Chapter 153
Chapter 153
Hah, They Say Old Ginger Is the Spiciest
***
"...So you publicly announced that I was the one who handled it?"
When I met Alice again, an exquisitely graceful smile, as if painted onto a canvas, rested upon her lips.
She must have been dissatisfied with the current situation, yet she did not reveal even the slightest sign of it. A truly flawless poker face. It was proof that she was a survivor who had weathered countless suspicions and schemes.
In truth, today's meeting had never been arranged beforehand.
There had been no need to summon her.
After all, there was a saying: if three people insist a tiger exists, people will believe it.
Just Dae Gwanmu protesting his innocence and Croft backing him up was enough to establish Alice's presence, even though she had never been at the scene. There was no reason for Ga-on to step in and awkwardly join the farce.
Remaining silent alone had been enough to lend credibility to their claim.
The moment Ryungyeong learned that Alice had made her move, they immediately stepped back and chose to observe. After all, it was true that she had warned them beforehand, and it was equally true that Muryong had rushed out recklessly.
From their perspective, there was no reason to stir up unnecessary conflict.
Everything had unfolded according to the original plan.
Yes, I had also expected, to some extent, that Alice would pay a visit to Café Velvet.
"You're the one who vouched for me. That's what started all this."
"Isn't this a rather poor way to repay a favor? From what I heard, you two would have clashed even if I hadn't intervened."
Her voice remained gentle, but there was unmistakable reproach beneath it. Even so, Ga-on had his own defense.
"That's true. Even so, you chose to get involved."
Why had she done that?
It had remained a lingering question, but after facing Alice in person, I thought I finally understood.
"You wanted to test me, didn't you?"
"So you noticed even that."
Freely admitting it, Alice picked up her fork and neatly cut her cake into bite-sized pieces.
"There are far too many rumors floating around in this industry. I suppose I only feel satisfied after seeing things with my own eyes. I'd appreciate it if you could understand the heart of a young girl who wants to tap the stone bridge before crossing it."
"The heart of a young girl... There's hardly anything less fitting for someone over seventy."
"You little...!"
"You little...?"
Startled, Alice let out a dry cough as she tried to take back what she had blurted out. In truth, it would be more accurate to say she simply pretended nothing had happened.
"That's a rather outdated way of thinking. In a world where life expectancy has already surpassed one hundred fifty and is heading toward two hundred, age is nothing more than a number."
"What was it you said? Ah, right. You said it would be difficult if I started flirting the moment we met. And then you said that if I were twenty years older, you might have accepted."
Looking back, it had been quite a meaningful rejection.
"Men who remember every little thing and pick at it one by one aren't very fun, you know."
Alice playfully raised her index finger with a teasing smile, but in stark contrast, Ga-on's expression hardened. It was both a declaration and a warning that he had no intention of indulging in trivial small talk.
"I'm the one who's finding this uninteresting, Miss Seventy. Being made to dance on your testing ground, and then having to sit here face-to-face without even understanding your true intentions."
No one welcomed being deliberately approached by someone of her stature.
"Since we're already here, you'd better make your position clear. I'm not the only one with a grudge against the Miyauchi Group."
Baek Seol was a prime example.
She had nearly lost her life to Kenji. Granted, that incident had also become the opportunity that elevated her to the position of Chairwoman, so she had chosen to endure it. But if she were ever to hear news like this—
"It would turn into an all-out war."
"My, how frightening. Though I can fully understand how you feel, Mr. Ga-on. You probably think I'm making a spectacle of myself. But that's a misunderstanding."
Plop.
The spoon slipped into the coffee cup and stirred its contents. Quietly watching the swirling surface, Alice wore an expression just as troubled.
"As you know, I was forced into hiding for fifty years because of unavoidable circumstances. Right now, I'm only out temporarily until a new Sword Master is chosen to replace Kenji..."
"That's enough of the preamble."
"I suppose it was."
With a self-deprecating chuckle, Alice brushed her hair behind her ear. It seemed as though the fifty years of patience she had endured had surfaced all at once. She cut away her emotions and conveyed only the facts.
"Those fifty years were more than enough time for the Miyauchi Group to become complacent. They didn't hesitate to gather innocent children and raise them into human weapons. It was something they wouldn't even have dared attempt while I was still there."
"Are you talking about Mr. Genji?"
"As expected of the Fighting Dog. You're quick to catch on."
The rot within an organization could not be erased through the efforts of a single person. It required the consensus of every member. And if even that wasn't enough, then they needed a shock powerful enough that no one would dare resist.
"So you decided to verify outsiders because you intended to bring them in."
"And as it happens, Mr. Ga-on is also a member of Baekdu, isn't he?"
The first condition was being able to stand firm even under pressure from the Four Great Underworld factions. The second was possessing the skill to match. It was understandable why Alice had taken an interest in him. Of course—
"That has nothing to do with me. Honestly, there's nothing uglier than a third party getting involved in someone else's family feud."
A woman of indeterminate age with her hair tightly tied back into a single ponytail.
Alice resembled a blooming white lily and possessed more than enough charm to captivate the hearts of countless men.
But appearances were deceiving.
In the end, she still belonged to one of the Four Great Underworld factions.
Moreover, she was a beast that had stained her hands with blood while standing at the summit for decades.
Given the circumstances—
“My ears hear nothing but someone saying they want to swing a sword to restore their fallen authority. Isn't this whole claim that the organization has grown complacent nothing more than your own one-sided assertion?”
It was a perfectly reasonable question, yet the corners of Alice's lips trembled ever so slightly, as though she had just heard something she should never have heard.
It was the strongest reaction I had seen from her so far.
Even so, she quickly regained her composure.
"They used my name to smooth over this incident as well, didn't they?"
"That was the price for lying that I was protecting you. Don't tell me you're planning to hold that over my head."
"No, I'm not trying to scold you. I simply want you to understand just how much weight my name carries."
"Well, it certainly made things convenient."
He hadn't needed to come up with one excuse after another as he did when acting alone.
That convenience was the weight of the life Alice had lived.
It was the magnitude of the karma that those involved had acknowledged.
It was obvious what she was trying to say.
"If you agree to join my cause, I'll grant that privilege exclusively to you, Mr. Ga-on. You can think of it as an advance payment in place of a signing bonus."
The offer was so generous that accepting it immediately felt almost unsettling.
Could there be another trap hidden somewhere?
Sensing Ga-on's hesitation, Alice quickly continued, adding another incentive.
"And if the Miyauchi Group returns to what it once was, I'll also pay you a success bonus. Whatever it is you desire. Well? Isn't that the method a fixer likes best? Doesn't it tempt you?"
"The more I hear, the more I want to refuse. Just what is it that makes you invest so much in me? What if I'm not worth it?"
At that moment, a flash burst forth.
The object carving through the air was nothing more than a spoon.
Even a pitiful piece of metal became no different from a peerless weapon in the hands of a Sword Master, and the force behind it surged like a raging tidal wave.
The very fact that the surrounding scenery warped as the pressure wave exploded proved it.
Reacting instinctively, Ga-on raised his fork and intercepted the incoming spoon, channeling every ounce of the recoil into the ground beneath his feet.
To an outsider, it might have looked like nothing more than a childish prank.
But had he failed to stop it, Café Velvet would have collapsed.
"See? I'd say I picked the right person."
"Hah. They weren't kidding when they said old ginger is the spiciest."
Almost simultaneously, the spoons clenched in Ga-on's and Alice's hands bent at their middles as both shook their heads as if she were impossible to deal with.
A moment later, Alice looked at the head of the spoon as it dropped to the floor with a clink and smiled sweetly.
"My, if this is what happens to a spoon that didn't say a single word, I wonder what would become of someone who talks nonsense."
"..."
Faced with that refined warning, Ga-on found himself at a loss for words and simply resolved to take it as a lesson.
***
"I've carefully reviewed the data you sent."
Perhaps the candid conversation they had shared the previous night had paid off, because Croft's attitude was remarkably courteous.
"So, what do you think?"
"Hmm..."
After a brief pause, Croft casually asked,
"First, I'd like to hear about your objective, Mr. Ga-on. Judging by how much preparation you've made, this can't simply be out of idle curiosity. Knowing your goal would also make it much easier for me to determine the direction of my research."
"I want a body that neither ages nor dies. That's my dream."
To many, it might have sounded like an absurd fantasy.
But Croft neither laughed nor criticized him.
He simply—
"I see. If you intend to overcome the inescapable curse that even becoming a Meta-human couldn't free you from, then I suppose that's the only way."
—accepted it.
That was because Ga-on's actions had always been consistent and unmistakably clear.
"I think I understand now why you were so confident that you could cure my brother. As you said, if we can discover the principle by which supernatural abilities lead to immortality, it should be possible to apply it elsewhere."
"And we managed to obtain two samples. They should make for a decent comparison."
Naturally, they belonged to Gideon and Baek Gi.
Ga-on's own sample had been deliberately excluded. If it were Croft, he might instantly realize that the answer already existed within it.
"That's right. After reviewing the materials you've organized, I became convinced that my research hadn't been in vain."
"'Artificial Awakening,' right?"
Meta-humans possessed two defining characteristics.
A sense of self that resided within the subconscious.
And an inexplicable driving force.
What Croft had done was manipulate the dependent variable by treating it as the independent variable instead.
In other words, it was an experiment in reversing causality.
"There's one thing, though. For your hypothesis to hold true, there's one proposition that's absolutely indispensable."
"And what would that be?"
"...That every human possesses the self-awareness of a supernatural ability within their subconscious."
For a brief moment, Croft froze.
Not because Ga-on had exposed a flaw he had never considered.
Rather, it was because something so self-evident that he had never even thought to regard it as a variable had suddenly been brought into the open.
His answer was therefore concise.
"That's correct. Every human has the potential to become a Meta-human, provided they acquire the proper catalyst."
It was classified information known only to a tiny handful of people.
Even after openly revealing something bordering on a conspiracy theory, Croft merely returned his attention to his research.
It took Ga-on a beat longer to connect the dots.
Naturally, he immediately grabbed Croft by the shoulder.
"Then what about when you scattered Eden in Ryungyeong last time? Wasn't that dangerous too?"
"Ah, so that's where your question originated. Unfortunately, that's impossible. The Eden used on you was something I had further refined, and forcing an awakening in reverse requires an enormous amount of energy."
Come to think of it, they had drawn power directly from a fusion reactor.
It was essentially forcing the catalyst for awakening from the outside.
Replacing that inexplicable driving force.
It was then that Croft finally took his eyes off the monitor and rested his chin on one hand.
"Well, what you're suggesting isn't completely impossible, Mr. Ga-on. If someone's aptitude were exceptionally high, they might awaken using the original version of Eden."
In truth, someone with that level of aptitude would probably awaken on their own sooner or later even without Eden, making the hypothetical itself rather meaningless.
"At least in theory."
Croft dismissed it as though it were nothing worth worrying about.
For some reason, however, Ga-on couldn't shake a growing sense of unease.