Chapter 90. Physical Examination (4)
A small map floated at the corner of Eun-Ho’s vision, showing a single red mark alongside the green safe zones. It was the signal from the tracker, pinpointing Iro’s location.
So he’s in that tower?
At the center of the Sky Island stood a tall spire, stretching upward like a needle piercing the heavens.
I didn’t even know it existed.
He’d been completely unaware of the tower’s presence. Yet the moment he saw the red dot on the map, the structure appeared in his sight, as if it’d always been there. It puzzled him, but the reason quickly clicked into place.
They must have cloaked it somehow. Interference, concealment or something along those lines. But the Tracker probably cut through the trick and exposed it.
A faint smile tugged at his lips.
This is good. If it’s hidden from plain sight, then the enemy probably doesn’t expect me to march straight to its doorstep.
Besides, the map even displayed a neat 3D layout, indicating the exact floor where the target was located. Finding Iro wouldn’t be difficult.
The problem is slipping out unnoticed.
To reach the spire, he would have to avoid the Eye hovering in the sky, and pass through a so-called Physical Examination of unknown nature.
[You have arrived at the examination site!]
Eun-Ho clenched his fists. He needed to create an opening before the enemy’s hands closed around his throat. He had to strike first.
[The physical examination will begin now!]
With that grim determination, Eun-Ho stepped into a vast circle glowing green.
“... What the hell is this?” he muttered.
The sight before him was nothing like he had imagined.
“Huh? Are we reenlisting in the army?” someone blurted out.
Vision charts stood on display, with booths and tents lining up in rows. There were long queues of people waiting their turn. It was, unmistakably, a military physical examination down to the last detail.
Well, almost. There’s one thing that doesn’t quite belong here, Eun-Ho thought.
“This is...” Eun-Ho muttered.
“Wait, it really was just a physical exam?” Ji-Eun asked.
“It’s exactly like the army checkups, Noonim! Except, uh... There’s no humans running it!”
“Right? Looks like the machines scan us automatically as we pass through!”
Unmanned. I guess that’s true because these things aren’t human at all, Eun-Ho thought.
“Height!”
“171 cm!”
“Weight!”
“68 kg!”
Eun-Ho froze. He had been racking his brain for a way to exploit a gap in the physical examination. Yet, the real surprise was something else entirely.
“Next subject... Huh?”
“W-wait!”
The voices belonged to two round-faced twins with bowl-cut hair, their eyes wide in astonishment.
“That monster?”
“Y-yeah, that monster!”
Eun-Ho recognized them immediately. They were the odd field agents who had once left behind only a bizarre little note that read: Monster. We’ll get going. Dispatched by the Bureau of Investigation, they were adorable in appearance, but dreadful in ability.
If only I could talk to them out of the Eye’s influence...
He watched the twins glance nervously between him and the Eye, clearly flustered. Then, he began to devise a plan. There had to be a way to communicate without alerting the observers.
As he sank deeper into thought, dark clouds suddenly rolled in, dimming the heavens.
Creak—!
With the sound of a wooden gate slamming shut, the massive eyelid above shut tight.
[The Eye has been closed by the Examiner’s authority!]
Huh?
“The Eye?”
“It’s shut?”
“But the trial didn’t end!”
“Why?”
Wait a second. Could that have been the same guy from earlier who flipped the switch? Because he doesn’t want to be watched?
“Ugh! Smash that damn Eye...!”
“Iro!”
If that was true, Eun-Ho didn’t have time to waste.
“Hey, kids!” Eun-Ho called out.
“Monsters!”
“Nice to see you!”
“Sorry, I’m kind of busy so...” he said.
***
Bang!
The temporary lab door burst open as if it had been struck.
“What on earth are you doing? Are you out of your mind? How dare you shut down the Eye?!”
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Cho Bok strode in, each step carrying his full weight.
He said, making his displeasure apparent, “What are you thinking? Do you realize what this means? If the Investigation Bureau finds out, you’ll be disciplined! Besides, they almost got us for delaying th—”
“Ah, well done.” However, Iro paid the warnings no mind, adding, “pass me the reagent.”
Cho Bok remained silent. He had violated protocol and shut the Eye, and yet here he was continuing with his experiments.
“The physical examination will be over soon! Go restore surveillance—”
“It’s nearly finished,” Iro replied.
“What?”
“The data are flawless. Only clinical trials remain. Then, we can capture Eun-Ho. I can finally fix everything I messed up.”
This guy is insane, Cho Bok thought with conviction.
“What exactly is that?”
“An awakening drug,” Iro answered with a bitter smile.
“What?!” Cho Bok asked.
“An agent that amplifies the brain’s latent potential by several times,” Iro explained.
Amplify the brain’s potential? Why do we need that right now?
Cho Bok frowned, then asked more precisely, “So, it makes you smarter?”
Iro darted a glance at Cho Bok and clicked his tongue at the triviality of the question. “Tsk. That’s why field agents are...”
To call his discovery merely “making you smarter” was beneath him.
“It boosts cognition, reflexes, sensory power and basically maximizes all physical capabilities,” Iro said.
“All of that from one vial?” Cho Bok asked.
“Well, effectiveness varies by subject.” Iro shrugged.
At that moment, the potion in the conical flask sloshed on its own. The bluish liquid shimmered, with faint red globules suspended like oil in water. Staring at the fluid’s convection-like motion made Cho Bok feel lightheaded.
“Ugh...” he murmured, then shook his head and asked, “Does it work better on those with higher intelligence?”
If the drug drew out latent brainpower, that seemed like a reasonable assumption.
“It probably correlates, but not necessarily,” Iro said with a saddened shake of his head. He still hadn’t pinned down precise figures. “Latent potential is the best description we have for now.”
The vagueness of that phrase felt devastating, but the research was nearing its end.
“After this clinical trial, I’ll report it,” Iro promised.
“Report to whom?” Cho Bok asked.
Iro fell silent, his thoughts on that person. His light and hope.
“How dare they make a noble sleep on the street. The world deserves ruin, doesn't it?”
“And you are...?”
“They called you a mad genius; I’m curious if that’s true.”
The single ray that had brightened the pitch-dark world, where even his own self disappeared.
“What should I call you?”
“I have no name.”
“Ah, poor soul.”
The only savior who had rescued that miserable figure.
“Iro. How about that?”
“Iro, as in, different path?”
“Yes. If you follow me, an entirely different road will open.”
The Skeleton Soldier project had failed, riddled with bug, but this would make up for it. Surely, he would be pleased, and perhaps even pat Iro on the head for doing well.
A flush of excitement surged through Iro.
“So you intend to give this vial to Eun-Ho? That’s the clinical trial, right?” Cho Bok asked.
“Don’t be stupid. Of course it’s not Lee Eun-Ho.” Iro replied.
Cho Bok laughed nervously at the absurdity. “What? After everything about Eun-Ho, now you say not him?”
Iro simply nodded. “No... Can’t handle it.”
“He can’t handle it?” Cho Bok echoed.
“His latent potential is too high,” Iro said.
The potion amplified the latent potential of whoever absorbed it. Meanwhile, Eun-Ho was the individual with the highest latent potential Iro had ever encountered. That meant, from a research perspective, there was a strong chance the results would fall outside any range they had ever been able to control.
“I’ll use Eun-Ho as the test subject,” Iro said.
“A test subject?” Cho Bok asked.
“We’ll inject the potion bit by bit. For that, we have to extract him in an unaltered state.”
Inject the potion? Into whom? And where? Cho Bok’s mind raced.
“What do you mean by extracting him in an unaltered state?”
The researcher shrugged, then tapped the side of his own head with a finger. “The brain.”
Cho Bok flinched. Iro’s face was filled with skin-crawling greed.
Feeling cold relief that it wasn’t directed at him, he hurried to steer the conversation elsewhere. “So, who are you going to give it to? You’re not going to swallow it yourself, right?”
“The one who lunged for the capsule earlier. I’m thinking of giving it to him.”
“Subject Jang Han-Il? Why him?”
“He rushed in without thinking. His brain’s practically muscle, meaning strong, and likely controllable by the system. He’s suitable.”
Cho Bok nodded as it was a fair point.
“Also, he seems to bear a grudge against Eun-Ho, so it’s easier to provoke a fight,” Iro said.
“That’s true.”
Everything had to look natural. If noise came from their project, Cho Bok and Iro’s positions would be jeopardized. Their interference with a different department’s work could cause troubles for the higher-ups as well.
“So we’ll make it look like a jealous man, full of inferiority, unlocked his skill to attack another. It’s plausible enough, no?” Iro suggested.
“Hmm... I guess fights between subjects don’t usually get investigated that deeply.”
“And the Eye already saw that scene earlier so no one will suspect anything.”
It was a good plan. If everything went according to it, even those prickly auditors from the Bureau of Audit wouldn’t sniff suspicion.
“Ah! Then we can claim the body was lost while they fight. Maybe leave a finger behind?”
“Hmm... What about hair? I don’t want to waste a finger.”
Cho Bok seemed relaxed and Iro grew certain, already thinking of loot before the battle had even started.
“We’ll hit him as soon as the physical examination is over. Check the situation,” Iro ordered.
“I’ll report back,” Cho Bok replied.
Unlike when he had come in, Cho Bok left the makeshift lab with a composed stride.
Thud!
A short while later, something dropped and a voice called out, “Iro!”
“Why?” Iro replied, expecting a routine situation report, not an odd delay.
“Well... I might need your help?” came the awkward request.
Cho Bok can’t even do a proper situation check? What does he need help with now?
He never wanted to be tangled up with fools. Iro rose from his seat and, with a clack, opened the door.
“Ugh!” came a muffled sound.
Cho Bok was bound to a chair, a cloth stuffed into his mouth.
“What the—” Iro stammered.
There should’ve only been Cho Bok and him around, yet the scene suggested something else.
“Who came in here? Could it be the auditors already?”
Cho Bok choked out, flailing his head like a soaked dog. “Ugh! Ugh!”
“So it wasn’t the auditors...” Iro said. “Then who?”
A possibility Iro refused to admit flickered through his mind. It was an impossible, improbable one.
Could it be him?
Snap!
Then, the next moment, he quickly turned on his heel and ran.
“Gah! Urrrgh!” Cho Bok shouted, but Iro barely heard him.
He had to secure the potion quickly, even if he had to crawl on all fours!
However, when he got there, it had vanished.
“W-what the heck? Where is it?”
The conical flask that had sat neatly on the desk moments before was gone.
Bang! Boom!
He swept the desk aside, smashing every small object that irritated his sight.
“Where is it?!” he demanded.
Still nothing. The situation made no sense at all.
Iro’s mind went blank and he muttered in disbelief, “But I left it right here!”
“Looking for a potion?” someone said.
“Y-yes a poti—wait, how did you get here?!”
An unwelcome voice had slid into Iro’s ear, one that he wasn’t supposed to hear.
“So you think if I drink this, you can’t handle it?” the man asked, curling the corner of its mouth. He admired the blue-pink liquid in his hand. “Guess I’ll drink it, then.”
“Noooo!” Iro shrieked.
He lunged, but the man already brought the flask to his lips. “Well, good luck trying to handle it.”
“Ugh!”
Gulp.
The mighty potion disappeared down the throat of the one who should never have swallowed it.
“Only if you can,” the man said.
“Ugh! You son of a bitch!!”