Chapter 136: The Price of Resistance

Sa-yoon watched the woman intently, who, despite her trembling voice, steadfastly conveyed her message. This person, too, was a victim of the Alliance.

Like Jung Hyun-woo, she had lost her family and was forced to accept an unbearable reality.

Beside a somber Sa-yoon, Park Han-woo excitedly elaborated. He spoke of her vast follower count and significant influence, then read comments beneath the video.

All of them cheered the singer on, urging the Alliance to provide an explanation.

It was the first video to openly demand an explanation from the Alliance. For a public figure to expose their identity and make such a statement was an act of immense courage, undertaken with full awareness of the grave risks involved.

“…Will she be alright?”

“This shows two thousand comments of support… Huh?”

Park Han-woo blinked at Sa-yoon’s question, then broke into a bright smile.

“What kind of person do you think she is? The Alliance can’t easily touch her. If she suffers harm after even filming this video, what will others think? Besides, you see…”

Park Han-woo grinned.

“People are braver than you think. There are still many fools in this world willing to risk their lives for justice.”

Park Han-woo swiped the screen, playing another video. On it, an elderly grandfather sat informally, being interviewed by someone. He appeared to be of Hispanic descent.

[So, you’re saying you wish to confess a scene you witnessed as a child?]

[My hometown was destroyed by a terror attack when I was young. Only a few of us survived. The day before the attack, I went up the mountain alone. There, I saw a group of people. I even recognized a few of their faces.]

The grandfather, his face etched with deep sorrow, let out a long sigh.

[I didn’t want anyone to know I’d secretly climbed the mountain, so I told no one. After the attack, I lived with the thought that I’d seen the terrorists beforehand, burying it deep in my heart. But then, one day, I turned on the TV, and one of the terrorists I’d seen was on the news. He was someone holding a high position in the Alliance.]

The grandfather raised his wrinkled hand, tracing his own face. His thin body trembled uncontrollably.

[I wanted to believe it wasn’t true. I thought he was just a look-alike and lived my entire life that way. But after watching Airain’s video recently, I couldn’t bear it anymore. I was right. I saw it clearly! My God. They killed us. My city, my family!]

The interviewer, seated opposite the grandfather, looked shocked and tried to calm him. Even after covering him with a blanket and giving him warm water, the grandfather couldn’t stop sobbing. Staff members quickly intervened, changing the screen, and the interviewer, looking bewildered, gripped the microphone once more.

[To dismiss this simply as a conspiracy theory, countless testimonies are already being reported. We demand that the Alliance and authorities do not ignore this situation and promptly issue a truthful explanation.]

A few more words were added before the video ended. Sa-yoon, who had watched the more than ten-minute video with bated breath, finally lifted his head. Park Han-woo’s beaming face greeted him.

“Videos like this are pouring in from all over the world!”

Unable to believe this new reality, Sa-yoon refreshed the screen. With each refresh, new videos flooded in. So many confessions were emerging that it was difficult to click on each one.

Just moments ago, he had been preparing for a future where Airain’s battle would be distorted and condemned, where Airain would be painted as a villain. But the situation had changed in an instant.

“Public opinion is finally believing us. We don’t know how the Alliance will react, but I doubt they have any cards left to turn this situation around, do you?”

Park Han-woo swayed as if to dance, shaking his phone.

“The Director just called, and so did the newspaper agencies. Do you know what this means? It means the people most sensitive to power are reacting. Now is the time when we can scoff at them begging for information! Hahahaha.”

His hearty laughter echoed resonantly. Sa-yoon stroked his chin, leaving Park Han-woo to ponder his Pulitzer Prize acceptance speech.

What explanation would the Alliance offer? He couldn’t even guess what choice the Alliance, with its waning influence, would make. One thing was certain: the Alliance would not fall so easily. He held no expectation that monsters addicted to power for so long would readily relinquish their positions.

It was a secret room with bare, pale walls and no windows. Gigantic metal bookshelves were tightly packed with medical records. A rhythmic mechanical hum always filled the air, and the alcohol-scented basement remained perpetually silent.

“Just how are you handling things? Why aren’t they listening to orders?”

“Th-that’s…”

“You said you successfully brainwashed him! How much effort did we put in, only for it to break in a few days?”

A loud roar pierced the silence. The Commander-in-Chief lined up the researchers and erupted in fury. Unable to contain his anger, he swung his hand, sending a metal tray filled with syringes crashing against the wall with a shattering sound.

“He’s naturally high-grade and possesses exceptional mental fortitude…”

“Who doesn’t know that? We knew it from the start when we began. It’s been fifteen years, I tell you. Fifteen years of painstaking effort!”

The Commander-in-Chief gnashed his teeth in indignation. From the moment he first got his hands on Han Do-hoon, he had been wary of him. The young boy’s ability to overpower adults with brute force and his immense potential were not something that could ever be ignored.

Therefore, he tirelessly worked to brainwash Han Do-hoon, who might one day become a threat. For a long time, he steadily brainwashed him and tampered with his neural triggers. It was a process to implant a controller that could manipulate the formidable fortress of Han Do-hoon at will.

Just as he had feared, Han Do-hoon began to show his teeth to the Commander-in-Chief. Insolently, he started to doubt him, all because of a mere Guide. The Commander-in-Chief ultimately decided to execute his long-prepared plan.

The carefully crafted controller successfully consumed its host. Within minutes, Han Do-hoon became a puppet, moving exactly as the Commander-in-Chief commanded.

“So why is he resisting now?”

Recently, a large-scale movement of Airain had been detected. This allowed them to pinpoint the location of their central village with considerable accuracy. Once the location was known, their power levels were incomparable. He had thought sending Han Do-hoon directly would make their elimination a matter of time.

However, an unexpected outcome occurred. Han Do-hoon, who was meant to annihilate Airain, returned like a broken puppet with its strings cut. Carried back by other barely recovered team members, Han Do-hoon hadn’t moved since.

His vital signs were clearly normal. Even though he was undoubtedly conscious, he merely blinked, staring blankly into space like a broken machine. He wouldn’t even obey the Commander-in-Chief, his master. No, if he were simply disobeying orders, they might have thought something was wrong. But Han Do-hoon was resisting even after hearing the commands.

‘Move. Attack. Kill.’ The neural trigger responded to these commands, but his body resisted, showing a rejection response.

“For now, administer a bit more of the drug. Kill his ego further.”

“Then his body won’t endure it. It’s already a lethal dose.”

“What do I care? If he can’t be used, he’s as good as dead anyway. Don’t worry about that; just proceed.”

The Commander-in-Chief wiped his mouth, which tasted bitter like poison. It was distasteful, like throwing an important weapon into a gutter, but there was no other way. The stronger the weapon, the more easily it could turn into a dangerous blade that stabbed its wielder if handled carelessly.

“Then this drug…”

“He’s already developed a tolerance to that; it won’t work well. Don’t we have any other reagents?”

“Uh, those haven’t finished clinical trials yet.”

Leaving the busily moving researchers behind, the Commander-in-Chief approached the examination table where Han Do-hoon lay. Pale and lifeless on the cold bed, Han Do-hoon resembled a wax doll. No vitality emanated from his body, which was marred in places by grotesque black veins.

The side effects of the drug were gnawing away at his robust S-class body. The Commander-in-Chief, observing this scene with inorganic eyes, then looked into Han Do-hoon’s eyes.

Even in this state, Han Do-hoon was conscious. The sight of him listening to everything, yet only blinking with a rigid expression, was eerily grotesque.

“Tsk. If only he could be used until Airain is wiped out.”

He was a child raised as a tool from the very beginning. The Commander-in-Chief, who had never possessed any parental affection, turned away without a second thought and left the underground laboratory.

Even the busy researchers departed for the next experiment. The rhythmic heartbeat monitor once again echoed in the quiet laboratory. As Han Do-hoon remained alone in the chilling lab, his dry eyes were not fixed on the lab ceiling, but on a different sight. He saw the person who shone brightly. He saw his own foolish sin, the one he had cherished above all else, yet ultimately only hurt.

Han Do-hoon’s lips trembled as he stared blankly at the ceiling. Swallowing the words he wished to utter countless times, he finally spoke a brief phrase.

“…I’m… sorry.”

The words he had wanted to say to them, the words he could never utter in front of them, softly resonated in the quiet laboratory. It was the last thread that Esper Han Do-hoon had held onto until the very end.

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