Chapter 2167 – 2167. Eternal Eden
I was able to sense and react to Catherine’s surprise attack using electromagnetic waves.
If it hadn’t been for the electromagnetic waves, I wouldn’t have noticed Catherine’s attack at all. Despite her large size, Catherine moved as quietly as a cockroach.
That didn’t mean Catherine’s combat abilities were lacking. If it weren’t for me, the Awakened gathered here would have been annihilated by Catherine.
As I fought Catherine, I had some questions.
Why is a variant like Catherine so obsessed with a large hospital? It’s said that Catherine suddenly appeared at the hospital and occupied it. It’s not like Catherine was a patient at this hospital originally.
Different species of mutants and variants basically can’t coexist. After all, it’s a relationship of eating and being eaten. Unless they have high intelligence… but Catherine and the monster rats were less intelligent than dolphins.
‘There are too many monster rats. Even if rats are known to breed well… considering the size of these rats, there’s still a food problem. It’s not like these rats are wisely storing food and eating only what they need.’
Due to the food problem, the monster rats should have left the hospital and scattered long ago. But they stubbornly stayed in the hospital?
‘Even if Catherine has the ability to control the monster rats… can she perfectly control all of them?’
It’s unlikely that Catherine is a versatile variant with the ability to both launch surprise attacks and control mutants. It’s more likely that something else is controlling Catherine and the monster rats.
I separated from the group of Awakened and contacted Na Chaeyoung. I told her about the current situation and my thoughts.
-It’s possible to control variants and mutants with science and technology. Or, if it’s a mental ability user, it’s even easier to control them. It’s difficult with current science, so… it’s probably the latter.
Is there a mental ability user hiding among the Awakened?
I also remembered the suspicious behavior of the police during the briefing. Maybe they’re hiding among the police.
-Or maybe they’ve been brainwashed.
“Can brainwashing work on variants and mutants?”
-Variants and mutants are still living things. With continuous brainwashing, you can induce their behavior. It would be easier if there’s a mental ability user.
“My gut feeling is that the Ilwoo Group bastards are up to something. What do you think?”
-That’s a very plausible story. The Ilwoo Group is in a bad situation. They sometimes appear in games too. An evil conglomerate aiming to conquer the world. Catherine might be an artificial variant created by humans.
An artificial variant. It’s unsettling, but not impossible. There are drugs that forcibly evolve humans, after all.
“What if Catherine and the monster rats lose control?”
-Well, they’d run wild according to their instincts. There’d be no reason for them to stay in the hospital, so they’d immediately rush out… wait. Are they going to release the variants and mutants into Gwangju?
“It looks like the Gwangju mayor is trying to screw me over. So, shouldn’t the Gwangju mayor get screwed over too?”
-But the citizens of Gwangju will suffer.
“The citizens of Gwangju elected that bastard as mayor. Don’t they know about collective responsibility?”
Monster rats, like cockroaches, would be a disaster. The characteristic of rats is that they hide. Gwangju fighting monster rats. The boring city will become a fun city.
-…You’re intentionally trying to fail this mission. That will tarnish your reputation. You know how easily the public can turn on you.
“The responsibility isn’t mine, it’s the Gwangju mayor’s and the Ilwoo Group’s.”
-……How? Do you have any evidence that the Gwangju mayor and the Ilwoo Group are involved?
“That’s the problem. There’s no evidence. So… let’s fabricate it. Let’s make a fake video and spread it.”
-I’m sorry, but video production requires skill. With mediocre skills, it’ll be immediately obvious that the video is fake. And that would backfire on us.
“……Then we need to find real evidence.”
I looked around. A six-person hospital room. Surprisingly, except for some dust, it was very clean. The TV worked fine when I pressed the remote. It was proof that water and electricity were being supplied without interruption.
I was convinced that Catherine and the monster rats were being controlled by someone. If nothing else, there wasn’t even a trace of the monster rats roaming around.
‘It would be a waste to blow up a hospital of this size. Most of the facilities seem to be state-of-the-art too.’
The facilities are intact. I focused on this point.
I started walking around the hospital. Of course, I didn’t let my guard down.
Brain Thunder Style (雷天流) Electromagnetic Wave (電磁氣波).
I scattered electromagnetic waves, preparing for Catherine’s surprise attack. The detection range was 20 meters. Unless there was a way to hide from electromagnetic waves, Catherine could never surprise me.
‘Catherine might target the other Awakened… but that’s not my problem.’
I found a swarm of monster rats.
These guys were gathered in a wide, sunny hallway, not in a narrow, dark room. They like wide, bright places? No. Among the monster rats, the particularly large ones were occupying the corners.
There was a stench in the hallway. The feces and corpse fragments that the monster rats had left behind were scattered everywhere. The corpses were those of monster rats. In other words, evidence of cannibalism.
The rats resting in the hallway all turned their heads and recognized me. At the same time, the monster rats charged at me.
I stepped into True Awakening and unleashed lightning. Ban Hoseong created a wave of electricity by pounding the ground with his hammer, but I created a wave of electricity just by taking a step. The wave of electricity spread throughout the hallway faster and more clearly than Ban Hoseong’s.
The monster rats that touched the electricity fell over and stopped moving. They were dead.
I walked leisurely through the hallway, but unable to bear the piercing stench, I ran through the hallway.
I arrived at the security room.
A place where all the CCTV cameras installed in the hospital could be controlled and checked.
‘Since the facilities are intact, I should be able to see what happened a few days ago. Stupid bastards. If they were going to do it, they should have destroyed the CCTV first.’
I grinned at the fact that the evidence was in my hands.
As I checked the saved videos, I frowned.
There were only videos from the past week. There were no videos from before a week ago. From the starting point of the saved videos, Catherine and the monster rats were already occupying the hospital.
‘This fucking… it looks like someone deleted the videos?’
I quickly checked the videos. I couldn’t tell where Catherine and the monster rats came from. There were no videos that could be used as evidence.
“Fucking hell!”
Bang!
Frustrated, I punched the monitor. The monitor shattered, and some of the fragments flew everywhere.
I glared at the broken monitor and then… remembered my ability, Recovery.
‘My ability works on machines too. Then, can’t I recover data too?’
I have the ability to bring the dead back to life, so surely I can recover a piece of data. It was worth a try. First, I smashed the CCTV cameras installed in the security room. I couldn’t let my ability be recorded on video.
After that, I recovered the broken monitor and found the hard disk and used Recovery.
Carefully.
If I used Recovery too quickly and strongly, the hard disk could return to its previous state.
As I used my ability while looking at the monitor, I eventually smiled. The deleted data had been recovered through Recovery.
“That’s it!”
I checked the videos from a week ago.
The smile on my face grew wider. I found the evidence. A truck entered the hospital parking lot, and from there, they unloaded the restrained Catherine and the monster rats in cages into the hospital. In particular, the monster rats poured out of several trucks.
‘Catherine and the monster rats are docile. Like they’re unconscious. No, is it anesthesia?’
Evidence that someone was plotting something.
The truck drivers and employees didn’t even cover their faces. Of course, they had planned to remove the CCTV footage from the start.
‘Looking at the mark on the truck, they’re disguised as a hospital partner company.’
When I searched the internet, I found that the partner company was also related to the Ilwoo Group. If I spread this evidence on the internet, the Gwangju mayor’s life would be over. And the Ilwoo Group’s image would also be tarnished.
‘They’ll probably start cutting off the tail.’
It’s not enough to bring down the entire Ilwoo Group.
‘First, I’ll send a copy of the video data to Na Chaeyoung… but it’s boring to just upload it to the internet.’
After a moment of thought, I made a plan.
• • •
I returned to the Awakened. It wasn’t difficult to find the Awakened. I just had to go to the place where the gunshots were ringing. The Awakened were fighting the monster rats very noisily.
“Seong Yujin! You’re here!”
Han Doohho was the first to spot me and shouted. He handed the camera to someone else and was fighting the monster rats. His arms and legs had transformed into those of a bear.
“I’m sorry. I lost Catherine along the way.”
“Ah, well, that monster was unavoidable. It was obviously an unusual variant… but your body is covered in blood. You should go back immediately and get into an ambulance…”
“I’m fine. These kinds of injuries are nothing.”
All the visible injuries were self-inflicted. If I looked too fine, they would find it strange. In reality, I didn’t even encounter Catherine, but I pretended to have fought a fierce battle. That’s how I’ll increase my value.
‘Right now, Catherine is probably hiding and focusing on recovering from her injuries.’
I spoke to them with the most serious expression I could muster.
“Catherine is exhausted. We need to go and kill Catherine now. I need your help.”
The Awakened didn’t rush forward. They even looked displeased. They didn’t say it out loud, but it was obvious that they didn’t want to face Catherine.
“Of course. Our goal is to kill Catherine. Once Catherine is dead, the army and police can handle the monster rats. Let’s go.”
Han Doohho stepped forward and said. He was conscious of the camera, even while pretending not to be. Millions of people were watching. If he had to do it anyway, it was better to take the lead. In that sense, Han Doohho was quite smart.
