Chapter 180: Housewarming Party 3
Translator: - - Editor: - -
After Junhyuk finished speaking, Jeffrey lowered his voice and whispered, "What are you going to do with Sora?"
"We've scheduled a meeting. How are you going to convince her?" Junhyuk asked.
"We might have more money than Doyeol's friends, but Sora has ties to Doyeol. It will be difficult to bring her into our group."
"Yeah?"
"Make her understand the situation. You'll be able to get through to her better than me."
Junhyuk thought for a moment.
"I told her I'd buy her a drink. I'll talk to her then."
Jeffrey pulled out a pen.
"Use this before you talk to her."
"What is that?"
"It detects listening devices and jams them as well."
"That could be useful."
Jeffrey nodded.
"I'm guarding a VIP, so I'm able to get my hands on things like it."
Junhyuk inspected the pen while Jeffrey continued nonchalantly, "Also, there is a new novice."
"A novice?"
"There was a fire in Japan, and a building was totally destroyed by it."
"And it wasn't on the news?!"
"It was on TV, but Japan censored it. They were on site to find out what exactly transpired."
"Internet censorship?! Like Zaira?"
"Right. I found out because I was with Doyeol. They erased everything before people had a chance to find out. Zaira gathered the information and showed it to Doyeol."
"Why do you think it's a novice?"
"The building was entirely destroyed by the fire, and it took less than one minute. There was no trace of it left."
Junhyuk was very surprised. The fire sounded like Vera's flamewall.
"That's too strong for a novice!"
"It's not technologically possible, so they are guessing it's a power."
"How are they going to find him?"
"People are already looking for him in Japan. Our side has also sent R-agents over there to try to win him over."
"If R-agents are involved, it'll be more like capture than persuasion. Is that even possible?"
"The novice only has the fire power. It'll be the only power, but he will also have a lot of health. He may have some equipment, but it was most likely his first deployment, so he won't have a lot of it..." Jeffrey said calmly.
"Even if he delivered a deathblow, he won't have earned much in his first deployment."
It's possible the novice isn't well-equipped, and the R-agents can regenerate. Even more importantly, they are well-trained.
R-agents were trained in weapons handling and had regenerative ability. The novice would have a tough time dealing with them.
Jeffrey smiled and said, "Many will die, but when they find him, they will catch him."
"If he destroyed the entire building with fire, he will probably have PTSD."
"They must catch him before he burns down another building."
"Right."
"The appetizers is here," Jeffrey whispered.
The plates came out, and they both talk nonplussed. Since Joanna was there, they wouldn't talk about the battlefield. Dinner was beer and appetizers, and after it, Junhyuk was finally able to kick Jeffrey out of the house.
He left, and Junhyuk told Sarang the information he had received.
"They have a novice in Japan?" she asked.
"Yes. The novice has a dangerous power, and he probably has PTSD. It's a delicate situation."
If it had happened in South Korea, he might have looked for the novice. He would have definitely found the novice and wouldn't just let him be.
"So, what are they doing about it?"
"The R-agents with their regenerative ability stepped in, and they will find him soon."
"I heard you talking about Sora Shin. What were you talking about?"
"You heard?"
"I wasn't too far away."
Her focus was better than her hearing, which was how she had heard the conversation. Junhyuk had thought the appetizers had come out too quickly, so she had to have heard everything while preparing them with Joanna.
He sighed and replied, "We'll keep you hidden, but it's good to know other novices and, if possible, make them your friends."
"Hm. Turn the novice to our side? That could be interesting."
"Right."
"She can run fast?"
"Yes. I'm curious about whether she was able to run on the battlefield."
"You don't have any ulterior motives?"
Junhyuk flicked her forehead.
"Don't be stupid. Go home now."
"I'm hungry."
"You ate most of the appetizers!"
"Make me some ramen! I don't expect any fancy cooking from you."
He stared at her and sighed.
"Fine. Only because you are hungry. But can you stay out this late?"
"They trust me."
Junhyuk laughed and prepared the meal. He made an omelet and miso soup and took it to Sarang.
"It looks nice!"
"Looks? Taste it."
She took a spoonful of the miso soup, and her eyes widened.
"It's delicious!"
"I've been living by myself for a while. Of course, it's delicious."
She smiled brightly and worked on her meal. Junhyuk smiled at her. It was good to watch someone eating the meal he had prepared. It was different from eating alone.
She slurped on her spoon and gave him the thumbs-up.
"The woman who marries you will get something delicious like this every day?"
"Maybe," he answered and got up. Sarang took the plates.
"I'll help you with the dishes."
"OK."
He washed the dishes with her. Sarang lathered and rinsed them while Junhyuk wiped them and put them away. He looked at her once the dishes were done and found that she had wiped her nose while washing dishes, and there was some foam on it. Junhyuk wiped it off for her.
"Thanks."
"You, too."
She smiled, and he laughed.
"Let's go. Your parents will get worried."
"Can I come again to hang out?"
"You can. Jeffrey knows your face with the mask. Just walk in the front door."
"OK."
They left the house, got in a cab and headed to the Ilsan subway station. He walked her to the subway. Sarang took off her mask and looked at herself in a mirror at the station, and Junhyuk waved good-bye as she left. After that, he headed home.
His house felt empty. Just moments before, Jeffrey, Joanna and Sarang had been laughing in his living room. Junhyuk felt lonely for a moment and shook his head lightly. Then, he teleported to the basement and summoned his swords, swinging them.
The feeling of loneliness went away, and he relaxed. Practicing his swordsmanship helped him gather his thoughts.
---
The basement at Guardians HQ wasn't only an escape route. It also contained a lab imprisonment cell. There were people looking into it. A woman was confined behind the sturdy glass enclosure, and Doyeol was watching her. Her eyes and ears were covered, and she was wearing a straightjacket.
"Is that enough to restrain her?" Doyeol asked Elise.
She smiled and said, "She has a special power, but without an ignition source, she is useless. However, once the fire starts, she can keep it going."
"She burned down a building?"
"Yes. She can increase the fire's temperature to 3,000 degrees celsius."
"She's a human napalm bomb."
"Yes, she is. Because of the R-agents, we found out she could start a fire by sight."
"Is that why her eyes are covered?"
Elise nodded and said, "She ignited a series of fires that killed three R-agents."
"That's a big loss."
There weren't many R-agents. The iron soldiers were machines, so unlike them, they had carefully selected people to become R-agents. They needed to check on whether they were loyal, so it was more difficult to produce R-agents than iron soldiers, and they had lost three agents, even with their regenerative ability.
They had captured the novice without any government finding out about it. It had been possible because they had taken Sora's blood sample and found out about the wavelength in a novice's blood.
"She has PTSD, so she has to rest first," Doyeol said calmly.
"She needs continuous tranquilizer injections and therapy. Do you know a psychologist?"
"I have one already."
Elise knew how fast Doyeol worked, and she looked at the monitors and said, "Sora also needs therapy."
"Right. Did she bring anything back?"
"No, not yet."
"It's nice that she came back alive!"
Jeffrey had a power that helped increase his survival rate. They had thought Sora wouldn't survive the battlefield, but she had. It would be difficult at first, but the more she went there, the more things she would gather and bring back. She also had her own power. By using her 100-meter dash in one second, she would be able to gather stuff.
Doyeol looked at Elise and said, "Don't tell Eunseo anything about Asuka."
She nodded calmly. Elise was working for him and not Eunseo. Eunseo had already told Elise to reveal the Dimensional Battlefield to the public, but Doyeol had vetoed that. After talking to him, Eunseo was now going with the flow.
However, it didn't look like Eunseo was following Doyeol's instructions. Still, she knew Elise was also working for Doyeol and didn't mention it anymore.
They had apprehended Asuka and they knew how Eunseo would respond to that.
Doyeol looked at Asuka and said, "And keep this a secret from Pentagram as well."
Elise stared at him.
"Yes."
Novices had different powers, and they wanted to run research on those different novices with different powers. Elise was trying to find a way to induce powers just like the novices' on ordinary people.
Doyeol left, and she looked at Asuka through the glass, smiled and said, "Let's work together, Asuka."