188 – 188. Hermitage (3)
Na Eun-joo.
The daughter of Na Joo-yong, director of the Superhuman Rehabilitation Research Institute under Yeoil, just turned 10 this year. Neither her height nor her weight was far above average for girls of her age, but her intelligence was far above her average, perhaps thanks to her father’s genes.
People often call a smart child a gifted child. However, Naeun-joo’s extraordinary intellect was somewhat inappropriate to be expressed with the word gifted.
While the word gifted by her is usually confined to one field, such as ‘OO gifted’, the child’s intellectual abilities were developed evenly in all directions. No matter what task others gave her, she did it well, compared to her peers.
Even if the given task is something the child has never seen before. Naeun-joo adapted to her tasks at an inordinately rapid pace compared to her peers. As if the mind of an adult had entered the body of a child.
It was the influence of her telepathic psychic powers that she had from her day. And her father Naju-yong, who recognized her qualities faster than anyone else, conducted various early education to make those qualities blossom.
Thanks to Naeun-joo, Naeun-joo was able to grow up splendidly.
His good daughter,
As an assistant,
And as a chess piece.
“These are the people you need to put your strength into.”
Naju Yong held out her two hands to Naeun Joo in her father’s voice of her caring nature.
In her left hand, she holds a smartphone with a picture of her target, and in her right hand, holds a lollipop-shaped ability enhancer that artificially boosts her abilities.
“…… Are all three of these targets this time?”
“Yes.”
“What is the deadline?”
“As soon as possible. The other two may not know, but the police chief has to finish it today.”
“Wait a minute, can we just control it?”
“No, that’s why I might reverse the orders I gave while being manipulated. Even if their abilities are unlocked, we need to plant a suggestion deep in their heads so that they can make decisions in our favor.”
As I said before, Naeun-joo was a smart kid. So she understood her father’s request at once. In addition to that, the fact that if she did as she requested, her own physical condition would be driven to the brink of death.
Na Eun-joo’s psychic powers were originally limited to light suggestion or hypnosis. She was determined that way from the beginning, and at least because she was still young, her psychic powers were not fully developed.
The enhancer that Na Ju-yong handed over was a kind of doping drug that forcibly broke through those limits.
At the cost of her health and longevity.
“… ….”
Single-shot control is an act that ends with a single activation of an ability. However, in order to implant a near-brainwashing suggestion in the target’s mind, it was necessary to use the ability over and over again for almost half a day. And as much as that, the burden on the body of Naeunju will also increase exponentially.
Naeun-ju calculated the side effects of her ability by rolling her head in her own way.
Even optimistically, I was in a hospital bed for a couple of months. Perhaps her brain or body will be permanently disabled, or she will die altogether. It was something that even the young Naeun-joo could have expected, so there was no way Naju-yong was unaware of it.
Nevertheless, it was Na Ju-yong’s choice.
For Sung Eugene,
For the rest of the day,
And for the sake of her research, she promised to shoulder the burden of death on her daughter Naeun-joo.
“Are you okay?”
As I have said over and over again, Naeun-joo was a smart kid. But she also said that she was only a child after all.
“It’s okay, Dad! It’s your father’s request! I will work hard!”
To a child, parents are absolute. Furthermore, for Na-Joo Na, who has been receiving Na-Joo-Yong’s systematic close education for the past 10 years, the option of disobeying her father’s words did not exist from the beginning.
“Thank you. She is also my daughter She only has you for me.”
Naju Dragon opened her arms with a caring look on her face, and Naju’s dodo ran to her and embraced her. Looking at her appearance alone, she was a harmonious father and daughter relationship, but the reality was 180 degrees different.
“This is a very important job. Just in case, you shouldn’t fail like last time.”
“Yes. Dad. I will definitely not fail this time.”
In Na Eun-joo’s mind, the last incident, when Ahn Su-ho’s mind control failed, passed by.
Occasionally, high-level superhumans resisted her abilities, but Ahn Su-ho was only a C-class brat at best, so why did she fail?
The reason was still unclear, but Naeun-joo vowed that she would live up to her father’s expectations this time. For the past 10 years, as if training a beast, only the approval of her father, Naju-yong, was the absolute value in the reward system that was imprinted in her head.
‘I will never be abandoned like my sister. Unlike her sister, who is her failure, I am a success because my dad said.’
She thought of her older sister, who had been abandoned even before she was born, and Na-joo embraced Na-ju-yong more deeply.
***
That evening.
Ahn Soo-ho was sitting on a bench in the corner of her garden with her back to the setting sun. In her hand was the makeshift phone handed to her by her midsummer subordinate.
“Yes. You don’t have to worry. Midsummer said you’d be safe for a while as long as you’re here.”
He was in the midst of reporting his survival to his acquaintances.
First Ji Ye-won and Kang Ha-neul, then Min Chae-ryeong, who must have been very angry with him, and left a brief regard for Ryu Tae-hyeon, and now he was on the phone with Seol Ah-hyun.
-I’m glad. Seong Yu-jin’s movements were also questionable, and I was very worried because I couldn’t contact her amidst the noise inside and outside. Will I be able to call this number when I need to be contacted in the future?
“Yes. You can do that. Oh, do you have time for a longer phone call tonight or tomorrow? I have something I must tell you somehow.”
-What I have to say…… ?
“Yes. It’s an important story.”
Ahn Soo-ho intended to tell Seol Ah-hyun all the facts related to the primordial silver. Including the multi-ability study of Yeo-il. Since he had a full-scale confrontation with Seong Yu-jin, he intended to open up all information to reliable allies.
‘It would be better to tell even Midsummer. It will be easier to seek her help that way.’
Ahn Soo-ho promised to call around lunchtime tomorrow considering Seol Ah-hyun’s schedule and ended the call.
“Hey.”
At that time, Xiao Mei approached him from behind. As Su-ho Ahn turned her head, she showed the call log that appeared on her smartphone (which, like Su-ho Ahn, had been prepared by Han Yeo-reum), she said.
“I got a call from that midsummer woman. Deal coming this way this evening. I have something important to tell you.”
“Really? But why did you call that way? Don’t do it to me.”
“It must have been because you were still on the phone. So, I said my regards to my girlfriends.”
The two of them treated each other with awkward short words. After her first meeting, when they met again, Xiao Mei became emotionally charged, and she blamed Dan for throwing her half-talking first.
She is Xiao Mei. From her point of view, she is not even close to her, but the casual language used was awkward, but she was ambiguous to respect her now, and An Su-ho also did not have to be polite to her who treated him poorly. I thought no. Thanks to this, the two of them spoke comfortably to each other, but because of that, it was rather awkward.
“Roughly. Then, what happened to the smuggling flight that your fellow broker said you were looking for?”
“The preparations are complete. Wednesday, May 27 at 3 am in Busan. The question is, can I get there safely?”
“Because he is a wanted man. I won’t be any different soon, though.”
“It’s enough for me to leave this country, but you won’t be able to do that either. What are you going to do from now on?”
“That’s what… ….”
Ahn Suho took out the paper he had put in his pocket. He said while skimming through the notes he had written alone during the day.
“We should discuss it from now on. What to do next.”
An hour later. By mid-summer when we arrived at the villa, the three of us sat around the living room like last night. Sitting in the same seat as the day before, pouring the same coffee in the same cup as the day before.
“First of all, I’ll tell you the outside situation that Ahn Su-ho might be curious about.”
Midsummer started talking with a half-exhausted expression, perhaps suffering from overwork.
“First of all, most of the reporters who had flocked in front of Ahn Su-ho’s house withdrew. It’s only natural that I didn’t pay for two days. Well, though a few reporters remain and remain undercover.”
“I’m glad. Her girlfriend who lives next door was in trouble with the reporters.”
“Even in this situation, you are very carefree that you are worried about your girlfriend. Well, if you listen to the next words, you won’t be at ease at all.”
“Is something wrong?”
“Two detectives visited your house this afternoon.”
Ahn Suho’s expression hardened at those words. Xiaomei, who was listening by the side, did the same.
“Has the investigation begun?”
“Yes. A little faster than I expected. I thought it would take quite some time to reverse such an existing decision, once the police had judged that Mr. Ahn Su-ho and the parasitic monster on his right hand were safe. I never thought they would admit their mistakes and move on so quickly.”
Perhaps Seong Yu-jin played a trick. Adding that, Midsummer sipped her coffee.
“The head of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, who had taken a wait-and-see attitude regarding this situation, suddenly changed his opinion to resume the investigation. He’s not someone to be bought with money, so what the hell did he do…….”
I didn’t dare to expect that Seong Yu-jin had a mind-controlling power under his command, and through this he had brainwashed the commissioner. At least, Ahn Su-ho was aware of the existence of Seon-joo, but in that short moment, his idea did not reach that far.
“If an investigation had begun against me… …. It’s definitely not a good situation.”
“As long as you stay here, there is no need to worry about getting caught. It will take Seong Eugene or the police to figure out my involvement in this situation, and even if they do, they won’t be able to locate this villa. It’s a hideout that was created in preparation for such a situation in the first place. But… ….”
Midsummer’s eyes linger on Xiao-Mei for a while, then return to An Su-Ho.
“Unlike the broker over there, Ahn Su-ho, you wouldn’t be able to just run away.”
“Yes. We can’t hide forever, so we have to decide with Sung Eugene in the end-“
“By the way.”
At that time, midsummer interrupted Ahn Suho’s words and knocked on the desk.
“Coming to think of it, I coveted you as a talented person, and you looked like you were in trouble, so I helped you once, but I still don’t know why you fell into this crisis. Can you talk slowly? What the hell happened between you and Seong Yu-jin that caused this uproar?”
“I was thinking of telling you anyway.”
Ahn Suho talked about a series of incidents related to the beginning of silver. It was midsummer, when the beginning silver was actually calm until the part called an artifact, but when the story of her multi-skill research began to come out, her face gradually began to look puzzled.
“…… Are the things you’ve said so far really true?”
“Yes. It is a truth without a single lie. The reason Seong Yu-jin did this is to steal the primordial silver from me, and the purpose is to use the primordial silver to complete their secret research on multiple abilities.”
“If that is really, really, really shocking. The fact that Yeo-il was working on her multi-ability research was something she didn’t know at all…….”
“I am a little surprised. If she was a midsummer student, I thought she might be guessing.”
“No matter how much I do, there is a limit to information. We can’t even find out the fact that her competitor, Yeo-il, is determined and hides it.”
“Yes. That too-“
Suddenly, a question flashed through Ahn Soo-ho’s mind as he nodded moderately.
‘What? Then how did Min Chaeryeong find out?’
Is it possible that Min Chaeryeong’s intelligence is superior to Midsummer’s? How did she come to know about her, or her personal relationship with Sung Eugene? The question that came to mind for a moment swirled in his mind, but soon dissipated like cigarette smoke. That’s not what’s important now.
“Anyway. Considering Sung Yu-jin’s purpose, the original silver could never be handed over. Therefore, I have to settle with him in one form or another. Before he pulls out the next move.”
“If it is a decision, how?”
“That’s-“
“You can’t think of killing Eugene Seong…… Isn’t it? Aye, no way.”
Midsummer smiled and shook her head.
“If you are thinking that way, I recommend giving up. No matter how strong you are, you won’t be able to kill Seong Yu-jin. Even if he puts aside all the backgrounds such as the Winter Alliance and Yeo-il, he is the strongest hunter and the strongest superman in Korea before that.”
“I know that too. At first, I considered that method, but I immediately realized that it was impossible. So I prepared another way.”
“Another way?”
At Midsummer’s question, Ahn Su-ho took out a bundle of paper from his bosom. It was a bundle of notes he had been looking through a while ago.
“Let’s read it.”
Having received the memo, Han Yeo-reum read it one by one with suspicious eyes. Soon, a look of astonishment spreads across her face.
“………… What the hell is this?”
“It’s a trump card to use in negotiating with him.”
“Is this all true?”
“Then I must have written a lie there?”
At Ahn Soo-ho’s words, Han Yeo-reum looked at her notes once again. But the expression of disbelief remained.
A memo from Suho Ahn.
In it, the crimes committed by Seong Yu-jin, the Winter Alliance to which he belonged, and all kinds of corruption and crimes committed by Yeo-il were written. There was even information that you would never know unless you were an insider.
That’s why midsummer couldn’t get rid of suspicion. But there was one thing she overlooked.
It was the fact that he was a possessed person who was fully aware of the contents of the original work.
“That’s all I know, but that’s enough of a bargaining chip.”
The smile on Ahn Su-ho’s lips carved deep wrinkles between his forehead in midsummer.