The Villainous Director Is Raising a Child!

"Guh!"

The four researchers jerked as if a ghost had appeared behind them, then, like creaky robots, slowly turned their heads.

Standing there were Lee Jinwoo and Kang Taemin.

These... two?

The surprise lasted only a moment; the four quickly exchanged glances.

A run-in with the Director's right-hand men — the hottest names in the whole institute right now.

The perfect chance to confirm, directly, the truth behind those rumors that had been keeping the institute at a boil for days.

"Aigoo, Researcher Lee! Researcher Kang! What brings you down here?"

"Our juniors here — is the busy work from those rumors starting to wind down at all? Come on, sit, sit."

They swapped stances in a flash and made space for the two of them.

Just a month ago, these had been juniors so far below them they'd only been fit for coffee runs.

But now, standing behind those juniors was the enormous power of "the Director."

"So, what brings such busy people all the way to the cafeteria? The Director give you an order for something?"

Lee Jinwoo shrugged at the fishing.

"Ah, some important work the Director gave me piled up. I've got to eat and get back fast."

At his words, the eyes of the four researchers lit up in unison.

"Important work..."

"Come to think of it, Researcher Lee — didn't you say something a minute ago? 'Was it really luck?'"

"That's right."

"So you're saying what the Director showed us at that evaluation wasn't actually luck? That he did it on purpose...?"

Lee Jinwoo let out a soft laugh.

"Aigoo, aigoo. Seniors."

He clicked his tongue and shook his head.

"How are you all still not getting it? And you're supposed to be researchers at the country's top institute."

At his arrogant attitude, the seniors' mouths tightened for an instant — but only for an instant.

Researchers, after all, were creatures in pursuit of truth — a species where curiosity ran ahead of pride.

If anything, they only fawned harder, buttering him up in the most cringing way.

"Aigoo, Researcher Lee. How could we possibly know? You're the Director's right-hand man these days, after all."

"That's right, that's right. Fill us in a little, won't you? Hmm?"

Lee Jinwoo savored their flattery for a moment, then let out a small sigh — "Hah. Really."

"Fine. Then I'll... make an exception and tell you."

He pushed his glasses up.

"You said it earlier, didn't you? That the Viper pulled his stunt at exactly the wrong time, so Sihyeok went into overload... and the Director, who happens to know how to stop an overload, got lucky enough to show off his ability right on the spot."

The four researchers nodded.

"...But do you really think the Director... didn't know about Park Wonjin's underhanded, filthy little scheme?"

"What?!"

"You're saying the Director already knew about the Viper's plan?!"

M, one of the senior researchers, jumped up out of his chair, shocked.

"Shh! Shh!" Lee Jinwoo waved his hands frantically and glanced around.

But it was too late.

The other researchers at the surrounding tables — who had been perking their ears in this direction — all turned their eyes on him at once.

Conscious of them, Lee Jinwoo dropped his voice even lower.

"Just think about it. Why on earth did the Director walk into the evaluation room himself in the first place?"

"...?"

"That golden-spoon... no, that 'diamond-spoon' gentleman of ours. However much it was a chance to prove his own performance, was there any reason for him to walk on his own two feet straight into the middle of that dangerous overload?"

At that, the four researchers nodded too.

"...You're right? Now that you say it, it is strange."

"Yeah. It's not like he's an A-rank Hunter — no reason a non-Awakened would need to go in himself—"

Lee Jinwoo, as if their reactions had only confirmed it for him, put more weight into his voice.

"By now, all of you know how much of a genius the Director is, don't you? This is a man who won full authority over the test subjects through a personal meeting with the Bureau Chief himself."

His eyes gleamed with fanatical excitement and loyalty.

"The Director knew about every last bit of Park Wonjin's stupid scheme. And he turned it around on him — to finish Park Wonjin off completely, and at the same time show all of us his own power... which is exactly why he deliberately walked onto that stage himself...!"

The instant Lee Jinwoo, glasses flashing, delivered that final line, a suffocating silence fell over the table — no, over the entire cafeteria.

"...So."

M was the first to open his mouth, swallowing hard.

"By that logic... the Director just... left the Viper alone while he was digging his own grave. No — if anything, he led him into that grave."

"He's insane..."

A murmured, quietly.

"I thought he was just some brainless delinquent... you can't even deny it anymore."

Shock, terror, and an awe beyond words seeped out of their voices.

And that hair-raising shock wasn't only theirs.

Researchers at the surrounding tables pulled out their terminals in unison and started firing off messages in every direction.

And so, Lee Jinwoo's interpretation, less than a second after leaving his mouth, became an undeniable truth and spread through the entire institute at the speed of light.

"...Wait. Then, Researcher Lee. That means... the Director also knew ahead of time that the test subject would go into overload? No — could it be that he... deliberately caused it?"

At D's words, E beside her recoiled.

"Hey! What kind of terrible thing is that to say?! Overload or not — this is an overload! Once someone goes into overload, their core gets shattered, and they have to live the rest of their life as half a person!"

At that, Lee Jinwoo flinched — the arrogance dropping off his face for just a moment.

"No... that..."

Just as Lee Jinwoo, flustered, was about to argue that there was no way the Director would deliberately push the children into overload—

Bzzt—.

A sharp vibration went off in his pocket, and every one of his movements stopped.

[Golden Lifeline]

Hup!

Every trace of the arrogance and self-assurance from a moment ago vanished from Lee Jinwoo's face on the spot, leaving only humility in its place.

"Yes, sir! Director! This is Lee Jinwoo!"

The arrogant closest-confidant lecturing his seniors a moment ago was nowhere to be seen.

"Yes! Ah, I'll come up right away! Yes! Yes!"

The instant he hung up, Lee Jinwoo grabbed his tray and shot up.

"Well then! Seniors! The Director's calling for me — I'll be off!"

He shoved his chair in in a scramble and, practically running, hurried out of the cafeteria.

The four researchers left behind stared blankly after his flustered retreating back.

"...The Director really must be no joke. Look at the way his subordinate's scrambling."

"No, wait — what's the conclusion, then?"

M asked, still looking confused.

"Did the Director deliberately induce that overload, or not?"

"Nah, no way."

E shook his head.

"Even if catching Park Wonjin is that important... haven't you heard the rumors? Word is the Director's been really good to the test subjects lately. Buying them toys out of his own pocket, switching them to organic meals — even taking them on a picnic to the training room!"

At that, A actually turned a cold look on E instead.

"Hey! That's exactly the creepy part, moron."

"...?"

"You really think a man like Chae Junhyeok extended that kind of inefficient kindness with no calculation behind it whatsoever?"

At A's words, silence fell over the table again.

The truth was, it didn't add up.

There was no reason — not one — for a man who'd spent his whole life doing whatever he pleased as a golden-spoon delinquent to suddenly be genuinely, selflessly kind to a bunch of test subjects.

That was the exact moment.

Into their silence, from the table right next to theirs, a clank! — the sound of a spoon hitting a tray — rang out unusually loud.

All four heads turned toward the sound at once.

There sat Kang Taemin.

Good grief.

He'd been eating so quietly they hadn't even known he was there.

The four froze for a moment, but then M cleared his throat — ahem, ahem — and turned toward him.

"Ah, Researcher Kang. You were eating? Ha ha. You... didn't happen to hear us just now?"

Just as M was opening his mouth to try to fish, the tactless E cut him off and just came right out with it.

"Oh! You'd know! What exactly is the reason the Director's so good to the test subjects? Top-grade food, toys — a picnic on top of that? None of it has anything to do with training!"

But Kang Taemin, the one actually being asked, paused his chopsticks instead of answering.

And started, seriously, to consider the reason.

The truth was, he'd been curious himself.

Because the Director's behavior looked less like the way you'd treat test subjects and more like the way you'd treat a cherished child or student.

Right then, something the Director had said on the very first day they'd met in his office flashed through Kang Taemin's head like lightning.

["I'm going to make my dolls into the strongest ones in the world."]

"The strongest... in the world..."

He murmured the words low, without meaning to.

"What?"

The instant E asked back, Kang Taemin's face hardened.

"The contents of my conversations with the Director are classified. I can't say any more than that."

Kang Taemin, avoiding their eyes, got up and left.

But the four researchers, having already caught that one line, threw their brains into full gear over the enormous piece of bait they'd just been handed.

"...You heard that, right?"

"Yeah. 'Make them the strongest in the world' — clear as day."

"Don't tell me... he's talking about turning the test subjects into the world's strongest?!"

At that, M gave a scoff, as if the idea were absurd.

"World's strongest? What is this, a movie? They're just minors — test subjects. How are you supposed to make the world's strongest out of a bunch of kids like that?"

But E thought otherwise.

"No! It actually looks doable to me?"

"What?"

"Think about it! The test subjects — every single one of them — aren't even ten yet, and they're already B-rank Awakened or higher! With talent like that, if you trained them properly, they'd chew right through any halfway-decent A-rank guild!"

He didn't stop there — he dropped his voice further and leaned forward.

"And on top of that, you all know it too. The Director can... control an overload."

"..."

"So, hypothetically... let's just say."

E's eyes flashed with a manic gleam.

"What if the Director deliberately put the test subjects into an overload state, drew out that catastrophic power, and then — like flipping off a switch — calmed them right back down?"

At the hair-raising hypothesis, a cold silence fell over the table.

"...My god."

D swallowed hard.

"A controllable overload of a B-rank or higher Hunter..."

The worst strategic weapon humanity had never even dared to imagine.

Just then, A — who had been listening in cynical silence the whole time — threw cold water on it.

"And what would he do with that?"

"What?"

"Make the world's strongest soldiers, and then what? He's not a guild master anywhere; he's just a non-Awakened, run-of-the-mill research institute director."

At A's cynical jab, M nodded.

"He's got a point. It's not like he's about to walk out and start his own guild tomorrow... a director of a Bureau-affiliated institute, and a diamond-spoon who could sit on his hands and live a good life for the rest of his days — why bother?"

"What if 'research institute director' isn't the end goal for that man?"

"What?"

"What if he's aiming higher. Like, say... Bureau Chief?"

That was the exact moment.

The cafeteria door banged open, and a new researcher hurried inside.

"J-just now — an institute-wide notice went up! Everyone, check it!"

At his words, everyone rushed to the main display in the corridor, as if on cue.

And there, freshly updated, was a new notice.

[Notice: Open Recruitment for New 'Project R' Team Members]

The instant they saw that single line, shock washed over every researcher's face.

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