Chapter 5
Due to the nature of work at the Information Security Division, whenever a new employee comes in, whether I like it or not, I have to look inside that team member’s head. That’s my job.
If there happened to be someone with anti-coalition ideology mixed into our team, or if terrorists or spies had infiltrated, that would truly be a national disaster situation.
But there were often guys who had resistance to that work. Most of them were guys with uncomfortable private lives, and I had to know about their private lives that I didn’t even want to know.
Those guys would always protest to the higher-ups when they left, saying it was an anti-human rights act. Do they think I enjoyed seeing it? You feel bad? I feel fucking awful too, you know?
Phew, I’m getting pissed off again just thinking about it.
It was routine to discover while rummaging through their heads that those bastards had been badmouthing me, and guys who had affairs with multiple departments, guys who hit on Guides… It just hurts my mouth to talk about it.
How could those guys all have such loud mouths? They said they felt wrongfully accused to death, but it was ridiculous. Those bastards even claimed I was receiving special treatment at the center.
It’s not like I was free from confidentiality restrictions either. Rather, the center director would shake out my head without leaving a speck of dust.
Every quarter, I’m confined to a special interrogation room with all kinds of restraints hanging from me. After dropping my guiding levels to 20% just before rampage, they administer anesthetics used on rampaging Espers and put me in a semi-comatose state for three days.
During that time, someone appointed by the center director comes and thoroughly rummages through my head, and it was mostly Director Shin who played that role. So Director Shin and I were in what you might call a “you know too much” kind of relationship.
For that reason, the moment Director Shin or I cross borders without the center’s permission, we become level 1 wanted criminals, and similarly, the moment we leave the center without permission, a kill order is issued.
That’s why the two of us are always gathering to play Go Fish. With a sense of camaraderie in misfortune.
Even for us who know most of the center’s secrets, there was one thing that was strictly forbidden. That was looking inside the heads of S-class combat-type Espers. Their work itself was classified as the nation’s highest level secret, so even as National Security Bureau personnel, we didn’t have authority to access their information.
But there was a big dilemma that I couldn’t treat Kang Juha without accessing it.
“How did the permission request go?”
I had put in an information access permission request directly to the center director.
“Permission came through. Conditionally.”
“Conditionally?”
As expected, they wouldn’t give it easily.
“That thing we did quarterly… they want to do it monthly.”
“Ah, rummaging through my head?”
“…Yes. What should we do?”
“What do you mean what should we do? They tell me to fix Kang Juha but don’t look inside Kang Juha’s brain? It’s like putting a blindfold on a doctor entering an operating room.”
“Right.”
“Tch… Should I ask if I can freely knead Kang Juha’s brain as I please? Should I make a hotline call?”
“I’ll excuse myself. I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”
As expected of someone perceptive, he knew exactly where he needed to back out. I was just talking idly too, I had no intention of actually implementing it.
“Tell them I agree. Whether they rummage or not.”
“Yes. They say they’ll issue permission immediately once approval is received.”
“What are you doing? Go get permission.”
“Yes.”
“Ah, and buy a chocolate bar when you come back. Not the healthy kind with high protein content, but one that’s a lump of sugar.”
“What? A chocolate bar? For you to eat, Team Leader?”
“No, not for me.”
When I pointed to the monitor with my chin, Juyeong made a subtle expression, then nodded and disappeared.
* * *
I forgot that Kang Juha’s intelligence level was such that he couldn’t unwrap a chocolate bar. When I held it out still packaged, he threw it to the floor and roughly kneaded it with his hands. It happened so quickly I couldn’t stop it, so I could only stand there like a stunned person.
“Hey! That’s a commercial chocolate bar! A pure lump of sugar that’s hard to get inside the center!”
How could he ruin it all like that!
It was funny that I was yelling over a mere 2,000 won chocolate bar, but commercial chocolate bars were actually quite hard to obtain items inside the center. For S-class Espers whose outings were strictly restricted, it was rarer than precious wild ginseng.
If you ask why, the biggest reason was that while there were convenience stores and marts inside the center, ultra-processed foods like commercial chocolate bars weren’t treated as sale items for the health of employees. It was a place that recommended boiled eggs or blanched broccoli as snacks.
“Please… let me unwrap it instead. Give it to me, please… Kang Juha-ssi. Kang Juha-ssi? Can you hear me? Can you hear me?”
How convenient would it be if I could at least control his brain?
“…I could just do it, couldn’t I?”
At the current stage, it would be difficult to control thoughts or memories, but actions might be possible. Something as simple as handing over a chocolate bar wouldn’t touch deep unconsciousness or go against personal beliefs, so there shouldn’t be any rejection reaction.
I clapped to get Kang Juha’s attention and immediately made eye contact. It wasn’t necessary to make eye contact when using abilities, but this way was much easier to infiltrate.
I felt a bit skeptical about myself injecting a behavioral command into Kang Juha’s brain to hand me the chocolate bar, but…
“It worked!”
It was quite an achievement when Kang Juha, whose eyes had gone dull, walked over and held out the chocolate bar.
“Then I’ll unwrap this for you… Agh!”
“What the hell are you? What are you doing, you fucking bastard?”
I hadn’t anticipated that Kang Juha would regain consciousness for a split second and reach his hand outside the bars to grab my arm.
Thanks to that, the chocolate bar in Kang Juha’s hand rolled on the floor, and my wrist felt like it would break at any moment. The problem was that I had stuck my hand inside the bars to receive the chocolate bar.
Had my vigilance disappeared just because we’d spent one night together? It was a stupid mistake.
“Wait, let go and let’s talk.”
If push came to shove, I could infiltrate his mind again and knock him out. From my perspective, I was actually grateful that he’d regained consciousness over one chocolate bar.
Grrrrowl.
But soon the beast-like growling sound I heard made me freeze.
“Fucking… need to kill… them all.”
Kang Juha was grumbling and muttering murderous words in a low voice. His eyes were unfocused and vacant. He didn’t even seem conscious that he was speaking.
As soon as I saw that, I forgot that my wrist was being held and pressed my face close to the bars.
“Who?”
As I asked the question, I sent a weak stimulus to Kang Juha’s brain.
“Everyone… need to kill…”
“Who ordered it?”
Grrr.
I thought he wouldn’t answer easily, but his condition worsened as if that part was properly blocked off. He clutched his head in pain and rolled on the floor.
Hearing his agonized screams, I had no choice but to give up approaching his brain. Instead, I picked up the chocolate bar that had fallen to the floor and unwrapped it.
“Recharge your sugar.”
I made only Kang Juha’s body move to put the chocolate bar in his hand. Since he just stared at it blankly for a while, I kindly helped him put it in his mouth and chew.
* * *
From the next day, I focused on awakening Kang Juha’s mind in earnest. First, starting with returning his name to him.
“Kang Juha-ssi.”
Kang Juha didn’t seem to know that it was his name, but he seemed to roughly understand that it was a word referring to himself.
Whether his speaking when I gave him the chocolate bar was just a momentary coincidence when his reason returned, he didn’t speak again even after several days passed.
“Kang Juha-ssi.”
I called his name while lightly tapping the bars. Still in a state close to a beast, he reacted more easily to the sound of me tapping the bars than to me calling his name. Perhaps that’s why when he turned around, he wasn’t looking at me but staring intently at my hand.
“Don’t tell me… is it the chocolate bar?”
The thought of “don’t tell me” was immediately put into action. I had Juyeong get individually wrapped chocolates and received them within a few hours.
As expected, it was commercial chocolate full of sugar. Since it was wrapped individually in plastic like candy, it was much easier to unwrap than the chocolate bar I’d given him before.
Even Kang Juha should be able to handle this much.
“Kang Juha-ssi.”
Tap tap. When I tapped the bars, his gaze immediately fixed on my hand.
When I held up the chocolate and shook it, at first he seemed suspicious not knowing what it was, then I could see him walking toward me.
“Do you want to eat this?”
It was just a joke question, but Kang Juha nodded.
“…Wait. You want to eat it?”
He nodded again.
I got excited again and this time pressed everything from my face to my body against the bars.
“Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Nod.
Hmm, something’s strange.
“Are you stupid, Kang Juha-ssi?”
Nod.
“…Have some chocolate.”
He was apparently just nodding unconsciously.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
