The White Rabbit Feels Wronged
I was summoned to a critical meeting that would decide Black Cell’s future direction.
There, I ended up clashing with Director Nathan over whether to reveal the Awakening Factor to the outside world.
But there is a world of difference between an ordinary employee claiming something will ruin everything and a generational genius saying it to his face.
Thankfully, I succeeded in catching the director’s interest.
In the end, we decided to keep this achievement hidden.
‘Seeing that I didn’t earn any marks from the numerous core executives or Director Nathan, it looks like I’ve barely avoided the worst outcome.’
This decision is also genuinely good for me right now.
If this research became known to the world before I could solidify my position as Black Cell’s sole voice of conscience, the scrutiny I’d face would be on an entirely different level.
And since the truth of this place had a very high chance of leaking outside,
I would lose any room for excuses and my escape routes would be completely cut off.
Even in the original story, the Black Group is shaken to its core by the director’s rampage, so I can’t rely on the parent company either.
‘Yet the moment I hit him with a counter-question, Director Nathan let out a small laugh.’
That meant the director had already guessed what would happen to the group’s future if this research were exposed.
So he deliberately dangled an impossible future to test me.
Even if I had insisted on making the research public, the outcome would have been the same.
Anyway, even though the meeting wasn’t over, there was no reason for a first-year low-level employee to remain.
I was promptly escorted out alongside Secretary Min Chaerin, but the moment we stepped into the corridor, both of us felt immense relief.
“It really is far better than sitting on a cushion of thorns.”
“...I completely agree.”
Secretary Min Chaerin must have been unable to hold it in either; she let out a deep sigh of relief.
The recent face-to-face with the director had drained my mental energy so severely that I felt exhausted.
Then the secretary glanced at me and offered some encouragement.
“The director truly favors people with conviction. The fact that your argument was ultimately chosen in the conference room is proof of that.”
“I hope that’s true. And thank you for the support.”
“I simply thought it would be better than suffering alone over this matter.”
Thanks to Secretary Min Chaerin, I walked down the corridor thinking that even an evil organization was still a place where people lived.
Slumping in the office like this wouldn’t be so bad, but I decided to visit Liberty for some healing and to take care of other business at the same time.
Maybe because I arrived earlier than expected?
Liberty greeted me with boundless energy.
Wriggle wriggle wriggle!!
“Heh heh heh!! Papa!! Papa!!”
“Hahaha, are you that happy?”
“Awoooo!!”
I’ve grown completely used to Liberty climbing all over my body.
But... the guy is getting heavier with each passing day.
Although I don’t know his exact birthday, the last time I checked he was around eleven, and now that he’s been eating much richer meals, it seems the time for his second growth spurt is approaching.
‘Even Gloria appears to be getting taller little by little, doesn’t she?’
In a way, I had pulled off a super save at the golden hour.
It was the same when I first met them.
If I had encountered the children during their actual puberty...
I would have already found peaceful rest by now.
Sighing in relief, I stroked the head of Liberty, who was nestled in my arms.
Of course, fatigue was fatigue, so I immediately leaned my back against the wall and slid down to sit.
“Whine?”
“Sorry. I’m a little tired today.”
“Heh heh heh!!”
Lick!!
Liberty licked my cheek as if to cheer me on.
Once again, not only my face but my entire outfit ended up soaked in drool.
Still, thanks to him I recovered some strength.
Three days had passed since the important meeting at Black Cell.
Yet not only the director and Dr. Cain,
but the other key executives still seemed extremely busy.
Even in the underground research wing, the staff were desperately struggling to unravel the secrets of superpowers.
“S-Senior Maxwell, shouldn’t you rest a little?”
“That’s what I’m saying.”
“Please leave this part to us.”
Having become the young man whose thesis was stolen by his supervising professor, I received consideration from every researcher.
Thanks to that, I had a lot of free time on my hands.
I was able to accelerate the meetings with the children that I had planned.
“Could you tell me exactly how far that permission extends?”
“He said it would be fine to remove all restraints.”
Even though there was a time limit,
the Awakening drug capable of turning non-powered individuals into superhumans would be completed before long.
That was why the director no longer needed to obsess over Victory.
The restraints on her legs—the most critical part for a speedster—were removed.
Now that she had finally gained freedom, was it really that wonderful?
Victory began dashing around the detention room in every direction.
────Ping!!!!
“Maxwell! Maxwell! How do I look?! Don’t I seem incredibly strong?!”
“Y-Yeah, that’s amazing...”
Victory moved so fast she left afterimages.
And since she could also strengthen her physical abilities in that state,
almost no one except Gloria or Liberty would be able to withstand her kicks.
“But Victory, if you can move that fast, why did you get hurt back then?”
“T-That’s...”
Victory’s face turned bright red with embarrassment; she only muttered that she had let her guard down.
She wouldn’t tell me the exact circumstances.
Anyway, now that Victory’s restraints had been completely lifted,
I immediately arranged a meeting with Gloria.
This time I had obtained permission from both of them, and since Gloria and Liberty hadn’t fought during their last encounter,
I brought the two of them to the meeting room without worry.
The black curtain slowly rose.
Right after Gloria and Victory saw each other, we would proceed to a three-way meeting...
Kwaaaang!!
“Hm?”
Suddenly, the sound of something shattering came from inside the meeting room.
Although I was startled, I quickly checked inside.
As soon as the black curtain rose, the two had seen each other for what was essentially the first time.
Both of them scanned the other from head to toe.
In that instant, Gloria smashed the reinforced glass with her fist and immediately began attacking Victory.
Wait, what? Why?!
Is this the ‘Why are you looking at me like that?’ trope?!
I tried to activate the emergency device to spray sedatives and stop their fight,
but the battle unfolding inside the meeting room was so strange that I paused for a moment.
Just like when Gloria and Liberty fought and half-destroyed the danger zone,
this place could easily be demolished by their current fight.
Yet the outer walls weren’t being damaged at all; the room itself remained surprisingly intact.
Moreover, thanks to the experiments I had conducted with her so far, Gloria had learned to control her strength to some degree.
The fact that she was holding back this much meant...
‘This is a test.’
In the future, Gloria acknowledged anyone who could put up a decent fight against her.
Following that personality, she was clearly testing Victory right now.
Gloria continued throwing punches in rapid succession, but because she had pulled her strength, Victory easily dodged every blow.
“Die!!!”
Having been ambushed, Victory was furious and counterattacked instead.
And so the majestic battle between two ten-year-old girls began once again.
The moment they met, Gloria attacked Victory.
But since the girl was clearly holding back, it could still be considered fortunate.
However, both of them were still very young.
That meant a test could easily turn into a real fight.
The problem was that they clearly wouldn’t stop just because I told them to, so I activated the call device installed outside the lab.
Beeeep!!
Special agents would arrive shortly.
Once the fight had gone on long enough, I would have them stop it.
Victory used the walls to zip around the entire room at incredible speed while Gloria bounced around like a rubber ball, casually blocking every strike.
Sooner than expected, the special agents arrived.
“Why is the Security Director here...”
“An incident occurring at such a critical time must be resolved quickly.”
Yoon Carter, the Security Director, had come in person to lead the special agents.
Still, I figured it was better to have the best help available, so I explained the current situation to him.
His expression grew very interested.
“That little one is showing restraint... How surprising.”
“It seems you already know about Gloria. Am I correct?”
“Of course. I’m the one who brought her here myself.”
With the director’s Transfer ability, it made sense that he could have easily subdued an even younger Gloria.
As expected, Gloria’s attacks were gradually growing fiercer.
Victory was also using her full power.
Now was the perfect time to stop them.
At my signal, the Security Director entered the meeting room without even bringing any equipment.
Of course the two girls paid him no attention whatsoever.
Suddenly, the director drew the knife from his belt and stabbed it into his own hand.
─────Thud!!
“Ugh?!”
“Hup?!”
Even though the director had injured himself, both Gloria and Victory twisted in pain.
This was the nature of the director’s ability—Transfer.
It redirected both damage and pain onto his targets.
On top of that, he also possessed physical enhancement, an ability belonging to the superhuman category.
Unless they could land an instant-kill blow, defeating him was impossible.
‘In the original story, almost no one could beat him except the protagonist, right?’
It was practically designed so that only the protagonist, who possessed an ability-nullifying power, could win.
The director stabbed his hand several more times.
To calm the staggering girls, I rushed in together with the special agents.
Perhaps Gloria had suffered severely at the director’s hands before?
The moment she saw me and the director, she clicked her tongue and plopped down on the floor.
It looked like the situation was finally winding down.
I was relieved that the fight had ended without any real injuries, but then Victory, who was being held by the director, looked at me and her face crumpled.
The moment the director realized what was coming—
“Huuueeeeeng!”
Victory began thrashing and crying as if she desperately wanted to come to me.
She was crying so bitterly that I immediately ran over.
The director’s face turned extremely awkward as he held onto her.
“M-Maxweeeell! That girl!! That giiiiiirl!!”
“There, there, Victory… Calm down.”
“Hic!! Like this!! She did it like this—!!”
Victory was currently the youngest among the children.
She had just experienced the pain of a knife stabbing into her hand multiple times,
and she had been attacked by Gloria even though she hadn’t done anything wrong.
From Victory’s perspective, it was completely understandable that she felt wronged.
I did my best to soothe the white rabbit sobbing in my arms and then checked on Gloria.
She wore an expression that seemed to say, ‘Did I really just go all-out against that kid?’
It looked like Gloria had been hit hard by a serious case of post-battle clarity.