Chapter 128

A week later. Around 10 a.m.
The scheduled date arrived and I crossed the checkpoint again. From a distance, St. Kitts was still gorgeous in the daylight. The contrast with the desolate roads was like an amusement park in an apocalypse.
Chelsea spat as she stuck her head out the car window.
“Et voilà, see if I ever come back!”
“Uh, don’t worry. I won’t bring him back.”
“Mr. Boss, I’m really, really sorry. I won’t be mean.”
His voice broke.
Maybe it was a good shock therapy, and maybe it made him a little healthier for the rest of his life.
‘If this doesn’t wake you up, nothing will….’
At that point, you just have to be humble and accept it.
It must be a destiny beyond dopamine addiction or something.
I sighed inwardly and then noticed something strange.
“Why am I driving?”
I grabbed the steering wheel when I got here, and I’m grabbing it again. No one answered, so I looked in the rearview mirror and saw that they had passed out. Everyone except Arya and Asterike.
Of course, I wouldn’t trust it to two gold diggers.
“Chelsea, answer me, you asshole.”
“Why me, there’s a junior here, eh? And….”
“I see you have a lady.”
“Ugh. Please stop….”
Tatalia didn’t believe it either. How hard could it be to drive on an open road, she thought, when common sense is all you have to rely on?
“Edwin said his car was eaten by worms in the desert.”
“It was an unfortunate accident.”
“Of course you are. I don’t want to be unhappy, too.”
“Me too. I’ll do it, just.”
“I’ll change it later.”
Maybe we should have tried Turkam. The unofficial best driver in the Cellbrosics Lap was a vacancy.
“By the way, I’m going to hear that again.”
“To whom? Who said that to Hyun?”
“Director of Research.”
There was a vehicle following at regular intervals. It was a van that emphasized durability over appearance. The passengers were dignitaries from the Asus General Corporation, including Laonis.
“He said he’d stop by soon, and here he is.
Hagiya’s Kim Yi Hyun is not only a guide, but also a bodyguard. There’s no better time than now. Even if there’s no reason for the CEO to visit in person.
“They’ll talk about this and that.
Luckily, I didn’t have to report to them this time. I just need to arrange a seat, and the entrepreneurs will work out the details.
A sharp-tongued battle of wits between old warriors who probably have ten snakes in their stomachs. A battle of the bargain, in which the players will trash-talk each other under the guise of polite conversation in order to avoid losing even a hundred credits.
It’s not going to play out the same way. I can guarantee you this.
Who Kushan is.
A neurotic who has a seizure every time Kim gets into an accident? A four-dimensional pocket who’s a sweeper, a helicopter operator, and a total giveaway if you rattle off Dustborn’s accomplishments and mention the length of his contract with the lab?
Not at all.
Of course, Kim is more than capable of embarrassing and humiliating Kushan at any moment. But the reason Kushan seems to be playing right into Kim’s hands is entirely down to his knowledge of the game.
If you exclude the advantage that comes from cheating. the often caring and personable lab director is transformed into a gruff and mysterious human being.
A variety of identities and careers. An unusually wide network of contacts for the head of an exiled institute. A breadth and depth of knowledge that goes far beyond the general liberal arts.
He’s not a likeable guy by any means.
“Hmm.
I felt sympathy for Raonis, who was about to sign a contract that was unfavorable in many ways. Unfortunately, he wasn’t here, so my sympathies naturally shifted to his brother.
It’s worth mentioning.
“Tatalia.”
“…….”
“It’s not listening, this.”
Asterike nudged her, and Tatalia flinched.
“Yes, yes, you called?”
“Oh, my, excuse me. I was just addressing a lady.”
“Aaaaah, no, I need to think about something for a minute.”
“Pfft, I’m sorry for interrupting you, you snout.”
I took one hand off the steering wheel and slapped it across my mouth.
“Well, it’s not that….”
Tatalia’s complexion turned white. She knew it was a joke, but it had to come from someone who could take a joke. Kim was known in the rap world as a serious and calm personality.
I realized it wasn’t something I was good at, so I stopped.
“Just kidding. I’m sorry if you were offended.”
“Haha…. It’s okay.”
“Maybe you and your brother don’t get along?”
“Ah…….”
Personal matters that your coworkers don’t need to know. Lab operatives are particularly cautious about approaching coworkers’ family matters. In fact, most of the time, they don’t even touch it.
I know, I know, I made it a chapter on purpose.
Because he wanted to get the reserve agent in trouble? No way. I don’t know if he’s that mean, but he’d rather keep it to himself and keep it out in the open.
As you might expect, Tatalia was slow to tell her story.
“I don’t hate him; in fact, I’m grateful for him.”
A common past for modern people who are familiar with the media. Raonis and Tatalia have the same father but different mothers. One of them had to be labeled illegitimate.
The illegitimate child was named Tatalia.
“I feel blessed, though, because my father took care of the ceremonial food, but it was a different kind of family favor, and it came with a condition. When I turned 15, I had to move out on my own.”
“You’ve been in the lab since then? You must be really old.”
Tatalia shook her head at Asterike’s urging.
“No, I don’t. My brother bought me from my father.”
“Ying? That sounds offensive.”
This time it was Chelsea, and the Chapter shook his head from side to side again.
“I don’t mean that in a disgusting way, it’s just that my brother was a businessman from then on, and of the three of us in the house, he was the most supportive of me, which is why I didn’t get kicked out when I turned 15.”
After that, it was obvious.
Tatalia was nothing. She was not an entrepreneur, nor was she the flawless, pretty young thing who was supposed to marry and bring the house down. It was the perfect environment for dreams and rebellion.
“I planned my runaway carefully, but I didn’t really think about it after I ran away. My brother told me I’d never felt poverty, but I did. It made me realize a lot of things: the world is ugly. That my father, who fed me and put me to bed even though he discriminated against me, was a noble man.”
Even if it was an illegitimate child, fed by filthy lust. The mere fact that he didn’t bury it made him universally admirable.
That was the world.
“I was struggling… and then I met Leila. She’s so stupidly sweet and gentle, so fragile and precious, you can’t leave her alone.”
From that day forward, Tatalia became a reserve agent for the lab.
To this day, she has not become a regular agent.
“And I still can’t shoot a gun properly. I guess they didn’t want to show how pathetic I am, a reserve agent who can’t help anyone.”
Distilling thoughts into language was akin to unraveling a tangled bundle of threads. Once unraveled, the shape of the threads became clear. It was a deeply ingrained sense of inferiority.
It’s a feeling she doesn’t know when she’ll get over. Tatalia forced herself to gather her thoughts. It’s not good to dwell on it.
Ejaculation-free agents in the lab are rare.
To others, she would be seen as an immature young woman who kicked the good life to the curb; after all, she was the only one who could understand her pain.
Finally, I asked a question. A question that had been bothering me.
“Did you know everything?”
“Me?”
“Yes. Is that why you asked me to come with you?”
Kim replied calmly as he gripped the steering wheel.
“Nope. It’s a coincidence.”
“Yes, sir.”
It was a matter of personal freedom to believe or not.
* * *
Upon returning to the lab, I had a matter to take care of.
1. give Kushan a quick explanation and leave Raonis to it.
2. Pack up the ingredients and head to Tam Tam.
3. ask about the summit once the two of you have cleared up after #1.
1 and 2 both went smoothly.
Tam Tam was especially excited to hear that Kim had opened an exchange. Due to the special environment of the lab, he was always surrounded by materials.
“Hey, you’re in trouble! I thought you were crazy, but you’re just a pot belly!”
“Of course. I’ve always been a very rational person.”
“I misspoke. He’s crazy, but he’s a belly!”
“Hmm.”
I’m sorry to say it, but there’s always a way. I informed Raonis’s secretary that I would personally keep the materials that I had taken from the garden.
The effect was amazing.
“Should I bark? Should I bark? Woof!”
“Forefoot.”
“Whoa!”
I had the rare experience of working with a proud blacksmith as a dog. I had a lot of fun, but the people in the workshop were not happy, so I stopped after a while.
“Anyway, I’ll have it made right away.”
“Joey. Don’t worry, hawk! I’ll make it with love.”
“A little affection.”
“Let it be friendship!”
There was a brief traffic jam.
“How long will it take?”
“Hmmm. Two weeks, if I put your order at the top of the line?”
“Two weeks.”
“…What? Too slow? This one’s a tight one, too….”
She’s nervous about offending anyone. Kim’s sudden change in demeanor made her cringe. She had been friendly before, but now she felt like she was treating a VIP.
I don’t know how long it will last.
“No complaints. Quality is more important than duration.”
“You know what, you know what, punctuality is professionalism, but sometimes being able to say, uh, fuck professionalism, that’s what makes a man, a craftsman!”
“You’re a woman.”
“Whatever, sucks.”
I feel like we’re already halfway there.
In any case, he was finally able to entrust the casting. Up until this point, Kim had relied on firearms, leaving him relatively powerless against stronger opponents.
But that’s about to change.
“It won’t change the basic combat style.
Guns are convenient and powerful in most situations. The problem is when they don’t work or are only marginally effective. I needed a hand that specialized in boss fights besides Helixivir, which is like a poison pill.
It’s just the weapon to scratch that itch.
‘If things go as I expect… it’s almost a counter to the next boss I meet.
I’m glad I went to Banzar. I still haven’t decided who to give Razli’s Factor to, but a 6-star gear and an agent will make the next “boss fight” much easier.
But first, let’s do the episode in front of us.
* * *
Raonis was self-aware that he was a bigot.
Researchers are a strange bunch. Among them, only the political ones rise to high positions. The title of “head of the institute” already guarantees a certain level of business and political power.
But even then, it’s fundamentally a research position.
A fish out of water. Just as a politician who has played the political game is exceptionally cunning. Just as a businessman who has won corporate wars is unusually cruel and cold.
He had the ability to secretly look down on a faceless lab director. He was robbed by Kim Yi-hyun… but that was only because he brought his brother into the picture.
It’s no longer agitated.
Raonis is polite and extremely businesslike. Even when his secretary had to push his wheelchair, he maintained his upper-class dignity.
His poker face shattered as soon as he saw the face of the lab director.
“Ma, Dr. Mascherano…?”
“That’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time.”
A man imprinted on Raonis as Mascherano. A man who was once arrogant and easily judgmental, even his father cringed.
The corner of his mouth twitches upward.
“I haven’t seen you in a long time.”
He grinned like he’d gotten away with it.