Chapter 439: Lily of the Valley (14)

Chapter 439: Lily of the Valley (14)

Today's broadcast recap.

The HanEun group attacked the broadcast stations.

Egostic defeated them with his new ally, Silver Steel!

Peace has returned to Korea. Good, good, good~!

"......"

But something was wrong.

On the top floor of the station, where the researchers who tried and failed to broadcast something until the very end were lying dead, I turned off the stream and stood there for a moment, clutching my chin in thought.

"...Something's not right."

I had a nagging feeling that wouldn't go away.

Feeling that emotion, I turned to Seo-Eun and asked her.

"Seo-eun, when we first turned on the broadcast, we hijacked the airwaves and broadcast it to the whole country, right?"

"...Yes. Ha, ha, ha... That's right."

Seo-eun, who had taken off her suit's helmet was crouched on the stepped ledge on the wall of the broadcasting station, gasped for breath and replied to me.

And then I asked her again.

"Is it hard?"

"What? Well... it's hard. You need equipment, facilities, antennas..."

"Okay. How about for the HanEun Group?"

"Well, with the technology of the HanEun Group... I think they can do it."

"Yeah...I guess so."

Seo-eun, still sweating profusely, didn't seem to understand what I wanted to say.

I looked at her and muttered to myself.

"Then...why did the HanEun Group take over the station without hijacking the airwaves?"

"What?"

At Seo-eun's question, I fell silent, lost in thought.

Why would the HanEun Group, an organization, not use that method and go to the trouble of taking over three stations at the same time to broadcast something?

'Was there a reason to transmit only from the station...?'

Or that they couldn't use that much technology and had to take over the stations by force.

But either way, their grand plan was ruined.

I don't know what they were planning to broadcast, but the broadcasters were still broadcasting the same old. The plan to do something with the broadcasting was foiled.

It was just.

'I wonder what they were trying to broadcast...'

I still had that doubt.

What were they trying to say with the broadcast? A declaration of war against the Republic of Korea or a hypnotic broadcast to the nation?

...It was unknown now since they physically destroyed the data before we caught them, leaving no evidence.

I'm guessing Stardus side it's the same.

If they tried it so hard to hide it, they wouldn't even release it on YouTube or something.

"Hmm..."

That's when I continued to ponder the question.

"...Ha, ha. Da-in."

It was then that I heard Seo-eun's voice calling me.

I unconsciously turned my head and looked down at Seo-Eun, who was still breathing heavily with a troubled expression, and regained my senses.

'That's right. Today must have been the first day she experienced this kind of terrorism in real life...'

I was so insensitive.

Scolding myself, I walked over to Seo-eun.

"Seo-eun, are you okay?"

"No..."

And in response to my question Seo-Eun replied with a struggle.

***

Han Seo-eun fought her first real battle.

After defeating the enemies of HanEun's group with her suit, she sat with her heart pounding like it was about to explode.

"Hah...Hah..."

She thought she had fought well.

'I dodged their blows, and I returned fire.'

It was just like training. It wasn't hard.

Except.

The only difference was that these were real people.

These were all real, living people.

Even if they were evil, the sensation of hitting a human being was very strange. I'd rather they were monstrous in appearance, so I could act without thinking.

And then again....After the fire powers, their blue electricity powers...

"....."

Seo-eun, who had been grunting and suffering alone, finally thought.

'...You've been doing all this in silence all this time.'

No. On the contrary, he's been broadcasting without showing any signs of pain.

He must be more human than anyone else, but how?

I asked myself that question.

Han Seo-eun unknowingly asked Da-in, who had come to comfort her.

"Da-in..."

"Huh?"

"Da-in, how did you manage to stop all these things so far? Haha...Wasn't it hard?"

I asked.

Da-in paused for a moment, as if he hadn't expected to be asked such a question.

Then he smiled and said,

"It was hard. When I first caught the villain, I even opened a few bottles of soju before catching him. I thought I couldn't do it while in my right mind. Didn't I tell you?"

"What?? No, you didn't tell me! Doing something so dangerous..."

"Haha, calm down. It ended without any problems. Of course, I'm the one who's not a hero in the first place..."

After saying that, the Da-in raised his head, fixed his hat, and looked off into the distance.

"I had a certain conviction, a determination to protect this world. That I would protect you, Seo-Eun, from this dangerous world."

That belief helped me keep my sanity as I continued to fight.

I had a clear purpose.

When Da-in had finished, he looked at her again and said with his usual kind smile.

"So, Seo-eun, I want you to have convictions, too. Something you want to be. What you want to stand for. A desire for the path you want to walk. If you have that, then...you won't get lost, no matter what."

Having said that, Da-in held out his hand and smiled.

"...I know it was hard for you, Seo Eun, but you've been very good today, thank you for your efforts. It might be dangerous to stay here, so shall we go now?"

Behind the glass of the half-destroyed building, with her back to the incoming light, she looked at Da-in, who held out his hand towards her.

"Yes..."

Seo-Eun reached out and took his hand in hers before she could stop herself.

Beliefs... My purpose in life...What I want to accomplish...

He said I'll be able to fight better if I have them.

Han Seo-Eun's cheeks flushed red, and she clutched Da-in hand tightly.

'What can I do, Da-in?'

All I can think of is that I want to be connected to you...

******

Anyway, that was the end of the attack on the station.

At the Association, meetings began once again about their purpose.

"They're up to something, it's obvious, they're up to something."

And from the start, the president of the association muttered.

"They must be trying to broadcast something from the station. Something they'd sacrifice this much power to broadcast. I can't sleep at night because I'm worried about it!!!"

Seeing the Association President so frustrated, Stardus, sitting across from me, ruffled her blonde hair and sighed before replying.

"They've erased them from my sector as well...There's no way to know, but there's a chance they'll post it online, so we should still keep an eye on them."

"Yeah... and speaking of surveillance, Lee Seola, what's the status of your CCTV surveillance? Did you find out where the HanEun Group is based?"

The president of the association asked in an excited tone.

Lee Seola sighed and turned her head away.

"Unfortunately, they've moved around and destroyed most of the CCTVs."

"What the...!"

Before the president could get frustrated, Lee Seola smiled wryly.

"But there's always a way. Even if they're human, they have their limits. If our technicians work together and run all the CCTVs from the time of the invasion, we'll eventually be able to trace their movements back to them~"

"Are you serious...! When do you think that will be possible?"

"Umm... It'll probably take a few months."

"Haha...months, but at least there's hope."

After saying that, the Association President wiped his sweat and said to me,

"What do you think, Egostic, what do you think they're up to, having been in direct confrontation with them?"

I was silent for a moment, gathering my thoughts, and then slowly spoke.

"Um... I don't know, I'm not sure yet."

Sooner or later, something big is going to happen that will reveal the whole truth.

I thought to myself.

***

~At that time, the base of the HanEun Group~

"I'm sorry, Doctor. I failed..."

"...No, you didn't. It was my mistake to underestimate their power. I was imprudent, trying too hard to usher in a new era."

The Doctor replied.

...More accurately, he was too preoccupied with other things to reflect on his failure.

No. To be fair, he didn't see the station operation as a failure.

They found valuable information, worth the cost of a few lives.

[Oppa, it's dangerous...!]

'Han Seo-eun.'

He looked at the gray suit flying on the screen and smiled gravely.

The final piece of this whole plan, the one ultimate ingredient, the one thing he was afraid he'd miss in the end, the test subject that would put everything on a pedestal finally reappeared.

"...It's fate, it's fate, it's fate, it's fate."

Muttering to himself, he summoned his elite troops and gave them a single order.

Find Han Seo-Eun, and bring her to me.

Since he had already turned his eyes to Han Seo-eun, he hadn't been able to think properly until this point.

He forgot about Han Seo-Eun's backer and guardian, Egostic.