By Zephyria Eui-jae glanced at Min-gi Seo. He shook his head slightly, meaning not to answer. The two held their breath, focusing all their attention on the outside of the door. But the man beyond the door was confident. Knock, knock, the sound of knocking came again.
“Could you open the door? I want to talk face to face.”
Then, a voice filled with obvious displeasure cut in. It was Song Jo-heon.
“Now I’m being treated like I don’t even exist. The door is more important than me, who’s been betrayed?”
“Surely not. You’re our only partner. But…”
There was a rustling sound from beyond the door.
“The word ‘betrayal’ is inappropriate. We didn’t betray you.”
“If doing things without prior notice to me isn’t betrayal, then what is!”
Despite Song Jo-heon’s sharp roar, the man showed no signs of being intimidated.
“Ah, contact was missed… would be a more appropriate expression. We are very sorry for that part. We will compensate you later. Can we get back to what we were doing now?”
Click. The sound of someone grabbing and turning the doorknob. Right, I didn’t even lock the door. Fortunately, Min-gi Seo quickly grabbed the doorknob and held it in place. Click. Click. Clickclickclickclickclickclick. Song Jo-heon’s hollow laughter was heard. The man shook the doorknob roughly, as if he would tear it off.
“J, J. Will you answer? I know you’re in there. J, I’ve always wanted to talk to you… yes, ever since you killed the whale—the moment.”
Excitement was gradually seeping into his voice. Min-gi Seo, who was holding onto the doorknob, looked at Eui-jae with a rare look of panic. He gestured towards the other side of the door and moved his lips silently.
‘Do you know that guy?’
Eui-jae quickly shook his head. How could he know such a weirdo! Lee Sa-young alone was enough weirdos for Cha Eui-jae’s life. Lee Sa-young alone fills the total amount of weirdos.
The man started knocking on the door while rattling the doorknob.
“Are you, are you reluctant to show your face? Or are you the shy type? Ah! I understand. Then how about we talk like this? There are so many things I want to ask and so many opinions I want to hear. About Doomsday!”
“……”
Mackerel had definitely said it. Prometheus was fueling distrust of J. Hadn’t Eui-jae seen it clearly with his own eyes? The posts on the website. But the man beyond the door didn’t seem to have any particular malice, considering he was the one who had denigrated J. He continued to speak incoherently.
“It must have been too sudden! Are you feeling pressured? I—I’m sorry. But after hearing Yoon Ga-eul’s story, I couldn’t control my overwhelming feelings.”
Yoon Ga-eul. Eui-jae clenched his fist for a moment. If Min-gi Seo hadn’t been holding onto the doorknob, and if he hadn’t been shaking his head so hard, he might have opened the door. Min-gi Seo whispered with his lips.
‘Let’s listen for now.’
Eui-jae nodded. The overwhelmed voice continued haltingly.
“Ah, I had many conversations with Yoon Ga-eul. You were so brave in the story! I couldn’t help but call you a hero. Amazing.”
“Cut it out, mister! Do you think this is how you treat a partner!”
With Song Jo-heon’s roar, the overwhelmed voice stopped abruptly. An ominous silence flowed from beyond the door. The moment Eui-jae focused a little more, a voice that had sunk low, as if he had never been excited and ranting, rang out.
“There is an order to everything.”
“……”
“Your turn is far away. Wai, wait.”
“You…!”
Along with an angry shout, sounds of colliding and breaking began to be heard, as if they were fighting. Damn it.
‘Are they killing someone?’
Song Jo-heon had always had a quick temper, and the power of an S-class Awakened was very dangerous. If he didn’t control his strength even a little, people could easily die. No matter how strange the guy was, he couldn’t let someone die. Min-gi Seo seemed to have the same thought, as he threw the door open.
And he was faced with a scene that was completely different from what he had imagined.
“……”
“Cough…”
Song Jo-heon was kneeling and crawling on the floor, and his complexion had turned blue. A brown-haired man stood in front of him, hunched over with his head bowed. The lenses of the white-coated man’s glasses sparkled. The man turned around as if he sensed someone’s presence, took his hand out of his pocket, and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, bowing his head.
“Ah, ah. You’re out? Should I have done this sooner? Was it a little loud? I’m sorry.”
“Hunter Song Jo-heon is…”
“Yes? Ah, it’s okay. I just suppressed him for a moment. I—I put a safety device on him.”
The brown-haired man began to stutter a little more. The face under the disheveled hair was slightly distorted, and the pale face flushed slightly red.
“I—I’m sorry. The medicine has worn off. For a smoo, smooth conversation, um. Yes, yes. I had prepared it.”
The man busily dusted off his crumpled white coat and pants, then rubbed his palms on his coat. Then he held out his hand towards Eui-jae.
“I hea, heard from Yoon Ga-eul. That J is here too. So, so I really, really wanted to meet you. I’m Ivan.”
Ga-eul said it. Is it true? Ga-eul is tight-lipped. She wouldn’t have easily given out information. Either he heard it by doing something to her, or… he found out through CCTV. Strength entered the fingertips, and the joints cracked and popped. If his face was exposed…
‘I have to kill him…’
Eui-jae didn’t take the outstretched hand and sized up Ivan. His build was similar to his or a little bigger, and looking at his outstretched hand, he didn’t seem to have ever fought. Calluses were only on the fingers that held a pen. Is he a researcher affiliated with Prometheus?
Ivan tilted his head with a reddened face, then smiled as if he understood.
“Ah, per, perhaps… are you wo—worried about your face? You—you don’t have to worry about that. I’m not inte—interested in the face under your mask. And there are no CCTV ca—cameras densely installed either. I can make the eyes of those who have seen your face go, go blind. For the sake of mutual trust…”
“……”
The face under the mask was slightly distorted. Why? Couldn’t he threaten him enough with that? It was something that could completely take away Cha Eui-jae’s daily life. Eui-jae asked without realizing it.
“Why?”
“Why, why…”
Ivan’s eyes widened. He pushed up his fallen glasses and stuttered.
“Why wo—would I be curious about that?”
“……”
“You—you are most perfect as you are now.”
“……”
“Ah, per, perhaps you didn’t understand, so to add to that… um, the hero’s personal and human side is not ne—necessary.”
Ivan smiled brightly as he put his fingers together.
“Do you want to know the he—hero’s hardships? It’s enough if you catch Monsters well and save my li—life.”
“……”
“Isn’t that right? You, you should be more comfortable with this too…”
Eui-jae suddenly realized. They weren’t curious about Cha Eui-jae hidden behind J. No, they didn’t even have the will to know. From the beginning. The existence of Cha Eui-jae was not needed. They only needed the shell of the strongest and most famous hero, J.
“……”
Suddenly, his heart fluttered strangely. Ivan was looking into Eui-jae’s mask with an excited face. Was he expecting his reaction? Instead of refuting, Eui-jae asked. It was easy to satisfy simple expectations. So was acting like a hero.
“Yoon Ga-eul?”
“Ah, ah. She’s fine! I didn’t tou, touch a single hair on her head.”
“How can I believe that? From what I see, you’ve been locking up and experimenting on Awakened.”
“You, you saw it? Ah… you’re fast as expected.”
Ivan had a somehow satisfied face. He clapped his hands together with a snap.
“I’m di—different from those people, Yoon Ga-eul is. She’s the o—only talent who can find out the future from the past. I’m trea, treating her preciously.”
“I have to see her. Guide me.”
“Yes, yes! I will. But, if you li—listen to just one request from me.”
“……”
“I don’t think you’re in a position to ask for favors right now…? Even though with J’s power, it’s not even a big deal to destroy this base alone.”
Min-gi Seo quickly cut in. The pose of pushing up his sunglasses and the way he spoke were no different from a member of an evil organization. He was deliberately acting exaggerated. Seeing his ridiculous appearance made him feel a little better. Ivan smiled sheepishly.
“Ah, I know. But… it would be easier to hear it all at once than to find the scattered information one by one.”
“Just say it. What is it?”
“Plea, please… just make one call to the Director of the Awakened Management Bureau.”
An unexpected answer came back. Min-gi Seo’s eyes narrowed behind his sunglasses. Ivan grinned.
“I want to co—cooperate with the Awakened Management Bureau.”
“……”
“To stop Doomsday.”