Chapter 64

< Chapter 64: Connections are power (2) >

We followed the employee’s guidance and moved to room 19.

“Unnie, can I come in?”

“Yeah.”

Yu Hwa coolly entered the room without knocking.

I followed her in.

“They came so fast.”

As soon as I saw her, I was convinced.

‘Ah, this woman is Maiden Critines.’

“I was a bit late because of the reporters. But why are you drinking already?”

Maiden was sitting comfortably on the floor with her legs stretched out, leaning against the wall and tilting her glass.

“When you come to Okhwadang, you have to drink traditional soju first. Ahh~”

Maiden downed the soju and let out a refreshing sigh.

She looked like a 20-year-old woman, but her actions were fitting for a 41-year-old man.

She was exactly as described in the novel.

“Ugh, I can’t live like this. First of all, Seo-yul. Sit down.”

Yu Hwa sighed and sat me across from her, then moved to sit next to Maiden.

“Did you finish a bottle already? Oh my.”

“What do you mean by already? ‘Still’ one bottle. You know I don’t get drunk easily.”

Maiden’s alcohol tolerance was amazing. In the original, she had a drinking contest with a dwarf, which said it all.

“Why? Do you want a drink too?”

Maiden noticed my gaze and offered me a glass, shaking it slightly.

“Unnie! How can you offer alcohol to someone who just got out of the hospital?”

“Ah, Hwa. You’re nagging too much today.”

Maiden covered one ear and grumbled at Yu Hwa’s loud voice.

“What are you doing in front of a guest?”

“What do you mean by what? What’s wrong with drinking?”

It was like watching a married couple fight. It was amusing.

“Anyway, put down the glass for now. We brought him here for a reason, right?”

“You’re such a prude. That’s why you don’t have a boyfriend. You’re almost thirty, what are you doing?”

Wow. She attacked her with an egg in one shot.

Yu Hwa’s eyebrows twitched.

She looked annoyed.

“Unnie. You have to watch your mouth. I’m not dating anyone because I don’t want to. I don’t have time.”

Maiden scoffed.

“Time is an excuse. That’s what people who can’t date always say. Do other people have time to date?”

“…Ugh.”

Yu Hwa bit her lip at the fact bombing from Maiden’s experience.

“What, what do I lack that I can’t date men? I have a good face. A good body. A good ability. This is all proof that I don’t date―”

“Your personality is rotten. The academic consensus is that dating a woman like you is only good for a month. You know that, right?”

Yu Hwa’s expression hardened.

“….”

Wow.

That’s harsh. So harsh.

It hurt my heart just by listening to it.

Seeing Yu Hwa’s reaction, Maiden chuckled.

She looked satisfied.

“Anyway, I get it. It’s rude to drink before having an important conversation.”

She said that and put the glass on the desk, then looked at me sharply. But you already drank it anyway.

“I don’t need to introduce myself, right? I know your name. And you know mine too.”

“Yes.”

She was straightforward as always.

“But what are you really?”

She didn’t beat around the bush and asked directly.

“How do you know so much about my labyrinth?”

“You’ve investigated it yourself, right? I’m just an ordinary cadet.”

“Ordinary my ass.”

Maiden snorted.

“If you’re ordinary, then what are other people…”

“Unnie. There’s something we have to say first.”

Yu Hwa cut off Maiden’s words.

“Oh, right. Let me get my head straight.”

Maiden cleared her throat.

“First of all, I’m sorry for putting you in a dangerous situation because of my poor management. I apologize.”

It was a very cool apology.

“No, it’s not.”

But it was hard to accept it.

Strictly speaking, it was because of my [Spirit of Fire] that it happened.

“I’m also grateful that you solved the problem that I should have solved.”

That was also practically me cleaning up my own mess.

…Of course, Maiden was partly at fault too.

She said she didn’t do the safety check properly.

But still, most of it was my fault.

“It’s nothing. As an aspiring superhuman, I just did what I had to do.”

It’s good to be grateful anyway. I put on a poker face.

“Anyway, thanks to you, my career and the operation of the Great Labyrinth didn’t have any big problems. I have to reward you. What do you need?”

She was straightforward as always and moved on to the reward.

“I’d rather have your help than a material reward.”

“My help?”

“Yes.”

“What is it?”

I hesitated a bit.

“It’s about the Saviors of Truth.”

As soon as I said that word, Maiden’s expression soured.

As in the original, Maiden Critines hated the Saviors of Truth.

“Tell me.”

“I have a plan to give them a hard time. I need your help for that plan.”

“…You mean to screw them over?”

“Yes.”

Maiden lost her parents, husband, and daughter to the Saviors of Truth. It was natural for her to hate them.

“What do you know about them?”

“I probably know more than you do.”

“…Evidence… Evidence that you have more information on the Saviors of Truth than me.”

Maiden was direct, but she was also suspicious.

She was a woman who had been rolling in the superhuman world for over 20 years, so she couldn’t be without a doubt.

It would have been hard to convince her in a normal situation.

She would have just doubted me and ended it.

“Doppelganger, Kim Shin-woo, Vagabond.”

But as long as Yu Hwa was here, it wasn’t impossible to convince her.

“I gave Yu Hwa the information on those three incidents.”

Maiden looked at Yu Hwa and asked with her eyes, ‘Is that true?’

“Yes. It’s true.”

Yu Hwa nodded.

“….”

Maiden’s expression hardened even more.

She seemed to have a lot on her mind.

She still didn’t trust me.

Maybe she thought I was a villain from the Saviors of Truth, trying to cause a rift within them.

And Yu Hwa was being fooled by me.

Something like that.

Then I had to start by plucking out the root of doubt.

“You don’t believe me, do―”

“Okay.”

Suddenly, Maiden cut me off.

“…What?”

“Okay. You know what that means? I agree.”

Maiden picked up her glass again and drank the soju in one gulp.

I was dumbfounded.

“You’re so smart in the Great Labyrinth, but why are you so clumsy now? I said I’ll join your plan to screw over those bastards. You idiot.”

“…Ah, yes. Thank you.”

I was just stunned.

She accepted it so easily?

That Maiden Critines?

Even if Yu Hwa testified for me, it was too fast to accept it.

With Maiden’s personality, she would rather think that Yu Hwa was being fooled by me.

“Why? Don’t you like it? You look a bit sour.”

“…No, no. How could I? I’m very grateful.”

I was just puzzled, not displeased.

“Then that’s it.”

Maiden refilled her glass and brought it to her mouth.

“Then tell me in detail. What’s the plan?”

…Really?

Things are going so smoothly?

“Are you mute? Aren’t you going to say anything?”

“Oh, yes. I’ll explain.”

Well, good is good.

I told Yu Hwa and Maiden that there was a high chance of a massive terror attack by the Saviors of Truth at the National Competition.

We started talking about how to respond.

* * *

After Seo-yul’s long story was over,

Maiden sent him away first.

“That’s unexpected.”

Only Maiden and Yu Hwa were left in room 19 of Okhwadang.

“What is?”

Maiden asked nonchalantly at Yu Hwa’s words.

“I’ve never seen you trust someone so easily, unnie. I thought you would doubt him 100%.”

Yu Hwa prided herself on knowing Maiden’s personality better than anyone else.

She was amazed that she had given up her doubt without a word.

“Doubt….”

Maiden shook her glass of alcohol and smiled bitterly.

“You have to doubt the people who deserve it.”

It was a strange look mixed with longing and sorrow.

“…Unnie?”

It was the first time Yu Hwa had seen her like this.

“Yu Hwa.”

“Yes.”

“You know I’m chasing the Saviors of Truth, right?”

It was an out-of-the-blue remark.

“Yes? Yes. Of course.”

12 years ago.

Maiden’s parents, husband, and daughter were all killed by the Saviors of Truth.

It was a public fact that everyone who knew knew, even though it wasn’t directly exposed to the media.

“Do you know how they were killed?”

“…That.”

Yu Hwa faltered.

No one knew how Maiden’s family was killed.

Even if there were people who knew, it would be one or two.

And Yu Hwa was obviously one of those who didn’t know.

“You wouldn’t know. I didn’t even tell Jin Ho, how would you know? They died fighting villains. That’s all you would know.”

Maiden casually drank the alcohol and said.

“My parents had their throats slit and died in one blow.”

Maiden’s eyes flashed with anger.

“Sangjae died of excessive bleeding after being mutilated all over his body.”

Kim Sangjae.

Maiden Critines’ husband, who was a promising A-rank superhuman at the time.

“I’m a superhuman too. I can understand that much. My parents were superhumans, and so was my husband.”

“Unnie….”

It was inevitable for superhumans to die fighting villains.

It was something to lament, but not something to misunderstand.

Living as a superhuman meant living with such death by your side.

“But you see, Yu Hwa.”

Maiden’s eyes glowed fiercely as if to curse the devil.

“My daughter. Leah’s death is something I can’t understand no matter how hard I try.”

“She was kidnapped and then disappeared. Wasn’t that it?”

“I thought so too at first.”

Leah Critines.

Maiden’s daughter.

“Yu Hwa. My daughter. Leah.”

Maiden’s voice trembled.

“She died from human experimentation.”

Yu Hwa’s eyes grew as big as lanterns.

“Hu, man··· experiment?”

“Yeah. Sunshine church. It happened at a place called Sunshine Church.”

Maiden handed Yu Hwa a document. It was a file detailing the inhumane experiments by the Saviors of Truth.

“…Ugh.”

Yu Hwa gagged at the sight of a person with a monstrous appearance.

“…Wh, what is this?”

“System transcendence project. Race fusion project. Trait modification project. And many more.”

The file was full of unspeakable horrors.

Pictures of children who looked no older than 10 screaming in pain.

Pictures of children with scales all over their bodies.

Pictures of children left in a horrible state with their organs bursting out and so on.

Yu Hwa’s pupils shook wildly then.

“…Le, Leah.”

The last page.

She found a picture of a girl who looked like Leah.

“One year.”

Squish.

Blood dripped from Maiden’s clenched fist.

“Leah endured that shitty experiment for a whole year, calling out for me.”

The experiment report had detailed information on it.

[Subject 207 report day 1.]

[She only screamed, “Mommy, save me.”]

[Day 13.]

[She started repeating, “Mommy, daddy, it hurts. Mommy, daddy.”]

[Day 43.]

[We decided to observe the changes in the system according to vision. We cut off both eyes.]

···

···

···

[Day 342.]

[Subject 207 died.]

Yu Hwa’s eyes trembled with shock as she read the report. Her hand holding the report naturally tightened, and the paper wrinkled.

“Th, these bastards who are not even human…!”

Tears welled up in Yu Hwa’s eyes.

They were tears of grief.

“Yu Hwa. Do you know how I found out about this Sunshine Church experiment?”

“…That.”

Maiden handed her another report.

“It was thanks to a report that came from Korea in secret. The first experiment site was found in Korea, and they obtained information on other regional experiment sites.”

The moment she checked the name of the report.

Yu Hwa’s pupils expanded as much as they could.

“Sunshine··· orphanage human experiment··· case?”

“Yeah.”

If it was Sunshine Orphanage, then surely….

“Seo-yul. That’s where he lived.”

“…Ah.”

Yu Hwa gasped.

“Seo-yul. That guy. He’s probably the only survivor of that shitty human experiment.”

He matched the age, and there was a record of a single survivor at Sunshine Orphanage.

It must be certain.

“Th, that’s impossible.”

“That’s why he knows so much about the Saviors of Truth. He must have heard all kinds of things from the researchers when he was experimented on.”

There’s no one who would be careful with their mouth in front of an experimental rat.

“There’s no detailed record, but I think Seo-yul is the only successful case of the race fusion project.”

“…Race, fusion?”

Yu Hwa’s lips trembled.

“Yeah. It might be hard for humans to handle two attributes, but it’s very easy for other races.”

There were plenty of records of other races who could handle more than two attributes of magic.

Dragons, angels, elves, vampires, spirits, fairies, and even beastmen.

“Other races…?”

At that moment, Yu Hwa’s head flashed.

‘Relic.’

Ancient relic.

Seo-yul was collecting ancient relics of other races.

She always wondered why he needed to collect such antiques.

‘But what if they weren’t antiques to Seo-yul?’

If Maiden’s hypothesis was right,

Seo-yul had the factors of other races in his body.

And having the factors of other races meant…

‘He could wear the ancient relic of those races?’

Yu Hwa felt goosebumps all over her body.

‘It’s certain.’

Yu Hwa was sure.

If it was as Maiden said, everything would fit.

Why Seo-yul hated the Saviors of Truth.

Why he only knew details about the Saviors of Truth.

Why he collected ancient relics.

“Unnie, I think you’re right.”

All the puzzles were solved.

‘Seo-yul was a survivor of the race fusion project.’

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