# Chapter 61
With things turning out this way, the whole family was in a state of emergency. The entire family gathered around the hospital bed, anxiously hovering over their adorable youngest member. Even when friends were called and questioned about possible psychological issues, they said they didn’t know, and since she was someone who lived without a job, she wasn’t experiencing work-related stress either.
Every method was employed to wake Subin up. Healing-type superhumans were a given, along with exorbitantly expensive tests, and they even went so far as to bring doctors from around the world, and even performed a shaman ritual.
However, the final diagnosis was simply fatigue.
“So many people all said they couldn’t determine the cause…”
When Subin had met with Iyeon previously, she didn’t appear so frail that she would suddenly collapse. If anything, she seemed healthy… At the very least, she was probably more robust than Iyeon.
And yet, a person like that had been unconscious for over two weeks.
“She’ll wake up soon.”
Despite Hyegang’s consolation, Sua’s gloomy expression didn’t lift. Her long-held hope now bore the color of resignation.
Just then, the sunset light streamed through the hospital window, causing something on the dresser to sparkle. Iyeon quietly approached to take a closer look. A pretty tray on the dresser used to store patients’ and guardians’ personal items contained sparkling accessories.
“What’s this?”
“Ah, those are the accessories my sister was wearing. We put them away separately when she changed into hospital clothes.”
Her flashy style was evident at the club, but the variety was impressive. The earrings were as long as a middle finger, there were three or four rings, and she had apparently been wearing necklaces and bracelets neatly too.
More than half of the accessories, which were coordinated to match each other in tone, had sparkling jewels attached. Considering her wealth, they probably weren’t just cubic zirconias.
But among the accessories that were all silver with transparent gleams, one stood out with a distinctly different atmosphere—a rose-gold bracelet that shone dully.
“Huh?”
Iyeon examined the bracelet closely. It had a blue gemstone the size of a fingernail embedded in the center, with vine-like engravings around it. It was a finely and beautifully crafted item with a classical feel.
Iyeon’s gaze fixed on the blue gemstone decorating the bracelet.
‘This, I’ve seen somewhere…’
Lost in thought, Iyeon froze as if struck by lightning. After a brief moment of realization, his hands busily unzipped his bag.
“Hyung, what’s wrong?”
Hyegang and Sua approached, probably finding Iyeon’s behavior suspicious. Iyeon turned to them, rummaging through his bag thoroughly, and pulled out the gems he had filched.
“This, isn’t it exactly the same as the one on that bracelet?”
The red and purple gems placed on his white palm were identical to the blue gem embedded in the bracelet in terms of cutting shape and size, only differing in color. Even Iyeon, who presented them, couldn’t believe the source of the gems.
They were from the club’s laboratory.
“What are those gems?”
Sua, unaware of the circumstances, asked with puzzlement. With an ominous intuition, Iyeon reached out instead of explaining.
“Well, I got these during a job. Just a moment, please.”
When he put on the bracelet, along with the cold metallic sensation, an unfamiliar and strange feeling crept up from the inside of his wrist. Goosebumps rose on his forearm. He could instinctively understand.
Iyeon gripped the tray placed on the dresser.
Crunch.
The corner of the tray, where the accessories had slid to one side, crumpled like a defective product in his grip.
The change came after that. The gi-ryeok in his body flowed out abnormally violently. It was different from using his own superpower. A sensation of suffocation spread from his fingertips to his entire body.
As his body slightly staggered from the gi-ryeok draining like an ebb tide, a large arm firmly caught and lifted him up. Sano, who had arrived unnoticed, removed the bracelet with strong force, almost tearing it off, and frowned.
“Why would you stupidly put that on?”
Iyeon didn’t even have the presence of mind to answer. He murmured blankly.
“…This is a superpower?”
Silence fell for a while. At the unexpected emergence of a superpower bracelet, both Chageum and Sua seemed dumbfounded. After a long pause, she opened her mouth and said:
“Subin isn’t a superhuman.”
That made it an even bigger problem.
Fortunately, Sua regained her composure quickly afterward. The first thing she did was search through Subin’s SNS to find the source of the bracelet.
“My sister is very capricious and loves to dress up. She changes clothes several times a day, and the dressing room she created at home is incredibly spacious.”
But in all recent posts, she was wearing the same bracelet. Moreover, the time she started wearing the bracelet and the period she complained about lacking energy almost coincided.
At this point, it was certain.
“You three.”
The urgent tone cut through the air. Sua was looking at them with desperate eyes.
“Could you help me?”
Iyeon’s gaze shifted between Sua and the lying Subin.
There wasn’t much to consider.
After leaving the hospital, Chageum split up. Hyegang would search for information about the bracelet at the office, while Sano and Iyeon would take the bracelet to D.S’s workshop for analysis.
Despite it being quite late, D.S was inevitably at her workshop.
“A superpower bracelet? How is such a nonsensical thing possible?”
D.S held the bracelet, examining it from various angles, but there were no major visible differences on the surface.
“Yes. Though it’s not that strong…”
“At the point where they can make such a thing usable, it could become absurdly powerful. What would happen if someone wore multiple?”
Hearing that made sense. Belatedly realizing its potential applications, Iyeon widened his eyes in surprise. The thought suddenly struck him that this might be a more dangerous matter than expected.
“What ability is contained in this?”
“I think it’s probably a strength enhancement superpower. Since the side effects seem severe, please don’t use it directly.”
“Strength enhancement, huh. Common and good.”
Though her tone was nonchalant, D.S was also apparently surprised, as she cursed under her breath.
“What madman made this?”
Iyeon also laughed with a sigh.
“Ah, and this.”
What Iyeon presented were the gems stolen from the club’s laboratory. With her sharp eye, D.S immediately recognized that the gems were the same type as those used in the bracelet.
“…Are you the madman?”
As D.S’s suspicious gaze scanned him up and down, Iyeon jumped up.
“No! I found these by chance during another job. I thought they might help. Please use them for your investigation.”
“Alright.”
D.S, who had been examining the gems Iyeon handed over, placed them side by side with the bracelet. The colorful gems reflected the light of the stand. The sight of the colorful minerals sparkling like toys was strangely eerie.
A few days later, D.S contacted them. She said she had completed the analysis of the bracelet.
When the two arrived at the workshop, D.S bluntly asked:
“Where did you guys get this?”
“What?”
“Where the hell did you pick up something like this?”
Her aggressive tone, as if she had been waiting for them to arrive, was intense. When a surprised Iyeon just blinked, D.S tapped the bracelet that was placed on the table.
“This is a completely insane item. I don’t know which madman created it, but something like this shouldn’t be circulating…”
“Wait. Why are you like this? What’s wrong with the bracelet?”
“This should absolutely not be made this way. It’s at a level that feels malicious.”
She clicked her tongue so hard that the whole space seemed to resonate. D.S, frowning, pressed her brow and explained:
“Do you know how portals work?”
“Yes…”
Portals, which transfer teleportation abilities to objects so they can be used without a teleportation ability user. The reason they weren’t widely distributed was simple: without a teleportation ability user to charge them, portals couldn’t be used.
Portals were closer to auxiliary equipment for teleportation ability users. The teleportation location couldn’t be changed freely from what the teleportation ability user had designated in advance, the possible volume was predetermined, and one couldn’t teleport as much as desired. It was just a device that temporarily stored gi-ryeok for use when needed. A resource that could be used in a very limited way.
This was also why there were almost no machines using superpowers on the market. So far, there was almost no technology that could legally use superpowers without a superhuman.
Yes, legally.
“Well, the only thing that exists is the combat zone terrain setting function, but its blueprint hasn’t been released. The developer also disappeared.”
“That’s an amazing technology too.”
“Yeah, I really don’t know how they did it.”
Shaking her head, D.S returned to explaining the bracelet.
“This also contains superhumans’ gi-ryeok, like portals.”
Her frowning eyes glanced at the bracelet, which emitted a cold light.
“The difference is that the gi-ryeok contained inside is insufficient, so it also requires the wearer’s gi-ryeok.”
