A Flower That Eats Humans 194

## Chapter 194 – Crumbs (12)

“Oh, I was disappointed we couldn’t meet in Busan, but to meet again like this, I’ve missed you, Chanwoo-ssi.”

“…I’d like to accept that pleasantly, but seeing your face, good words just won’t come out.”

After descending about eight floors in an elevator with flickering lights, a wide space was revealed.
Devices that looked similar to the ones I saw in Busan, various experimental tools, and a large monitor in the center.
And Jung Ah-un, sitting on a chair in the center, greeted me with an awkward smile.

“Senior, you’re safe…!”

“…Thanks to you guys. Anyway, did you find out anything?”

“No, she said she would only talk when you came, Senior…”

I patted Minjung, who ran towards me with a relieved expression, handed over the unconscious Theresa, and slowly approached Jung Ah-un, who was chuckling.
Seeing the large monitor behind him showing the lobby, he must have been watching the fight the whole time.

“You were watching, so you must know. This, you made this again, didn’t you?”

I held out the syringe-shaped device I had taken from Theresa.
He leaned back in his chair and chuckled again.

“…What the hell is this?”

“Hahaha… It’s not that great. Data I’ve collected while meeting you,
and a solution made from your hair or a bit of blood, like your biological tissues.
It was my masterpiece that could help make humans better beings.”

“…Do you hear the word ‘pervert’ a lot?”

A solution made from my blood and hair restored Theresa’s original power.
…As expected, what I suspected was the power of gold quietly hidden inside me. The power of Hir, the king of the roots.
That light that fixes everything could also give power to the same creator.

“Returning to Korea and living in the lab for two years. Knowing about you and focusing on research,
thinking that you and the fruit had a deep relationship, I looked for the purple fruit left in Korea and went to Busan,
and for the first time, I met Yuri-ssi, who was the same being as you, and obtained her data.
…Looking back, it feels like time has passed so quickly. Even though I haven’t done much.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“…Chanwoo-ssi, I might have learned too much. Why did I do that?
It would have been happier to just dream about it, why couldn’t I be satisfied with that?”

He smiled at me again, but it was a slightly different smile than before.
If his usual smile was a sly one to hide his emotions,
his smile now was a bitter one, as if he had lost something precious and was disappointed.

Jung Ah-un took out a cigarette case from his pocket, opened it, and counted the cigarettes.

“…Five cigarettes, if I smoke them slowly while talking, I can smoke them all without leaving any. May I smoke?”

He sensed that this was his end and asked for my permission as he took out a cigarette.
Without saying anything, I quietly nodded, and he put the cigarette in his mouth and lit it.

“…Ah, I should give you this first.”

“…What’s this?”

“The coordinates of the General Research Association headquarters and the location and operation code of the private plane I hid to use.
If you just enter the data inside, it will automatically fly to the Research Association headquarters.”

Jung Ah-un handed me a small USB and closed his eyes, exhaling smoke.

“…I’ll gratefully accept this. But if you do this, I have no more business with you.
If you have any last words, say them now. I’ll wait until you finish your cigarette.”

“…When I was young, my mother always told me to become a great person who would greatly help the world.
A doctor who saved many people, a mathematician who contributed to the development of science, an inventor who invented various devices.
There were many great people who helped people in various ways, but I didn’t understand them.
‘Wouldn’t it be better to just eliminate the root of all problems?’ That’s what I thought.”

“So what you came up with was just making all humans perfect?”

“Yes, of course. Humans with strong power will not be killed by beasts.
Humans with strong bodies and immunity will not suffer from illness for the rest of their lives.
And humans with outstanding knowledge can overcome death with their own power.
That’s the kind of human I wanted to create. The most perfect and unwavering human.”

Jung Ah-un finished one cigarette and immediately put the next one in his mouth and lit it.
His white gown was stained with blood, unknown stains, and cigarette ash.

“So when I met you, I was really happy. Because you were the very existence I wanted.
If I could find out the identities of you, the petals, and the fruit, I could get closer to my ideal, that’s what I believed.
But after getting Yuri-ssi’s data in Busan, I started to think something was wrong.
Yuri-ssi, who I thought was the same being as you, was actually not much different from humans.
You, Chanwoo-ssi, were special. That’s when everything started to go wrong, damn it…”

His voice became more intense as he quickly finished another cigarette.

“…I used the weapon I obtained in Busan to kill all the researchers who were left here.
And I started to collect and research all the data that was left in this lab.
Hoping that I was wrong, hoping that there was still a chance left for me, for humans.
Then, in the end, I opened the secret data that the Research Association had hidden.
Inside was a photo and files of each fruit. A giant tree…
And the fruits growing on that tree and the white flower garden blooming under that tree…”

“You crazy bastard.”

“…It wasn’t an amazing discovery that would lead humans to a new path.
It was just one piece of evidence that beings like gods existed in the distant past.
I came to realize that humans can never obtain their power.
But let’s not give up. If I give up, there will be no progress for humans. I made up my mind like that,
and I made the solution that’s in the syringe you’re holding now…”

“…You experimented on your own body?”

“How did you know…?”

From the moment I entered this place, I knew his body condition through the green power.
Even though the noticeable large wounds had already been treated, his body was dying.
From the inside, small cells were breaking down one by one in a terrible state.

“…Yes, as you said, I failed and despaired. I also knew that I would die soon.
But then, the woman who fought you… she came to find me. I knew it right away when I saw her.
Her identity was something I couldn’t even understand with my common sense, a mysterious being like you.
That woman made me an offer. She said she would save me if I served them.
I didn’t care about that. More than that, I wanted to prove that I hadn’t failed.
So I gave her the solution I made and made her fight you.
If she won, then I would have defeated you, who had become a being like a god. Ha, ha…”

“In the end, I won, and you lost.”

He took out the fourth cigarette and put it in his mouth, then raised his head and asked me.

“…It’s all because of you. Everything went wrong because of you.
Just what are you… Im Chanwoo, what is your identity…? How did you become perfect…?!

“Me? I’m just a common 20-something guy, with no friends and a slightly edgy personality, a ‘normal person’.”

“…That can’t be, it can’t be. You have to be different… you have to be…”

“No, I’m a normal human who grew up in a normal family, no different from other people.
And what? You’re saying that without you, there would be no progress for humans? I’m hearing all sorts of bullshit.”

I kicked the chair he was sitting on, and Jung Ah-un fell weakly to the floor.
I made eye contact with him as he let out a dying groan and tried to support himself with trembling arms.

“…You, you…!”

“Listen carefully. There are many people who live happily without your brilliant brain.
Suffering from illness and dying from fighting? So what did you do to prevent that?
You’re just meddling in other people’s affairs. The world works fine without you.
No, maybe it’s better not to have a psychopath who mistakes his actions for the sake of humanity.”

“…Ha, hahaha! Shut up! Shut up! There’s no way a moron like you would know…!
Why was a bastard like you chosen!! Why, why the hell!!”

I watched him scream with a bloody nose and raised my body.
Then I turned around, took Theresa back from Minjung, carried her on my back, and headed for the elevator.

“Minjung-noona, we don’t need that bastard anymore. Kill him.”

“Yes, Senior!”

I passed by Minjung and gave her the order, and she smiled brightly and took out a pistol from her pocket.
Her cold heels clicked and echoed in the lab.

“…What’s wrong, Nabi, why are you like that?”

“…Chanwoo Oppa…? I…”

“You worked hard today. Let’s go home and eat something delicious.”

I stroked Nabi’s head as she was squatting in front of the elevator and helped her up.
…I don’t know what Jung Ah-un told her, but I hope she doesn’t worry about it too much.

“Seohee and Iran-noona will be waiting. Let’s go quickly.”

“…Yes…”

I continued to stroke her head and hugged her with one arm,
and Nabi, who immediately burst into tears, hugged me and lent me her chest.

“IM CHANWOOOOOOO!!!”

I turned around at the desperate voice calling my name and made eye contact with Jung Ah-un.
I raised my middle finger at him and gave him a contemptuous smile, and he was about to scream again, but

Bang-

A loud noise echoed in the lab, and his voice could no longer be heard.

…………..

…………..

…………..

The car that Minjung was driving down the mountain was too quiet. Nabi and Yuri, who were exhausted and asleep,
and Theresa, who had lost consciousness and fainted in between, were gathered in the back seat.

“Minjung-noona, what are you going to do with that empty house now?”

“Ah, you mean the house that Jung Ah-un used to live in? Originally, that place is managed by the Research Association, but
since there is no Research Association left in Korea, it will probably be empty until a new tenant appears.”

“Okay, then drop me off there. And you drop off Nabi and Yuri,
and buy a suitable mattress and bring it to me.”

“Yes? A mattress? Don’t tell me…”

“You’re right about what you’re thinking.”

I smiled and looked at Theresa, who was asleep, through the rearview mirror.
Blonde hair, long eyelashes, and a mature-looking body, she was a beauty with an exotic feel.
She’s the woman who tried to kill me, so I don’t need to be lenient.

I couldn’t help but laugh as I looked at her sleeping, unaware of what was about to happen to her.