Boy Monster Chapter 25

The minister, flustered, had recently found another justification.

“Ha! Nothing to worry about?! He went on an undercover investigation at the detention center on his own again, and not long ago, he defied the order to not release his power control, saying he was going to search a smuggling ship? Chief Jae Eunho’s lunar eclipse, solar eclipse, reincarnation, curse. The possibility of the agents going berserk. These are all elements of instability and threats to national defense! What kind of national defense weapon threatens the decisions of its superiors?”

Unable to listen any longer, Chogwang slammed his hand on the table. The room fell silent at the outburst of the Dharma protector, who was always polite and gentlemanly.

“Those who covet forbidden power will be destroyed by it!”

“…….”

“Has everyone forgotten the inscription on the photo from the day Sa Hwelju was destroyed? What is such ignorant repetition of the same mistake, if not arrogance! Come to your senses. And that includes you!”

Chogwang pointed at the chairman of the bio-corporation council and the head of military science, his voice rising.

“There is no such thing as a time when the noble power that has protected this land for thousands of years fades. The age of Hwelju is over? Their era has ended? That’s an arbitrary judgment and nothing but jungsangman.”

To the government, Monk Chogwang was practically an oracle. Countless policies established based on his foresight had yielded positive results. People couldn’t easily contradict the words of Dharma Protector Chogwang.

“I don’t understand where the idea of mere humans controlling the power bestowed by heaven came from. You implanted bombs in the Hwelju’s blood vessels for fear of rebellion and chips in the Yeonri’s brains to control their mental abilities. And that’s not enough, so you harbor even greater greed? Do the officials in this room possess neither lessons nor intellect?”

The bio-corporation representative explained in a meek voice,

“The nature of war has changed a lot in modern times, and S.E.T.U is causing trouble because of control issues…. To adapt to the changing times, controllable…”

The president, releasing the hands that had been propping up his chin, offered his opinion.

“Representative Han is right. The world has entered the Fifth Industrial Revolution. Times have indeed changed. The guardian deities of this era are the economy, capital, science, information, counterintelligence, and manipulation of public opinion. Artificial intelligence and cutting-edge technology will drive the world. Divine power invoked by wearing prayer beads and chanting scriptures… is now a bit… old-fashioned, isn’t it?”

The president, chuckling hoarsely, continued without meeting Chogwang’s eyes.

“The threat of wars fought with sheer numbers, like the Imjin War or the Korean War, is no longer significant. The key is military technology and information. A major reorganization of the S.E.T.U unit’s deployment and utilization plan is necessary. So that they can be utilized in more sophisticated intelligence operations. However, weaponization is not an option. As Lieutenant General Lim Geonhwi said, there are ethical concerns, and even if successful, we have to consider public opinion. We must be cautious.”

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the minister hid their displeasure. Although the president had sided with them for now, Chogwang and Lim Geonhwi were still uneasy, as his opinion on S.E.T.U wasn’t entirely satisfactory.

“In any case, the weaponization project is currently unfeasible due to opposition from the Army and Navy. Let’s put that aside and address the immediate fire.”

The president proposed a compromise. Lim Geonhwi, giving Chogwang a grateful look for supporting him, said,

“We must first uncover the identity of the forces behind the attempted kidnapping. There are no objections to dealing with the external threat first, are there?”

Everyone agreed to prioritize resolving the current emergency.

Lim Geonhwi lit a cigarette as he left the conference room. Jae Eunho hadn’t replied to his text messages, as usual. He definitely had to crack down on the threatening forces trying to take Jae Eunho, who belonged to him. Those audacious bastards. No matter what country they were from, he would kill them all without a trace and erase the memories of the rest with hallucinations. Lim Geonhwi summoned the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency and gave the order.

“Mobilize all our intelligence networks and find out who sent those thugs to the detention center. This is top priority.”

In truth, Lim Geonhwi wasn’t strongly opposed to the weaponization project, as long as Jae Eunho wasn’t involved. The unpredictable psionics were indeed a nuisance. He agreed with the argument that they were a source of instability.

However, if Jae Eunho were to transform into a body equipped with an AI brain and lose his own thoughts and emotions, would Lim Geonhwi still desire him?

Lim Geonhwi recalled the waves of dark eyes that coldly ignored him and sometimes looked at him with pity. If those were to disappear…

He could never approve it.

Suddenly, he wondered why he desired Jae Eunho. Was it because he had become recklessly fond of him through repeated reincarnations? Because he was a rare item that had been reincarnated repeatedly? Whatever the reason, he concluded that he couldn’t lose those waves in his eyes. Lim Geonhwi’s sharp gaze, honed to a keen edge, pierced through the car window.

:･⚜️⊹.️

Unable to resist his investigator’s instincts, Jae Eunho slightly opened the storage room door.

Expensive-looking bedding and a sofa were placed on one side of what he had thought was an old storage room. Several million won worth of liquor bottles were scattered on the table, and a white powder was strewn among the snack plates. Scattered on the floor along with banknotes were business cards that read, “Director, 00 Law Firm.” The directors, who had been the subjects of entertainment and hospitality, were sprawled out, intoxicated by drugs and alcohol.

A young man lay in front of them, covered in blood. He seemed to have been unilaterally assaulted, and a glove was visible among the men who had taken turns beating the frail man and then collapsed, asleep, under the influence of drugs. Jae Eunho barely suppressed the urge to immediately arrest everyone in the storage room.

Sticky, wet sounds echoed from beside the stage where the assault had taken place. A man lay on a makeshift bed, his neck twisted, performing oral sex. A thug covered in tattoos had his lower body on the man’s face, engrossed in his pelvic thrusts.

Two women smoking cigarettes and a skinny man were sitting on the sofa, watching the provocative oral sex scene. The two women were strikingly attractive, with exaggeratedly glamorous bodies, exuding a coquettishness that would make any man’s mouth water or their underwear wet.

“Hey, hook me up with Shi Taehyun. I’m good enough to fuck him, aren’t I?”

“Go into debt. Tell him you’ll give him a blowjob instead of money. If you suck him skillfully enough to turn him on, who knows? He might fuck you.”

The skinny thug sitting next to them lit a cigarette and said,

“But giving blowjobs instead of money for Dasarang Finance loans, that’s not Taehyun hyung’s thing, is it? I heard that’s a ghost office.”

“Oh… Right. If it were Shi Taehyun, would that be repayment? It would be making money.”

“That one would spread her legs in an instant if she got the chance. Don’t you always wear a miniskirt so no one notices you dripping wet when you come here?”

The woman abruptly raised her middle finger. The skinny man scoffed.

“What can you do when you spend a million or two won every time just to come down here to the second basement? Another wasted day, huh?”

“I’m seriously telling you, today’s the last time.”

“Nah, you’ve spent so much money, you gotta get wet and finish. No dick can beat an open hole. Just wait a little.”

“So, Shi Taehyun, does he even know who I am? He’s always out on business. The office is only guarded by old farts and skinny guys. What does he even do all day?!”

“Stabbing? Burying people?”

“Ahh…!”

The woman let out a cry of excitement.

“If it doesn’t have to be Shi Taehyun, I can fuck you senseless.”

“No thanks. You come back after you’ve gifted me ten million won in star balloons.”

“I’ve never seen a dick like that. I ran into Taehyun hyung briefly at the sauna before, and… ha… I thought he was holding a fire extinguisher.”

“Crazy!”

A loud shriek followed by a burst of laughter. At the sound of their hysterical laughter, the man lying on the floor stirred, and the woman’s gaze shifted forward. Seeing Jae Eunho standing in the open doorway, the woman screamed.

“What the! Who’s that? Is someone here to pick up drugs?”

The skinny man sitting on the sofa swaggered over, showing off the tattoo on his arm. Up close, his youthfulness was apparent.

“What the, kid? What are you peeking at?”

“I came to pay with my body instead of money, but I took a wrong turn. The next room is the entrance to the Dasarang Finance office, right?”

“Does that even make sense? The sign’s right there. Damn it, isn’t this a cop…?”

The young man rummaged around his waist. A large knife appeared. He brandished it at Jae Eunho. It was a rather clumsy threat. Did he learn that bravado from Shi Taehyun? Then he should have learned it better. As he muttered inwardly, the sliding door next to him slammed open. It was the Dasarang Finance office.

Heavy footsteps approached. A familiar yet unfamiliar scent wafted from the presence that broadly enveloped Jae Eunho’s back.

“Why is our Eunho here?”

Turning around, Jae Eunho frowned at the sight of Shi Taehyun. The blood-soaked prisoner was gone, replaced by what appeared to be a wealthy young man who enjoyed golf. He was wearing golf attire that revealed his intimidating physique, holding a suit jacket, and sporting a gold watch. His bleached white-blond hair, usually messy and disheveled, was neatly parted and styled.

“You ladies are killing it today. Did you add something extra? You’re on fire. You’ll hit a billion if you stream today.”

His sly grin and smooth talking were like that of a decades-old serpent. The fake 18-year-old identity was way off the mark. A famous BJ retorted coldly,

“Who is this? He doesn’t look like he takes out loans.”

“My lover.”

At Shi Taehyun’s reply, they were enveloped in silence. Shi Taehyun subtly pressed his body against Eunho from behind and caressed his chin.

“I told you to come to the Dasarang Finance office. Why did our baby take a wrong turn and end up in this den of idiots…?”

Understanding the chilling intent behind his words, Jae Eunho sighed and replied,

“I’m enjoying this pandemonium. You said we should descend into a darker place. Isn’t this the direction you wanted?”

Footnotes:

1. Jungsangman (증상만, 增上慢): A Buddhist term referring to the arrogance of overestimating oneself, pretending to be enlightened.
2. Star balloons are a form of virtual currency used on Korean live-streaming platforms to tip broadcasters.