Chapter 3
It was a full three hours before I emerged from the special treatment room.
“I almost pulled the lever when you were about to throw up…!”
“I didn’t raise my hand though.”
“Exactly. I gritted my teeth and endured it because you didn’t give the signal, really.”
Director Shin shuddered as she spoke, finding it horrific even thinking about it again. Well, even I thought it was truly nerve-wracking at the time.
Psychic abilities require delicate control since their application methods and effects vary drastically depending on the target, and when the target shows rejection, it affects the caster proportionally. Just like how terrible nausea surged the moment I tried to approach Kang Juha’s brain.
In severe cases, there’s reverse infiltration that completely destroys the caster’s brain. That’s why I usually tried not to approach the brains of Espers with higher grades than me. One wrong move and I’d get caught up in it.
Moreover, most Espers even undergo resistance training to avoid being affected by psychic types, so dealing with slightly deranged guys was much, much easier than dealing with sane Espers.
And the current Kang Juha – I couldn’t even guess what kind of monster he originally was – not only was brainwashing an issue, but his own mental resistance was so intense that the backlash was severe. Perhaps the aftereffects of resisting the anti-coalition forces until the end were still continuing.
“Kang Juha, I’d only heard about him in words, but he really seems like an amazing guy.”
I hadn’t shown any interest even when the center was in chaos over him, but after seeing him directly, I couldn’t help but be intrigued. To the extent that I wondered if this was why the center director was so obsessed with him.
When Kang Juha went missing and was processed as deceased, there was talk about whether to hold a state funeral or not, but due to the center director who denied his death until the end, it was concluded that no funeral would be held until his body was recovered. However, since three months missing meant death processing was standard, they couldn’t prevent the death report.
Well, in the end, whether it was the center director’s conviction or wish, it turned out to be correct.
“His brain is honestly at a level where a brain death diagnosis could be issued right now, but his willpower is insane, you know? The brainwashing bastard is also something else, but first of all, Kang Juha himself is rejecting approach, so I can’t infiltrate right now. Probably… two weeks? No, I think it’ll take at least a week.”
When I spoke while sipping sugar-replenishing orange juice, Director Shin’s eyes widened.
“A week? You’re saying a week is enough? The center has been looking at over a year? Wow, Team Leader Seong really is different.”
“…Really? They said a year?”
A year. Usually they don’t put that much effort into it.
Most methods of undoing brainwashing are, well, to roughly compare, like a cardiac defibrillator. The principle of a defibrillator is to kill the heart once and then wake it up again, yelling ‘Hey you bastard, won’t you get your act together? Beat properly, in rhythm!’
The method of undoing brainwashing goes a bit further and is like slapping repeatedly. Like slapping someone to keep them from falling asleep when they’re stranded on Mount Everest or something. Slapping someone whose brain has gone slack to tell them to tighten the screws in their brain.
The slight problem is that Kang Juha tries to bite my arm before I can even slap him.
“If they’re looking at a year, they must want him awakened with minimal brain damage.”
“Well, he’s high-grade, no, top-grade personnel. Kang Juha is irreplaceable.”
“I was thinking of trying to mess with him along with electric therapy, but that won’t work then.”
At my muttering, Director Shin’s complexion turned pale.
“…You were thinking of doing that?”
“I won’t do it.”
“…”
“I said I won’t, okay? Promise.”
It was a bit disappointing. I wanted to see the mechanism of how he’d react if given stimulation.
Well, it wouldn’t do to have the mishap of turning Kang Juha into an idiot while trying to reduce his aggression.
“Then I’ll look at it for a month too.”
“…Yeah, let’s do that. Let’s take it slow. But can I ask what you did to Kang Juha just now? No, I’m not suspecting Team Leader Seong. But if he died… I’d have to file a report, right? I’d probably get disciplined too, maybe even dismissed immediately…”
“I knocked him out.”
Director Shin sighed in great relief and patted her chest after hearing me.
“Phew, I see. As expected of Team Leader Seong, I believed in you. Of course, of course, I never had a shred of doubt.”
“I can’t approach his brain right now. His self-healing mechanism seems broken too, so I just stimulated that. They said he’s rejecting treatment too?”
“Right, right, that’s enough. Oh my, you worked hard. You know I’m really grateful, right?”
Somehow that grateful comment sounded like being grateful that I didn’t kill Kang Juha.
No matter how much I had a history of experimenting with various brainwashed guys, I clearly recognized that Kang Juha was an ally, not an enemy. And I had to keep him alive to find the person who messed with his brain.
Until then, I had no intention of harming Kang Juha either. Though I could modify him to be obedient.
“I need to write a report, so I’ll head out first.”
“Sure, sure. Contact me comfortably anytime if you need my help. It’d be good if you could share the next treatment schedule too.”
“Ah, from next time I’ll just bring my secretary in. Since you’re busy, Director.”
Director Shin seemed like she wanted to follow along next time too for surveillance disguised as help, but I appropriately pretended to be oblivious and rejected her request. No matter how close we were, Director Shin was definitely a center director loyalist. If she interfered with various things while I was treating Kang Juha, it would be quite bothersome.
“I really can’t kill him…?”
“I promised, didn’t I?”
* * *
Now then, how should I spread rumors that I properly handled Kang Juha’s brain?
“Hello. We meet again after yesterday. I put you to sleep soundly. How’s your physical condition?”
It seemed staff had visited while Kang Juha was unconscious. His clothes had been changed.
Right, this was much more human-like than lying around like rags. Though seeing the chains binding his limbs and the muzzle still firmly in place, it seemed he was still far from being treated like a person.
When I stood close to the iron bars, I felt a more subdued energy than yesterday. Even porcupines can’t live their whole lives with quills raised, so it was probably closer to being exhausted on his own.
“As expected, I have a duty to inform, so I’ll explain once more. I’m Seong Ihyeon, Information Team Leader of the Information Security Division, National Security Bureau of the center.”
As soon as I finished speaking, Kang Juha thrashed around and the chains clanged loudly.
“Mm, yes. Fortunately you seem physically healthy. I’m relieved that you appear to be recovering well. As expected of an S-class combat-type Esper.”
I chattered pointlessly while walking around the cage once. It was to observe Kang Juha’s physical condition in detail.
“From next time, it would be better to just leave him undressed. External injuries aren’t my jurisdiction, but I still need to know the patient’s condition…”
After thoroughly examining all sides, I returned to my original position. Kang Juha was still glaring at me as if to kill me, and angry veins bulged on his flushed red neck.
“He keeps trying to use his mouth. I don’t know if he thinks of himself as a dog or a wolf, but let’s fix that habit first.”
This time I looked straight into Kang Juha’s eyes. His wary pupils glittered fiercely. If he had even tried to avoid my gaze it would have been more troublesome, but I was grateful that the current Kang Juha had eyes that wanted to tear me apart.
“This will sting a little.”
With a small warning, I began the Kang Juha brain fixing project in earnest. Kang Juha thrashed in pain and screamed.
“It’ll be over soon. Almost done. Good.”
I spoke like a pediatrician giving a vaccination shot.
* * *
A week had passed since I started touching Kang Juha’s brain. The center pressured me constantly as if they’d thrown their child into the water.
When did they start saying it was a year-long project, but now they were urging me as if they wanted Kang Juha recovered to a level ready for mission deployment tomorrow.
But would that be possible? If they’re in such a hurry, they should try it themselves.
If there was one achievement, it was that Kang Juha had started to examine me. At first, he would rush to bite anyone he saw as if he couldn’t see anything. Now he seemed to at least be thinking.
Though that was just calculating whether he had a chance of winning if he fought with me. And such psychological warfare was something even lions in a safari would do.
Still, a safari lion has higher intelligence than a rabid wild beast that tries to bite everything, so wasn’t this quite good progress? The center director didn’t seem satisfied, but I was satisfied for now.
“I’m going into dedicated care for Esper Kang Juha for the time being, so transfer the schedule for interrogating the captured anti-coalition forces to the team members. If they really can’t do it, brain-bleach them and send them to the Esper training center.”
Just dealing with Kang Juha for an hour drained all my energy. Considering I could handle ten regular Espers a day without trouble, this was no ordinary physical exhaustion. My guiding was being sucked out continuously too – at this rate I’d really die from overwork.
So I had no choice but to dump my work on team members. …I’m not dumping it because I don’t want to do it. Absolutely not. I’m not excited right now. Absolutely not.
“Um, Team Leader… I want to do that too. Two team members requested personnel transfers saying they couldn’t handle it anymore. So I requested personnel reinforcement, but there are… no applicants.”
“That can’t be. Not even one?”
“Yes, not even one.”
Park Juyeong, the only useful talent on the team and my secretary, hung his head low.
“Why? Our team’s salary is high, right? Paid leave comes out well too… Don’t people like money?”
“Our team has gotten a reputation at the center.”
“What reputation?”
“A place where you lose your health and gain mental illness.”
“…Aren’t both of those bad?”
“Yes. Exactly.”
I wanted to refute it. But I couldn’t refute it. That made me even sadder.
“I should have quit when I was a newbie too…”
Park Juyeong nodded in agreement with my sigh.
“But you can’t quit. You know that, right?”
“…”
“What, no answer?”
“…”
“Hey. Hey!”
Despite my urgent calls, Park Juyeong stubbornly pretended not to hear and walked ahead.
Naturally, I chased after him… no, I didn’t. A true adult knows to coolly give up and wait for the next one when the crosswalk signal starts blinking. I had to conserve even my breathing stamina, so I couldn’t waste energy on such things.
“If you’re a rabbit, I’ll chase you until I die! No, I’ll chase you even after I die!”
I could hear Park Juyeong crying and shouting from far away.
“Please stop saying such scary things!”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
