After doing his fair share of the work, Suho leaves the control room. He leaves Yi Yeonghan and Gang Gil to work in the aftermath of the explosion. “Really sorry, but I have to go… This is more important…”
“What is more important than this?” Yi Yeonghan feels estranged and weirded by his friend recently, he does this ‘leaving’ and ‘going’ as he likes more frequently, and it unsettles him.
Gang Gil shakes his head, “Leave him be, Yeonghan-ssi… He must be doing that.”
“Yeah, that,” Suho awkwardly smiles as he isn’t really that good with lying. He is not Hyon Hyung whose tongue has another tongue. “I have a lead about them, you know? Just came in…”
The two, Yi Yeonghan and Gang Gil nod knowingly.
A secret organization lately has been going around the world.
The Hero Association has too little information about them, but they have reasons to believe this organization is responsible for multiple disappearances of big political figures, highly classified resources, and apparently, the most recent of their exploits… responsible for safeguarding Djinns.
To Suho though, he cannot be closer than anyone else considering he is a member of this budding secret organization.
Suho returns to his room. His glasses are integrated into an independent AI system that is almost on par with Cube AI. Suho mentally controls his system and raises the security level of his room by several folds.
After that, he removes his glasses and grabs his VR helm. He lies comfortably on his bed and prepares for a link-up. A bright flash of light engulfs his vision. When he opens his eyes, he finds himself inside a grand palace and sees his comrades.
At the round table, people have gathered: Chae Nayun, Rachel Elizabeth Louise, and unexpectedly… Tomer.
“Looks like I am late, but where is Hyon?” Suho inquires while he sits on his chair.
Tomer is a Latina woman with an athletic build, and an unexpected physique for a magic caster like her, but more than that, she is actually a Djinn. There is this strange air of confidence in her. “He won’t be able to attend. I will act as his liaison for now.”
“This is the third time already… Don’t tell me you are going to act as his representative from now on, because I do not like it…” Chae Nayun is always pissed, and lately, her temperament is just getting worse.
Rachel fakes a cough. “Please, Nayun-ssi… We agreed on extending our recruitment, right? Hyon is taking it in great strides and has now created a branching organization of his own. As the parent organization, it is not our job to berate them, but oversee them…”
“Sigh…” Nayun painfully laments. “Sorry, Tomer, but what the hell is Hyon thinking of recruiting so many Djinns in his fold?”
“Mind you, Djinns are what consists most of Hyon’s org,” Suho pipes in, feeling similarly miffed, but he seems to be not totally against Hyon’s personal project of sheltering Djinns.
Humanity has been at war against the Djinns in the past year, and they are on the precipice of total victory, and then Hyon comes barging into the war like some madman.
Well, Hyon is kind of a madman… or to be more specific, he likes acting like one.
Tomer remains silent during the whole exchange. She is only here to attend, report, and listen. She is not here to give an opinion. Thus, she remains silent.
“So tell us what is Hyon doing now?” Rachel asks, eager to just go with the meeting.
“Pillaging on South America’s coasts. We currently have seven ships, all of them are AI-operated, but they still need crews. We need more people, preferably Djinns. South America is where I became a Djinn so I know a little about the place… Moreover, we have secondary intel that few surviving Djinns are being kept there by a private sector for experimentation.” Tomer operates on her digitally summoned tablet and sends the information to everyone.
Kim Suho raises a concern. “I have a question. I want to hear it from you Tomer. Tell me how the Djinns see Hyon. I understand that Hyon’s method is unorthodox, yet extremely effective in controlling the Djinns. But I still want to know, is there any resentment from the Djinns? I want to know if what is Hyon’s doing is for good.”
“You want my opinion?” Tomer glances at Nayun and then at Rachel, her eyes returning to Suho. “It is complicated…”
“Please tell us,” Nayun urges her.
Thus, Tomer complies. “The Djinns see Hyon as savior, and in more extreme cases… as their God. They have grown too attached to him, and would do everything for him… Honestly, it is scary, but considering what he can do for them, I think that this is to be expected.”
There is an intelligent glean in Rachel’s eyes. “It is not totally outside of our expectations.”
“I agree,” Suho shakes his head in half-surprise, “I think I see this happening after he suggested that crazy plan of his to recruit Djinns… still, it is a shocker…”
It has Tomer thinking. A lot has truly happened.
It is all a coincidence as to how she has come to be involved in this secret organization, but she likes doing things here… still, there are things that make her uncomfortable to do despite her more antagonistic disposition prior.
If not for Hyon’s overly persuasive words, Tomer would most likely have declined any of the things requested from her, but now, Tomer is here.
“Is this really ok?” Nayun voices her doubts for good measure. It is a big decision to involve the Djinns in their fold... officially. “What if the Djinns return with their psychopathic tendencies again despite Hyon’s efforts?”
“Then Hyon has to deal with it…” Suho conclusively adds. That means killing them.
Hyon Hyung’s gift is miraculous in that he is able to use [Not Here] to the Djinns to cut off their connection with their devils. As a result, the Djinns that have joined the Savant of Sloth’s faction are able to break free from the Psychopathic Influences of their devils making them as close to human as they can be.
So naturally, the Djinns who want to be human again come to revere the Savant of Sloth.
Since the effects of [Not Here] are not permanent and have to be replenished time and time again, the Djinns become quite dependent on Hyon Hyung. It is a kind of addiction to normality.
“That is all good, but how are you doing, Suho?” Nayun worriedly asks about Suho.
Suho breathes out an annoyed huff. Why people is constantly bothering him about his well-being? It is not like he is sick or dying. “I only dropped out of Cube, and it has been a long time since… Okay? When Hyon shifted to General Academics and dropped off the Hero Course, you all guys were quite chill…”
“…” “…” Rachel and Tomer are fairly quiet.
Chae Nayun dramatically spits back. “Bleh~! Shaddup the whining. So what is it?”
“Sorry about that, guys… That is immature of me venting like that…” Suho exhales a sigh, a bit worried. “I am not liking it. The higher I go, the more dirt I see. Remember Kim Chundong’s story? There are actually a lot more incidents similar to what had happened to him… I also found out that most and the more important files were kept outside the system in that they were physically recorded somewhere, so we cannot just ‘hack’ them you know… I don’t know where to begin… again… It is getting annoying. For now, I am trying to stabilize a faction of my own inside the Hero Association… I am not really good with politicking, but I am managing… And this…”
Suho sends files to the others. The data about Aileen, the Human Dragon, is presented to each one of them. “As we all know, she is a righteous person. When I was just starting in the Association, I kind of secretly sent her the more difficult ‘problems’ I want to be solved fast. I did it anonymously, so we are safe. But that kind of puts Aileen in a hot spot since the Association thinks she is undermining the organization. I intercepted information that focuses on targeting her…”
Rachel responds with a solution already in her mind. “I think I can help with that. I am free lately since I just finished rebuilding the MI6, I can also put them to the test…”
“Be careful Rachel, it is nice to have the resources of a whole country, but operating on foreign soil might compromise you.” Nayun reminds Rachel objectively.
“It will be fine…” Rachel smiles. “England has lots of sleeper agents here in Korea…”
“Seriously?” Nayun feels genuinely surprised.
“In this time and age, patriotism is hard to come by. That is why I have to rely on something else other than patriotism…” Rachel cryptically finishes her words as she is not keen on saying more. She has also changed in the past year, and while she may have become more unscrupulous in her methods, she continues to maintain a righteous heart.
The change in Rachel might have been an effect of Hyon, since Rachel won’t be such a secretive person, not to mention… unscrupulous… To borrow Hyon’s words, righteousness is relative, but wickedness is objective.
“So what does the Association have in mind for targeting the Human Dragon?” Nayun fiddles her hair, trying her best to hide that she is getting bored.
Suho subtly realizes this, so he quickly finishes up his report. “The Association will denounce the Human Dragon eight days from now on for colluding with Djinns. I estimate they will act earnestly starting two weeks from now on. That is all I know…”
“I will learn more,” Rachel adds.
“Good,” Nayun grins, “Then it is my turn now?”
“…” “…” “…”
On a rare occasion, this childish part of Nayun comes out for once in a while. “I checked the calendar this morning, so I realize today is the day.”
“Yeah, the Tower of Miracle exploded,” Suho says with a flat tone.
“Uu—m, yes.” Nayun is suddenly mute since she actually has a speech she prepared for this moment. “Yes, it exploded, and we are on schedule, so…”
“Yeah, Nayun-ssi will swallow Creator’s Scared Grace using Essence of the Strait as the mouthpiece.” Rachel pipes in, disregarding Nayun’s disappointed expression.
“Yes, yes, that is the plan.” Nayun also has a speech in mind about how to say this ‘scheme’ in front of her peers, but she is not able to.
What is the use even with that if everyone knows already what it is? For the sake of all that is good… It is written in the freaking calendar!
“Are we finished? I will go now to report to Hyon… By now, he should be done with whatever he is doing…” Tomer is writing in her virtually summoned notebook diligently. She has been conscientiously writing the minutes of the meeting from the very beginning.
“Yeah, Tomer… you may go now… Everyone adjourned.” Nayun finally lets go of everyone as the meeting comes to a close.
1Funny thing about this chapter is that they keep ignoring the elephant in the room.
After doing his fair share of the work, Suho leaves the control room. He leaves Yi Yeonghan and Gang Gil to work in the aftermath of the explosion. “Really sorry, but I have to go… This is more important…”
“What is more important than this?” Yi Yeonghan feels estranged and weirded by his friend recently, he does this ‘leaving’ and ‘going’ as he likes more frequently, and it unsettles him.
Gang Gil shakes his head, “Leave him be, Yeonghan-ssi… He must be doing that.”
“Yeah, that,” Suho awkwardly smiles as he isn’t really that good with lying. He is not Hyon Hyung whose tongue has another tongue. “I have a lead about them, you know? Just came in…”
The two, Yi Yeonghan and Gang Gil nod knowingly.
A secret organization lately has been going around the world.
The Hero Association has too little information about them, but they have reasons to believe this organization is responsible for multiple disappearances of big political figures, highly classified resources, and apparently, the most recent of their exploits… responsible for safeguarding Djinns.
To Suho though, he cannot be closer than anyone else considering he is a member of this budding secret organization.
Suho returns to his room. His glasses are integrated into an independent AI system that is almost on par with Cube AI. Suho mentally controls his system and raises the security level of his room by several folds.
After that, he removes his glasses and grabs his VR helm. He lies comfortably on his bed and prepares for a link-up. A bright flash of light engulfs his vision. When he opens his eyes, he finds himself inside a grand palace and sees his comrades.
At the round table, people have gathered: Chae Nayun, Rachel Elizabeth Louise, and unexpectedly… Tomer.
“Looks like I am late, but where is Hyon?” Suho inquires while he sits on his chair.
Tomer is a Latina woman with an athletic build, and an unexpected physique for a magic caster like her, but more than that, she is actually a Djinn. There is this strange air of confidence in her. “He won’t be able to attend. I will act as his liaison for now.”
“This is the third time already… Don’t tell me you are going to act as his representative from now on, because I do not like it…” Chae Nayun is always pissed, and lately, her temperament is just getting worse.
Rachel fakes a cough. “Please, Nayun-ssi… We agreed on extending our recruitment, right? Hyon is taking it in great strides and has now created a branching organization of his own. As the parent organization, it is not our job to berate them, but oversee them…”
“Sigh…” Nayun painfully laments. “Sorry, Tomer, but what the hell is Hyon thinking of recruiting so many Djinns in his fold?”
“Mind you, Djinns are what consists most of Hyon’s org,” Suho pipes in, feeling similarly miffed, but he seems to be not totally against Hyon’s personal project of sheltering Djinns.
Humanity has been at war against the Djinns in the past year, and they are on the precipice of total victory, and then Hyon comes barging into the war like some madman.
Well, Hyon is kind of a madman… or to be more specific, he likes acting like one.
Tomer remains silent during the whole exchange. She is only here to attend, report, and listen. She is not here to give an opinion. Thus, she remains silent.
“So tell us what is Hyon doing now?” Rachel asks, eager to just go with the meeting.
“Pillaging on South America’s coasts. We currently have seven ships, all of them are AI-operated, but they still need crews. We need more people, preferably Djinns. South America is where I became a Djinn so I know a little about the place… Moreover, we have secondary intel that few surviving Djinns are being kept there by a private sector for experimentation.” Tomer operates on her digitally summoned tablet and sends the information to everyone.
Kim Suho raises a concern. “I have a question. I want to hear it from you Tomer. Tell me how the Djinns see Hyon. I understand that Hyon’s method is unorthodox, yet extremely effective in controlling the Djinns. But I still want to know, is there any resentment from the Djinns? I want to know if what is Hyon’s doing is for good.”
“You want my opinion?” Tomer glances at Nayun and then at Rachel, her eyes returning to Suho. “It is complicated…”
“Please tell us,” Nayun urges her.
Thus, Tomer complies. “The Djinns see Hyon as savior, and in more extreme cases… as their God. They have grown too attached to him, and would do everything for him… Honestly, it is scary, but considering what he can do for them, I think that this is to be expected.”
There is an intelligent glean in Rachel’s eyes. “It is not totally outside of our expectations.”
“I agree,” Suho shakes his head in half-surprise, “I think I see this happening after he suggested that crazy plan of his to recruit Djinns… still, it is a shocker…”
It has Tomer thinking. A lot has truly happened.
It is all a coincidence as to how she has come to be involved in this secret organization, but she likes doing things here… still, there are things that make her uncomfortable to do despite her more antagonistic disposition prior.
If not for Hyon’s overly persuasive words, Tomer would most likely have declined any of the things requested from her, but now, Tomer is here.
“Is this really ok?” Nayun voices her doubts for good measure. It is a big decision to involve the Djinns in their fold... officially. “What if the Djinns return with their psychopathic tendencies again despite Hyon’s efforts?”
“Then Hyon has to deal with it…” Suho conclusively adds. That means killing them.
Hyon Hyung’s gift is miraculous in that he is able to use [Not Here] to the Djinns to cut off their connection with their devils. As a result, the Djinns that have joined the Savant of Sloth’s faction are able to break free from the Psychopathic Influences of their devils making them as close to human as they can be.
So naturally, the Djinns who want to be human again come to revere the Savant of Sloth.
Since the effects of [Not Here] are not permanent and have to be replenished time and time again, the Djinns become quite dependent on Hyon Hyung. It is a kind of addiction to normality.
“That is all good, but how are you doing, Suho?” Nayun worriedly asks about Suho.
Suho breathes out an annoyed huff. Why people is constantly bothering him about his well-being? It is not like he is sick or dying. “I only dropped out of Cube, and it has been a long time since… Okay? When Hyon shifted to General Academics and dropped off the Hero Course, you all guys were quite chill…”
“…” “…” Rachel and Tomer are fairly quiet.
Chae Nayun dramatically spits back. “Bleh~! Shaddup the whining. So what is it?”
“Sorry about that, guys… That is immature of me venting like that…” Suho exhales a sigh, a bit worried. “I am not liking it. The higher I go, the more dirt I see. Remember Kim Chundong’s story? There are actually a lot more incidents similar to what had happened to him… I also found out that most and the more important files were kept outside the system in that they were physically recorded somewhere, so we cannot just ‘hack’ them you know… I don’t know where to begin… again… It is getting annoying. For now, I am trying to stabilize a faction of my own inside the Hero Association… I am not really good with politicking, but I am managing… And this…”
Suho sends files to the others. The data about Aileen, the Human Dragon, is presented to each one of them. “As we all know, she is a righteous person. When I was just starting in the Association, I kind of secretly sent her the more difficult ‘problems’ I want to be solved fast. I did it anonymously, so we are safe. But that kind of puts Aileen in a hot spot since the Association thinks she is undermining the organization. I intercepted information that focuses on targeting her…”
Rachel responds with a solution already in her mind. “I think I can help with that. I am free lately since I just finished rebuilding the MI6, I can also put them to the test…”
“Be careful Rachel, it is nice to have the resources of a whole country, but operating on foreign soil might compromise you.” Nayun reminds Rachel objectively.
“It will be fine…” Rachel smiles. “England has lots of sleeper agents here in Korea…”
“Seriously?” Nayun feels genuinely surprised.
“In this time and age, patriotism is hard to come by. That is why I have to rely on something else other than patriotism…” Rachel cryptically finishes her words as she is not keen on saying more. She has also changed in the past year, and while she may have become more unscrupulous in her methods, she continues to maintain a righteous heart.
The change in Rachel might have been an effect of Hyon, since Rachel won’t be such a secretive person, not to mention… unscrupulous… To borrow Hyon’s words, righteousness is relative, but wickedness is objective.
“So what does the Association have in mind for targeting the Human Dragon?” Nayun fiddles her hair, trying her best to hide that she is getting bored.
Suho subtly realizes this, so he quickly finishes up his report. “The Association will denounce the Human Dragon eight days from now on for colluding with Djinns. I estimate they will act earnestly starting two weeks from now on. That is all I know…”
“I will learn more,” Rachel adds.
“Good,” Nayun grins, “Then it is my turn now?”
“…” “…” “…”
On a rare occasion, this childish part of Nayun comes out for once in a while. “I checked the calendar this morning, so I realize today is the day.”
“Yeah, the Tower of Miracle exploded,” Suho says with a flat tone.
“Uu—m, yes.” Nayun is suddenly mute since she actually has a speech she prepared for this moment. “Yes, it exploded, and we are on schedule, so…”
“Yeah, Nayun-ssi will swallow Creator’s Scared Grace using Essence of the Strait as the mouthpiece.” Rachel pipes in, disregarding Nayun’s disappointed expression.
“Yes, yes, that is the plan.” Nayun also has a speech in mind about how to say this ‘scheme’ in front of her peers, but she is not able to.
What is the use even with that if everyone knows already what it is? For the sake of all that is good… It is written in the freaking calendar!
“Are we finished? I will go now to report to Hyon… By now, he should be done with whatever he is doing…” Tomer is writing in her virtually summoned notebook diligently. She has been conscientiously writing the minutes of the meeting from the very beginning.
“Yeah, Tomer… you may go now… Everyone adjourned.” Nayun finally lets go of everyone as the meeting comes to a close.
1Funny thing about this chapter is that they keep ignoring the elephant in the room.
