an unknown territory.
There were success stories involving those with abilities that made it possible or cases where countless miracles overlapped, but…
Would they really perform such humanitarian work for a member of an organization targeted by the Management Bureau?
While I was lost in endless contemplation…
‘I see. It’s utterly hopeless. And the Management Bureau cannot show such mercy.’
‘…You heard that?’
It seemed my heart wavered, and some of my thoughts leaked through.
‘Yes, clearly. I heard it.’
‘…Please don't mind it. As long as you survive, there will be a day you see the light. Medical technology is advancing, so in a few years…’
I spoke words even I didn't believe, but it was fine.
This was necessary to encourage the will to live in a patient.
I didn't care about those already dead, but for someone who could survive to die before me again…
‘Can you. Kill me.’
The words of the woman who had given up on everything reached me with desperate intensity.
I could tell because it was a simple telepathic exchange of consciousness.
I could feel the firm resolve contained in that thought.
‘…You say such cruel things to a doctor who saves people.’
‘Then I’ll rephrase it. Please send me to my comrades.’
It was a play on words.
Or so I thought.
‘I felt it earlier, so I know. You’ve already considered euthanasia, and you’ve performed it before.’
‘I really have no talent for mental-type techniques.’
To think even my personal circumstances had leaked through.
Yes, I had done something a doctor should never do.
Though it’s common on the battlefield, I have killed those who had even a slight chance of survival.
And so, I continue to wear away.
Forgetting my first euthanasia.
I began the preparations for the act.
If it were an exchange of thoughts through language, we might have talked a bit more.
But because it was telepathy, because her resolve had been transmitted…
A small amount of drug in a syringe.
By injecting this, she could meet a peaceful death.
As I prepared it, I spoke to her aloud.
I told her about my first experience.
“She was my fiancée. My beautiful lover who had been with me since we were children.”
“The reason I chose the path of a doctor was when she, barely in her mid-teens, was diagnosed with an incurable disease she would have to live with for the rest of her life.”
“It wouldn't take her life immediately, but it was an incurable disease that meant she couldn't live past a certain age. It’s also called Huntington’s disease.”
“I worked hard to cure it, but she eventually developed symptoms and was left waiting only for the days of her death.”
I began to inject the drug into the woman listening to me.
“But she overcame it and stood up. ‘Awakening.’ That solved everything.”
Even an incurable disease that human power could do nothing about.
She had smiled at me.
The woman who received the injection looked at me with hazy eyes.
“But that happiness didn't last long. If you lived through the old era, you would know. The survival rate of Awakened wasn't that high back then.”
Once again, she lay in a hospital bed.
Unconscious, just like in the old days.
“By tasting hope, a person’s resistance to despair weakens. I couldn't bear to watch her lying in that hospital bed again.”
I didn't want to see her, who had no chance of survival, swallowed by the white hospital bed once more.
“That was the first and the last time.”
She quietly closed her eyes.
At that moment, I shed tears.
A new power entered me.
A Time-manipulation Ability. A power to prevent death.
An ability to gain power when I kill someone with whom I have a friendly relationship.
An ability I discovered when she died, without me even knowing it.
I covered the eyes of the woman who had peacefully closed them.
In her, I saw a glimpse of my old lover.
Come to think of it, you were blonde too.
Angie.
You are mine forever.
I won't give you to anyone.
Even my doctor friend who lied and said you could live if you had surgery—he was just trying to take you away from me, just like that genetic disease.
So, I will have my revenge.
On those who look down on Awakened, who took you from me.
You could have saved her, couldn't you?
On those who deify Awakened, who took you from me.
You’re the ones who pushed her to the front lines, aren't you?
And so. Let us provide the fertilizer called death to these fleeting lives.
That is my task.
Thinking thus.
While I was performing my noble work, I looked at those who had been surrounding me.
Those I had frozen in place with telekinesis and internal signal manipulation.
I plunged my reinforced hand into their hearts.
Even today, my mourning for her does not cease.
* * *
While my subordinates, specialized in killing humans, were cleaning everything up.
Taking advantage of the gap, I quietly entered the conference room alone.
To settle things with The Enemy Commander-in-Chief.
I boldly opened the door and stepped into the space.
There stood a round table.
Around the table were simple but expensive-looking chairs where many people would have sat.
But those chairs were all empty, and only one person sat in a single seat.
The woman, who looked so young her actual age was impossible to tell, quietly raised her head to look at me.
She frowned deeply as if she couldn't understand the situation.
But soon, as if she understood everything, she leaned back in her chair and spoke.
“What about the others?”
Normally, there would be nothing to discuss with a target.
But because I felt only resignation in her voice, which held no hostility.
I quietly opened my mouth and answered.
“They have all laid down their stories.”
At my words, which held many meanings, she gave a twisted smile.
Soon, she continued with a sad face.
“I see. Good work, Lee Ha-ram.”
“…You know me?”
I didn't expect my name to come up.
“Any Hero from Korea who lived through the old era would know you.”
“I see.”
I didn't know how to respond to her words, so I ended the conversation there. A short silence of about ten seconds passed.
“Could you wait just a moment?”
“….”
I didn't give any answer.
“Thank you.”
She seemed to take my silence as consent. She expressed her gratitude and reached into her coat.
Although I felt no hostility from her, martyrs on the verge of self-destruction often showed such emotions after giving up on everything, so I didn't let my guard down and followed her every move.
She pulled out a single purple gem from her coat.
A long, crystal-shaped gem with darkness swirling inside.
Holding it in her hand, she placed the crystal on the round table.
She placed her hand over it and continued speaking.
“This is The Core of my Story’s final boss.”
So she had maintained her power by keeping that without destroying it.
“As long as this remains, my Story will not end. If I were to die, this entity would be liberated and destroy everything around it.”
She spoke the facts calmly.
Was it a threat?
That if I killed her, a powerful enemy would be unleashed.
Thinking that, I began preparing to call in the response team I had on standby.
Just then, power began to gather in her hand. I prepared to kill her and immediately face The Enemy that would be liberated, but…
Crack.
A small explosion erupted under her hand.
The crystal, struck directly by the explosion, shattered, and the power sleeping within her began to rapidly vanish.
The End of the Story.
The reclamation of power.
Suddenly? Why?
While I was momentarily frozen, bewildered by the unexpected turn of events.
She continued her actions with a single sentence.
A small gun appeared in her hand from somewhere.
She held it against the side of her face, which was twisted in a look that was half-smile, half-sob.
“With this, my responsibility is over.”
Bang.
The woman, having ended everything, curled her finger.
Her body, no longer that of a Hero, could not withstand the bullet.
Splattering something mixed with blood, she closed her eyes just like that.
The spot where The Enemy leader, who had given up on everything, had fallen.
At the round table where many villains should have sat, only one person sat alone, bleeding from the head.
On the wooden round table, documents were scattered in disarray.
Among those blood-stained documents, one with a striking title caught my eye, and I quietly picked it up.
Discussion on the Pros and Cons of Disbanding the Organization.
And the future plans for how they should act in both cases—if the discussion favored disbanding or if it favored remaining.
The contents written there were quite moderate.
In the case of disbanding, it stated they would have no choice but to trust in the Management Bureau’s justice.
Even in the case of remaining, it contained plans for negotiations to stop their current illegal activities and request the Management Bureau to allow their continued existence.
I quietly took out a lighter and burned the document.
Sitting at the table, I offered a final word of farewell to the bleeding woman.
“It’s too late.”
And.
“Good work.”