The Blue Light of Creation
The man shaking my hand with enthusiastic familiarity while still gripping it is smiling with his eyes. Then, without letting go, he pulls me up, helping me to my feet.
“I’ll explain that later. The situation’s urgent, so let’s skip the formalities. Will you help me subdue that woman over there?”
“...What?”
What the hell was he talking about? I wanted an explanation from this stranger who had appeared out of nowhere with his sudden request for cooperation, but he cut me off before I could even speak.
“What you want, Mr. Chan-woo, is the power source… that fruit. What I want is the woman currently fighting your friend. We cooperate to achieve our respective goals. How about it?”
“...I don’t see why I should. I already have the fruit in my possession. Helping someone I know nothing about won’t benefit me in any—”
“I’m the one who’s been attacking you this whole time.”
I flinched and looked up. The man was still smiling with his eyes, but his gaze pierced straight through the helmet, straight into mine.
“I sent Number 3 after you. And before that, the one who attacked you at the university was also me.”
“...So? How does that give me any reason to help you?”
I couldn’t read this man’s intentions. From the current situation alone, the man in the white coat was clearly an enemy. Helping him capture that woman would mean aiding the other side. He acted like he knew me, yet I knew nothing about him. Should I really help someone like that? Especially someone who had just confessed to trying to kill me?
His persuasive tongue kept moving.
“However, I no longer have any intention of harming you. After all, leaving something untouched is often the most beautiful choice.”
“...What are you talking about?”
“I apologize for putting you in danger multiple times. But those were orders from above. You’ll understand once you’re older and have a proper job, Mr. Chan-woo.”
The man removed his gas mask now that the gas had dissipated. Then Jeong A-un took a pair of glasses from the inner pocket of his lab coat and carefully put them on.
“...So instead of rambling, can you just tell me what you actually want? I thought you said we were short on time.”
“You’re right. We are short on time. In that case, we’ll have to save the conversation for later. If you help me, I can tell you about their objectives. And since you seem interested in the fruit… I can also tell you its location.”
“...Information…”
“I was fairly high-ranking before I was dismissed. I know quite a lot.”
Honestly, I had no need for information about that organization. I could extract it from the woman they had been chasing. But the possibility of learning more about the fruit did spark some interest. And through our conversation, my suspicion toward this man had eased slightly.
Using Crisis Detection, I had been carefully listening for any hint of threat in his words, but nothing triggered it.
“...Fine. What do I need to do?”
“I’m delighted you understand. It’s not difficult. Simply keep her from moving freely.”
I grabbed the shoulder of the man as he walked ahead with an excited laugh, reloading his pistol.
“Wait a moment.”
“Yes? What is it?”
“One more condition.”
“...Yes? I’ll grant you anything.”
A strange tension filled the air.
“I don’t know what you’re planning, but as a favor—stop chasing me after this.”
“...Hahaha! Even if you hadn’t said that, I had no intention of pursuing you any further.”
The man laughed as he finished swapping the magazine and attached some kind of device to his pistol.
What is this?
His laughter had triggered Crisis Detection, if only faintly. Something very subtle—something my ability couldn’t fully identify yet—rang inside my head. I shoved his shoulder roughly and took the lead.
“...You’ll die if you go first. You really know where the fruit is, right?”
“...Of course.”
“Then we’re good. Keep your promise.”
The man who had attached the strange device to his pistol nodded with a smile.
...What a strange man.
“...After all, even I cannot research a creature that doesn’t yet know its own identity. Hahaha…”
“Ugh?!”
I barely twisted my body to avoid the glowing baton that grazed my shoulder and drove my fist into her stomach.
“...!!”
The woman staggered back, blood spilling from her mouth, but she wiped it away as if it were nothing and walked toward me again.
“...What the hell are you?”
I had rushed here the moment I received word that my father was in danger, but I never expected my opponent to be one of my own kind… The warnings the other kin had given me about those of us dominated by humans—had they been talking about this woman?
I tried to assume a proper stance, but my shattered left shoulder still hadn’t regenerated, leaving it useless. I left the limp arm at my side and took a stance with my right.
“You… are you truly one of us?”
“...”
The woman increased the voltage on the blunt weapon in her hand. It seemed she had no interest in conversation. I couldn’t shake this filthy feeling.
I had clearly landed far more effective blows. Her internal organs must have been torn, her bones broken. Yet she walked as if unaffected. With regenerative power far surpassing my own, she erased her wounds, and even if I shattered her bones again, they simply healed. After this cycle repeated endlessly, my regeneration had slowed, leaving me covered in injuries. The woman, though dusty, showed no visible wounds.
Just how much had the humans tampered with her?
“...!!”
The woman suddenly closed the distance and swung her arm in a wide arc, sending the baton flying toward my face. I had to dodge—
“Keuk?!”
She twisted her wrist at an impossible speed. The baton’s trajectory changed instantly, and cold metal sank into my abdomen. The chill lasted only a moment before the electric current wrapped around the weapon flooded my entire body.
“Kyaaaaaaaack?!!”
“...Female specimen suppressed.”
Strength left my legs. I felt my upper body slam into the asphalt. What kind of regeneration was this…?
“...That, that is…?!”
The woman’s eyes began glowing blue. Blue light flowed through her veins, instantly healing even the minor scratches she had sustained during our fight. That was definitely Father’s…
“Next, we will begin live capture of the male specimen. Transport this female specimen to headquarters.”
The iron-masked men began charging toward me.
“Fuck…! Let go…!”
For some reason, I couldn’t muster any strength. Was it because of that strange current? No—if I was captured now, Father would…!
I thrashed desperately. If they took me, not only Father but all the other kin would be in danger.
“...Yes, the female specimen to headquarters now—urgh?!”
The man’s grip suddenly weakened as he made a strange noise. When I looked up, he was gone. In his place was a bizarre scene.
A large motorcycle had slammed into him, launching him into the air.
I turned to look in the direction the motorcycle had come from.
“Oh, Mr. Chan-woo. Nice shot.”
“Stop interjecting and just shut up already.”
There stood my father and the man in the white coat.
“...Have they all left?”
I lifted my head from where I lay and surveyed my surroundings.
...What? They really had all gone.
I had been pretending to be unconscious, but it seemed I hadn’t needed to. Weren’t they all chasing me? The man in the white coat who saved me and the man wearing the black helmet had vanished long ago.
“...Well, it worked out for me.”
I picked up the fallen bag and checked whether the laptop was intact first. It contained important data—it couldn’t be damaged…
“...Looks like it’s fine.”
The screen turned on without issue. After confirming the laptop was working, I turned toward the source of the loud noises.
“Wow, what is that…”
It wasn’t a sight you’d expect to see in the middle of the city. The sounds of shattering and destruction echoed everywhere, black smoke rising from the aftermath. The crowd that had gathered was busy snapping photos with their phones, all aimed at the center of the chaos.
“...Not my problem.”
I looked for the bag to carry the laptop, but it had been torn to shreds.
“Ah.”
I rummaged through the strips of fabric that used to be a bag. It had to be here. It had to be here, right?
“...It’s gone.”
The fruit was missing. Where had it gone? Had it rolled away in all that chaos? I bent down to check under the cars and even patted my pockets, but it was nowhere to be found.
“Ah!! Damn it!!”
I slowly turned my head toward the center of the commotion.
“Sigh…”
It was probably over there, wasn’t it…?
“Father, be careful…!! That woman is acting strange—”
Su-a, who had been limping toward me, collapsed. I rushed over and supported her. Blood flowed from her torn flesh, and she let out a pained groan when I touched her.
“...Rest here.”
“Yes… I’m sorry…”
Su-a struggled to breathe and couldn’t speak properly. I leaned her against a stopped bus.
“...What’s her weakness? You created her, didn’t you?”
“Hahaha, that’s right. Though it’s a bit awkward to admit it myself—she has none.”
“...Then what are we supposed to do?”
I glanced back at him, but he simply shrugged with a sly smile. As I debated punching him, a warning rang out.
BEHIND
“Mr. Chan-woo, behind you.”
“Whoa, fuck!!”
The woman charged ferociously past where I had been standing and slammed into the bus. The large vehicle rocked violently. The spot where she struck was crushed and shattered as if it had been hammered repeatedly.
I placed my hand on her body, spun through the air, and dodged.
“Ah, Mr. Chan-woo—be careful of the electricity on that baton. It impairs the bodily functions of parasites.”
“Then say that sooner!”
I shouted at the doctor, who had already moved far away. I was too busy dodging the woman’s relentless attacks to say anything else.
“Kugh…!”
Just dodging like this wouldn’t end the fight. But if Su-a, who was technically superior to me, had ended up like that, using half-baked techniques would get me killed instantly. Competing with raw strength was also uncertain. Even if I managed to close the distance, anyone could see the advantage lay with the one holding the weapon.
I leaped between cars, avoiding the glowing hammer aimed at me. Everything it touched was reduced to scrap. How was I supposed to restrain something like this?
Virgilago.
The One Who Gives Love.
Life Force.
"Virgilago."
"The One Who Gives Love."
"Life Force."
⟨ BLUE LIGHT OF CREATION ⟩
“...Huh?”
A blue hue flooded my vision. Or more precisely, when I saw something glowing beneath the woman’s feet, my head rang.
It’s yours now.
I reached out toward that blue light. This was… I grasped it and pulled.
“Ugh?!”
Something burst through the asphalt. What looked like a massive tree trunk wrapped around the woman’s legs and both arms.
“...Wow.”
Jeong A-un let out an admiring sound.
“What?! Open fire!! Rescue Number 4—!!”
The men pulled their triggers at once. I extended the blue light toward them, the helicopter hovering overhead, and the armored vehicles. I pulled again. Stems shot out from the ground at terrifying speed and tore them all apart.
“...This is…”
It was the voice of the man I had heard at the beach earlier.
“...Is this that person’s power?”
Leaves began to sprout along the stems radiating a refreshing blue light, creating a lush forest in the middle of the city. Helicopters and armored vehicles hung from the massive tree like bird nests, burning brightly and turning the scene into something surreal.
I turned to look at Dr. Jeong A-un.
“...Is this enough?”