NOVEL NEXT Chapter 41 - After the Chaos
“Shall we depart then?”
“Stop right the…ack!”
Just as Phantom Luna tried to apprehend me, the ground suddenly bound her legs.
“I restrained you so you couldn’t come after us.”
Polia proudly thrust out her chest, having already taken action.
“Well done.”
“Ahem.”
After patting her head, I turned my gaze toward Phantom Luna.
“It seems I won’t be captured by you this time.”
“Eeek…!”
Gritting her teeth, she glared at me defiantly.
She reached out in an attempt to seize me, but:
“No use.”
Part of the ground stretched like elastic, ensnaring her arms and restraining her movements.
“Ughh…! Makerrr…!!”
“I hope you’ll succeed in capturing me next time.”
Well then, I should get going.
I have other matters to attend to.
I took Polia’s hand.
“Let’s go now.”
“Yeah. Hold my hand too, Instructor.”
“Oh…alright…”
At Polia’s words, the Instructor also took her hand.
Immediately, Polia activated her ability.
‘Another successful operation today.’
“Over there, over there!!”
Just before teleporting away, I flashed a bright smile and waved at Phantom Luna.
“Oppa, we’re here.”
In an instant, Polia, the Instructor and I had returned to Eclipse headquarters from the hotel where Lee Doo-geub hosted his party.
‘Yeri, could you pass this along to Astra?’
‘Eh, to unnie…? Why didn’t Maker just go himself…’
‘I have some other business to attend to.’
After entrusting the item to the Instructor, Ga-yeon and I headed elsewhere.
“We’ve arrived at the right place.”
Our destination was none other than Lee Doo-geub’s personal villa.
There was something else I needed to obtain here.
“What are we looking for here?”
“A hidden secret room, most likely inside Lee Doo-geub’s study, which you’ll need to locate for me.”
“Got it.”
Ga-yeon and I began searching every nook and cranny of the residence.
After a while…
Clunk.
‘Finally found it.’
Around 30 minutes into our search, we finally uncovered a secret room within the study.
Inside was a massive safe.
“Should I break it open?”
“No, that doesn’t seem like the best choice.”
There was a chance it could be a safe rigged to destroy its contents if forced open physically.
Recklessly tampering with it wouldn’t be wise.
“Then how will we open it?”
“There is one good method, isn’t there?”
Turning my head revealed a trembling man.
His hunched, cowering form looked utterly terrified.
“The self-proclaimed butler? Perhaps you know how to open this secret safe?”
“Th,that’s…”
With a swollen, reddened face and wide, panicked eyes, he was clearly reluctant to cooperate.
This was the same man who had introduced himself as the butler, initially ordering security to stop me before being subdued and revealing this very study.
“Well, I do know how to…but…”
Pursing his lips shut after that, unwilling to divulge the information.
I smiled wryly and patted his shoulder reassuringly.
‘Let’s do this the easy way, shall we?’
“I, I really can’t…”
“……”
“Ack…!”
Unable to withstand the pressure any longer, the man finally broke down sobbing as he inputted the safe’s password.
Beep beep- creak.
Inside were various items and possessions.
‘Huh?’
From among them, I picked up one set of documents and waved it before the man.
“So this is why you tried so hard to stop me, butler.”
“Th,that’s…”
The documents were ledgers detailing Lee Doo-geub’s actual illicit activities over the years.
‘Gambling, usury, bribery along with Lee Doo-geub…you’ve been living quite large, haven’t you?’
And among them were records implicating the butler himself.
“Thank you for your service, butler. You’re dismissed.”
“Y,yes…but, about those ledgers in your hand, could you maybe…”
Click.
“…Thank you for your serviiiiice!!!!!”
Wooosh!
As I produced a gun, the butler hurriedly bid his farewell before fleeing.
“What an ungrateful fellow.”
“Indeed.”
Setting aside that unpleasant character, I examined our spoils instead.
Amid the numerous items, I retrieved a glass vial.
Precisely the kind of test tube a researcher might use.
This was the very item I had come to obtain.
“What’s that?”
“A weapon.”
“A weapon?”
An extremely dangerous biochemical weapon, in fact.
‘The contents of this vial were a major trigger for a significant episode in the original story.’
While outwardly portraying himself as a benevolent figure, Lee Doo-geub was a rotten individual at his core.
A greedy, vicious scumbag.
Using the illicit funds he had amassed, he had been secretly sponsoring an illegal research organization.
Honestly, I couldn’t quite recall his exact motives.
Nor were they particularly important, in the end.
‘What matters is that this item was something he had secretly stolen while visiting the research facility he sponsored to observe their progress.’
A biochemical weapon developed by that research institute.
The liquid contained within could bestow immense physical enhancements and extreme aggression to any non-human life form exposed to it.
Moreover, it was highly infectious, rapidly spreading out of control once released.
‘In the original story, it was foolishly taken back by the researchers after he stole it.’
Those researchers then proceeded to unleash it across an entire city.
“In any case, confiscating this is all that’s required.”
“Is that so?”
I intended to keep it in my possession until an appropriate time to utilize it arose.
As long as it remained in my hands, preventing any harm to myself would be simple enough.
“What about those jewels over there?”
“Did you wish to take them?”
At my question, Ga-yeon briefly looked up at me before nodding slightly.
“If you desire them, you may take them, but…will you be able to teleport with that much weight?”
Ga-yeon’s spatial translocation became more strenuous the heavier the object being transported.
As such, transporting entire buildings or hefty furniture exceeded the limits of her ability…
“It’s fine. I can manage.”
Ga-yeon regarded me with a confident expression.
“Very well, then.”
‘If you say you’re capable, I’ll trust your judgment.’
I nodded and took her hand.
And Ga-yeon activated her ability.
Woooong- flit!
“Chick coop arrival.”
“We’re back, Astra.”
“Puhuh!!”
In an instant, we had arrived in Astra’s office.
Accustomed to our antics by now, Astra watched us appear behind her with a bemused look as we unloaded our haul.
“…Can’t you arrive by more normal means?”
“This is the fastest way.”
“Sheesh. Alright then…in any case, welcome back. We can discuss the mission details tomorrow, take it easy for today…”
As if resigning herself, Astra sighed heavily.
Tilting her head at Astra’s response, Ga-yeon regarded her curiously.
“Chick coop troubles?”
“It’s because of you…and I told you not to call me that.”
Squish squish.
“Ueehh…ueeehhh…!”
With a disgruntled expression, Astra pinched and stretched Ga-yeon’s cheeks.
“Then what should I call you instead of chick coop?”
“There’s a lovely word like ‘unnie’, you know~?”
Smiling brightly in a rather un-Astra-like manner, she fluttered her eyelashes coquettishly.
Ga-yeon seemed to ponder this for a moment.
‘Please, just call her unnie already…’
I stole a glance at Ga-yeon, awaiting her response.
“…But you don’t look like an unnie.”
“……”
‘Figures.’
Watching Ga-yeon’s deadpan response, I could only let out a resigned sigh.
After leaving Astra’s office, Ga-yeon and I departed.
“Ouchie.”
Ga-yeon nursed the sizable lump on her head.
“Well, who told you to randomly teleport into a senior’s room like that?”
“This was just the most convenient location.”
‘Sheesh.’
I gently rubbed her head and blew on it soothingly.
“Hiiing…”
“Are you alright?”
…Sniffle.
It seemed Astra’s strike had hurt Ga-yeon’s feelings, as her eyes were misting with tears.
‘She went a bit overboard.’
While I knew there was no malice behind it, still…
I knelt down and gently wiped away her tears.
Hugs.
Ga-yeon immediately embraced me in a tight hug.
Patting her back reassuringly, I waited for her to calm down.
“Are you feeling better now?”
“Mmm-hmm…”
Once Ga-yeon had settled down somewhat, I patiently explained what she had done wrong.
“…Do you understand what you did wrong now, Ga-yeon?”
“Yeah.”
She nodded obediently.
Had she finally grasped her mistake?
“Defamation of character.”
“……”
Her response left me speechless.
“Isn’t this it?”
“Umm…”
While not exactly incorrect…still…
After a momentary pause, I decided to set those thoughts aside for now.
‘It seems I’ll need to gradually work on nurturing Ga-yeon’s character development.’
There didn’t appear to be any malice behind her actions, but that very innocence seemed to prevent her from properly comprehending her mistakes.
‘Let’s leave it at this for today.’
She had already used her ability multiple times today. And for the final teleportation, she had even transported considerably heavy objects.
Nod…nod…
Sure enough, as I looked down, Ga-yeon’s drowsy expression and bobbing head indicated her fatigue, just as I had expected.
“Shall we rest for now?”
“Mmm-hmm…”
I scooped her up in a princess carry, carefully transporting the drowsy Ga-yeon back to her room.
“Haah…”
Amid the suffocating silence within the Heroes Association headquarters, the Director muted the incessantly ringing phones before lighting a cigarette.
“That damn Maker! Maker!! Arghh!!”
The Director felt like he was going insane because of that Maker.
“Why did that bastard have to show up while I’m the Director?!”
Ever since that villain had appeared, public distrust toward the Heroes Association had been escalating daily.
“Even those pig-headed citizens are gradually siding with that villain scum, causing all sorts of chaos. And now he’s even ruined Congressman Lee Doo-geub’s party!”
BANG!
Seething with rage, the Director snatched up his nameplate from the desk and hurled it violently.
Finally exhaling heavily as if releasing some pent-up frustration, he ran his hands through his disheveled hair.
“Those incompetent hero idiots…what good are they?”
The Director blamed the inept heroes for the insults he was enduring.
‘The atmosphere is far too unfavorable.’
At this rate, he might have to resign from the Director position.
“Dammit, how did I even end up in this position?”
But he absolutely could not relinquish this position.
‘Whether by manipulating information, inciting public opinion, or begging that good-for-nothing Han Jihyeok…’
The Director resolved that he had to find some way to contain that slippery weasel Maker no matter what.
As the Director struggled to catch his breath, suddenly:
“Di,Director Sir!!”
His flustered secretary burst through the door with an urgent expression.
Seeing her inexplicably irritated him, yet her presence also filled him with a sense of dread.
“What is it?!!”
Hence, the Director barked at her gruffly.
He could already hazard a guess as to why she had come.
‘Maker caused an incident, and now that it’s over…’
“The, the internet is going crazy again…”
“Haah…”
As expected.
The Director cradled his head in his hands before slumping powerlessly into his chair.