Chapter 71

While Amon stopped the elevator, creating a forced confined space, the Security Chief began his story.

George Bread.

He was from the back alleys.

Born to a father with a history of domestic violence and alcoholism, and a mother who was a drug-addicted prostitute, he ran away from home at the age of 15.

With his physically disabled younger sister.

He knew his sister’s condition was too dangerous for them to run away, but he had no choice when he saw his parents’ eyes change to those of someone looking at a piggy bank when they looked at his sister.

Unlike his trashy parents, his sister was his only blood relative.

After running away, George did various jobs in the back alleys to keep himself and his sister alive.

But his sister’s condition worsened day by day.

She kept falling asleep to the point where she couldn’t maintain her daily life.

Until now, George hadn’t trusted hospitals enough to take his sister there, but now he had no choice.

And at the hospital, along with the diagnosis, they pushed the reality he had been avoiding.

Diagnosis: <Congenital Central Nervous System Underdevelopment, Epilepsy, Dissociative Identity Disorder, etc.>

The doctor said.

His sister had a congenital brain problem, which meant she couldn’t control her sleep.

As a result, she also suffered from various brain diseases.

If things continued like this, she could fall into an eternal sleep.

At first, George denied the reality, but soon he accepted it.

He would do anything to pay for his sister’s life support.

Starting as a mercenary, by the time he came to his senses, George had become an employee in the security department of a large corporation.

He was lucky.

His body was somewhat suitable for mechanical enhancement procedures, enough to get into the security department.

But his luck ended there.

His talent was only enough to reach the bottom of the security department.

With the salary of a low-ranking employee, he couldn’t afford his sister’s hospital bills and his own living expenses.

But he couldn’t give up on his sister.

Not only was she his only blood relative, but he also saw hope.

A precarious hope that seemed almost within reach.

If it had been completely out of reach, he might have given up, but if George gave up his daily life, it was possible.

That in-between state made it impossible for him to give up on his sister.

The saying that mediocre talent is a curse fit this situation perfectly.

And so, George destroyed his own life, saved his sister, and repeated his routine as a security department member.

Then one day.

That day, he was tasked with escorting a vehicle carrying <Unfortunate Jam Humans>.

Jam Humans, whose blood was jam, were close to humans, and other entities often saw them as humans, so they were often sent to other companies as sacrificial materials.

George’s mission was to successfully deliver these humans to the client company.

It wasn’t a difficult task.

The fear of Jam Humans lay in their ability to blend into crowds and assassinate, but in a direct confrontation, they weren’t that scary.

In fact, it was a popular mission among the team members because missions involving entities came with hazard pay.

That’s why George volunteered, and he had no doubt the mission would go smoothly.

But there was one thing George had forgotten.

Humans can become endlessly ugly in the face of money, and that ugliness surpasses even entities.

– “Sorry, George.”

– “M-Manager… How could you…”

It was a betrayal he never expected.

The reason was the bonus and performance.

In entity-related missions, if an accident occurs due to management failure, the team members receive additional pay.

The manager who was with George aimed for this.

He planned to kill all the team members except himself, report it as a Jam Human management failure to receive additional pay, and resolve the incident to boost his performance.

It seemed he had prepared for this for quite some time.

He had perfectly manipulated the scene evidence and staged the team members’ deaths to look like they were killed by Jam Humans.

George watched the manager’s perfect crime as he slowly died.

But the manager’s dream didn’t come true.

Bang!

With the sound of a gunshot, George’s consciousness returned to the present.

“Huh?”

He could see the manager, who had made a stupid sound, touching the hole in his chest.

The manager, whose heart was gone, collapsed in despair.

George strained his strength and turned his head toward the direction of the gunshot.

It wasn’t hard to find the source of the gunshot.

It was right above him.

‘Me?’

A man who looked exactly like him, holding a rifle registered to George’s fingerprints.

As soon as he saw that, curses came out naturally.

‘Damn it…’

He never expected his Jam Human to be in the escort vehicle.

Now that he was about to die, the thought of a Jam Human impersonating him made him feel disgusted and worried.

What if this Jam Human harmed his sister?

But there was nothing George could do.

As his consciousness faded, George looked up at the Jam Human approaching him and slowly closed his eyes.

*

Surprisingly, George opened his eyes again.

Not in the afterlife, but in the present.

When he opened his eyes, he was in the Clinic Center.

To understand the situation, he looked around.

His Jam Human was sitting by the bed.

George realized that the Jam Human had saved him.

But despite knowing, he couldn’t understand.

Why?

The Jam Human answered his question.

“Because I am you.”

“What?”

“What will happen to your sister if you die?”

“Ah…”

Only then did George understand the situation.

Jam Humans perfectly copy the original.

Not just memories, but even beliefs.

The only difference is that they know they are destined to be eaten and are unhappy from the moment they are created.

But George’s bread was different.

To him, his sister’s life was more important than his own.

He would endure any hardship, even death, for her.

George’s Jam Human was the same.

Even though he knew he wasn’t the original, his love for the sister in his memories was real.

That’s why he couldn’t kill the original.

Jam Humans only mimic appearances, not abilities.

Even if he succeeded in killing George, the Jam Human’s abilities wouldn’t be enough to play the role of a security department member, and ultimately, the sister would die.

Knowing this, the Jam Human struggled to keep the original alive instead of killing him.

And when the original woke up, he was already prepared to die.

– “Now kill me.”

Then you’ll get the additional pay.

Use it to buy something delicious for your sister, said the Jam Human.

But George couldn’t bring himself to do it.

He couldn’t see the being who loved his sister as much as he did as an enemy.

So instead of killing the Jam Human, George chose coexistence.

– “Let’s start by giving you a name.”

George named the Jam Human Mage.

Mage Bread.

Creating Mage’s identity wasn’t difficult.

After all, there’s no social security number in the US, and it’s not uncommon for a twin to suddenly appear out of nowhere in the database.

In fact, it’s common in slums.

Thanks to that, Mage Bread suddenly appeared in the world as George’s twin.

After explaining the situation to his sister, Mage, now a new family member, started working to earn money for his sister’s treatment like George.

During this time, Mage discovered one thing.

Unlike the original, he had no limits to mechanical enhancement procedures.

He didn’t know why.

But Mage had a high suitability for the procedures, enough to replace his entire body with machinery.

Maybe it’s because he’s a bread human with high mental durability, or maybe it’s because his blood is jam.

He didn’t know the reason, but that’s how it was.

Upon discovering this, the original and the Jam Human came up with a plan.

The Jam Human Mage would go to the security department as George,

And the original George would take care of his sister.

And so, the two switched identities.

After that, Mage replaced everything below his neck with machinery and rose to become a powerful force in the company, eventually reaching the position of Security Chief.

Security Chief George Bread.

His real name was Mage Bread.

*

Mage Bread’s story ended.

He shrugged his mechanical shoulders and said,

“You might not understand, but that’s how it is. Of course, I know I’m strange too.”

It’s not like George is the only one in this company with a tragic story.

But cases like George and Mage coexisting are absolutely rare.

Normally, Jam Humans are born with a burning jealousy towards the original.

The company has confirmed this through tens of thousands of cases, and it’s an absolute rule.

It’s not for nothing that the company readily believed Mage and George were twins.

In that sense, Mage’s very existence defied the rules.

Mage thought the reason was…

“Maybe I’m like a cancer cell among Jam Humans, that’s why this happened.”

At least, that’s what he thought.

George, no, the Jam Human Mage, looked at Amon.

“So, what are you going to do with me?”

Mage met Amon’s eyes.

Like a prisoner awaiting judgment, Mage waited for Amon’s words.

Then Amon spoke.

“So that’s the story. It’s touching.”

“…?”

Mage was taken aback by Amon’s reaction.

“Wait, that’s it?”

“What kind of reaction were you expecting?”

“At least I thought you’d be wary of me…”

“Why?”

“Because I’m a Jam Human.”

“Is that a problem?”

“Of course it is! I don’t need to say it, but Jam Humans harm humans!”

“But aren’t you a human before you’re a Jam Human?”

“!!!”

Mage’s eyes widened at Amon’s statement.

Human?

Me?

Reading his expression, Amon continued.

“Yes, human. To me, Mr. Mage, you are a human. A slightly special human with strawberry jam for blood.”

That statement was shocking to Mage.

He had never thought of himself as human.

Of course, he had longed for a human life, but it was just a longing.

But Amon saw Mage as a human.

Amon had no intention of bringing in philosophical concepts.

If you’re human-like, you’re human.

His criteria were simple.

In that sense, Mage was human.

“You’re more human than the manager who tried to kill George.”

Especially after seeing beings who didn’t even deserve to be called beasts, to Amon, Mage was infinitely human.

There was no religious issue either.

‘After all, you’re the Goddess’s creation.’

As long as they weren’t beings from another dimension, all entities were creations of the Goddess.

Born using divine power as an energy source under the system set by the Goddess.

That’s why Amon saw Mage as human.

‘After all, I’m a human using divine power too.’

There was no reason to say Mage wasn’t human.

“I’ll say it as many times as I need to. You are a slightly special human with strawberry jam for blood.”

Perhaps the shock was too much, as Mage was still in a daze.

Amon continued to chatter at the still dazed Security Chief.

“Ah, if it were grape jam, I’d apologize.”

Finally coming to his senses, the Security Chief.

He smiled and said,

“It’s elderberry jam.”

“Wow.”

*

After that, Amon released the elevator stop button and headed to the Happy Baker.

The Jam Humans blocking the way were quickly dealt with.

The duo of Amon and the Security Chief reached the Happy Baker, the mastermind behind this incident.

The two successfully ended the incident by stopping the Happy Baker’s rampage.

As soon as they stopped the Happy Baker, Amon immediately took out the foresight box from his pocket.

‘She said to open it when the situation is resolved, right?’

Amon unfolded the second paper.

<Sometimes, free is heavier than anything.>

Amon understood Cash’s intention.

It meant not to wag his tongue in front of the chairman and lose everything, but to just come back.

Having confirmed his task, the paper in Amon’s hand burned.

He headed to the chairman’s office with the Security Chief to report.

To summarize the report:

– “Jam Humans have been eradicated.”

To the chairman, it was a perfect mission completion.

The chairman offered a few proposals as a token of gratitude.

But Amon declined and said,

“I came as a representative of Rekhetio Corporation. Please discuss the compensation with our company.”

Due to Amon’s firm stance, the chairman had no choice but to discuss the matter with Rekhetio.

After that, Amon left <Lloyd & Life>.

He headed to the airport to return to Rekhetio.

The Security Chief saw him off.

On the way, now without any distance, the Security Chief asked Amon,

“Are there any other Jam Humans like me?”

“No. Mr. Mage, you’re special.”

“Is that so.”

The word ‘special’ seemed to please him, as the Security Chief smiled contentedly.

Amon left the happily smiling Security Chief and took out the last box.

‘Before leaving. She definitely said to open it then.’

Amon took out the last foresight box.

The last foresight was short and concise.

<You can bring him.>

Seeing that, Amon could only smile wryly.

‘Can’t handle it…’

Having already confirmed with Cash, Amon immediately acted.

He asked the Security Chief,

“If I said I could treat your sister, would you believe me?”

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