[Raccoon Man Beginning]
[Raccoon Man Beginning]
Baek-ri's family morning wake-up time was extremely ordinary.
"Squid rice bowl!"
"Wait, what era is this meme from? Why are you waking up like that?"
"Brother, is breakfast squid rice bowl today?"
"Nope? It's soybean paste stew."
"Ah! Mom! Please!"
Except for Ruri.
Ruri was the one dragging down the ordinariness of Baek-ri's family.
Her grades, which could be judged by numbers, were good, but her personality was the problem. Her parents had long since given up on Ruri's personality.
It was a mystery why only Ruri was like that when their upbringing was clearly the same as Baek-ri's. Neither Baek-ri nor their parents could understand it.
"Come out and eat! It's all going to get cold, you kids!"
"Coming!"
The sound of them being urged on came from the kitchen.
Ruri, who had just washed her face, sat at the dining table. The menu was soybean paste stew as the main dish, with several small side dishes placed around it. On top of that, they each added two freshly fried eggs, making it a decent breakfast.
"The stew and fried egg combo is a cheat code. Especially if the eggs are fried with a dash of perilla oil."
"The nutty smell is insane."
Since it was a day off for Baek-ri's father, Ha Jeong-uk, the whole family was able to gather for breakfast for the first time in a while. He also knew that the two of them were going out today.
"You're going out today? Do you have money?"
"Ah, Dad, come on. I get my salary regularly, so I have enough money. Don't worry."
"Brother is too soft for his own good. In times like this, you should play dumb and take some allowance."
"I was just being honest with my conscience."
"My brother is going to get robbed blind while wide awake."
Since there were two kids in their prime eating years, the meal ended quickly. Baek-ri had already washed up, so he just brushed his teeth, while Ruri went into the bathroom to get ready to go out.
Suddenly, just as she was about to take off her clothes, Ruri shouted at Baek-ri, who was brushing his teeth next to her.
"Turn your head, Brother. Where are you trying to look at a lady's naked body!"
"Hey, even if I were brainwashed by an Enemy Species and couldn't see straight, I wouldn't touch you, so don't worry. And a lady? Unless 'lady' means someone who's lost their mind, I think all the ladies I know are dead and frozen."
"I don't know about ladies, but it's certain your descendants are all dead!"
Ppeoeok! Ruri kicked up between Baek-ri's legs. A heavy impact made contact.
If Baek-ri hadn't hurriedly used his trait, Reinforcement, to defend himself, it would have been a blow that would have had him rolling on the ground, screaming in agony.
"Targeting vital points out of nowhere, how cowardly! Ugh, wait, the pain is delayed...?"
"Hya-ha! Die, all you nephews and nieces! F*** you!"
"You crazy b****...! I really wonder who's going to take you!"
It was a scene where you couldn't tell if this was unfilial or not.
Baek-ri finished up by just brushing his teeth and combing his hair, but it took Ruri an hour to wash up, dry her hair, and apply her makeup.
"Ah, girls take too much time doing makeup, it's a bit much."
"I've heard you'll never get a girlfriend and live as a solo for life."
"Hey, are you going to say that to your sugar daddy today?"
"I am so sorry, Brother. Bowing"
"Cut the 'Brother' act. It gives me goosebumps."
"I want to eat something delicious. Especially meat. If I'm being greedy, beef."
"Just eat some pork belly."
Even if they said things like that, siblings going out together was proof that they got along well. It's not often that an older brother takes care of his younger sister when the age gap isn't that big.
Usually, siblings are either good enough to bicker and fight, or they just ignore each other. In that sense, the relationship between the two siblings, Baek-ri and Ruri, was extremely good.
......Of course, that doesn't mean it was good in a weird way. It was strictly within the bounds of being siblings. There was absolutely no chance of it crossing into improper territory.
"Oh, right, Brother. Don't think of this as a date just because you're going out with the world's cutest me. Not that any crazy bastards would love their own sibling, but it'd be too sad if your first date was with your little sister since you're a solo."
"Why are you hitting me with lies and facts? They say people can't speak when they're too dumbfounded, and it's true."
"Should I introduce some of my friends after the CSAT? They'll be past their expiration date by then, but they're high school seniors, so I think it'll be fine."
"Forget it. I'll handle my own dating life, so mind your own business."
"Honestly, at this rate, you'll grow old as a solo who's never even held a girl's hand."
"It's not that bad!"
"Then name one girl within 3... no, 5 years of your age you've met in the last month."
"......Yejin?"
"Yejin? Ah, the girl the boss said he was keeping?"
They had talked about it before, but Ruri didn't know the details. She only knew the name and didn't even know that Yejin was a Force User.
Ruri asked Baek-ri questions, showing deep interest.
Even if the age gap was a concern, that was something that could be waited out, and even now, the age difference wasn't that big. At most, maybe 5 years. That kind of gap is common these days.
As a younger sister, she couldn't help but be interested in figuring out the women around her brother.
"Is she pretty? What's her personality like? How old is she? What does she like?"
"Why are you asking so much? Are you, by any chance? I don't have any prejudices about that, so have a beautiful relationship. I'll persuade Mom and Dad."
"I like pretty people too, but I'm not a lesbian! And it's not a bad thing to find out who might become my sister-in-law later!"
"I don't know her that well, either."
At most, they knew each other because she was connected to Choi Ak. They hadn't met since the Myeongdong Dimensional Rift incident. In the first place, Yejin had been unconscious back then, so it was only natural.
If they were to meet privately and make plans, that would be one thing... but wouldn't it be scary in many ways if Choi Ak found out? It would be a miracle if he didn't beat him to death.
Choi Ak was relatively open-minded about dating, so he wouldn't say anything about the relationship itself, but if a minor crossed a line they shouldn't, he might come chasing with a shotgun meant for fathers with daughters.
Especially while saying things like, 'Are you still a virgin, Baek-ri? Good, keep it that way. If you don't want to die.'
After talking, they arrived at a nearby subway station and checked the route.
"Yeouinaru, Yeouinaru. Ah, here it is. We just need to transfer once."
"There aren't many stops, so we'll get there quickly."
"I wish you had a car. Even a used one. The boss pays you a decent salary, right?"
".......Actually, the older brother did offer to lend me his Lamborghini."
"Are you crazy?! If we borrow that and scratch even one bumper, we'll be slaves until we die!"
"It's not that bad! We're Force Users, so our daily pay is high!"
"Ah, right, that's true."
If they wanted to, there were many ways to make money. Even if they worked on a deep-sea fishing boat, no matter how dangerous it was, it wouldn't be a big risk for a Force User.
It would be difficult for an ordinary person to earn billions with their bare body, but it wasn't money a Force User couldn't earn if they were prepared to ruin their body. The problem was that it was dangerous, difficult, and the job wasn't stable.
"I saw it on the internet. In the case of Force User organs, even with the same compatibility, the rejection response is much better and recovery is faster. So, apparently, even a single kidney easily goes for 10 times the market price of a normal person's organ."
"Oh... how much does one kidney go for? I heard you can live even if you remove one."
"Usually 50 million won. Well, it depends on the market price."
"Whoa, then ours are worth 500 million won? That's expensive. I wonder if there's even demand for something that expensive."
"There are perverts who buy high school girls' panties for 1 million won, so wouldn't there be plenty of people willing to throw money around to get organs that are better for their bodies?"
"Even so, I think the person who buys high school girls' panties for 1 million won is an exaggeration. What kind of crazy person does that?"
"Actually, it was 500,000 won. Honestly, I was a bit tempted back then."
"Where is that bastard?!"
When Baek-ri heard that it wasn't a joke but the truth, he flew into a rage.
Baek-ri had decent looks, and now that he was a Force User, he heard people asking for his number from time to time, so Ruri, who resembled him because they were siblings, was quite pretty.
It was just that her personality overshadowed her looks, so it didn't show. Even if you're pretty, if your behavior is weird, you won't be popular.
She had a bit of a cult following at school, but it was definitely small compared to her looks. If she had a more normal personality, she would have been the school idol.
"By the way, did you talk to the boss? Give me a suit, too. You're Iron Raccoon, so I'll be War Raccoon."
"Hey, if you say things like that in a place like this..."
Baek-ri looked around and hurriedly covered her mouth in surprise. But Ruri pushed his hand away and said comfortably.
"What?"
"Uh......?"
Even though it was morning, it was the weekend, so there weren't that many people, but there were enough that the subway wasn't cramped. Compared to the sound of the person right next to them whispering, no one paid any attention to them.
"It's simple Force control. If you get skilled, you can block our conversation from spreading too."
"Wow... fighting aside, the difference in such detailed control is huge. I've still got a long way to go."
"It's all a matter of application in the end. You can do it too if you suffer a little more. Anyway, give me a Raccoon Man suit!"
"Stop talking crazy. I received it too, so you should ask the sister-in-law or the older brother, not me."
"Coo, it would be awesome if you came out at a press conference and said 'I'm Raccoon Man' and came out."
"Hey, I think I'd suffer a lot if I did that?"
"It's cool, but the technology is insane, so I want to take it apart and see. What was it called? Void Blaster? Especially that."
"Ah."
A personal portable weapon capable of dealing effective damage to Enemy Species that are immune to general physical attacks and firearms. It boasts power that can easily destroy a single-story building with just a blast from the palm of a hand.
That alone is amazing, but the technology itself is even more surprising because it's not a chemical combustion reaction, but a concept interference technology that makes space itself resonate with a special frequency.
"I have a brain, so I have a strong feeling that if that technology spreads, something like World War III will happen. Think about it. If that much power comes out when it's attached to a suit, how big would the range be if it were attached to something like a missile? Plus, unlike a nuclear bomb that sprays radiation, if you fire it once, space resonates and the matter within the range disappears. How clean and nice is that? There won't even be a corpse left."
"Umm......."
The original birthplace of the Void Blaster technology also faced such problems. But before that, the reason for the development of the Void Blaster was to keep the Transcendent, who exists one per country, in check, so in that world, they didn't wage war with just the Void Blaster alone.
However, this world is different. No matter how much of a national asset a Master user is, if a country uses its full total power, there's no way they can't kill them. It's just that the cost-benefit ratio doesn't match.
If a monstrous technology that is effective against Enemy Species, makes Force Users unnecessary, and can be mass-produced is spread......
Humans will turn their eyes back to fighting humans, not the public Enemy Species, just like in the past.
"Do you want to research that?"
"To be precise, I just want to know the principles; I have no intention of leaking the technology. I don't want to get a job at some unscrupulous arms dealer!"
"I'll talk to the sister-in-law first."
"Ah, come to think of it, I like Sion-unni because we talk well. It feels like we were parent and child in a past life......!!"
"No, that's not it."
Baek-ri firmly denied it. He was as stubborn as a rock.
"Ah, look over there. It's the Han River."
"It really is. We must be almost there."
The waves of the river reflecting in the sparkling sunlight, and the bridge next to it, which seemed a bit congested, stretched across the river.
Even though it was the weekend, there were quite a lot of cars coming and going. Of course, it's possible they were people going out to play, but some of them must be sad office workers who have to go to work even on the weekend.
"Ah! There's a monster!"
"Hey, are you still telling the same lie Dad used to tell? Why did the repertoire change from a whale to a monster? At least try saying it's a dolphin."
Baek-ri recalled the memories of his father, Ha Jeong-uk, playing with them by telling lies that kids would like, such as "Ah! It's a whale!" every time they reached the Han River when the family went out to play.
Back in those days, there was a time when he and Ruri really thought whales lived in the Han River and looked for them, asking, "Where? Where?"
Now, it's just a joke to laugh off, but I missed the days when I was as pure and worry-free as back then.
"I'm not joking."
"......?"
Ruri said with a straight face.
The water of the Han River rippled ominously.