[What's life anyway, you just live as you live]
[What's life anyway, you just live as you live]
I was able to reach the surface by cutting through the current that would make it hard for a normal person to even open their eyes.
It was the bottom of the Han River, so it was deep, but I got to the surface without even kicking my legs once. I wasn't particularly bothered by breathing, but Yejin, who had been holding her breath for a while, gasped for air roughly.
"Ah..... it's night right now."
"Seeing the sky for the first time in a while, huh?"
"It's been almost a month."
We moved to the water's edge and climbed onto land. Then, we dried our wet clothes and bodies.
Since I just needed to apply Force to evaporate the moisture, it didn't take long. Yejin's expression brightened as her cold body warmed up instantly.
"Thank you, Ahjussi. But what are you going to do now?"
"First, I need to create an alibi and go back to where I was originally."
"Ah, I suppose so."
The problem is Yejin's place to stay.
"Can't I go back to the Facility?"
"You've already been processed as dead. Even if they filed a missing person report, do you think those bastards would just leave you alone if they saw you came back?"
Yejin had probably already been processed as a dead person. Just like the Test Subjects I had seen.
And if she went out into society just like that, those bastards would eventually reach out for her again.
"On top of that, you're in more danger."
"Why?"
"You're a holder of a Precognition Trait."
"What?!"
I figured it out from the test earlier. What Yejin possesses isn't just a trait like having good intuition, but she is a holder of a Precognition Trait that glimpses into the future.
She seems to have awakened not long ago and lacks proficiency, so sensing a few minutes ahead is all she can do for now, but if she refines it a bit, she looks like she has the talent to become a quite excellent seer.
Even I, who doesn't know much about Force Users, know that holders of Precognition Traits are rare. If left alone, it's obvious that either the state or that organization over there will reach out for her.
"For now, I'll give you my card. First, go buy some clothes, eat, then rent a motel and rest there. I'll come find you later."
"Uh.... I don't have a cell phone right now. There's no way to contact me, so how are you going to find me?"
"If I've met someone once, I can find them even if they're on the other side of the Earth."
"Wow...... I thought you were a weirdo called Raccoon Man, but you're surprisingly a capable person, Ahjussi."
"Actually, I'm just an idiot who's only good at having abilities."
Although I gained various knowledge while reincarnating, I'm far lacking compared to people called geniuses in the world. Insight, imagination, things like that.
It just looks like I have good abilities because I push through with my experience as a Reincarnator; if a normal person had lived the time I've lived, it would be similar.
"To make a fresh start, you'll need a new identity. I'll prepare that."
"Okay...... then see you tomorrow."
I gave Yejin my card. Not the Black Card, but a card in my own name.
I have to go back before the sun rises. At the very least, I need to create an alibi that I slept at the pension to make things easier later.
"Ah, come to think of it."
"Why?"
"My mask had a separate breathing function attached to it. If I had just put my mask on you instead of doing this, there wouldn't have been a need to cause such a commotion."
".........."
"I forgot because breathing isn't really that essential for me in the first place."
Yejin looked at me with pathetic eyes.
But regardless, a rescue is a rescue. Just before we parted, she expressed her gratitude to me.
"Ahjussi! Thank you for saving me today!"
Yejin had gone through various things, but for now, she waved me off with a much brighter face. I waved back and greeted her as well.
The long, long night bid its end.
The next morning, news reported that a waterspout had occurred on the Han River.
"They say a dragon rose from a small stream, but I wonder if a dragon rising from the Han River counts?"
"Ahjussi, do dragons really exist?"
"They do exist."
I've even caught one occasionally. I snatched the Yeouiju (Dragon Orb) and boiled it for Sion.
Baek-ri and Su-jeong looked at me with suspicious eyes from the side. No, honestly, I feel a bit guilty, so it's a bit...
Listening to the story on the news, it said that in the middle of the night, along with a loud impact and noise, water shot up along with the waterspout. Thinking about it now, it's fortunate it happened towards the Han River; otherwise, a catastrophe would have occurred.
There was no mention of the underground research facility. It would be hard to find anyway since the basement flooded. The ground there isn't low, so the surface research facility wouldn't be flooded and cause chaos. Unless they're idiots, that organization would cover up the information too.
I discussed what happened there with Sion, along with Yejin's treatment.
"Creating a family register is easy. But if you register her as a Force User, she will be watched again."
"True, there's no guarantee that no one will recognize her even if we register her as someone else."
Even if she was a different person on the family register, as long as she was the same person, there was no way friends and acquaintances wouldn't recognize her. Drawing a dot next to your eye and pretending to be someone else only works in trashy morning soap operas.
"On top of that, she's an awakened Precognition Trait holder...... Do you know how the previous Precognition Trait holder died?"
"It's obvious, isn't it? Overwork. My head throbs when I use future precognition, so do you think a normal human would be fine using that?"
"Even if it's not that organization, it's only a matter of time before she gets caught by the state and canned."
However, this time, they would probably impose confinement and surveillance under the name of convenience so she could be used for a little longer.
The Force Users the state desires most are, 1st place, Master Users, and 2nd place, holders of Precognition Traits. As far as I know, there were a few holders of Precognition Traits; half of them were frauds, some died, and I heard the one who was real is at least working in the US.
"If we register her on the family register as a normal person..... she ends up being a minor. But doesn't she lack a guardian?"
"That's true."
She was an orphan from the start, a kid who grew up in the Facility just like me. Even if we make a family register here, she's still an orphan.
But I don't want to do that. She's a child who has suffered a lot, yet she has nowhere to return to. Even if the world is cruel, it shouldn't be cruel to children. If the world is cruel to children, then it's the adults' fault.
".......Hey, you know."
"I don't even need to look to know this is a rerun service for a new drama. You're going to volunteer to be her guardian, aren't you?"
"We have a spare room at home anyway. Not for long, just until that kid becomes an adult."
She's a high school student now, so at longest 3 years. At shortest, she'll be an adult in 1 or 2 years. By then, she'll be able to find her own way.
Then at least she won't have to go to the Facility. I grew up in the Facility so I know, but that's a really bad place to spend one's adolescence.
"My husband is too good-natured for his own good, I wonder who he takes after."
"I don't know about my humanity, but my personality is fine, right?"
I also think it's funny for a guy who kills people to be questioning his own humanity, but I still think my personality itself, which doesn't pick fights first and treats people sociably, isn't bad. If I were truly a sociopath, I wouldn't have friends and would have been branded a criminal and been in prison long ago.
We decided to become Yejin's guardians and take care of her. I thought about adopting her, but it was rejected by Sion's opinion.
"What would people think if a couple in their early 20s had a high school daughter?"
"Ah."
"Besides, because of my appearance, I would actually look more like the daughter."
At best, it's a high school daughter between a couple in their early 20s, and mostly it would just look like a young couple who had a shotgun wedding raising an elementary school-aged foreign daughter. Hmm..... either way, I'll be her guardian for now, but I'll have to think about adoption later.
Sion and I had postponed our plans for children, so occasionally, if we came across a child we had a connection with, we would adopt and raise them.
But this time seems a bit early. Besides, the kid we're adopting is a high schooler, so she's almost all grown up anyway.
Anyway, Sion decided to handle the family register issue. If she has time, she'll handle it on her own.
Next.......
"Did something happen, Hyung?"
It's Baek-ri asking me. He's asking with the confirmation that I've already done something.
So I decided to answer concisely.
"I fucked them all up."
"Did you kill them?"
"There's no evidence anyway."
If the police could just throw someone in jail and convict them based on mere suspicion, that would be like some 20th-century dictatorship; it's almost impossible nowadays.
Most of the people I killed became fish food because the underground lab flooded, and to use that as evidence, they would have to reveal the existence of the underground lab.
But is that even possible? To reveal the fact that they did human experiments just to convict me? I'd only go to jail, but their tail would be exposed, and their existence would be revealed to other countries besides me.
Since ancient times, strict secrecy is important for such shady secret organizations. Once discovered, their power is halved from that moment on.
Think about it, knowing someone is going to stab you in the back versus not knowing makes a huge difference in whether you prepare or not.
It's the same as how terrorism loses its meaning if you know about it in advance.
"Hyung...... sometimes I don't know if you're a good person or a bad person."
"......."
Honestly, it's no wonder Baek-ri thinks that.
My true personality is that of a sociopath who is indifferent to everyone except my own people and feels no guilt even when killing people.
But actually, I do follow ethics and morals. That means I'm pursuing humanity, at least to remain human.
Besides, if a human lacks ethics and morals, how are they any different from a beast? Those who don't think about that are no different from beasts.
"Think whatever you want to think. But one thing is for sure, you shouldn't become someone like me."
"That's for sure. I'm also not really into pedophiles..."
"Hey!"
This bastard keeps bringing up Sion sometimes?! I'm the younger one!
"If I had really given up on humanity, I would have told morals and ethics to go fuck themselves, killed to get what I needed, and become a murderer who doesn't care about society. I'm deliberately insisting on it because I want to remain human."
"That's just..."
Baek-ri said as if something was bothering him.
"It sounds like you're saying you're not human right now."
"........"
Honestly, that hit the nail on the head.
I have lived hundreds, thousands of times more lives than a normal person, and I have lost things and gained things there.
But if you ask me if I'm human, it's hard for me to answer myself.
"I'm also pondering it. So I'll give you an answer someday."
Well, I don't know if you, Baek-ri, will be alive until then, though.
There's no way I can decide in just this 100-year life what I've been agonizing over for a long time. So, for him to judge while Baek-ri is alive, he'd have to be really lucky.
Today is the day we finish our trip and go back. We spent the last day at the pension, but since there was a separate pension swimming pool, we played there and had a reasonably fun time.
"Did everyone have a good time?"
"Boss Oppa, your face looks bright, did you go somewhere and do something?"
"Huh? Not really?"
"Ah, ahh...... I'm sorry! I asked something weird without being tactful! Surely, if you're alone with a married couple, you'd do it."
"Hey! That's not what I'm talking about!"
For now, it's established that I didn't leave the room and slept with Sion. Anyway, there are no CCTVs around here, and although people saw me come in, no one saw me leave, so it's settled that I just slept at night.
Probably Baek-ri, whom I told in advance, or Su-jeong, who is quick-witted for a kid, noticed, but the rest....... hmm, I don't know if Ruri is pretending not to know or if she really doesn't know.
"Pack your bags. Let's get going. On the last day, it's best to go home early, tidy up, and rest rather than playing for a long time."
The place where you feel most sleepy in the world is your own home. It might be fun to sleep outside for a day or two, but that doesn't last long.
I packed the luggage into the car and prepared to depart. I also need to hurry back and bring Yejin.
As soon as we got in the car and started, the kids all fell asleep before long. Even though they played excitedly, they were kids after all, so they must have been tired because they fell asleep quickly.
Kids are indeed the cutest when they sleep.
Without needing to stop at a rest area, I just drove and arrived in Seoul in an hour and a half. Even though there was some traffic because it was the weekend, this is decent.
When we almost arrived, I woke the kids up and dropped them off at their homes. Even though there were some troubles during the three days, we still had fun. At the very least, the kids didn't see blood, so that means we played well.
And finally, I dropped off Baek-ri and Ruri.
"Ah! I had a great vacation! I ate well, played well, and relieved all my stress!"
"Your CSAT is in 3 months."
"Gyaaaak! Guwaaak! Why are you saying that now! I was going to try to rest without worrying about that at least for today!"
"You should start reading the CSAT Completion from day 100, right?"
"Kyaaaa!"
For a high school senior in the middle of preparation, the CSAT is the trial of a lifetime. I don't really care about that, so it doesn't hit me hard. Honestly, for this life's CSAT, my future was in the food service industry, so I just took it roughly. Did I get a 3rd grade or something?
On the way home after parting with Baek-ri and Ruri. Maybe because it's the weekend in the metropolitan area, there's quite a bit of traffic. Since it's just Sion and me, there are some things we need to talk about just between the two of us.
"Let's pick up Yejin on the way."
"Are we heading that way?"
"I told her to rent a room somewhere and rest, so she seems to be holed up there?"
I spread out my Ki-sense to locate Yejin, and she had barely moved from one spot. At most, she was just drinking water or rolling around on the bed.
I asked Sion, who was stroking the Original Species cub fox in the passenger seat, about the information obtained from the lab.
"What is their goal, doing such human experiments?"
"Basically, they are pursuing the fusion of Gaia Force and Raf Energy."
Gaia Force of Force Users.
Raf Energy of Enemy Species.
Both are supernatural abilities, but their properties are different. In my view, the basic base is the same, but...... to use an analogy, it's about the difference between internal energy and mana? Ah, I guess you wouldn't be able to tell the difference unless you're a martial artist or a mage.
Gaia Force can manifest traits according to each individual's personality. If you create a curriculum based on the room for development, you can even awaken simple traits. Such traits are quite useful.
Conversely, Raf Energy, being the biggest characteristic of Enemy Species, can be cited as physical resistance.
Then what if a hybrid superhuman appears who has traits like a Force User and physical resistance like an Enemy Species?
I don't know if Force Users would be useful against such a hybrid, but in the worst case, a monster that neither Force Users nor the military can stop will emerge. Collapsing and dominating society would be instantaneous.
"I know the goal of the experiment, but the data on why they are doing such experiments itself has been deleted. Even if I try to restore it, it's already physically gone."
"I should have ripped out the hard drive."
"Still, there is one more piece of information I found out."
"What is it?"
Sion said nonchalantly.
"The name of their organization is 'ATLAS'."
The name of the giant from Greek mythology who carried the world.
It was a grandiose organization name for bastards who had thrown away their humanity.