After the terrorist incident, due to various issues, the HunterKiller team’s meeting did not take place. However, up until then, HunterKiller had been steadily holding meetings every week to strategize for battles.
Since the incident occurred and the battle itself didn’t progress, there was even less reason for the HunterKiller team to have a meeting. Of course, the main reasons were not just the incident or reasons at the outset, but the decline in members’ enthusiasm was the most significant factor.
Yesterday, the first battle after the terrorist incident took place, and HunterKiller triumphantly defeated Spacystro Seoul Branch Team 3 in front of everyone.
There had never been a change in the overall situation before, so there was no instance of HunterKiller becoming intoxicated with victory, nor was there any instance of Spacystro Seoul Team 3 being disheartened by defeat.
Spacystro Team 3 went about their usual routine after work and did not take it seriously, and similarly, HunterKiller did not take it seriously either as they proceeded with the meeting the next day after their victory in the battle.
Considering the awkwardness of going to headquarters and the fact that they had gathered at SuA’s house several times before, HunterKiller decided to hold the meeting at SuA’s house.
The host, SuA, had no complaints about having the meeting at her house. On the contrary, she seemed happy that they could stay at home rather than go far out.
During the HunterKiller team’s meeting, there was one notable difference from previous meetings: I was present at the meeting held among the five members of the team.
“…But is it really okay to let me join like this?”
“It’s fine.”
I only opposed them during battles; however, feeling awkward when trying to participate in conversations related to battles in everyday life made me uneasy.
Yubin answered as if it was nothing, spread the documents on the table, and the members read the contents of the documents.
Though curious about the contents, my mood was already awkward, and there was no way I would be able to focus on reading the documents now.
“Let’s start the meeting then. First, look at the first page.”
Not knowing whether Yubin knew I was feeling awkward or not, she announced the start of the meeting to the members.
The members who were looking through the documents checked the contents of the first page.
“The biggest change is the alteration in Spacystro’s suits. Even just by looking externally, it’s different from before, and although we couldn’t verify the performance individually, it’s clear that it has improved.”
“It seems to have significantly increased in power.”
Saying this, SuA added to Yubin’s description of the document, and their conversation began.
The general content was about the differences each member felt while facing Spacystro soldiers after the suit changes.
Just talking about what they experienced in battle could allow them to grasp part of the opponent’s strategy and speculate on weaknesses.
The newly modified Assault Suits had the effect of standardizing the physical abilities of the soldiers and increasing mobility for coordination. The HunterKiller team accurately identified this point.
“However, some people still seem unable to adapt to the new suits. Due to this, there were many instances where coordination was off.”
“There must have been no leader among the soldiers. I think this is due to the impact of the last terrorist attack; it seems that this led to confusion in coordination.”
Hayang’s analysis was accurate. Firstly, the new comrades had not yet adapted to the team, and some of them, who were wearing Assault Suits for the first time, could not adapt to the functions of the suits.
Even I, who had previously acted while wearing an Assault Suit, struggled to adapt when I put it on again after a long time, so it was impossible for the new comrades to adapt immediately.
Observing the soldiers fighting from the rear, Hayang accurately read the lack of adaptation to the suits and the lack of coordination.
What surprised me even more was Yubin’s analysis.
During the battle, she noticed that there was no leader as there used to be, and because of this, coordination was even less smooth.
While she didn’t know yet that the former leader was Kluger, who visited the sick.
I assumed that they had analyzed Team 3 from various angles in countless previous meetings and had created manuals to respond to Team 3 based on the analyses conducted in each meeting.
Although this might be an immediate prediction and analysis, the expressions of the members present in the meeting seemed to imply that they already knew this.
I knew that HunterKiller held regular meetings and predicted that they had analyzed Team 3 to some extent. However, seeing their meeting firsthand made me realize for the first time how extensively they had analyzed Team 3 from various angles compared to what I had thought.
I didn’t hear much, but the quality of information gleaned from the exchanges was highly refined.
Feeling both admiration and discomfort akin to sitting on a bed of thorns upon realizing one reason why Team 3 couldn’t defeat HunterKiller.
I noticed that the gaze of the girlfriends during the meeting often turned towards me.
“Huh? Why?”
“No, it’s just that this is the first time we’ve had a meeting while being observed.”
Although they said it was okay, it seemed I couldn’t help but be mindful of the fact that I was an enemy during battles.
“While we’re on the topic, am I really okay to be here? From a certain perspective, it feels like I’m revealing HunterKiller’s information to the enemy.”
“It’s fine.”
Yubin responded firmly despite my doubt.
From her answer, I sensed a confidence that even if information leaked, they could still win.
They weren’t belittling Team 3 or ignoring their capabilities. They had overwhelming confidence in their own abilities, and this wasn’t just true for Yubin but for all members of HunterKiller.
Even though the usually reserved Milky Way didn’t show much confidence, her unwavering gaze suggested she had confidence in herself.
“And I have something to talk about with my older brother.”
“With me?”
“Yeah. I wanted to know if there’s a specific plan regarding the investigation of the hyper-human.”
After taking sufficient rest and returning, I felt the need to think more concretely about the hyper-human investigation, which I had been doing continuously.
Of course, I had a rough outline, but since the investigation of the hyper-human hadn’t gone as planned, starting over might reveal more details.
“I have a plan in mind, but there’s something I’m curious about first.”
“What is it?”
Hearing that I was curious about the investigation of the hyper-human, the eyes of the girlfriends turned toward me.
“I heard that the hyper-human underwent various experiments at the research lab. So, when I went to the spaceship, I investigated some experiments related to biology.”
After waking up on the spaceship, I spent two weeks straight with Siera investigating the hyper-human. There wasn’t much information about the hyper-human that could be confirmed even with Sierra’s access rights, and the information available wasn’t particularly special.
So, I chose to change the direction of the investigation.
“The biological experiment I know best is Spacystro’s biroid experiment. It’s an artificial life form created based on the genes of inhabitants of a specific planet. Various experiments are conducted on life forms born from the basic genes.”
The mention of biological experiments wasn’t particularly welcome to the girlfriends. Though they didn’t know what kind of experiments the hyper-human underwent, the grim expression on their faces when I brought up experiments suggested they weren’t pleasant.
Therefore, I had avoided asking them about experiments intentionally, but since I started talking about the hyper-human investigation, I couldn’t avoid discussing experiments.
“For now, since the information we can confirm is limited, I plan to investigate that area. Simply investigating the biroids won’t yield results.”
“We need a comparison.”
Yura, who had been silently listening, spoke up first.
Confirming information about the biroid experiments was much easier than collecting data on the hyper-human.
Above all, since there are fiends, who are biroids, around, I could confirm specific details about what was unknown.
It seemed that the girlfriends didn’t know detailed information about the experiments at the hyper-human research lab. They had only undergone various experiments since childhood without fully understanding the details.
Currently, I don’t need concrete information. If I could understand what kind of experiments they underwent, even if briefly, I could compare them with the various experiments conducted by Spacystro.
“Yeah. So, do you remember what kind of experiments you underwent at the research lab?”
The girlfriends remained silent. They didn’t want to speak because they didn’t want to recall the experiments.
“It was incredibly painful.”
In the silence, Eunha was the first to break the silence, narrowing her eyes as she recalled that time, her gaze fixed on the void.
“No matter how much I cried out to be sent home, no one listened.”
“I vividly remember it being extremely painful.”
“Me too.”
Hearing Eunha’s words, Yura spoke up, and Yubin nodded in agreement.
“Painful?”
“Yeah. We got injections, and after getting them, our whole body hurt.”
Experiments accompanied by pain. It was possible that these were even more unethical than what I imagined.
Listening quietly, Yubin continued her explanation.
“It didn’t seem to be a drug-based injection. There were no aftereffects, so I think it was a shot to activate the hyper-human’s abilities.”
“After receiving the shot and experiencing pain, our physical abilities dramatically increased.”
Even if one had suitable genes, not undergoing the hyper-human experiment meant they wouldn’t become a hyper-human.
Until undergoing the hyper-human experiment, one only had suitable genes and was no different from a normal person.
That is, the hyper-human experiment is conducted on normal children who possess suitable genes.
This was the information I already knew, and now I learned that the hyper-human experiment includes a phase where genes are activated through drugs.
Starting with weak drugs and gradually increasing the intensity, this process leads to acquiring stronger bodies, and during this process, the test subjects endure tremendous pain.
“This is an extremely unethical experiment.”
One rule that never changed regardless of where you went in the universe was this: there were diverse species throughout the universe, and within those species, there were various classifications. Naturally, there were distinctions between men, women, young, and old.
Of course, there were species without gender distinctions, but even in those species, there were children and elderly individuals.
For mortals with limited lifespans, the distinction between young and old always existed.
And everywhere in the universe, it was universally understood that one should never touch a child. Even animals without intelligence didn’t touch newborn babies.
“What kind of experiments were there?”
Having asked about the experiments, I didn’t want to hear about the prolonged suffering the girlfriends endured in their childhood, so I asked about other experiments.
“This was more like training than an experiment; we did a lot of aptitude tests, especially those related to combat.”
The hyper-human possesses superior physical abilities far beyond ordinary humans. Given that the experiments began to counteract the arrival of Spacystro on Earth, it makes sense that training would focus on combat.
Still, it’s unsettling that the subjects were children who hadn’t even reached puberty.
“But that’s all the experiments we underwent. Some lasted a few months, others close to a year, with injections, blood tests, and training.”
No one refuted Yubin’s statement, indicating that the experiments themselves were carried out in a repetitive routine.
The crucial points were the nature of the experiments and the components of the drugs administered to them.
If possible, I also wanted to know the details of the experiments undergone by the hyper-humans before and after them, but since the girlfriends themselves didn’t know the specifics of the experiments they underwent, they couldn’t know about the experiments of other hyper-humans.
Even though I heard that the experiments were conducted in a series of routines similar to the biroid experiments I knew, I couldn’t immediately identify any similarities.
“Alright. I’ll give you more details on the hyper-human investigation after further research.”
“Yeah. Let us know if you need any help.”
There was no further discussion about the hyper-human investigation. The girlfriends discussed various strategies to address Team 3, and I watched from afar.
“Red, do you have a part-time job?”
“Yeah. Does Pink have one too?”
“Shall we go together?”
As the meeting concluded and the seats were cleared, Yubin and Yura were preparing to leave as their time to go was approaching.
“Do you want to leave? Shall I drop you off?”
“It’s fine. We’re not going far anyway. Just stay here.”
Yubin and Yura waved their hands dismissively at the suggestion of dropping them off. Feeling embarrassed, I agreed, but I felt guilty leaving them alone, so I went to meet them at the subway station.
Watching the girlfriends head to work via subway, I hoped I could help solve their financial issues. However, since this was beyond my capability, I returned home with a sense of regret.
At the convenience store, Red stood behind the counter recalling the experiments she had undergone before.
The experiments were so physically painful that she had deliberately avoided thinking about them until now, but since her boyfriend, A, had decided to conduct a thorough investigation, she felt compelled to recall the details and find information.
However, she didn’t know the contents of the injection she received or the purpose of the training she underwent, and she didn’t know the location of the research facility either.
Feeling powerless due to the lack of knowledge, the sound of the convenience store door opening and ringing interrupted her thoughts.
“Welcome… Oh.”
Red stopped speaking as she looked up to greet a customer and saw a black-haired woman standing in front of her.
“What? You’re here?”
Seira appeared unexpectedly at the convenience store, seemingly looking for Red.
“Can we talk for a moment?”
Realizing Seira had a purpose in coming, Red stared at her and said firmly.
“I’ll wait until you finish work.”
