Chapter 16 …
My mind wasn’t working. I couldn’t properly process the situation that had unfolded.
It was no wonder.
“…What the…?”
The woman sitting elegantly in front of me, sipping her tea… if anyone knew who she was, every single person would react the same way.
Why. Seriously, why?
“Why is this person here?”
Platinum-blonde hair. Golden eyes that matched her hair. She was calmly taking a sip of tea.
“Is this really… Irene?”
Hale Irene.
The strongest superhuman in the world, with a past life as a Grand Magus. There are rumors that if she wanted, she could easily wipe out an entire country.
“The ultimate human weapon…”
A human embodiment of calamity—that must be Hale Irene.
“Why is she in front of me?”
That such a human disaster was calmly drinking tea right in front of me… how could this not be bizarre?
“…Hmm.”
Irene frowned after tasting the tea. I knew she was in her mid-twenties.
“Her appearance…”
She looked far younger than her age; it was hard to tell how old she really was.
“Tastes bad…”
In a detached tone, she judged the tea she drank. Then she scooped up some cake with a fork and stuffed a mouthful into her mouth.
“Hmmm.”
This time, she nodded as if satisfied.
“…Delicious.”
“…Uh…”
I cautiously called out to Irene as she was enjoying the cake. She raised her index finger in response.
What was that?
Then—swoosh!
“…!”
A golden glow shimmered from her fingertip, and words appeared: “Wait a moment.”
Seeing that, I froze in place.
Mumbling, Irene swallowed the cake in her mouth before finally speaking to me.
“…Shall I give it to you?”
“…No…?”
“Yes.”
She was about to eat again, so I hurriedly said while looking at her.
“No, wait a moment.”
“Hm?”
Irene frowned, apparently not liking my interruption.
“…Why?”
“It’s not why…”
Where should I even begin? What should I point out first?
That the world’s strongest person was sitting in front of me? Or that she had suddenly appeared with cake, eating it all herself…?
Or maybe…
“She came to talk to me?”
That such a person had come here to talk to me.
Or maybe…
“…Or is that also the problem?”
I rolled my eyes and glanced to the side. There…
“Ugh… uhgh…”
A man was lying on the floor, face down, bound in golden chains.
He was the person I had detected with my super-senses and the one Irene had struck.
“Ugh…”
“Slurp.”
Irene was too busy sipping her tea to care about the man beside her. She wiped the cream off her lips afterward.
No matter how I looked at it, everything was a problem. There was nothing to specifically point out.
“Seriously… what is this?”
Was this a dream? It’d probably be easier to think of it as one—it felt that unreal.
“…That…”
“…It’s fine.”
As I was about to ask about the man, Irene cut me off.
“People like that… exist everywhere…”
“….”
Her cold gaze scanned the man. Even though the glance wasn’t directed at me, my spine tingled.
“What shall we do…?”
“…Excuse me?”
“Should we burn him or tear him apart…?”
“…What—”
She said something chilling with utter nonchalance.
The man shivered in his bindings, apparently hearing her words.
“Hm.”
Irene looked at me.
“…Are you merciful?”
“Yes…?”
Snap! She snapped her fingers, and the chains that had been covering the man’s mouth vanished.
“Gah…”
Only then did he seem able to breathe freely, gasping for air.
“…W-wait… please wait! It’s a misunderstanding…!”
He pleaded with me and Irene with the most desperate expression.
“I’m not your enemy…! I’m just here from the Association to protect the superhuman Lee Jin-woo…!”
“Huh?”
Protect me? I looked at the man in surprise. A superhuman sent from the Association? Hearing that, I was taken aback.
“Protect…?”
It was Irene.
“It’s not protection…”
She crossed her legs, resting her chin on her hand. Her gaze on the man was far colder than before.
“Not protection, surveillance. Lie… and I’ll pull your tongue out…”
“…!”
The air instantly grew icy.
“W-wait…”
“…Annoying.”
Snap! Another finger snap.
Whoosh—!!!
“…Gah!”
The man in front of us vanished. He truly evaporated into thin air. Had she killed him? Alarmed, I looked at Irene.
“I sent him away.”
“Sent him away?”
Irene said in a detached voice.
“I just sent him somewhere else.”
“Somewhere else…?”
“….”
She remained silent, clearly unwilling to answer.
“…Uh… I…”
Even addressing her was difficult. Should I call her “superhuman”? Hesitant, I moved my lips.
“Irene…”
She spoke.
“…Call me Irene.”
“Ah… yes.”
Reading my thoughts, Irene spoke first.
“Thank you, Irene.”
I nodded. She lightly nodded back. I asked as I observed her reaction.
“…Then why did you come to see me…?”
I had heard she arrived in Korea today. I even saw the live news coverage of her arrival.
“…Suddenly coming to talk to me?”
I just couldn’t understand it.
Irene glanced between the cake and me for a moment, apparently contemplating whether to continue eating or not.
Finally, she gently set down the fork and traced the air with her index finger.
Vroooom—!!
A golden glow meandered as before, connecting into a shape. I watched, curious.
-BOOM!!
‘Oh.’
The circle displayed a video, like a TV screen. And it was…
“…Is this my footage?”
It was the footage from when I fought the masked guy in Yeouido.
Explosions obscured much of the scene. The light filling the screen was almost blinding.
“Why… show me this now?”
She looked at me as if waiting for an answer.
“Something I want to ask.”
“From me?”
“Yes.”
What did she want to ask me from this footage? My tension spiked.
“You…”
Irene asked me.
“Do you know about Mushin?”
“…!”
I froze. I hadn’t expected her to mention Mushin’s name.
“How…?”
How could she even refer to Mushin?
Her eyes.
Waiting for my answer, her gaze was now dark. Though normally golden and radiant, it felt strangely black.
What was this feeling?
Ding.
[■ The hero’s super-sense activates.]
My neck tingled. Something was there. I could feel it aiming at my throat, though I didn’t know exactly what.
Then:
[■ Korca’s Illusion activates.]
[■ A non-human gaze is felt.]
[■ The power is weaker than the Four Gods. The illusion prevents the gaze from piercing the essence.]
“….”
So it wasn’t just that. Korca had blocked something else too. Whatever it was, Irene had done it.
I could sense it instinctively, even if it hadn’t fully broken through.
I pondered. How should I respond here? After a brief moment:
“…Mushin? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“….”
“Mushin is a famous superhuman these days. But what does that have to do with me?”
I chose denial.
Cold sweat ran down my body, but I tried not to show it.
Was that really the right choice? I wondered.
“Hm.”
Irene’s gaze returned.
The tingling sensation at my neck disappeared immediately.
“Hm… understood.”
‘What?’
Irene stood. She seemed satisfied with such a simple answer after her chilling question.
“See you next time.”
She waved her hand lazily.
Then she approached the window, slid it open, and leapt out.
“Ah!”
I stared in shock, but she was already soaring high into the sky. In an instant, Irene disappeared.
“…What the hell was that?”
Left alone, I wore a dumbfounded expression. Truly a whirlwind of a human.
But…
“‘See you next time’?”
That last line stuck in my mind. Wasn’t this supposed to be a one-time thing?
As I pondered, there was a knock at the door.
“Ah, yes.”
“Excuse me. Superhuman Lee Jin-woo….”
The nurse peeked carefully around the door. She made eye contact with me before speaking.
“Um…”
“Yes?”
“The director said you can be discharged now….”
“…What?”
Suddenly…?
Whoosh! Irene, flying through the sky, wore sunglasses. The wind was nothing to her; it was just a habit to cover her eyes.
Irene.
A voice echoed in my mind. Irene furrowed her brow.
“Stop nagging…”
…But.
“You don’t need to watch anymore. You’ve already seen with your own eyes…”
Irene exhaled softly.
[■ Sage’s Eye (SS)]
[The Great Sage’s Eye penetrates all falsehoods.]
An eye that sees through all lies. With this, no deception can work.
I recalled my previous conversation with Irene. Her Sage’s Eye had not activated then.
“No need anymore… it’s troublesome.”
Her eyes were clearly flustered.
“I’m a monster, after all.”
It was natural to fluster before a monster. She said it with calm self-deprecation.
Her voice briefly quieted.
Irene… you…
“I know…”
I suppose it meant not to speak in a monstrous way.
…
But that wouldn’t change anything. The sincerity of her voice was appreciated, but it didn’t fully reach me.
“…He’s not strong.”
The power in the footage wasn’t bad—just not bad.
‘…As I thought.’
Of course. She knew Mushin was in Korea, and she came to check on a superhuman who had recently awakened.
‘A young hero, they said.’
I assumed it was just the Association’s trivial show. That was all.
“Hm.”
Irene’s eyes narrowed slightly.
‘Even so…’
Thinking of me, Lee Jin-woo, I looked gentle and unremarkable.
‘She noticed.’
She seemed to sense not only my power but also the one planted by the Association.
But why did she leave me alone?
I had no idea. But what mattered was…
‘Something exists.’
Even if not Mushin, there was something about me that mattered to her. That way…
‘…It’s less annoying…’
Thinking about what would happen in the near future, she wore a detached expression.
