Chapter 447: Chapter 448: Lily of the Valley (22)

Chapter 447: Chapter 448: Lily of the Valley (22)

Chapter 448: Lily of the Valley (22)

My first memory was a pure white room with bright lights.

I opened my eyes and saw 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. These are your last test subjects, and it’s time for you to name them.”

Names.

My name.

I had just woken up and was thinking about it for a moment.

Dr. Kim Sun-woo, as he was called, seemed to think for a moment, then turned to me and spoke calmly to the staff.

“Researcher. Right now, the test subjects are in four zones, one in each of the four directions, east, west, south, and north, right?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“Okay... Well, let’s call them that.”

He turned his gaze back to me.

“Our group is called the HanEun Group. East, west, south, north...”

He looked down at me, and said.

“Han Do-eun, Han Seo-eun, Han Na-eun, Han Bo-eun, for each section.”

“Okay. Understood.”

“...Then this child in front of you will be named Han Seo-eun.”

After saying that, he stepped in front of me, looked me in the eye, and said calmly.

“Child, your name is Han Seo-Eun. Memorize it.”

That was it.

That was my first memory.

***

In the secret laboratory of the HanEun Group there were four people, including me.

“Oh, Seo-eun, are you here? Come on. Sit here.”

“Yes. Sister Na-eun...”

A large, pure white room was where we all gathered when we weren’t conducting experiments.

I still don’t know why they put us together.

Maybe it was to give the subjects a social life... Or maybe they were just curious about what happens when we’re all together.

Regardless, in that painfully lonely space, the four of us were the only ones who understood each other...and de facto family.

“Haha! You’re back, Seo-eun! Here you go. Sit down next to Na-eun. Oh, and do you want some of the candy I snuck in?”

Han Do-eun was the oldest among us.

He was the eldest brother who always kept a smile on his face and always led us.

Actually, now that I think about it, he was really young...

At the time, he was like the biggest brother.

“What the hell, big brother, I want one too!!! It’s cheesy~”

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

Compared to me, the youngest, she was the closest in age to me.

“Don’t worry. Do-eun must have prepared another one, right?”

And Na-eun, who was always so kind and warm.

Whenever I was in trouble, she was always so supportive.

“Haha! Sorry, I only have this one, Seo-eun. Bo-eun can wait.”

“No, no, no, no.”

“...Thank you.”

Finally, I, Han Seo-eun, was the least talkative and timid of them all.

At that time, I didn’t know what was what. I was like a rabbit in the village for the first time. According to my sister, I didn’t know the world at all.

Anyway we were each other’s everything, each other’s only family.

They were the only thing keeping me alive.

“Han Su-eun, it’s time for the experiment. Follow me.”

“.....”

Even though every day was so hard.

“Hmm. I put the electrode on this side, and it’s responding...Give him another dose of K-17.”

“Yes, Doctor. Now, hold still.”

“...Bo-eun, Seo-eun, we have to go now...!”

Brother Do-eun died trying to stop the flames.

“I’m sorry...sister Na-eun, Han Seo-eun...I, I can’t go up...”

“Ah... No...”

Han Bo-eun forced himself to use his powers to clear the way and collapsed under the crumbling floor.

“...Ugh. You, too, must survive, Seo-eun...Okay? Please, do it for me......”

“Sister Na-eun!!!!!!”

Na- eun pushed me at the last second, saving me but was crushed by the ceiling.

Leaving them behind, I kept running.

They all died, the ones with real power, and I was the only one left standing.

Amidst the bodies of the dead, I stepped over them and survived alone.

If only I had planned better.

If only I’d taken a little more time to plan my escape, if only I’d thought it through carefully over the years.

If I hadn’t rushed things they might not have died.

Maybe there was a way for everyone to get out alive.

Maybe...

“Everyone is dead because of you, Han Seo-eun!!!!!”

Then, back to the present at the final showdown, deep underground, in the heart of the HanEun Group.

There, from Kim Sun-woo’s mouth, I heard the thoughts I’d been harboring all my life.

“After you ran away, I found out everything. You were the one who gave everyone hope to escape, you were the one who actively supported the plan, you were the one who didn’t stop everyone, and you were the one who sent everyone to their deaths with a flawed plan!”

From his mouth, the words she’d spent a lifetime denying came, licking at her wounds.

“That’s what you are, Han Seo-eun!!! You lose everyone you love, blame everyone else for everything, and in the end, you’re the only one left. You were like that in the past, you were like that in the other world, and you’re like that now! The man lying on the ground behind you, who is he lying on the ground for?!!”

Indeed.

Because of me, my entire family is dead.

I, of the other world, killed everyone else.

I’m about to send even my brother Da-in away.

“You were never meant to be born in the first place. Pure evil, making everyone around you unhappy. That’s who you are, Han Seo-Eun!!!

...But there is still one last way to atone for all that has been destroyed.”

Kim Sun-woo, who had been pushing me so hard, turned around and began to speak in a suddenly softer voice.

“Why do you think I have called you here, why do you think I have sacrificed everything to bring you here, because even you, who are evil itself, still have a way to help humanity.”

“That machine behind me is currently preparing to unleash the power of your siblings upon all. Flame, lightning, waves...but it lacks one last thing.

Yes. That is your super intelligence, Han Seo-eun! In fact, Han Seo-eun, you are not merely intelligent. In fact, it’s an intelligence that borders on superpower, capable of thinking without limits.

Once you enter that light, all humans will also benefit from your super intelligence, as designed. Can you imagine how far humanity will advance when everyone on Earth has a brain with no limits?

Now, Han Seo-eun, this is your last chance!!! Step into the light and sacrifice yourself. This is what you were born to do! This is the last time your life, which has brought nothing but death to all, can have value!

If you go in there, I will spare the man behind you! In that light, your family sleeps. Now is your chance to lay down all your sins and follow them! I will follow you in my dying body. Now, decide!!!”

Kim Sun-woo shouted at the top of his lungs.

I listened to those words, my eyes dry with tears, and I could only think blankly.

I see.

If I go in there, can I be of use to someone?

...As for Da-in, can I save him?

Yes.

Was I wrong from the beginning?

I don’t know.

My head doesn’t move at all.

I don’t know.

I take a step forward and-.

BANG.

“...What do you think you’re doing, you...!”

A loud gunshot wakes me up from behind.

Kim Sun-woo, who had narrowly dodged the bullet that flew into his face, glared with a displeased expression.

And I, naturally, turned around.

“...Haha. You bastard...”

With one hand on the wall and the other hand aiming the gun, there was Da-in oppa, blood dripping from his head, glaring at Kim Sun-woo with tired eyes as if he was going to kill him.