# Chapter 115
“I wasn’t expecting uninvited guests.”
“You’re not actually considering me invited, are you? You do realize this is kidnapping, right?”
Young ignored Iyeon’s complaints and stared intently at Jeongheon.
“We’ve got a fly on our hands.”
“Well… I don’t think you can drive me away so easily.”
Jeongheon shrugged his shoulders lightly. Iyeon noticed that he had adopted an attitude similar to when he fought during the Superpower Task Force.
However, unlike before, Young didn’t fall for the provocation. Instead of responding, she slightly widened her stance.
Crack…
As if that was the signal, the ground beneath Young’s feet began to freeze over with a pristine white layer.
The speed at which her ability spread was terrifyingly fast. In an instant, the entire warehouse floor transformed into a massive sheet of ice.
A chill rose from the completely frozen surface, tickling their ankles. Iyeon firmly planted his feet. The floor, with its drastically reduced friction, seemed like it would cause them to slip with the slightest movement.
“I’m stronger than Tier 2s, you know.”
Jeongheon was right. Young’s ability far exceeded not only a Tier 1 level but even surpassed Tier 2.
“It’s impossible for you to subdue me with your power like before.”
Young looked at Jeongheon challengingly. She was right. Young’s enhanced ability control was not the type that relied on momentum-driven physical force. Jeongheon had no way to reverse the gradual freezing process.
Having easily immobilized both of their feet, Young shifted her gaze to Iyeon.
“Let me make you one proposal.”
“I might disagree with calling it a ‘proposal’ after you’ve kidnapped and tied someone up… but sure, let’s hear it.”
Young spoke directly.
“Don’t you want to become stronger?”
“Me… you mean me?”
Momentarily confused, Iyeon stumbled over his words.
“No, not really…”
“There’s no need to be put off because it’s illegal. The effects are truly guaranteed. The success rate used to be low, but we’ve recently started trying new methods, and the results are good. You’ve come at the perfect time.”
“No, really, I’m fine.”
By now, Jeongheon’s expression had also subtly changed.
“Why? Isn’t it better to be stronger?”
Young frowned as if she couldn’t understand, but Iyeon couldn’t exactly tell her that becoming stronger might enable him to conquer the world. With an awkward expression, he waved his hands to refuse her solicitation that sounded like a street vendor’s pitch.
“I’m… I’m practicing my drawing, you know.”
“Don’t you want to become stronger without effort?”
Her tone really sounded like a scammer. There was no need to hear more. Iyeon was about to refuse again when a sudden thought made him pause.
“Um, this is purely hypothetical, just hypothetically asking…”
Young gestured for him to continue.
“If I were to say I wanted to be stronger… what exactly would you do?”
“We would perform a simple surgery.”
Young pulled out a small gem from her pocket. It wasn’t difficult to identify what it was.
“It’s a gem that increases gi-ryeok. We would implant this into your body.”
You scammer! Iyeon barely managed to hold back from blurting that out. The outline was becoming clear.
It seemed that this factory was conducting experiments on implanting gems into superhumans’ bodies.
To make a Mugunghwa Tier 1 appear like a Tier 2 or even a Tier 3, extracting gi-ryeok from another Tier 1 wouldn’t be nearly enough. They would need cooperation from at least a Tier 3, perhaps even a Tier 4. It had seemed implausible, but after hearing Seohyun’s story, Iyeon thought it might actually be possible. The back of his neck bristled with goosebumps.
This experiment had the same foundation as the one at the club research facility—using essence created by extracting gi-ryeok from superhumans.
This was Dr. Kim, Kim Cheoljae’s method.
But there was something that didn’t make sense. If it was possible to directly implant and use a gem, it might appear like one’s own ability on the surface, but of course, it wouldn’t actually be their own power. The differences would be clearly noticeable when using it.
The user themselves—of all people—couldn’t possibly be unaware of this fact.
Iyeon clearly remembered the sensation of gi-ryeok draining when he wore the superpower bracelet. For him, that level of gi-ryeok was only used when creating massive playgrounds to play with Sano at the research facility. What’s more, the bracelet contained gi-ryeok from a superhuman of a lower tier than Iyeon.
Moreover, the bracelet “takes away” gi-ryeok. The mechanism itself was different from the typical use of superpowers controlled at an instinctive level to avoid endangering one’s life.
It was hard to estimate how much gi-ryeok would be needed to use supernatural powers higher than one’s own tier. There was only one thing Iyeon could be certain of.
“Young-ssi, if you keep using that, you’ll die.”
A Tier 1’s gi-ryeok wouldn’t easily withstand it. Perhaps she was already reaching her limit. Iyeon’s gaze shifted to Young’s arm. Superhumans sometimes undergo temporary or permanent physical changes according to their power manifestation, or gi-ryeok consumption. Like Sano’s glowing eyes or scale-like skin.
And like Iyeon’s faded eyes and hair color.
“That’s not really your ability, is it?”
At this quiet, calm statement, Young twisted the corner of her lips upward. It was a sharp, dry smile.
“So what?”
“Excuse me?”
“What’s the point of living a long time as a weakling?”
“What do you—”
While a confused Iyeon couldn’t continue, Young raised her hand and grabbed the pole slung across her back.
“I regret that you’ve refused my proposal.”
With a rustling sound, the cloth wrapping the weapon was removed. The end of the long pole was pointed directly at Iyeon.
“Then I can’t let you live.”
She was serious. She genuinely wanted to maintain her secret, even if it meant killing Iyeon and Jeongheon.
No wonder she had freely revealed her trade secrets. Iyeon sighed.
“Ah, they’ll say I’m meddling again…”
“What?”
Not understanding his muttered lament, Young frowned and gripped her pole tighter. But Iyeon, as if not seeing her actions at all, just continued to mumble in a gloomy tone.
“What can I do? I can’t just let you die, Young-ssi.”
“What could you possibly do?”
Young looked genuinely perplexed. Even during their one-on-one fight in the previous Superpower Task Force, Young had surpassed Iyeon in terms of force. With her enhanced abilities now, even Jeongheon couldn’t pose a threat to her.
Iyeon smiled weakly. Even with his disguised tier, he had no intention of completely hiding his abilities when faced with a life-threatening situation. …And it was largely because he’d already been exposed to the very person he most wanted to keep it secret from.
“You said you were stronger than Tier 2s, right?”
White sand gathered on the ceiling. Young recognized this effect. But it was a power that could never naturally appear in empty space. Her puzzled eyes couldn’t grasp the situation and simply monitored the movement of the sand.
A powerful but inexperienced superhuman. She was exactly the same as during the Superpower Task Force.
“What would you do if you met someone stronger than a Tier 2?”
Before long, the white sand transformed into dozens of elongated spears aimed at the floor. They were all positioned directly above Young’s head.
And as soon as they formed, they plummeted straight down.
“Would you get another surgery then? When you meet someone even stronger? Surgery again? Would you be satisfied before you die?”
Bang! Bang! The spears were fast and solid. It was a simple attack, but with enough force that if they fell unobstructed, they would embed themselves into the floor. Young swung her pole almost instinctively to deflect the spears. Even while frantically responding, Iyeon’s voice continued relentlessly.
He was unleashing a breathless barrage of attacks while not actually moving a finger.
Suddenly, a girl appeared in front of Iyeon. It was a small girl who had been behind Young. The speculation about her identity was instantly confirmed as truth. A teleporter. An accomplice in Iyeon’s kidnapping. She swung her foot toward Iyeon with fierce speed.
But just as the girl’s trajectory seemed to distort, her foot disappeared beneath a ripple.
“I’ll handle this one.”
Jeongheon, with a casual shrug, had grabbed the ankle of the girl standing in front of him.
Instantaneous teleportation worked on the principle of moving an entire defined space at once. Unfortunately for her, teleportation abilities were diametrically opposed to Jeongheon’s spatial unification power.
Jeongheon’s ability to connect one space with another caused great confusion for teleporters trying to define the space they wanted to move. If she made a mistake and teleported into a space that Jeongheon had connected, parts of her body could be severed during the process.
When Jeongheon released her ankle, the girl moved behind Young as if seeking protection. Jeongheon then bent his fingers with a sly smile, as if ready to use his ability at any moment. Soon, another ripple appeared around the girl’s right arm. She barely avoided the attack, but it would be difficult for her to both watch out for Jeongheon and help Young attack Iyeon at the same time.
“Thank you.”
Iyeon nodded slightly and turned his attention back to Young. She was glaring at him with a furrowed brow.
