Chapter 110

Episode 110. Angel (2)

****

Advisor An’s coffee was placed on my desk. It’s the most drinkable coffee in the Director’s Office. It would be nice to buy some, but the in-house café is quite far, so it’s a bit of a hassle to go there.

It’s also awkward to ask someone else to get it.

****

Professor Mayer has gone off the rails. The angel was moved to an information-blocking isolation room. It’s been isolated so that only cognitive disaster experts can make contact.

Dr. Kang from the Humanoid Research Department came by.

“……”

“I’m sorry. Since the supernatural phenomenon took the form of an angel, our guard was somewhat lowered.”

No one has died yet.

“How is Professor Mayer’s condition?”

“He’s fine, but he’s speaking in the same four-beat, four-sentence pattern as the angel’s main body. We’re worried it might be a spreading type of cognitive disaster, so we’ve moved him to a soundproof room.”

“There’s no other choice. It’s likely just a cognitive disaster that changes speech patterns, right? Have you confirmed any malice from the angel’s side?”

“Yes.”

“Do we have a countermeasure?”

“We’ll administer a memory erasure agent. Cognitive disasters are caused by high information density in the brain. Even a small dose can remove the cognitive disaster. If that doesn’t work, we might have to erase the day’s memories entirely through hypnosis.”

I nodded.

“Have you prepared a method to control the angel?”

“Of course.”

Dr. Kang fumbled in his pocket and pulled out a round of ammunition. It was shotgun ammunition. I used a pocketknife to cut open the shell.

Inside the shell were small metal and wooden beads. The shell was labeled with English letters: MST. I’m not sure what it stands for.

“Is this Misteltein?”

“It’s compressed mistletoe grains and metal beads. Don’t you know, Director? Mistletoe, the thing that killed the god of light.”

It’s a story from Norse mythology.

When a prophecy foretold the death of the god of light, Baldr, the gods made every being swear not to harm him. Only the mistletoe, the most fragile thing in the world, was left out.

Loki made a spear from mistletoe and tricked the god of justice into killing Baldr, the god of light.

The god of justice, who couldn’t swear the oath, used the only thing that hadn’t sworn—the most fragile being—to kill the immortal god of light.

That’s the myth tied to mistletoe.

“It’s a bit funny that we’re considering attributes like it’s Pokémon, but anyway, this is definitely effective against light-attribute monsters—supernatural phenomena. It’s also safe for humans.”

The shell contains metal beads, so it can’t be entirely safe. Relatively speaking, I guess?

I pondered for a moment.

“Dr. Kang. Well, dealing with supernatural phenomena can lead to situations like this. If Professor Mayer recovers, we’ll treat it as if nothing happened.”

“Thank you.”

Dr. Kang bowed his head.

****

Dr. Kang was feeling a bit conflicted.

“Still, they let me off without much fuss.”

Dr. Kang was the doctor who first examined Dr. Kim when she entered Facility 82.

He concluded that, aside from chimerism, she was a normal human. Back then, she was just a small girl. When did she grow into such a monster?

Now, she openly uses the Director’s Office and is called “Director” by everyone inside and outside Facility 82. Especially at the Foundation Headquarters.

Well… no one at the Headquarters would bother to refute calling her “Director.” Even if someone did, their survival wouldn’t be guaranteed.

It’s quite ironic.

Dr. Kim was just an external researcher brought in by Nanami from somewhere. There were rumors about her Foundation career, but that’s all they were—rumors.

But Dr. Kim started working in the Director’s Office without anyone questioning her.

She worked tirelessly, earning the trust of the Research Department, and risked her life in the field, gaining the trust of the Foundation’s military. From the start, she had Nanami’s trust, which secured about 40% of Facility 82’s military power.

There were countless people who questioned Dr. Kim, but they all received the same response.

“Go ahead and try.”

“Go to the Director’s Office and confront Nanami. Go to the Recovery Department Head and suggest eliminating Dr. Kim, who has been through life-and-death situations with us. Go out in the field instead of Dr. Kim.”

“Sit in the position of the chief researcher where three out of three people committed suicide. Go to the Personnel Department Head and suggest expelling Dr. Kim, who has the most research and field achievements.”

Of course, no one did that.

The Special Forces had been through life-and-death situations with Dr. Kim on the battlefield. The Research Department Head, who had slightly opposed Dr. Kim, was dragged to the isolation room by the Special Forces. Rumors circulated that the Precognition Department Head’s resignation letter was torn up in the Director’s Office.

Another issue.

The Director directly supported most of the important research within the facility, and as a result, most of the useful or dangerous supernatural phenomena from the Seoul Branch fell into the Director’s hands.

So, the result was…

A monster was born who could single-handedly take down several Foundation facilities and earned the absolute trust of the Foundation’s military, special staff, and even containment entities.

Dr. Kang, who participated in Dr. Kim’s treatment, saw what happened on Jeju Island.

It was only natural that Nanami, one of the most powerful superhumans, risked her life to support her.

Dr. Chae sent a doppelganger, and other Foundation staff used thousands of living assets, reconnaissance, and information assets to fully support Dr. Kim.

In a single day, several Foundation facilities were taken down by Dr. Kim, who even climbed aboard a departing warship and occupied it.

And the final act.

The 8th Administrator, Yustitia, personally visited the warship. The Foundation had to officially acknowledge Dr. Kim’s complete victory.

In the end, everything was completely flattened.

There has never been a Director like this in Korea.

Chief researchers lined up to commit suicide, and Director-level officials were often swept away in power games or quit. The easiest way to quit was, of course, suicide.

Dr. Kang, though not at the department head level, knew quite a bit. Foundation doctors hold a fairly high position, so they hear things.

Dr. Kim was currently pondering how to increase allies outside the Foundation. At least, that’s what the rumors circulating within the Foundation said.

In reality, when dealing with the Followers of the King of Darkness, she treated government officials and some corporate figures like subordinates. So, it’s not entirely false. How much of it is true is unknown.

****

Meanwhile, in the underground bunker of the Ministry of Defense in Yongsan.

The Director of the Ministry of Defense’s Anomalous Phenomena Response Bureau spoke.

“Let’s begin the meeting of the Central Disaster Response Headquarters for Anomalous Phenomena. First, let’s confirm attendance.”

The Central Disaster Response Headquarters for Anomalous Phenomena, one of the most powerful organizations in Korea, has never been disbanded since the fall of the military regime. It’s one of the best-kept secrets within the Korean government.

There are several reasons for taking attendance. It’s one of the safety measures to catch proxies, spies, or mimics.

“Director Kim Sang-hyun from the Anomalous Phenomena Research Division of the Defense Science Research Institute, are you here?”

“Here.”

“Park Jeong-chil from the Anomalous Phenomena Research Lab under the Ministry of Science and Technology, are you here?”

“Here.”

“Anomalous Incident Investigation Team under the National Intelligence Service.”

“Present.”

“Director of the Supernatural Phenomena Management Bureau under the National Police Agency.”

“Yes.”

“Director Nam Ki-hyun from the Anomalous Weapons Tactics Division of the Special Warfare Command, are you here?”

“Present.”

The Director coughed slightly.

“First item on the agenda. The President and the National Assembly continue to reject requests to establish a ministerial-level department for anomalous phenomena. They just tell us to beg the Foundation.”

“How much longer do we have to plead? We can’t even bring this to the public’s attention.”

“It’s awkward to spend a lot of money on something that doesn’t help with public opinion. If we expand the government’s anomalous phenomena departments and upset the Foundation…”

“Who knows how we’ll die.”

“We need to come up with some countermeasures. The Foundation has stabilized under a proper Director and is increasing its demands on the government. We need to do something substantial to have the strength to stand against them.”

The Director of the Anomalous Weapons Tactics Division, Nam Ki-hyun, raised his voice, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Didn’t you see what happened on Jeju Island? They changed the weather among themselves, fired anti-tank missiles in areas where civilians could get hurt, and superhumans caused typhoons. Are we really going to stay silent about this?”

“It’s not that we’re staying silent; it’s that we can’t say anything. We’ll send officials to request restraint.”

“Who exactly is this Director?”

Only the Director has met the Director in person.

The Director pondered for a moment.

“She appeared as a young, or perhaps youthful-looking, woman. Rumors say she cleaned up the unstable Korean branch of the Foundation and now reigns like an emperor. But we don’t know for sure.”

“Well, I understand. Do we have any measures to restrain the Foundation?”

“Other than begging, not really…”

“Then we’ll just have to beg harder.”