“B-but I said it was by accident...! I don’t know the principle or anything...!!”
I blurted it out in a panic before I could even stop myself.
If it had been Go Min-young or Go Hayoung saying sothing like that, I might’ve brushed it off as a joke (honestly, even that would’ve been pushing it, but relatively speaking...).
But with Go Seona—since I know almost nothing about her—if she says sothing like that, of course I freak the hell out.
“...What? What are you even saying. Why would we open up Muyeol’s brain?”
“Seriously, the quiet ones always say the most insane shit. Do you think Muyeol actually understood what he made?”
“Judging by your reactions, it must be the real deal.”
“What the hell are you talking about? You're just making up shit at this point.”
Um...
If you open my brain, I die.
You know that, right?
“Muyeol, that punk, doesn’t know shit! He was just mixing stuff up to make his drugs again, and this popped out by accident. Unless there’s sothing to gain from opening him up, what’s the point, right?”
“Y-yes... e-exactly.... I don’t know anything.”
Really, I don’t...
Besides the recipe, I seriously know nothing....
“I was joking, but you’re all way too sensitive.”
Say that joke a second ti and you’ll have on an operating table.
“Even just a mind scan should be fine, though.”
No, it won’t. I told you—I don’t know anything!
“Muyeol doesn’t even have a basic foundation in chemistry. As you all know, he was a total wreck just a year ago, rember?”
“Isn’t he basically clueless when it cos to most academic fundantals?”
“He got into Korea University through a donor admission. Might as well say he knows jack shit.”
“Maybe he picked up a few super simple chemical formulas while mixing up his drugs.”
“If that—probably back-alley-level knowledge. Nothing even remotely helpful for actual research. On paper, he’s enrolled in a four-year university, but his real academic level is maybe middle school, and even that’s probably all forgotten by now. Honestly, right now he’s probably...”
I an, I appreciate the help, but...
What’s my reputation with these people, seriously?
Feels like they think I’m so absolute dumbass.
It’s weird—I almost feel relieved, but at the sa ti, is this really okay?
Like, I’m technically a director at Militaris and also a board mber at the Koryo Credit Incheon Branch.
I even run a group with a corporate value over 100 trillion won!
“Anyway, whether it’s a mind scan or brain surgery, there’s really no benefit. Muyeol’s basically illiterate.”
I’m not that illiterate!
“Too bad.”
Please don’t look disappointed.
That’s terrifying.
“RK-99 is closer to a dream material than anything we ever imagined. Its superconductive stability is off the charts. You know how superconductors are normally insanely unstable and even a slight change in the environnt ruins everything? Well, this thing isn’t like that at all.”
Go Min-young picked up the RK-99 that Chief Jeong had placed back down.
She turned it this way and that, inspecting it while explaining its basic specs.
“lting point is about 920 degrees. Even when fully liquefied, it maintains superconductivity. After re-solidifying, and even after being cooled again, the superconductive properties remained completely stable. That ans it has extrely high resistance to temperature change—probably the most sensitive factor. Sa goes for pressure changes. Even in a 10-gapascal pressure environnt, RK-99 retained its original properties. The critical power threshold is absurdly high too. Basically, in most environntal conditions, no matter what happens, it stays superconductive. It really is as close to a dream material as you can get.”
“How the hell did sothing like that even...”
Go Hayoung let out a long sigh, while Go Min-young just laughed dryly and shrugged.
“Beats . Muyeol says he made it by accident while mixing up drugs.”
“It really was by accident. I swear.”
“An accident... and this ca out...?”
Go Hayoung took RK-99 from her and examined it closely.
Go Seona, now standing flush beside her, also inspected it—but I doubt you can figure out anything just by staring at it.
“Production costs are low too. Based on the contract with Muyeol Chemicals, it’s around twenty million won per gram. Considering it’s a perfect room-temp, ambient-pressure superconductor, that’s actually cheap.”
“True... if it really performs that well.”
“Also, you guys know the business Muyeol and Hayan have been doing lately, right? That thing called ‘Sinabro’ or whatever.”
“?”
“The main material for that is basically the sa as RK-99. The na Muyeol gave it—‘RK-77’—kind of gives it away, doesn’t it?”
“Whaaat?!”
“Wha... what??”
“Wh-what’d you just say?!”
Even Grandpa was shocked this ti.
Seems like that bit was news to him.
Wait a second—how the hell did Min-young know that?
Did I ever tell her? I’m pretty sure I never ntioned what Sinabro is made of...
“So you're telling ... you were making earrings out of those rare superconductive materials??”
“What the hell are you doing?!”
“Wait, what the hell is this?! You were using twenty-million-won-per-gram material to make earrings, necklaces, and rings? Just to sell them for a few asly billion won sets?!”
“Muyeol, why didn’t you say anything...? You... you idi—”
“Wait, no—this is, um—”
I an... the materials are just lead, copper, and sulfur. They’re not expensive or anything...
But now that I think about it...
Yeah, that was dumb as hell.
If nobody knew, it would’ve been fine—but once you say “the earrings are made from superconductor material,” anyone would—
“....”
And of course, just then, I locked eyes with Go Minji—who burst out laughing and mouthed silently:
Idiot
Moron
Goddamn it.
Go Minji, seriously.
“...Is it true? That Sinabro and this really use the sa materials?”
“You were making earrings out of a room-temp superconductor...?”
“We should be selling those sets for ten tis as much, at least.”
“W-well... they’re almost the sa, but... the process is a little different, you know? Not exactly the sa—”
Under the barrage of stunned stares and scolding glares, I turned to Go Min-young like I wanted to strangle her.
She just smiled slyly.
Clearly, she wanted to ss with for expanding the Go harem too quickly—but still, this was betrayal on a whole other level!
“It’s not a loss, though. Producing RK-99 paste is way cheaper than anyone realizes. I treat it like giving you pocket money because you’re cute.”
“Well, I an... twenty million won per gram is kind of pocket money-tier...”
“Muyeol doesn’t have any money, rember? Think of it like social welfare for low-inco households. Not a bad idea, really.”
“So what is the material? How simple can it possibly be?”
As whispers and murmurs spread, Go Min-young casually lobbed another grenade.
“Copper, sulfur, lead. That’s it.”
“Excuse —what?”
“You just crush those three together in specific ratios and bake them like bread, and you get RK-99.”
“You’re telling copper, sulfur, and lead—stuff you could find rolling around on the [N O V E L I G H T] damn street—makes a superconductor?”
“Yup.”
“And you just bake it like a damn loaf of bread?”
“Yup.”
“...”
“...”
As soon as they heard the ingredients, the room collectively fell into stunned silence.
Go Min-young, Go Minji, and Grandpa all cracked slight grins—like they were thinking back to their own shock the first ti they heard.
So they are enjoying this.
It’s like veterans watching clueless newbies struggle for the first ti.
“Wanna hear sothing even funnier? You don’t even need any special equipnt. As long as you’ve got a university-grade kiln, you can make it.”
“H-how... how could that be a superconductor...?”
“So you’re saying that for centuries, none of the world’s top researchers could figure this out—so we’ve been calling sothing that only works at minus 120 degrees a high-temperature superconductor??”
“Exactly. It’s a sad truth.”
“And we were using that stuff too?”
“Yup. That’s why our chas have been stuck in Gen 8. Not anymore, though.”
“...Wow.”
Everyone’s expressions were a mix of disbelief and exhaustion.
That always happens when I unveil RK-99.
Reactions follow a predictable pattern: shock so extre it’s borderline entertaining.
“Like I said, RK-99 maintains superconductivity with insane stability—even in liquid form. Liquid superconductors alone could open a whole new scientific frontier, but here’s the catch: RK-99 lts at 920 degrees. So our main research focus right now is finding a way to lower that lting point.”
“For now, we’re going to conduct a very limited, surface-level audit of Militaris. Just keep that in mind. RK-99 is going to be one of the most critical assets of our group’s future, so quit fighting and cooperate. Got it?”
“Hah... Dad, I still can’t fully believe this.”
“How long are you gonna keep saying that?! Just hurry up and accept it already!”
“But I an... it just doesn’t make sense...”
Just like the others, Go Hayoung and Go Seona would need ti to fully co around.
Even Go Min-young had to test the sample in a thousand ways before she barely accepted it.
That’s just how insane RK-99 is.
“I have a question.”
Go Seona quietly raised her hand.
Her face, once full of shock, had returned to its usual emotionless expression.
“Muyeol, you said you made it by accident while mixing drugs, right?”
“Yes.”
“So... were you planning to eat the mix of copper, sulfur, and lead?”
“...Ah.”
Th-that’s...
“You even baked it. Were you trying to make so kind of... bread? With copper, sulfur, and lead?”
...Fuck.
I didn’t think about it like that, but...
Yeah.
Copper, sulfur, and lead, all mixed together...
“...Yes.”
“Yes??”
“I—I was going to... try and eat it...”
“....”
“....”
“....”
They all stared at .
Dead silent.
Not even shocked—just blank-faced. Which sohow made it even scarier.
“I-I an, drugs make you kind of crazy, right?? I wasn’t in my right mind back then...”
“....”
Go Seona narrowed her eyes slightly and tilted her head.
“Maybe we really should open up your brain.”
“Right? This is... Muyeol, are you sure you’re okay?”
“This is dangerous.”
“Noooo!! I was totally ssed up back then, but I’m fine now! I’m off the drugs! I’m totally healthy!!”
Ssssshhhp.
Go Seona still didn’t look convinced.
And not just her—now even the won who were against the idea before were starting to co around!
“I’m seriously fine. Look, I’m talking perfectly normally. My eyes are clear as day, aren’t they?”
After throwing out every excuse I could think of, they finally decided to let it go.
Thank God.
‘Haaaah, I swear I just shaved ten years off my life...’
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