Chapter 436: Lily of the Valley (11)
Chapter 436: Lily of the Valley (11)
"Seo-Eun, you've had a long day, so let's go to bed early. We'll talk more tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay..."
After Da-in's long meeting at the Association, Han Seo-Eun walked weakly to her room.
After washing up, she laid down on the bed.
As she closed her eyes, she thought.
'...Eun-eun, okay? You... hurry... Run away...'
Hmph.
Horrible, old memories.
"....."
As she lay in bed, Seo-eun's face grew pale and tired.
She vowed to take revenge on the HanEun Group.
She vowed to get revenge on them for their horrific experiments and imprisonment, especially on Kim Sun-woo, the man who had planned it all.
That's what drove her but then the HanEun Group showed up and she found herself trembling, unable to do anything.
And it's clear why.
It's because of those fire masters she saw today.
'...It's obvious.'
She wasn't convinced yet, that's why she didn't tell Da-in but the more I watched that video, the more she looked at the people who could control fire, Han Seo-Eun was convinced of something.
'...That ability, for sure.'
Han Seo-Eun wasn't the only test subject of the HanEun Group.
There were three other test subjects, who were like siblings to her, a total of four test subjects, including Han Seo-Eun.
The experiment was designed to give humans artificial, acquired superpowers.
In that experiment, she and three other test subjects were studied.
The HanEun tried to artificially implant fire powers into humans.
'...Seo-eun, don't worry. We'll get out of this place.'
They had abilities so similar to hers.
The moment she saw them, Han Seo-eun felt nostalgic...and nightmarish memories kept coming back to her.
And she knew that they all failed, except for her.
Even the only successful experiment, Han Seo-eun, ran away, and the project of artificially cultivating superpowers, was thought to have been canceled.
However, Kim Sun-woo had finally succeeded and it was something she had to tell Da-in.
...We'll talk more about it tomorrow, then.
Okay. Let's tell him everything tomorrow.
And...about how to deal with the HanEun Group.
She had to tell Da-in about her resolve.
With that thought, she tried to drift off to sleep but...
-Run away, Seo-eun. Run away...
-Seo-eun, run away. Abandon us. Run away by yourself...
-Seo-eun.
-Are you happy that you survived?
"Hmph... Ugh..."
Of course, she couldn't sleep.
As she lay in bed, she heard voices, voices, voices. Some were real, some were reconstructed in her imagination, and some were illusions created by her own guilt.
As she lay there, alone and in tears of anguish, she realized that she would never be able to sleep properly tonight so she thought for a moment.
Then, like a ghost, she crawled out of bed, grabbed her pillow, and made a decision.
I need to take extraordinary measures.
I need to start preparing in earnest starting tomorrow, so I can't stay up all night.
Tonight, I'll sleep with Da-in....!
***
~Da-in's bedroom~
Seo-eun laid down on the bed after asking him, and closed her eyes, feeling his presence beside her.
She could faintly smell him under the covers.
...She came to Da-in room to sleep, but when she lay down next to him, she realized something.
'No. It's good that I don't have nightmares anymore, but...'
My heart is pounding so hard that I can't sleep...!
"Ugh..."
Han Seo-Eun tossed and turned for a while, fighting with herself.
...But it was probably because she had been running all day and suffered a lot.
She felt her consciousness fading as she gradually fell into a deep sleep.
She opened her eyes and glanced up at Da-in, who was reclining on the bed reading a book, before closing them again and drifting off to sleep.
'How interesting...'
I'm not really doing anything, just being next to him.
Why do all my bad thoughts immediately disappear?
Why do I feel so relieved?
With these questions on her mind, Seo-eun finally drifted off into a deep dreamland.
~The next morning~
"Mmm... Mmm... Mmm?"
Han Seo-Eun woke up in the morning sunlight, then she felt a warmth, and the sensation of being hugged by something hard and fluffy.
She gently opened her eyes at the strange sensation.
"...Ouch."
"Seo-Eun, did you sleep well...?"
She saw Da-in's face with an embarrassed smile and Seo-eun's face immediately turned bright red.
******
After somehow rushing out of Da-in's room, she washed herself, ate breakfast, and told her friends that she couldn't go to school for a while due to various reasons.
Seo-eun immediately called Da-in to tell him what she knew.
The flame ability was one of the things that HanEun's group was researching in the artificial superpower implantation experiment when she was a test subject.
She stuttered and struggled to speak, as the past made her head hurt just thinking about it.
As if he understood everything, he nodded with a serious face and said.
"I see. Seo-eun, thank you for telling me. I guess they must be artificially created superhumans by the HanEun Group."
Then maybe...
She muttered to Da-in, who was lost in thought.
Seo-eun stared at him for a moment, then clenched her fists as if she had made a decision and said to Da-in.
"Da-in..."
"...?"
"I want to take revenge on the HanEun Group myself," she declared.
Da-in face was colored with surprise.
'Good.'
Let's try to convince him.
***
The day after Seo-Eun slept with me, she told me, in a tired voice, what she knew about the HanEun Group's abilities.
That is, the flame power they used yesterday was part of the HanEun Group's experiment with artificial superpowers.
'...The experiment that was said to have failed in the original story, except for Seo-eun.'
In the original that was only mentioned as a background setting for Seo-eun and there was no mention of it afterward.
So, perhaps, the experiment was successful in this world.
How?
'I need to find out more about this.'
That's what I was thinking when Seo-Eun suddenly told me something.
"I, myself, want to take revenge on the HanEun Group."
"?"
I wondered if she realized what I was wondering.
Seo-eun took a small deep breath, looked me in the eye, and began to tell me what she was thinking.
"You know what, Da-in. Last night..."
At such length, Seo-eun began to tell me what she was feeling and one conclusion.
"I think. I think I should do it myself."
She wants to make her own suit and be on the front lines.
That only by taking down the HanEun Group with her own hands will this long-standing trauma go away.
"No, Seo-eun, it's too dangerous. Just back me up from behind."
Naturally, I immediately tried to object.
It was absurd. After all the trouble I'd gone through to keep Seo-eun safe, I couldn't believe she would go into battle herself, but...
"....."
I looked at Seo-Eun, who was looking up at me with anxious eyes.
...For a moment, I felt weak.
Actually, I don't know how much trauma the HanEun Group has caused Seo-eun.
I tried to read the past through the original story, but that method has its limitations.
In fact, in the original, Seo-Eun's resentment of HanEun Group eventually extended to resentment of this world, and she became a villain...and judging by her reaction yesterday...I can only think that it's huge.
Probably the memory of this group will haunt her for the rest of her life.
She'd feel better if she smashed it with her own hands.
"...Hmm."
Actually, now that I think about it, wasn't Seo-Eun around this age when she debuted as the villain White Witch?
In the original, Seo-Eun had such overwhelming (technological) power that even Stardus could barely stop her, and she destroyed them all, if not injured them.
If I, who is no longer bound by the Star God and has become more powerful, can support her from behind, she shouldn't be injured, assuming she's wearing a suit.
The kid's grown up, too. She's still in high school, but she's an adult, past her birthday...
I'll let her choose.
I wonder if she read my hesitation.
"Da-in...?"
Seo-eun felt that this was her chance, and she held my hand tightly and looked up at me with eager eyes.
I thought about it for a moment, then sighed and said.
"...First, make the suit. I'll see how it looks."
"...! Yes!!!"
At my words, Seo-eun jumped for joy and flew off to the basement, promising to make the suit right away.
A few days later,
"Da-in, it's finished!"
She grabbed my hand and dragged me down to the basement.
"Voila. Look!"
The suit she so proudly showed me was in the middle of the basement.
It shines silver, and it's set slightly taller than Seo-Eun. The suit is made of steel, with no sign of Seo-Eun's body at all.
"This suit is bulletproof, and can withstand any kind of bomb...The helmet has everything from night vision to infrared detection, the left hand shoots plasma, and there's a small missile booster on the back..."
Seo-Eun explains intently, her eyes shining at me.
I couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat and clap my hands.
"Yes...You passed."
Seo-Eun must be a genius...