Chapter 2: What Else Can We Do?
“Hey. Didn’t you know that smoking is totally prohibited in all areas except designated smoking zones?”
A well-dressed Asian man was standing there, glaring at Gang-ho while holding onto a large husky’s leash.
Haa. My heart…
Gang-ho let out a short breath. Thank goodness it wasn’t one of those scary situations he had feared. But the relief was short-lived.
[Name]: Satoshi Hanjo.
[Affiliation]: Security Agency
[Rank]: Level 2 Security Officer
[Species]: Human / Pure
[Grade]: Unawakened.
[Traits]: Unawakened.
Seeing the information floating between him and the man, Gang-ho sighed internally.
Hoo. It’s been a while since I’ve seen this guy. This is definitely not a psychological issue.
The sight of a transparent status window appearing sans any scout goggles or helmets was a symptom he’d gotten used to.
At first, it had been super confusing. He had worried this might also be a hallucination like hearing things. So, out of caution, he had contacted the central control room and the tech support team. But even in the ultra-high-tech World Species Repository, such a function didn’t exist.
Maybe I should have asked about it after all.
Just moments before, he had hesitated to bring this symptom up with Dr. Lisa. After a brief internal debate, he decided to keep quiet, predicting the doctor’s response. After all, hadn’t he questioned his own sanity at times?
I think my guess was right.
A month prior, when he had memorized all the disaster manuals, he suddenly heard a ringing in his ears.
– Information synchronization has been completed.
At the time, he wondered if it was a hallucination, but it sounded distinctly different from that. And after he heard that voice, every time he looked around, that information would pop into his mind.
After meticulously mulling over the phenomenon, he came to one conclusion.
This is information I saw in the disaster manuals.
If that’s the case, then the term “synchronization” made sense. He inadvertently memorized all the content, and instead of just thinking about it, it appeared right in front of him. However, he had no idea why this phenomenon occurred only for him.
If you think about convenience, it’s not bad. It’s intuitive and clear, so it’s actually a good thing.
There were some minor questions, though. Some items were unclear.
Species, grade, traits—what are all these?
But the real problem lay elsewhere.
– Prototype synchronization and patch completion.
– The prototype ability expansion and enhancement process has commenced.
Regarding the status window phenomenon, he could at least connect it to the disaster manuals—but this new information was totally out of the blue.
What on earth is a prototype? And what does “process initiated” mean?
Fortunately, these questions were soon cleared up.
It was time to try everything he could think of given his lack of direction. He suddenly recalled the special training he had done alongside rehabilitation training.
At that time, he hadn’t found any peculiarities. But as he retried it, strange phenomena occurred.
Pishit.
A glowing orb formed on his palm. Simultaneously, the thought popped into his head:
Could it be… nano chips?!
Among the key terms explained by his attending physician were two: special serum and nano chips. He had confirmed the effects of the special serum during rehabilitation, which had significantly enhanced his physical abilities beyond human limits.
And was this the kind of phenomenon the researchers were expecting?
Han Gang-ho had to stare in disbelief at the glowing orb in his palm for quite a while.
Afterward, while doubting his hallucination, he made time to research and practice further. He consistently sought out related phenomena, papers, and various materials. So, finding a reasonable explanation wasn’t overly difficult.
Plasma.
If he could manipulate plasma freely, it would become something recorded in human history like bronze, iron, gunpowder, and nuclear energy. He had cited Iron Man’s plasma as a pertinent example. However, more research was needed; right now, that level of understanding was just the limit of his imagination.
Even if I concede a hundred times, it’s truly unbelievable.
As he pondered the information about Satoshi, his thoughts drifted away. Then he glanced at the unusually large, good-looking husky beside him.
But by the way, is that a wolf or a dog?
[Name]: Wolf
[Affiliation]: Security Agency
[Rank]: Level 1 Security Officer / Detection Dog
[Species]: Wolf-dog / First mutation.
[…]: …
Ah, I see. So it really is a wolf-dog.
The moment Gang-ho confirmed that Wolf was Satoshi’s superior, he couldn’t help but chuckle slightly.
Pfft.
But that laugh earned him a glare from the security officer.
“Are you laughing? Do you find what I’m saying funny?!”
Gang-ho quietly watched the angry man, letting the now burned down cigarette butt drop to the floor. No matter who was right or wrong, he found the man’s overly pressuring attitude from the beginning unpleasant. So he decided to just brush it off casually.
“Sure. I’m sorry.”
“……”
Satoshi, irritated by Gang-ho’s facial expression, tone, and attitude, grew even angrier.
“… Identification check.”
Gang-ho placed his forehead against the fan scanner the man presented without any refusal.
“A security officer, huh? Ha!”
Satoshi scoffed derisively before pulling out a holographic pad to check Gang-ho’s identity.
“Hmm? What’s this?”
He frowned as he alternated between the security officer and the pad.
What the heck? Why is all the information inaccessible?
As Satoshi scanned Gang-ho up and down again, he requested basic information through communication.
– This person was recommended by the Minister of National Defense of the Republic of Korea and has received presidential approval. It’s confirmed that he’s a former special forces captain.
– Don’t cause any mistakes and let him go. If something goes wrong, you’re outta here.
“Ah, yes. Understood.”
Ending the communication, Satoshi bit his lower lip.
What the hell… why is such an important person working as a security officer? Actually, why is he even here in this underground level?
His confusion and astonishment made a degree of sense.
At the World Species Repository, a security officer was more or less a position to loaf around.
All facilities were automated, and both security and guarding systems utilized cutting-edge unmanned technologies, leading to an extremely low reliance on manpower.
In other words, it was a position anyone could perform.
So then, who exactly was this unidentifiable man standing before him?
And why was the president of the country where the World Species Repository was located here?
There was an unmistakable smell of authority coming from him.
Wait, could this be… like an undercover operation?
Suddenly, an idea struck him—crises could be opportunities.
He often held the belief that half of social climbing comes down to knowing the right people.
He sensed this could be a once-in-a-lifetime chance for advancement.
So first, he had to manage this situation.
“Excuse me! Here, your identification…”
As Satoshi started to return Gang-ho’s identification with a degree of finesse, it suddenly rang!
Bweeep!
Sirens blared out from every direction.
“Wh-what’s going on?”
As Satoshi frantically looked around, a low voice broke through the chaos.
“Satoshi, what are you doing?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Aren’t you the security officer at the hospital shelter? What should you do when the First Siren goes off?”
“Ah. Uh, um…”
Gang-ho sighed briefly and scanned the surroundings with a serious expression.
His eyes darted back and forth as if reading the words displayed on a monitor.
He turned to Satoshi with a commanding tone.
“Follow me. Communicate as we move. Activate the hospital’s emergency power immediately, and all security personnel must protect the doctors and restrict patient movement.”
Satoshi, caught off guard, complied with his command.
Just a moment ago, the unidentified idiot had instantly transformed into a charismatic leader.
And he could feel it for sure.
As expected, he’s a former Special Forces captain!
Just watching him run gave Satoshi a good idea of how exceptional his athleticism must be.
He was in stark contrast to the other white security guards waddling around with their bulky frames.
The two men soon crossed the park and reached the shelter where the power facilities were located.
But at that moment, another loud alarm rang out.
Beeep beep beep beep!
Gang-ho immediately understood the meaning of the continuing alarms.
“Get behind me!”
“Huh? Y-yes!”
Satoshi hastily pressed himself back against Gang-ho, alongside Wolf.
He had no clue what was happening, but he trusted this man.
Meanwhile, Gang-ho took a brief moment to think about how he should respond.
I haven’t used plasma in any modified form yet.
But there wasn’t any time to hesitate or overthink.
We’ll just have to try it out.
He lowered his posture slightly as if to block a rolling boulder.
Then, extending his left hand straight out, he raised his right hand towards the sky.
He quickly began to focus.
Ultra-high-density barrier!
In that instant, a thin, blue mist-like film flickered around his body, and an unfamiliar spatial sensation engulfed him.
Swish.
A translucent dome encircled Gang-ho.
And in that moment,
Boom!
Something exploded.
It wasn’t an explosion sending flames and smoke billowing out.
It felt more akin to an EMP strike; that’s the kind of impact it had.
Once again, as if in rhythm with the sound of the explosion, an unseen wave of air rushed in to engulf him.
Gurk!
Whooooooosh!
A fierce gust swept through.
While there seemed to be no major changes visually, he noticed that several people nearby had collapsed.
It appeared Gang-ho couldn’t completely block all the damage either.
Ugh!
He felt a wave of nausea hit him hard.
It was sickening and disorienting.
Eventually, he had to kneel down, resting his hands on the floor.
Thud.
Haa, haa.
After a moment passed, fortunately, the symptoms began to lessen.
Grrr. Arf!
Upon hearing Wolf barking, Gang-ho turned to see Satoshi had collapsed.
However, there was a new message flashing around his eyes, as if announcing something important, and Satoshi’s information appeared again.
[Name]: Satoshi Hanjo.
[…]: …
[Species]: Human / Type 1 mutant.
[Traits]: Ninja.
[Grade]: Lv. 1
[Special Skills]: Stealth, Throwing.
[Auxiliary Skills]: Tracking, Pursuit.
The changed items caught his attention.
New, absurd entries had been added.
He wondered what on earth this meant, then thought,
Could it be that I also…?
So he checked his own status.
Status.
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