Uijae released his grip and quickly wrapped his arm around Song Joheon’s neck, choking him. Veins bulged on Song Joheon’s temples as his face turned crimson. Minggijeok, standing two steps back, silently watched. Song Joheon coughed and managed to choke out a few words.
“Why... why are you here?!”
“That’s my line. You seem pretty comfortable. What’s going on? What kind of things have you been up to?”
Uijae’s gaze road over Song Joheon’s body, and the closer he looked, the more horrifying it was. The patchwork skin looked worse up close, stitched together with varying textures, with so of the stitches already coming undone. Uijae bit the inside of his cheek hard, fury sparking in his eyes.
“...Did you really want to go this far?”
“This... far? Ha, haha.”
Song Joheon’s lips twisted into a sneer. The eyes of the once proud tiger now glinted with murderous intent.
“Yeah... Born into greatness, how could you possibly understand?”
“...”
“I knew it all along, but still... you’re so narrow-minded!”
The muscles in Song Joheon’s arms bulged. With a loud roar, he forcefully shook off Uijae’s arm, gasping as his ragged body heaved for air. Uijae stepped back, widening his stance, and glared at him.
He didn’t want to believe it. Song Joheon might’ve been a bit irritating, and always looked out for his own safety first, but... Uijae didn’t want to think he’d go this far.
He hoped he wasn’t a traitor.
The tension in Uijae’s clenched fists eased slightly. His ti in the Awakener Bureau had been painful and difficult, but it was an inseparable part of his life. It was the first place Uijae had ever truly belonged after his awakening. His aunt, the Director, Jeong-bin, even Song Joheon, whom he wasn’t very close to.
But Song Joheon seed to take Uijae’s hesitation and silence differently. His face contorted. He pointed at his disfigured body and yelled.
“So, how do I look? Funny, huh? Of course it is. That perfect J wouldn’t need to resort to sothing like this to be strong!”
Song Joheon jabbed his finger at Uijae, as if ready to gouge out his eyes.
“You, with your high and mighty attitude! Acting like the world will end just because you disappeared for a while!”
“...”
“Did you ever think about how much ti and effort it took to stabilize things after you vanished?!”
Song Joheon grit his teeth, trembling with anger.
“Those stupid people don’t even think about the hunters who were running around behind the scenes! They act like stability just magically appeared out of thin air!”
“...”
“J, J, J... Ha, even though it was soone else who saved their lives, they’re always looking for J! ‘If only J had been there,’ ‘If only J were still alive!’ It’s like they wanted soone else to die in his place! I’m so sick of it.”
“...”
“They’re all idiots. Just a bunch of morons...”
Song Joheon’s voice trailed off as he muttered to himself, then he let out a hollow laugh, covering his eyes with his palm. A heavy silence followed. Just as Uijae was about to say sothing, Minggijeok placed a hand on his shoulder. Uijae turned to look at him. Minggijeok shook his head silently, mouthing the words:
‘Not now.’
“...”
Uijae wondered if having a heart-to-heart conversation could help resolve all the emotions Song Joheon had built up over the past eight years. Maybe, he thought. Though it could also be another form of arrogance on his part.
But now wasn’t the ti.
Talking without understanding the eight-year gap would only serve as a trigger. Uijae closed his mouth, and Minggijeok stepped forward.
“I have a few questions, Guild Leader Song Joheon. How long have you been associated with Protheus?”
Song Joheon lowered his hand and shot Minggijeok a sharp glare.
“So, the pawn from the Wave Guild is here too. Did Lee Sayeong send you to spy on ?”
“No, I’m currently in the service of this client. Would you mind answering the question?”
“You already know the answer, don’t you?”
“Assumptions and personal testimony are quite different things.”
After J got trapped in the West Sea fissure, Song Joheon had awakened as an S-class and founded the Samra Guild to fill the void left by J. If that was the case...
‘Eight years ago.’
It was a long ti ago, but it wasn’t impossible. Even back then, the roots of Protheus had existed. A group of failures, people who hadn’t been chosen by the system, trying to create awakened ones with human power. Minggijeok pulled a small notebook and pen from the inside pocket of his suit. The click of the pen sounded clearly.
“Did Protheus approach you first?”
“You’re even more amusing in person. Haven’t you ever heard of tact?”
“I’ve been told that quite often.”
“Hah, Protheus, huh. That na is so absurdly grand...”
Song Joheon sneered as he rubbed his neck, now bruised and swollen.
“What, did J or Ham Seok-jung send you to dig for information? So they put a little spy on and ca here talking about the apocalypse? How cute, like a little duckling.”
“...No.”
Uijae’s voice dropped, his tone dark.
“I ca here by chance. I didn’t know I’d run into you.”
“...”
“That’s why I’m asking you. Why did you make this... choice?”
“Hah...”
Song Joheon let out a hollow laugh that gradually grew louder, until he finally bent over, laughing hysterically.
“Hahaha!”
“...”
“Of course, you wouldn’t know unless I told you. People like you could never understand.”
Still sneering, Song Joheon grabbed a shirt that had been carelessly thrown on the floor and began putting it on. His voice was hoarse and low.
“Just as I expected, it’s been a long ti. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but there used to be a group that kidnapped victims from dungeons and rifts.”
“I know.”
“Oh, you know that? You were more aware of your surroundings than I thought. I assud you were just so kid who thought he had it the worst.”
“Please refrain from the sarcasm. It disrupts the recording. Just provide the facts.”
“Haha... fine.”
Song Joheon waved his hand dismissively.
“My team and I were tracking them down. After all, it was a cri involving civilians.”
“...”
“At the ti, they weren’t as large or organized as they are now. It was just a group of lunatics. We found them, and they were all consud with inferiority complexes about the awakened. But their technology... was pretty useful.”
“...”
“You’ve been chosen by the system, so you understand. The system is absolute power. How could re human effort ever hope to touch that absolute domain? It’s foolish...”
Song Joheon started buttoning his shirt. Co to think of it, the exposed parts of his body, like his hands and neck, were smooth. His patchwork body was slowly disappearing beneath the shirt.
“But... with a bit of modification, their technology could easily amplify the power of soone who’s already awakened. So, I made a deal.”
Having buttoned his shirt completely, Song Joheon now appeared as the sa polished guild leader as before. No one would ever know what kind of grotesque body lay beneath his clothes. His mouth tasted bitter.
“In exchange for turning a blind eye to their kidnappings, they experinted on to enhance my abilities.”
“You volunteered to be a test subject?”
“Ha, of course you wouldn’t understand. Naturally. Soone born with as much power as you could never understand the hunger for more strength.”
Song Joheon glared at Uijae, but his gaze quickly fell away. He muttered under his breath as he put on his suit jacket.
“Have you ever felt your own inadequacy so deeply that it hurt? You haven’t, have you? Have you ever regretted not being just a little stronger, wishing you had just a bit more power? I doubt it.”
“...”
“You and I were born to never understand each other... so don’t even try.”
“...No.”
Uijae clenched his fists. Song Joheon’s cold gaze settled once more on Uijae’s masked face.
“I know that feeling. I...”
Uijae had thought about it constantly, back in the West Sea fissure.
If I had been just a little stronger, would they have survived?
If I had been just a little stronger, maybe I wouldn’t have had to leave them behind and escape alone.
For eight years, countless regrets had built up inside him. And so, Uijae had run away. He had discarded the na J, and with it, all the burdens. Song Joheon, on the other hand, had chosen to take this path instead. Uijae couldn’t agree with it, but he could understand it.
“...”
Song Joheon’s face twisted with a strange expression, but it wasn’t as filled with rage as before. He was about to speak when suddenly, footsteps echoed from afar. All three of them stiffened. Who could it be? Song Joheon clenched his jaw and shoved Uijae.
“Hide.”
“What? Wai—”
“Let’s
go.”
Minggijeok grabbed Uijae’s arm and pulled him toward the room where the vials had been stored. The two of them pressed themselves against the door, holding their breath. The footsteps grew louder, and the door to the operating room opened.
“...Strange.”
A gentle male voice spoke.
“I could’ve sworn I heard voices. Even the sounds of a fight.”
“Are you going deaf?”
“Impossible. My hearing is perfectly fine.”
Step, step. The footsteps stopped just in front of the door they were leaning against. A polite knock echoed, followed by a voice laced with amusent.
“You’ve co all the way here. I’ve been looking forward to eting you.”
“...”
“J.”
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