IMPRINT 3

It was a full three hours later when I finally emerged from the special treatment room.

“I seriously almost pulled the lever when you started retching…!”

“I didn’t raise my hand, did I?”

“That’s the point. I clenched my teeth and held back because you didn’t give the signal, seriously.”

Director Shin spoke with a shudder, as if the thought of it was still gruesome. To be fair, even I thought that moment was truly dizzying.

Mental supernatural abilities require delicate control because the application method and effects vary wildly depending on the target; if the target triggers a rejection reaction, it affects the caster just as much. Just like that horrible surge of nausea I felt the moment I tried to access Kang Juha’s brain.

In severe cases, a reverse infiltration can occur, completely ruining the caster’s brain. For that reason, I generally tried to avoid accessing the brains of Espers with a higher rank than mine. One slip-up, and it’s all too easy to get swept away.

Furthermore, since most Espers undergo resistance training specifically to avoid being compromised by mental types, it was much, much easier to deal with guys who were slightly out of their minds than those who were sane.

And the current Kang Juha—I couldn’t even begin to guess what kind of monster he originally was—was dealing out a massive backlash; the brainwashing was one thing, but his own internal mental resistance was so violent. Perhaps the aftermath of resisting the anti-allied bastards until the bitter end was still lingering.

“Kang Juha… I’d only heard stories, but he seems like a truly incredible guy.”

I hadn’t given a damn even when the Center was making a huge fuss, but after seeing him in person, I couldn’t help but feel my interest piqued. To the point where I wondered, Is this why the Director General was so obsessed with him?

When Kang Juha went missing and was processed as deceased, there were talks about whether or not to hold a state funeral. However, because the Director General denied his death until the very end, it was concluded that a funeral would absolutely not be held until the body was recovered. Still, a three-month disappearance dictated a presumptive death by principle, so the death registration itself couldn’t be stopped.

Well, in the end, the Director General’s intuition—or perhaps his desperate wish—turned out to be correct.

“Honestly, even if his brain were pronounced brain-dead right now, no one could complain, but his own will is insane. The bastard who did the brainwashing is a piece of work too, but since Kang Juha himself is rejecting access, I can’t infiltrate him immediately. Maybe… two weeks? No, I think I’ll need a week.”

As I spoke while sipping on orange juice for a sugar boost, Director Shin’s eyes grew wide and round.

“A week? You’re saying a week is enough? The Center was looking at a timeframe of over a year. Wow, Team Leader Seong really is different.”

“…Is that so? They’re looking at a year?”

A year, huh. Usually, they don’t put in that much effort.

Most methods for breaking brainwashing are, to put it roughly, like a cardiac defibrillator. The principle of a defibrillator is to kill the heart once and then wake it up, shouting, ‘Hey, you bastard, aren’t you going to snap out of it? Pulse properly, keep the rhythm!’

The method for breaking brainwashing goes a bit further than that; it’s more like repeatedly slapping someone across the face. Like slapping someone who’s lost on a place like Mount Everest to keep them from falling asleep. It’s giving a slap to someone whose brain has gone slack to tell them to tighten their screws.

The slight problem was that Kang Juha was trying to bite my arm off before I could even slap him.

“If they’re looking at a year, it means they want him woken up with zero brain damage.”

“He is high-grade—no, top-tier personnel, after all. Kang Juha is irreplaceable.”

“I was thinking of poking around while using electrotherapy, but I guess that’s out.”

At my muttering, Director Shin’s complexion turned pale.

“…You were actually planning on doing that?”

“I won’t do it.”

“….”

“I said I won’t. I promise.”

It was a bit of a shame. I wanted to see the mechanism of how he would react if given that kind of stimulation.

Then again, I shouldn’t let a disaster happen where I turn Kang Juha into an idiot while trying to reduce his aggression.

“Then I’ll also look at a month.”

“…Yeah, let’s do that. Let’s take it slow. But by any chance, can I ask what you did to Kang Juha just now? No, it’s not that I doubt you, Team Leader Seong. It’s just that if he died… I’d have to file a report. I’d probably face disciplinary action, and maybe even get dismissed on the spot…”

“I knocked him out.”

Hearing my words, Director Shin let out a huge sigh of relief and clutched his chest.

“Whew, I see. As expected of Team Leader Seong, I had faith in you. Of course, of course, I didn’t have a shred of doubt.”

“I can’t access his brain right now. His self-healing mechanism seems to be broken, so I only stimulated that. You said he was refusing treatment, right?”

“Of course, of course, that’s plenty. Oh my, you worked hard. You know I’m really grateful, right?”

Somehow, that ‘grateful’ sounded more like she was grateful I didn’t kill Kang Juha.

No matter how much of a track record I had experimenting with brainwashed bastards, I clearly recognized that Kang Juha was an ally, not an enemy. And shouldn’t I keep him alive so I can find the human who messed with his brain?

Until then, I have no intention of harming Kang Juha either. Though I might remodel him to be more obedient.

“I have to write a report, so I’ll be going first.”

“Uh-huh, of course, of course. If you need my help, feel free to contact me anytime. I’d also like it if you shared the next treatment schedule.”

“Ah, from now on, I’ll just bring my secretary in with me. Since you’re busy, Director.”

Director Shin looked like she wanted to follow me next time as well for surveillance under the guise of assistance, but I rejected her request by pretending to be moderately tactless. No matter how close we were, Director Shin was definitely a person on the Director General’s line. If she interfered with this and that while I was treating Kang Juha, it would be quite annoying.

“You really mustn’t kill him…?”

“I told you, I promise.”

༘⋆

Now, how should I go about messing with Kang Juha’s brain so that the rumors say I did a good job?

“Hello. We meet again after yesterday. I let you sleep deeply. How is your physical condition?”

It seemed employees had come by while Kang Juha was unconscious. His clothes had been changed.

Yes, he looked much more like a human now than when he was sprawled out like a rag. Though, seeing that the chains binding his limbs and the muzzle were still sturdy, I figured he was still a long way off from being treated like a person.

As I stood right against the iron cage, I felt a presence that was more subdued than yesterday. Since even a porcupine can’t live its whole life with its quills raised, he had likely just exhausted himself.

“Naturally, I have a duty to notify you, so I will explain one more time. I am Seong Yihyeon, the Information Team Leader of the Information Security Department of the Center’s National Security Bureau.”

No sooner had I finished speaking than Kang Juha started thrashing—Clang, clang! The sound of the iron chains echoed noisily.

“Hmm, yes. Fortunately, you seem to be physically healthy. I’m relieved to see you’re recovering well. Makes me think, ‘As expected of an S-class combat-type Esper.’”

I circled the cage once while babbling aimlessly. It was to observe Kang Juha’s physical condition in detail.

“It might be better to just leave your clothes off from next time. External injuries aren’t my jurisdiction, but I still need to know the patient’s condition…”

After carefully examining all four sides, I returned to my original spot. Kang Juha was still glaring at me as if to kill me, and angry veins were bulging on his bright red neck.

“You keep trying to use your mouth. I don’t know if you think of yourself as a dog or a wolf, but let’s fix that habit first.”

This time, I met Kang Juha’s eyes directly. His wary pupils shimmered fiercely. It would have been more annoying if he had avoided my gaze, but I was grateful that the current Kang Juha had eyes that said he wanted to tear me to death.

“This will sting a little.”

With a small warning, I officially began the ‘Fixing Kang Juha’s Brain’ project. Kang Juha screamed while thrashing in pain.

“It’ll be over soon. We’re almost done. There we go.”

I spoke like a pediatrician giving a flu shot.

༘⋆

A week has passed since I started touching Kang Juha’s brain. The Center had been hounding me day in and day out as if they’d left a child by the water.

They said they’d started the report as a one-year long-term project, but the way they were rushing me, they seemed to hope I’d recover Kang Juha to a mission-ready level by tomorrow.

But honestly, would that even be possible? If they’re so desperate, they should try it themselves.

If there was one single achievement, it was that Kang Juha had started to scout me out. At first, he acted like he couldn’t see anything, lunging to bite anyone who came into view. Now, at least, he seemed to be doing something called thinking.

Even so, he was just weighing whether or not he had a chance of winning if he fought me. And that kind of psychological warfare was something even lions in a safari did.

Still, a safari lion has a higher intelligence than a rabid wild beast trying to bite anything and everything, so isn’t that a pretty good result? The Director General doesn’t seem satisfied, but I was satisfied for now.

“I’ll be taking care of Esper Kang Juha exclusively for the time being, so redirect the schedule for interrogating the captured anti-allied forces to the team members. If they really can’t do it, bleach their brains and send them to the Esper training wing.”

Handling Kang Juha for just one hour drained all the energy from my body. Considering that I used to handle ten ordinary Espers a day without trouble, the physical toll was no joke. My guiding was being sucked dry, making me think I might actually die of overwork at this rate.

So I had no choice but to push my work onto my team members. …I’m not pushing it onto them because I don’t want to do it. Definitely not. I’m not excited right now. Absolutely not.

“Um, Team Leader… I’d like to do that too. But two team members have requested personnel transfers, saying they can’t take it anymore. So I requested more staff, but they say there are… no applicants.”

“That can’t be. Not even one?”

“Yes, not even one.”

Park Juyoung, the only useful talent in the team and my secretary, lowered his head deeply.

“Why? Our team’s salary is high, isn’t it? Paid leave is generous too… Don’t people love money?”

“Rumors about our team have spread through the Center.”

“What rumors?”

“That it’s a place where you lose your health and gain a mental illness.”

“…Aren’t both of those bad things?”

“Yes. That’s why.”

I wanted to refute it. But I couldn’t. That made it sadder.

“I should have run away when I was a rookie too…”

Park Juyoung nodded as if in agreement with my lament.

“But you can’t run away. You know that, right?”

“….”

“What, no answer?”

“….”

“Hey. Hey!”

Despite my urgent calls, Park Juyoung persistently pretended not to hear and walked far ahead.

Naturally, I did… not chase after him. Usually, a true adult is one who coolly gives up and waits for the next one when the signal of the crosswalk they need to cross starts blinking. I had to save even the energy it took to breathe, so I couldn’t waste energy on something like that.

“If you bolt, I’ll chase you until the day I die! No, I’ll chase you even after I die!”

I could hear Park Juyoung shouting back tearfully from a distance.

“Please stop saying such scary things!”