Chapter 44
Humans cry when they are sad and laugh when they are happy.
However, these instincts are diluted by society, causing them to endure sadness and hide their joy. Concealing emotions and thoughts. Cha Yeri was an expert in this area, but Park Chaeshin, before my eyes, was causing confusion in a different way.
“...”
What emotion was that expression I saw on his face? The feeling of facing someone who intends to kill him... A hint of contempt seemed to appear, and bewilderment was also reflected. He also seemed to have momentarily dropped his guard while organizing his thoughts, and at times, it looked like he was suppressing surging anger. Park Chaeshin's emotions were hard to pinpoint. But one thing was certain:
“...Tell me why first.”
His voice was subtly trembling.
“Have you eaten?”
“...”
“It's strange that after hiding for weeks, there's no food waste. Well, are you using a subspace or something?”
Park Chaeshin crossed his arms, as if telling me to say more.
“Before meeting you, I investigated a few things about you, Senior. You were born into a prominent alchemy family and grew up wealthy. You awakened when you became a high school student and inherited your father's alchemy talent, receiving great expectations. However, a few days before entering Hero Prep, your father committed a mysterious suicide, and the relatives who promised to lead the guild until you graduated from Hero Prep dismantled your father's guild piece by piece and disappeared.”
“Enough with the embellishments.”
“Ah, yes. Senior, you channeled your mental strength into your school life. Although there were incidents where your eccentric tendencies were noticeable, never mind. You graduated splendidly and were active in a successful alchemy guild when, quite by chance, you stumbled upon the reason for your father's suicide, which even Dispel had given up on.”
I was momentarily fixated on Park Chaeshin's Adam's apple. His thin skin moved so starkly.
“Your father was making forbidden drugs that should not be realized in this world. To make non-Awakened into Awakened, in simple terms, forced awakening.”
“...”
Forced awakening of non-Awakened. It was always a recurring element in any superpower-themed work. Naturally, the process was rife with side effects, and the protagonist struggled to calm them down—a common trope. Of course, the protagonist of this work had been lost for a long time.
“Senior, you followed your father's traces and reached the Psychic Mafia Camellia. Quite coincidentally, it was at a time when they were intensely focused on forbidden drugs.”
“...Yes, I certainly participated in their research.”
“Yes, the rumors circulating that you left the guild to pursue programming were, of course, false.”
“They were using my father's research results directly. As I suspected, my father didn't commit suicide, but was murdered. By the Camellia bastards. At the time, he tried to raise funds for research, but they caught wind of it and proposed research cooperation, but my father refused and was overwhelmed without the strength to resist. ...But that doesn't seem to support your statement about killing me.”
“Of course not. What I'm focusing on is why you fled. You deleted Camellia's research data and then fled, didn't you?”
“There's nothing I wouldn't do for my father's revenge.”
“Revenge, you say...”
I scoffed at him once.
“Be honest. Wasn't it before revenge that you wanted to monopolize the research results?”
“...What?”
“Otherwise, you wouldn't have backed up the data before deleting it.”
“H-how did you know that...!”
How did I know? Because I'm the original author.
“It's just a deduction. A speculation that the curiosity your father held remained in you, the alchemist. Well, human curiosity often overrides ethics, after all.”
I looked around the confined space and continued speaking.
“But it's a bit strange. If you monopolized the data, you should be engrossed in research, yet there isn't a single proper beaker here.”
“...”
“Would it be accurate to say that alchemist Park Chaeshin is in a situation where he cannot conduct research? That means he cannot use his ability, and that, in turn, suggests a state of mana insensitivity... would that be correct?”
I stepped on a thick electrical wire nearby. Most electrical wires in Seoul carry electricity extracted and transformed from mana stones. But this wire was connected to Park Chaeshin's body. So subtly that it wouldn't be noticeable unless one looked carefully.
“To add a note to this conclusion, alchemist Park Chaeshin is highly likely to be discovered by the Psychic Mafia Camellia, have his data confiscated, and be murdered within 20 minutes... wouldn't it? Since you're in a situation where you can't leave the bunker.”
“W-who exactly are you?”
“Just a curious Investigation cadet.”
“Just?”
Park Chaeshin's eyes narrowed sharply. But I felt no threat. He didn't have the strength to attack me.
“Absurd. You're not trying to claim you found out these secrets just by searching online, are you?”
“Do you know this saying? Nothing is impossible in the Awakened world. Your question can be easily answered.”
I slowly closed and opened my eyes. Demonic Eye. The discoloration of my pupils was starkly reflected in the black monitor.
“D-Demonic Eye...”
“I can see mana. Naturally, I can also observe the abnormal flow of mana through the electrical wires connected to the bunker and through your body, Senior.”
“So that's it... In that case...”
Park Chaeshin removed the robe covering his upper body, revealing his bare skin. At the same time, he clutched at the surface of his skin and roughly tore open one side of his chest.
“You must have already figured out my true identity.”
Beneath the skin he peeled away, bones, heart, and mechanical devices were chaotically intertwined. Metalgrid. A body modification sometimes seen in active Hunters.
Awakened beings, even if their limbs are severed, can regenerate if treated appropriately, but in cases of fatal, unrecoverable injuries, Metalgrid is used.
In Park Chaeshin's case, it would be accurate to say he was exposed to the side effects of the research to the point of needing Metalgrid. I opened my mouth, staring at the gears of the mechanical device, which whirred louder than a heartbeat.
“Maintaining a pulse with the power of machines, huh... It'll only be a few days, won't it? Your life, Senior.”
“Days? The mana stone reserves connected to the wires are already depleted. The mana supply will run out before my body allows.”
How much longer did Park Chaeshin have to live? If it was consistent with the original story's pre-regression setting, his breath wouldn't last through tonight. If Camellia caught him, he would die in less than 30 minutes. Even though this episode started earlier than in the original, it was only by a day or two; he couldn't escape death.
“Your words about killing me... You knew all along, didn't you? That I had backed up the data in the Metalgrid.”
“A guess. That you would have put it somewhere not easily found. It's the only weapon you have to protect yourself from Camellia.”
“Do you think I'll lose the data?”
“As I said, nothing is impossible in this world.”
“Even if the data is completely erased when my breath stops?”
“Camellia wouldn't have pushed in like this without knowing that fact. They probably calculated that you wouldn't take your own life and moved accordingly.”
“...What makes you so confident?”
“Because you're still alive. No, to be precise, it's because you haven't dared to delete the data. Whatever its contents, it's years of records left by your father, and one of the few legacies that was scattered and disappeared by traitors.”
Legacy was a plausible excuse. The real reason, rather, was that it would be a declaration of defeat as a researcher. There was nothing more ridiculous than deleting a problem itself because one couldn't solve a conundrum that several generations had failed to solve. Even if it was a forbidden study like forced awakening.
Park Chaeshin gave a self-deprecating laugh. As if someone had gone insane.
“What should I say... It's like facing eyes that see through everything. Not one of your deductions was wrong. An insight that goes beyond mere deduction... I also checked your information. If you laundered your identity, there's no more perfect laundering than this.”
“Believe what you see. That's usually the safest choice.”
“Well, I won't ask about your identity anymore. I've figured out your intentions now. ...Investigation cadet Ji Seokhyeon, you also need the data I possess, don't you?”
To that question, of course...
“Yes.”
Affirmative. Park Chaeshin's research data was a significant plot device in the original story. Unlike the Core of the Earth, which was mentioned once and forgotten, it became the sole clue for an incident closely related to Lee Eunho's acquaintances.
Of course, putting everything else aside, if the data fell into Camellia's hands, whether it was the original plot or a remake, I would have to gather every coin I had and invest it all in stamina and durability. An academy-themed work would inevitably turn into an apocalypse.
“Do you believe you can extract my data like those thugs?”
“I don't move without calculation. Not while spending this time, pushing my comrades into danger.”
“Suggesting my death was also a kind of consideration. So I wouldn't be pushed into a death for unknown reasons.”
“That too, but actually, I have one more request.”
“Hmm?”
I unbuckled my smartwatch and held it out to Park Chaeshin.
“...No way.”
“Yes, please root it. I just need enough authority to send anonymous messages.”
“Ha, what kind of crazy junior is this?”
“To survive in a crazy world, it's best to go crazy as quickly as possible.”
Park Chaeshin took the smartwatch and suddenly stared intently at me. Was it because I was the person he faced just before his death? An indescribable emotion was etched in his eyes.
“I don't know how Camellia will extract the data, but it's a possibility that cannot be ignored. It would be better to hand the data over to a junior I can trust, even if it's only 1%.”
Park Chaeshin connected the smartwatch to his computer and continued speaking.
“...In some respects, you're a junior even less trustworthy than the Camellia thugs, but it's a bit regrettable that I only met a guy like you at the end. I'm not saying I have lingering attachments to my life. As you can see, I'm in a state that can hardly be called living.”
The rooting was quickly finished. Hyeonseong Group's security, which Cha Yeri was so confident in, was breached in less than a minute.
“But what are you going to do now?”
“I'm going to cut off the mana supply. The mana supplied to you, Senior, will be temporarily restricted.”
“Indeed... If the electricity is cut off, even a high-performance system is useless. And the Demonic Eye is truly a unique ability.”
If I bound the electrical wires I was stepping on with shadows and restricted the mana, Park Chaeshin would die. Furthermore, the data's erasure would be delayed due to the power cut.
Even if power returned afterward, since the premise 'upon Park Chaeshin's death' was negated, the system's command would not be executed. Of course, there was a possibility that the system would operate differently, but it probably wouldn't be significantly different from the original setting.
“I wish you good luck, junior. The Camellia thugs will know that Hero Prep cadets came looking for me. They'll definitely try to make contact. Though surviving the barrier comes first.”
“...I'll keep that in mind.”
“And one more thing.”
Park Chaeshin tapped the Metalgrid surrounding his heart with a withered finger. A sight that, if I hadn't been directly cut, shot, and faced death in this world, I would have vomited several times already... No, in truth, my whole body was suppressed by the fact that I had to kill him right before my eyes. The Lee Eunho from the original story, who killed Park Chaeshin without hesitation, once again terrified me.
However, the more frightening truth was that I had to catch up to at least half of his ability to survive the future developments. I deliberately lowered the corner of my mouth and listened to Park Chaeshin's murmur.
“Give my regards to Investigator Yun.”