Chapter 128: The Unforeseen Prophecy

“That’s why I created the prophecy system. To predict the future even after my death, I imbued it with my physical body and bio-energy. I prepared it so that someday, by inserting my brain, it would function perfectly.”

It was called a prophecy system, yet in truth, it was merely the creation of a colossal flask designed to operate with Go Ok-kyung as its host. The experiments were nothing more than a process to adapt her brain, ensuring its sustenance within the machinery.

Days of agonizing experiments stretched on, yet Go Ok-kyung harbored no regrets. She was resolved to protect this nation even after her death. Though her brain might be all that remained, subjected to endless toil, she would sacrifice her very being to preserve this peace.

Such was the future Go Ok-kyung chose, her singular sense of mission. Sa-yoon bowed his head, sensing the profound solemnity in her words.

Indeed, the peace Sa-yoon had lived within was born from someone else’s life-risking sacrifice in the past. If Sa-yoon endured the hardships of being born an Irregular, Go Ok-kyung, too, had embraced and withstood her own unique burdens.

“But one day, you appeared in my prophecy. Jin Sa-yoon, the emergence of a new S-Class Esper destined to uphold Korea.”

Go Ok-kyung’s voice rose, trembling slightly as if the echoes of that moment still resonated within her. Waking from her dream, she had replayed the vision she’d seen, weeping with a shudder of revelation. Tears of joy had streamed down her face, born of euphoria and liberation.

As time passed, even lower-ranked Prophecy Espers began to see Jin Sa-yoon in their dreams. Convinced of the prophecy’s truth, Go Ok-kyung made a decisive choice.

“After that, the nation grew steadily more stable in every prophecy I saw. Each new vision revealed only good things. And once I witnessed the scene where you uncovered the truth about the Rains, I arranged for this prophecy system to be decommissioned.”

Jin Sa-yoon would accomplish what she could not. Observing a future that increasingly flowed toward righteousness, Go Ok-kyung dismantled the prophecy system. It had merely been a choice, made with the grim acceptance of its dehumanizing nature, to save more lives.

With a perfect alternative now present, she decided it was right to eliminate it without even a trace in the records.

Dragging her ravaged organs and a body that could no longer walk, Go Ok-kyung smiled as she exited the laboratory. With her own hands, she cast the meaningless sacrifice of the past into the trash, utterly devoid of lingering attachment.

“But that system…”

“It’s still operating, it seems.”

Go Ok-kyung had made her final prophecy, foreseeing the arrival of Han Do-hoon and Sa-yoon, before retiring. The prophecy of Sa-yoon revealing the Rains’ truth was not something the higher-ups would welcome, so she buried it deep within her heart.

She then secluded herself in this remote villa.

Her sudden retirement announcement had aroused suspicion among those around Go Ok-kyung, leading to the installation of surveillance cameras everywhere. It was an utterly disrespectful act toward someone who had protected the nation through immense sacrifice.

Yet, even knowing this, Go Ok-kyung remained unconcerned.

After all, every future would unfold precisely as she had foreseen. Knowing that the power structure, maintained by deceit, would soon crumble, she endured with a joyful heart. However, there was one event Go Ok-kyung had failed to predict.

“Among Prophecy Espers like us, there’s a rule: a Prophecy Esper of a higher rank than oneself never appears in one’s dreams. Therefore, we cannot prophesy futures involving higher-ranked Prophecy Espers.”

“But you are S-Class.”

“And so, I let my guard down.”

As an S-Class Esper, the highest existing rank, Go Ok-kyung had confidently asserted that she knew all futures. Thus, she spent her retirement in peaceful contentment, vaguely enjoying happiness, anticipating a positive future.

Then, by chance, she discovered her old terminal. Gazing at the device she hadn’t touched since retiring, Go Ok-kyung reminisced for a while before powering it on.

And there, she found an alarm indicating that the prophecy system, which she believed had been decommissioned, was now active.

“That system was operating again, it seems. The system, which couldn’t do anything without me as its host, was functioning perfectly. Using a new person as nourishment, no less. It was something I had never seen in my prophecies.”

They had reached the end of the corridor. Two massive steel doors firmly blocked their path. Before opening them, Go Ok-kyung paused, turning to Sa-yoon.

“Are you ready to reunite with the person who has truly been waiting for you?”

“Pardon?”

“Surely you didn’t think I would make such a serious prophecy about reuniting with *me*, did you?”

A bright smile spread across Go Ok-kyung’s face. Beyond the slowly opening steel doors, a brilliant light poured forth. Amidst the dizzyingly bright illumination, a laboratory filled with countless wires and machinery came into view.

In the center of the disinfectant-scented room stood a colossal glass booth. Inside the sterile, meticulously maintained chamber lay a single person. The pale, emaciated man was someone Sa-yoon knew intimately.

His feet moved of their own accord. Sa-yoon steadied his trembling knees and took one step after another. His shaking hand touched the cold glass wall. Sa-yoon called out to the man lying helplessly within the glass enclosure.

“Myeong-ah…”

Jung Myeong-ah. The hero Sa-yoon had searched for so desperately for so long was there. The child who had once yearned to be a sidekick, shouting the name of the hero abducted and vanished by villains, had now grown into an adult, confronting a cruel reality.

“Why? Why are you here?”

He had searched for him so frantically, yet he was nowhere to be found. Why was he imprisoned and collapsed in this remote place? Sa-yoon called out to Myeong-ah, his dearest friend, family, and hero. From the unconscious Myeong-ah, no answer returned.

Sa-yoon noticed the numerous life-support devices connected around Myeong-ah. From breathing to heartbeat, it was a mere shell of a body, incapable of doing anything by its own will.

Seeing him like that, tears began to fall. Unable to wipe away the endlessly flowing tears, Sa-yoon sobbed for a long time. Just as his cries finally subsided, Chief Kim Sang-hoo handed him a handkerchief from behind.

“How… why is Myeong-ah here? He’s still… alive, right?”

The pacemaker next to Myeong-ah clearly displayed a faint, yet regular, signal.

“Yes. Don’t worry.”

Though unable to move or open his eyes, Myeong-ah was undoubtedly alive. He sustained his fragile life, adorned with countless life-support devices. Relief and sorrow intertwined, and tears, which had barely stopped, welled up in Sa-yoon’s eyes once more.

“If you’re done crying, come over here.”

Go Ok-kyung, who had been examining a machine installed on the opposite side of the sterile room, called Sa-yoon over.

“You know that the younger an Esper manifests, the higher their rank tends to be, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

Even S-Class Esper Han Do-hoon had manifested at 13, and the Multi-Esper Sa-yoon had also manifested in his early teens. Although he first manifested as a Guide, in terms of manifestation age, he was several years earlier than others.

“I, too, manifested at 14. But tell me, if someone who manifests in their early teens has a high probability of becoming S-Class, what would be the rank of someone who was an Esper from birth?”

The monitor Go Ok-kyung was touching flickered to life. The black screen blinked, and the sound of it booting up resonated loudly.

“Prophecy Espers, for Espers, tend to have weaker bodies. At best, they’re only slightly sturdier and stronger than ordinary people. That’s why no one knew this young man was born an Esper. Not even he himself. The young man lying there. No, Jung Myeong-ah is…”

Taking a breath, Go Ok-kyung looked at the fully activated monitor and declared.

“The only person I cannot prophesy, and the only existing SS-Class Esper.”

The cursor blinked on the screen, and then letters appeared: ‘It’s been a long time.’ They were short, white letters.

“Say hello. I’ve waited for you for a very long time.”

Leaving Sa-yoon bewildered and unable to grasp the situation, more text appeared on the screen.

[Aren’t you going to say hello? I missed you so much, Sa-yoon.]

“Surely…”

The entity writing on the monitor right now…

[Still a crybaby, aren’t you? How can you save the world like this? I went all-in on you. :D]

“Myeong-ah, is it really you, Myeong-ah?”

[It’s been a while since you’ve seen your hyung-nim, so stop crying and bow already.]

“Oh my god…”

Sa-yoon reached out a trembling hand and ran it over the monitor. The hard, cold screen met his fingertips. The glass surface, devoid of warmth or pulse, shimmered. Tears streamed down, obscuring his vision.

“How did this happen? Why are you like this?”

[It’s a long story. Call it a hero’s destiny, I suppose. It’s all that kind of tale.]

“Don’t say such ridiculous things.”

Why crack jokes even at a moment like this? He once again wiped his eyes with his sleeve, already damp and useless. Go Ok-kyung, who had been watching him, stepped forward and stood beside him.

“I will explain. Though I’ve connected his consciousness, speaking at length would be difficult for the young man.”

Where to begin the story? Go Ok-kyung opened her mouth, recalling a long past.

“The system operating meant that it had found another sacrifice to place into the prophecy system in my stead. That target was Jung Myeong-ah. That young man.”

Go Ok-kyung held a position, and she had accumulated achievements over the years. When she declared she would decommission the system herself, no one could object. Everyone knew how many sacrifices Go Ok-kyung had made.

However, the thoughts of the greedy differed. To predict the future—they believed it was a waste to let such a groundbreaking and infinitely valuable system lie dormant due to it being inhumane.

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