I’ll Retire After Saving the World

Chapter 85: A Reluctant Choice (1)

TL: SHW

I had anticipated that Lee Mi-seon would ask this.

After all, I had exchanged words with the attacker. We could potentially gain a clue about what he was after, and even if not, it was definitely something concerning Ark.

So I had already been thinking about how to answer.

I had considered being vague… or giving a half-hearted response that I was just going along with what the other person said.

But what would I gain from that?

If anything, it would only create confusion in tracking Ark, and there didn’t seem to be any benefit for me.

In that case, it was far better to give real information. There was no need to lay all the cards on the table. As long as I didn’t provide false information, it would be fine.

Well, honestly, there was also a lingering sense of futility. Like, what was I even doing right now? Should I just run away? Flee and close the Bangi-dong Dungeon… And then? What would that achieve? Nothing would change; we’d all die and everything would fall apart, unless I was planning to enjoy life for just twenty short years.

Well, when you think about it that way, maybe it was fortunate that I ran into Hong Seok-young as soon as I came to the past. I had no desire to live as an illegal Awakener, and although I didn’t know it back then, I eventually found a way to get cooperation from the International Ability Association.

Yes, things are going well.

…Still, I can’t help but feel that I shouldn’t have brought up my“younger brother”.

That damn brother. I thought the only thing tying me to the past was my teenage years, but to think it would hinder me in this way.

Of course, even if I went back to the beginning, I probably would’ve mentioned a brother again. There’s no story more clichéd and emotionally effective than a tragic separation from family. It really did work well, after all.

It’s just… I wonder. Instead of pretending I had a nonexistent brother, wouldn’t it have been better to create an entirely fictional person?

Even though the story was about my “brother”, it was really all about me. Since I was the one involved, it felt justified, but it didn’t feel great to make my childhood sound pitiful out of my own mouth. Sure, it was an annoying time, but I don’t think of it as some tragic past.

Lee Mi-seon’s gaze was piercing. If I didn’t respond soon, she might start thinking something was strange.

Once again, I have to tell a story I don’t want to. Alright, let’s imagine a brother I never had.

My younger brother. The young me. Ten-year-old No. 12.

The child that thirty-year-old Woo Hwijae is desperately trying to save.

…Even if I don’t search for him like this, he’ll be rescued by Hong Seok-young next year. He’ll go to school, take the civil service exam, and then…

He could even become the son of the old man.

Grit.

“…Teacher Woo?”

“Ah.”

I loosened the tension in my jaw and forced an awkward smile. Lee Mi-seon stared at me for a moment before hesitantly opening her mouth.

“If it’s too hard to talk about…”

“No.”

I cut her off firmly.

Even if it wasn’t because of my brother, it was something I would eventually have to talk about. It would be better to tell it through Lee Mi-seon than to tell Hong Seok-young directly.

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“It’s something I was going to have to talk about eventually. In fact, it’s overdue.”

If I think about it, the fact that Hong Seok-young hadn’t tried to force the story out of me might be proof that he trusted me.

Honestly, part of me thinks he’s too well-fed if he’s not hungry for information, but that’s none of my concern.

Maybe what I’m about to say is already information he knows…? Given how wrong Hong Seok-young and Kim Chae-min were about the research lab’s goals, I doubt Lee Mi-seon would be any different.

I stood up from the sofa. Lee Mi-seon’s gaze followed me relentlessly.

“…I don’t know where to start.”

The villa that Lee Mi-seon’s family occasionally used as a vacation home was a single-story building, but as expected of Daeyeon’s reputation, it was spacious. There was more than enough room to give each of the kids their own room. Each section even had its own kitchen.

I rummaged through the kitchen. It wasn’t particularly large, but it was enough to make some coffee. I turned on the electric kettle and started going through the drawers until I found some instant coffee mix.

Even in a place like this, they’ve got coffee mix.

“To put it simply, I can see mana.”

I pulled out a cup and poured in two packets of coffee mix.

“Mana. I can see it. With my own two eyes.”

Lee Mi-seon blinked.

My mouth felt dry. I’d never told this to anyone except for the old man.

Lee Mi-seon was about to say something, but I spoke first.

“It’s different from just being sensitive to mana. Sure, I am sensitive to it, but being sensitive and actually seeing it are two different things. I can see it.”

“……”

Lee Mi-seon stayed silent for a while. Unlike the seasoned Lee Mi-seon from twenty years in the future, this version of her still showed her emotions on her face.

I could clearly see that she was flustered.

She repeated my words.

“You can see… mana?”

“Yes.”

I wondered if she understood what it meant to see mana. Probably not. I knew I would have to explain, but I still wasn’t keen on doing it.

I glanced at the electric kettle.

“So, in a way, I’m an unexpected success. I wasn’t supposed to be able to see it.”

The water began to boil.

Even so, I started explaining slowly.

What I was about to tell her wasn’t entirely my story. When you live in a research lab, you can’t help but hear a lot of things. This was one of those stories.

“I mentioned that I used to wear a mask when I was in Ark, didn’t I?”

Lee Mi-seon licked her dry lips.

“Yes. So… no one knows what you look like.”

“Do you know what that mask symbolizes?”

Her eyes, which had been wavering, sharpened. It was too sharp a reaction for someone who didn’t know anything.

I remembered briefly explaining the mask to Hong Seok-young once. If not that, maybe she’d heard it from Kim, who infiltrated Ark in the beginning. That woman must have gotten pretty deep into things. That’s probably why she couldn’t get out.

Lee Mi-seon seemed to be debating whether to pretend she knew or to act like she didn’t. I pretended not to care and looked out the window, waiting for the water to finish boiling.

I could see the ocean. The dawn sea was calm. With the rising red sun, it looked like a scene from a painting.

“…I know you were involved in various tasks within the lab.”

Lee Mi-seon spoke cautiously. It seemed like I wouldn’t have to bother with unnecessary explanations.

“Just miscellaneous tasks.”

“Miscellaneous? Weren’t they… important tasks, like monitoring the researchers…?”

Lee Mi-seon trailed off, glancing at me for a reaction.

I finished the sentence she couldn’t.

“Miscellaneous tasks, I said. Doing everything the researchers asked for… sometimes taking care of the kids. Well, like you said, some people were assigned more important tasks. Handling traitors, kidnapping kids… and disposing of useless test subjects.”

“Disposing of them?”

“Yes. Disposing.”

I let out a short laugh.

Just then, the water finished boiling.

“Those in charge of disposal were replaced often. You can’t exactly stay mentally sound while disposing of people, can you? So from the start, they assigned the task to those with poor health… the failed experiments.”

I poured the hot water into the cup where I’d already added the coffee mix. The rising steam blurred my vision.

“I was originally supposed to be in charge of disposal too.”

“……”

“But luckily… I got assigned to a different task. Although, looking back, I’m not sure if I can really call it luck.”

As the white steam dissipated, Lee Mi-seon’s face came into view. I shook the remaining coffee mix packet.

Lee Mi-seon shook her head, her face pale.

“So… what do you call it again? I’m one of those. You know, genetically modified from the embryo… to create? I’m not sure if ‘create’ is the right word, though.”

“…A designer baby?”

“Ah, yes. That. When I was just a little bean-sized cell, Ark was conducting experiments like that. Trying to make fetuses Awaken. Of course, most of them died, but I was one of the few successes. Well, actually, I failed, but I was at least born successfully.”

I slowly sipped the coffee. It was disgustingly sweet, the kind that would make you feel sick. I didn’t realize I’d gotten used to this kind of cheap taste.

“I didn’t Awaken. That’s why I was born, right? I was about to be disposed of, but the researchers who created me… I suppose you could call them my parents… they stopped it, thinking I might serve as the foundation for another experiment. For the record, though, I didn’t really become the cornerstone of that experiment.”

“…Wait, Teacher Woo, but you did Awaken, right?”

“I did. Later on. And I didn’t start seeing mana until some time after I Awakened. So both I and my parents thought I was a natural Awakener.”

“……”

“When I Awakened, the project I had been a part of was already shut down, and they were working on other experiments. So I got dragged into various jobs involving dungeons and other tasks. There are a lot of Awakeners within Ark, but not many were actually born there. A cleaner raised from the time he was just a clump of cells before even becoming a fetus—how fitting, right?”

I shrugged.

“It wasn’t such a bad job, really. If you worked hard, you had opportunities for promotion. Sure, there were shitty parts, but isn’t that true of any job? Don’t you have shitty moments in your work too, Hunter Lee?”

“…I do.”

“Exactly.”

I laughed as I took another sip of coffee.

“Of course, I kept the fact that I could see mana a secret. By then, I had a pretty good idea of how things worked. Telling them wouldn’t have led to anything good… so I stayed as just a regular cleaner.”

I paused for a moment. I shouldn’t forget to sell my story.

This is why you shouldn’t trust men with tragic backstories. Lee Mi-seon needs to sharpen her skills at reading people.

“Until I met my ‘brother’.”

“Your brother?”

“They failed with fetuses because they were too weak, so they started modifying children’s genes and artificially Awakening them. That’s basically what the project was. It’s what they’re doing now.”

“……”

“Even if they didn’t Awaken, there were a few kids who could see mana. Do you know what the warning signs of that are? They become extremely sensitive to mana. Like Tae-woo.”

Old memories started coming back, one by one.

Dim lighting. Elderly men and women walking around the lab, evaluating the children.

“I’m not sure what Alex Hope is after, but I think I know what he was trying to do. He was probably looking for a success—someone who could see mana. Or, he might have been trying to kill off all the test subjects.”

If this really was a power struggle within Ark, the latter seemed more likely. He’d often expressed regret about the losses, so maybe he had other plans in mind.

“Hm, when I think about it, Alex Hope might be a cleaner too. Not a low-ranking one like me, but more of a supervisor.”

No, not a supervisor… Maybe more like someone in Kang Tae-woo’s position. I frowned as I realized my cup was almost empty.

“Alex Hope’s parents—both of them are still alive, right?”

“What?”

Lee Mi-seon nodded with a somewhat uncomfortable expression.

“Yes. They’re both active Hunters.”

“Then you should investigate their activities as well.”

“The parents?”

“It might be similar to student Tae-woo’s case.”

Born outside of Ark and raised normally until a certain age. But that doesn’t mean they’re not loyal to the Ark. Just look at Kang Tae-woo, he grew up to be a model student, didn’t he?

“If his parents are affiliated with Ark, they might have put their child into the lab for experimentation….”

“How do you know that, Teacher?”

A small voice suddenly interrupted.

“……!”

Kang Tae-woo, his face pale, was leaning against the wall where Lee Mi-seon had been standing earlier, staring at me.

*****

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