Chapter 448 - Side Story. Lily Of The Valley (22)

# My First Memory

My first memory.

It was a bright white room with a glowing light.

When I opened my eyes, what I saw was:

A man in a white coat looking down at me with a cold expression, and someone beside him speaking to him.

"...Dr. Kim Sun-woo. This is the last test subject. It's about time you gave them names."

Name.

What was my name?

While I was dazed, having just awakened.

Dr. Kim Sun-woo, as he was called, seemed to think for a moment before turning his gaze to me and calmly speaking to the employee.

"Researcher. The test subjects are currently positioned in four zones, one in each cardinal direction, correct?"

"Yes. That's right."

"I see... Then, let's name them like this."

He fixed his gaze on me again.

"We'll take 'Han-eun' from our Han-eun Group. And from the cardinal directions..."

Looking down at me, he said:

"According to their zones: Han Do-eun, Han Seo-eun, Han Na-eun, Han Bo-eun. Name them like that."

"Yes. Understood."

"Good... Then this child before me will be Han Seo-eun."

After finishing those words, he approached me, looked at me, and said calmly:

"Child, your name is Han Seo-eun. Remember it."

That was.

My first memory.

***

The secret laboratory of Han-eun Group.

There were four others there, including me.

"Oh, Seo-eun, you're here? Come, sit here."

"Yes, Na-eun unnie..."

A large white room.

It was where everyone gathered when experiments weren't being conducted.

I still don't know why they kept us together.

Perhaps for the social development of the test subjects... or maybe they were simply curious about what would happen when we were together.

Anyway, in that painful and lonely space, the four of us were each other's only companions... essentially family.

"Haha! You're back, Seo-eun! Come on, sit next to Na-eun. Oh, and do you want one of the candies I snuck in?"

Han Do-eun was the oldest among us.

He was our leader, always smiling despite our situation, always guiding us.

Looking back now, he was actually quite young too...

But at that time, he seemed like the big brother.

"Hey, what's that, hyung! Give me one too!!! That's not fair~"

Compared to him, Han Bo-eun was just like an elementary school boy.

The youngest besides me, and closest to me in age.

"Don't worry. Do-eun probably prepared another one. Right?"

And then there was always warm and caring Na-eun unnie.

She was always a great support whenever I was struggling.

"Haha! Sorry! I only have one for Seo-eun. Bo-eun, next time~"

"No way, that's not fair~~"

"...Thank you."

Finally, I, Han Seo-eun, was the quietest and shyest of the group.

Back then, I didn't understand anything about the world. According to unnie, I was like a rabbit that had just come down from the mountains.

Anyway.

These four people were everything to each other, our only family.

Thanks to them, I could endure.

"Han Seo-eun. It's time for your experiment. Follow me."

"....."

Even though.

Each day was unbearably difficult.

"Hmm. The electrode response here is... Assistant, administer K-17 again."

"Yes, doctor. Now, stay still."

"Ugh... urgh... ugh..."

"Hmm... I wonder if this is better. Take her away for more intelligence testing."

"Yes."

Experiments that felt like torture were repeated daily.

In my case, experiments to produce an ability called 'super intelligence'.

It was certainly not something that should be done to a child.

Oppa Do-eun had fire abilities, unnie Na-eun had electrical abilities, and Bo-eun had wave manipulation abilities.

Everyone was participating in these experiments to have such abilities artificially implanted.

"Sob... sob... hyung, I can't take it anymore..."

"There, there. It's okay, Bo-eun. Life isn't supposed to be like this. Dr. Kim Sun-woo said he'd let us out someday, remember?"

"Oppa. Do you... believe that?"

"...No."

With bandages on his arm, stroking the child with his uninjured hand, Do-eun said with a bitter smile.

They were all good people.

Even in this hellish life of being experimented on by Han-eun Group, they still took care of each other.

That's why I loved them all.

And wanted to make things a little easier for them.

"Ah, seriously... if only there was a way to escape... oops!"

"Hey, Do-eun, what are you saying...! Do you want to get caught again?"

At least, hoping we could be free when we were together.

Perhaps due to the experimental results, I, an elementary school-aged child with intelligence beyond anyone else, said this to Do-eun oppa who had made a slip of the tongue and Na-eun unnie who was scolding him:

"It's, it's okay... I've set the CCTV so it can't see us..."

"...Huh? What do you mean, Seo-eun?"

To their rarely surprised expressions, I explained.

When going between the research lab and experiment room, when using computers for intelligence tests... I had secretly diverted source code, bypassed communication circuits, and created an evolving program that made the CCTV and recording devices in this room show different footage.

They didn't understand half of what I was saying, but.

They understood one thing:

"Really? So we can speak freely in here now? Thank you, Seo-eun! You really are a genius!"

Everyone hugged me and patted my head. It felt good.

But.

I should have stopped things from going further.

"You know, Seo-eun. With your abilities, couldn't we possibly escape?"

"Um... what?"

"Wow! Hyung, are we finally escaping?"

And.

That was the beginning of all the disaster.

Time passed.

Despite the brutal torture everyone endured, there was one hope:

Escaping this hell.

Do-eun oppa and Na-eun unnie made plans.

Whenever I had a chance, I hacked to find out the location of this facility and mapped escape routes. In the process, I also learned everyone's birthdays.

Finally, a plan was formed.

Start a fire, close the fire doors, hack to open passages...

It seemed like a decent plan.

But in reality, even Do-eun oppa, the oldest, was only a middle school student.

All adults were our enemies. We could only trust each other.

...And as a result.

The plan executed on that fateful day.

Failed catastrophically.

RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE-

Flames that spread far too widely.

"Track them down immediately, but don't shoot! Capture all test subjects alive!!!"

Voices that tightened around our throats coming from everywhere.

"Uh... this, this should open here..."

And a plan gone wrong.

Everything fell apart.

"Urgh...! I'll hold them off here, you all escape! Go now!!!"

"No! Do-eun hyung!!"

"O-oppa...!"

"Sob... No, Bo-eun. Seo-eun. You have to go now...!"

Do-eun oppa died trying to hold back the flames.

BANG- CRASH -CRASH-

"I'm sorry... Na-eun noona, Han Seo-eun... I can't go up..."

"No... no..."

Han Bo-eun collapsed under the crumbling floor while forcibly using his ability to clear a path.

CRASH-CRASH-CRASH

"...Ugh. At least, at least you have to survive, Seo-eun... Okay? Please. In my place... out... side..."

"Na-eun unnie!!!!!!"

Na-eun unnie pushed me to safety at the last moment and was crushed by the falling ceiling.

Leaving them behind, I kept running.

All of them with true power died, and only I survived.

Among all the corpses, only I survived, stepping over them.

If I had planned better.

If I had suggested we take more time, plan the escape more carefully over years.

If I hadn't rushed into action.

Could they have survived?

Could there have been a way for everyone to escape alive?

Perhaps...

"Everyone died because of you, Han Seo-eun!!!!!"

And now, back to the present.

In the deepest underground level of Han-eun Group, the final battleground.

There, from Kim Sun-woo's mouth, I heard the thoughts I had carried my entire life.

"After you escaped, I learned everything. Everything! You gave everyone hope of escape! You actively supported the plan! You didn't stop everyone! You sent everyone to their deaths with a flawed plan!"

From his mouth, the words I had wanted to deny my entire life stabbed into my wounds.

"That's the kind of person you are, Han Seo-eun!!! In the end, you abandon everyone you love, blame others for everything, and end up alone. That's how you were in the past, that's how you were in other worlds. And that's how you are now! The man collapsed behind you, who is he there because of!!!"

Is that so.

My family all died because of me.

In another world, I killed everyone else.

And now, am I about to send oppa Da-in away too?

"You were a child who should never have been born. Pure evil that makes everyone around you unhappy. That's who you are, Han Seo-eun!!!"

"...But. There's still one last way to atone for everything that's collapsed."

Kim Sun-woo, who had been berating me, suddenly changed his tone and began speaking in a kind voice.

"Why do you think I called you here? Why do you think I brought you here at the cost of all sacrifices? Because even you, evil incarnate, can still do something for humanity."

"That machine behind me is preparing to distribute your siblings' abilities to everyone. Fire, lightning, waves... But one thing is missing."

"Yes. That's your super intelligence, Han Seo-eun! In fact, Han Seo-eun, you don't simply have good intelligence. You actually have intelligence that borders on a superpower with no limits to thought."

"If you enter that light, according to the design, all humans will receive the benefits of your super intelligence. Imagine how much humanity would advance if everyone on Earth had unlimited brain capacity?"

"Now, Han Seo-eun! This is your last chance!!! Enter that light and sacrifice yourself. That's what you were born for! Finally, a moment when your life, which has only brought death to others, can have value!"

"If you go in there, I'll save Da-in behind you! Your family is sleeping in that light. Now is your chance to put down all your sins and follow them!! I'm dying too, I'll follow you soon. Now, decide!!!"

Kim Sun-woo shouted loudly.

Listening to his words, I could only stare blankly with eyes too dry for tears.

Is that so.

If I enter there, can I be of help to someone?

...Can I save oppa?

Yes.

Was I a wrong child from the beginning?

I don't know.

My mind isn't working at all.

Because I don't know well.

Because I don't know.

I took one step forward-

BANG.

"...What are you doing, you...!"

With a loud gunshot from behind that awakened my senses.

Kim Sun-woo, who barely dodged the bullet aimed at his face, glared behind me with an unpleasant expression.

And I naturally turned around.

There was.

"...Haa. Shut. Up. You bastard..."

With one hand against the wall, and the other aiming a gun.

Bleeding from his head, half-risen with tired eyes glaring at Kim Sun-woo as if to kill him, was oppa Da-in.