# Chapter 55
It was only after finishing my conversation with Ben and entering the laboratory that I realized what I had been missing. It was something so natural that I had mindlessly overlooked it.
Ben was clearly in the research corridor. It was a place where a hero had no reason to be, so why was he there? Moreover, Ben and Kane knew each other.
“As I thought…”
I couldn’t help but think that he also knew about the experiment. Since Ben was loyal to Peace, I assumed he would have to know. But given how innocently he had been acting until now, it was hard to believe he was aware.
If he had known the true nature of the experiment, he wouldn’t have given me information so easily. That’s why I was still uncertain.
But today everything became clear. This place was only accessible to those involved with the experiment. So there was no way he didn’t know about it.
“Did he know about the experiment but still not suspect me?”
I carefully pondered this strangely incongruous thought. If he knew about the experiment, he should have been even more cautious, but he wasn’t.
Did Ben trust me that much, or was he confident he wouldn’t be discovered?
If it was the former, it was nothing short of foolish.
“Kane…”
“Oh, are you awake?”
My train of thought was suddenly interrupted by Alice’s voice. When I quickly lifted my head, I saw Alice staring at me.
“What are you thinking about?”
“Can’t you read it?”
I didn’t say much, assuming she would read my thoughts as she had been doing, but she simply shook her head.
“I can’t read it now.”
“Why not?”
“Ability, not working.”
“Your ability isn’t working?”
Alice nodded while looking down at her body. At first, I didn’t understand, but after thinking about it, I realized why she had said that.
Alice had only recently manifested her ability. So naturally, she would be unskilled at controlling it. Her ability was so impressive that I hadn’t considered this aspect.
“You can’t freely control your ability yet, right?”
“I think so.”
“I wish I could use my ability too.”
I had never used an ability with Kane’s body, and since there was a significant difference between Alice’s and Kay’s abilities, there were limitations to teaching her. If I had a similar ability, I could have explained it in more detail.
But even so, I could offer some help based on my own experience. I carefully opened my mouth, recalling those memories.
“Alice’s ability works by hearing other people’s thoughts through your ears, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Then can you try focusing on the sounds coming through your ears for a moment?”
At my words, Alice blinked and closed her eyes. Her eyelashes, which had been trembling slightly, gradually became calm like her inner self. She continued to concentrate while taking slow breaths.
The ticking of the second hand, faint breathing sounds, the sound of the heater running—various sounds would be reaching her ears.
“As you listen, there will be something that feels like it catches your attention.”
“…There is.”
“Then focus more on that.”
This was the method Boss used when teaching me. He told me, who knew nothing, to concentrate my consciousness. In my case, since I used my ability with my whole body, I trained by focusing on the feeling of projecting my ability throughout my entire body.
‘Kay, how is it? Can you do it?’
I wanted to repay him for taking the time to teach me. I knew Boss wasn’t in a position where he had the luxury to teach someone.
That’s why I worked hard to control my ability freely as soon as possible. But contrary to my desire, progress was slow. With training that showed no improvement, I couldn’t help but lose confidence.
‘I’m not sure. I feel like I’m almost there…’
Impatience was enough to break my concentration. The broken focus led to immediate results. I would project my ability, but it frequently cut off.
When this continued for a week, I felt sorry and afraid. Sorry for being a burden to Boss, and afraid of being abandoned.
But facing me, he kept telling me it was okay.
‘Don’t rush, take it slow.’
‘But if I can’t do it—’
‘The person I brought couldn’t possibly be incapable. You can do it, Kay.’
He never once showed irritation at my frustrating progress. Instead, he gave me a gentle smile and showed strong conviction—a conviction I couldn’t hold for myself.
Perhaps it was thanks to Boss’s help that I eventually learned to control my ability. It was an achievement I couldn’t have reached without him.
A faint smile forms at the fond memory. Those times were the happiest because of Boss’s kindness.
“It’s not working well…”
Though much has changed since then. I gently patted Alice’s head as she muttered with her lips slightly pouted.
“Everyone struggles at first.”
I didn’t expect it to work right away. Training naturally develops with continued practice.
“It’s okay. You’ll get better someday.”
So like me back then, the day would come when Alice’s efforts would shine. I smiled sincerely, and she gave a faint smile in return. A subtle blush appeared on her cheeks.
“Yes, I’ll do well.”
Though her voice was as soft as a feather, it contained strong determination.
Watching her gave me a strange feeling. To think that I, who once learned from Boss, was now teaching his sister. The saying that you never know what will happen in life seemed quite fitting.
“Shall we try once more?”
BANG—
Just as we were about to continue practicing, the door suddenly opened with a loud noise. The source was Zenon. Seemingly out of breath from running, he approached Alice. His tied-back hair had become disheveled by the wind.
“I heard a strange rumor today. Is this what you were talking about?”
“Probably…”
Though Zenon’s abrupt words were vague, Alice seemed to understand as she nodded.
“I thought so.”
“What rumor?”
Previously, I would have called it bait. If it was related to the organization, I couldn’t help being curious. When I joined their difficult-to-follow conversation, the excited Zenon hesitated. After staring at me for a moment, he moved his lips and finally spoke.
“They say someone who died… is alive.”
From Zenon’s following words, I could understand why he had hesitated so much.
“There’s no way they could be alive.”
His calm voice was so detached yet full of sorrow that even my heart ached. It was an especially sad statement because he was certain of the death.
As he said, I had died. I was someone who had disappeared from this world without even having my corpse recovered, without even a grave. Yet they said I was alive.
It was beyond unbelievable—it was offensive. It was something I could never achieve no matter how much I struggled.
“That is strange…”
I deliberately suppressed the emotions swirling within me, covering them with words of reassurance. Even the words I had worried might sound strange came out smoothly without awkwardness.
“Right? They say they’re here, but it looks like an obvious trap to anyone.”
Zenon handed me a note. When I opened it, there was an address written on it.
“It does.”
It was a note with an obvious lie written on it, a place I’d never been. When I replied calmly, Zenon let out a hollow laugh as if he had expected it. It seemed like he was deliberately laughing to hide some emotion, not because he found it funny.
“What’s even more ridiculous is that despite knowing it’s a trap, I still want to believe it.”
“I would feel the same. The possibility of someone being alive, even slightly, means there’s a chance to make amends.”
In the face of death, nothing can be reversed, but in life, many things can. That’s why it’s impossible to just ignore it, even knowing it’s a trap.
He wanted the person to be alive badly enough to fall for the trap.
“But I decided to give up.”
“Why? I thought you would definitely go.”
It was unlike him. While I didn’t want Zenon to go there, I thought I couldn’t persuade him otherwise. He felt enough guilt to believe he should have been the one who died.
“The last thing they said bothered me.”
I wondered what kind of statement could make Zenon give up. I silently waited for his next words.
“They said it’s a place I can’t enter alone, and that at minimum, I’d need to be the boss of ‘Alice’ to get in.”
“That’s definitely a trap.”
I immediately responded as soon as Zenon finished speaking. There was nothing to think about. This was clearly a trap. Agreeing with my prompt reply, Zenon also nodded.
“Right? Of course, I couldn’t completely give up even after hearing that. But thanks to you, my mind is somewhat at ease, and there was also what he said.”
He spoke while looking at Alice. Alice, who had been staring at Zenon, gently took his hand. Then she began to pat the back of his hand softly.
“You did well.”
Watching this, Zenon gave a deflated smile. It was a smile that suggested it was both cute and somewhat ridiculous.
“Yeah, thank you.”
As if responding to the compliment given in his own way, Zenon roughly tousled her hair.
“So what do you plan to do with this?”
Looking at the two of them, I asked the question I most wanted to ask. If they ignored this, Peace would become suspicious of Zenon. The old Zenon would have gone no matter what.
But it was also dangerous to fall into their trap as they wanted. Who knows what they might have set up there.
“I’m going to pass it on. To Alice.”
But Zenon pushed aside my concerns with a confident smile.
It was a bright smile I hadn’t seen in a long time.
