Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Cyber Bully "Go Jin-yo": Yoon Seo-ah (3)
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'It's more serious than I thought.'
I brought Go Jin-yo into the room and checked her condition.
Gone was the healthy look from before—now she was skin and bones, looking downright sickly.
Her face was gaunt with exhaustion, just like Choi Yu-ra's had been at first glance, making her seem like she could drop dead any second.
'I tormented her pretty bad.'
For two whole weeks, hallucinations and blocking her suicide attempts.
I'd thought the mind influenced the body, but it turned out the body affected the mind just as much.
A two-way street.
'If I'd known it'd be like this, I would've made the hypnosis more specific.'
Her outburst at the door, spilling her past frustrations.
There was this idea that factory-born people faced discrimination, and I'd bought into it too, but lately, it didn't seem so cut-and-dry.
'I looked it up after reading about all those factory-born heroes in books.'
That's when I learned the history of factories—artificial wombs—for childbirth.
'The tech came right after the first gates appeared.'
Gates wiped out so many men.
Even with awakeners showing up steadily, humanity kept getting pushed back.
Men grew scarce worldwide, birth rates plummeted exponentially, population shrank—but gates didn't care about humanity's plight.
What halted the retreat? Artificial wombs.
Massive test tubes generating pseudo-sperm and pseudo-eggs, fertilizing them, and carrying pregnancies to term—a miracle technology.
'Thanks to that, humanity barely held on until those factory-born humans grew up and turned the tide.'
Eighteen years after gates first appeared.
That era was humanity's closest brush with extinction.
Afterward, factory-born women awakened and joined the fight, finally gaining the upper hand.
'They designed it from the start to produce only women to overcome that crisis.'
That solved my question about why only girls came out of artificial wombs.
It was built to save humanity in its hour of need, so obviously, they optimized for women with the highest awakening rates.
Anyway, artificial wombs let humanity mass-produce troops like a factory line and escape doom. People figured they could start making men too and fix the gender imbalance...
'But the developer's sudden death ruined it all?'
The woman behind this insane tech was Helen Meyer, a scientist.
Already a professor at MIT, she awakened at an advanced age and gained a intelligence-based skill: Thought Acceleration.
Her biggest worry had always been the population shortage.
The moment she awakened, she harnessed her brilliant mind, her skill, and mana to invent the impossible.
'But...'
Sadly, whether from overwork or not, she was found dead at home from a heart attack just as humanity started gaining ground.
'And right in the middle of redesigning the artificial womb for males.'
No one else understood the tech.
She was such a genius that the rest of humanity might as well have been monkeys.
Even the artificial wombs we use now are just crude imitations based on her blueprints.
Truly a tragedy.
'And there are tons of conspiracy theories about it.'
Politicians assassinated her to keep women in power.
Religious groups called human-created humans a blasphemy against God.
Humanoid monsters snuck in and killed her.
All sorts of rumors, but that's not important right now.
'I heard factory-born discrimination is basically gone these days.'
I hardly ever see factory-born folks, so I'd only read online rants and wondered, 'Do factory-born people really get discriminated against?'
Turns out, discrimination from artificial womb births ended over twenty years ago.
'The internet rags on everyone. I fell for the bias from those posts.'
If natural births are 40%, another 20% are single moms using donated sperm.
The last 40%? Artificial womb births—factory-born.
That's too many people to discriminate against anymore.
'That's why "factory" used to be a slur, but now it's just neutral.'
Still, Go Jin-yo got bullied in school for being factory-born.
She must've gone to a top school since she studied hard to get in.
Maybe the snobs there, thinking themselves superior, couldn't stand her.
'Not the point right now.'
The real issue: that discrimination gave her an inferiority complex and full-blown persecution complex.
'Tch, I was too careless.'
No wonder the hallucinations just fueled her paranoia more—she had zero regrets.
My first try, I didn't account for all the variables and botched it.
'So, to fix this, I need to erase her persecution complex, help her live normally, then make her regret her actions.'
I sat on the edge of the bed beside her and hypnotized her right away.
No point talking until she calmed down, so I induced tranquility, then spoke.
"I get that your life sucked. But that doesn't justify bullying and tormenting innocent people."
"I know. I know, but I didn't have anything else I could do."
Under hypnosis, she stopped trembling.
"So your big solution was cyber bullying? Just because you liked the adulation?"
"I know they don't really like me. But so what? Better fake praise than those bitches treating me like trash!"
"Tch, you know one thing and ignore the rest."
Her persecution complex won't fix easily.
She's the victim here, so hypnosis is fair game, but at this level?
Like how my hypnosis broke under strong lust, it'd shatter just as quick.
'Third stage would work fine, but...'
That requires at least a kiss—no thanks.
I haven't even done that with Yu-ra yet. Why waste it on this girl?
Pity's pity.
But shitty actions are shitty.
"Don't you feel wronged?"
Time to flip her school days against her.
"By what?"
"Look at yourself. All you do is cyber bully, and your only 'friends' are toxic commenters? Not even real friends."
"Y-You..."
"What would those trash say if they saw you now? The ones who mocked you for being factory-born."
"Tr-Trash?"
"Yeah. People who discriminate by birth—what else would you call them?"
This is the modern age.
Who still discriminates over factory-born?
Her eyes shook violently.
"...You mean that?"
"Want me to say it again?"
His words rang true, sincere—not empty platitudes.
I hypnotized her the same way I had with Yu-ra before and repeated it.
"It's not the thirties or forties anymore. Heroes who are factory-born are a dime a dozen now. Those girls who ragged on you were hopelessly outdated."
"..."
"When you meet those trash later, don't you want to stand tall? 'That factory-born girl you all tormented? She's a success now. Yoon Seo-ah, the one you bullied? She's thriving!' Don't you want to say that?"
"B-But..."
She craved validation after all the discrimination.
Her cyber bullying was part of that.
I'd targeted that weakness and shaken her up good.
But it wasn't enough.
Even if sincere, words are just words. She figured she'd still face bias in the light of day.
"What can I even do..."
Her rock-bottom self-esteem didn't help.
"Better than cyber bullying with that great skill of yours. And from where I'm standing, you've got tons of options."
A solid idea just hit me.
I pulled out my smartphone and released most of the hypnosis on her.
"Let's test it."
I showed her the number from the recent call.
"These guys used untraceable numbers, but your skill can track them, right?"
＊＊＊
"Ugh! Another bust! Can't you let me finish, you rude bitch?"
The woman puffed hard on her cigarette, leaning back and propping her feet on the desk.
"Lately, nobody's biting."
A voice phishing gang that shelled out big bucks to hack a major telecom and steal tons of personal data.
Old scam, so people knew better—not super effective.
But enough suckers still fell for it, so they kept dialing.
"Yes, is this Kim A-rang? This is Yoo Jun-hee from Gangnam Police Station's financial crimes unit. There's an illegal loan on your phone..."
Even if most hung up.
One in a hundred meant big money.
Tens of thousands of calls, hundreds scammed—hacker fees recouped ages ago.
Pure profit now, so they hustled harder.
"Hey, let's eat first. Order some jjajangmyeon."
"Sure, sis."
"Get the set with tangsuyuk too. Don't waste money ordering separate like last time."
Too pathetic for villains.
Too vicious to call harmless.
Gotta eat, though, so they called their usual spot.
Knock knock!
"Oh, fast service! What's up? Hey! Go grab the food!"
The youngest bolted to the door.
A flying kick slammed her into the wall.
"Hero! Nobody move! Resist and we'll use force!"
How'd they find us?
The boss's first thought.
'Impossible to track us here.'
Burner phones for phishing.
Numbers from black market auto-generators with signal rerouters.
Even the corporate hacker couldn't reverse-trace that setup.
'A mole inside?'
That's as far as she got.
A hero behind her clocked her on the nape.
"All secured. Transporting now."
Just like that, the voice phishing crew that briefly hit the news got busted.
＊＊＊
"You have provided crucial information leading to the arrest of a voice phishing gang, so..."
Inside a police station—somewhere she'd never set foot in her life with her skills—Yoon Seo-ah clenched her fists to stop the shaking.
'Is this really okay?'
Their defenses were ironclad, unbeatable in her mind.
But her hacking skill let her toy with those walls however she pleased.
Getting their info was easier than pie.
"From Gangnam Police Chief Lee Ha-neul."
Clap clap clap!
The chief handed her a commendation amid applause.
All she'd done was follow Yoo Jun-hyuk's orders, but here she was in the spotlight.
Everyone looked at her with genuine positivity—something she'd never dreamed of.
'Is this allowed? I'm factory-born?'
People praised her, offering words of encouragement.
She hadn't wanted to come, but his hypnosis left no choice.
So she just nodded, dazed.
'Right, new identity. Normal one with parents. That's why.'
Even so.
On the way back, her lips kept twitching upward.
Feels good.
'No. Just a fluke. Rely on flukes and...'
You'll get hurt worse later.
"You're back?"
But seeing Yoo Jun-hyuk welcome her...
Something filled the void in her chest.
"See? Told you. Who cares if you're factory-born?"
"...No one."
"Exactly. Way better getting real recognition from real people than fake upvotes from trolls."
True.
Trolls' praise never filled the hole.
But this? One shot, full.
Not comments.
Warm gazes and well-wishes from actual people.
Her heart raced, like they accepted the reject she'd always be.
"...Not sure."
Embarrassed?
Or still in denial?
Yoon Seo-ah forced her lips down.
"Liar. You smiled just now."
As Yoo Jun-hyuk approached, she stepped back.
"Bend down a bit."
"...Like this?"
Warm fingers stroked her hair as she did, startling her.
"Good job. Can't forgive the past yet since no real remorse, but praise where it's due."
For him, it was carrot and stick.
Punish faults, reward good—to reform her properly.
But to her, it hit like lightning.
'Wh-Why go this far for me?'
I'm the kidnapper.
She knew he'd caused the hallucinations as revenge.
That much, she got—payback.
But why understand her?
Pull her from eternal shadows to the light?
Praise her like this?
'Why...'
Care about my life...
About me...
This much? Ever?
The orphanage teachers waiting for dismissal.
Teachers ignoring her bullying.
Classmates watching the torment.
All turned away.
Why you, for even a kidnapper, go this far...
"...Crying?"
Her strength drained.
No resistance—she leaned into him, collapsing.
"Can I... live coolly too?"
"You saw today. Nobody cares about origins."
But my new identity...
She laughed inwardly at herself.
'You said factory-born always get hated.'
Now dodging with 'new ID' excuses.
"Did it feel good?"
"Yeah."
"Feels good. Never knew real recognition hit like this."
But better still...
Someone striving for me by their side.
She couldn't voice it.
"One question. Want to bury what Go Jin-yo did? Or atone somehow?"
"Atone."
No empty words—pure truth.
Why? She craved speaking 'only truth.'
"Why?"
"I see now my bullying was pointless. I could've gotten recognition without it, and now I can live guilt-free."
And you want that.
Unlike before, truth-compulsion pushed her, but he cut in.
"Good."
"So how do I atone?"
"Figure it out yourself. Atonement and reflection come from within, not others."
"Aw. Help me? Can't you?"
"...Think hard, and you'll find it."
He stroked her hair again.
"Good job."
"Thanks."
"No need."
Then, hypnosis.
"You'll forget all about me."
Her eyes fluttered shut.
"I'll be watching how you act."