Chapter 56

The day Cash awakened the blood of the prophet.

Owen, the eldest son of the Rekhetio Corporation family, who had nothing to do while the corporation was on break, was dozing off in his mansion.

Darkness unfolded before his eyes.

Two men descended the stairs, pushing through the darkness.

Dim lighting. Blurred vision. Voices barely audible.

Owen followed the Chairman of Rekhetio Corporation, who looked unnaturally youthful for his age.

After hearing the family secret for what felt like the umpteenth time, surrounded by elders, Owen knelt in the center of the room.

Despite his fatigue, Owen’s father lifted an oil jar with a glimmer of anticipation in his eyes.

Oil poured over Owen’s head.

Even from a third-person perspective, he could feel the sticky oil soaking his entire body.

In this out-of-body experience, Owen opened his eyes.

And nothing happened.

In his confusion, he looked around.

The elders turned their heads, ignoring Owen, while the Chairman’s pupils shook as if an earthquake had struck.

“That can’t be…”

As if denying reality, his father lifted the oil jar again.

And poured oil over Owen’s head.

Again and again.

At first, it was three drops of blood, but gradually, he poured more and more oil.

Yet, the world Owen saw remained unchanged.

“This is absurd…”

The Chairman muttered in despair.

Owen had no choice but to admit it.

He was not chosen.

From that day on, the peace of the family began to crumble.

The Chairman no longer showed love to Owen or his wife.

Owen crumbled under the cold indifference of his once-affectionate father.

Unable to accept her son being coldly rejected by his father, Owen’s mother became even more obsessed with the power of prophecy.

Cash, seeing her mother like this, expressed disgust toward her, and eventually, her mother went mad.

Her obsession led to a strange religion.

She introduced a priest to Owen, and Owen proved his abilities through the power of revelation received at the church.

The accuracy of the revelations was 75%, but that was enough.

Before he knew it, Owen had gained a reputation as an outstanding investor, not just the Chairman’s son.

Receiving praise from the company employees, Owen looked back at his father.

Yet, the Chairman remained cold toward Owen and his wife.

Even then, Owen acknowledged it.

“Well, 75% probably isn’t enough for him.”

His father’s accuracy was 90%. Even considering strategic failures in the long term, it was 100%.

Owen buried his disappointment and worked even harder.

But his mother wasn’t as strong.

She divorced the Chairman and one day disappeared in front of her children.

A few months later, Owen received a letter and a building inherited in his name.

Inside the building was a single supercomputer.

The moment he saw the computer, Owen’s world began to crumble.

*

“Gasp!”

Owen kicked off the blanket and woke up in bed.

Another nightmare, he couldn’t remember how many times it had been.

The pounding of his heart echoed in his ears.

His vision shook violently.

A familiar precursor to a panic attack.

Owen injected a sedative into his arm from the bedside.

“Phew…”

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Owen checked the clock.

The holiday was already over.

What was supposed to be a nap turned into sleeping through the entire day.

It wasn’t strange.

Prophets, due to the fatigue accumulated in their brains, could sleep for 48 hours without it being unusual.

He wasn’t particularly disappointed.

Owen didn’t have any hobbies to occupy his holidays anyway.

He crawled out of bed and, with the help of AI, prepared for work.

Before leaving, he headed to the safe as usual.

Opening the safe, a single cylindrical USB greeted him.

He plugged the USB into the port on the back of his neck.

Immediately, he felt his mind connecting to the computer.

A sense of omnipotence, as if looking down on everything, and a tranquility like returning to his mother’s embrace filled his chest.

And a piece of information transmitted through the computer.

“Ah… Cash…”

So, it finally came to this.

He closed his eyes and lifted his head.

After a short meditation, Owen pressed his temple and contacted his secretary.

“Secretary.”

[Yes. Go ahead.]

“Proceed with Route B.”

[…Understood.]

After ending the call, Owen took a pistol from the armory, tucked it into the back of his pants, and left the mansion.

*

Arriving at the company, Owen headed straight to the Chairman’s office instead of his own.

In the corridor leading to the Chairman’s office, the Security Chief stopped him.

A middle-aged man, covered in mechanical and magical tattoos below the neck, spread his palm and spoke.

“Young master. You’re carrying a pistol. Please hand it over before proceeding.”

Owen met the Security Chief’s gaze with an expressionless face.

Then, a disturbing sentence slipped from Owen’s lips.

“Your role is to protect the Chairman of this family, right?”

“…What do you mean?”

“Our company always seeks talent that can see the future. I wonder if you’re looking at the present or the future.”

As Owen spoke, the secretary behind him rolled up his sleeve.

The Security Chief, quietly observing, closed his eyes tightly and then…

“I always look to the future, Chairman.”

“Excellent, Chief.”

Owen patted the Security Chief’s shoulder and walked past him.

Soon, Owen knocked on the Chairman’s office door.

– Come in.

The Chairman’s tone, as if he already knew who it was without being told.

Owen indifferently opened the door and entered.

The Chairman didn’t even glance at Owen, busy typing on his computer.

“Sit down.”

Following his words, Owen sat on the sofa.

After finishing his work, the Chairman looked at Owen.

“So. You’ve finally made up your mind.”

“…Is it a revelation?”

“Not much of a revelation. It was obvious you were building your own faction within the company.”

“Then why didn’t you stop me?”

“Hmm.”

“You did the same with Mother. You wanted me to gain the power of revelation in the long run, didn’t you? Because it would benefit you and the company.”

“Owen. Let me advise you. Stop now. Give up. If you cross the line any further, even I won’t be able to protect you.”

“You’re not listening to me.”

“Owen!”

The Chairman slammed the desk.

“Stop it.”

“Stop what?”

“Put down your burden now. You’re not fit for this.”

“…”

Unfortunately, those words were the final blow.

Passion filled Owen’s voice.

“You always loved Cash, who had potential, didn’t you?”

“That’s not true.”

“Of course. To you, who can see the future, I must have seemed like a lost cause.”

“Please…”

“You could have given me even a fraction of the love you gave Cash!!”

“…”

The Chairman sighed and wiped his face.

Through his palm, the voice of a middle-aged man filled with regret was heard.

“Really… you’re just like your mother…”

Crash!

The moment the Chairman said that, Owen lunged at him.

The Chairman, having foreseen this future, slightly stepped back, but Owen, anticipating his move, struck his arm and grabbed his neck.

Owen’s rough hands choked the Chairman.

The Chairman’s breath was cut off.

But even as his son choked him, the Chairman’s expression remained calm.

He didn’t struggle or resist.

He simply stroked Owen’s cheek.

This continued for about two minutes.

Suddenly, Owen released the Chairman’s neck and stepped back.

The freed Chairman adjusted his tie and took a deep breath as if nothing had happened.

His face wasn’t even red, as if nothing had happened.

Seeing this, Owen, feeling defeated, spoke.

“You monster. Did you know you wouldn’t die?”

“A child longing for love can’t kill their father. Even if they do, they always regret it. Haven’t you seen it?”

“…You’re a monster.”

No matter how much he knew he wouldn’t die, how many people could remain calm while being choked by their own son?

To Owen, the man before him was something beyond a monster.

Reading Owen’s gaze, the Chairman smiled bitterly.

“Do you think the position of Megacorp Chairman is that light?”

The Chairman stood up from his chair.

“Put the gun away. Even without it, I’ll give you the position. Here. From now on, it’s yours. I’ll go fishing now.”

The Chairman stepped aside, hands behind his back.

Whether it was due to orthostatic hypotension or psychological shock.

The Chairman swayed slightly.

Watching this, Owen shook his head.

No matter what, that man wasn’t the type to sway from such things.

This must also be part of his design for the future he desired.

With that conclusion, Owen took the Chairman’s seat.

The Chairman, showing his back to Owen, was leaving the room.

With a slightly uncomfortable gait, the Chairman grabbed the doorknob and threw a remark over his shoulder.

“Owen. I told you that day. Even without the power of prophecy, you will always be my son.”

“…”

“That was the turning point. But you and your mother couldn’t give up the power of prophecy.”

“…”

“Was power that tempting? Or was money that necessary?”

“I just needed your love.”

“Right. That must be it. But in the futures where I loved you, if you didn’t give up, nothing really changed.”

“….”

“In all the futures where you didn’t give up, you choked me. So how could I love you and your mother?”

Why?

Owen recalled his father’s past words.

– “The right to see the future doesn’t grant the freedom to create the desired future.”

Once you see the future, you can’t escape it.

Because you can’t think of other options.

The former Chairman didn’t wait for an answer to his last remark and turned the doorknob.

The back of the former Chairman, leaving the room, wasn’t the dignified father Owen knew.

The pitiful figure of a middle-aged man disappeared as the door closed.

The Chairman’s office, now vacated.

The secretary, who had come to congratulate Owen on his inauguration, hesitated at the sound of sobbing from inside and only managed to enter ten minutes later.

*

The news of Owen becoming Chairman quickly reached Cash.

But it didn’t matter much to her.

After awakening her abilities, she refused all encounters.

The countless futures that unfolded uncontrollably the moment she made eye contact gave her a horrifying experience.

A sense of omnipotence?

No such thing.

Only nausea, vomiting, and fear dominated her.

[The more you face it directly, the more you’ll get used to it.]

Her father’s message reached her, but she didn’t listen.

After that, she stayed locked in her room for a month.

She had so thoroughly refused interaction with others that she only heard news about her family through the media.

Her father had retired, they said.

He refused all interviews with reporters and spent his time in a villa unknown to Cash.

Occasionally, he sent messages with words like “Fighting,” but Cash hadn’t heard his voice in a month.

She also only heard about Owen’s activities through the news.

Her brother had suddenly become Chairman and was pushing various policies.

It was too early to judge based on growth rates after just a month, but the general opinion was that he fell short compared to their father.

The reason was large-scale restructuring.

As if trying to erase their father’s legacy, Owen obsessively cut or demoted personnel loyal to the former Chairman and appointed those loyal to himself.

Those who thought it was just Owen’s youthful vigor expressed concern, but Cash wasn’t worried.

The Owen she knew, though religiously fanatic, wasn’t stupid.

This was all she knew about the outside world.

Honestly, if she stepped outside, she could gather information in an instant, but her refusal to meet anyone limited what she could know.

Then suddenly, her gaze turned to the calendar.

Three months and a few weeks of self-isolation.

It was almost time to reunite with her comrades.

As her thoughts reached that point, her heart began to pound.

What if she saw a terrible future with her comrades? Could she remain their comrade?

Fear began to creep in.

Thinking this might be what a panic attack feels like, she hurried to the room where her emergency medicine was kept.

Normally, she would have even the servants leave water or meals at her door, but now the situation was different.

She headed to her room, avoiding eye contact with the servants as much as possible.

But on her way to the room, she made eye contact with the chef heading to the dining room.

Once again, the future unfolded.

She read the thread connecting the chef and herself.

The chef was poisoning her food.

In 10 out of 10 futures.

She was startled and returned to reality.

The pocket from which the chef had taken the poison in the future was bulging.

Cash’s face turned pale.

What should she do in this situation?

She wanted to interrogate the chef.

But on what grounds? Should she say she saw the future?

In her first experience of this, Cash was at a loss and, pretending nothing was wrong, turned around and fled to her room.

But before she could reach her room, she made eye contact with a bodyguard.

The moment she reached for the doorknob, the bodyguard pulled the trigger aimed at the back of her head.

And reported to Owen.

‘!!!’

Cash’s pupils shook.

The bodyguard was looking at her with innocent, clueless eyes.

Gritting her teeth, Cash headed for the door.

And pretending to reach for the doorknob,

She suddenly turned and struck the bodyguard’s throat.

“Thud!”

The bodyguard, unexpectedly hit in a vital spot, pointed his gun at her in desperation.

But before he could, the future unfolded before Cash’s eyes.

The bullet was aimed diagonally at her forehead.

There was only one way to dodge.

Tilting her head slightly to the side, she dodged the bullet and kicked the bodyguard’s vital spot again.

After that, the bodyguard tried to assassinate her, but she subdued him after reading all the futures.

Having subdued the bodyguard with her bare hands, she shuddered at her own combat prowess.

‘This is…’

At best, she was at the level of a mid-tier mercenary, yet she had subdued a corporate bodyguard with her bare hands.

She hadn’t expected the power of seeing the future to be this strong.

She quickly disarmed the bodyguard and headed to her room.

Immediately, she took out her mercenary gear, armed herself, and began hunting the bodyguards.

While hunting down the assassins disguised as bodyguards, she realized the truth of the incident.

– “If Cash is alive, I will die. One of us must die. Please.”

They were sent by Owen.

Not the overzealous actions of Owen’s loyalists, but Owen’s direct orders.

What future had Owen seen? And did Father know about this?

Amid betrayal and confusion, she swung her spear.

Soon, she arrived at the garage where her car was parked.

But when she arrived, her car had turned into a pile of scrap metal.

Beside it, the Security Team Leader with a dark expression was looking at her.

“Did Owen tell you?”

“I’m sorry, miss.”

With a sad expression, the Team Leader pulled out spikes from both wrists.

Cash also adjusted her grip on her spear and met his gaze.

What attack would he make first?

At that moment, Cash was startled.

The future didn’t appear.

After that, there was no interaction between the Team Leader and Cash, as if the thread of fate between them had been severed.

Trying to interpret what that meant,

Crash!

The garage ceiling collapsed, and people fell down.

Familiar faces.

“Huh?”

“..?”

The Team Leader below was split in half by the sword of the falling person.

The person who had split the Team Leader in half spoke to Cash.

“Sorry. I came as fast as I could. The prototype’s performance sucks. It took like an hour to calculate.”

The voice of the man she had missed.

And following that, the voices of other familiar people.

“Phew… This isn’t my fault. What’s with the makeup?”

[What the hell, it’s not makeup, it’s camouflage cream! Snipers need it!]

“It’s Vox’s fault. Took too long packing bombs and ammo.”

“But the timing was perfect, right?”

Lastly, the voice of a woman who wasn’t missed or particularly welcomed, but was still grateful.

“Thank goodness tomorrow’s a day off…”

It was Amon, his comrades, and Sonia.

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