Chapter 87 - One More

* * *

“That’s a good point. This is a drug production facility, so we need to search it more thoroughly.” Hyeon-yul spoke with certainty.

“They make the drugs here?” Shinwoo asked in surprise.

“Yes. This is the place.”

Hyeon-yul answered again. The information Yu-jong had given him concerned the distribution network, and he had needed to dig through those clients to locate the production site. Yet he had somehow stumbled across one directly.

A production site was exactly the sort of place they would have to hide at all costs. It would not have been strange if investigating the production site led back to the clients instead.

‘I can casually leak some of the material Yu-jong gave me.’

Hyeon-yul decided to watch for an opportunity as he walked forward without hesitation. At a production facility like this, the first things to check were electronic devices such as computers and tablets.

He passed the villains standing around like idiots and took their phones. Normally they might not amount to much, but if this really was a production facility, they could become valuable evidence.

“Are you collecting their phones?”

Nayun approached and asked. Hyeon-yul had moved too quickly for her to see clearly, but she had caught sight of something like black smoke shooting from his body.

“Yes. I thought we might need them.”

“I see computers over there too. We can collect the phones ourselves, so deal with those first. You’re good with computers.”

“Thank you.”

Hyeon-yul started to bow, but Nayun blocked his forehead with her palm.

“Don’t bow. Just say, ‘Thank you, noona.’ That’s enough.”

“...Thank you, noona.”

“Good. Now go. Do what you usually do.”

Nayun had no idea how Hyeon-yul normally extracted information. Rather than trying to coordinate with him on the spot, it was better to leave it to him. This was for Black Eagle’s sake, but it was also for Hyeon-yul’s.

‘And we’re safe right now thanks to Baek Shinwoo’s power.’

Nayun kept her eyes on the villains who were standing perfectly still. Shinwoo’s power seemed almost like a form of summoning. If a blade suddenly appeared at your throat, anyone would hesitate to move.

The swords Shinwoo summoned were no ordinary weapons either. They could even pierce the defensive barriers of ability users. Several people who had tried moving recklessly had already died with blood pouring from their throats, making the rest even less willing to test their luck.

“Thank you, noona.”

Hyeon-yul wondered what reaction would be appropriate, then repeated the phrase.

“You learn fast. I like that.”

At Nayun’s praise, Hyeon-yul blinked and started walking away. After a few long strides, he looked back and quietly raised his thumb, making Nayun burst out laughing.

‘...Was that wrong?’

Wondering what he had done incorrectly, Hyeon-yul headed toward the computers. When he entered the room, he met the eyes of several villains with swords wrapped around their necks.

They were glaring at him. Hyeon-yul ignored the provocation and headed straight for the desk that appeared to belong to the highest-ranking person there.

Even the chair was different, and the villain seated there looked healthier than anyone else in the room. He had the face of someone who slept well, ate well, and rested better than everyone around him.

‘Maybe that’s why the smell of medicine is so strong.’

The odor of blood was mixed into the medicinal smell, yet the medicine was strong enough to cover even that. It was especially intense around the man’s hands. That meant he had killed people with those hands countless times.

Hyeon-yul looked at the villain, who stared back as if asking whether he really dared.

If that was what he wanted, Hyeon-yul could oblige. He kicked the chair away.

SCRRAPE.

As the chair rolled backward, the villain’s eyes widened. The sword at his throat sliced through his neck, and blood streamed down as the blade, having lost its target, vanished on its own.

Hyeon-yul had thought this before, but those summoned swords had edges sharper than most real blades.

“Ah, I forgot to explain. If you speak, you die.”

Hyeon-yul kindly lied. The villains’ already trembling eyes began darting around as if an earthquake had struck their pupils.

After checking their expressions, Hyeon-yul placed his hands on the keyboard and began searching through the data one piece at a time.

Whether it was a factory or anything else, office work was always necessary. This was probably the place where that work was handled.

By the time the clatter of the keyboard filled the room, Hyeon-yul took out the materials Yu-jong had given him. He wanted to compare the listed clients with the records here.

He flipped through several pages before his hand stopped.

‘A little under half of them overlap.’

Hyeon-yul put away Yu-jong’s list. There was no longer any reason to deliberately leak the client information.

If slightly less than half the clients appeared here, then there had to be at least one more production facility. Viewed another way, no matter how many clients existed overall, a single factory handling this many meant this site alone was already important enough.

Money itself could ultimately become another piece of evidence.

‘If we catch the owner of this production facility, a path will open.’

Hyeon-yul calmly moved on to the next set of data. The drugs were the most important part. He needed to learn what they were producing and how the compounds were mixed.

His eyes and hands moved rapidly through transaction records, payroll management, and unrelated documents as he dug deeper. Because the truly important information had to be hidden, there were decoy files as well.

‘...Found it.’

Hyeon-yul combined several pieces of data that had been separated and carefully concealed. First, he transferred the drug records he wanted to inspect personally onto his phone. Then he copied the drug data and the rest of the files onto an external drive.

Once everything had been copied, he released a data-wiping virus he had brought with him. It would infect the other PCs in no time.

There was no reason to leave this system available for them to use again. Hyeon-yul stepped outside without hesitation.

Now he needed to find the actual drugs. After walking a few steps, he turned his head to the right.

“This way.”

Jihwan waved to him. When Hyeon-yul approached, Jihwan cast magic.

“Is that magic?”

“That’s right. There’s no benefit in letting the enemy hear what we’re saying.”

Hyeon-yul agreed and nodded. The villains could not move right now, but they could still hear and see everything.

“Did you find what you wanted?”

“I confirmed that this is a production facility connected to numerous clients. With this volume, it can be considered a major hub.”

As he spoke, Hyeon-yul watched the villains’ expressions as well. If anyone could read lips, he intended to kill them.

“So if we tear this place apart, we might learn where the real source is?”

Jihwan did not get excited too quickly. He asked calmly, knowing there was no guarantee things would unfold that neatly.

“There is probably a connection, but I can’t say for certain yet.”

“That’s fair. Still, I’m glad we won’t be going back empty-handed. Coming back with nothing is the worst.”

Hyeon-yul nodded. If they investigated this hard only to produce no result, it would be an enormous waste of time. There were so many villains selling drugs that the investigation had barely progressed at all.

‘More importantly, why did they start using this drug again?’

Why go out of their way to revive a drug that had already been discarded?

‘What are they after? Is it simply because the effect is powerful?’

It could temporarily enhance the abilities of people who were not abilityless, so it was certainly useful in the short term. But that was all.

Why would anyone go this far for a one-time boost?

“Hyung, by the way.”

“Yes?”

“I heard before that this drug had been discarded. Is that right?”

“That’s right.”

“If it was discarded, that means it wasn’t efficient enough to keep using. So why are they using it now? If it isn’t in our existing data, that means it wasn’t being used before and only started appearing recently. The timing is strange.”

“I want to know that too.”

Jihwan hesitated before asking, “Then do you want to hear my guess?”

“Go ahead.”

“I think they’re targeting you, hyung.”

“Why do you think that?”

There were several possibilities. The only people who should have known about that drug were the villains who had conducted the experiments and the test subjects themselves.

If anyone discovered that a test subject like him was still alive, they would inevitably try to acquire him. It had happened repeatedly, even outside this group.

“I think a rumor may have spread that... a test subject survived.”

Jihwan had reached a similar conclusion. They wanted a living test subject, so they had thrown out bait. Judging from the situation alone, it was difficult to think otherwise.

“The rumor hasn’t spread.”

Hyeon-yul corrected him. For now, the Poison King was the only villain who knew whether Hyeon-yul had actually survived successfully. Everyone else who knew was dead.

“People might vaguely suspect that a test subject is alive, but deciding that person is me would be premature. You know test subjects are considered incapable of succeeding.”

“I know.”

There was only one exception. Jihwan could not bring himself to look directly at Hyeon-yul.

“I think it would be more accurate to say that someone suspects the formula has been broken and is probing for proof. I no longer live by that name.”

REX-3333 was the name he had been called countless times. Now he was Seo Hyeon-yul, and now he was an adult. How could anyone recognize him?

“If they’re probing because they don’t know, that’s still dangerous. It means they suddenly started considering the possibility, and something gave them a reason to do that.”

“That’s how I see it.”

“Even so, I’m not going to tell you to give up. You can use Black Eagle as a shield. Black Eagles chasing villains is perfectly normal. Who would suspect anything?”

“Yes. That’s exactly why I need to pursue this harder. If all these guesses are correct, then at last I...”

Hyeon-yul stopped mid-sentence and drew in a breath. He had not realized it while speaking, but only then did he understand what kind of situation had opened before him.

“At last, I have a proper direction.”

He had struggled even to grasp a tail, and now he finally had one in his hands. After searching and searching without finding anything, he finally had a path leading back to his past.

And he had found it not as a villain, but as a Black Eagle.

“Have you been chasing this for a long time?”

Jihwan looked at Hyeon-yul, whose expression had become more peaceful than usual.

“For a long time. Back then, my body was far less free than it is now, so I couldn’t move at anything like my current pace.”

Someone who saw only the present Hyeon-yul might ask what he had been doing all those years. It had been fourteen years since he met Jeongmin and more than ten years since he began chasing his past, but he had never been able to devote all that time solely to the pursuit.

A monster who was not yet human had needed endless effort simply to become human. Who could understand how many years he had spent grinding away at the very bottom before becoming the person he was now?

“I’m still going through rehabilitation too. I don’t think that’s something to be ashamed of or hide.”

“I’m not ashamed, and I’m not trying to hide it. Other people simply don’t know.”

There was an enormous difference between someone who had endured those experiments and someone who had not. For Hyeon-yul, the fact that he remained unstable was still a major weakness.

That was why he constantly had to prove that he was fine and that he could handle things.

“You don’t know either, Ye Jihwan.”

Hyeon-yul continued. Jihwan’s steps slowed, and Hyeon-yul spoke again before he could misunderstand.

“I’m not saying this because I want you to understand. I’m not mocking you or being sarcastic either. Please take it exactly as I mean it.”

He had never once asked anyone to understand. He was simply stating the truth. He was not seeking pity or trying to complain.

“So maybe that’s why I’m actually happier to hear it.”

Jihwan smiled, and a faint crease formed between Hyeon-yul’s brows. He had no idea what Jihwan meant. Wouldn’t most people be offended by that?

“Now there’s nothing left except for me to get to know you, hyung.”

“Why would you say that? What do you gain from knowing me?”

“No, it’s not like that. Honestly, I’m surprised too. What I just said to you is something someone once said to me. I guess I finally understand how that felt. It’s strange, and that makes me happy.”

Jihwan tried to suppress his smile, but the corners of his mouth kept twitching. He was not sure how to explain it.

“My counselor told me that the moment someone says, ‘You don’t know me,’ a connection has already begun.”

“Why?”

“Because if their heart were completely closed, they wouldn’t even say that. You don’t walk up to a stranger and suddenly say, ‘You don’t know me.’ My counselor said that even a tiny action like that can be a starting point. It sounded like a kind of signal, so I guess the words came out before I realized it.”

“...This is difficult.”

“It’s difficult for me too. So can you just take it as, ‘I don’t know, so please tell me’? It’s hard to explain properly.”

“I’ll try.”

“Good. I’ll try too.”

Jihwan answered energetically. He had been trying to offer some words of comfort, only for everything to become tangled several times over. Still, if the feeling had gotten through, that was enough.

Jihwan strode forward in a better mood, but the silence that followed lasted longer than expected. The factory was bigger than it looked, and they had quite a distance to cover.

As the silence stretched on, Jihwan started wondering whether he should say something. Then he realized he could no longer hear footsteps behind him.

“Hyung...?”

Jihwan turned around. Hyeon-yul was standing completely still.

“I hear something.”

It seemed to be coming from outside. At Hyeon-yul’s words, Jihwan opened his palm.

“Someone came in.”

“I’ll go.”

Hyeon-yul left the words behind and rushed in another direction. Calling it running was almost inaccurate. He moved smoothly, as though gliding on a skateboard.

Jihwan looked left and right before sprinting after him.

“Hyung! Let’s go together!”

* * *

‘...Damn it.’

A man stared at the construction materials he had knocked over with a tremendous crash and fell silent.

‘I only wanted to take a peek.’

He had confirmed not long ago that a large number of people were gathering here. He only wanted to wait outside as though he had come for a transaction and take a quick look inside without drawing attention.

The man picked up the fallen materials one by one while thinking cautiously.

‘There were swords at their throats. Did I see that wrong?’

“Working hard to spy on us, I see.”

The sudden voice made the man freeze. A blade appeared beside his face. If he turned even slightly, it might cut him.

“What did you come here for?”

Hyeon-yul asked quietly. This man belonged to a different group from the force occupying the factory. Even the scent clinging to his body was different.