Chapter 178: The Wall

Using the invisibility cloak, Ho-cheol was able to pass through the first few gates with great ease.

Was it thanks to a technology that was decades ahead?

Outside, the typical defense systems and detection technology couldn't even suspect Ho-cheol's presence.

Of course, every time he used the invisibility technology, something called a phase-change element was consumed, and since Ho-cheol had no way of recharging it, this cheat item was scheduled to expire soon.

The place where he took off his cloak and revealed himself was in front of a tightly locked door that was impossible to enter secretly.

He took off the cloak and kicked the door.

Kwang—

It was a rather sturdy door, but it was crushed, hinges and all, and sent flying.

As he entered, over a dozen villains exuding a menacing aura surrounded Ho-cheol.

Ho-cheol slowly looked around.

Then he exclaimed softly in admiration.

“Certainly. In terms of pure military power, this side is stronger.”

It was a rare reaction for Ho-cheol, who would look down on his enemies if he looked down on them, but never gave them a high score.

Of course, Black Oskopf had more war weapons and even a talking monster, but in terms of pure interpersonal combat power, this research lab was the overwhelming victor.

Everyone here, their aura was on par with an S-rank.

Of course, practical experience and combat sense were another matter.

But at the very least, even the Hero Association could not prepare nearly twenty S-ranks in one group like this.

If these Society guys hadn't split up and had been working together systematically, it would have been difficult for even Ho-cheol to handle without re-establishing his organization.

As Ho-cheol was sizing up the villains one by one, his gaze stopped on one man.

A few men were standing on either side of him.

Ho-cheol tilted his head as if searching his memory, and then let out a "heo" sound.

“You. You’re in my memory.”

He drew his Purple Crystal Sword and aimed its tip at the man.

“You’re the villain who backstabbed our kid, aren’t you?”

He was the one who had appeared late when he was trying to persuade Ji-an and had tried to kill her.

At that time, along with his betrayal, he had stolen all of the organization's valuable resources.

He bit his lip and shouted.

“Did you come for revenge?”

“Ah. Well, that’s not it.”

Ho-cheol scratched the back of his head.

“In the first place, I wasn’t even thinking of you.”

He was just pissed off about the twins.

The fact that he had backstabbed Ji-an was something Ji-an would be angry about, not something he would be particularly angry about.

“But since it’s revenge, shall we do it in passing?”

“You seem to be taking us too lightly.”

The villains gripped their weapons and got into a stance.

“We have all now stably acquired an additional Trait. Even if you were the former boss, we can defeat the likes of you without any problem.”

“There’s a considerable misunderstanding.”

Ho-cheol clicked his tongue as if it was pathetic.

This guy had only seen his and Ji-an's battle properly once.

It was just the battle at the grave.

“To judge my and her full power based on that situation. You have such a poor eye for things.”

When he had subdued and persuaded Ji-an, who had been active as a villain, Ho-cheol had definitely been at full power.

And so had Ji-an.

But that full power had not contained any killing intent.

It was full power, but it was not sincere.

They had been extremely cautious, in case they might leave an irreversible wound on each other.

Even if the power itself was there, since there was no killing intent or hostility, their attacks also lacked sharpness.

“Unlike her, I have no reason to go easy on you…”

Ho-cheol re-gripped his Purple Crystal Sword.

“And I’m quite angry today.”

His sword scattered an ominous purple glow, more so than ever before.

Cheolkang cheolkang—

Kwang—!

The iron door, which had been shaking a few times, was smashed again.

Ho-cheol strode in through the gap.

He, covered in blood, let out a long sigh.

Was the theme of this research lab a maze or something?

Why was it so complicated and had so many doors?

But it seemed that there were no more doors to open.

It was the last room, with no door to go further in.

Originally, Ho-cheol's goals were two.

The head of this facility, and the twin sister of the boy he had promised to save.

It had been these two, but luckily, he saw a way to solve it all at once.

A spacious interior.

And the inside was again separated by a prison made of thick bars.

Beyond those bars, a girl was imprisoned.

In fact, it was not a result that had come about simply by luck.

This room was the most heavily guarded and sturdy place in the research facility.

In the first place, they were test subjects who had been granted multiple Traits.

No matter how much they were suppressed with all sorts of means, there was no telling what kind of trouble they might cause.

Naturally, they had been locked up in the safest place to prevent their escape, which also meant that it was the safest place from an external invasion.

It was perhaps natural that he had evacuated there in the face of a sudden attack.

Of course, it did not take long to realize that that judgment was the worst one, as it had left him with nowhere to run.

“Found you.”

Sweeping his blood-soaked hair up, he tilted his head.

“The description I heard from the other guys matches perfectly. You’re the boss here, right?”

At the end of his gaze, the lab chief was standing with a flustered expression.

“H-how…”

He muttered in horror.

The number of villains in this facility who had successfully been implanted with a new Trait was close to 20.

And they had all achieved a combat power of S-rank or higher.

Not a half-baked S-rank, but a full-fledged S-rank combat power.

No matter how much Ho-cheol was one of the 8 special powers designated by the Society, the ‘full power’ of Ho-cheol that they had obtained from their information was S-rank top-tier.

In the end, it was only that much.

It was not to the extent that they could predict a victory against 20 S-rank villains.

“It was certainly quite a hassle…”

Ho-cheol swung his arm up and down.

He, who had never allowed even a speck of a wound, had, for a rare occasion, clear wounds here and there on his body today.

“This is a really stupid idea. Do you think that if you put 20 S-rank villains who don’t even have any coordination in one room, they’ll become 20 times stronger than an S-rank?”

They had no coordination.

Beyond just getting in each other's way, their respective Traits would interfere with their output, or their attacks would fly off in the wrong direction, leading to team kills.

When Ho-cheol poked at those gaps, half of them had self-destructed.

“Well, if it were a decent opponent, they would have been more than enough to crush them with just numbers.”

In fact, if they had been split into groups of two and had forced Ho-cheol into a series of nearly 10 battles, he would have had an even harder time.

But it was even more ridiculous to make such a strategy against just one person.

Ho-cheol's gaze turned to the executive next to him.

“You’re quite lucky. I was chasing a rat and found its den.”

“To think that I would be followed. How troublesome. What should I do, I’m so sorry.”

The executive turned to the side and said to the lab chief.

Of course, he only said he was troubled and sorry, but he didn't look troubled at all.

In any case, with his Trait, it would be no problem for him to get himself out.

Knowing that, the lab chief also did not like his tone, which was as if he were dealing with a minor accident.

“First, you come here. Let’s get hit a few times.”

Ho-cheol, who had said so, took a step towards the lab chief.

Tung—

But before he could take even a few steps, he was blocked by a transparent wall.

“What’s this?”

Ho-cheol clenched his fist as if dumbfounded and knocked on the wall as if knocking.

It was transparent like a glass wall, but he didn't feel the characteristic hardness at all.

Even though Ho-cheol used quite a bit of force, the wall remained intact, as if absorbing all the impact.

At that sight, the lab chief's face brightened and he shouted.

“This wall is!”

“What about this wall?”

Ppudeudeuk—!

But seeing Ho-cheol who was tearing through it with sheer force, he shut his mouth again.

He hurriedly turned back and shouted at the girl inside the bars.

“You, you! Defeat the intruder, quickly!”

The girl, who had been sitting on the hard bed attached to the wall with her head buried in her knees, slowly turned her head.

“No.”

After answering shortly, she lowered her head again.

She seemed to have no interest at all in the series of events that were happening right next to her.

“You useless bastard. If you’re a created tool, you should act like a tool.”

The lab chief took out a small mechanical device from his pocket.

A plain rectangular design, with just a small button in the center.

In the first place, nothing more was needed.

The last resort.

If the information they had gathered on Ho-cheol so far was true, it would also be an effective means of threat.

“If I press this button, the bomb installed in the test subject’s heart behind you will explode. Is that alright?”

In fact, Ho-cheol's feet, which had seemed as if they would never stop, came to a halt.

“A bomb in her heart. Do you think it’ll be effective to take a hostage you don’t even know well?”

Of course, he was just saying that.

In reality, Ho-cheol was standing still in his spot.

The lab chief was relieved and sneered at Ho-cheol.

“It seems to be effective.”

“Is that really so?”

Ho-cheol, who had been standing still for a moment, suddenly closed the distance again.

“Wh-what!”

The lab chief turned back in a fluster.

Did he really not care if she died?

But the situation behind him was far beyond his imagination.

Beyond the iron bars, the executive had somehow entered the prison that had originally held only the girl.

And on his palm, a black rod the size of a finger was held.

Looking at the half dumbfounded lab chief, the executive laughed awkwardly.

“No, this friend wasn't helping us, and her expression was not good. I wondered if she had an upset stomach or something, so I gently touched her, and this came out.”

He shrugged his shoulders.

“Did I make a mistake or something?”

A blatant mockery.

The lab chief's expression belatedly crumpled.

The series of incomprehensible and illogical situations and events all clicked into place with a single traitor.

Although they had split up, they were colleagues with one ultimate goal.

He had thought of them as competitors, not enemies.

He had not even considered the possibility of betrayal for a second.

That was the problem.

“You bastard—!”

He took out a gun from his pocket and aimed it at the executive.

Ho-cheol swung his sword first and cut the gun in half.

And the sword did not stop.

It changed its trajectory and headed for the lab chief's arm.

Tuk—

The arm fell off.

Bright red blood gushed out.

“This is the price for threatening a kid with a bomb in her heart.”

It was a much harsher and rougher suppression than usual, but in Ho-cheol's opinion, this was not enough.

“And this…”

The remaining arm also fell off too simply.

“Is the price for calling a person a tool.”

The lab chief screamed and fell to the floor.

Although this was a harsh laboratory that modified a person's body at will, the owner of this place, the lab chief, had a very ordinary human body.

Staring at him, Ho-cheol clicked his tongue.

“Even if they were brainwashed, the Black Oskopf guys who were aware that what they were doing was greed were better.”

Even after cutting off both arms, not a single drop of blood stained the Purple Crystal Sword.

Ho-cheol, who had kicked the lab chief aside, opened the door of the cage and entered.

“Kid. Are you okay.”

The girl did not answer.

Looking at the girl who still had no interest in him, Ho-cheol scratched the back of his head.

He had thought she was depressed just because she had a bomb in her heart, but was that not it?

As Ho-cheol was silently looking at the girl, she slowly raised her head and met Ho-cheol's eyes.

The moment their eyes met, even Ho-cheol was startled by the fact that there was not even a speck of life in her eyes.

Empty eyes with only a void remaining.

He couldn't feel any will to live.

“……Just let me die.”

She muttered gloomily.

“I’m not a person anyway. A created tool. A weapon that just looks like a person.”

A different ‘species’ that looked similar to a human, created through genetic manipulation as needed.

Although she was a test subject, for the girl who had considered herself an ordinary person, it was too big of a shock.

So much so that she had lost not only her identity, but also her will to live.

“Ah.”

Ho-cheol rubbed his chin as if in trouble.

Puberty hit her quite hard.

And it was a little funny.

The details were a little different, but it was a worry that his past self had also experienced.

He plopped down next to her.

“What is a person?”

At Ho-cheol's question, the corner of the girl's eye twitched.

“Is that guy a person?”

Saying so, Ho-cheol pointed to the now-unconscious lab chief with his fingertip.

“No, in my opinion, that’s not a person. What defines a person is not their essence, like their genes, but their existence, which makes human-like judgments.”

“……I don’t know what you mean.”

The girl's voice was a little more lively than before.

The executive, who had been standing a step away, stealthily interjected.

“If we don’t get out of here quickly, the security forces will all come flocking. Wouldn't it be better to leave for now?”

The Society basically had numerous branches.

And all of those research labs were organically connected.

Just as Ji-an's organization had moved freely using their teleportation Trait, they were also connected to other branches through a Trait.

Since they would have sent a request for support, it was only a matter of time before the personnel from other branches came flocking.

But Ho-cheol frowned and stopped his words.

“Shut up. This is much more important than that.”

He turned his head back to the girl and continued to speak.

“It doesn’t matter how a person is born. Whether they were born in a warm blessing, or in a cold laboratory for a single goal, or even if their genes are different, in the end, that value is something they create themselves. That’s why existence is more important than essence.”

“Essence. Existence…”

“You tried to keep your promise to me, right?”

He declared in a confident voice.

“At the very least, you guys, who would even risk your lives for others, for your family, are much more human than that hairless monkey.”

“A person. I’m a person…”

The girl muttered.

“Ah, and your older brother was worried about you.”

Only then did a spark return to the girl's eyes.

“I’m the older sister! And who’s worried about whom!”

“Right. That powerful appearance is better.”

“……Is my little brother okay?”

“He got hit by me a few times, but he’s in a safe place now.”

At that moment.

Kugugugung—!

With a strong vibration, the entire research lab shook.

It was not an earthquake.

Because the source of that vibration was right in front of them.

Kung— Kung— Kung— Kung—

At the entrance of the laboratory, a wall fell in front of it repeatedly.

“Good grief.”

The executive wrung his hands as if in trouble.

“My Trait isn’t working either?”

The last resort in case the test subjects in the research lab went on a rampage or rioted.

This wall was a special metal that was also used in Zero Chain.

A metal that interfered with the activation of all Traits, and furthermore, absorbed its effects.

Naturally, its hardness was also incomparable to that of ordinary steel.

“That’s why I told you to get out quickly. I think we’re trapped.”

The executive tapped the wall that surrounded them on all sides and shook his head.

“Tsk. If you’re going to keep chirping like a sparrow next to me, why don’t you just sew your mouth shut?”

Ho-cheol clicked his tongue again and stood up from the bed.

He also tapped the wall a few times.

“It’s certainly sturdy. It won’t even get a scratch in most cases.”

Is there no choice?

Muttering, he turned his head back.

“Kid. Let’s talk about the rest when we get out. You have to see your little brother too.”

At the word ‘little brother,’ she barely got off the bed.

Ho-cheol, who stood in front of the girl, drew his Purple Crystal Sword again.

He re-gripped the sword with both hands.

“As expected, it’s awkward.”

The executive understood his meaning a bit late.

For a moment, a shiver ran down his spine.

He had seen Ho-cheol's battles several times when he was active as a villain in the past.

And even then, he had never held a sword with both hands.

He advised the girl standing right behind him.

“Step back a little.”

A thick wall of several layers, a special property that interfered with the activation of all Traits, and even if it was barely activated, it would absorb all its energy.

A counter to all awakened ones.

That expression was by no means an exaggeration.

Yet Ho-cheol was calm.

Kkudeudeuk—

Ho-cheol's time was compressed.

It was not a trait.

It was just that his consciousness, which had reached its peak concentration, had accelerated and had in turn slowed down the world.

And so, Ho-cheol swung his sword.

Buung—

A small wind blew.

The girl's hair swayed slightly.

And that was all.

Ho-cheol's blow was rather quiet.

There was no strong diffusion of power, no loud destruction.

It just quietly left its result.

The solid wall, without a single fine crack, was split in half as if it had been like that from the beginning.

“Hmm.”

Ho-cheol looked at the split wall and nodded his head.

“Let’s go.”