TRPM 211

chapter 211

Accompanied by the chairman and the others, we followed the staff member who had come to deliver the news, heading toward the detention facilities in the association’s basement.

“(Do they actually put detention facilities in the basement of the Korean headquarters?)”

“(Proper detention facilities are elsewhere. But prisoners who haven’t been assigned to a specific facility are temporarily held in the basement.)”

When an awakened individual is captured, they’re initially detained in a police station holding cell, a detention center, or the basement of the association building. After going through procedures like trials, they are sent to proper facilities such as prison islands or penitentiaries.

“(In the case of the dopplegangers, they weren’t supposed to be sent to a prison island or penitentiary, but to the World Awakened Association, so they were temporarily held in this basement…)”

But the dopplegangers self-destructed. All of them.

‘Although no explosives were detected on their bodies, theoretically, if they focused all their energy into a single point, self-destruction is possible.’

Of course, considering the amount of energy in their bodies, even if they self-destructed, the impact wouldn’t be strong. If they self-destructed to die alongside an enemy they couldn’t defeat, it would at most inflict minor burns on the enemy. In other words, it’s effectively suicide.

There are ways to prevent it, but if they’ve made up their minds to die, it’s pointless—they could just bash their heads against a wall.

‘Then why self-destruct as a group?’

For the captured dopplegangers to self-destruct together suggests it wasn’t their personal decision—it must have been orchestrated by whoever controlled them. Most likely, Oracle triggered the self-destruction.

But the reason remained unclear.

‘Did they do it to prevent the dopplegangers from reaching Chairman Richard?’

That’s possible, but if that were the only reason, they would have self-destructed when captured by the police and the Iron-Blood Guild. The fact that it happened now…

‘Could it be to lure Chairman Richard to Korea?’

If the dopplegangers had self-destructed too early, Richard wouldn’t have come to Korea. But since they were alive until the meeting began, Richard held the meeting in Korea. The timing suggests they self-destructed now to ensure he was drawn to Korea.

“Alive doppleganger spotted!”

“Bring it out!”

An alive doppleganger? Weren’t all of them supposed to have self-destructed?

As I pondered this, the association staff dragged the doppleganger up to us.

‘This doppleganger is…’

I saw the doppleganger being brought in. As expected…

“Seeing you again, Geonwoo. Even though it hasn’t been long, you look more mature than before… So the one in front of me is the usual manifestation of Artist?”

“……”

If this were the first meeting, I’d have told him not to pretend to be my uncle, but he genuinely believed he was my uncle, so I refrained. Still, it was uncomfortable, so I turned my head to look at Chairman Richard, who was observing the doppleganger and asked me a question.

“(Is this doppleganger special in some way? It didn’t self-destruct while the others did…)”

“(This doppleganger was created a long time ago. Over ten years. Unlike others who followed Oracle’s orders without question, this one doesn’t.)”

So when the others were commanded to self-destruct, this doppleganger refused.

‘Or maybe it simply didn’t have the energy for self-destruction.’

This one had a heart that couldn’t produce magic, mimicking my uncle’s damaged heart. Either way, it was fortunate it survived.

“(Ah… so this is the one I heard about on the phone?)”

I didn’t answer Richard directly, but that seemed sufficient. Satisfied, he smiled and cast a spell toward the doppleganger.

Shaaahh….

The doppleganger stiffened in the position it had been dragged in.

‘… Petrification magic. Enhanced by storytelling power. The story used must be the famous Medusa myth related to petrification.’

Watching it stiffen, I analyzed Richard’s magic. Though better with fists than most aura users, he was, in essence, a mage—a world-renowned archmage. There was much to learn just from observing.

‘He minimized mana consumption in this way. Maybe I could apply it to my language spell… or would it reduce efficiency?’

While pondering, the doppleganger fully petrified. Richard probably planned to transport it to the U.S. via an extradimensional artifact.

‘Technically smuggling… but let’s not overthink it.’

I’d known Richard skirted legality for some time.

“(… The meeting’s done. I should catch the earliest flight back to the U.S.)”

With the doppleganger secured, Richard aimed to return as soon as possible. Oracle likely lured him to Korea, and he might have exploited an empty U.S. in the meantime. So Richard had to return swiftly.

“(Take Alex’s Fafnir from the Iron-Blood Guild… flying there would be faster.)”

“(Thanks.)”

Richard left the association with gratitude.

‘… Might be a little late, though.’

Even on a fast flight—or on Fafnir—it was likely too late. Oracle would have calculated everything, using failures to set up future plans. I took out my smartphone and contacted Alex to save time.

“Geonwoo, how’s tomorrow’s meeting going?”

“Canceled. Something happened in the U.S., and Richard rushed back.”

After the broadcast, classmates asked me about the next meeting.

“In the U.S.?”

“Wait… looks like something serious happened there.”

Some didn’t understand, but others tracked events through streaming sites.

“… A movie?”

The kids who watched it couldn’t tell if it was real.

“Why?”

“Look at this.”

Lee Dumin showed me a video. Battles across the city—awakened individuals fending off attackers wielding weapons in disguise.

“This… why?”

A massive armed force attacks the city, defended by a few awakened individuals. Clearly terrorism.

“No, watch a bit longer.”

“?”

Following Dumin’s lead, I watched. At one point, an awakened individual decapitated a terrorist.

‘Hmm?’

But the decapitated terrorist kept moving. The awakened were stunned, and the terrorists exploited this. The defenders’ morale broke, creating a vicious cycle. The terrorists breached their defenses.

‘The video seems shot by a civilian near the defense line…’

As I realized this, the person filming screamed and dropped their phone after locking eyes with a terrorist.

“Hmm?”

Coincidentally, the dropped phone captured the decapitated terrorist’s head. I understood why the kids thought it was a movie. Sparks flew from severed wires in the neck.

‘A cyborg? No, not a human with implants. A pure machine.’

Made solely for destruction. Oracle’s tech could easily create this. Why they hadn’t used them before was curious.

‘Humanoid terrorism…’

Unrealistic, indeed. I understood, but most would think it’s from a movie or future tech. Since it’s urban terrorism, reality would soon be realized.

“What do you think, Geonwoo?”

“Real. With the tech the group that released dopplegangers has, making these humanoids is easy.”

“Huh? The organization that released dopplegangers? You think they did this too?”

“Probably.”

I answered Dumin while thinking. Oracle wouldn’t stop here.

‘Those humanoids… don’t seem strong.’

They’re weak individually, though numerous. They’d be defeated if proper forces intervened.

‘Oracle wouldn’t attack this sloppily.’

Even if some operatives are incompetent, the upper echelons are not. Such an attack is likely commanded by headquarters, not the U.S. branch. Sending weak forces alone…

‘A distraction to kidnap subjects for experiments, like in Australia?’

… That’s when it happened.

Buzz….

A message came to my phone. I checked the sender.

“…Morris?”

Morris Reynolds, leader of Albatross PMC. Since the prison island incident, he’s semi-hostile. Why contact me? I opened the message.

“……”

Attached was a photo.

‘… Zombies?’

People seemingly infected by a zombie virus, in the same city from the video.

‘… No way…’

Oracle, you insane bastards… Did they unleash a zombie virus in the city center…?