Chapter 67
Chapter 67
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: A New Kind of Boss
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“…Pardon?”
Juyeol furrowed his brow as if he’d just heard something absurd.
It was a long-standing practice for Hero Headquarters and the bosses of the Old District to maintain a certain balance by holding regular meetings and exchanging information.
Whenever a new boss took over in the Old District, Headquarters would periodically dispatch a Hero to monitor the situation.
When Cue took over District 1, Finder, who had X-ray vision, and Boulder, who could harden his entire body, were dispatched every week for a month.
And now, they were entrusting that role to Juyeol.
“Hasn’t Dr. Eun Haon been soft on you since she lost her memory? If there's an advantage, we should use it.”
“But I—.”
“I'm not telling you to go alone. River will go with you.”
“What? Ah, yes. Understood.”
A startled River nodded. Deploying her, someone who was at least somewhat acquainted with the current Haon, alongside Juyeol, was a logical decision.
Seeing the strange expression on Juyeol's face, Hunter sighed and said,
“Whatever your reason for returning, you are a Hero. Asking you to ensure the city's safety shouldn't be too much to ask, should it?”
“…I know.”
“They're probably busy over there right now, so start next week.”
Juyeol, who had been nodding blankly throughout the meeting, holed himself up in his quarters as soon as he left the conference room.
He frantically sifted through documents about Halo and human experimentation. The more he read, the more his anger boiled.
Halo was the 'order' in the Old District, one that never tolerated children being used for crime or killed.
And that 'order' suddenly set fire to a house with a child left alone inside?
There had to be some connection between the horrific experiments and Halo.
He was investigating his brother's suspicious death in detail, but all he'd gotten so far was a headache.
He didn't know when Eun Haon had joined forces with Halo, but someone using similar technology had appeared at the abandoned factory.
Still, seeing how fiercely they fought, it was clear their relationship had soured…
At that thought, Juyeol irritably threw the stack of papers.
No matter what he thought about, it always led back to Haon. He had no idea how to deal with her.
'Maybe it's a relief that Anga is gone.'
Whenever he thought of Haon, affection and betrayal swung him back and forth like a seesaw.
When he forced himself to think of something else, thoughts of Halo consumed his mind.
Feeling like he would go mad if he didn't do something, he ended up moving between the gym and the training room until he was drenched in sweat.
The next day, and the day after that.
“Is this bastard crazy? Take it easy!”
“Stop! I can't! I'm not sparring with you anymore. I'm seriously gonna die, so find someone else.”
“You're banned from the training room for a while. Everyone runs away the second they see you coming!”
Until the other Heroes, fed up, reprimanded him.
Juyeol spent his time at the shooting range, disassembling the guns he'd been issued, cleaning each part one by one, and reassembling them.
On top of that, he was juggling his Hero duties with the investigation into his brother's death, making everyone look at him like he was a monster.
But even that level of self-punishment wasn't enough.
Lying in his quiet quarters trying to sleep, his chest would suddenly feel tight.
'A different person? She can prove it?'
When the number 56 appeared on the back of her small, white hand, he found himself utterly pathetic for wanting to believe Haon, even for a moment.
As he replayed that moment, a ridiculous thought crossed his mind.
Could the number have changed because she's a different person?
What if she wasn't the 'Eun Haon' who deceived him, but a serial killer or terrorist from another dimension?
'And that would be okay?'
Juyeol let out a hollow laugh and pulled a USB drive from deep within his luggage. It was the one Haon had given him.
She'd said this could prove she was a 'different Eun Haon'.
At this point, he was curious to see what she would use to shake him up next.
No. Perhaps it was because a sliver of hope remained.
He went straight to the Engineering B-Team.
“Eun Haon gave me this. Check it for any signs of tampering.”
At his words, the engineer, with a stern face, plugged the USB into a clean laptop with no internet connection.
“This should be enough to prevent any hacking of the Headquarters' servers. Let me take a look.”
And when the two of them opened the photo files on the drive, their expressions became incredibly strange.
Next to a younger-looking Haon was, surprisingly, Juyeol.
A skinny body with just enough muscle for survival. He looked like a stick.
He could tell at a glance that this was the 'my Juyeol' Haon was constantly looking for.
There were photos of the two of them in the mountains, at the sea, at school, and so on.
She'd gone on and on about them being best friends, and they really looked the part.
Juyeol stared at the 'Juyeol' in the photo, who was looking at Haon with affectionate, warm eyes, before closing the image.
'Why did she create that kind of expression on my face?'
He couldn't imagine these photos existed through any means other than synthesis and manipulation.
The engineer seemed to think the same, muttering with a disgusted look.
“This is creepy.”
Besides the photos, the USB also contained a few audio logs and videos.
Juyeol flinched when he played the first audio log and was immediately met with the sound of Haon sniffling.
[Professor Park Wonyoung, who was in charge of the audio logs, passed away while trying to stop the terrorists' operation. Eun Haon of the Mana Engineering department will be taking over the audio logs in his place.]
[Current location is a live pub in the basement. We plan to rescue the hostages while the terrorists are out procuring food. TA Song may already be dead, but we've decided to at least find the body.]
[During the hostage rescue, Haon was shot in the leg and is currently receiving treatment, so Woo Juyeol, an undergraduate in the Mana Engineering department, will be recording this audio log instead. We've decided to bury TA Song's body with the others—.]
'…What is all this?'
Juyeol felt goosebumps as he heard his own voice in the middle of the audio log.
“Is it possible to create something like this?”
“With AI, it's not impossible.”
There were also two videos. One showed Haon and 'Juyeol' playing with bubbles, and the other depicted a city that looked like it was in the middle of a war.
'Isn't this too realistic? Why does it look so real?'
The engineer also replayed the video a few times and tilted his head.
“It's probably CG and AI, but it all looks so real. Whatever it is, this is going to take a while.”
Juyeol nodded as if he had expected as much.
“Contact me as soon as you have the results.”
He barely managed to drag his feet away. The look in 'Woo Juyeol's' eyes as he gazed at Eun Haon was deeply unsettling.
Besides, no matter how he looked at it, the city in the video was at war.
War, and the number 56.
'If. Just if, all those files are real and not fabricated…'
Juyeol felt pathetic once again as that sliver of hope began to swell.
Not a single piece of evidence Eun Haon had submitted so far had been untampered.
Even knowing that, was his heart wavering because the conversation between Halo and Haon had been a little strange?
'She acted as if the owner of the phone Eun Haon was looking for was someone else. And what was that about a 'fake'?'
His head throbbing, he stopped in the dark hallway and glanced down at the mechanical hamster at his feet.
'She made something that mindlessly follows people around, just like her.'
He briefly considered kicking it away, but decided to just leave it be and headed for the shooting range.
* * *
The residents of the Old District's District 1 were deeply shocked by the news that Dr. Eun Haon had become their new boss.
They were certain that Dr. Eun Haon's memories had returned and that she had killed Cue to turn the entire district into her personal laboratory.
The first thing Haon did after becoming the boss was to send drones flying all over District 1 early in the morning.
People screamed and fled, assuming the drones would breathe fire or control their minds, but instead, a flustered voice emerged from them.
[Ah, hello, residents of District 1! This is Eun Haon, your new administrator. To ensure you all have a comfortable and safe life here, I've decided to conduct a survey!]
Their bewilderment at the sudden talk of a survey was short-lived.
Those accustomed to life in the Old District assumed the survey was a thinly veiled threat demanding obedience and ignored it.
[Those who participate in the survey will get a discount on next month's protection fees!]
Until they heard that.
One and all, the people lined up to receive a questionnaire from a drone.
And the moment they saw the first question, they realized something strange was happening.
「Do you think the protection fee set by Cue for District 1 is expensive?
1. Strongly agree.
2. Agree.
3. Disagree.
4. Strongly disagree.」
The residents, despite paying the protection fee every month, had never been asked such a question and were bewildered.
If they were honest, everyone wanted to check option 1. After all, District 1 had the highest protection fees in the Old District.
They had no idea what Eun Haon wanted to achieve with this survey.
They were torn between answering honestly and tactfully checking option 4, pretending it wasn't expensive at all.
The questions that followed were just as unusual.
「Do you think there is enough parking space in District 1?」
「Do you agree to have all abandoned vehicles parked on the roadside towed?」
「Which of the following public facilities should be repaired first?」