Episode 37 – Stargate Project (2)

“Talk. Then I’ll spare you right here. Yeah, just defect.”

“…What?”

“The tide has already turned. Guardians are meaningless without a Compiler anyway. Once we catch that last Compiler, Guardians will disappear from history.”

Kim Sang-ho spoke aloud, not through telepathy, to make Nam Hyun-woo aware of the current reality, in order to pressure him.

“Heu… Heuheu…”

Nam Hyun-woo’s lips twitched.

Kim Sang-ho realized he was trying to maintain his composure.

Sensing the change in atmosphere, Kim Sang-ho’s underlings began to approach Nam Hyun-woo little by little.

“Defect…? Keuk… Keukkeuk…”

Nam Hyun-woo looked at him with bloodshot eyes.

A trembling voice leaked from between his lips.

“You think I fought you guys just for the Guardians’ ideals?”

His hands trembled violently.

His body shook with rage.

The dagger in his hand emitted a faint light as his hand moved.

“I don’t do things like betraying family.”

A memory from long ago flashed through Nam Hyun-woo’s mind.

All the young him could see was a hand extended towards him.

And that hand taught him how beautiful and warm it was to live.

To Nam Hyun-woo, the Guardians were not just a group that realized ideals, but family.

“You guys are the ones who killed that family.”

Nam Hyun-woo glared at him with bloodshot eyes.

He seemed to see the phantoms of his fallen comrades from long ago.

“You insist on walking towards death?”

Kim Sang-ho frowned as he watched the dagger in Nam Hyun-woo’s hand gradually turn blue.

‘I made a mistake, I should have just confirmed the objective.’

He shook off the regret of failing to find out their objective and the bitter feelings towards Nam Hyun-woo.

He had offered his former comrade one last mercy, but it was now meaningless.

Tat-!

“…!”

Nam Hyun-woo didn’t miss the moment when Kim Sang-ho, lost in thought, showed a lapse in his posture.

Kicking off the ground, Nam Hyun-woo’s body surged towards Kim Sang-ho.

He closed the distance to Kim Sang-ho in a single stride.

And swinging his arm, he plunged the dagger towards his neck.

“Eot!”

A scream burst from someone’s mouth.

A movement so fast that no one could react.

Nam Hyun-woo pushed the dagger in with the determination to die together, not even thinking about defense.

‘For Ju-won-ie, I must end this bastard here!’

Teok-

“!!”

However, the dagger stabbed with all his might stopped in mid-air.

“Keueuk…”

His face showed a sense of frustration.

Kim Sang-ho had snatched his wrist.

He twisted the wrist as it was, slightly bent his fingers, and struck his solar plexus with an open palm.

Naegajungsu Technique.

A technique that destroys the internal organs.

“Keoheok…”

With a thud, Nam Hyun-woo’s body flew a long distance, rolled across the floor, and collapsed.

Kim Sang-ho walked towards Nam Hyun-woo, who had fallen to the ground, with a cold expression.

“I gave you a chance out of consideration for our old friendship… but it can’t be helped.”

Kim Sang-ho, his expression hardened, stretched out his palm, and blue light flowed from his palm.

He walked towards Nam Hyun-woo, who was coughing up blood.

At that moment, he felt a presence in his senses.

Swish!

Something brushed past his face.

Kim Sang-ho realized that it was aimed precisely at his head.

Barely turning his head to avoid it, Kim Sang-ho identified the object that had flown towards him.

“A rock?”

A pebble that would be used for landscaping in a detached house garden was flying towards him, making him feel something was wrong.

The sense of crisis he felt at that moment.

Swish! Swish-swish-!

Peoeok- Peok- Peobeobeok!

“Euk!”

“Keoheok!”

The same pebbles that had flown towards him suddenly poured down like a barrage.

“What… What’s going on…”

He was horrified as he watched his underlings become instantly incapacitated by the pebbles that accurately struck their vital points.

Someone was slowly approaching.

And following that, a voice was heard.

“The commotion ends here.”

Ju-won was approaching from the darkness, his eyes shining brightly.

.

.

.

“Ju-won-ah… You shouldn’t… be here…”

Nam Hyun-woo, barely managing to raise his body, spat out blood from his mouth.

Hearing Ju-won’s name, Kim Sang-ho looked at Ju-won with blazing eyes.

“Are you Yoon Ju-won?”

“Yes.”

Each time Ju-won took a step, a strong energy emanated from him.

Kim Sang-ho was wary of Ju-won, who was exuding a considerable aura, but he couldn’t hide his bewilderment.

“I heard you were a Mind Controller, what’s going on?”

Ju-won replied with a cold expression.

“Well, is there a reason I should tell you?”

“I see, if you don’t want to talk, I’ll just have to make you talk.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than Kim Sang-ho kicked off the ground and closed the distance in an instant.

Ju-won slightly stepped back and extended his hand.

Kuoong-

The fist that was about to strike with a clenched fist could not move forward as if blocked by something.

Kim Sang-ho frowned as he felt a weight as if a heavy weight was attached to his arm, preventing him from moving any further.

“Eueum…”

He stepped back, creating distance from Ju-won, and nodded as if he finally understood.

“Telekinesis.”

Telekinesis.

The ability to exert physical force on reality through mental power.

Kim Sang-ho, realizing that the hail of stones that had incapacitated his underlings earlier and the force that had hindered his movements now was telekinesis, focused on Ju-won and channeled his energy.

Through the previous clash, he acknowledged that Ju-won possessed a formidable power.

It was quite powerful telekinesis.

‘The manifestation of power is fast enough to block my movements. This is a bit tricky.’

Even if Nam Hyun-woo was injured and unable to keep him in check, the underlings he had brought were already incapacitated.

Moreover, the fact that Ju-won’s ability, which he had thought was Mind Control until now, was actually telekinesis, made it even more disadvantageous.

A person with the ability to exert physical force, like Kim Sang-ho, could gain an advantage over a person with no physical ability, like Mind Control, but a mental ability user who could use physical force, like telekinesis, was a counter to Kim Sang-ho.

In a battle of the same physical force, he was an ability that exerted physical force through the weapon of his body.

Therefore, the possibility of being seen through when showing any posture was relatively high.

In comparison, telekinesis, which was mediated by mental power, could not be predicted in what way it would appear.

“I heard you were young, but you’ve been using your head quite a bit.”

When Compilers use their abilities, a unique wave is created.

The reason they found Ju-won was because they sensed that wave.

The fact that he continued to use his power without moving meant that he was prepared to be exposed to danger.

“And you seem to have a rather… reckless side as well.”

By continuously using and exposing his Mind Control, it could be seen as waiting for an ability user like himself to come, and he was hiding his telekinesis to counter ability users like Kim Sang-ho, who were the polar opposite of Mind Control.

“Hoo…”

Kim Sang-ho took a breath and sharpened his mind.

Although Ju-won had a power that was the polar opposite of his, unlike what was known, it did not mean that he could not subdue him.

He was also a veteran among veterans who had carried out numerous missions.

He had also completed missions while crossing the line of death in unfavorable environments.

‘If it’s telekinesis, the body’s reaction will definitely not be able to keep up!’

Swish-

His body became blurred and disappeared into the darkness.

What could be known through the faintly audible footsteps was that he was moving very quickly.

‘Telekinesis is manifested through mental energy. In that case, the physical reaction will inevitably be slower.’

Telekinesis is greatly influenced by mental power.

Kim Sang-ho’s idea was to move and attack before Ju-won’s gaze could follow, so as not to give him the time to manifest his telekinesis.

Moreover, according to the information, Ju-won was a minor.

Ability users who use mental abilities reach the peak of their power later than ability users who use physical abilities.

To put it nicely, it was a late bloomer, but the growth rate was slow.

‘There!’

His eyes, which had been moving to confuse Ju-won’s eyes without rest, saw a gap.

His hand, which was holding a fist, emitted a strong energy from behind Ju-won’s back.

The slightly twisted fist contained the Naegajungsu Technique that had made Nam Hyun-woo kneel earlier.

“Ju-won… ah…!”

Nam Hyun-woo also widened his eyes and shouted towards Ju-won.

The fist was fired towards Ju-won, who was turning around.

In Kim Sang-ho’s eyes, it seemed as if time was slowing down.

‘I’ve got him!’

Ju-won’s figure was captured in his smiling eyes.

“……”

‘What is it…?’

Something was wrong.

Ju-won was looking at Kim Sang-ho with surprisingly calm eyes.

“Do I look like a mental Compiler to you?”

“What…?”

Time was not slowing down.

It was just that his body was slowing down.

Like the paradox that the ancient Greek philosopher Zeno spoke of, Kim Sang-ho’s fist was going towards Ju-won but not touching him, as if endlessly reaching the goal but never arriving.

“H-How…”

“If I had to say one thing… you could say it’s one of the purposes you were trying to find?”

Ju-won approached him with a cold expression.

“D-Don’t come!”

“Checkmate.”

He put his right hand on his forehead and said.

“Suffer eternally in the prison of the mind.”

“N-No… No way…!”

Wooddeuk-!!

In an instant, his neck snapped and he fell to the floor powerlessly.

Ju-won widened his eyes.

Kim Sang-ho, his neck bent in a grotesque direction, fell to the floor and stuck out his tongue.

“Ju-won-ah…”

Nam Hyun-woo looked at Ju-won with surprised eyes.

Murder…

It was something to be prepared for as long as he was involved in this, but it was heartbreaking to think of Ju-won, who was still a minor.

“It wasn’t… me…”

Ju-won grabbed his trembling hand with his other hand and distorted his face.

Jeobeok Jeobeok

The sound of someone’s footsteps was heard.

Each time that sound rang out, it weighed down on Ju-won’s chest.

Clap clap clap!

Suddenly, the sound of applause rang out, and the voice that followed was quite familiar.

“Wow, our nephew is amazing?”

The man who was exuding an energy that was impossible to fathom was…

Jin Tae-won.