Chapter 146

The Olympic Bridge bombing incident happened, and after two weeks in bed, I had only about two weeks to be active.

Even so, since I had just recovered and stood up, Siera would immediately stop me if she thought I was moving recklessly and make me return to the sickroom.

I understood why Siera was worried enough that I stopped what I was doing each time and returned to the sickroom for rest.

In reality, fatigue accumulated in my body much faster than before, which was a kind of aftermath even though the injury had been treated.

Ultimately, I couldn’t invest more time in collecting necessary information and had to spend more time on eating well and doing rehabilitation exercises to restore my physical strength.

Moreover, due to the previous punishment, there were still many limitations when checking server databases. Nonetheless, I had access to vast amounts of information compared to the databases used by the personnel deployed at the scene.

Collecting data while undergoing treatment was not an easy task. Fortunately, Siera found the materials I was looking for and gathered a lot of information in the process.

There were no specific research materials on hyper-humans, but there were documents investigating whether their enhanced bodies were similar to those of ordinary people.

Since Spacystro created biroids, they had significantly more human experimentation data than Earth, and there was a possibility that experiments on hyper-humans were similar to biroid experiments.

Of course, since there were no clear records of hyper-human experiments in Spacystro, these were speculative materials. Even though they were speculative, they were credible materials derived from comparing numerous experimental results by Spacystro’s skilled scientists.

Two weeks passed quickly, and during this period, I prioritized rehabilitation treatment while Siera investigated the materials. Although we returned to the spaceship, we couldn’t start full-scale investigations before returning to Korea.

“Did you pack your bags?”

“What could I have packed? I came here with nothing.”

“You never know.”

To move quickly, we boarded a cruiser, and before the short-range warp drive was activated, Siera carefully checked my luggage to ensure I didn’t forget anything.

“But am I really okay to go straight home?”

“Yeah. They said it’s fine to take some rest, so you should go home and rest.”

After the incident, the ongoing confrontations in Seoul ceased, and the Spacystro Seoul headquarters were preparing to relocate, considering that their base location might have been exposed to the Earth Defense Union.

There was nothing I could do at the headquarters right away, and going there would just mean needing more rest as an injured person, so I decided to listen to Siera’s advice.

“What about you?”

“I need to go to the headquarters. Our team members must be busy too.”

Unlike me, Siera decided to head straight to the new headquarters and get to work. I nodded in agreement with her words.

“Still, your expression looks better than before.”

Siera, who had been closely observing my face, smiled and said this, making me feel awkward under her gaze as I scratched my cheek.

“Really? I thought it was the same as before.”

“How can it be the same? You looked like you were about to die every time I saw you. Prepare yourself when you go back.”

“Okay.”

Given that I hadn’t slept properly recently and had been thinking deeply, it wasn’t surprising that my expression wasn’t good. However, thoughts about the girlfriends in Seoul did cross my mind even while at the headquarters.

When asked, I was extremely worried about whether things would be alright without me.

But even if I met them now, they wouldn’t listen to me, and given that Spacystro and all were revealed, meeting them would be dangerous. They might attack me with full force, treating me as an enemy, and there would be no room for excuses.

Nonetheless, I stayed on the ship to continue investigating hyper-humans because there were still many unresolved issues. Even if I had to face the HunterKiller members as enemies instead of girlfriends, I wouldn’t stop investigating hyper-humans.

Spacystro’s invasion methods had always been very peaceful. Although they couldn’t escape the category of invasion, they never attempted to influence the civilization or values of the invaded planet.

Especially, the primary concern when Spacystro invaded was the preservation of the civilization and humanity of the invaded planet. The universe is vast, and only a few planets have developed civilizations.

Wandering through space to find a new habitable planet after losing their mother planet, Spacystro considered civilization extremely important.

However, the current measures against hyper-humans on Earth were severely flawed. It went beyond being incorrect; it was far off track, making even someone like me, who knew Spacystro’s ideology but only acted as a soldier, aware of its severity.

It was understandable to use physical experiments to create hyper-humans among fellow planetary citizens. We had already witnessed various human reactions during numerous invasions.

But if these experiments led to discrimination and conflict and resulted in the exclusion of hyper-humans, it was a different story. Such actions could lead to the destruction of civilization.

It might seem like an overreaction. If the end truly came, I wouldn’t have the ability to prevent it, and I don’t consider myself capable of preventing the extinction of a civilization.

But it could be a small first step. From afar, it might look insignificant, but the universe is made up of countless dust particles, and I am one of them.

There must be a way.

With this thought, I opened the door, and SuA appeared.

“SuA?”

“Why are you here? I was thinking and made a silly face, calling out her name. Just as I noticed the other HunterKiller members inside the house, my vision blurred.

SuA threw me into the house, and immediately, Yubin, Yura, Hayang, and the Milky Way rushed towards me.

Now that they knew I wasn’t a civilian anymore, there was no longer any control over my strength, and I screamed in pain as I tried to calm them down, feeling like my limbs were being torn apart.

For about five minutes, they held down my arms, legs, and torso to prevent me from escaping, then sat on the sofa and bed, looking down at me sitting on the floor.

SuA still couldn’t shake the idea that I might escape, so she sat behind me and held onto my torso. This was my house.

A tense silence filled the room, and the heavy air made it difficult to say a word.

I slightly raised my head to check the gazes of the members. There was no anger or murderous intent; they seemed unsure about how to start the conversation.

The members also probably didn’t expect me to come back to our house, and I certainly hadn’t anticipated meeting all five of them at once.

If we had set a schedule to meet simultaneously and had time to think, we might have had something to say, but facing an unexpected situation left me speechless.

“Umm…”

Finding it difficult to maintain the silence, I cautiously spoke, and the members, who had been occasionally looking around awkwardly, turned their attention to me.

“!”

My body instinctively recoiled like an animal encountering a predator. For a moment, I thought about fleeing, but I was unable to move because SuA had me in her grasp.

“…Sorry.”

The first word I managed to say was an apology. Since they discovered that I had met everyone without revealing I was Spacystro, I felt it was best to apologize rather than make excuses.

“Where does the truth end?”

Yubin, who had been sitting, asked me when I finally spoke. When asked “where,” one should also consider “from where.” How long had I been lying to them? Had I always been lying from the beginning?

There was no need to think about it. From the very start.

“It seemed better to lie from the beginning, so everything was a lie.”

At this, the members’ gazes shifted to each other. Everyone felt various emotions but didn’t express them openly, instead watching each other.

“Alright. Let’s verify one by one.”

“Yes…”

I answered with a polite tone out of habit whenever I was in a situation of my own fault, waiting for the next question, and the members exchanged glances again.

They seemed to be confirming each other’s intentions, possibly wanting to ask something. Eventually, Hayang raised her hand and asked.

“Are you really Spacystro?”

This might be the most important question. Given that I had seen the suit, it was obvious to anyone that I belonged to Spacystro.

But the intention behind the question was clear as soon as I heard it. They wanted to hear it directly from me.

Even though we met unexpectedly and I didn’t immediately know what to say, I had made a promise to myself over the past two weeks while thinking about them.

Regardless of the relationship, I vowed not to lie to them.

My clumsy lies and actions had hurt someone, and it became an irreparable wound.

While there were many things I could do, the top priority was to face them with truth, not lies, even if it brought bad consequences.

That was the only thing I could do at present.

“Yes.”

After a brief answer, silence remained. Thinking the short response was insufficient, I continued speaking.

“I belong to Spacystro 6th Fleet 1st Ship, and I’m part of the Seoul Branch 3rd Team.”

With uncertain confidence turning into absolute certainty, the HunterKiller members showed neither surprise nor anger; they calmly accepted the reality.

“Then, why did you approach us?”

SuA, who was holding me down so I couldn’t move, asked.

“Some approached us with a purpose, and others met by chance. The story might be long, but I can tell you everything.”

Nobody doubted the different encounters. They seemed to already know each other quite well from the discussions about me over the past month.

“…Then, dating us was also because you are Spacystro…?”

“No, that’s not true.”

The Milky Way, who had been quietly observing, slowly raised her hand and asked, and I answered decisively. This was the truth.

Even though I had hidden the fact that I was Spacystro and that I met everyone, there had never been any falsehood in the meetings themselves.

When I answered firmly with an honest look, the members felt that there was no deceit and silently observed me for a moment.

“That doesn’t make sense. Meeting five of us at once…?”

Yubin sighed deeply and said, and the others seemed to agree. Indeed, it was unreasonable to meet five members of an organization at once.

“I’m sorry. When I came to my senses, I found myself here with all of you…”

“It’s not about being a HunterKiller. The point is that you met five of us at once!”

When I couldn’t speak, Yubin continued rapidly.

“You’re clearly seeing both sides. Where in the world is there a person who dates five people at once and reports back?”

“I haven’t done that… If that’s how you misunderstood, I’m sorry.”

Again, I emphasize that my feelings were never false. I loved all five equally and genuinely, without favoring any one of them.

“It’s not about reporting or not. The problem is meeting five people at once.”

“Huh?”

At Yubin’s words, everyone froze as I made a puzzled face.

Until now, the issue I thought about was ‘meeting five members of HunterKiller.’

Indeed, as enemies from different affiliations, there was a risk of information leaking among them.

From a certain point, I couldn’t sleep properly because I had to watch their reactions and refrain from disclosing my information and surrounding circumstances.

But during the conversation, I felt something was off.

Meeting five members of HunterKiller wasn’t the problem; the real issue was meeting five people at all.

And I asked with a lingering doubt.

“…I don’t understand where the problem lies…”

At this, everyone’s faces showed disbelief.

Not letting my expression remain still, I looked at them with confusion.

Polygamy and monogamy are common in the universe. While I knew that monogamy was the basic principle on Earth, I wondered if it was an incomprehensible topic.

I hadn’t deeply considered Earth’s monogamy culture, so I couldn’t gauge how dangerous my current situation was.

“Of course, it’s a problem!”

“Wait.”

Just as Yubin was about to raise her voice, Yura, who had been silent until now, raised her hand.

Everyone’s eyes turned to her, and Yura, with wide eyes, looked at everyone and fixed her gaze on me, saying,

“I don’t care.”

“…What?”

Unable to understand Yura’s words, the HunterKiller members froze, and Yura delivered the final blow.

“I don’t care. No matter how many girls A dates.”

She smiled at me, and the room was filled with a heavy silence.