187 – 187. Hermitage (2)
When Min Chae-ryeong and Mid-reum were in the middle of their tough times, criticizing each other and putting pressure on each other.
Ahn Su-ho was sitting on a sofa in the middle of the living room of a luxurious villa, leisurely basking in the morning sun.
In one hand, Americano brewed with high-quality coffee beans that you have never drunk before. The coffee he enjoyed while leaning back on the soft sofa made him feel like he was on vacation. When he thought of the situation that befell him, he was not at leisure, but even if he said he was worried about himself, the situation didn’t get better right away.
‘Xiao Mei has something to think about for a while, so she stays in her room and doesn’t come out. Shall I try something like that too?’
The calm atmosphere was perfect for contemplation. Ahn Su-ho thought about the future as he followed Sylvie’s ‘active body’ looking at the scenery outside the window with his eyes.
Ahn Soo-ho’s current situation is that he is chased by gossip-seeking journalists and the public above the water, and threatened by the police who want to re-arrest him below the water. Behind these series of incidents, of course, Sung Yu-jin had secret plans.
As soon as the meeting was over, Min Chae-ryeong told her why Seong Yu-jin was so obsessed with the first silver. Maybe it’s because of the research on multiple abilities.’
In the original work, the reason why Seong Yu-jin coveted silver in the beginning was a kind of MacGuffin, and it was not revealed until the end. If research was the reason in the original work, Ahn Su-ho was unaware of it, and it was like he was properly working on multiple ability research that would mass-produce numerous villains in the future.
‘The problem is that Seong Yu-jin wants to steal the primordial silver to such an extent that she resorts to such extensive measures.’
It was an unexpected turn of events for him, who knew at best that he would end up fighting in a back alley. However, he can’t just be proud of himself, saying that it will be unexpected forever.
‘Should I fight?’
So Ahn Su-ho was contemplating whether to fight Seong Yu-jin head-on. Of course, it was a story of a physical fight.
Sung Yu-jin is one of the original villains. Unlike the dawn team, it is not directly hostile to the academy, but considering the original story, it was destined to confront Ahn Su-ho, who had to protect the academy students in the end.
That’s why I’d rather start confronting him now, let’s finish this before the situation gets worse. Ahn Su-ho thought of fighting him in a place out of sight of others and making a decision.
Decision.
In other words, he said he would kill Seong Yu-jin.
‘Kill Seong Yu-jin. Can I?’
Thinking of that, Ahn Su-ho’s mouth immediately leaked into a giggle. I wonder if that’s a possible thing.
Sung Yu-jin was an S-class superman and one of the strongest among all hunters in Korea. We must not forget that he was a member of the task force to fight Wilhelm during the capture of the Knight’s Tomb.
Of course, Ahn Soo-ho also fought Wilhelm as a task force, but what he did was only the final blow after waiting for an opportunity among many excellent hunters. On the other hand, didn’t Seong Yu-jin protect his comrades by receiving Wilhelm’s attack head-on from beginning to end?
It would be close to impossible to physically kill Sung Yu-jin like that. However, Ahn Su-ho, who has neither power nor wealth, cannot press him with social force.
‘No matter how much money you have, there is no guarantee that you will be able to win head-to-head. Because he’s the one who survived even Wilhelm. No matter how strong Sylvie is, it won’t be as strong as Wilhelm’s.’
And that wasn’t the only problem.
Sung Yujin is a villain. However, unlike the Dawning, he was a character with a solid social standing. Even if Ahn Su-ho succeeds in killing him, the moment the fact is known to the outside world, Ahn Su-ho becomes a criminal without question.
‘This is why I wanted to postpone the confrontation with Seong Yu-jin until later… ….’
In the original work, Seong Yu-jin begins to reveal the villain’s path in earnest in the second part, which deals with after graduating from the academy. According to the timing, it was three years later. Therefore, in preparation for that time, Ahn Su-ho began to prepare various connections and personal connections to counter Seong Yu-jin. The relationship with Seol Ah-hyun and Han Yeo-reum was part of that.
However, even if the timing is fast now, it was too soon. It’s only been three months since he possessed it. At the time of writing, only two months had passed since admission.
‘At this point in time, there is no way that Midsummer will completely flirt with Seong Eugene because of me. Even if I went completely under Hanseong, it would only be a loss. Seol Ah-hyun is also in a position to keep as neutral as possible about this matter…….’
Ahn Soo-ho, whose head was clogged, slightly changed the direction of his thoughts. Instead of trying to exclude Seong Eugene first, he wondered how about buying time by listening to Seong Yu-jin’s demands little by little.
‘That bastard’s request… ….’
At that thought, Suho Ahn looked at Sylvie sitting by the window in the living room. The main body, which accounts for 50% of the total, was about the size of a teddy bear that children hug. As time went on, the expression became more detailed, so it wouldn’t be strange to mistake her for a real little girl except for the color of her sitting back.
‘If I would rather hand over Sylvie to the bastard… ….’
Seong Yu-jin involved the media, the public, and even the police in order to obtain her primordial silver. It wouldn’t be difficult to kill at least one Ahn Su-ho through a suspicious back-and-forth.
In that case, why don’t you just hand over the silver from the beginning?
Even if that spurred the study of multiple abilities over the next few days, and even if a villain was created that would threaten Ahn Su-ho or the people around him in the distant future, it would be for later anyway.
‘I have plenty of time to prepare as long as I earn time.’
Ahn Soo-ho calmly grasped the situation.
Although Sylvie has an ego and is becoming more like a person by learning human emotions at this moment, it is just an artifact anyway.
Just like the breath of a talisman or morning star.
If you can use it, use it, if not, you can use it as a trading material.
It’s not a person like Kang Ha-neul or Ji Ye-won, it’s nothing more than a simple object.
-… ….
The moment I thought that, Sylvie, who had been staring out the window all along, turned her gaze to him. Ahn Su-ho felt sorry for the moment.
‘Thoughts.’
Sylvie didn’t say anything. However, Sylvie’s eyes were trembling, and Ahn Soo-ho could clearly sense Sylvie’s emotional agitation.
Thanks to the connection between the minds, Sylvie’s feelings were passed on to Ahn Su-ho.
-Bur, are you going to throw it away?
It was the other way around.
-Throw away Sylvie… ? Master Sylvie, you don’t need it anymore?
Sylvie, with her back to the sunlight, looked up at Ahn Su-ho with a miserable face. A stream of silver liquid dripped from its large eyes.
Ahn Su-ho’s spine shuddered at the phenomenon, which is not suitable to be called tears, but can only be seen as tears.
-I’m really going to throw it away…… ?
A trembling voice, an unsteady gaze, clenched fists, a face that looks like it’s going to cry at any moment.
Seeing and feeling those signs, An Su-ho felt guilty and sympathized with Sylvie. But at the same time, there was also a chilling goosebumps.
Ahn Su-ho remembers Sylvie’s past. She remembers the days when Sylvie didn’t yet take the form of a girl like she does now. She remembers a time when it had not yet imitated human emotions, and although she had a self, it was infinitely machine-like.
She’s only three weeks from then until today.
In the meantime, Sylvie has learned human emotions and has become more humane, but in the eyes of Ahn Su-ho, is it really a true change, or is she merely imitating human emotions and appearances to win his favor? It was difficult to tell them apart.
‘…… No, this feeling is real. Unlike the time when I copied her cries just to survive, I can definitely feel Sylvie’s feelings now.’
Ahn Soo-ho refreshed his mind and body by washing his face dry.
She was taken aback for a moment because Sylvie, whom she thought was nothing more than an artifact, reacted so humanly. But that’s what she’s got. No matter how much she seemed like a machine at first, when she got along with others, she would learn and change.
Although there was a sense that the change was too fast.
-Please don’t doubt me……. Please don’t throw it away…….
“I will not throw it away. So don’t cry.”
-Really…… ?
Such a question had no meaning between the two of them. Two people who are mentally connected share most of their emotions and some of their thoughts. Even if Ahn Su-ho wanted to hide it from Sylvie, Sylvie could easily distinguish whether Ahn Su-ho was telling the truth or reciting lies.
-Heeep!
So Sylvie whimpered when she sensed the doubt that still remained in Ahn Su-ho’s mind, and the idea of handing over Sylbi to Seong Yu-jin if it were to be. The reenactment of crying and even hiccups caused by the intensification of emotions made her look like a girl of her age.
-Master… ? I will throw away my expenses… ? No… ? I won’t throw it away…… ? Don’t throw away Sylvie. I’ll do my best. Don’t throw it away, black, heeng…….
“Don’t throw it away. I say don’t throw it away don’t you throw it away? How many times do I have to tell you to believe it?”
-But, what I think in my heart is conveyed. If you do, you’re going to throw me away…….
“So you said you wouldn’t throw it away as much as possible… …. Uhh it happened What are you doing if I tell you It’s emotions, thoughts, and everything works anyway.”
No matter how much he uttered his words, it was of no use unless the other thoughts in his mind had completely disappeared. Ahn Soo-ho sighs deeply.
‘I’m really going to die, damn it.’
-Hueeng don’t die……. Master can’t die…….
Sylvie approached Ahn Soo-ho’s feet and patted the back of his right hand connected to him. Like a child complaining to his parents. Even so, Sylvie couldn’t harm Ahn Su-ho, so the intensity was extremely weak. So I felt more guilty.
‘Handing over Sylvie to him is the last resort…… I’m going to put that aside and find another way.’
Even if I said another way, it didn’t immediately come to mind. Because there was a limit to the range that he could think of alone. So Ahn Su-ho changed the direction of his thoughts once again.
‘But how on earth is he going to come out?’
The police made him re-arrest him. However, it was obvious that if he was locked up in a detention center, it would be more difficult for Seong Yu-jin to do anything about it.
‘It’s strange when you think about it. No matter how much he has connections with the police, he won’t be able to get into the detention center and lay a hand on me.’
So it’s like challenging public power head-on. Even Seong Yu-jin wouldn’t go out that far.
Ahn Su-ho, who had thought that far, questioned.
‘What the hell is this villain up to?’
***
Meanwhile, at that time.
Seong Yu-jin was slowly reading the reports posted by her subordinates in her office. Of course, it was not a peacetime job, but a report related to Ahn Soo-ho and the primordial silver.
‘It seems that Ahn Su-ho’s re-arrest is somehow possible. But, was it unreasonable to catch Chaeryeong-senpai as well?’
In the report, it was written how Min Chaeryeong stole Ahn Suho from the detention center.
…… No, to be precise, Min Chaeryeong didn’t steal Ahn Soo-ho. She’s not the one with absolute power. Is such an abuse of power against public power possible?
What she did was just her persuasion using her connections and personal connections, or her advice. He persuaded his superiors that the primordial silver remaining in An Su-ho’s right hand was no longer dangerous and that it was under An Su-ho’s perfect control.
Thanks to that, Ahn Soo-ho was able to leave the detention center after a relatively simple two-week examination. In the process, although there was external pressure called Min Chae-ryeong, there were no conspicuous transgressions.
‘If Chaeryeong had more power, it would have been more convenient if he had stolen Ahn Suho by saying that he wanted to get out of the way. Thanks to that, it seems like it will take longer than expected to capture Ahn Soo-ho again.’
Sung Yu-jin’s plan was like this.
First of all, the suspiciously released Ahn Su-ho’s activities are disclosed to the media, and public opinion pressure is used to re-investigate Ahn Su-ho. As a result, once he was re-restrained, I planned to contact him as an advisor to Hunter regarding the removal of the primordial silver.
Be it artifacts or parasitic monsters, it was a hunter’s area of expertise, and it wasn’t difficult to use a shortcut like that if you used the strength of the day.
In addition, Yeo-il has already taken some measures against the rampage of silver in the beginning, which the police are wary of. It was only natural that she smuggled it to use it in the first place.
‘The problem is that the movement within the police is sluggish. No matter how much pressure there is from public opinion, the case of Ahn Soo-ho was voluntarily decided to be released within the police. There is no way that noblemen, who are only concerned with preserving his position, will easily reverse that. It’s like giving the enemy a weakness.’
Sung Eugene has connections within the police. However, unlike Yeo-il, who served as her outside director, that side was really just a connection. It was not possible to give orders to her subordinates, and rather, there were many cases where Seong Yu-jin had to pay attention to them and cater to them.
At this, Seong Yu-jin looked down at the phone with an unwilling expression.
‘Should I use that number after all… ….’
I didn’t want to write it if possible. The effect was certain, but it wasn’t a method that could be abused many times.
But the primordial silver had to be retrieved somehow. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the birth of a person with multiple abilities, the secret cause of Yeoil, was at stake in the recovery of the silver in the beginning.
At this, Eugene Seong pressed the hotkey to call somewhere. After a long beeping sound, the other person on the other side of the phone answers the phone.
“Director Najuyong?”
-I got a call. Director. What are you doing?
The other party on the phone was Na Joo-yong, director of the Superhuman Rehabilitation Research Institute. At the same time, she was also the director of the multi-ability research project.
“With regard to the re-arrest of Ahn Su-ho, the movement within the police has been sluggish. I think I will need the warden’s help.”
-With my help…….
Na Ju-yong, who had been taking a break for a while, soon realized the meaning.
-Who is the target?
“The head of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. And the head of the special task force and the counterterrorism department, who were in charge of the previous investigation. These three will do.”
-Is it a one-off operation? Or is it a permanent hint?
“Let’s do the latter.”
-Yes. We will prepare it right away.
After answering that, Na Joo-yong looked away from where he was sitting.
At the end of that line of sight was her daughter Na Na-joo, a mind-manipulating person who came to the institute under the pretext of coming to see her father.