SOG Ch 163

‘Yes, isn’t he a creepily lecherous old man! He’s old enough that it wouldn’t be strange if he had done all sort of things before!’

Kang Eun-ho argued passionately in his characteristically emotive tone.

‘And his supernatural ability is quite unique, isn’t it? It’s the kind of ability that would be useful in a lab. You know, they even found that sealed room recently! Doesn’t it look just like a secret laboratory?’

Nevertheless, Seon Jae-chan couldn’t hide his indifference. After receiving hundreds of pieces of intelligence claiming the Technician was a former plumber, a former race car driver, or a contestant on “Challenge! Top Hotel Chef!”, he had become numb to such rumors.

The reaction from the higher-ups was the same. It didn’t take long for Kang Eun-ho’s passionate argument to cool down as well. Just another of the common, rampant false rumors. It certainly seemed that way, but…

Who would have thought he really was a researcher.

Seon Jae-chan’s jaw muscles tensed as he surveyed the area ahead. The Technician was lurking somewhere in this District 5 Center. And in a high enough position to have set up a proper secret laboratory within the Center.

Anger he had forgotten began to resurface clearly. Even for Seon Jae-chan, who was inherently lacking in emotion, just thinking about matters related to the Technician still made his teeth grind.

The Ross Clinic Incident.

One of the worst terrorist attacks carried out by Black Swan. Although there were only six victims, it caused a greater social shock than other terrorist attacks that had claimed hundreds of lives.

Even before the Ross Clinic Incident, for some reason, the Technician had been persistently spreading black propaganda specifically targeting Go Woo-jin. For instance, in videos titled “The Cause for the Union People” that he often uploaded to video platforms, he would add comments like these:

– Esper Go Woo-jin, as a military dog, has brutally slaughtered comrades who sought to rebuild a righteous society. We cannot suppress our desire for revenge. If an innocent citizen is killed in a skyscraper today, it’s because of Esper Go Woo-jin.

– Because he doesn’t pay for his crimes, we have no choice but to commit murder again today.

– We demand permanent physical damage to him. Gouge out his eyes.

Adding such suggestive words, blaming Go Woo-jin every time after an execution. Of course, at first, everyone dismissed the Technician’s words as nonsense. Don’t get caught up in a murderer’s tricks, it’s absurd to blame the Esper protecting them – such normal reactions were mainstream.

But was it because society was in chaos, or because Black Swan had started to control the media?

People who had maintained their reason began to change. The crowd, overwhelmed by fear, became as cruel as Black Swan, whom they had treated as murderers.

It’s just one eye, so many people are dying, can’t he sacrifice that much, Go Woo-jin probably killed more Union People than he saved. The selfishness in their reactions, as if their humanity had been completely erased.

It was the same during the Ross Clinic Incident. The hostage situation started with a diversion tactic as always. While the E-SOF Unit, including Go Woo-jin, was rescuing citizens held at a department store in District 4, the Technician used the teleporter Won Seong-il to occupy Ross Clinic. A live broadcast execution with cameras was announced.

“Is one eye so precious that you turn your back on the Union People when it’s not even a life at stake?”

The masked Technician began to sneer, making suggestive speeches targeting Go Woo-jin again.

“Even without one eye, isn’t an S-class Esper far superior to ordinary people? If you give up just one eye, we’ll withdraw from the eastern region. We’ll also stop terrorist attacks on civilians for half a year.”

What will our righteous Esper do? Will he run away again? That gleeful, aged voice.

The reactions on social media were unspeakable. Although Go Woo-jin hadn’t rested for a moment trying to rescue the citizens in District 4, vile resentment was poured directly onto him.

And finally, when Blink, who had been sticking close to the Technician like a loyal servant, grabbed the throat of a young patient, Go Woo-jin calmly announced through a news agency that he had harmed one of his own eyes.

Hearing the news, Seon Jae-chan felt as if his heart was shattering into pieces. Even when greeting his aunt who had safely returned from Ross Clinic, he couldn’t even properly breathe a sigh of relief.

The most horrific thing was the majority’s reaction that remained unchanged even then. Cruel comments like “If it was going to end up like this anyway, it would have been better if he had sacrificed earlier,” “How many lives were lost because he acted indecisively?”

Perhaps the crowd needed someone to vent their anger on. The Esper protecting them was probably easier to target than the terrorist group that even hacked internet packing for retaliation.

‘But now it’s different.’

Jae-chan, momentarily overwhelmed by anger, took a short breath.

Things have already changed from the past. Although they faced a shooting terrorist incident, there was still a chance. Now that he realized what was lacking, he could start filling it from now on. He would never let that horrific society return. He would do his best to create a world, even if just a little, where people aren’t buried in pain and fear, where Go Woo-jin could receive proper treatment for his efforts.

Seon Jae-chan exchanged glances with Chae Seong-hwan as they checked the internal safety. Quickly scanning the area that was too large to be called a sealed room, he flung open the tightly closed iron door inside.

The tense shoulders of the two men relaxed a little. For better or worse, there was no sign of life. The dark interior was just an empty, overly organized laboratory.

Lowering his gun, Jae-chan began to thoroughly examine the outer lab.

‘If the Technician is here, would Angel be here too?’

Angel was a Guide with an incredibly marvelous wide-area guiding ability. The Technician’s ability, the pinnacle of physical-special complex type, tended to become nearly immortal when combined with Angel. If the Technician was with Angel, it would be extremely difficult to deal with him.

He mentally went over the Technician’s attack patterns and related information. The combat experience from before the regression would be greatly helpful when dealing with him. He could only hope it wouldn’t be too different.

“My god, what is all this?”

Meanwhile, Chae Seong-hwan, who knew nothing about Black Swan and the Technician, was also deeply absorbed in acquiring data from inside the lab. This place was a treasure trove. All sorts of things were displayed, from various research projects conducted by them to current terrorist plans.

It made sense why they had installed so many explosives. They probably didn’t want even a single piece of data to fall into the military’s hands. Chae Seong-hwan clicked his tongue.

It seemed like it might be the secret meeting room of the terrorists, but the handwriting and traces left inside all indicated that only one person had been using this place. Chae Seong-hwan carefully examined the information written on phosphorescent paper and pointed to the center of the main board.

“This looks familiar, doesn’t it?”

It was the blueprint of a full-body contamination detector. They had been installed at various entrances of the research building.

Why was this occupying the Center? Chae Seong-hwan, furrowing his thick eyebrows, tore off the blueprint. Seon Jae-chan also came close. Two pairs of eyes quickly scanned down the paper.

“Energy experiment device…”

Chae Seong-hwan muttered softly. Seon Jae-chan also suddenly raised his gaze, examining the bundles of information on the main board that spread out like a spider web. Eventually, his eyes scanning the surroundings discovered a photographic paper. It was a print so dark that if he hadn’t looked closely, he might have passed it off as just an ultrasound image.

They were photographs of corpses. As seen before, all with seemingly smiling expressions and fatal wounds that looked like they had burst open on their chests.

Chae Seong-hwan’s face also hardened as he followed Seon Jae-chan’s gaze.

“It seems Ms. Gyeong Hye-in was right. All these Espers were sacrificed for mere biological experiments.”

Jae-chan silently read through the experiment keywords organized in a flying-like handwriting. Experimental devices that only affect Espers, continuous and steady exposure, energy surge within the body, explosion near the heart where energy is most concentrated, a short moment of euphoria like drug use, and so on.

There was an opinion to use this phenomenon itself as an Esper-specific weapon, but it was postponed due to the difficulty of solving the “continuous and steady exposure” part. Moreover, the original purpose of this experiment was separate.

Chae Seong-hwan continued in a subdued voice.

“When multiple devices resonate, an artificial energy nullification zone is formed… Indeed, it’s a research outcome that a VIP would covet.”

Chae Seong-hwan then offered various opinions about the device, but Seon Jae-chan barely heard them.

He couldn’t believe the Technician really had the Windless Zone technology. It became certain that the Windless zone they suddenly encountered in Black Swan’s underground factory in the past was also an intended trap.

‘Did they intentionally create a Windless zone to neutralize government forces, and I happened to experience the miracle of the Windless zone in the process?’

Whether it should be called terrible misfortune or luck. Jae-chan chuckled bitterly and pressed his palm against his temple. The headache and tinnitus seemed to be worsening due to the decreased wavelength stability.

That wasn’t the only point to note.

‘Those wounds…’

Jae-chan’s gaze was fixed on the wounds on the victims’ chests. He had already felt a sense of foreboding when he first saw those scars. It was as if he had seen them somewhere. He had buried them in a corner of his mind because he couldn’t remember, but now he remembered where he had seen a similar wound.

“Esper-nim, just a moment.”

Interrupting Chae Seong-hwan’s ongoing explanation, Jae-chan quickly moved his gaze.