099 – Become a Myth #1
“Your grandfather is that Nam Tae-geon? President Nam Tae-geon?”
Even Yu Yeo-reum, fickle as a cat, seemed to know the name of the most famous person in Korea.
Still, she took a step back, showing an attitude as if guarding against me, seemingly not fully trusting my story.
“It’s a lie.”
“Why would I lie? A man doesn’t tell falsehoods.”
“You tricked me with lies and had me kidnapped.”
“There are exceptions sometimes.”
How does a man only eat hot rice soup every day? Even I sometimes crave petit macarons.
There are times when I’m drawn to the color pink, a symbol of young girls.
Yu Yeo-reum’s expression grew even more severe at my words.
“Hanamjin, I can’t trust what you say.”
What if she leaps at me again and bites my shoulder?
That would hurt!
I should calm Yu Yeo-reum down.
“You can believe it’s a lie if you want. It’s not going to change anyway.”
“So you’re saying that Nam Tae-geon deliberately set fire to the N-Mart where his son was? That’s impossible.”
“I thought so too. But sometimes such things do happen. There are figures like Saturn, who eat their own children for power.”
Saturn who devoured his own children for his own power.
Abraham who offered his child as a sacrifice for divine prosperity.
There are beings who will readily burn and sacrifice even their own flesh and bl**d for a purpose.
Mainly, such figures appear in mythological tales.
People who carry an almost supernatural mission, appearing cruel and inhumane to the eyes of others.
Namely, President Nam Tae-geon was a man who lived his own myth even in the 21st century.
A person who willingly endures minor sacrifices and humiliations for his purpose.
“Yeorum, to a man who burned his own son, getting rid of a high school girl who might obstruct his path would be no big deal. However, the choice is ultimately yours.”
In other words, I had handed the loaded g*n over to Yeorum. I even helped remove the safety and aim it.
All Yeorum had left to do was pull the trigger.
“If all you say is true, why are you living like this?”
“What’s wrong with how I live?”
“You’re deliberately going down a difficult path. I know how many privileges the child of a powerful politician can enjoy. While there are downsides, the advantages are much greater.”
Apparently, Yu Yeorum, adopted daughter of the opposition leader, knew well the luxurious life of the children of politicians.
Even if participation in suspicious secretive research and inhumane experiments continued because of that position, it seems she still considered it a privilege.
“First, Nam Tae-geon doesn’t even know about me. He’s shown no interest after cutting off all ties with his son. There’s probably a chance he doesn’t even know his son burnt to d*ath. And he knows nothing about me.”
I, Hanamjin, am quite famous now.
I’ve even been predicted to be the next “Supernova.”
“If it were revealed that I, who am supposedly this terrible criminal who kidnapped you and Seugal, all this wouldn’t just make newspaper headlines. Attention would be drawn to my family background as well.”
Eventually, it would only be a matter of time before Nam Tae-geon’s relationship with me was uncovered.
If that happened, I’d become that giant man’s Achilles heel.
Nobody knows how a superman whose weakness has been discovered will react.
“…”
Yeorum looked confused as if she couldn’t understand.
“Summarize it in three lines.”
I’ve noticed lately that Yeorum isn’t particularly intelligent, much like the athletic special student in every class who feels at home among the students who sleep at the back of the class every lesson.
“What’s your average test score?”
I asked out of pure curiosity.
Then Yeorum shuddered as if offended.
“Are you mocking me? I’ve consistently scored over 50 in all exams so far.”
“Never more than 60, right?”
“Scoring 50 is doing well.”
This was true.
They say if your body is strong, your head need not suffer. It’s the weak-bodied ones who have to use their minds. I’m one of those kinds.
Therefore, Yeorum possessed a golden physique.
Her muscle fibers were as sturdy as strands of thin steel, and the strength derived from them evoked the heroes of mythology.
Which leads to the question:
Why didn’t such a perfect Yeorum exist in the future I knew? It couldn’t have been from the fight with the “Villains”, could it?
Now that I think about it, the unregistered awakened ones from “Villains” wouldn’t have been able to take down Yeorum.
Nam Woo-joo’s “Star”, as powerful as hers “Light” trained to the fourth grade, showed no signs of madness at all. His resolve is extraordinary.
Even her potential alone was beyond Nam Woo-joo’s.
Then why had she died?
If Yeorum had been alive, the future I knew would have been a little better.
Thinking about this, I felt like it was the right thing to keep her confined here.
I’m actually protecting this girl.
But she wouldn’t understand that.
#
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#
After Hanamjin left, Yeorum was left in the darkness.
Her mind was more complicated than usual.
She’d heard too many stories.
“I have to make a choice?”
Yeorum was confused by the situation where the trigger had been handed to her. Reflecting back, she rarely made choices on her own.
Being born, being abandoned, being adopted again, participating in experiments, being kidnapped—everything had been forced by others. Others had forced her to lead a tool-like existence.
But Yeorum had rarely complained.
Living according to others’ instructions was, in its own way, convenient.
But now, suddenly giving her the option to choose.
‘I don’t know what the right choice is.’
While she was deep in thought, suddenly,
Clack.
It seemed like the secret window on the ceiling was opening, and someone appeared.
“That wicked man has left…! This Inonoi was worried that Kore might have been harmed…”
It was Inonoi, the Nymph of the ditch water.
Splish Splash.
Slowly descending feet first from the ceiling, Inonoi.
Inonoi’s small stature, like that of an upper elementary school or middle school student, and her chubby cheeks seemed very out of place in this dark space.
Yeorum snapped her finger, brightening all the lamps in this ‘grocery storeroom.’
“Ahh! The grocery storeroom has brightened up! This allows Inonoi to more carefully decide on tonight’s dinner menu!”
In great delight, Inonoi hugged Yeorum.
Caught in the embrace, Yeorum felt the peculiar warmth of the characteristic smell of flowers unique to fairies.
‘I don’t know what expression I should make at a time like this.’
Seeing Inonoi rejoicing in the now-bright storeroom, Yeorum thought it was fortunate she had practiced harnessing external luminous elements.
This dark space helped Yeorum practice and strengthen the concept of ‘light.’
The experiments she participated in created perfect dark rooms, and perhaps they too trained in such conditions.
Now, the fairy Inonoi was bustling about in the bright grocery storeroom. For a moment, memories of her foster sisters surfaced with a sense of longing.
Then Inonoi noticed the photo Yeorum held in her hand.
“Ahh! What is that thing? It’s a suspicious picture! And it even shows a man wearing clothes that this Inonoi particularly dislikes!”
Inonoi got uncharacteristically angry at the sight of the man in military uniform. This was a sight she had never seen before.
Flick.
Yeorum extended the photo toward Inonoi and asked,
“This is a photo. It’s captured with a camera. Do you know anything about this person?”
“He steals Kore! He’s a very wicked man who stole the fairy princess! The face of a Kore thief is something that can never be forgotten! Even gentle Inonoi gets angry!”
The fairy princess, Kore.
Yeorum recalled the mysterious radio conversation she had.
The fairy princess who disappeared 20 years ago.
The man in military attire, Nam Ha-neul, involved in her disappearance.
A great thought surged through Yeorum’s mind like a whirlwind, but she couldn’t quite organize it. Yeorum rarely thought for herself and always followed others’ commands, so her scores were consistently 50.
Would Seugal have explained it to her if she were there?
“I don’t know.”
Yeorum decided for herself for now.
She was tired.
But her bed was occupied by the suspicious and scary cloud monster, Yining.
So Yeorum curled up inside the nearest box.
The box was narrow, but it felt inexplicably good.
#
#
#
Back home, I looked at a family photo.
Mom, dad, and me.
Such a nostalgic time.
I missed it so much that even tears welled up in a man’s eyes!
How good it would feel to return to those days.
When Seagal sent me back to the past, it would have been great if she hadn’t chosen the point when I was kicking a bread roll, but rather this time. Sending me to an even earlier era would have been so much more convenient.
But there must have been a reason she couldn’t.
While I was contemplating this, the broken TV buzzed loudly with today’s news about the establishment of the eradication team.
“The world is closely watching the actions of these individuals on whom the nation’s fate depends.”
“Foreign press has not spared praise calling them ‘the boys and girls heading towards a myth’-”
“The departure of the team will be at dawn in two days.”
Departure of the eradication team is in two mornings.
The pretty announcer may have said so, but I already had a text in my phone instructing me to gather at Yeongsa High by 6 a.m. tomorrow.
They’re likely trying to spread false information to the masses as they move forward with the operation. You never know who might attack the eradication team during the event amid heavy attention.
“The Villains.”
“The Witch’s Sect.”
“Demon.”
An operation to protect the eradication team from these three anti-social groups, I presumed.
Probably Nam Bada’s thought. He certainly used his brain here. There must be an ace up his sleeve that he believes can knock down the “Demon’s” concept stone of “Star.”
What could that be?
I had an inkling.
Perhaps a concept stone like Nam Woo-joo’s “Star,” one that bears the name “World.”
But if the power is insufficient and the eradication fails?
Clack.
I retrieved the white concept stone hidden away in my house.
The “Conquer” concept stone acquired from Nam San-ho.
“Can I handle this?”
As I pondered while clutching it in my hand, sunlight seeped in through the window.
It was dawn.
The day of the eradication team’s departure.
Bag on my shoulder, I headed towards school.
