# Chapter 22
“……”
Ben smiled with satisfaction at my now clearly visible form. At this point, the invisibility barrier was useless. At most, it could only hide my true identity. I wouldn’t be able to escape from him easily.
“Now I can see you clearly.”
Ben’s Mind Control can take effect when he sees his target. But my current state was ambiguous—neither completely visible nor invisible.
Only Ben would know whether his ability would work or not. Plus, he also had superhuman strength. At this point, I was at a disadvantage.
The only option now was to escape as quickly as possible. I had wanted to avoid combat since I couldn’t be sure if my Regeneration was working, but now I had no choice.
I concentrated and activated my Wolf Man ability. With the feeling of blood boiling, strength flowed into my legs and my body became lighter.
Everything in my sight began to flow incredibly slowly. Having fully transformed into a Wolf Man, I immediately applied force to my feet and ran toward the door.
“It’s useless to try to escape.”
As if to block my path, Ben threw a table from the lobby. I twisted my body to avoid the table that was cutting through the air toward me.
With a thunderous sound, the table crashed into the floor beside me. Ben clicked his tongue in disappointment at the table that was now shattered beyond recognition.
“You’re faster than I thought.”
Of course. Wolf Man wouldn’t lose in terms of speed. Ben had no way to match my speed. The same was true for strength. If he continued to attack like this, I could slowly but surely make it outside.
Time was critical, but when I couldn’t hold out any longer, I would have to accept damage to get out. I could almost hear the ticking of the second hand in my ear. I couldn’t waste even a second now.
I ran forward while monitoring Ben’s position. The sound of my feet hitting the ground echoed loudly through the space. The door, which had seemed so close, felt distant today.
But as they say, everything has an end—the exit door started to get closer.
Just a little more and I’d be there. I reached out to the door that was only a few steps away. But my hand never made it to the door.
In an instant, my body lost its will. I immediately recognized this familiar sensation. This was Mind Control.
I had been worried about this—he could use it even in this situation. It was worthy of an S-class ability. I was so close, just a little further.
“You can’t move now, can you?”
Ben approached me, who was frozen like a statue, stepping lightly on the ground. He had the relaxed air of someone approaching prey caught in a trap.
The distance between us narrowed. The sound of footsteps on the floor clearly pierced my ears.
I couldn’t just stay still like this. I had to move. Since he couldn’t see me fully, his ability should be significantly weaker.
Concentrating my mind, I put strength into my fingertips. Even in the cold stream, my body heated up. To break free from the restraints on my body, I pushed my Wolf Man ability to the limit.
My senses became so acute that I could hear my heartbeat as if it were right next to me. The sound of water falling on my body was almost deafening.
As a result, my hand began to move little by little. I felt my body regaining its will.
“Now, you need to get caught.”
And finally, just as he approached me, my body was freed. At the same time, Ben grabbed my arm. Since he hadn’t released his super strength, tremendous force was applied to my arm.
I immediately shook off his arm and broke free from his restraint.
“What—”
Ben, who hadn’t expected me to escape, looked at me in confusion. I didn’t miss that opening. Taking advantage of his momentary distraction, I ran with all my might.
Belatedly, Ben tried to grab me again, but it was too late. My body had already left the building.
As soon as I escaped, Zenon’s invisibility barrier was lifted. I quickly moved to another location. When I immediately checked my face, my mask was torn, perhaps due to the battle.
With this, Ben would have seen.
The appearance of Kay, an executive of ‘Alice.’
I had been constantly debating whether to maintain Hans’s appearance or show my true self if I encountered Ben.
For the sake of the organization, it would have been right to go as Hans. If my real appearance was revealed, Peace might discover ‘Alice’s’ purpose.
I had naturally intended to maintain Hans’s appearance. But when the thought occurred that I might face Ben, I couldn’t make that choice.
I couldn’t shatter Ben’s expectations. I didn’t want to see him hurt.
I had to admit it now. That in a short time, I had become attached to Ben. That’s why I couldn’t present myself as the Hans he believed in.
So I ultimately went as a member of ‘Alice.’ Not that I had predicted this situation.
As a hero, Ben would surely know the appearance of Kay, a villain. And now that Ben had noticed, it was certain that Peace would realize it too.
Perhaps I should have gone as Hans after all. I felt a slight regret.
But regret was too late now. At this point, I needed to deliver the information I had obtained to the Boss as quickly as possible.
After releasing my ability in a quiet place, I walked to headquarters, blending in with the crowd. The arm that had been grabbed by him gradually started to hurt. Well, it would be more strange if it were fine after being grabbed with such superhuman strength.
It seemed broken. It’s fortunate that my arm wasn’t torn off. This level of injury should heal quickly.
Cut wounds had healed a bit slower, but that must have been a coincidence. It had to be.
Thus, suppressing the rising anxiety, I continued walking toward headquarters.
And the next day, I had no choice but to acknowledge that a change had occurred in my body.
After briefly texting the information I had discovered, I collapsed into bed. Since I had gone out in my original form, I returned to my original home.
In the stable feeling I was experiencing after a long time, I laid down without a moment to think. A gentle sensation enveloped my entire body. The silence, without a single noise, calmed my mind.
If possible, I would have liked to sleep forever. My hazy consciousness, which I had barely maintained, soon closed completely.
My exhausted mind, perhaps trying to recover, didn’t even dream the usual dreams. It was just filled with darkness, as if wandering the deep sea.
But at some point, an uncomfortable sensation that disturbed my sleep began to be felt. I tossed and turned repeatedly, but the sensation didn’t disappear.
Instead, it grew worse and finally woke me up. The discomfort turned into pain. A tingling sensation spread into a throbbing pain.
The pain was enough to make my eyes open involuntarily. I shook off the drowsiness and lifted my heavy eyelids. My blurry vision gradually became clearer.
“……”
As my focus returned, I looked around out of habit. The room was still dark due to the blackout curtains. Normally, I would have opened the curtains as soon as I woke up, but not today.
Coming to my senses, I immediately focused on my arm. The pain was gradually spreading from my left arm.
“…This.”
My cracked voice trembled enough that even I could feel it. I had just thought it was hurting because it hadn’t completely healed yet. If it was a mild pain, I wouldn’t have paid attention, so I had no choice but to believe that.
If I didn’t, the anxiety I had been feeling would seem to become reality. But no matter how much I tried to push it away, anxiety eventually returned as reality.
My wrist, which I thought would heal after sleeping, was no different from yesterday.
Regeneration no longer works.
As soon as I realized this fact, I quickly got out of bed. I opened the curtain that was blocking the light. With a whooshing sound, bright light poured in.
As the light flooded in, my body became more visible. My wrist, swollen and turned an ugly blue.
Could there be something wrong with my body? With that thought, I activated my Wolf Man ability. But there was nothing wrong with that ability.
All senses became acute and physical abilities enhanced. It’s the same ability as usual. The only problem was with Regeneration.
I had never heard of an ability disappearing. I should have looked into it when I first thought something was wrong. Being too eager to erase my anxiety had brought me to this situation.
It was my mistake. I gritted my teeth so hard they made a cracking sound. I was pathetically unbearable to myself. But I couldn’t just be in despair like this either.
If I couldn’t turn it back, I had to move forward, didn’t I? It was time to face reality. I needed to know why my body wasn’t regenerating, the cause.
Even if that cause was a result hard to accept.
* * *
Since there were no bandages at home, I protected my arm by wearing as many layers of clothes as possible. Fortunately, the season was approaching winter, so I could come without raising any suspicion.
Notifications kept appearing on my phone screen. It was natural since I had promised to give a detailed report today. But I deliberately ignored the notifications. There was no way I could give a proper report in this state.
Even if I received disciplinary action, I wouldn’t report until I was in a sound state. Normally, I would have made a simple contact, but in my current state, I couldn’t even think of doing that and turned off the screen.
I walked past the organization members who were greeting me. My feet didn’t stop until I reached an unfamiliar place I had never visited before.
It was a place I remembered but thought I would never have a reason to visit in my lifetime. After staring at the unfamiliar nameplate for a while, I slowly opened the door.
Taking one step in, an unpleasant smell hit my nose. I thought someone might have lit incense, but soon I realized it was the unique scent of this place.
The artificial scent had deeply permeated the desk, bed, and even the wallpaper.
“Oh? Kay-nim. What brings you here?”
I came to my senses at the familiar voice and turned my head. It was Nelaim, who was exclusively in charge of treating executives. He approached me with a puzzled look, wearing a lab coat that was too big for his frame.
We were acquaintances since I had occasionally encountered him when other executives were receiving treatment. But this was the first time we were talking so directly.
