Colonel Blair, the Director of National Intelligence Service, commented, “He seemed to be equipped with superhuman abilities. As we confirmed a little while ago, he has exceptional defense power and durability that allows him to move quickly through space and take little damage from weapons such as tanks, attack helicopters, and rifles. Besides, he is strong enough to lift objects weighing hundreds of kilograms with one hand easily.”
“…”
“…”
“…”
Everyone including the President and other top national security officials gathered in the bunker in the basement of the White House did not respond to Colonel Blair’s explanation because he was literally a guy that appeared in a superhero movie.
Then President William cautiously opened his mouth, curious more about the man’s identity than his capabilities.
If he belonged to a hostile country or to a country that opposed American ideology, he could be the greatest possible threat to the United States.
“Did you find out who he was or where he is now?”
“Yes, we have tracked him down. Although he has traveled to a lot of places, we could pin down the place where he is at the most. This is that place.”
As soon as Colonel Blair finished speaking, a map appeared on the screen, which showed a place rather unfamiliar to them. Since most of the people here had Masters and PhD degrees, they could easily recognize which place it was, namely, the Korean peninsula in East Asia.
So some of them had no choice but to frown because there were US adversaries, China and Russia in the northern part of the Korean Peninsula, and North Korea had close relations with them.
When the map that pointed to the Korean Peninsula gradually shrunk to their ally, South Korea, those who frowned brightened their hardened expressions because they avoided the worst possible scenario even though they still felt it was unfortunate that he was a South Korean, not an American.
“We’ve found out that the superhuman is a son of the chairman of one of South Korea’s top business conglomerates, the Myongjin Group.”
“Myongjin?”
The Commerce Secretary asked as soon as he heard the word ‘Myongjin’ because South Korea was a close ally of the United States not only as a military ally, but also for trading.
“Yes, that’s correct.’
“Oh my God…”
Anyway, people gathered at the underground bunker of the White House continued their meeting for a long time because the appearance of a superman from South Korea was not a trifling matter that they could ignore. So much so that all of them wanted to utter ‘Heck!’ instead of ‘Oh!’ at the moment.
***
In Cheongdam-dong, Seoul, several days later.
I was pretty busy early in the morning because I was still in high school, unlike my elder brother, a company employee, and my elder sister, a college student.
Besides, today was the day I returned to school after a long summer vacation.
And there was one thing that made me really happy.
[The roots have completed further growth thanks to their owner’s influence.
– The power of the roots’ owner is still strong.
-The roots keep growing slowly.]
I heard that message clearly yesterday morning.
So I had no choice but to jump out of bed because the roots had obviously disappeared after giving me enormous strength.
After hearing that message, I used Blink with zero cooldown to move to the hill in the back, which people used as a hiking trail, then I immediately opened my mouth.
“Roots?”
[….]
The roots didn’t show up despite my urgent call.
So I immediately shouted at the roots again because they hardly responded to my call before.
“Roots! Roots!”
Wiggle.
I could confirm the existence of the roots that I felt so grateful to, felt sorry for and missed so much, deep in the dark forest early in the morning.
Unlike before when the roots were the size of a tree, the roots this time were small and thin. But it didn’t matter to me at all because the roots had returned. Besides, I heard the message that they kept growing.
“Hehehe!”
I smiled despite myself.
I was obviously glad to see the roots back because I sometimes wondered if it was true that I went through lots of ordeals, even if I could emit chunks of ice with my hands, use Blink with zero cooldown and lift things weighing hundreds of kilograms. But the roots, who had witnessed all my adventures, were back!
In other words, the appearance of the roots was clear evidence that proved what I went through, and that it was not fake or a dream.
That’s why I was so happy.
While I was still basking in the happy mood that had enveloped me since yesterday, my mother called me.
“Juyoung! Are you awake now? Wake up and have breakfast!”
So I responded, “Yep, mom. I’m already up!”
Right after I replied, I headed to the bathroom to take a shower.
Back then, I really hated going back to school, but I was thrilled now.
Besides, I could see Bora Yon, who made me agonize over whether I should contact her or not. Even though she knew that she would be killed with her family members if she confronted those from Kuhana, she still passed by me to charge at me.
The school I went to was called Kyungmoon High School.
A private high school located in the middle of Gangnam, south of the Han River, Seoul, it was notorious for its expensive tuition fees.
That’s why many students go there to build networks rather than study hard for prestigious colleges. Of course, it didn’t mean that this high school was not as good as other schools. Obviously, there were some students who were relatively below par, but most of the students there were intelligent.
Except for those students who got admitted to top schools by studying hard, it was true that rich parents spent a lot on giving expensive tutoring to their children to have them admitted into top colleges. But I was an exception to such trends.
In any case, Kyungmoon High School was the top high school in South Korea where the children of prestigious individuals like chairmen of large business groups, presidents of large companies, those working at distinguished law firms or large university hospitals, attended. My brother and sister also graduated from it.
Near Kyungmoon High School.
When I reached a place where I could see the high school from afar, the driver said to me, “Can I stop in front of the school gate like before?”
“Oh, please drop me off inside the school. The day after tomorrow is September, but it’s still hot.”
“Sure, will do.”
Of course, I didn’t say that just because it’s hot because I was not sensitive to heat anyway.
But what the driver told me reminded me of something I forgot.
In other words, I had never shown off my identity as the son of a very rich businessman unlike my smart brother and sister, as I felt ashamed by the fact that I was always compared to them. And I was also well aware that people around me tended to call me something like ‘the fly in the ointment’ for Myongin.
So I wished people around me didn’t know me at all because if they didn’t recognize me, I didn’t have to be compared with my brother and sister, or talked about behind my back by them.
Because of this, I got out of the sedan in a place far from the school to avoid being noticed by others, even though I could drive into the high school safely.
That’s why the driver asked me if I wanted to stop far away like before.