[What is life, anyway? You just live as you live]
[What is life, anyway? You just live as you live]
We went down to the lowest floor. Finding the room where the person in charge, Chu Dae-seong, was wasn't very difficult. Before I even expanded my Sense, there was a place where a loud voice could be heard.
I walked quietly and listened to the shouting voice.
"No! Don't worry! We'll deal with that guy, whether he's a raccoon or a raccoon dog, somehow! If we decide rashly, we'll lose the Korean branch too, wouldn't that be a huge loss? Yes, yes! So please, just give us a little more time!"
The sight of him begging someone didn't make him look like someone in a high position; it was pathetic.
I focused my Sense even more to listen to the voice of the person he was talking to.
[The time I can give you is 10 minutes. Branch Manager Chu Dae-seong. If you can't handle it within that time...... I have no choice but to dispose of the facility as well.]
"Yes! Don't worry! Master-class Test Subjects are rare, aren't they? So, whether it's killing them or capturing them alive, I'll collect better data for you!"
No, who gave you permission?
I kicked the door down and entered. I came face-to-face with the man who had been living it up in a nice room while making others shed tears of blood.
He didn't recognize me at first, but after a moment, it seemed his senses returned, and he shouted in a voice filled with rage.
"Raccoon Man!!!"
"I'm a Raccoon, you idiot!!!"
Raccoons and raccoon dogs are similar, but they are strictly different animals. There isn't even a connection on the level of a Jindo dog and a Chihuahua. They are different families to begin with.
Chu Dae-seong was a middle-aged man, but he looked older than his actual age, perhaps because of the immense stress he had accumulated. Man, this is why people need to manage their stress while living.
"You, you bastard! What did you do to the Force Users outside?!"
"I killed them all."
"You son of a bi...!!"
I kicked the body of the guy who was about to curse and took the phone he was holding instead.
"Hello?"
[......Are you Raccoon Man?]
"Oh, you have manners, at least. You know the difference between a raccoon and a raccoon dog?"
The other party was speaking in Korean to match me, but the pronunciation was a bit awkward. They probably aren't Korean.
The information I could get by changing my voice like this was limited, but... I could roughly tell the gender. It's a man. And he's not that old.
[If I had known it would turn out like this, I should have approached it actively from the beginning. It was a miscalculation.]
"What in life ever goes according to plan? So, who are you? The big boss of this place that does experiments that aren't even fit for humans?"
[If you're looking for the Boss, I'll say yes.]
I guess I just need to find this guy.
I secretly tracked the phone's signal. It's slower and less skillful than Sion's, but if I have enough time, I can track where this bastard lives and who he is.
"What kind of bastard are you to be doing things like this?"
[Before I answer, may I ask one thing? The person who uses the funny name Raccoon Girl... she is related to you, right?]
"Look at this guy changing the subject. Well... that's true."
I'm the one trying to stall for time first. If so, I had to respond to their conversation to stall.
[I'll make you an offer. How about sharing your technology with us?]
"What is this, a scout offer?"
[Let's call it that. The Dimensional Rift Detector that is a generation ahead, released under the name Raccoon Girl, cannot be invented by anyone other than a brilliant scholar in this field. It's even a part that Dr. Alion, who is already a famous figure, hasn't been able to develop. Honestly, I covet your technology. The technology you're hiding isn't just the Dimensional Rift Detector, is it?]
The technology Sion possesses is a crystallization of the civilization's technology she dragged from here and there, combined with her own abilities. In terms of eras, there is technology from hundreds of years in the future of Earth, but that can't be used yet.
However, even the downgraded technology is several generations ahead of what's here. If one wanted money or power, it was enough to covet.
[If you join hands with us, I don't mind giving up the Korean branch. It will get noisy, but I can endure it enough.]
"You're willing to endure quite a big loss, huh? Wasn't Leverage Inc. your main front company?"
[Leverage Inc. is of course a big company on our side. But considering your technology, it's enough to be used as a disposable piece.]
If this lab is discovered, the repercussions will be immense. Stock prices will plummet, it will be condemned by everyone, and eventually, it's obvious it will lead to dissolution.
As a fairly large company, if it disappears, it's a sufficient blow to them too. But they covet our technology enough to take that into account.
[What will you do?]
"Hmm..."
I pretended to think to stall for time. The answer was already decided anyway.
I grasped the location of the person on the other end of the phone. The general area was in California, USA.
"Fuck off, you asshole."
If you want to run away from me, it's better to run to the moon first.
The Force Field I spread to the maximum can cover this planet. Even if he's in the US, I can kill him from right here.
A Force Field is the area where one's power reaches. If you put one Earth in range, it's easy to exert your abilities within it.
A sound of something soft breaking, ppurjik, was heard over the receiver. It was concise, but the effect was clear.
"How is it? This time it's a warning."
[........What an absurd ability. No matter what, Gaia Force reaches from Korea to the US where the dummy is?]
"It's more of a conceptual reason than a physical one."
I expected it since it reached easily when I tracked him. I already twisted the line, so what I killed was actually a dummy. The real Boss was receiving the call again from somewhere else.
It's easy to track someone I know purely, but tracking through communication devices like this phone is Sion's specialty, not mine. If Sion had been here, she could have used her ability together to find the real location.
[Then I'll take that as a refusal. Goodbye, Raccoon Man.]
Click, the call ended, and only the dial tone was heard. I threw the phone away and grabbed Chu Dae-seong by the collar.
"Hey, you bastard. Spill it about the Boss."
"Ha, haha. Why should I?"
"Do you want to talk and die peacefully, or do you want to die hurting like hell?"
At my question, Chu Dae-seong giggled and laughed like a madman.
"Hahaha! Hahat! I'm going to die anyway, so I'll just piss you off before I go! We're both going to die anyway!"
"Hmm."
Kwaaang!
An ominous feeling crawled up my back like an electric shock. And right behind me, I heard the sound of a bomb exploding somewhere.
The location was... heard from the upper and middle floors. And an unusual vibration was transmitted through the ground.
"This laboratory was designed so that the headquarters could detonate bombs arbitrarily. Those bombs aren't exactly for destroying data, but for blowing up the entire laboratory!"
"With the bomb just now? Barely?"
"Hot! The bomb is just the beginning. Do you know what that bomb destroyed?"
The incoming sound and vibration told me why this laboratory was built near the river.
It was because they intended to flood it by pouring in river water if necessary. The bastards were fully prepared to destroy evidence, thinking about disposal from the location selection.
"In less than 5 minutes, this place will be completely flooded. No matter how much of a Force User you are, how many minutes can you last without air?"
"I can just escape."
"Really? From the lowest floor of this building? Do you think they made the complex structure like that for no reason?"
The annoying and complex structure that you can't go down unless you go down in sequence makes intrusion and escape disadvantageous, but it was also made with the intention of flooding the intruders along with the facility if necessary.
Honestly, it's not a problem for me even if I don't breathe. In the first place, becoming a Transcendent means breathing doesn't have much meaning.
However, Yejin is different. Even if I gather air for her, it takes longer to escape to the surface. The time a normal person can last without air is 5 minutes at most. Even for a Force User, if I'm generous, maybe twice that, 10 minutes... Honestly, considering the structure of this facility, it's tight.
"Ah, mister! Water is flowing in!"
The water that had flowed in at some point soaked our ankles. If it's been less than a minute since the explosion, it won't take long for everything to be flooded.
If it were just me, I'd go around like it's an underwater exploration, but because Yejin is here... then I just have to make another way.
"If there's no path, I can just make a new one."
"Yes?"
First, I set the direction. To the surface... no, if I pierce straight to the surface, the shockwave will spread in all directions and innocent people might die. Especially the employees of the surface laboratory here.
Even if I've mostly taken out the guys in the basement, most of the people in the surface camouflage laboratory are unrelated people. So, I'll hold off on that for now.
Anyway, this facility will be flooded soon, and the remaining people will all die, so it's actually easier to deal with.
I set the direction a bit diagonally and targeted the Han River. Then the water will act as a buffer, minimizing the repercussions.
"Mister, what are you trying to do?"
"Based on the Theory of Will Origin."
I have a cousin. Not a blood relative in the physical sense, but a blood relative in the spiritual sense. Of course, that guy is also a Transcendent.
But his rank itself is a Transcendent higher than me. A great hero who is talented, has a good personality, and is an all-rounder.
And there is one theory that guy created. That is the Theory of Will Origin.
"In the beginning of all things in heaven and earth, it existed as will."
I clench my fist and put my will into it.
If you look at the Bible, there is a famous line that even people indifferent to religion know. 'Let there be light'.
Similarly, if the world was created by will, what is there that cannot be achieved by will?
"There is no reason why a single fist cannot contain the weight of a star."
My original technique. For a single moment, I imbue this small fist with the weight of a star. It's not a metaphor, the will I put into it manifests as mass.
Overwhelming mass becomes power and becomes violence the moment I throw it.
"Star-Crushing Fist."
Kwaaaaaaa!!!
The aftermath of the fist technique pierces a hole. It crushed and destroyed everything in a straight line to the Han River, creating a path.
Rumble, a vibration like thunder rang out. I probably made a passage to the surface, so water will rush in this way too.
"Getting wet is the same, so let's go this way. I've pierced this directly to the surface, so we'll come out at the bottom of the Han River, but it won't take even 5 minutes to go up."
"Ah, mister, what on earth are you doing right now..."
I cut off Yejin's words, and Chu Dae-seong, who had been dazed on the side, muttered like he had lost his mind.
"H-here, the depth to the surface is over 100 meters, how..."
"Well, diligently, doing my best."
I carried Yejin on my back. The water rushing here is strong, but if I wrap a Force Field around Yejin and go up, it feels like nothing more than a light hike.
If I go up quickly, it will take around 5 minutes, so there's no worry about Yejin suffocating.
"W-wait! Take me too! You need information, right? I've worked here for a long time, so if you just let me live, I'll tell you everything I know!!!"
"No."
I firmly refused. Honestly, it was an offer with merit. I would know confidential information that couldn't be known through hacking because most of it was deleted, so it would be useful.
I could save him, get what I need, and then kill him. But I don't want to do that.
"Like the people who suffered damage here. You die here without having even a shred of hope."
Saying that, I left Chu Dae-seong behind and went up the passage where water was pouring in.
"Uwaaaaaaa!!!!"
A desperate scream is heard from far away. He will breathe in the disappearing air in front of the rising water and eventually suffocate to death.
They say the most painful way to die in the world is to burn to death, but the most terrifying way to die is suffocation.
You can hold your breath, but it's even more terrifying because you know the catastrophe is coming. Then you struggle and die.
Their corpses will disappear, becoming fish food without needing to be exposed to society along with the laboratory.
Goodbye.
You bastards who are worse than the father looking for his daughter, the older brother missing his younger sister, the man who lived holed up in the mountains because he was afraid of hurting others, and even a single fox.