Chapter 15 - Center Core (3)

The week flew by.

It was a week spent coping with sore muscles and settling into my new home. Nothing remarkable, apart from the tearing muscle pain and training that brought tears to my eyes.

My day ended at six on the dot, but by then I had no energy left for anything. I staggered through dinner, then sank into the beanbag and passed the time on my phone.

I used it to search for articles about the Black Badgers. Overwhelming sleepiness kept me from reading for long, but I still learned a fair amount about my boss next door and the organization beneath him.

Commander-in-Chief Lee Yehyeon. Actual age: seventy-eight. Physical age: twenty-five. A war hero who had survived two wars. The man who had killed the level-ten creature that appeared during the First War.

That feat had earned him his rise to power, and he still occupied the position he had secured back then. His unusually long tenure drew accusations of dictatorship, but he reportedly led the organization without any major scandals or incidents. The public regarded him as something of an icon of the Black Badgers.

Even on a screen, Yehyeon was strikingly pale and handsome. He went by all sorts of nicknames online. Hero of a Troubled Age. Pretty Boy. Vampire.

No matter how much I searched, the articles kept coming. A column claiming the Badgers had robbed ordinary people of their right to die in peace. Criticism that Yehyeon was nothing more than a dictator, however competent he might be. Urban legends that he was the real power behind Center Core.

Perhaps because he was such a controversial figure in so many ways, personal information about him was hard to find.

My training officer had told me to ask if I had questions, but this seemed too sensitive a subject to bring up casually. Above all, he seemed personally close to the commander-in-chief, so I couldn't work up the nerve.

'Maybe I should ask Riccardo sometime?'

Not that he seemed likely to be any more forthcoming.

[Black Badgers Reclaim Land for First Time in Five Years. Rare Earth Supplies Expected to Increase...]

[Yehyeon Retains Commander-in-Chief Post, as Expected]

[The Ageless, Undying Black Badgers: Are They Truly Society's Necessary Evil?]

[Illegal Anti-Aging Procedures on the Rise. Where Do the Black Badgers Stand?]

[Creature Appearing in Sector 3 Neutralized Without Casualties]

[Black Badger Who Gave Life to Save Three-Year-Old Dies at 42]

'That must be exhausting.'

That was my conclusion after six days of this monotonous routine. The Black Badgers drew both criticism and condemnation, yet people admired them too. Life at the head of an organization in such a complicated position was bound to be utterly exhausting.

Yun hadn't been exaggerating when he said the Black Badgers wielded tremendous influence.

My fraudulent hiring... Or would getting parachuted into a job be more accurate? Either way, I was now certain no one could ever find out I'd landed a position with the Black Badgers through such irregular means. I didn't think we'd be able to handle the fallout.

'The press would tear Yehyeon apart, of course. I really need to be careful.'

Anyway, that was how I spent my time. Day after day, I trained, spent a little time on my phone, then fell asleep.

* * *

It was raining. It had been raining for the past two days.

The sound seeped faintly into the house. The air smelled cool and damp.

Unsettled by the introduction waiting for me tomorrow, I lay on the beanbag and listened to the rain. How was I supposed to introduce myself when I couldn't remember anything? I'd complained to my training officer after training today, but Yun hadn't shown the slightest inclination to help.

Maybe it would suddenly get postponed or...

BANG!

A tremendous noise came from the door. Something had struck the wood hard. Startled, I opened it, and wind and rain poured inside.

Then I spotted Ami standing some distance away.

"Ami!"

With rain bombarding me square in the face, I raised my voice.

"What are you doing out there?"

"My umbrella blew away!"

She shouted as she ran toward the cabin.

Apparently, her umbrella was what had flown into my door. I leaned out and saw it clinging like a suction cup to the door I'd swung open. The wind had pinned it to the back.

The little Badger dashed toward the green umbrella.

"My umbrella!"

"I've got it. Come inside! What is with this rain..."

"Aaagh!"

Shielding her head with her hands, Ami ran into the entryway.

BANG!

I pulled the umbrella inside and shut the cabin door. The rain, wind, and chill abruptly retreated. The sound of rain dropped away.

A cool stillness settled over the cabin again.

Ami looked up at me, clutching her seaweed-like hair in both hands.

"Thanks."

"You're soaked. Just a moment. I'll get you a towel."

"You really know how to control your strength."

I didn't quite understand what she meant.

Her round eyes looked straight up at me. Rather than ask, I went to the bathroom for a dry towel. Ami reached out with both arms to accept the fluffy towel.

She stood by the front door, rubbing her hair dry.

"Come on in."

"No, I'm soaked."

"That's why you should come in. I'll lend you some clothes."

"It's fine. My house is right there."

She had a point.

Yehyeon, Choi Yun, and Choi Ami lived in the house across from the cabin. While I'd been holed up here, Ami had often stopped by on her way in or out to ask if I needed anything.

I really was grateful to her.

I brought her a jacket. She looked up at me with a grin. She looked so mischievous when she smiled.

She rubbed the ends of her hair with the towel.

"They say a typhoon's coming."

"Yes, it hasn't stopped raining. It seems to be getting worse, too..."

"It's not a natural typhoon."

Huh?

Seeing my blank expression, Ami let out a clear, childlike laugh.

"It's a weather-altering creature. They suspected it when the typhoon started forming, and the scientists at headquarters have just confirmed it. They say it's heading here."

"... There are creatures like that too?"

And why was it coming here?

The little kitchen window rattled in the wind. The sounds of pouring rain and rattling glass filled the bluish gloom of the cabin.

"Yes. There are all sorts of creatures. We just call all the countless things that poured out of the portals 'creatures,' so there's no consistency to them. Remember the ones you ran into before? Some look strange like those, and others look like butterflies, like the one that should be in the eye of this typhoon right now."

"Butterflies?"

"Yes. It looks like an enormous butterfly."

"... How do you kill something like that?"

"Usually, we don't. They're tricky to kill, and they don't do that much damage."

I should look up creatures next week. The thought ran through the back of my mind as I listened to her. I'd been planning to research the First and Second Wars, but learning about creatures seemed more urgent.

Ami folded the towel in half.

"But I think we'll have to kill this one."

"Because it's coming here?"

"Yes."

That made sense. With the commander-in-chief living right across the road, they couldn't just sit by and let a creature come this way.

I took the folded towel from Ami, refusing her offer to wash it and return it.

She watched me intently as I set the wet towel on the shoe cabinet.

"Have you ever broken anything in the house by accident?"

What kind of question was that?

Bewildered, I looked down at my senior colleague.

"Uh... No."

"That's impressive. Controlling your strength really isn't easy."

Ami pointed at the door I'd just slammed shut.

"Especially when you do something like that. People often lose control of their strength when they're acting in a hurry. Not just recruits, either. Even Badgers with five years under their belts do it sometimes. It takes ten years after getting an enhanced body before you hardly ever slip up."

"Really? I've never consciously thought about it..."

"Right. That's what my brother said."

Yun?

I felt my eyes widen. Of course they did. Yun hadn't given me any other assessment all week. Just endless nagging about my shooting.

Ami smiled.

"He said you definitely have a fully functioning enhanced body, but you never misjudge your strength. You handle it effortlessly, as if you've lived in it for at least twenty years."

"Thank you. That's a compliment, right?"

"It's a good thing! Though Yun was probably just stating objective facts."

True, he wasn't exactly the sort to give compliments.

As I reflected on my week with my training officer, Ami's voice floated up from below.

"It's really strange, isn't it?"

What was? Me?

RATTLE, RATTLE, RATTLE!

A loud noise caught our attention. The window was shaking violently. Then came the faint sound of an engine amid the pounding rain.

Ami's face lit up.

"It's Yehyeon!"

The commander-in-chief?

"He must be back from his business trip! Come to think of it, he said he'd come to your introduction if he could, Hilde."

Please kill me.

Why did the person at the very top of the organization want to watch its lowest-ranking newcomer introduce himself? Someone this famous in this world? Someone so busy that, according to Ami, even the people who lived with him rarely saw him?

Ami took hold of the front-door handle and looked up at me.

"Thanks for catching my umbrella and getting me a towel. I'll be off now."

"Oh, of course! Take care on your way back. With all this rain..."

"It's right there! Go back inside. The rain's going to come pouring in again when I open the door."

"No, I'd like to say hello to the commander too."

I reached over Ami's shoulder and took the handle. She thanked me and gripped her green umbrella. As she opened it, I opened the door.

The outside air rushed in. Rain swept into the entryway. The smell of wind, and the view outside obscured by the downpour.

A luxurious black car stood in front of the house opposite.

"Yehyeon!"

Ami ran toward the man getting out of the car in a black suit.

"Your trip's over?"

Yehyeon opened a black umbrella. The pale man smiled at Ami as she ran up to him. With a gentle smile, he said something to her. Having missed my chance to greet him, I watched the two of them.

He looked exactly like he did on-screen.

It was good that I'd learned so much about him, but the more I knew, the more uncomfortable I felt...

Our eyes met.

He smiled at me too, his large, elongated eyes creasing. I hastily bowed my head in greeting. The rain was so loud he wouldn't have heard me even if I'd said anything.

Yehyeon gestured for me to close the door.

As I nodded and closed it, I understood the words he mouthed.

"See you tomorrow."

Wow. The pressure was enough to make my dinner come back up.

* * *

After watching Hilde retreat into the cabin, Yehyeon and Ami turned away.

The sound of rain faded as they closed their front door.

Yehyeon folded his umbrella, leaned it beside the shoe cabinet, and took off his dress shoes. Ami folded her green umbrella and removed her soggy shoes too.

While the two lingered in the entryway, Yun emerged from farther inside.

"You're back."

"Yes."

Yehyeon answered readily, smiling at Yun. Then he rested a hand lightly on Ami's shoulder.

"Ami, go wash up first."

"It's fine! I'm using the upstairs bathroom!"

"Why are you so wet?"

"The typhoon blew my umbrella away."

At Ami's matter-of-fact answer, Yun snorted as if he found her hopeless.

She blithely ignored her older brother's surly attitude. After peeling off her rain-soaked socks, she stepped barefoot into the living room. She frowned down at the wet socks and let out an "Ugh."

Beside her, Yehyeon brushed raindrops off his shoulders. Yun turned his gaze to him.

"Weren't you supposed to be away until tomorrow?"

"Yes. But Hilde's formal introduction is tomorrow, so I came back a day early."

"For that?"

Yun raised one eyebrow.

Yehyeon smiled faintly as he took off his black jacket.

"Among other things. My work there finished early too... How's Hilde doing? He's your first trainee."

"He's the first human to fall out of a portal."

Yun's reply was cold.

Still holding her wet socks, Ami looked up at him. Her round black eyes followed her brother's dry gaze.

Yehyeon regarded Yun with an unreadable expression before speaking.

"That's not wrong. But first, I'd like your objective overall assessment."

"With proper training, he'll definitely be better than the average Badger. He has athletic talent, no question. Decent concentration, not much fear. Persistence too."

"Nothing but praise."

Ami's impassive expression softened as she looked at her brother. She beamed as though the praise were for her.

"That's great! He's such a sweet guy. I was worried he wouldn't adjust!"

"How do you know he's sweet? You've barely known him."

"He's a good person."

Yehyeon's declaration was gentle but firm in response to Yun's dry objection.

He loosened his navy tie with a long, pale hand.

"Yun. Hilde is kind by nature, so treat him well even if he doesn't meet your standards. You do like good people well enough, after all."

"We need to know what the hell he is. Just look at this typhoon."

With one hand shoved into his pocket, Yun rolled his eyes. His dry gaze briefly flicked to the window, then back.

As a natural silence settled over them, he spoke.

"He's drawing creatures to him."

His low voice resonated through the quiet, spacious house.

"And it's strange that you know all of this and keep brushing it off like it's nothing."

Yehyeon met his gaze without a word.

Rain battered the windows, showing no sign of letting up. Silence settled over the sleek interior of the house, its air chill and bleak. A silence born of waiting for their superior's answer.

After staring at Yun with an unreadable expression, Yehyeon lowered his eyes. The commander-in-chief broke the silence in his husky voice.

"I may come to regret my choice someday."

At the murmur, almost spoken to himself, the siblings remained silent.

Yehyeon gazed thoughtfully at the floor, then raised his head after a moment. He closed his eyes, looking more gentle and unguarded than he did in his official capacity.

"I'm sleepy. I only got three hours of sleep last night."

"Go wash up and get some sleep. Give me your clothes and tie. Ami, you go wash up too."

"Okaaay."

The three went their separate ways. The two who had come in from outside headed for the bathrooms, while Yun carried Yehyeon's clothes over his arm into a room.

Having lived with Yehyeon for so long, they knew that sometimes ignorance was bliss. They also knew he had his own reasons for not explaining things. Pressing him would not get them the answer they wanted, and learning the truth might entangle them in something troublesome.

The siblings swallowed the doubts rising in their throats.

* * *

The big day.

I arrived at the auditorium to introduce myself.