Chapter 102
Chapter 102
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 102
Chapter Title: Trust No One (2)
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Kanghyeok sat on the bed, a lead slug in one hand, the other resting on his chest.
He pressed and rubbed his chest, but felt no foreign object inside.
The bullet had definitely entered right around here.
It hadn't passed through his body, so it should still be inside. Yet, for some reason, the lead slug was in his hand.
He could understand the absence of a wound.
He had already experienced his incredible healing ability several times.
But something that should have been inside his body being pushed out couldn't be explained by simple healing.
How was he supposed to take this?
‘Fuck.’
Since he had already taken off his dress shirt, Kanghyeok examined all the scars he'd accumulated.
First, his shoulder.
He'd gotten a deep gash there after tripping over a rock while crossing the Mexican border.
‘No scar.’
Next, he checked his abdomen.
He had raided Iron Mask's warehouse.
A bullet they fired there had gone in through his stomach and out his back.
There was no scar here, either.
It was as if he had never been injured in the first place.
Click, fwoosh!
With a cigarette between his lips, Kanghyeok ran a hand through his hair and lowered his gaze.
Damn it.
He had believed it was a healing ability until now, but it occurred to him that it might be something else.
‘Regeneration? No, it's closer to restoration.’
He had only just come to accept his healing ability.
It had felt alien at first.
As if he'd become some kind of monster, not a human.
He had barely managed to convince himself it was just a peculiar constitution, but now the thought that it might not be healing at all made his head spin.
‘Why the hell did I get…’
No matter how much he smoked, his mind wouldn't calm down.
The smoke he exhaled toward the ceiling hit it and distorted into complex shapes.
Kanghyeok silently drew on the filter and gnawed on his lip.
This ability had manifested after his regression.
That bastard who seemed like a god had said it was an ability Kanghyeok possessed from the very beginning.
But he could swear he had never used such an ability before.
‘Somehow, it's connected to that bastard.’
Let's say, for the sake of argument, that the god-like being was right and this power had always been his.
Then why did it have to awaken the moment he returned to the past?
‘Fuck, don't tell me the task I have to complete requires this much power.’
A restorative power that transcended mere healing.
It was as if he needed this much just to be able to accomplish his task.
Just what kind of bastards am I supposed to face?
Just what kind of enemies are waiting for me?
With his complex feelings written all over his face, Kanghyeok picked up his pistol.
‘Let's find out.’
Whether this is a healing ability or something more.
A single bullet would make everything clear.
Click.
Just as Kanghyeok released the safety, placed the pistol against his chest, and was about to pull the trigger…
Knock, knock.
The sound of knocking drew his attention.
‘Leila?’
Kanghyeok put the pistol down and shoved the bloodstained dress shirt under the bed.
Then he pulled on a t-shirt and opened the door.
“Sorry. It took a while…”
He had assumed it would be Leila.
But the person standing at the door wasn't her; it was William. Accompanied by his secretary, Olga, William spoke with a somewhat pleased expression.
“It's late, but I hope this is alright?”
Kanghyeok glanced at Olga standing beside William, then opened the door wide.
“Please, come in.”
“Thank you.”
William entered, followed by Olga.
Click.
After confirming Olga had locked the door, Kanghyeok watched William with narrowed eyes.
William was walking toward the bed, while Olga took a small device from her coat and began sweeping it around the room.
“I thought you came for a casual chat.”
“This is business.”
As he said this, William raised a finger to his lips.
Be quiet.
Reading the message in his expression and gesture, Kanghyeok shifted his gaze to Olga, who was checking the room with a bug scanner.
After sweeping the room with the scanner, its green LED blinking rhythmically, Olga turned off the device and put it away.
“It's clean.”
“Good work. Wait in the car.”
“Yes, sir.”
Olga placed a small bag beside William and stood by the door.
She then gave a deep bow to Kanghyeok and William before leaving.
Click.
When the door closed, Kanghyeok turned his attention to William, who was sitting on the edge of the bed.
“What's going on? And what was with the scanner?”
“You can never be too careful. And officially, I'm here about the safe house, so just know that.”
At first glance, there seemed to be no connection between the safe house construction and William, an HR manager.
However, since Kanghyeok—the person in charge of the safe house, who had been reconnected with the company by William—was new to the role, a visit under the pretext of training him was a plausible excuse.
But why go to such lengths?
“So what's the real reason?”
“Is there any other reason besides you?”
William took a cigar case from his coat and met Kanghyeok's eyes as he spoke.
“You did well. I wanted to tell you that in person.”
“A phone call would have sufficed…”
“I have other things to discuss.”
“What is it?”
William's expression suddenly darkened. He trimmed both ends of a cigar and lit it.
He took three puffs, exhaling the smoke before he spoke.
“Now that you seem to trust me, at least a little, I can speak freely.”
“Go on.”
Kanghyeok focused on William's lips as he held the cigar.
A plume of white smoke billowed from his mouth and settled toward the floor. William chewed on his cigar, then spoke heavily.
“What does the company gain by giving up on Jeff Black?”
The question required no thought.
“Nothing, right?”
Ditching Jeff would only result in long-term losses for the company.
“Correct.”
William nodded, his yellowed eyes fixed on Kanghyeok.
“And yet, the company gave up on rescuing Jeff Black. They treated him as someone who shouldn't exist.”
“…”
“There was a regular meeting. You might not know, but it's a monthly gathering of the executives.”
Kanghyeok already knew of this meeting's existence.
But he had never attended, and seeing no need to mention he knew, he let William continue.
“Jeff Black wasn't on the agenda. What do you think that means?”
He couldn't answer right away.
Not because he didn't know the answer, but because it was difficult to say.
So, after a moment of silence, Kanghyeok replied in a low voice.
“Does it mean Jeff wasn't supposed to be rescued?”
“Probably.”
But William's eyes affirmed Kanghyeok's words.
William let out a long stream of smoke, as if trying to soothe his frustration.
Across from him, Kanghyeok also lit a cigarette.
Two conflicting emotions swirled within him.
One was anger at the company's incomprehensible actions.
The other, ironically, was a sense of relief.
This incident was related to Iron Mask.
They had been hunting men in suits, which could lead one to believe that was why Jeff Black had been kidnapped.
If so, Jeff's kidnapping could be interpreted as a consequence of Kanghyeok's attack on Iron Mask. But even if that wasn't the case, it now seemed Jeff might have been slated for elimination regardless.
By none other than the company itself.
‘In that case…’
Jeff's fate, which should have been death, had been changed by Kanghyeok.
“The company has changed a lot. It's not obvious on the surface, but factions have formed, and a subtle power struggle is underway.”
This was information even the Kanghyeok before his death hadn't known.
“…Are you sure you should be telling me this?”
“You need to know.”
William muttered as if to himself and brought the cigar to his lips.
“Hah… what I've gathered is that quite a few company executives sympathize with a certain ideology, and the company's influence is gradually shifting to them.”
Kanghyeok's lips twitched with the urge to ask what that ideology was.
But as a mere employee—a contractor, at that—he couldn't bring himself to ask, so he just rubbed his lips.
Silence fell.
William's eyes showed he was organizing his thoughts as he repeatedly rolled cigar smoke in his mouth before exhaling.
“Gaia, and the Purification Project.”
William broke the silence abruptly, his gaze meeting Kanghyeok's.
“Do you know what these are?”
“…I don't.”
As he answered, Kanghyeok asked with his eyes.
If that was the specific ideology some executives held.
William answered with a nod.
“I only happened to learn the keywords myself. I don't know what they mean, but I get the feeling they could shake the very identity of the company.”
Kanghyeok brought the cigarette to his lips, his gaze dropping to the floor.
Staring at the dirty floor helped him organize his thoughts.
The scattered puzzle pieces were finally starting to form a faint outline.
‘The company didn't fail to stop them, did it?’
Twelve years from now.
Humanity would be annihilated.
Just as it had been in the future that was now his past.
In that process, the company had been helplessly defeated by them. But mulling over William's words, it seemed the company hadn't been defeated at all.
‘They let themselves be defeated.’
Otherwise, the company ending the way it did made no sense.
Kanghyeok exhaled the smoke from his lungs in a single breath and nudged the cigarette on his lips with his tongue.
But why?
For what reason?
What was Gaia, and what was the Purification Project?
‘What the hell are they planning to purify?’
Just then, Kanghyeok's eyes flashed.
A horrifying thought had just crossed his mind.
“You don't look well.”
Even with his head bowed, Kanghyeok's aura must have been palpable, as William spoke to him in a low voice.
Kanghyeok shook his head, exhaling smoke.
But he couldn't bring himself to look up.
He feared the terrible thought still lingering in his mind was written all over his face.
‘Humanity…’
There was no evidence, but if the ideology certain company executives sympathized with was a plan to purify humanity, it was nothing short of insane.
“Who else knows about this?”
“Among the employees, you're the only one.”
“And among the executives?”
“I'll keep that a secret.”
“You don't trust me?”
“I'm preparing for the worst-case scenario.”
For William to say that meant the company's internal problems were more serious than he had thought.
“When did the company start changing like this?”
“It's been a long time.”
Kanghyeok let out a sigh of smoke and rubbed his brow.
After that, the two men conversed not with words, but with glances and the heavy atmosphere.
What are you thinking and feeling?
Don't be angry. Now is not the time.
Then what?
For now, let's be relieved that we saved Jeff. Our actions must not attract the company's attention.
Such conversations were conveyed through the cigarette smoke in the heavy air.
As Kanghyeok stubbed out his short cigarette in the ashtray, William glanced at the jacket hanging on the wall.
“This job must have been quite tough.”
“It wasn't that difficult.”
“Are you alright?”
The promptness of the question made Kanghyeok chuckle.
“As you can see.”
“I've been curious for a while now.”
“About what?”
William looked at the clear bullet hole in the jacket and clenched his jaw.
Then he shook his head as if it were nothing.
“No, it's nothing.”
Kanghyeok clearly had something.
He didn't know what it was, but having decided to trust Kanghyeok, he had no intention of prying.
‘He must have a card up his sleeve.’
Please, let it be a strong one.
One that can protect him.
William wished for it with all his heart.
‘As long as you're safe.’
Of all the people William could trust, Kanghyeok was the strongest.
Therefore, if Kanghyeok could stay safe and survive for a long time, William could ask for nothing more.
“More importantly, what's the plan for Jeff?”
Kanghyeok lit a new cigarette as he replied.
“It's under negotiation.”
“Negotiation? With whom? You mean Jeff?”
Click, fsssh.
Kanghyeok took a deep drag from his cigarette, exhaled, and looked at William.
“No. With someone who can work with him.”
“There's someone like that?”
Kanghyeok answered with a nod.
His eyes were filled with conviction.