Chapter 10 - Training Officer (2)

Yun changed the subject matter-of-factly.

“Shall we deal with the next problem, then?”

Pleased to have gotten a cabin for free, I nodded and gave him a bright smile.

My training officer shot back, “Never smile like that again. Last warning.”

Oh, that was uncalled for.

My face reflexively betrayed that sentiment, but Yun ignored it too.

He spoke without uncrossing his arms.

“We’re going over the administrative details, so listen carefully. Administration will create a social security number for you and register it. If anyone asks, say your birthday is the day you arrived. August twentieth, in other words. You’re twenty-eight. You don’t know who your biological parents are. If anyone asks, say you grew up in an orphanage. You took all your classes online, from elementary school through university, and afterward you made a living doing various jobs online. Tell them you passed the recruitment exam earlier this year, but problems with the arrested aging and enhanced healing procedures delayed your assignment. Say you can’t discuss the recruitment process because you signed a confidentiality agreement.”

The (fake) me on paper had led quite an unhappy life.

It couldn’t be helped, considering I hadn’t existed here until about a week ago. Turning someone who’d never existed into someone who had couldn’t be easy.

Wasn’t this illegal...?

I didn’t voice the question. Of course it was illegal.

Yehyeon must have been willing to break the law for my sake. Quietly killing me or removing the enhanced body inside me would have solved everything. Their problem would have disappeared if they’d simply refrained from saving me when that creature was chasing me.

The thought left a weight in my stomach.

Yun’s emotionless voice reached me.

“Understand all that?”

“Yes. I understand.”

“Your birthday?”

“August twentieth.”

“Questions?”

“Uh...”

I’d originally intended to ask my training officer a few questions about himself. If he gave me the chance, that was.

But the thought that Yehyeon had committed identity fraud to recruit me drove whatever I’d meant to ask out of my head.

For a while, I stared into Yun’s cold eyes.

“What happens if someone discovers my identity is fake?”

He stared back, his eyes unreadable.

“Yehyeon will be in trouble.”

The flat answer hit me hard in the gut.

My expression must have darkened, but my training officer didn’t react. The man was so dry I could almost hear him crumbling. He never showed any expression at all.

Marveling at his lack of humanity, I tried to settle my troubled thoughts. The gentle bustle of the café surrounded us.

“... How much trouble?”

“A lot. You know next to nothing about this world, so you won’t understand yet. The Black Badgers have enormous influence worldwide. Yehyeon leads that organization. If the real reason we recruited you gets out, the entire media will explode. Yehyeon will definitely resign, and even then, I’m pretty sure that won’t be the end of it.”

“Then perhaps removing my enhanced body really would...”

“I don’t know why Yehyeon made this choice either.”

There was no resentment or irritation in Yun’s voice. He shrugged.

“It’s like him, though. Anyway, all we have to do is keep anyone from finding out. Don’t get caught. Simple.”

“... Is it?”

“If it isn’t, we’ll have to make it simple. It’s too late to back out now. Your social security number and history will already be registered by this point.”

Why had the commander-in-chief made this decision?

Because it was the right thing to do? But if Yun wasn’t exaggerating—and he didn’t look like someone who would—the risk of discovery was far too great. It wouldn’t just hurt Yehyeon. Most of the Badgers would suffer too.

In his position, I would have removed the enhanced body and assigned me a personal physician or something.

I’d have to bring it up again the next time we met. Ask whether removing an enhanced body really was that devastating.

As I sat looking down at my coffee, Yun spoke.

“Anyway, now that we’ve more or less settled your housing and paperwork, let’s get down to business.”

What business?

I looked up at him, but he was sitting there with the same unchanging expression.

What a strange man. At the same time, I wondered why anyone this motionless needed to be kept under control.

Then he closed his eyes and sighed.

What brought that on?

“Choi Ami.”

At Yun’s low call, the person sitting at the table behind us whipped her head around.

Round black eyes came into view.

Wow.

“Yeah!”

“What are you doing here?”

Yun twisted around, resting one elbow on the back of his chair.

Brother and sister faced each other. I took in the sight with wide eyes: the man with his upper body turned backward, and the woman who had turned to look at us.

Strange. Their personalities seemed so different it was hard to believe they were siblings, yet there was something alike about them that I couldn’t quite put into words.

He gave Ami a fed-up look.

“You have no reason to show your face in the research building.”

“I came because I was worried you’d bully Hilde.”

She blinked her round eyes.

“You said you were meeting here at three today! I thought I’d left poor, sweet Hilde alone with you too long!”

“It’s been twenty minutes.”

“Exactly.”

Ami was such a good person.

I was touched that she’d come all this way for me. Thank goodness she was the first person I’d grown attached to after landing in this world.

She was dressed like a student again today: a pale purple cable-knit cardigan and light blue jeans.

Yun looked at her without expression.

“Yehyeon told me much the same thing last night. Don’t bully the kid. If you were all going to worry this much, you shouldn’t have made me his training officer. You’ve never had me do it before. Why now?”

“I’m wondering that too. Mr. Zhu decided.”

Want to go ask him yourself? Ami stared at Yun with her round eyes and took a long sip of her smoothie.

For the first time, a fairly distinct emotion appeared on Yun’s face.

“Tsk.”

He clicked his tongue with practiced ease, his brow creasing slightly.

“I’d rather avoid that man whenever possible.”

His low mutter was oddly funny.

To get that kind of reaction out of someone who seemed so devoid of emotion. What exactly was the head of HR’s place in this organization...?

As I quietly enjoyed this, Ami asked, “Hilde. Was everything okay?”

“Sorry? Oh, yes. He’s been much nicer to me than I expected.”

I even got a cabin.

Before I could add that, Yun turned his head.

“Hey. Let’s go. I need to see what you’re capable of. We need to start your lessons too.”

Now?

My bewilderment must have shown, but Yun paid it no mind. He rose briskly from his seat. With him blocking her view, Ami craned her neck to look at me.

The abrupt turn of events brought my surroundings rushing back to my senses. An afternoon café filled with sunlight. People chatting in its pleasant golden glow. The aroma of roasting coffee. The sound of typing on a laptop.

Ami smiled gently at me.

“Make sure you tell me if my brother bullies you.”

“Yes. Of course.”

“Go on, get out of here. I know where to draw the line. And with Yehyeon watching, I’ll be on even better behavior.”

Ami tilted her head up beneath Yun’s hand, which was pressing down on her crown. A broad smile spread across her face as she looked up at her brother.

“Be nice to Hilde.”

“I am being nice.”

“Yeah. And you have to keep being nice. You’re his training officer now.”

Her voice was bright, and she grinned.

Yun looked down at Ami for a while. Then he moved his large hand and stroked her round head. I was a little surprised by the gesture, which made his affection for his little sister unmistakable.

He almost looked like a normal person doing that.

Ami smiled.

We soon left the café. Ami waved goodbye as I trailed after Yun.

I returned her farewell and followed his back through the unfamiliar surroundings.

People passed us by. We took an escalator to the third floor and crossed a skybridge.

Our surroundings grew quieter.

I sensed we were nearing our destination. Fewer people were coming the other way. The café’s floor had been bathed in the pleasant colors of sunlight, but here the air seemed cool and tinged with blue.

We must be going to a gym or something.

The moment I realized it, nerves and worry washed over me. How fit was I? How intelligent?

Until a week ago, I hadn’t even known my own face. How could I possibly know my abilities?

I might not live up to this man’s expectations, but I didn’t want to disappoint the people I’d gotten to know.

Yun’s warning about the dangers of my fake identity came back to me. Thinking of that and the test I was about to take left me uneasy. What if I was utterly useless?

If that happened, this time I really would have to tell them to remove my enhanced body.

All those thoughts vanished the moment we arrived at what looked like a training room.

Because Yun picked up a chainsaw.

“People learn better with the right stimulus.”

Crazy bastard!

WHIRRRR!

The moment Yun started the chainsaw, I bolted for the door.

To my astonishment, it was firmly shut.

When had he shut it? And why was it locked?

BANG! BANG! BANG!

“Ami! Ami! I’m in here!”

“Calm down. I’m not trying to kill you.”

How was I supposed to calm down with someone holding a running chainsaw right in front of me?

Should I break it? Smash the door down? I twisted the handle furiously, but it wouldn’t unlock. I stared at the firmly shut gray door, weighing my options.

I felt like I could break it if I used all my strength.

A dry voice came from behind me.

“Don’t break it unless you want to pay for it.”

The chainsaw abruptly fell silent.

“I told you, I’m not going to kill you. I didn’t even pick this up for myself.”

Huh?

Only then did I find the courage to turn around. There was nothing unusual about the room. A sturdy door stood on the opposite side. The room was wide, with a ceiling about a story and a half high. Beyond that, there was nothing much to look at.

The whole place was a clear gray.

The man, as impersonal as a slab of stone, thrust the chainsaw toward me.

I flinched reflexively.

“Huh?”

“You’ll be using it.”

Yun shot me a look telling me to hurry up and take it.

“Take it. You’ll need a weapon, won’t you? I don’t know if you used to shoot, or whether you remember how even if you did, so I’m giving you this, at least. Same goes for swords and spears. A chainsaw, you just have to hold and swing.”

Why did I need a weapon?

Weren’t we doing some sort of fitness test? I’d been expecting push-ups and sit-ups.

I studied my training officer through narrowed eyes, then cautiously asked, “Why do I need a weapon?”

“You might have a hard time without one. And I’d like to see how you move while we’re at it.”

“May I ask what I’ll be having a hard time with?”

“You’ll see. Are you taking this or not?”

I took the chainsaw. Yun looked liable to get annoyed if I stood there bewildered any longer.

The weapon felt unfamiliar in my hands. Holding the chainsaw, I stared at my training officer. Surely he’d explain. He’d produced a chainsaw out of nowhere, so naturally he owed me an appropriate explanation.

Yun was kind enough to provide one.

“Stay put and wait. I’ll bring you something to use that chainsaw on.”