Ch.5656. Love and Madness

The day Kathy awakened the blood of the prophet.

Owen, the eldest son of the Requetio Corporation family who had nothing to do while resting, was catching some sleep in his mansion.

Darkness spread before his eyes.

Two men descended the stairs through that darkness.

Dim lighting. Blurry vision. Barely audible voices.

Owen was following the President of Requetio, who looked younger than his age.

He knelt in the center of the circle as the elders surrounded him, listening to the family secret for what felt like the umpteenth time.

Despite his fatigue, Owen’s father lifted an oil jar with eyes that held a hint of expectation.

The oil was poured over Owen’s head.

Even though he was watching from a third-person perspective, he could feel the sticky oil soaking his entire body.

In this out-of-body experience, Owen opened his eyes.

And nothing happened.

Bewildered, he looked around.

The elders turned their heads away from Owen, and the president’s pupils shook as if an earthquake had struck.

“That can’t be…”

As if denying reality, his father picked up the oil jar again.

And poured oil over Owen’s head once more.

Again and again.

What started as 3 drops of blood gradually increased as he poured the oil repeatedly.

Yet the world Owen saw remained unchanged.

“Impossible…”

The president muttered in disbelief.

Owen had to accept it.

He had not been chosen.

From that day on, their peaceful home began to crumble.

The president no longer showed love to Owen and his wife.

Owen broke down under his once-affectionate father’s cold rejection.

His mother, unable to accept that her son was coldly ignored by his father, became increasingly obsessed with the power of prophecy.

Kathy showed disgust toward her mother for this behavior, and eventually, her mother went mad.

Her obsession led to a strange religion.

She introduced a priest to Owen, and Owen proved his ability through the power of revelation received at that church.

The accuracy rate of the revelations was 75 percent, but that was enough.

Before long, Owen gained fame not as the president’s son but as an exceptional investor.

Receiving praise from company employees, Owen looked toward his father.

Yet the president continued to coldly treat Owen and his wife.

Even so, Owen accepted it at the time.

‘Well, 75 percent probably isn’t enough for him.’

After all, his father’s accuracy rate was 90 percent. Even 100 percent when considering strategic failures from a long-term perspective.

Owen buried his hurt feelings and worked even harder.

But his mother wasn’t as resilient.

She divorced the president and one day disappeared from her children’s sight.

A few months later, Owen received a letter and inherited a building in his name.

Inside that building was just one supercomputer.

The moment he saw that computer, Owen’s world began to fall apart.

*

“Huh!”

Owen kicked off his blanket and got up from bed.

Another nightmare, he’d lost count of how many.

He could hear his heart pounding in his ears.

His vision shook violently.

The familiar precursor to a panic attack.

Owen jabbed a sedative from beside his bed into his arm.

“Whew…”

After sitting dazed on the edge of the bed, Owen checked the time.

The holiday was already over.

What was meant to be a nap had turned into sleeping through the entire day.

It wasn’t strange.

Prophets were the kind of people who could sleep for 48 hours due to the fatigue accumulated in their brains.

He didn’t even feel disappointed.

Owen didn’t have any hobbies to enjoy during holidays anyway.

He crawled out of bed and prepared for work with the help of AI.

Before going out, he headed to the safe as always.

When he opened it, a single cylindrical USB greeted him.

He plugged the USB into the port at the back of his neck.

Immediately, he felt his mind connecting with the computer.

A sense of omnipotence, as if overlooking everything, and simultaneously a serenity like returning to his mother’s embrace filled his chest.

And one piece of information transmitted through the computer.

“Ah… Kathy…”

So it finally happened.

He closed his eyes and raised his head.

After a brief meditation, Owen pressed his temple to contact his secretary.

“Secretary.”

[Yes. What can I do for you?]

“We’ll proceed with Route B.”

[… I’ll prepare.]

After ending the call, Owen took a gun from the armory, tucked it into the back of his pants, and left the mansion.

*

Upon arriving at the company, Owen headed straight for the office.

Unlike usual, he went to the president’s office instead of his own.

In the corridor leading to the president’s office, the head of security stopped him.

A middle-aged man with his neck covered in mechanical and magical tattoos spread his palm and said:

“Young master. I see you’re carrying a gun. Please surrender it before proceeding.”

Owen met the security head’s eyes with an expressionless face.

Then, an unsettling sentence flowed from between Owen’s lips.

“Your role is to protect the president of this family, isn’t it?”

“…What do you mean?”

“Our company always seeks talent that can see the future. I wonder whether you’re looking at the present or the future.”

As Owen spoke, his secretary rolled up his sleeve behind him.

The security head, quietly observing this, closed his eyes tightly and then…

“I always look to the future, Mr. President.”

“Excellent, Chief.”

Owen patted the security head’s shoulder and walked past him.

Eventually, Owen knocked on the president’s office door.

– Come in.

The president’s tone suggested he already knew who it was, even though Owen hadn’t identified himself.

Owen calmly opened the door and entered.

The president didn’t even look at Owen and continued typing on his computer.

“Sit down.”

Following his instruction, Owen sat on the sofa.

Finally, after finishing his work, the president turned his gaze to Owen.

“So. You’ve finally made up your mind.”

“… Is that a revelation?”

“It doesn’t need to be. It was obvious you were building your power base within the company.”

“Then why didn’t you stop me?”

“Well.”

“You did the same with mother. Did you want me to eventually gain the power of prophecy? Because that would benefit you and the company.”

“Owen. Let me advise you. Give up. Abandon this now. If you cross the line any further, even I won’t be able to protect you.”

“You’re not listening to me.”

“Owen!”

The president slammed the desk.

“Stop this.”

“Stop what?”

“Put down this burden. You’re not cut out for it.”

“…”

Unfortunately, that statement was the final blow.

Passion entered Owen’s voice.

“You’ve always been like this. You’ve always loved only Kathy, who held potential.”

“That’s not it.”

“Well. To someone who sees the future like you, I must have seemed insignificant, having already lost all potential.”

“Please…”

“Why couldn’t you give me even a fragment of the love you gave Kathy?!”

“…”

The president sighed and rubbed his face.

Beyond his palm came the voice of a middle-aged man filled with regret.

“Really… you’re just like your mother…”

Crash!

As soon as the president uttered those words, Owen lunged at him.

The president, having foreseen this future, stepped back slightly, but Owen, calculating this move, knocked away his arm and grabbed his throat.

Owen’s clumsy hands strangled the president.

The president’s breath was cut off.

But even as he was being strangled by his son, the president’s expression remained calm.

He didn’t tap his arm or resist.

He simply caressed Owen’s cheek.

This continued for about 2 minutes.

Suddenly, Owen released the president’s neck and stepped back.

Freed, the president adjusted his tie as if nothing had happened and took a deep breath.

His face didn’t even turn red; it remained as usual.

Seeing this, Owen said in disbelief:

“You monster. You knew you wouldn’t die, didn’t you?”

“A child hungry for love cannot kill his father. Even if he does, he always regrets it. Haven’t you seen that too?”

“…You’re a monster.”

How many people in the world could maintain calm while being strangled by their son, even if they knew they wouldn’t die?

To Owen, the person before him was something beyond even the word “monster.”

Reading Owen’s gaze, the president smiled bitterly and said:

“Did you think the position of Megacorp president was so light?”

The president rose from his chair.

“Put away the gun. You don’t need to use it; I’ll give you the position. Here. From now on, it’s your seat. I think I’ll go fishing now.”

The president stepped aside with his hands behind his back.

Whether due to orthostatic hypotension or psychological shock, he staggered slightly.

Watching him, Owen shook his head.

Either way, that man wasn’t the kind of monster to stagger from such things.

This too must be part of his design for the future he desired.

With that conclusion, Owen took the president’s seat.

The president was leaving the room with his back to Owen.

With a slightly uncomfortable gait, he reached for the doorknob and spoke over his shoulder:

“Owen. I told you that day. Even without the power of prophecy, you would always be my son.”

“…”

“That was the turning point. But you and your mother ultimately couldn’t give up the power of prophecy.”

“…”

“Was power so tempting? Or did you need money that badly?”

“I only needed your love.”

“Yes. That must be it. But even in futures where I loved you, nothing changed if you didn’t give up.”

“….”

“In every future where you didn’t give up, you strangled me. So how could I love you and your mother?”

Why?

Owen recalled what his father had once said.

– “The right to see the future doesn’t give you the freedom to create the future you want.”

Once someone sees the future, they can’t escape those futures.

Because they can’t imagine other choices.

The former president didn’t wait for a response to his last words and turned the doorknob.

The back of the former president leaving the room wasn’t the proud father Owen knew.

The pitiful back of a middle-aged man disappeared from Owen’s sight as the door closed.

In the office left by the former president, his secretary, who had come to congratulate him on his appointment, hesitated at the sound of wailing from inside and could only enter after 10 minutes.

*

The news of Owen becoming president quickly reached Kathy as well.

But it was all the same to her.

After awakening her ability, she refused all meetings.

The countless futures that unfolded uncontrollably the moment she made eye contact offered her a terrible experience.

Omnipotence?

There was no such thing.

Only nausea, vomiting, and fear dominated her.

[All the more reason to face it directly and get used to it.]

Her father’s text message reached her, but she didn’t listen.

Afterward, she locked herself in her room for a month.

She rejected interaction with others so thoroughly that she learned about her family’s news through the media.

Her father had gone into seclusion, they said.

Refusing all interviews with reporters, he was spending time in a villa unknown even to Kathy.

Occasionally, he would only send words like “fighting” via text, and Kathy hadn’t even heard his voice for a month.

She also learned about Owen’s activities only through the news.

Her brother suddenly became president and pushed various policies.

Although it was too early to judge growth rates after just a month, the overall assessment was that he fell short compared to their father.

The reason was large-scale restructuring.

As if trying to erase their father’s traces, Owen obsessively cut or demoted personnel loyal to the former president and appointed many who were loyal to him.

People who saw this as Owen’s youthful vigor expressed concern, but Kathy wasn’t particularly worried.

The Owen she knew might have been religiously off, but he wasn’t stupid.

That was all the outside news she knew.

Honestly, she could instantly gather information if she went outside, but because she refused to meet anyone, what she could know was limited.

Then suddenly, her gaze turned to the calendar.

It had been 3 months and a few weeks of self-isolation.

It was almost time to reunite with her comrades.

As her thoughts reached that point, her heart began to pound.

What if she saw a terrible future from her comrades? Could she still remain their comrade?

Fear began to overwhelm her.

Thinking this might be what a panic attack feels like, she hurriedly headed to the room where she kept her emergency medicine.

Usually, she would be so thorough with social distancing that she’d tell the staff to leave water or meals in front of her room, but the situation was different now.

She headed to her room, trying her best not to make eye contact with the staff.

However, on her way to the room, she made eye contact with the chef who was heading to the dining area.

Once again, the future unfolded.

She read the thread connecting her and the chef.

The chef was poisoning her meal.

In 10 out of 10 futures.

She returned to reality with a start.

The pocket from which the chef had taken out the poison in the future was bulging.

Kathy’s face turned pale.

What should she do in this situation?

She wanted to confront the chef.

But on what grounds? Should she say she saw the future?

Faced with this unfamiliar experience, Kathy hesitated, then turned around as if nothing had happened and fled to her room.

But before she could reach her room, she made eye contact with one of the security guards.

As she placed her hand on the doorknob, the guard pulled the trigger aimed at the back of her head.

And reported to Owen.

‘!!!’

Kathy’s pupils shook.

The guard was looking at her with innocent eyes, unaware of anything.

Kathy gritted her teeth and headed for the door.

Pretending to place her hand on the doorknob, she suddenly turned around and struck the guard’s throat.

“Ugh!”

Caught off guard by the sudden attack to a vital point, the guard desperately aimed his gun.

But before that, a future unfolded before Kathy’s eyes.

The bullet was aimed diagonally at her forehead.

There was only one way to dodge.

Tilting her head slightly to the side, she avoided the bullet and kicked the guard’s vital point once more.

The guard continued trying to assassinate her, but all his futures were read and he was subdued.

After subduing the guard with her bare hands, she was thrilled by her combat prowess.

‘This is…’

She, who was at best a mid-tier mercenary, had subdued a corporate security guard with her bare hands.

She hadn’t realized the power to see the future would be this powerful.

She quickly took the guard’s weapon and headed to her room.

She immediately took out her mercenary equipment to arm herself and began hunting the security guards.

While hunting the many assassins disguised as security guards, she realized the truth behind the incident.

– “If Kathy is alive, I die. One of us has to die. Please.”

They were sent by Owen.

Not an overzealous act by Owen’s loyalists, but a direct order from Owen himself.

What future had Owen seen? And did their father know about this?

In the midst of betrayal and confusion, she swung her spear.

Eventually, she reached the garage where her car was.

But when she arrived at the garage, her car had been turned into a pile of scrap metal.

Next to it, the head of security with a dark expression was looking at her.

“Did Owen tell you?”

“I’m sorry, miss.”

Trying to compose his sad expression, the head of security pulled out thorns from both wrists.

Kathy also adjusted her grip on the spear and met his eyes.

What attack would he make first?

At that moment, Kathy was startled.

She couldn’t see the future.

It was as if the thread of fate between the team leader and Kathy was cut, as if there would be no further exchange between them.

As she tried to interpret what that meant,

Crash!

The ceiling of the garage collapsed, and people fell through.

Familiar faces.

“Huh?”

“..?”

The team leader below was sliced in half by the sword of one of the falling people.

The person who had cut the team leader in half said to Kathy:

“Sorry. I came as fast as I could. The prototype’s performance is poor. It took like an hour to calculate.”

The voice of a man she had missed.

And then other welcome voices followed.

“Phew… this isn’t my fault. What’s with all the makeup?”

[What the hell. It’s not makeup, it’s camouflage cream! Essential for snipers, I tell you!]

“It’s Vox’s fault. Took too long gathering bombs and ammunition.”

“But the timing is killer, right?”

Finally, a voice that was neither missed nor welcome, but appreciated.

“Good thing there’s no class tomorrow…”

It was Amon, her comrades, and Sonia.