# Chapter 105
The long, long story was now racing toward its end.
“But I couldn’t find Alice, and that’s when I met Alex.”
I was too busy listening to Boss’s story to say anything. This was my first time hearing someone else’s life in such detail. And I realized it was a much more dangerous thing than I had thought.
Without realizing it, I had begun to empathize with his emotions at some point. To think I was understanding someone I had hated so much. I thought I had gone soft, but I couldn’t help it.
I secretly rolled my eyes to stare at his face. Though Boss was speaking calmly, a faint sadness seeped through, as if he couldn’t completely erase it.
“And then I established the organization with Alex to find Alice. After that, as you know, I met you.”
But as if he was forcibly holding back his emotions, he still didn’t lose his smile even while speaking.
“The brainwashing was undone after Kay died.”
Boss’s matter-of-fact recitation came to an end. However, I didn’t know what to say. I had just thought he was a selfish person.
I thought he was a coward who sought forgiveness belatedly but never talked about himself.
Everything began to make sense with Boss’s past. Why he had to treat me the way he did, why he had changed now.
How much must he have suffered alone? It began to come to mind even though I tried not to think about it.
I could picture Boss, slowly breaking down without even being able to feel the emotion of suffering. Boss withering away without being able to tell anyone.
Even his occasionally empty expressions, even his lack of will to live—they were all probably part of the feeling of suffering.
“Don’t cry.”
Boss gently wiped away my tears. With those words, I realized I had been crying. I hadn’t been crying because I knew it was useless, but lately, my tears wouldn’t stop.
As I hurriedly wiped my tears at the unsightly appearance, he smiled kindly as if to comfort me. But seeing that smile only made my tears grow stronger. No matter how hard I tried to stop them, it was useless.
If anything, Boss was the one who should be crying. How could he act as if nothing was wrong? I knew he was holding it in. But there was no reason for him to hold back anywhere.
I felt angry at Boss’s attitude, as if he had forgotten how to express sad emotions.
“Who made me cry?”
But if I pointed that out, he would try to hide his true feelings even more. So I swallowed what I wanted to say with effort. I breathed slowly to calm my raging emotions. As I repeated this, I felt my mind becoming calmer and my tears stopping.
Boss hesitated and created a long silence. As if he was figuring out whether he could speak rather than not knowing, I took his hand and led him.
“Tell me.”
I had to know. If there was something I hadn’t caught, I would catch it no matter what. And I would inflict more pain than what he had suffered. I would plunge them into such deep despair that they couldn’t even breathe.
In the face of my firm attitude, as if I wouldn’t back down, Boss finally opened his mouth after hesitation.
“…Do you know Raymon, the director of Peace?”
“Isn’t he the one with immortality powers?”
He was a famous person. Someone who had been alive since superpowers first appeared until now. Of course, since that was about 100 years ago, there were a few others too. After all, there were superpowers that could extend lifespan.
But Raymon was the only one currently active. Immortality was a superpower only he possessed, which made it possible.
So among citizens, his status was so great that he was even called living history. Moreover, thanks to Raymon, Peace was able to build a system that could subdue villains in a short period of time. It was impossible not to receive respect.
But for Boss to mention Raymon at this timing…
I watched his mouth, waiting for Boss’s next words.
“It’s him. The person who killed my family.”
“Why—”
I had my suspicions, but to think that person was really the culprit. I hastily spoke up.
I had been thinking about it since the moment I heard Raymon’s name, but I couldn’t understand why he would go that far. From the circumstances, Boss’s family hadn’t committed any crime. They were just an ordinary, harmonious family.
They did have the Revive superpower, but Raymon was famous for having the immortality ability. There would be no reason for him to covet Revive.
Moreover, if he wanted the ability, he would have kept them alive rather than killing them. Because once dead, Revive couldn’t be used either. Simply thinking about it, there was no reason for the director to kill his family.
“He dreams of the impossible, Raymon does.”
A voice that wasn’t immersed in anger, but rather sounded pitying, was heard.
“That man is a superpower-phobe.”
Superpower-phobes were familiar beings. Even though superpowers are now accepted as normal, they’ve only existed for about 100 years. Even though they’ve gradually become commonplace in society, a small number of people still persecute those with superpowers.
Especially among people without superpowers, there were many superpower-phobes. They envied those with special abilities because they couldn’t become superpower users themselves. But Raymon wasn’t particularly such a case.
“But what do you mean by impossible?”
It was surprising enough that the director was a superpower-phobe, but Boss said he was dreaming of the impossible. For Boss to call something impossible… Raymon’s secret wasn’t just about killing his family.
“He thinks all superpower users should disappear.”
“…Isn’t he a superpower user himself?”
The “all superpower users” naturally had to include the director himself. Yet he’s trying to eliminate superpower users? What could he possibly gain from doing such a thing? Moreover, killing all superpower users was, as Boss said, nonsensical.
Unlike 100 years ago, 20% of the population now consists of superpower users. Killing all those people would be impossible without detonating a nuclear bomb.
If it were just within the country, it might have some feasibility, but Boss saying “all” probably included the whole world. It truly was an absurd dream that didn’t seem like it could be Raymon’s goal.
“The reason he hates superpower users is simple. He thinks he can’t become a god if there are other superpower users besides himself.”
“A god?”
“He wants to become a unique, one-and-only god. It’s not unreasonable for someone who has lived for over 100 years. When superpower users first appeared, there were thousands of people who emerged claiming to be gods.”
But that was just a story of the past. In the era when superpowers weren’t widely known, there were many people who had the illusion that only they were special. However, as superpower users began to increase, those who called themselves gods inevitably disappeared.
Nowadays, unless one had an extraordinary ability, being revered as a god was unreasonable.
“But even if it were at the beginning, eliminating this many people…”
“It’s impossible. That’s why I don’t know his exact intentions either. I only know that he’s eliminating all superpower users who become threats.”
It was so unrealistic that I wondered if Boss might have misunderstood. However, because it was such an unbelievable fact, Boss would have investigated it even more meticulously. If someone like him was certain, it couldn’t just be a rumor.
“Then Zenon too…”
Thinking about Peace, I cautiously mentioned his name that suddenly came to mind.
“Probably the director’s will.”
I still didn’t know why Zenon had infiltrated the organization as a spy. But if Raymon’s goal was to kill superpower users, wouldn’t that be the case for him as well? Since there were many skilled individuals in ‘Alice,’ it was entirely possible that he intended to kill one of them.
As I tried to guess Zenon’s purpose, I glanced at Boss’s condition. He still appeared unaffected, but I couldn’t shake off the feeling that he was precarious. Between his blinking eyes, deep despair was momentarily revealed, then vanished.
He, who was calmly settled, seemed as if he was captured by an inescapable despair and couldn’t even recognize his own emotions.
I didn’t want to see Boss so weakened. Rather than this, I preferred the past Boss who only thought about himself. I lightly bit my lip, then gently opened my mouth.
“Are you okay?”
To think I would utter words of concern for him. But Boss’s past was so heartbreaking that it made me temporarily forget everything that had happened, and I couldn’t just watch silently.
When I asked cautiously, Boss blinked as if surprised. A drawn-on smile settled on his face, which had been momentarily vacant.
“I didn’t think much about it before, but now it’s a bit painful.”
Having observed Boss for a long time, I could tell. He was lying right now. Over the facade of pretending to be fine, my imagination overlaid an image of him suffering as if he would die any moment.
I don’t know much about brainwashing. After all, I quickly broke free from Ben’s ability. But I knew that if brainwashing lasted for more than 10 years, it was no longer a simple matter that ends when it’s undone.
Boss had been slowly breaking over those 10 years. His inner turmoil, which was breaking at such a slow pace that even he didn’t notice, could only reveal itself after the brainwashing was lifted.
Even that was nothing more than a small fragment that slightly scratched the surface. And Boss was deluding himself, looking at that piece and thinking he was better off than he had thought.
That was just a part, not the whole, which he hadn’t even faced yet.
But as time passed, he would come to face his inner self.
And then he would realize how broken he was. It would be a very cruel process. The more he confirmed it, the greater the intensity of regret and self-blame would become.
Boss’s future seemed to be plummeting to the bottom. There was no hope in sight.
