By Zephyria Awakened are mutating due to Prometheus.
Awakened are mutating after the Day of Change.
The conclusion was the same, but the process was different. The former has a clear entity, while the latter is just a groundless rumor without proper basis. However, sometimes the cause of the problem exists within the rumor.
Lee Sa-young stared intently at the black figure on top of the giant whale. Certainly, Cha Eui-jae’s hair color was brighter than it was three months ago. He flicked his fingers and asked.
“What about why they’re mutating, what they’re mutating by?”
His younger brother, Mackerel, snapped his fingers as if he had been waiting for it.
“That’s exactly it. Awakened mutate after the Day of Change! Why? Why?”
Then he shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.
“Nothing~ The most important part is empty. But there is evidence and results that Awakened have mutated, right? There are testimonies from people who saw it directly, and photos too.”
“…….”
“So people started filling in the blanks themselves to create plausible stories. The curse of the System, the karma of the Awakened, someone’s revenge, and so on…. The repertoire is really diverse.”
It’s just funny stories to someone who knows the truth. But it wasn’t something to laugh off. Fear without substance paralyzes the human brain. Sa-young tilted his head. The smile disappeared from his younger brother Mackerel’s face. Pale blue light cast shadows on his face.
“Maybe that’s why the rumors are spreading so fast. Hunters who are familiar with rumors have probably heard it at least once, right? The rumor that Awakened are mutating. Some Hunters actually believe it. Right, Hyung?”
“Y-yeah.”
“I tell you, some idiot even came to me asking what to do if he mutated, asking me to tell him how not to mutate.”
Didn’t the Awakened Management Bureau step in? For a moment, he was puzzled, but Sa-young erased the question that came to his mind himself.
The Awakened Management Bureau is a conservative public institution. They can’t intervene carelessly, and even if they do intervene in the rumors, if they try to explain it poorly, it would only cause confusion. Even more so since they haven’t figured out all the distribution routes of the drug.
His younger brother Mackerel started playing with his Hyung’s hair.
“Well, we know it’s bullshit. But the vast majority don’t, right? It’s like they cleverly stimulated people’s anxiety after the Day of Change….”
“…….”
“Awakened are strong, but they are significantly fewer in number compared to civilians. We can’t help but care about public opinion. J’s activities were okay for a while, but recently it’s been getting more and more ominous.”
Sa-young tilted his head. Prometheus. They wanted to stop Doomsday with human power. Unfortunately, the memories of being dragged there and experimented on were not clear. Only remaining as vague sensations.
‘If your brain has forgotten, it means you’ve been shocked that much. You don’t have to push yourself too hard.’
When he lived in a mountain village with Jung-bin and Bae Won-woo in a remote thatched house. Jung-bin said that if it was too hard, he didn’t have to remember it. But Lee Sa-young stubbornly pieced together the fragmented memories. What he salvaged from the vague memories.
―I hope the experiment I did on you was successful. Right? You can endure the pain well, right? You’ve been enduring it well so far.
―If it succeeds, humanity will take a big step against Doomsday. With our own strength!
A strangely familiar woman’s voice, and terrible anger.
While Sa-young was lost in thought, his younger brother Mackerel was tormenting his Hyung by taking off and putting on his glasses.
“The purpose?”
“Well….”
His younger brother Mackerel blew air with his mouth, and round bubbles floated up. He took his Hyung’s glasses and put them on, grumbling.
“If you think about the group’s tendencies…. It’s about instilling distrust in Awakened and Hunters.”
“…….”
“I couldn’t say it earlier because you were in front of me, but well…. The reason why they targeted J is obvious. When you think of Hunters, you think of J. Even people who don’t like Hunters acknowledge J’s achievements, right?”
“…….”
Sa-young raised his head only after hearing J’s name. His younger brother Mackerel chattered.
“The first Awakened, saved the country, dealt with the West Sea Rift, thought he was dead but came back alive, appeared when we thought we were going to fail again and beat up the whale, dealt with Monsters like Hong Gil-dong. How many testimonies are there that J saved their lives.”
“Ah….”
“As long as J is holding on, they won’t be able to greatly increase distrust in Hunters.”
Yeah, Hunter J, who is ranked higher than me, has been very active. While I was asleep. Sa-young suppressed the sarcasm that was about to burst out.
In fact, Cha Eui-jae was not a person who would behave quietly just because he was told to. That was his nature. He has to do something as long as he lives. He gets anxious if he stays still. No matter how hard he tries, he can’t rest comfortably. A person who can’t live quietly by nature, that was Cha Eui-jae.
‘Would he have been a little quieter if he hadn’t become a Hunter?’
The image of Cha Eui-jae in a school uniform floated vaguely in his head. Cha Eui-jae carrying a large bag and going to school, studying at school, taking a nap, eating lunch at lunchtime, and talking with friends. Soon Sa-young frowned. No matter what scene he imagined, there were crowds of people around Cha Eui-jae.
“…….”
Ah, never mind. Sa-young tilted his head back and let out a small sigh. The sound of air escaping from the Gas mask, shhh, was heard. His younger brother Mackerel clapped his hands with a snap.
“Anyway, to summarize! Prometheus is changing its behavior based on the Day of Change. In the past, they released drugs and kidnapped Awakened to experiment on them….”
Letters fluttered on the screen surrounding Sa-young. They all had similar content. You have been chosen, don’t entrust our future to the Awakened, let’s overcome Doomsday with our own strength….
“Now they are spreading rumors to change the thoughts and perceptions of civilians who are not Awakened. Awakened are dangerous! We must overcome Doomsday with our own strength! That kind of thing. They’re also cutting down J at the same time.”
“Bullshit.”
“I agree. Oh, there’s other information, but what should we do with this?”
“Send it to Min-gi Seo. I’ll check it myself.”
“Yes. Thank you for the good deal?”
Sa-young turned his back. His younger brother Mackerel, who was taking off his glasses, asked.
“Oh, are you leaving already? Why don’t you talk a little more before you go?”
His footsteps stopped. The hem of his black coat fluttered.
“You shouldn’t leave J alone for too long.”
His younger brother Mackerel fiddled with his ears for no reason. Strangely, it felt like his voice was overlapping into two. While he took his eyes off for a moment to ask his Hyung for his opinion, Lee Sa-young quickly disappeared. Hyung Mackerel took the glasses off his younger brother’s face and tilted his head.
“T, that’s strange….”
“Hyung, did you hear it too?”
“Y, yeah.”
“Something must have happened during those three months…. What is it? When did he become so inseparable from J? Ah~ I’m so damn curious!”
“Should I, uh, contact the reporter?”
“No, wait.”
His younger brother Mackerel rubbed his chin and his eyes lit up.
“Anyway, we have to stop Prometheus from spreading nonsense…. Listen, Hyung. To put out a fire?”
“You have to pour water….”
“You can make a bigger fire!”
His younger brother Mackerel jumped off the desk and stood up. Hyung Mackerel hurriedly tried to grab his younger brother’s arm, but he was one step too late.
“T, that doesn’t seem like the right….”
“No, this is right. Contact the reporter, Hyung! If you say it’s a follow-up report to the article you published last time, they’ll be excited and run over. Let’s set fire to the General Assembly properly.”
“How are you going to, uh, handle it….”
His younger brother Mackerel smiled crookedly as if he was frowning.
“Surely we won’t die, will we?”
The tightly closed door opened silently. A figure as long as the door appeared through the pouring light. Sa-young went inside, suppressing his presence as much as possible.
The screen still showed a young Lee Sa-young. The young Lee Sa-young was standing there with a what-did-you-just-eat face, but it was a little different in that Bae Won-woo was next to him.
Cha Eui-jae was crouching on the bare floor with his knees together. His head was resting on his arms on his knees. Small, colorful breaths leaked out. Judging by the even breathing, he seemed to be asleep.
If you’re going to sleep, sleep on a beanbag. Why do you have to sleep in such an uncomfortable position?
Cha Eui-jae either causes an accident if you take your eyes off him, or he’s crouching alone like this. He always did one of the two.
From Sa-young’s point of view, it was better to cause a loud accident. At least that gave him a sense of being alive. Sa-young took off his Gas mask. Then, he reached out and carefully lifted the face resting on his arm. Click, he takes off the mask. His eyelashes and eyes were wet. Sa-young sighed annoyedly.
See, I can’t leave him alone.
He lightly rubbed his eyes with his thumb, then put the mask back on. He should have woken up if he was tormented this much, but strangely he doesn’t wake up. Sa-young listened to Eui-jae’s breathing for a moment.
“…….”
It’s enough if he’s alive.
Lee Sa-young took off his coat and put it on Eui-jae. Then he picks him up and kicks the door open with his foot and steps into the hallway. The surrounding scenery changed in a complicated way. And in the jumbled scenery, the gazes looking at Lee Sa-young gradually changed as well.
From shock to astonishment, to curiosity, and finally to the excitement of catching a big fish.
As he was almost out of the fish market, a sea shrimp swam around in the air and flew next to Sa-young. Sa-young tilted his head at the shrimp’s black eyes.
“Why, are you going to take a picture again?”
The shrimp’s antennae wriggled busily. Sa-young chuckled.
“Go ahead.”
“…….”
“This time, so there’s no way to deny it.”
Poof!
With smoke like a cartoon effect, the shrimp in the air disappeared. Sa-young enjoyed the weight in his arms and left the fish market. Soon, a strange cry faintly echoed in the fish market.
“It’s a jackpot~!”