Chapter 74
Chapter 74
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 74
Chapter Title: A Harsh Reality
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Led by Nova's hand, Haon headed for District 2, her anxious eyes darting around.
“Villains who tried to assassinate me came all the way to District 1. Are you sure it's okay for us to be in District 2?”
“I'm right here with you, darling. And as the new boss of District 1, shouldn't you experience a major event in the Old Town, even if it means taking a little risk?”
“I-Is that so?”
“Of course. After seeing the event in District 2 today, you might even rethink the events in District 1.”
Nova boasted as he led Haon deeper into District 2.
Spotting the two, Halla's subordinates flinched before busying themselves with contacting someone.
When Haon noticed and didn't know what to do, Nova wrapped an arm around her shoulder reassuringly.
“Don't worry, darling. It's been over a month, so the testing period should be over. They're just whispering instead of pointing guns at us.”
He was right. Halla's gang members followed them from a distance, but they didn't seem to have any intention of starting a fight or threatening them.
Relieved, Haon checked her phone.
*I wonder if he won't contact me today either.*
Two days had passed since the last inspection, but Juyeol hadn't visited the lab or contacted her.
Even if he was so angry with her that he couldn't stand the sight of her, couldn't he at least ask for help if he had a problem so frustrating it gave him a headache?
*He must be struggling because of Halo, right? I'm ready to help anytime.*
She considered contacting him first but decided to wait for now. It had always been Juyeol who waited for her at the safe house, so she figured it was her turn.
“Huh?”
A sudden sense of unease pulled Haon from her thoughts, and she froze.
“Why is the atmosphere…”
The Old Town was generally dark and bleak, but not to this extent.
It felt much more menacing and grim than the last time she'd come to District 2 to visit Solmae's clinic.
At that moment, a piece of paper appeared right in front of Haon.
“Come play here!”
A young girl, who looked even younger than Bani, held out a flyer, only to recognize Eun Haon a moment later and turn pale.
“Gasp! I-I'm sorry…!”
“It's okay! I'll take a flyer. Thank you.”
Startled, Haon took a couple of flyers from the pale-faced child.
“It's past ten, and she's working part-time. Is she helping at her parents' shop?”
She checked the flyer with a puzzled look, which then turned to one of dismay.
The flyer, promoting a club event, blatantly advertised unlicensed alcohol and cigarettes.
“…Why is a child like her handing these out?”
She knew such things were secretly distributed in the Old Town before, but they were never openly advertised with flyers.
And certainly not by using children.
“Wasn't Rusty… the only one who made children do dangerous work?”
Haon asked with a pale face, and Nova shrugged.
“It's been a while since Halo disappeared. There's no longer any order in the Old Town.”
“But still, how could they…!”
*Screeeech—.*
Just then, a van with tinted windows pulled over to the side of the road.
“Get out, quickly! Be here tomorrow, on time and in line!”
A man threw open the back door, and a crowd of grimy, sleepy-looking children poured out.
The van had a sticker that read "○○ Manufacturing." It was a vehicle that traveled to and from the industrial district.
Some of the children knocked on the door of a shop with covered windows. Through the slightly ajar door, she could see more children inside, busy with side jobs.
*Crumple.* The flyer in Haon's hand was crushed.
Nova took her trembling hand and whispered.
“It's not forced labor. On the surface, at least.”
“…That's ridiculous.”
“If you suddenly raise the protection money and stall fees, the children have no choice but to find work themselves. Then the gangs pretend to be reluctant while scooping up cheap labor.”
As soon as Halo disappeared, Halla and Rusty began exploiting child labor as if they'd been waiting for the chance.
Gambling dens and fighting rings popped up everywhere, and it was children who collected tickets and cleaned up in those places.
The clandestine illegal activities had also flared up, forcing the children to witness all sorts of horrific scenes.
“This is too much. It's not like the gangs are short on money.”
Suppressing a wave of nausea at the dreadful sight, Haon spotted a familiar child and bit her lip.
The child, dozing off as they came out of a club and entered an alley, was one who had visited shortly after the academy opened in District 1.
“Can kids from other districts really take classes here?”
She still vividly remembered the excited voice asking that question.
No wonder. The academy in the community center building was always full, so she'd moved it to another building, yet the number of students remained roughly the same.
She thought it was because of poor advertising, but she had been completely mistaken.
In the Old Town, there were many households where children lived together without guardians, and most of them lived day to day.
Bani must have been one of them.
*They're all children living in the Old Town, yet some now have the luxury of choosing what they want to learn, while others are forced to…*
Haon lowered her gaze and asked.
“Is it only Districts 2 and 4 that have become like this?”
“For now, yes. Two-Shot has found a new way to make money, so he's leaving the kids alone, but who knows what will happen to District 3. At least District 5, which Weaver manages, is still the same.”
“So it could get even worse?”
“What can you do? They'll have to live like this until a boss who treats their residents like human beings appears.”
Nova added with a faint smile.
“It's a good thing District 1 is getting brighter by the day, thanks to you, isn't it?”
Haon felt no joy at all. It felt like her chest was tightening.
It had never been her intention to selectively protect only the residents of District 1.
She had ended up in charge of District 1 by chance, and she had simply thought she should take responsibility for it.
So that one day, she could hand it over to someone capable of protecting its people.
“Let's go.”
“But the cocktail show is about to start.”
“I'm fine. I'm tired…”
She had been so busy going back and forth between District 1 and the lab that she had no idea what was happening in the other districts.
The atmosphere in the Old Town was growing more menacing by the day. Except for District 1.
As Haon walked listlessly out of District 2, Nova smiled with a satisfied expression behind her back.
* * *
「Human experiments for immortality using water infused with Awakening Spheres.」
「Blood fusion experiments between the Awakened and the unawakened.」
「Experiments on the relationship between Awakened individuals under 13 and radiation.」
“Tsk.”
Juyeol shoved a wad of paper into the trash can and rubbed his throbbing head.
For days, he had been digging through data, searching for anything with even the slightest connection to the human experimentation group that Halo had supposedly annihilated.
Aside from the legally conducted experiments by pharmaceutical companies, everything else was utterly disgusting.
Looking at this stuff every day, on top of making no progress in tracking Halo, was driving him insane.
He had been blindly volunteering for out-of-town missions, wondering if Halo might have fled to another region.
After finishing the job, he would, of course, comb through the area.
He was at his physical and mental limit, and eventually, Headquarters stopped assigning him to out-of-town missions.
Juyeol closed his tired, stiff eyes and sighed.
What had kept him going until now, funnily enough, wasn't anger or a sense of responsibility.
It was Eun Haon, whom he had tried not to think about because his brother's situation was already driving him crazy.
It was thanks to meeting Eun Haon once a week. And that ridiculous mechanical hamster she had made to protect him had also played a part, he supposed.
*I wonder what suddenly made her do that…*
Juyeol's hand went to his waist, where Haon's slender arms had wrapped around him tightly.
“Let me know if there's anything I can do to help.”
“It's so hard not being able to greet you or talk to you.”
The memory of her face looking up at him with shining eyes, as if she'd never been cautious around him, was vivid. He felt the phantom heat return.
Anyway, she was still a person who constantly defied his expectations.
With District 1 getting cleaner by the day and her apparently meeting Nova again, he had naturally assumed she would look healthier.
But when he finally faced her, Haon's expression was bright, yet she seemed weary somehow, and he wasn't even sure if she was really dating Nova.
He had no idea what had possessed her to say such cheesy things.
“You're the only one of you in this universe. You have nothing to do with 'that Juyeol.' I know that now.”
*What does she mean, she knows?*
Juyeol, mulling over Haon's words, paused as he was about to toss a headache pill into his mouth.
*Crackle, crackle.* Haon's voice overlaid the auditory hallucination of his house burning down.
“I'm not worried about 'Juyeol' right now. I'm worried about you. The Woo Juyeol of this dimension.”
He put down the pill bottle and took out the USB drive, clutching it. It couldn't be, but it felt warm.
His heart was pounding, yet he could feel his headache slowly subsiding.
He felt the illusion of sitting at the dining table in the safe house.
The feeling that at any moment, Eun Haon would open the door, a paper bag in her arms, call out, "Juyeol!" and break into a wide smile.
*…So fickle, so shameless, so utterly without pride.*
Juyeol covered his eyes with the back of the hand clutching the USB.
“The lab is always open.”
And the moment he heard Haon's voice one more time, he shot up from his seat as if he couldn't take it anymore and left his quarters.