Boy Monster Chapter 85

Lieutenant Hiroshi. The young leader of Joseon’s divine gifted ones.

It was said that this young head of the family was also an exceptional individual capable of using both the powers of Hwa Hwelju and Poong Hwelju. Dr. Gallia concluded that the terrifying chill he sensed from him was the strength derived from that description and offered a handshake.

“Lieutenant Hiroshi. And Head of the Sashimcheon family. It is an honor to meet you. Haha, I am also very interested in the Sashimcheon unit; you are aware, are you not, that we bear the mission of developing the ultimate human weapons like the Hweljus!”

The lieutenant, who had been listening to Dr. Gallia’s praise in silence, replied in a cheerful voice.

“No?”

“……Um?”

The doctor could not help but be flustered by the unexpected answer. Was it a joke? How should he respond? As if it had been a joke after all, the lieutenant spoke again in a polite tone.

“I know you are devoting yourself day and night to experiments and research, staking your destiny on them. You are working hard for the Great East Asia.”

“Yes, yes. I have many questions for the Hweljus and Yeonris of Joseon. After the experiment is over, shall we have a cup of tea?”

“…Yes, that would be good…….”

Lieutenant Hiroshi replied, drawing out his words leisurely. At the end of his dark voice, there was a slight crack.

No, this man is not just a lieutenant. It’s not because he is a divine gifted one or the head of a family; this man is… this man is….

What is he?

An ominous terror would not leave the doctor’s intuition.

During the Sino-Japanese War, the doctor had met countless subhuman commanders. Villains who had become desensitized to violence and slaughter. Demons who giggled while competing to kill unarmed, weak people in increasingly cruel ways. However, the murderous intent this man possessed was different from theirs. It was a bit more… refined, and aimed toward a higher place. That is not to say he lacked the characteristic cruel butcher’s temperament of soldiers at war. Rather, he was sharper. His murderous intent was as dense and keen as it was refined, and therefore, more dangerous.

The danger the doctor sensed from Jang Hwonwoo might have been a premonition of the end he would meet today. Perhaps it was a foreboding of the finale he would reach at the hands of a terrifying slaughterer.

Turning away, Lieutenant Hiroshi shouted a declaration toward the entire palace.

“The 14th of July, the Year of Sinsa (1). I hereby announce the commencement of the Sa Hwelju descent ritual.”

That declaration was the signal agreed upon with Jae Eunho. The monks sitting on the bamboo mats began to beat their drums.

However, just as Dr. Gallia—who justified inhumane human experiments as a mission for his nation and humanity—did not know of his own death, the head of the Sashimcheon family and Jae Eunho, who were responsible for the uprising, also missed one important thing.

The inevitable limitation of Jae Eunho’s ability lay in the realm of “ignorance” that could not be discovered through any thorough preparation or acting first to control others.

A person does not even know everything about themselves.

No matter how thoroughly a resonance user searches the thoughts and mind of a target, they cannot discover facts that the target themselves is unaware of. However, that fact clearly existed here.

Dr. Gallia’s assistant was a man who had suffered brain damage after being caught in a bombing and undergoing several surgeries. Within his sunken head, strange symptoms often occurred. It was a symptom of losing consciousness and going blank. Those who considered it narcolepsy gained from the side effects of surgery did not know it was an irregular phenomenon of multiple EEG metabolic depression.

Because the assistant himself did not know that there was a problem with the brainwaves of the man in the fedora, it had to remain a fact that Jae Eunho failed to discover even after perfectly searching the thoughts of all attendees.

Jae Eunho’s ability, which connected to another’s consciousness in the form of waves, did not work on those whose brainwaves were so low that they were barely active—that is, those in Stage 1 sleep or those who were unconscious due to fainting. This became the principle used later when high-ranking government officials developed defensive devices that were not affected by Jae Eunho’s resonance. Simultaneously, it was one of the reasons why the brilliant Sa Yeonri, who could exercise resonance even on those who were not Hweljus, ended up losing his only romantic affection.

Some coincidences are merely slim possibilities, but like a prank from the heavens, they flip the threads of causality. The thread of fate designed by Jae Eunho began to twist and tangle in the darkness.

Jae Eunho first put everyone inside Injeongjeon Hall into a deep sleep. There were ten key guests: four Japanese military generals, Prince Uichin, the Empress, the commander of the garrison, the Political Director-General of the Government-General, the doctor, and the assistant. As Jae Eunho put even the 50 elite soldiers stationed within the pavilion to sleep at once, summer leaves and butterflies whirled up around him.

Jae Eunho slowly opened his eyes. Jang Hwonwoo, who was on the steps, turned around in the darkness.

“Everyone is asleep.”

Jang Hwonwoo said as he strode toward Eunho. Worried that the soldiers outside might find the cessation of the drum sounds suspicious, Jang Hwonwoo shouted loudly. “Stand by for a moment!”

Jae Eunho immediately clasped his hands and proceeded to the next stage. The four prayer beads emitted a fierce light. There were no drumbeats from the monks to amplify his power further, but it was sufficient since he was not performing the hallucination on all of Gyeongseong.

First, he erased all information regarding the Sashimcheon family from each target’s head. It was a task that took a very long time and required meticulous perfection. While Jae Eunho concentrated on the resonance with all his might, Jang Hwonwoo would guard his side.

He could not tell how much time had passed. Having finished the task, Jae Eunho now began to plant detailed alternative memories in them.

「The reason I came here today is for the funeral of a secret psychic. Joseon permitted the dissection of the body before the funeral. I must return after hearing the results of the dissection.」

He applied alternative memories to all involved except for Prince Uichin, who would help with the work. After planting detailed memories regarding the process of the corpse dissection into the doctor and the assistant, the resonance ended.

“Finished.”

In the damp air, only the torches crackled. When Eunho finished all the work and opened his eyes, a warm heat touched his back and the back of his head. He felt a strength supporting his body, which had been drained of energy from pouring out all his concentration. Turning around, he saw Jang Hwonwoo embracing him. The gaze looking down at Eunho perfectly fit the script direction: ‘Looks at his lover adorably.’ Jae Eunho turned his head and threw cold water on the mood.

“You have to bring the coffin. Now only the task you have to do remains. I believe you said you had everything prepared on your own?”

“Of course.”

It was time for the coffin to enter the space where the ritual had been cleared away and for the stage transition to take place. It’s truly soon—the moment of becoming free from the powerful! Jae Eunho sharpened his tension again and tightly embraced Jang Hwonwoo’s arm.

In the pavilion where everyone was asleep, only the two of them had their eyes open. Jang Hwonwoo grabbed the shaman’s collar with one hand and dragged her along, leading Jae Eunho to the middle gate. Passing through the low gate, they reached the Gyujanggak deep within the palace and entered a pitch-black room.

He intended to leave the sleeping shaman and Jae Eunho safely protected within the palace while he went to the site. Jang Hwonwoo took out and shook a lock he had obtained in advance from the Naebyeongjo (2). He then whispered quickly.

“I’ve already pulled out all the top-secret reports related to the Hweljus, Yeonris, and the family from the Government-General and the garrison commander’s office, so we’ll be able to buy more time. I personally obtained them early this morning and kept them in the car.”

When did he get all those documents…! As Jae Eunho was silently surprised, Jang Hwonwoo added an explanation.

“Chorokjabulgyeonsan. You said that if one is biased toward the task right in front of them, they end up missing the work they ought to do. One who chases a deer does not see the great mountain nearby. They were so distracted by today’s experiment that they didn’t notice their subordinate’s shadow occasionally changing into a strange shape.”

“You disguised Hweljus to get them out?”

“Yes. And about the flight we’re taking. We don’t need to carry out a separate operation at Yeouido Airfield; we can just take off immediately. I created a fake intelligence report and had two fighter jets on standby for takeoff.”

While Jae Eunho struggled to choose words of praise with his mouth agape, Jang Hwonwoo pressed his lips hard against Jae Eunho’s as if in regret. Rising from his seat, Jang Hwonwoo said:

“It was a good idea to use me, wasn’t it?”

“……”

“With this level of ability, will you admit I’m a man worthy of your level, Teacher?”

“……Yes, it was a good choice to make you my ally. If I hadn’t, there would have been no uprising or anything.”

“And your body would have been taken every day by another tyrannical head of the family.”

“Even in a moment like this, you bring up intercourse? Just go handle it quickly. And wait a moment.”

Eunho did not forget to relay a warning he had discovered in the doctor’s head earlier.

“There were explosive materials in the suitcase the doctor brought. Be careful. In case of emergency, it seems they intended to cause an explosion to kill us. It seems they were prepared for a situation where the subject or I became uncontrollable. It doesn’t seem the doctor prepared it alone, but rather something the military minister ordered, but anyway, it was good that you removed the bags. ……That’s a compliment.”

“Do you give compliments with an empty mouth?”

Jang Hwonwoo mischievously pointed to his trousers. Since there was no time to resist, Eunho had no choice but to leave a kiss of praise on the fellow’s member. Jang Hwonwoo turned around with a joyful face.

After firmly locking the door from the outside, Jang Hwonwoo flew low and left the Gyujanggak. Only darkness without a single light remained. Jae Eunho finally checked the consciousnesses within the palace. There were no minds sensed on the map in his head.

Now it was the next step. He had to load the real Sun, Moon, and Five Peaks screen into the car and fly to Japan faster than the military generals. Before that, to make the international telephone network go dead, Jae Eunho clasped his hands again and closed his eyes.

“…Telephone office electrical room… two employees… go down to the basement to repair the wiring.”

The assistant woke up in an instant. To think that wretched disease of suddenly going blank and flopping over would flare up in this place of all places!

He had fallen into a theta wave (3) state while being put to sleep by Jae Eunho’s resonance and having fake memories overlaid, but there was no way for him to know that. The assistant cursed his disease and hurriedly looked around, checking the atmosphere.

A golden opportunity to dissect a psychic! If fainting occurred in such an important place, he would definitely be fired this time! Being fired from a laboratory where information must absolutely not leak out meant being buried in a corpse pit….

The man looking around had no choice but to stop his thoughts.

“What is this. What happened? Is everyone… dead?”

The soldiers who had been guarding the courtyard had all collapsed and could not get up, and the high-ranking people inside Injeongjeon Hall were also slumped over. Dr. Gallia, lying in the seat next to him, was no exception. The inside of the palace was as quiet as a dead mouse.

Footnotes:

1. 1941
2. The department in charge of managing the locks within the palace.
3. Low brainwaves in the 4–8Hz frequency range.