Chapter 13

EP 4 - A Big Picture Requires a Big Brush (1)

Sitting around the dormitory table, eating boiled eggs and Yakult for breakfast, Chanhwa began to tell her story with a relaxed smile.

“I met Ee-rang in Kapoeta, South Sudan. When I went there for medical volunteer work.”

“Were you a doctor?”

Didn’t she work at Chanhwa Pharmaceuticals?

“I was very sick as a child.”

She recalled with a wistful look in her eyes.

“My father set up a research company just to save me and managed to treat me. It was a rare disease that I don’t even remember the name of now...”

Indeed, Chanhwa’s father was no ordinary man.

“He conducted clinical trials on many people to save me, and some of them died. It’s obvious what happened next. I found out about it later, and out of guilt, I went to a war-torn area for medical volunteer work...”

She smiled contentedly and nodded at the reporter. He was smiling as if he could fly, with Gan Ji-yun and Gan Seok in tow.

“I almost got killed by the government forces for treating the rebels, but Ji-yun’s father rescued me.”

“Was he a war correspondent?”

“Yes. With no way to return, we fled together for a year in Africa, making a romantic movie. When we returned, I found out Ji-yun was in my belly.”

* * *

Yang Pan-seok stroked his slowly growing beard.

“The most ideal scenario is to reconvene the National Assembly.”

Impeachment, legislation, special committees. If the National Assembly is normalized, the game is half won.

“We don’t know how many of the lawmakers are still alive and where they are.”

“That’s the problem. That’s why I’m planning to go down to the regions.”

Seoul may be in ruins, but the destruction is limited to the upper echelons. In other words, local power structures are still intact.

“Local prosecutors, police, mayors, provincial and city councils...”

“First, you need to mediate between the Republicans and Democrats.”

“Right. The military is poised to take over Korea, and it would be self-destructive for us to fight among ourselves.”

However, if the Republicans and Democrats were to merge and form something like a National Defense Party, they would soon be dragged down by accusations of one-party dictatorship.

“It’s about hitting the key points. The key points.”

Yang Pan-seok sent a sleepy gaze and poked the table with his finger.

“In the case of the prosecution, only to the chief prosecutors. For the provincial councils, only to the committee chairmen. It’s about proposing an implicit alliance.”

“A covert collusion, huh?”

“There’s no point in antagonizing the military. We can’t show that the pen is checking the gun.”

Yang Pan-seok smiled contentedly and concluded his explanation.

“Alright, I’m done. What’s your plan?”

“To get in good with Cha Jae-geun and then get a seat at the table in the superhuman army.”

“How?”

*

“Hey...”

Yeo Do-yeon looked at me with a disdainful gaze.

“Do we really have to go this far?”

“Come on, jump!”

We were in a clearing near the command post. It was for Yeo Do-yeon’s physical test and to test my superpowers.

Yeo Do-yeon jumped awkwardly on the spot, feeling like she was on a ride.

“Wow! Piggyback!”

Gan Ji-yun approached us, floating gently, with a cheerful smile.

“Yeah, Ji-yun. I’m not playing, okay.”

“What are you and the lady doing?”

Look at this kid.

“Hey! She’s a year older than me, why am I the uncle!”

“Mom said not to call women aunties!”

Chanhwa must have given her a very professional education.

Yeo Do-yeon, carrying me on her back, was jumping about 2 meters high, while Gan Ji-yun floated around us.

Chanhwa, watching from the side, covered her face as if she couldn’t bear to see it.

Yeo Do-yeon, who had been jumping, suddenly got angry at me.

“Hey, you! How long do I have to keep jumping!”

“Who said to keep jumping?”

Yeo Do-yeon threw me to the ground. I grabbed her waist and got up, brushing off the dirt.

“Ms. Chanhwa.”

“Yes.”

“Do you see anything, like, blue, magical?”

“I don’t see anything...”

Gan Ji-yun, watching from the side, smiled.

“Sis is blue, and when she’s with Uncle, Uncle turns blue too!”

This is interesting.

“Does that mean I get stronger when I stick with her?”

“How would I know?”

“Do we share superpowers when we touch?”

“Don’t ask me.”

“Just thinking out loud?”

While I was rolling on the ground after being punched by Yeo Do-yeon, Gan Ji-yun approached me with a worried look and held out her hand.

“Keeeee! Cough...!”

“Uncle...? Are you okay?”

As Gan Ji-yun touched my back to pat it,

I floated up.

“...Wow.”

“Yaaaah!”

I floated up as if in zero gravity.

Waving at the blue mist in the air, I grabbed Gan Ji-yun’s hand and could swim through the air.

“Oh, this is fun.”

“Right? Right?”

Yeo Do-yeon crossed her arms with a disapproving look.

“Do you really want to do this at your age?”

“Do you think I’m testing this to hold hands and swim with her?”

“So what?”

*

“I also have superpowers.”

Cha Jae-geun, flipping through the documents, looked at me with interest.

“I can share the abilities of any superpower I come into contact with.”

“Interesting. Three superpowers in one team.”

“Why is that?”

Cha Jae-geun sighed softly. Wrinkles formed on his forehead.

“It’s been three days since I mobilized the National Intelligence Service and the Security Command, but we haven’t found a single one.”

Lucky me. I could guess his intentions.

“You seem to want to form a mobile strike team. Is that right?”

He nodded silently.

With the military surrounding Seoul, but monsters breaking through the encirclement and causing chaos in southern Gyeonggi Province, it’s not feasible to launch missiles with civilians and monsters mixed together. Sending in special forces might not work either, as bullets might not penetrate.

We need monster hunters who can use superpowers.

I want to get a foot in the door here.

“May I be of any help?”

“The National Intelligence Service and the Security Command are already handling it...”

Of course, he wouldn’t let it go that easily.

Why would he include me, not being a fool? His rise to vice-minister from a major general in the military means he’s already a seasoned politician.

He must have already figured out my intention to get a foot in the door, and I need to make an offer he can’t refuse.

To win his favor.

“What, don’t you think there are things only a politician can do?”

“Maybe.”

“The agents have been working for three days without results. May I ask how they’ve been operating...?”

It’s awkward for the person being targeted when a politician gets this close.

Cha Jae-geun answered reluctantly.

“...We’re selecting reliable people from the National Intelligence Service and the military and having them come into contact with Ma Seok.”

“It will take a lot of time, won’t it?”

“It’s not about finding superpowers.”

True, what’s the point of finding superpowers and just hitting them with Ma Seok? If they go berserk, it could cause a major incident.

So, he’s trying to gather people loyal to the state or controllable, and secretly form a special force...

“Would you consider a business deal with me?”

Politics and business are just a piece of paper apart.

*

The next day, I explained all my plans to the team and visited the vice-minister’s office with Yeo Do-yeon.

“Let’s just form a foundation. The name, something like Han Seung Moon Foundation, Seung Moon Foundation, Seung Moon’s Gamjatang, SM, anything is fine.”

I showed the vice-minister my big picture.

I raised three fingers.

“There are three things we need most.

An organization for superpowers to operate.

An organization to research superpowers.

An organization to manage superpowers. Right?”

Cha Jae-geun nodded.

“I will run three revenue-generating businesses through one foundation to achieve all this. For that, I need your help, Vice-Minister.”

“Let’s hear it.”

First, we need to establish the foundation.

However,

numerous procedures involving administrative and judicial processes are required, such as the founder’s asset contribution, notarization of the foundation’s purpose, bylaws drafting, checks by the competent authority, application for establishment approval, confirmation, registration with the competent court, etc.

“The foundation will be established on paper in Seoul.”

The emergency martial law commander oversees all ‘administrative’ and ‘judicial’ matters in the region, and the de facto commander of Seoul is right here.

“If you help, we can establish a foundation in three days.”

“Please continue.”

Okay, we’re halfway there.

“The foundation will run three revenue-generating businesses.”

“I thought foundations couldn’t operate revenue-generating businesses.”

“Public welfare, research and development, and educational welfare are possible.”

Of course, the competent authority’s approval is required, and it’s a very complicated process, but I have a walking ‘authority’ in front of me.

I continued my explanation without hesitation.

“First, a public welfare business.

We will use the superpowers to build homes for refugees, clear debris from collapsed buildings, rescue people, and hunt monsters.”

“Is that the organization for superpowers to operate?”

“Eventually, the existence of superpowers will be revealed. To present them as positively as possible to society, managing their public image is important.”

“Integrate superpowers into society?”

“If we keep them in a secret organization, it will all be for nothing if a foreign country announces superpowers.”

I smiled confidently and pointed at Yeo Do-yeon.

“People like Yeo Do-yeon and Gan Ji-yun are walking heavy machinery. They don’t have to be used just for fighting.”

In fact, during her college days, while others were working part-time at convenience stores, Yeo Do-yeon was doing construction labor.

When her aunt’s nagging made her quit, the foreman even tried to cast her. And she didn’t even have superpowers back then.

Cha Jae-geun answered with his usual expressionless face.

“The public welfare business sounds good. Next, the research and development business?”

“We will set up an R&D division in the foundation.”

“R... what?”

“Research and Development! A company to research superpowers, their principles, and their applications.”

We also have Chanhwa, a doctor and a golden spoon from a pharmaceutical company, who will lead the R&D.

Of course, she could do ‘public welfare’ on the field, but she’s pregnant.

Cha Jae-geun raised a question.

“...Is there a law that classifies monster research as a public welfare business?”

“Representative Yang Pan-seok will make it. Until then, we can hold on with the guarantee of the martial law commander. And isn’t it a public welfare business?”

“I’m not opposing it, but asking about its legal legitimacy. It’s fine. Please continue.”

Cha Jae-geun answered with a softer tone.

“The last one is educational welfare...”

This is a bit tricky.

“Would you consider setting up an orphanage?”