Seo Won returned to the hotel where he was staying and soon decided to return to the mansion.
“What about the rest of the schedule, you crazy bastard?”
It was understandable that Yoon Jeong-ho was so incredulous, as the demonstration schedule had barely passed a day.
“The demonstration I needed to showcase is already finished. You can handle the rest of the schedule without any issues.”
“There’s a fucking huge problem with that,” Yoon Jeong-ho retorted, tilting his head and raising an eyebrow defiantly.
“Fine. Even if you handle the boring proceedings or minor demonstrations, the one on the last day is something you should do. That’s the main event.”
“No, it’s better if someone else does it. I’ll leave that to Manager Park on our side.”
Yoon Jeong-ho’s face contorted at Seo Won’s response.
“Manager Park, who came as an assistant for this demonstration? He’s just a regular person.”
“That’s exactly why I’m having him do it.”
Most of the key figures participating in this demonstration were either unregistered Ability Users themselves or had such individuals by their side. They all had tremendous interest in this demonstration, equal to or even greater than the Esper Association.
Seo Won recalled the prototype used during the onboard party.
A capsule about 25cm in length containing a transparent liquid.
Its applied version would be combined with the ‘AI Hologram Box’ created by Yoon Jeong-ho’s company to present a vivid demonstration.
The box reads the brain waves of the operator, creating an AI human in the desired form.
This was the most important final demonstration of the event.
The AI human created this way acts like a real living person based on pre-provided brain waves. Although it can only be maintained for about 30 minutes currently, if it successfully demonstrates its capabilities, it would be enough to garner enthusiastic interest and significant investment from the attendees.
“What the participants eagerly waiting until the last day want to see isn’t just some ordinary display of an Ability User’s powers. For a greater impact, it’s better to have a ‘non-Ability User’ lead the demonstration.”
Everyone knew that Seo Won was an Esper.
The second battery, ‘Urban Crystal Battery,’ which caused a sensation, was successful because it incorporated Seo Won’s ESP.
There were several reasons why other companies repeatedly failed in developing a second battery using ice.
Seo Won, who had just returned to the hotel, soon decided to go back to the mansion.
Even minor troubles could cause temperature changes, melting the ice and altering the volume within the battery. The material itself was sensitive to environmental conditions, and its low density limited capacity and made it difficult to effectively transfer charge.
Seo Won, with his ice abilities, focused on researching his own powers to develop the second battery. He explored various types of ice: ice that doesn’t melt, ice that isn’t cold, ice that is resistant to damage, ice that is unaffected by the environment, ice as light as a feather, and ice so heavy it could crush anything. By thoroughly analyzing his abilities, Seo Won applied them to the development of the second battery, which led him to other research directions. The result of this additional research was the capsule demonstrated at the onboard party for the association executives.
This capsule acted as a medium allowing anyone to use the contained “ability.” Thus, Cha Min-hyung, who was the guide at the time, could release ice using a capsule containing “Seo Won’s ability.”
The AI Hologram Box, set to be the finale of this demonstration event, contained an upgraded version of that capsule. If an ordinary person with no abilities could successfully demonstrate such a device, it would prove its revolutionary nature, likely attracting massive investments and significantly increasing the company’s value. The Esper Association, deeply involved in the capsule’s development, would be at the center of this success.
After quickly calculating these outcomes in his mind, Seo Won patted Yoon Jeong-ho on the shoulder.
“There probably won’t be any more terror attacks. Go ahead and conduct the demonstration without worry.”
“How can you be so sure?” Yoon Jeong-ho asked sullenly. It seemed reckless to be so confident after the recent unexpected terrorist attack.
“They know what they’re looking for isn’t here, so there’s no reason for them to risk coming back.”
Seo Won thought back to the fierce gaze and enraged voice of Kang Woo-chan, the terrorists’ guide. Regardless of Cha Han-gyeom’s presence, Kang Woo-chan clearly wanted Seo Won dead.
The problem was, Seo Won felt the same way—he wanted to kill them all too.
Seo Won’s intense killing intent was palpable as he thought about Kang Woo-chan’s obsession with Cha Han-gyeom. Despite this, Yoon Jeong-ho smiled calmly.
“Too bad there aren’t any hostages left; they might have come back for them.”
Seo Won showed a hint of regret.
“They never intended to take hostages in the first place.”
When Seo Won returned to the hotel, he immediately sought out the bellboy sent by the terrorist group to find their hideout and uncover their background. If the bellboy didn’t cooperate, Seo Won was prepared to use a mental ability user from the association to extract a confession, even if it left the bellboy incapacitated.
However, despite being tightly bound and under strict surveillance, the bellboy soon died, coughing up blood after a small explosion.
Even with a gruesome corpse before him, its insides ruptured, Lim Du-hyuk didn’t so much as flinch as he directly identified the cause of the explosion. He showed Seo Won the remnants of a bloodied micro-bomb. It seemed the bellboy had deliberately swallowed the micro-bomb before coming to the hotel.
The strange thing was, even though he must have felt the bomb exploding inside him, the bellboy endured the pain and even forced a smile. It was as if his task was now complete.
According to Lim Du-hyuk, the bellboy was killed by a time bomb that could be turned on and off remotely, so he had thoroughly searched the vicinity within sight. It was clear that someone had remotely detonated the bomb, causing the bellboy’s death, but unfortunately, they hadn’t found any particular anomalies or apprehended any suspicious individuals.
It was at that moment that a commotion arose from the mansion, which Lim Du-hyuk reported to Seo Won.
‘Thinking about it chronologically…’
Seo Won slowly scanned the bodyguards standing guard inside the suite, Yoon Jeong-ho, and Lim Du-hyuk with his eyes.
‘Cha Han-gyeom’s doppelganger disappeared, and not long after, the bellboy died. Immediately after that, a problem occurred at the mansion.’
The timing was too perfect, too precisely aligned.
Seo Won couldn’t help but realize what this timing implied.
‘There’s a spy.’
Seo Won thought that there was definitely a spy from the terrorist group among the people close to him.
However, deducing who it was wouldn’t be easy.
Seo Won hadn’t brought in any new servants to the mansion for a while. The security team had also been together for a long time without any new recruits.
That meant it was more accurate to say that someone around him wasn’t planted as a spy by the terrorist group, but was ‘cooperating’ with them.
‘Who is it?’
No one immediately came to mind.
He couldn’t think of anyone who would betray him and team up with terrorists for personal gain.
‘Gain, huh…’
Gain wasn’t necessarily limited to physical acquisition, honor, or authority.
Something invisible.
If emotional satisfaction was also considered a clear form of gain, then the scope of his thoughts broadened considerably.
Seo Won paused, his eyes lost in thought for a moment, before taking a step.
“Let’s go back.”
Seo Won left Yoon Jeong-ho and his bodyguards behind, heading towards the mansion where Cha Han-gyeom was.
At Seo Won’s urging, their group was able to arrive at the mansion in the early morning.
Having driven all night without sleep, Seo Won looked for Cha Han-gyeom as soon as he arrived.
Unlike usual, Han-gyeom wasn’t in Seo Won’s bedroom. It was the very room Han-gyeom had been assigned when he first stayed at the mansion.
The fact that he was staying somewhere other than his bedroom momentarily displeased Seo Won, but he didn’t show it as he walked down the hallway.
It had only been a day.
Just one day apart, yet his heart was pounding twice as hard as usual, and his insides felt like they were burning with longing.
He wanted to see him quickly.
He had almost had a seizure; was he alright? Had he developed any other pain in that short time? Was he injured anywhere?
Even though he had received sufficient reports from Ah-young on the way, he wanted to ask him directly.
Besides that, he had many other things to ask.
Had he slept well while he was gone?
Had he eaten properly?
…Had he missed him?
Just those trivial things were what he wanted to ask. He himself found it absurd, but still, every time he thought of such questions, his heart fluttered, and it felt quite pleasant.
As he walked, picturing Han-gyeom’s beautifully smiling face, he found himself standing in front of the door to his room before he knew it.
The moment he was about to open the door without hesitation, a loud voice erupted from inside.
