Chapter 440 - Side Story. Lily Of The Valley (14)

# Today's Broadcast Summary

The Han-Eun Group stormed into the broadcasting station.

And Egostic defeated them with his new colleague Silver Steel!

Peace has returned to the Republic of Korea. All's well that ends well~

"......"

But something felt off.

At the top floor studio of the broadcasting station.

Where researchers who had tried to broadcast something until the very end now lay collapsed.

I stood there with the broadcast turned off, holding my chin in thought.

"...Something doesn't add up."

With this lingering doubt, I asked Seo-eun.

"Seo-eun. When we first turned on the broadcast, we hijacked the signal to broadcast nationwide, right?"

"...Yes. Haa, haa... That's right."

Sitting against the stepped ledge of the broadcasting station wall with her suit helmet removed, Seo-eun answered me while catching her breath.

Then I asked her again.

"Is that difficult to do?"

"Huh? Well... I guess it is difficult. You need equipment, facilities, antennas..."

"Right. Then how about for the Han-Eun Group?"

"With their level of technology... I think they could probably do it."

"Yeah... I suppose so."

Seo-eun was still dripping with sweat, seemingly not understanding what I was getting at.

Looking at her, I found myself muttering:

"Then... why did the Han-Eun Group choose to occupy broadcasting stations rather than simply hijacking the signal?"

"Pardon?"

At her question, I fell silent, deep in thought.

Signal hijacking—something even an individual like Seo-eun could do. Why would an organization like the Han-Eun Group not use that method, and instead choose the more difficult approach of simultaneously occupying three broadcasting stations to transmit something?

'Was there a reason they needed to broadcast only from the stations themselves...'

Or perhaps.

They were in such poor technical condition that they had to forcibly occupy broadcasting stations.

Either way, their grand plan had failed.

I didn't know what they had intended to broadcast, but the stations were still airing the same boring variety shows as always. Their plan to broadcast something had failed.

However.

'What were they trying to broadcast...'

That question still lingered.

What was the Han-Eun Group trying to say through the broadcast? A declaration of war against the Republic of Korea? Or some kind of mass hypnosis broadcast?

...It was impossible to know now. They had physically destroyed the data before we could capture them, leaving no evidence.

I figured the broadcasting station that Stardus went to probably faced a similar situation.

If it was something they wanted to hide this badly, I wondered why they wouldn't just release it on YouTube or something.

"Hmm..."

As I was lost in these thoughts:

"...Haa, haa. Oppa."

That's when I finally heard Seo-eun calling me.

I unconsciously turned my head to see Seo-eun still breathing heavily with a strained expression.

'Right. This must be Seo-eun's first time experiencing this kind of terrorism in real life...'

I've been too insensitive.

Reproaching myself, I walked over to Seo-eun.

"Seo-eun, are you okay?"

"No..."

To my question, Seo-eun painfully gave that answer.

***

Having experienced combat for the first time, Han Seo-eun sat clutching her pounding heart after defeating the Han-Eun Group enemies in her suit.

"Haa... Haa..."

She thought she had fought well.

Dodging the enemies' attacks and landing her own.

It wasn't much different from training. It wasn't difficult.

However.

If there was one difference from training:

These were all real, living people.

Even if they were villains, the sensation of hitting actual people felt strange. If they had looked like monsters, she could have acted more thoughtlessly.

And also.

...Following the fire ability, the blue electrical power the enemies used...

"....."

As Seo-eun sat there suffering alone, a thought finally occurred to her:

'...Oppa has been quietly doing this kind of work all along.'

No, he'd been doing it without showing any signs of struggle, even while broadcasting.

He must be as human as anyone else, so how?

With this question in mind.

Han Seo-eun unconsciously asked her brother as he approached to comfort her:

"Oppa..."

"Yes?"

"How have you managed to stop all these things until now? Haa... Wasn't it hard?"

At that question.

As if he hadn't expected to hear such a thing, Da-in hesitated momentarily.

Then he smiled and said:

"It was hard. When I first started catching villains, I'd down a few bottles of soju before going after them. I couldn't do it sober. Didn't I tell you about that?"

"What?? You never told me! Such a dangerous thing..."

"Haha, calm down. That incident ended without any problems. Though I suppose I was being dramatic for someone who wasn't even a hero..."

After saying that, my brother lifted his head, adjusted his hat, and looked somewhere as he spoke:

"I had a kind of conviction. A commitment to protect this world. A belief that I would protect you, Seo-eun, from this dangerous world."

That conviction helped me maintain my sanity while fighting.

Because I had a clear purpose.

After saying that, Da-in looked back at her with his usual caring smile and said:

"So, Seo-eun. I hope you have a conviction too. What I want to become. What I want to protect. A desire for the path you want to walk. If you have something like that... you won't lose your way, no matter the situation."

After telling her this, Da-in reached out his hand with a smile and said:

"...Was that too abrupt and difficult? Anyway, Seo-eun, you did really well today. Thank you for your hard work. It might be dangerous if we stay here any longer, so shall we go now?"

Looking at her brother who was extending his hand toward her, backlit by the light coming through the broken building's windows.

"Yes..."

Seo-eun unconsciously reached out and took her brother's hand, standing up.

Her brother's large, warm hand.

Conviction... the purpose of my life... what I want to achieve...

At her brother's words that having such things would help her fight better.

Han Seo-eun, with flushed cheeks, held tightly to her brother's hand and thought:

'What should I do, Oppa.'

The only thing that comes to mind is wanting to be connected to you...

***

Anyway, with the Han-Eun Group's broadcasting station attack wrapped up.

At the association, another meeting about their objectives began.

"They're up to something. I'm certain of it. They're definitely plotting something."

From the start, the Director muttered like that.

"They must have been trying to broadcast something from the station. Something they were willing to sacrifice this much manpower to broadcast. Argh... what on earth could it be!!! It's bothering me so much I can't sleep at night...!"

Watching the Director lament like that, Stardus, sitting across from me, flipped her blonde hair with a sigh and answered:

"They deleted everything in my sector too... so there's no way to know. But they might try to upload it online, so we should keep monitoring."

"Yes... And speaking of monitoring. Lee Seol-ah, how's it going? The surveillance of these guys through CCTV? Have you found the Han-Eun Group's headquarters?"

To the Director's hopeful question.

Lee Seol-ah sighed, turned her head, and said:

"Unfortunately, they're still technically savvy enough to disable most CCTVs before moving, so we couldn't track them."

"What...!"

Before the Director could despair.

Lee Seol-ah grinned and said:

"But there's always a way. They're still human, with limitations. If our technicians review all the CCTV footage from across the country before the invasion time, we should eventually be able to backtrack their movements and find them~"

"Really...! When can we expect results?"

"Hmm... probably a few months."

"Sigh... a few months. Well, at least there's hope."

After saying that, the Director wiped his sweat and said to me:

"Egostic, what do you think? From your perspective as someone who fought them directly, what do you think they're plotting?"

And to that question.

After a moment of silence to organize my thoughts, I slowly began to speak:

"Well... I'm not sure yet."

Somehow.

I had a feeling that soon, a major event would reveal all the truth.

***

At that moment, at the Han-Eun Group headquarters.

"I'm sorry, Doctor. We failed..."

"...No. It was my mistake for underestimating their forces. I was rash. Too eager to usher in the new era."

The doctor replied.

...More precisely, he was too preoccupied with other matters to dwell on the failure.

No, he didn't even consider the broadcasting station operation a failure.

Because he had found valuable information worth sacrificing a few people for.

[Oppa, it's dangerous...!]

"Han Seo-eun."

He.

Looking at the gray suit flying on the screen, he smiled gravely.

The final piece of his entire plan.

The ultimate ingredient he had regrettably missed.

The test subject that would place everything on a single axis.

Finally.

She has reappeared.

"...It's fate, it's fate. This too must be fate."

After muttering this, Kim Sun-woo.

Immediately ordered his direct elite unit with a single command.

Find Han Seo-eun and bring her to him.

Already obsessed with Han Seo-eun, he failed to properly consider at this point.

That her support and protector was.

Egostic, Da-in. That man.