TRPM 235

chapter 235

“(Oracle, huh.)”

Cheonma already knew the name Oracle.

However, as far as he knew, the name Oracle didn’t refer to a specific person.

“(I thought Oracle was the name of an organization that spread doppelgänger monsters across the world….)”

“(Similar, but not quite. I used to be the head of that organization, and since the organization had no formal name, people referred to it by calling me Oracle. That’s all.)”

“I see. And when you say you used to be the head, does that mean you’re not anymore?”

“(Correct. The old organization no longer considers me its head. So now I’m forming a new organization.)”

Cheonma, still seated on his throne, asked Oracle.

“(So… what business does a busy person like you have meeting me?)”

Cheonma’s tone carried a warning. If Oracle had come for a trivial reason, he was prepared to personally separate Oracle’s head from his body.

“(Cheonma… I’m here to scout you for our organization.)”

“(Scout… haha! Scout me? Of all people?)”

Cheonma laughed.

He couldn’t help it.

While he respected that she had breached the security of his cult, that alone was hardly impressive. The energy Oracle radiated was weak, almost negligible.

And now, she claimed she wanted to recruit him—how ridiculous.

Oracle, however, remained expressionless, as if she had anticipated Cheonma’s reaction from the start.

Instead, she asked him a question.

“(Do you know the meaning of the word ‘Oracle’?)”

“(Huh… Oracle? I think it’s a word related to prophecy.)”

“(Yes. I am a prophet. I can see the future.)”

Recently, though, her prophecies had been missing the mark more often than not… Oracle didn’t voice that concern, only turning it over in her mind.

“(The future, huh… So what future did you see that made you want to recruit me?)”

“…I saw a future in which you are killed by a doppelgänger.”

Cheonma’s mood shifted.

“(A doppel-gänger…? Not a powerful opponent like Sir Sergey in Russia or an Artist in Korea… but a mere doppelgänger?)”

“(Yes. A doppel-gänger that possesses martial arts far superior to yours, Cheonma.)”

A doppel-gänger skilled in martial arts.

Hearing that, Cheonma’s interest began to awaken.

“(Interesting.)”

“(Of course, the future can change depending on a person’s actions. But I assume it’s not just the fact that you die to a doppel-gänger that interests you… It’s the doppel-gänger itself, which has superior martial arts, isn’t it?)”

“(You know me well.)”

Whether it was Cheonma’s genuine interest or just his persona taking over, only Cheonma himself could know.

But Oracle was certain.

“(With your help, we could create a doppel-gänger with superior martial arts even earlier than planned.)”

Cheonma would not refuse such an offer. Creating a doppel-gänger capable of killing him would undoubtedly pique his interest.

“…Interesting.”

Cheonma said that and then raised his hand.

“(However.)”

He swung his hand with a sharpened edge, aiming to strike Oracle along with the throne he sat on.

“(It’s rude to make such offers behind someone’s back.)”

Crash…!

His attack was so fierce it threatened to destroy the throne and the walls of the room.

“…Hooh?”

But his strike didn’t hit Oracle. At the exact moment Cheonma attacked, Oracle was already gone.

“(I’ll take that as your acceptance of the offer.)”

A voice reached Cheonma’s ears, and Oracle’s presence completely vanished.

‘Huh… not up in the sky, not down on the ground…’

And the voice carried certainty—she was confident Cheonma would accept her proposal. Of course, that level of assurance was necessary to negotiate with him.

“(Cheonma!)”
“(What on earth….)”

The cultists entered the room, alerted by the noise Cheonma had caused while slicing through the wall with the throne.

“(The world is truly vast.)”

Cheonma said as he ordered the newcomers to repair the room.

After returning to Korea with Fafnir, we called Iha-eun to treat Alex.

“Alex?! How did you get hurt like this?!”

Iha-eun called him “teacher” because Alex had been a native-language teacher when we were in middle school.

Since she hadn’t yet heard Alex had been kidnapped, seeing his injuries startled her, and she immediately began treatment.

‘His injuries are severe, but nothing life-threatening. He should recover quickly.’

As I thought that, Yeon Mirae spoke to Alex while he received treatment.

“Alex, after your treatment, go to a hospital for a detailed checkup and rest for about a week.”

“Oh, yes…”

Yet Alex’s reaction was lukewarm.

Normally, he should be happy to get time off. And the Iron-Blood Guild probably wouldn’t deny him leave pay…

Noticing my thoughts, Yeon Mirae quietly sent me a message.

‘Alex seems interested in Sophia. He probably reacted that way because he won’t see her during his leave.’

Ah, that explains it. That’s why Alex had driven Sophia when she went to Shinsegyo earlier.

‘And Sophia?’
‘She knows Alex is interested but seems indifferent.’

I see. Well, that’s their concern to handle, so I decided not to interfere.

‘But…’

Looking back, there was something strange about the case.

Specifically, the Chinese individuals who were with Alex and had been taken by the police.

‘What happened to those Chinese people?’

According to the scene investigation, they were taken when Alex was kidnapped… but the Chinese individuals who had disappeared from the facility where Alex was held weren’t seen.

At least, only a few were detected by the presence of Alex and the magician commanding the dragon.

‘In other words, those Chinese individuals went somewhere else along the way…’

It felt unsettling. For now, Alex was the primary objective, and the others were secondary—but the missing Chinese individuals seemed important.

“…No use thinking about it now.”

We had already returned to Korea from China. Thinking about the missing Chinese now wouldn’t change anything.

Underground, in a building in China.

“(Huff…! Huff…!)”
“(What’s going on?)”

A man, who had appeared lifeless moments ago, woke up drenched in cold sweat, as if from a nightmare.

He drank some water, calmed himself, and spoke to a waiting colleague.

“…Our insane boss tried to kill me.”
“What? How?”
“I don’t know. He muttered something about not killing me completely… then immediately shot my clone.”

The man was a clone psychic, infiltrating the cult to conduct secret operations.

By the way, his clandestine activity involved…

“(Tch… so recruiting people will be difficult for a while.)”

Namely, kidnapping people.

The cult, loyal to Cheonma, would do anything to gain his favor, including abductions, and many cultists had died or disappeared in the process.

The man had been secretly using the cult’s tendencies to divert kidnapped people and stage deaths or disappearances, but today that ended.

His insane boss inexplicably killed his clone, hiding within the cult.

“(Oh, right. About those guys you brought from Korea…)”
“I didn’t kidnap them; the cult did. But why those people?”
“They were employees of a company our organization used for money laundering.”

The clone psychic responded indifferently.

“So? They’re just discarded people.”
“True, but our Chinese branch is short on manpower. Maybe we can use them.”
“Use those useless people who did nothing while collecting our organization’s money? Where?”
“Exactly… useless people aren’t useful anywhere.”

Maybe we’ll just let them go like everyone else.

After that, the two fell silent, as the clone psychic lay on the bed recovering from the shock of his clone’s death.

But soon…

Beep… Beep… Beep…
“(What is it?)”
“A message from the forward base.”

Despite his distress, the clone psychic got up and sat at the communications chair.

[(To all members on Earth: The World Awakener Association has begun actively searching our organization’s hideouts.)]

Over 70% of the spies our organization planted in major institutions worldwide had been discovered.

[(Problems have also arisen with the doppel-gängers, our organization’s weapons.)]

Hence, headquarters concluded that Earth-based members alone couldn’t fight.

[(Soon, elite forces from the forward base will descend to Earth.)]

The transmission ended. Although one-sided, it was enough.

“(Forward base, huh…)”
“(Disappointing that headquarters isn’t coming, but we can trust the people at the forward base.)”

But why had headquarters decided to send even the forward base elite to Earth?

The clone psychic wondered…

“(Probably to find Oracle, our original boss.)”

His colleague answered.

“…Don’t read my mind.”
“I wasn’t, but you looked too serious, I couldn’t help it.”

Oracle, huh…

If they sent the Moon’s elite to find Oracle, then the headquarters’ decision finally made sense.