SOG Ch 171

The Technician straightened his back and began a lengthy speech. To Jae-chan, it looked exactly like how he used to show off with long speeches through video platforms before the regression.

“When I was staying in the American Union, I had to research mental pathology. According to psychological analysis, you are an abandoned child. Being abandoned by a caregiver is the most intense wound one can suffer in childhood. It would have greatly influenced the formation of your behavioral patterns.”

“…”

Seon Jae-chan thought this was all nonsense. However, he couldn’t help but stiffen at the statement that followed.

“An abandoned child’s internal beliefs are twofold. ‘They become obsessed with finding a new figure who will never abandon them.’ Or ‘They aim for isolated relationships just enough to not get hurt if abandoned.'”

The Technician paused briefly as if giving time for the other to fully understand. He examined Jae-chan’s hardened expression as if savoring it, then continued his explanation.

“Whether you go for the former or the latter, it seemed clear that someone like you being near the Esper Go Woo-jin would become his flaw.”

“…”

“At first, your behavior seemed to follow the former pattern. But in recent years, as you seemed to be moving away from the first behavioral pattern, Director Yoon Seo-mi became anxious. I had explained this to Director Yoon Seo-mi before. In the end, she was wrong and I was right. Even if you moved away from the former, you couldn’t escape the latter. Like a hamster wheel.”

Aiming for isolated relationships just enough to not get hurt if abandoned. Seon Jae-chan couldn’t deny that he had acted that way. It was the same with Woo-jin. He kept building walls to avoid getting hurt in case Woo-jin abandoned him.

“Esper Go Woo-jin, who has such a person as his pair Guide and fellow Esper, must be quite exhausted. Even if you hadn’t been caught by me, you would have inevitably made your lover anxious.”

“Do you really believe you can encompass a person’s entire behavior with just a few sentences?”

Seon Jae-chan sneered. But the Technician just smiled leisurely, as if he knew all of Jae-chan’s inner turmoil.

“It’s even better if you don’t know how to reflect. But from now on, all of that will be useless. For a puppet that can’t speak or think, the past holds no meaning.”

The Technician flicked his hand. Jae-chan realized that the brief reprieve was over. The Technician was now trying to turn him into an Angel.

“Begin.”

Seon Jae-chan’s throat tightened slightly. He tried to convince himself it would be okay. Though he hadn’t expected it to happen this way, he’d been waiting for his restraints to be loosened.

He recalled what the Esper Chae Seong-hwan had said in the secret room. ‘This is a byproduct created by a dictator.’ That’s what he had said.

As expected, the Technician didn’t approach him directly but only gave orders to his subordinates. Following his instructions, they started by tearing off Jae-chan’s winter work uniform. Thinking of the way the starved university student had been stripped bare, Jae-chan let out a bitter sigh. Even after dealing with Black Swan in all sorts of ways before the regression, he never dreamed he’d end up naked in front of these guys.

As his coat was ruined and his shirt collar was being torn, Seon Jae-chan, unfazed, spoke to the Technician.

“I’m not the only one who’s your so-called ‘abandoned child,’ am I?”

Just as he spoke to lure the Technician, a sudden gunshot rang out in the plaza. The unexpected gunfire didn’t stop at one. Bang! With each flying bullet, blood splattered. In an instant, three men in the back were taken out, and the terrorists scattered.

Seon Jae-chan, who was being dragged towards the submarine with his clothes half-removed, spotted Go Woo-jin who had jumped in alone. For a brief second, it seemed as though their eyes met before Woo-jin took cover behind an obstacle.

“He’s alone, push him back with firepower!”

Lee Yundo shouted. But soon his instructions became useless. Armed personnel were firing and invading from the opposite side. It was the E-SOF unit members who had infiltrated through a different route.

“Fvck…” A curse burst from Yundo’s mouth.

*

While shooting and killing terrorists as soon as they entered his sight, Woo-jin recalled the progress of the diversionary tactics. First, from the moment he heard the broadcast that rang throughout the center.

-If you want to get Esper Gu Ji-eun back, come to Research Building 2.

It was such an obvious ploy. Of course, the unexpected sound of Seon Eun-soo’s voice made him momentarily heated with anger, but his clear objective quickly restored his rationality.

His goal was to get Seon Jae-chan back into his arms somehow, by any means necessary, today. To do that, he had to avoid obvious traps.

Woo-jin lightly clutched the area near his ribs where he felt a slight pain. If he got injured any further here, it would hinder rescuing Seon Jae-chan. He calculated how to take down the terrorists thoroughly and reclaim Jae-chan as quickly as possible. As he pondered, Woo-jin did as they wanted, letting himself be spotted by the terrorists who were loosely guarding the area near Research Building 2.

As expected, not long after escaping through the blind spot behind the building, Research Building 2 was blown away entirely. Woo-jin waited with his eyes closed for his hearing to recover before asking his colleagues through the radio.

“What’s the situation?”

After a brief receiving tone, Ahn Sook-young immediately replied.

“As you said. Victor consented.”

It meant that Han Tae-hoon had allowed the E-SOF unit to enter the nuclear power plant.

Woo-jin recalled the moment he had suddenly encountered the windless zone.

After rescuing Ahn Sook-young, he immediately evacuated his team members. It was established protocol to leave the area as soon as they encountered a windless zone. He alone jumped back into the windless zone to scare off the terrorists, then returned to his colleagues. However, despite his calm reaction, Woo-jin felt a gnawing sense of dread.

A windless zone.

What about Jae-chan? Chae Seong-hwan?

Are they safe?

The reason he had held onto hope was because he believed in Jae-chan’s ability and Chae Seong-hwan’s strength. But both had become useless.

Could they still be alive? If anything had happened to Jae-chan… A suffocating sensation closed around his chest. His chest felt painfully numb. As if he had experienced a very similar situation before.

Perhaps it was because Jae-chan had been kidnapped once before. Woo-jin frowned, trying to calm himself as he was overly agitated. As soon as he regained some composure, he looked back at his team members.

‘I’m going alone.’

‘Ah, I object! You’re telling us to turn back after coming this far?’

Noh Min-wan shouted.

‘If we chicken out at this level, the strike force guys will laugh at us. They already talk behind our backs saying we’re useless without our abilities. I don’t want to give them anything more to hold against us.’

The look in the other team members’ eyes was the same. As they all seemed about to speak up, Woo-jin shook his head to save time.

‘I’m not telling you to just go back. While I draw attention here, join forces with Guk-hyun and enter through the second passage.’

The second passage was a secret route into the nuclear plant that the District 5 investigator had informed them about. It also connected to a secret passage from the plant to the Center, but since Research Building 2, the destination, had been blown away, they would only need to use the former route.

‘But Han Tae-hoon is guarding that place. Will he readily give permission to enter?’

To  Ah nSook-young’s question, Go Woo-jin relayed the answer.

‘Tell him that Esper Chae Seong-hwan is inside.’

Han Tae-hoon was the type to track Seong-hwan’s location by any means. Even if he didn’t know the exact location, he would at least know that Chae Seong-hwan had been in District 5 all this time and was now unreachable. He would probably be quite shocked to realize that he himself had blocked Chae Seong-hwan’s means of communication.

And….

Seeing that his team members had successfully infiltrated on cue, it seemed his guess was correct.

Bang-!

Dodging the gun muzzle aimed at him, Woo-jin silently thanked Han Tae-hoon. He was confident he could handle it alone somehow, but having his colleagues with him naturally made him feel more assured. With that, he charged at the terrorists.

Caught off guard, the terrorists couldn’t even properly assume a firing stance. Their hands holding the rifles were visibly shaking. Woo-jin dodged all the bullets and leaped into the enemy ranks like a projectile fired at full speed. Bang, bang, with unwavering shots even while running, targets fell like paper dolls with each shot.

Meanwhile, the Technician who had quickly retreated to the rear of the submarine with his henchmen as soon as the enemies appeared, contorted his facial muscles.

“…”

He couldn’t understand where his calculations had gone wrong.

Go Woo-jin was moving like a physical-type Esper even within the windless zone. He was far stronger than the physical ability data they had received. Since there was no reason for Yoon Seo-mi, who hated Woo-jin, to pass on false data, it meant that Woo-jin had been adjusting his ability levels.

Another puzzling aspect was his obsession with Seon Jae-chan. Woo-jin was fundamentally cautious and realistic by nature. However, they hadn’t expected him to disobey orders and pursue them this closely while taking such extreme risks.

His muscles tensed throughout his body, lamenting the subordinates he had lost in an instant. He asked Lee Yundo:

“The submarine?”

“Still… need about 5 more minutes,” 

Lee Yundo replied with a trembling voice.

Still, it wasn’t as if they were completely without a contingency plan. Clenching his fist that was still twitching with residual spasms, he turned to look at Seon Jae-chan. Thanks to Seon Eun-soo, who had quickly placed a knife against Jae-chan’s throat as soon as Woo-jin appeared, they still had their hostage intact.

“I told you that your very existence would be harmful to Esper Go Woo-jin. It’s exactly as I said. You’ll be the flaw in the perfect Esper.”

Whispering amidst the commotion, the Technician gave a signal with his eyes to Seon Eun-soo.