Chapter 96 – Commencement (Part One)

Jeong Jin-seong moved his hand, manipulating the holographic screen displayed before him.

A man’s ID photo appeared on the left side of the screen, and opposite it, a picture of the same man, dead with his eyes closed.

“He was a member of a southern Italian mafia. A background check confirmed he was a non-Awakened, let alone possessing any special powers. But as you can see, he suddenly Awakened and even gained a physical enhancement ability. He died participating in the recent terror attack, but… the problem is, he’s not the only one.”

As he finished speaking, pairs of photos scrolled past.

The photos flashed by so quickly they were hard to count, and just as dizziness began to set in, the screen stopped.

“There were many similar cases even before this attack. It’s almost certain that there’s a large-scale facility turning non-Awakened into Awakened. You can guess the rest, right?”

*Just as I thought…*

Il-hyeon had anticipated this to some extent.

Just yesterday, Seo Jeong-hwa had mentioned a “procedure,” painting a clear picture of the situation in his mind.

Research into artificially creating the Awakened.

A technology that shattered conventional wisdom by allowing ordinary people with no potential to acquire abilities originally reserved for a select, chosen few. It was also a field that had garnered immense interest from everyone.

In a world where Gates appeared and the level and number of a nation’s Awakened had become a critical measure of its power, there wasn’t a single country that didn’t covet this new technology.

In fact, shortly after the Gates first appeared, various world governments had invested enormous sums into secret research projects.

However, none of them saw any significant results, and the research was halted.

It was too dangerous.

For every one subject who showed a positive reaction and hinted at progress, ten others would die from physical incompatibility, resulting in an incredibly high mortality rate.

It was a terribly cruel and inhumane experiment that also involved immense pain, but since it was directly tied to national survival and hegemony, no one was willing to give up easily.

As the experiments were conducted in absolute secrecy, some facilities failed to properly inform test subjects of the risks, while others went as far as forcibly using prisoners.

But as the experiments escalated and overheated, as if in a competition, numerous whistleblowers, plagued by guilt, exposed the research processes of several nations. The information spread like wildfire through the media—which was relatively intact back then—before anyone could stop it.

The incident, of course, sparked a massive global controversy.

Not only the Awakened, but also ordinary citizens—who could easily become scapegoats—rose up in fierce protest. All related facilities were shut down, and a clause banning research into artificial Awakening was added to international law, strictly enforced.

Most of the researchers and personnel involved were imprisoned in international jails, but the high-ranking officials who ordered the experiments simply cut their losses and evaded responsibility, continuing to live well. The incident had such a massive impact that it became famous enough to be included in textbooks.

It is now remembered as an event that showcased the madness of people driven to desperation during the early days of the Gate crisis.

But that very same thing could be happening again, in some corner of the world.

“I don’t know how those bastards found and perfected the technology, but finding the facility is the key. Until we do, no matter how many of them we take down, they’ll just keep churning out more Awakened.”

Even with anti-Awakened weapons like EMPs, it was obvious that an Awakened with overwhelming physical abilities was far harder to deal with than a non-Awakened.

For regular police forces, composed mostly of non-Awakened, it was difficult to subdue these enemies, whose numbers of Awakened had grown immensely.

That’s also why, even if the world’s governments were to pour all their resources into this right now, it would be a struggle to wipe out the criminal organizations in one fell swoop.

*This situation is even more serious than I thought…*

Listening to Jeong Jin-seong’s explanation, Il-hyeon let out a deep sigh, his expression grave as he flipped through the documents one by one.

He’d heard the government was handling things better than expected, so he thought there would be some breathing room.

But that was Il-hyeon’s mistake.

They were in a position where they had to fight an enemy while simultaneously dealing with the Gates, which were a disaster in themselves.

Besides, even if Aegis or the Response Team—already overwhelmed by the sheer number of Gates—were to abandon a few sites to launch a proper strike, there was no way they could eliminate all of them.

Due to the grotesque nature of this enemy—a coalition of countless organizations from around the world—such a fight would be nothing more than a self-destructive war of attrition.

It was a battle that grew more disadvantageous with time, and the retired Awakened, who had been their bulwark, had vanished without a trace.

Therefore, with the limited personnel they had, they had to find and destroy whatever facility was churning out Awakened as if on an assembly line, and do it as quickly as possible.

If only to minimize any further indiscriminate damage.

“Have you found any facilities so far?”

“We’ve tried everything, but we haven’t been able to find one yet. That’s why we needed the friend you brought.”

Since the suspicious movements were first detected, Raven alone had taken down dozens of organizations, but they hadn’t found a single facility, nor even one person connected to it.

That’s why they were placing so much hope in Seo Jeong-hwa, who had undergone the procedure and come over to their side alive.

But Il-hyeon had one concern.

The chances of Seo Jeong-hwa remembering the facility’s location didn’t seem very high.

“What if she can’t remember? If she was brainwashed at the same time, she can’t be in her right mind.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. A skilled expert is on the way.”

“An expert…”

Just then, the two of them sensed someone entering the basement from outside.

Even though they were inside a room with no loud conversations or disturbances, high-ranking Awakened like Il-hyeon and Jeong Jin-seong could easily sense it.

“Looks like they’ve arrived just in time.”

When they stepped out of the room, they came face to face with two Awakened from Raven.

It was a man and a woman, dressed in light clothes under black coats like most Awakened, and their eyes met Il-hyeon’s.

*Raven…*

Even Seok Pil-joon, who had exceptionally high resistance to special powers, had been a member of Raven before joining the Alpha Team.

This meant the people he was about to see were undoubtedly Seok Pil-joon’s former colleagues, which made him curious about what they were like.

Given their special line of work, dealing with people’s lives, he had imagined they would be cold-blooded, taciturn, and have a frosty demeanor.

Seeing the serious-looking man next to her, he thought he might be right, but at least one of them wasn’t like that.

The woman whose eyes he had met trotted over and approached Il-hyeon.

“Wow! It’s nice to meet you. I’ve been wanting to see you. You’re Il-hyeon, right?”

“Ah… yes, yes.”

Il-hyeon answered, flustered, as the woman grabbed both his hands and gave him a charming eye-smile.

Her forward attitude was a bit disarming.

Still, he didn’t mind a beautiful woman with long, straight hair getting close and being friendly.

For a woman, she was quite tall, so their eye levels weren’t that different.

“I’m Cha Yeon-hee from Raven. I look forward to working with you. We’ll be working together, right?”

“Yes, it seems so. I’m Kang Il-hyeon from the Alpha Team.”

“Of course. I know, I know.”

Cha Yeon-hee chimed in as if she already knew all about him, and as a bewildered Il-hyeon exchanged greetings, Jeong Jin-seong cut in.

“Where’s Team Leader Yoon? The most important person isn’t here.”

“She’s still upstairs.”

The man standing next to Cha Yeon-hee, Song Joon-ho, replied.

Il-hyeon didn’t know his real personality yet, but with his subdued eyes and serious tone, he seemed similar to the image Il-hyeon had first imagined.

A faint burn scar below his neck also caught his eye.

Most of it was hidden by his clothes, but he guessed the scar covered a fairly large area.

“Is she touring the house or something?”

Jeong Jin-seong muttered, scratching his head.

Knowing her tastes, it was the kind of villa she would love.

She might even be admiring the view and having a cup of coffee before coming down.

Her quiet and laid-back personality wasn’t suited for the life of an Awakened.

But her ability was too exceptional to be left unused, and though she didn’t want to fight, she still went to the front lines for the sake of others.

“How is the examination progressing?”

“The physical exam and detectors didn’t show any risk factors. She’s undergoing an Awakened assessment now, but it should be over soon.”

Il-hyeon turned his head and saw Seo Jeong-hwa through a window in the corner, sitting at a table in an interrogation room and talking with a staff member.

He was relieved that, at the very least, she hadn’t deceived him with some ulterior motive.

As is always the case with lie detectors, it wasn’t 100 percent reliable, but it was good for a quick reference.

Just then, someone walked through the entrance where the wall had been left open.

It was a woman with a slender figure, dressed in a white shirt and jeans, her chestnut hair tied back tightly.

“I heard you were hurt, so I was worried. You’ve been staying in a place like this?”

Yoon In-hye.

The team leader of Aegis’s Delta Team and an A-rank Awakened. She was also, without question, the world’s greatest user of mental-type abilities.

According to the original schedule, their teams were close enough that they should have gone on two or three missions together by now, but the recent surge in Gate appearances had thrown their schedules into chaos, so this was the first time Il-hyeon was meeting her.

“I enjoyed the tour. The floor above was lovely… this place is something else.”

she said, looking around.

If the upper floor was like an old villa in a quiet neighborhood, this place was completely different, like an entire high-tech facility had been transplanted here.

Jeong Jin-seong stepped forward and greeted her warmly.

“Thanks for coming all this way. I know you must be busy.”

“Don’t mention it. I’m just glad you’re safe.”

While they exchanged warm greetings, Il-hyeon alone was tense at Yoon In-hye’s appearance.

It was because of her ability, the only one of its kind in the world.

The A-rank ability, [Mental Intervention].

It was a power that went beyond ordinary mental-type attacks that merely showed illusions or paralyzed the senses; it could manipulate people’s minds.

On top of that, she could read a person’s thoughts just by looking at them.

Setting aside trivial worries about her catching any strange thoughts, the real problem was the three SSS-rank abilities he possessed.

There was nothing to be gained from revealing that he was hiding such abilities; it was dangerous.

Just a few minutes ago, Jeong Jin-seong had warned him about the danger of insiders and not to trust anyone blindly.

She might even be able to detect the very fact that he was worried about being found out.

The best solution would have been to avoid meeting her in the first place, but in this situation, there was no way out.

While they were talking, Yoon In-hye’s gaze turned to Il-hyeon, who stood there tensely, his lips sealed.

Her gaze was soft, but it was a direct stare that seemed to pierce right through him.

And then, her lips slowly parted.