## Chapter 118 – Sprout
“You don’t know? It’s your power, how can you not know, Noona?”
“…Yeah, that’s what I’m saying? In the first place, that power isn’t mine anymore, it’s yours now. How would I know? Electricity coming out of your hands? That’s kinda cool.”
Lee-ran Noona was lounging comfortably on the sofa, eating snacks, as if she had completely adapted to everyday life. I had sought her advice, as the original owner of the green power I was currently using. I asked her about the green power, which was even more difficult to use and control than the blue power, but the answer I got was, ‘I don’t know.’ At first, I wondered if Noona was just playing around, but…
Seeing her eyes sparkling as she heard the words ‘electricity coming out,’ I realized I was screwed. I hadn’t even fully mastered the blue power yet, and I couldn’t even grasp the green power… Would it be okay to go to Busan in this state? Am I being too cautious? But I can’t ignore the ominous feeling that my danger sense is picking up. Should I postpone going to Busan for a bit? …No, I can’t.
The whereabouts of the Seoul branch director, which I heard from that big guy I fought at the lab. He seemed to have already gone to Busan to prepare something, especially that Jeong Ah-woon. There’s no way that unpleasantly perceptive and quick-witted guy wouldn’t have noticed the movements. Especially since he knows the internal affairs of the lab so well. In my opinion, Jeong Ah-woon and the lab, everyone, would have already arrived in Busan.
That’s why I can’t postpone going to Busan.
If I delay any longer, the situation might be over by the time I arrive…
“…Haa, what should I do…”
“…Hmm.”
Noona was quietly watching me as I swept my hair back with both hands and sighed. She finished the snacks she was holding, wiped her hands, and said.
“Don’t worry too much about it. It’s normal for you not to know anything about the power.”
“…Huh?”
“I think you’re making a small mistake. The power you have is our power, but it’s also your power. What that means is, that power you got from eating the fruit that sealed us. The power to grow trees out of nowhere, the power to move life. And as you said earlier, the power to create electricity on your own. We can’t even do that, really. I can’t shoot electricity.”
“…Huh? Then this is…”
As always, Noona’s words are hard to understand. This power flowing through my body isn’t Noona’s power? As if to say that’s nonsense, I show her the sparks of electricity crackling in my hand.
Noona watches it with fascination and continues her story.
“Oh, that’s it. Anyway, to sum it up, the basis of the power flowing inside you is ours, that’s right. But you growing trees and creating electricity based on that power, that’s your power. To put it simply, what your subconscious has interpreted from my and Bill’s powers, ‘knowledge’ and ‘life force,’ is that.”
“…So, I created this power separately?”
“That’s right, when you think about it yourself, what you closely associate with ‘life’ is trees. And what you closely associate with my power, ‘knowledge,’ is electricity.”
…Honestly, I didn’t understand, but thinking about it while listening to her, it seemed to be true. The result of my subconscious arbitrarily interpreting what Noona spat out as ‘life force’ and ‘knowledge.’ That’s how I gained the blue power to create life and control it, and the power to control electricity.
“…So, I’m a simple guy?”
“Ahaha, it does turn out that way. It’s not like you’re a kid. Even if what comes to mind when you think of life is a lush forest or trees, to think of electricity when you think of knowledge, you have a pretty cute side.”
I stare blankly at Noona, who is teasing me and slapping her leg while giggling. As if she noticed the awkwardness, Noona carefully gauges my mood and clears her throat with a ‘cough, cough!’ In the awkward atmosphere, we maintain a silent silence for a moment, then Noona immediately changes the subject.
“…Anyway, there’s no need to worry too much. Who does well from the beginning when they do something for the first time? Just like everything needs practice and repetition, you’ll get better as you use it.”
“…”
Noona, with her much smaller body and smaller hands, strokes my hair and smiles kindly. I recall Noona’s advice and try to spark electricity with my fingertips. This is mine now…
“I’m home from school… I’m tired…”
Breaking the quiet atmosphere, Chae-yoon opens the front door and comes in. Chae-yoon, who has been going to school alone since I quit, is always like this. She comes home in a languid and particularly tired state, and immediately…
“…Oppa…”
“…Wash your hands and then cling to me.”
She clings to me.
…
“Chae-yoon, can you take a week off from school?”
“Huh? Suddenly… is something wrong?”
“Let’s go to Busan for fun, all together.”
Perfect timing.
————————————
“Huh? Who’s that guy?”
“I brought him because he was standing in front of the lab. I don’t think he’s an enemy.”
“…”
“You too, I told you not to treat guests harshly, right? Is he dead?”
“I’m sorry. He kept chattering next to me, so I… I didn’t kill him, I just knocked him out for now.”
“Hmm, let’s see… ‘Ancient Plant Research Society Seoul Branch, Ancient Weapon Development Team. Team Leader Jeong Ah-woon…’ This guy seems to be a high-ranking person from the Seoul branch? Is he on the same side as that bearded fatty who came the other day?”
“No, according to the data, this man seems to be hostile to the Research Society. The fatty you’re talking about… he’s an enemy of the Seoul branch director and the Busan branch director.”
“What, then he’s on our side. Let’s not kill this guy.”
“Understood. Then I’ll restrain him in the control room.”
“…By the way, this guy was outside? He said he felt the reaction of the petals? This guy doesn’t seem to be him… and he doesn’t seem to be a parasite either.”
“The reaction of the petals that I felt was from a woman who is with this man. She seemed to be the completed version of the bio-weapon that the Seoul branch made.”
“You didn’t bring that woman?”
“No, she wouldn’t be a threat, and her completion is lower than ‘what we made’…”
Ah, I can’t stand it anymore.
“Do you have a problem with what I made?”
I was going to pretend to be unconscious and try to extract information from the conversation, but these two people’s remarks seemed to ignore the discovery of the century that I had made. As a scholar who cares about the development of humanity, I can’t stand it.
I lift my head while hanging on the shoulder of the man who punched me in the stomach.
“…Oh? Mister, you were awake?”
A soft touch caresses my cheek as she says that. Only then do I see the surrounding scenery, an office with a dark atmosphere. The office is lit by a shimmering blue light.
And a young girl who doesn’t fit the gloomy and dark atmosphere of this place.
Her pink-dyed hair, which is long over a white shirt, catches my eye, as well as her suit pants and black gloves.
“…You’re not human either, are you?”
“Hehehe, what are you saying! I’m human too. More than that, are you the one who made the bio-weapon using petals, Mister?”
“…Yes, why?”
This woman is no different from a human, but she has a sense of incongruity. Judging by the atmosphere, this woman seems to be above this man… What the hell are these guys… If I only listen to the conversation, they’re definitely not from the lab. They seem to know about the director, and they also know about the Busan branch director.
While I was suspecting the two, the pink-haired woman approaches cheerfully. And she caresses my chin and says.
“Mister, don’t you want to be on our side?”
“Why would I? Haha, what are you guys even trusting?”
“Haha, don’t do that.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about…”
“I told you not to, NO. 1.”
“…I’m sorry.”
“…”
I now understand her muttering incomprehensible words while talking. The man who was lifting me up had a knife to my neck with his other hand. The woman didn’t erase her cheerful smile and said it as if she was scolding him…
…This woman definitely has something.
“…Why would I work at a company where there’s a man trying to kill me?”
“Hehe, if you can’t trust that man, how about trusting me, who stopped that man? Mister?”
…Damn it, there’s no gap to be seen in this woman. What the hell happened at the Busan branch…
It seems like it would be better not to provoke this woman here. …Well, since I infiltrated to get information easily, if I gain the trust of these guys who have a lot of something, things will be easier.
Investigate what happened here, and steal information.
“…Okay, it seems like this is the only way.”
“Wow! As expected, Mister is a smart person? Unlike that fatty old man.”
The woman, who was smiling and clapping, sits at the table in the middle of the office and signals to the man who was lifting me up. Then the man who threw me on the sofa goes to the woman’s side and stands still.
“Then, there’s something Mister has to do for the first time.”
“…Yes, yes. I wonder how you’re going to use me from the first day of work…”
“It’s simple, so don’t get so angry~ We’re going to work together now, so get along with NO. 1 too.”
“Yes, hello. Mr. NO. 1, your name is strange. What’s your last name?”
“…”
Unlike the woman who giggles at my joke, the man maintains his coldness. The woman, who was holding her stomach and laughing like that, soon calms down and continues what she was saying earlier.
“Anyway, what Mister has to do is…”
I hadn’t even thought about it.
“…Tell me about Im Chan-woo.”
I didn’t expect this name to come out of this woman’s mouth.
