episode_0017
by fnovelpia“If you need money, can I give you some?”
“I’m not doing this to make money”
My money is growing in real time right now, so why bother?
“Then?”
“I just wanted to try a simple hobby. Since it’s near a slum on the outskirts, wouldn’t it be easy to work?”
It’s true that wanting to open a cafe is a hobby.
I have experience working part-time at a cafe before, and I even earned some qualifications after coming to the hero world.
‘When you get to a point where you can live without me, I want to try opening a cafe on your own.’
Anyway, that’s how interested I am in cafe work.
Of course, if you ask if this is the only purpose, that is not the case.
“And, who knows? Maybe a valuable talent will emerge from that slum.”
“It will be difficult to find a person who fits our organization..”
“Then, I’ll just enjoy my hobby without any problems.”
I know, I said it jokingly, but I know.
That there was a huge treasure trove in that slum.
“Hmm. Well, that’s right. It’s up to the maker to decide how to use the rewards.”
Astra nodded, as if to say that although he had some doubts, it was just a hobby.
“Instead, we can only provide basic support, but we can’t help you later if you fail?”
“That’s obvious, isn’t it?”
I nodded at her continued words.
Honestly, I don’t really care if the cafe is doing well.
If they had wanted it to do well from the beginning, they would have built it in a more bustling area.
‘Instead, I am confident that I can bring in talented people.’
He is the first member of my organization and the guy who will be my moving shuttle in the future.
***
It’s already been a few days since I asked her to run the cafe.
“I heard you called.”
While I was resting in my room for a while, I received a call from Astra and headed to her office.
“Ah, are you here, Maker?”
And when I came in, she made a mysterious expression.
‘what?’
Looking at her expression, I began to wonder.
If it’s about cafe-related stuff, there’s no way he’d make that kind of expression.
However, it is not that there have been any missions for executives to take action recently because of other things.
All that’s left is…
“The analysis of the regenerative agent is completely complete.”
Is that it?
Regenerator.
The data was raided and stolen from the research lab, with the sole thought that it might be able to restore the leader.
But judging from her expression, it didn’t seem like it would turn out very well.
“Is it a dud?”
“If it’s a dud, then it’s a dud. Because it didn’t fit the purpose of this mission in the first place.”
The original purpose was to treat the general.
Since it was said that it did not fit the purpose, it was ultimately said that the regenerative agent had failed.
‘But if it’s a dud, what does it mean that it’s a dud?’
Have you found any other use for it?
“Haa.. The researchers there did something quite interesting.”
Astra put something on the desk with a pensive expression.
When she took her hand away, what she saw was a red liquid in a glass bottle.
“Regenerative. As the maker knows, it is an item created with the goal of restoring the human body in any situation. ”
She showed me a video while floating her smartphone.
“Here, an ordinary male lost his right thumb and his left index and middle fingers in a factory accident in the past.”
A man with a slightly haggard appearance.
And when the man took the medicine, new flesh began to grow rapidly on the cross-section and regenerate.
“That’s amazing.”
The video ends with the wounded area completely disappearing.
Just watching the video, it definitely feels like a great discovery of the century, and the only way to cure the general.
‘But if that were the case, Astra wouldn’t have bothered to add anything.’
“It definitely yielded meaningful results. For the general public.”
It means there is a defect somewhere.
“It didn’t have much effect on those with special abilities?”
In other words, isn’t it either ineffective or weak for those with supernatural abilities?
“Effectiveness… Well, it was effective. However, it’s a bit ambiguous to call it a regenerative agent.”
“What is that..”
Astra looked at me with slightly serious eyes.
“Sealing of supernatural powers. That’s the side effect of taking this medicine.”
And I couldn’t help but be surprised by what she said next.
‘There is such a medicine?’
No matter how much I recall the original, there was no drug with such fraudulent abilities.
“..Is the seal permanent?”
“No. I think it’s closer to a temporary suppression, not permanent. There was testimony that the trainer was drugged during the last battle and his ability stopped working.”
There is no mention of the trainer being unable to use his powers now, so it is likely that it is not a permanent power.
But even taking that into account, it’s just plain fraudulent.
No matter how strong an A-class or even an S-class hero or villain they are, if they use a regenerative agent, they will only be like an ordinary person who is good at fighting for a while.
“I don’t think the Commander’s treatment will work.”
“I guess so.”
The recovery of the commander was a recovery to his prime, so it could not have been achieved without losing this ability.
And then her explanation continued.
In short, it is said that when the use of the ability was suppressed, there was a certain degree of healing effect, but when the ability was used again, the wounds that had healed reappeared along with great pain.
“This was a problem that appeared to the general public as well.”
In the end, it was just empty talk, and it didn’t actually solve any of the problems the researchers wanted.
“You brought more dangerous medicine than I thought.”
“.. or more dangerous.”
However, if we assume that the drug is not intended for treatment, but is purely for dealing with people with powers, then there is no drug more dangerous than this.
“I think it would be better to dispose of the medicine.”
“I think so too.”
As powerful as it is, it is threatening.
To the enemy and to us.
‘Just holding it will draw aggro.’
“Probably, if they knew we had this medicine in our hands, everyone would try to destroy us.”
The Hero Association and other villain groups around the world, as well as individuals and groups in other locations, will all try to destroy us.
Who wouldn’t want to check the fraudulent ability that can neutralize anyone with superpowers?
‘Eclipse is a group of villains that survived until the second half of the game, but it is unknown whether they will be able to withstand the global strife.’
If the leader could return to his prime, it might be possible, but it seemed difficult now.
“Don’t feel sorry and just throw it away. It’s better for it not to be in our hands at all than to leak it out.”
“I will do that.”
Astra said that he would tell her about the cafe later and started to focus on the paperwork.
I said goodbye to her and left the room.
“Hmm.”
He took the ‘regenerator’ out of his pocket.
‘I already know the general recipe because I saw it in advance during the mission.’
..Wouldn’t it be okay if I wrote it secretly?
I guess I shouldn’t use it unless I really feel it’s dangerous later on.
***
Two weeks later.
I headed to the cafe that Astra had prepared.
“Ah, is that you, ‘Kang Ian’?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
As I approached the building, a man called out to me.
The name Kang Ian, called by the man, was my name.
My real name and identity when I’m not a villain, not a fake identity.
The reason why this was done is simple.
‘It’s so striking that a 21-year-old man who had been living without any information suddenly showed up and opened a cafe near a slum with a large sum of money.’
I don’t know if I’ll be able to run a cafe for long, but if I use a fake identity, it’ll be easy for anyone to do a background check and get caught.
In that case, it would be better to have a real identity with 21 years of life information, even if there is a risk of exposing one’s identity a little.
At least, I can’t be sure that Kang Ian is the maker or that he’s a dirty guy!
“..So this part was made as an integral part to emphasize the overall unity.”
While I was lost in thought for a moment, the man dragged me inside the store and explained various things about the building to me.
“That’s cool.”
The interior of the building has an overall more old-fashioned feel than a modern one.
It looked as if they had set up a cafe inside a giant tree.
‘You put in more effort than I thought.’
I thought they had done it roughly because of the sudden request and the short completion period, but it turned out to be a building that showed a lot more care than I had imagined.
While listening to the man’s explanation, I walked around for a while.
“Then I hope you run a good store.”
“Yes, thank you for your hard work.”
After hearing the brief explanation, the man said goodbye and left.
“Oh, there are all the cooking utensils.”
When you go inside the checkout counter, you see a coffee machine and a refrigerator.
And next to it there was a small kitchen with cooking utensils hanging.
“I was planning to bring you here and feed you, but that’s fortunate.”
Okay then.
When would be a good time to pick her up?
***
“Ugh. Ugh. Ugh…”
“Find it!”
“Where the hell did you go!!”
A place lined with abandoned buildings.
There, a girl was hiding, crouching, from the men in rags.
“Please…write…please…”
A girl muttering, tightly clutching her right wrist with her left hand.
“Fire, lightning, or control…anything…anything, come out…”
“Found you, you fucking bitch!!”
One of the men eventually discovered the girl.
The startled girl stretched out her arms toward the man, but nothing happened.
“Do you know how much we suffered because of you?”
A man trying to grab the girl’s arm ominously.
The girl used all her strength to strike the man’s arm.
“Please.. Please just say anything..”
“You were so scared that you turned around.”
A man looking at the girl with a dumbfounded expression.
But it seems like he doesn’t care,
The man had a sinister expression on his face that should not have been directed at the girl.
“Okay, you should come quickly. Okay? If you come quietly now, we’ll be nice to you too.”
“Oh, don’t come!!”
A small pebble flying towards the man.
But the pebble that flew without any power ended up only making him more angry.
“This is crazy!”
A man who is angry from head to toe.
The moment he reaches out to the girl again.
Woohoo-
“..Huh? What the. Where did that bitch go.”
The girl’s figure disappeared without a trace.
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