The Old Ability User's Confession
The Old Ability User's Confession
The night before the resort party
"Huu~"
At a time when most employees had left work
Association President Go Taewook, alone in the association president's office where he had worked for so long that his own home now felt unfamiliar, fiddled with a small medicine bottle he had taken from the safe. He let out a deep sigh, which had become increasingly frequent lately, and sank into anguish.
'Was I wrong after all?'
The medicine bottle in his hand was an Elixir - the pinnacle of the Tower's mysteries that he had obtained over a decade ago when he last ventured to the Tower's frontlines, and also the highest-grade divine medicine coveted by everyone in this world.
Originally, it wasn't meant for him to keep, but was intended for the childhood friend of ability user Yoo Hye-eun, who had silently held her position as his right hand until just recently.
From the moment he first saw the young Yoo Hye-eun and the "already ill" Kim Choi Han-gyeol - now renamed Yoo Han-gyeol - that had been his plan, but...
'I never imagined he would take that step forward on his own in such circumstances'
Kang Tae-san, the guild master of guild 'Tae-san' - not just South Korea's strongest but unquestionably the most powerful martial arts ability user who would make even China, the great nation of martial arts that followed the original path, concede defeat
- "That child has the talent to surpass me someday. It won't even take until he's thirty. He'll catch up very quickly. 'That person' said so. I'm not particularly interested, but you would be different, right?"
- When the time of awakening comes, she will gladly dedicate herself for the glory of the place she currently belongs to
He didn't know exactly who Kang Tae-san's "that person" was, but seeing the achievements Kang Tae-san had accomplished by consistently following that person's words, he knew that person was someone he couldn't dare approach.
Thus, after agonizing over those words tens, hundreds, thousands of times, he took only the young Yoo Hye-eun out and provided her with the best facilities and education. As the head of the Ability Users Association, as an adult with immense power, he began a plan that he absolutely shouldn't have undertaken.
- 'Let's make Kim Choi Han-gyeol, this poor child... into Hye-eun's shackles'
As Kang Tae-san had said, seeing her talent for wielding the ability called 'Psychokinesis' - which should only be capable of moving objects around - with absurdly high output, he developed a desire to make this child Yoo Hye-eun the ability user who would shoulder the next generation.
- "I want to go back... Please let me meet Han-gyeol..."
- "...I'm sorry, but that would be difficult"
- "Uuut...Huk!...Uwaaaaaah! I have to apologize! To Han-gyeol...To Han-gyeol! Uwaaaaaah!"
- "I'm sorry...really...I'm sorry..."
This poor child whose dream was simply to become the bride of a boy who took good care of her at the orphanage...
'No, even if I went back to that time, I would definitely do the same thing'
He hoped that when this young girl eventually gained power on par with Kang Tae-san's, the place she belonged to would be the Association.
So to control Yoo Hye-eun, he arbitrarily manipulated a person's life as her shackle.
He sent Kim Choi Han-gyeol away from the orphanage.
Using support funds as an excuse, he sent him to a remote countryside area where Hye-eun's gaze couldn't reach.
He provided just enough medical support to keep him from dying and got him a job at a workplace manageable by the Ability Users Association.
Treating a sick young man like his plaything wasn't just a matter of conscience for someone who had proudly lived what he believed was a righteous life.
'I was worried that suicide might come faster than death from illness'
He tried to rationalize that providing this minimal management was better than not receiving proper treatment, but it was completely useless.
Hiding the desire to immediately go find him, hand him the Elixir, apologize and tell him to live a happy life from now on - he repeated to himself endlessly that this was the right path.
Because he knew all too well that there was nothing but wounds already
The faster Yoo Hye-eun grew compared to others, the more he hoped her awakening would come even a day sooner, pushing her toward the Tower with a schedule several times harsher than others.
- 'He said before thirty, so it's not far... Just endure until then... Please...'
Eventually, when the time of awakening finally came to her, he planned to reveal all these facts to both of them, apologize, and apologize again while handing over the Elixir, but...
- "President-nim! Kim Choi Han-gyeol has!"
Jolting upright!-
- "What!? Did he commit suicide!? Oh, please...please not that..."
- "No. That's not it, but..."
- "Then what! How many times have I said this is top priority! Don't hesitate, speak quickly!"
- "H-he awakened an ability! He entered the Tower, awakened an ability, and returned!"
- "...What, did you say?"
The words from his trusted subordinate - the only one he had confided everything in - revealed that the plan he had painstakingly carried out for nearly 20 years, still tormenting his conscience, had completely collapsed.
- "Uuugh...my head..."
- "P-president-nim!"
Was it from that day?
Whenever Association President Go Taewook thought of Kim Choi Han-gyeol...no, now Yoo, Han...gyeol...
Throbbing-
Whenever he thought of Yoo Bo-ram, his head occasionally ached
.
.
.
Unlike the elderly Go Taewook whose tear ducts had faded considerably, Go Taewook as Association President couldn't simply dismiss this situation - ability awakening through a random Gate - as a mere accident.
Just as he was having authoritarian thoughts about how to exploit this situation, cruel as it might be
- "President-nim! What is the meaning of this!"
Hiding a terminally ill lonely young man and hiding a worldwide superstar were two completely different things that couldn't even be compared.
Naturally, everything he had done over more than a decade was discovered
- "If you don't clear floor 201 and bring back the Glow Mushroom by tomorrow morning, no, it's today now, the young patients at the civilian hospital might not see next week"
With rhetoric so vile that calling it trash would be an insult to trash itself, he coaxed the responsible young ability user to stay at the association for now.
- "I can't turn back now. It's all my karma..."
Perhaps due to the nature of his 'Nullification' ability, unlike other ability users, it was difficult to apply the mysteries of abilities to his body, so he had aged only slightly less than ordinary people - his body was already sufficiently old.
- "Right, I should just give everything away...and take responsibility for this situation. That's the best course"
Since things had come to this, he would entrust everything he had accomplished to Yoo Hye-eun, who had reached her awakening and become a Transcendent, while also confessing everything to Yoo Han-
Drop-
to Bo-ram-yang as well, and pay for his sins.
While using his subordinates to help Bo-ram-yang with the hope of seeing her face someday for this purpose
- "P-president-nim..."
- "...What is it this time?"
- "Floor 5...Floor 5 has been cleared...The ability user who cleared it is Korean Ability Users Association affiliated 5th-grade ability user...Yoo, Yoo Han-gyeol..."
Jolting upright!-
News shocking enough to make him jump up from his chair unconsciously reached his ears once again.
And not long after, the news of Hye-eun's awakening as a Transcendent that he had so desperately hoped for also arrived, but Go Taewook couldn't simply rejoice.
***
During the resort party, with Rio-nim's help, I finally found myself alone with the Association President
"..."
"..."
'Why is this ahjussi acting like this again?'
I was wondering how to create that kind of atmosphere with the Association President-nim - who was quite old up close, barely hiding it with makeup - or whether I should even have sex with this grandfather in the first place
"...Huu~"
I could see that Association President-nim, like me, had a serious expression and was lost in some deep thought.
For a while, an awkward atmosphere continued as if two strangers on a blind date
""Um...""
Words from both our mouths
""Ah, please speak first (you go ahead)""
perfectly overlapped.
"Hehehe, it feels like I've returned to the days when I was dating my late wife...Oh my, was this old man too sentimental?"
"Not at all. I was thinking the same thing? By the way, this place is really nice. Have you been here before, Association President-nim?"
"I see...This might sound like boasting, but would you believe I was one of the first people to arrive here when I was on the frontlines?"
"Oh, really?"
"Back in those days..."
Starting with that coincidence, the awkward atmosphere eased slightly and conversation began to flow naturally.
"Haha, ha thank you...really thank you..."
"Association President-nim?"
Association President-nim let out a faint laugh and took out a medicine bottle from his pocket
"Bo-ram-yang, has much changed for you since becoming an ability user?"
"Huh? Ah...yes, of course many things have changed..."
'Like my gender'
The awakening of abilities alone was a earth-shattering change, but on top of that, thanks mainly to Rio-nim, I had experienced so many changes that I couldn't even count them all.
"Not for me"
"Huh? You, Association President-nim?"
Hearing that it wasn't the case from the mouth of the Association President-nim, who wielded immense influence not just in Korea but worldwide, surprised me a little.
"Look at my hand"
"Your hand?"
The hand he extended felt like it received care but was still too rough, and beyond that, it was covered with wrinkles - literally an old man's hand.
"My ability makes it difficult to receive blessings. Because of that, unlike other friends, I'm aging exactly as I am"
"I, I see..."
I wondered why he was suddenly telling me such heavy things - was he realizing that I was after his seed and implementing a fundamental block to prevent that atmosphere from developing?
"Was that why? I became too greedy for a child who seemed like they could take responsibility for everything I've accomplished...So...so..."
A long silence followed
"I ended up committing something I should never have done. To another child that child cherished most"
As his confession continued, I fell into such shock that I couldn't even care about having tried to have sex with him just moments before.