episode_0087
by fnovelpiaInside the dark, silent passenger car.
Two people were sitting in front of me, my head pounding and my eyebrows furrowed.
One is Inspector Lee Tae-seok, who takes off his sunglasses and closes his eyes tightly.
Another person was Ex-Machina, who sent me the secret of the Masquerade.
“What are you going to do?”
Exmachina asked quietly.
My head is spinning because of that right now.
There was no way the answer could be easy.
“… … … … .”
Supervisor Lee Tae-seok was the same, he just kept his mouth shut in silence.
“Ex Machina. Did you tell Ruina about that information?”
“ No way. Ruina thinks she’s the only survivor in the lab, so what if they tell her there’s a survivor now?”
“I’ll go meet you.”
I answered immediately without hesitation.
Even now, she still feels very pained by the incident at the lab.
In the end, he destroyed everyone he hated and everyone he loved with his own power.
In the midst of all this, were there actually survivors?
It was clear that he would definitely go meet them, regardless of whether the opponent was a villain or a hero.
And then whatever happens will happen.
“I think I know why they always say Masquerade came from hell… … .”
The research lab and the surrounding area that Ruina destroyed must have been a land of death, so Masquerade may be unconsciously recalling memories of that time.
“What on earth is that research lab?”
“Well.”
At my question, Ex-Machina glanced at Inspector Itae-Seok.
Supervisor Lee Tae-seok, who had our attention focused on him, opened his mouth heavily.
“I’ve been digging through some of the past secret projects.”
“Confidential… … ?”
“National system for training superpowered people.”
Exmachina added an additional, inorganic word.
“A person with superpowers… … .”
“I don’t know everything because a lot of the information was physically shredded. However, with the National Heroes Committee’s leadership vacant and the hardliners in our company losing power, I was able to obtain some of the remaining information by force.”
Just hearing the words, I could tell that there was an incredibly complex struggle going on in places I didn’t know about.
Anyway, the gist of it is that by chance the saboteurs disappeared and some old confidential information was picked up.
“This is the bit of information this gentleman got.”
Exmachina showed the screen of the laptop.
“What is this.”
A single sheet of paper with blurry image quality was displayed on the screen.
But almost all the letters were marked black, so I couldn’t even read them properly.
At best, there is only one line that can be read as text.
“RF line closed… ….”
“It seems to be a report after the lab was destroyed by Ruina.”
“Sorry, we didn’t even know this was happening.”
Suddenly, Supervisor Lee Tae-seok bowed his head to me.
“Oh, no! Why is the supervisor apologizing?”
“Our company has many teams, and they work without sharing information. However, if you want to find out, you can find out as much as you want. You may see bloodshed between teams. I didn’t want to see blood, so I didn’t look into it properly.”
“What you mean is, this was led by another team in the National Intelligence Service?”
“Just a guess. This plan was made after the lab where Ruina was was destroyed. Because the information was physically denied.”
“But it is 99.999% certain that it was done by the state. This level of concealment and censorship is not something that even a small company can meticulously do. Of course, we can’t find out who is in charge now.”
“Then, are there any plans to train other superpowered people right now?”
I asked the question out of curiosity, thinking that there might be more people like Ruina and Masquerade who suffer because they can’t control their abilities.
“None.”
To my question, Exmachina gave a short, definitive answer.
“No… ?”
“Definitely not.”
Then, Supervisor Lee Tae-seok also agreed with her answer.
“In addition to the RF line, there were also EF, FE, DX, NX, etc. It seems like there were many research labs. They all disappeared at once. Like magic.”
“All?”
“Yeah. Probably after Ruina destroyed their lab and escaped.”
The main focus.
As expected, it was a meticulous and thorough leadership that could never be achieved without the power of a nation.
“So… …. What do we do now?”
My heavy words brought the conversation back to square one.
Anyway, in conclusion, the only survivors in the lab are Ruina and Masquerade.
Should I let them meet or should I keep them unaware of each other’s existence until the end?
That was the problem.
“I think it would be better to listen to each other’s stories first.”
Supervisor Lee Tae-seok put on his sunglasses and gave his opinion.
“But the moment you talk about this issue, you’re indirectly saying that you know where the other person is.”
Next was Ex Machina’s plausible opinion.
“Ruina is okay, but the problem is still Masquerade… … .”
If there were any survivors, Ruina would definitely cry and say she would go see them right away.
But Masquerade only said that he was looking for himself.
The moment I met Ruina, I was at a loss as to how to treat her.
In the worst case scenario, catastrophic damage could occur due to two people.
It was possible that Ruina’s true face behind her mask would be exposed to the world.
“But I can’t stay here. If I let time pass like this, it’ll explode someday.”
Seeing that Supervisor Lee Tae-seok, who is trying his best to prevent anything from happening, is saying that this needs to be resolved immediately, it seems like this really is an urgent problem.
“I agree too. I can’t hold onto this time bomb forever. I’ll do my best to support you.”
“Ex Machina… … . Your Majesty the Watcher… … .”
Immediately afterwards, the two people’s gazes turned towards me.
“Handler.”
“Hero Handler.”
Immediately after, two people softly called my hero’s name.
And then the next thing he asked was.
Please take good care of Ruina.
It was.
* * *
Thump thump thump.
Near my house where I came back.
I was lost in thought as I walked listlessly down an alleyway illuminated only by the faint light of streetlights.
It was entirely my job to tell Ruina about this incident.
Well, that’s because I’m the person she follows the most.
But after saying that, I had no idea if I would be able to control Ruina.
At this late hour.
Even if she heard the story and decided to go find the Masquerade right away, I wouldn’t be able to stop her.
I didn’t even want to think about what happened next.
Because Masquerade didn’t tell us anything about how he found himself.
In the worst case scenario, Ruina’s life could be in danger.
“Haaah… … .”
I was just an ordinary civil servant, but before I knew it, I was involved in a secret national project.
The events of the past few months had seemed like a dream, but now it seemed like an even more exaggerated dream.
Since when did my fate become so strange?
When did you meet Masquerade?
When did you join the gathering of Draconius and the Heroes?
When did you go on a surprise hot spring trip?
When Team Leader Jang Se-hee returned as a maid?
When you destroyed the old people of the National Heroes Committee?
When you almost died during a villain attack?
When I took Ruina to the company dinner?
When you’re lying in bed with a cold?
When I met Ex Machina and splashed around in the East Sea?
What if you encounter a bank robber?
When was the first time you had a drink with Ruina?
When Ruina suddenly came to our company?
When did you sleep together with your first girlfriend?
What if the SSS-class villain I met through intimidation became my girlfriend?
“… … … … .”
Thinking back, it was so crazy that I didn’t even have time to open my eyes or nose.
“Even so, we can’t just let it fall apart like this.”
I have strong support behind me.
I’ll leave the Masquerade issue to them for now and do what only I can do.
Before I knew it, I had arrived in front of my villa.
I entered the password into the keypad at the common entrance and slowly climbed the stairs to the fourth floor where she was waiting.
And once again.
I unlocked the front door with a familiar gesture and opened the door.
“Ah! Come in, honey♡”
A lovely voice comes straight away.
My girlfriend always greets me like this when I come home from outside, looking so bright and cute.
Even for her sake.
I intend to do everything I can.
“Ruina.”
“Huh?”
“I have something to tell you. Can you listen for a moment?”
I put my hands on her shoulders and opened my mouth.
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