19. Collision (1)

A body that hadn’t shown even the slightest movement wriggles as it receives sunlight.

The closed eyelids carefully lift, revealing red pupils.

The silver-haired woman, Sanya Dominas, still creaking at the waist, leaned back against the head of the bed and sat up.

Just as she was unconsciously furrowing her brow at the bright June sunlight pouring in from the window, a calm voice came from the direction of the hallway across from her.

“You’re awake. How are you feeling?”

“I think I’m alright.”

Sanya, clenching and unclenching her slender palms to check her condition, looked up and smiled at Siana.

Her eyes were still full of worry.

Those eyes, fidgeting as if something might go wrong, and the trembling hands, clutching tightly at her waist, clearly revealed Siana’s mood.

She had reassured her several times, but she still seemed anxious.

“I told you, nothing’s going to happen, right? We’ve done all the tests.”

“Still…”

“If you keep being so anxious, I’m going to start feeling weird too. Don’t worry so much and relax your expression.”

At those words, she forced the corners of her lips up a little.

The somewhat comical expression on Siana’s face, with a smile that didn’t match her still-stiff muscles, was revealed.

Sanya chuckled and then called Siana closer to the bed.

“If you’re so worried, why don’t we call Jihoo-gun, who Siana likes so much? Even if he can’t directly participate in the surgery, wouldn’t it make you feel a little better if he was by your side?”

At her playful words, Siana finally burst into laughter.

“Jihoo-gun is probably busy hanging out since it’s the weekend, right?”

“Heuheung, that’s right. Leaving such a pretty Siana alone and with other girls… Jihoo-gun is no good either. Should I give him a call?”

“Uh… th-that… I’ll contact him separately after it’s successfully finished. I don’t want to bother him again…”

“Phew, I’m just kidding. Then… shall we review the plan one more time?”

Siana picked up the stack of documents on the table next to the bed and handed them to Sanya.

Silently watching Sanya, who had already returned to a serious expression as she checked the documents, she soon fell into her own thoughts.

‘Should I leave even a hint for Jihoo-gun…?’

No, there’s no need to drag him into something like this.

Since the transplant will be perfectly successful in just a few hours anyway, there’s no need to make him worry unnecessarily; I can just tell him the results.

But… what if something goes wrong, even just in case?

The small anxiety that had already sprouted deep within her heart was not something that could be easily erased by trying to deny the thought.

She didn’t want to burden Lee Jihoo with unnecessary worries, but it was also awkward to not contact him while only hoping for an optimistic outcome.

In the end, Siana was able to come to a conclusion after a long period of deliberation.

○ Siana Plata

《《 Jihoo-gun, if you’re free today, could you come to the place I told you about last time around 6 PM? It’s not a super important matter, I just have something to talk about in a quiet place. I’ll tell you what it is later ^^

“This much shouldn’t read as burdensome, right…?”

After adding an emoticon with a sense of style, she carefully pressed the send button.

With this much content, he wouldn’t feel like it’s a greatly dangerous situation, and around 6 PM, when the surgery will be completely finished, it will be enough time to explain the situation before and talk about Sanya’s condition.

If only an accident doesn’t happen during the transplant.

If only an accident doesn’t happen during the transplant…

If only an accident doesn’t…

“It’ll be alright… let’s not imagine weird things.”

Siana gripped her phone tightly with both hands and got up from her seat.

There was no more time to spare. She had to start preparing for the transplant soon.

* * *

2 PM.

It was the time of day when the asphalt was heating up so much that it was emitting white fumes from the hottest sunlight of the day.

Familiar faces appeared one by one in front of the house, right on schedule.

Me, Seo Jooha, Rei, Go Ryushin.

And even Alice, who couldn’t show her face directly at this place, was hiding in the shadows.

It was an amount of five people, which was a lot if it was a lot, and a little if it was a little, but it felt like it had the right composition when gathered like this.

“The goal is to infiltrate the National Intelligence Service’s secret facility and stop Cyan’s plan. And additionally, it would be even better if we could get data on magic transplant research. Did everyone read the plan I sent yesterday?”

“Yeah. We infiltrate in advance and hide in each area, and if we see anything suspicious, we contact each other immediately and gather, right?”

As expected, Ryushin is the most motivated.

The file name was ‘PlanRevisedFinalFinalReally Final_Really End’ and it had been revised so many times that I thought he would get tired of reading it and just do more physical training… He answered all the questions about how thoroughly he had read it without hesitation.

“There might be some people who haven’t read it all, so I’ll briefly explain it one more time.”

Cyan’s plan is probably to steal research data on magic transplants inside the facility.

Since it’s a task that needs to be carried out discreetly without attracting attention, it was certain that they would come with the fewest possible people.

Of course, there was also the possibility of attempting a direct assault and seizing the data by force… but honestly, could they commit such a bold act in the middle of Seoul, where Awakened are scattered everywhere?

“Well, just in case, it’s good to keep in mind the possibility that they might come on a large scale. But you don’t have to worry too much. Right, Rei?”

“Eueung… I told Jihoo everything, so you have to protect Team Leader-nim…?”

“I know. I’ll make sure you don’t run into your sisters, so you don’t have to worry.”

Of course, we are only five people, but the reason we can confidently set up an infiltration operation like this is because of Rei’s detailed explanation.

The special agents in the facility, with the exception of a very small number of people who are dispatched externally, mostly perform various tasks within the facility.

They also test special equipment and drugs developed by researchers, and sometimes they are responsible for periodically cleaning the passages connected to the monster spawn spots.

According to Rei, most of her ‘sisters’ are stronger than her, but I don’t know why they don’t use such power for external activities and waste it like that, but anyway, they will definitely respond more actively than anyone else if there is an invasion.

Until Cyan invades, we just have to hide in the shadows and wait, and when the attack happens, we can call other people.

In the meantime, it would be ideal if we could steal the research data before Cyan.

“Then shall we move now? It might be a little dizzy, so prepare yourself mentally. Three, two, one…”

• Alice, move everyone to the coordinates I told you yesterday. And make them invisible as soon as you go.

• I’ll move them right away.

Since no one other than Jooha should know about Alice’s existence, the touch of the shadow, perfectly disguised as Jooha’s, grabs everyone’s ankles.

With a strange feeling of the navel being pulled away, the surrounding scenery changed in the blink of an eye.

“From now on, we’ll only talk through the communication devices. We’ll move together to area E5 for now, and since you don’t become transparent and pass through things just because you’re invisible, be careful not to bump into people when you encounter them.”

“Okay, Jihoo.”

Jooha smiled at me as if she wasn’t nervous about this situation.

Well, she has the ability to travel around the earth with shadows, so there’s no need to worry.

I smiled back at her once and then immediately bent down and stuck as close to the wall as possible.

• Alice, scout ahead to see if there’s anyone there.

• There’s no one in front for now. There are two living beings presumed to be humans in a room 300 meters to the left, but you can ignore them.

“I won’t use space movement from now on except when we escape. We’ll memorize the structure completely first, and then go to our designated areas, so follow me slowly.”

After saying that, just as I was carefully taking a step, a faint vibration sound came from my pocket.

Who is it? I told Hayul and Senior Seol-ah in advance and came, so there shouldn’t be anyone who would contact me.

Since it was a small vibration that wouldn’t be heard by anyone around anyway, I ignored it and immediately took the next step.

…I’ll check it after I arrive at the designated area.

Just in case, I waited for the next contact, but seeing that there was no vibration after it rang once, it didn’t seem like a big deal.

Then, it’s time to really start the operation.