Legend of Legends

Sora walked out, and Eunseo moved forward. She kept kept staring at Eunseo riding her automatic wheelchair.

"Nice to meet you. I’m Eunseo Kim, Guardians’ CEO."

"Nice to meet you."

Sora already knew about Guardians. It was huge, international news. At least on Earth, everyone knew about it. People who had survived monster attacks knew even more. She also didn’t expect the CEO to be around her age.

Eunseo introduced Elise to Sora.

"This is Guardians’ Development Chief, Elise. She will explain everything to you."

Elise stepped forward.

"Nice to meet you. The zombies were similar to zombies in movies, but they were faster than expected. The people who were bitten by them carried a contagion and became zombies themselves. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

Sora thought of what had happened and shivered.

"We used a form of disinfectant on you as soon as you got here with the iron soldier, but we still need to draw your blood and run a few more tests on you," Elise added.

Sora wasn’t feeling well, and Elise continued calmly, "I promise it won’t be dangerous, and the data we collect here will be sent to the Center for Disease Control. They already know about your rescue and they need more data from you."

After the mention of the CDC, Sora became very nervous. While listening, she started worrying about whether she had been bitten by a zombie. She didn’t even know how she had run away from it, but she understood what they were telling her and she was definitely nervous.

"We will run the tests and let you know," Elise told her.

"OK."

Elise thought of something else and said, "You can’t use any communication devices in here. We jam all connections to the outside."

"But I have to call home!"

Elise nodded.

"We will call your home, and, without the results of the tests, you’d be just giving your family something else to worry about."

"I understand."

Elise smiled and said, "Please, come this way."

Sora followed her, and Eunseo looked at Junhyuk.

"Junhyuk, you may go back to the executive office. You’ll receive a lot of calls, but remember that we don’t know anything yet. Soon, we’ll make a list of casualties."

"OK."

Eunseo saw Elise returning and asked her, "When can we have the results for Sora Shin?"

Elise answered calmly, "The blood test will tell us if she’s carrying the contagion within five minutes."

"What?" Junhyuk was surprised and asked the question without realizing.

"We only have to check one person, and it’ll take five minutes. If there were more, we would need more time," Elise explained calmly.

She looked at Eunseo.

"Are you calling Doyeol?"

"I should. This was Guardians’ first mission," Eunseo said and added, "If this happens anywhere else in the world, let me know everything about the iron soldiers’ results."

"I will."

Eunseo looked at Junhyuk.

"Then, you run control from the Executive Department."

"Yes."

Junhyuk went to the office, and just like Eunseo had said, the phones were going crazy. He was really surprised by the titles of the people calling, but he calmly answered all of their questions. They couldn’t reveal the identity of the woman. They were keeping her safe and running blood tests on her. He told them to wait for the result. The people on the other side of the line screamed out their titles at him, but Junhyuk just answered unfazed.

Since the phones were going wild, he answered them in the sequence by which phone call came in first. Time passed quickly. He had been answering calls for a long time when the door opened, and people came in.

It was Doyeol and Jeffrey. They saw him talking on the phone, and Doyeol walked quickly toward him, extending his hand. Junhyuk handed him the receiver, and Doyeol said coldly, "We will make a list of casualties soon!"

He was done talking and pulled the phone’s cord out. Junhyuk had wanted to do it, and Doyeol did it without hesitation.

"You must be having a hard time," he said calmly.

"No, I’m not."

He had come to Guardians and translated the cooperation documents. Since then, he had had nothing else to do. It was only his second day at work.

"Follow me."

Junhyuk followed him without question. Jeffrey greeted him with his eyes, and Junhyuk nodded slightly toward him.

When Junhyuk looked at Doyeol, he found out he had a surprising amount of health.

He had fifty health and was clearly not an ordinary minion. His soul’s size was entirely different. Powerful people have big souls, Junhyuk thought. He didn’t want to lag behind, so he walked fast.

Doyeol headed to the meeting room. Eunseo, Dohee, Elise were there, and Sora was sitting on a chair opposite of them. Doyeol walked in, and she stood up. He bowed lightly toward her.

"Nice to meet you. I’m Doyeol Kim."

"Hello."

Sora had been preparing for an employment opportunity. When she was young, she was a bright track star. However, after injuring her knee, she started studying again and, now, she was getting ready for the workforce.

That day, she had gone to the national cemetery to visit her father who was buried there. Her interview would be on the following day, but the incident happened first. Doyeol was an important figure for Sora, important enough that she didn’t look him in the eyes.

Doyeol signaled to the chair.

"Have a seat. I want to talk to you."

"Yes."

Sora sat, and Doyeol also took a seat. A secretary came into the room bearing some tea. Eunseo had her bodyguards, but this was the first time Junhyuk realized they had an extra secretary.

Eunseo told Doyeol to drink his tea, and he stared at her.

"The blood test is negative. She doesn’t have any symptoms," she said first.

Sora sighed deeply, feeling relieved, and Eunseo adjusted her glasses.

"We haven’t revealed your identity, so don’t worry about that either."

"Thank you."

They had rescued her from the zombies and hadn’t revealed her identity. She was very grateful.

Eunseo looked at her and said, "You aren’t carrying the contagion, but we have one more thing to tell you."

"OK. Please speak."

"Your speed when escaping the zombie is inhuman. We think it’s a type of supernatural power."

"A supernatural power?"

"Yes. Humans don’t have that kind of power."

Sora pressed her chest with her hand, and Eunseo continue, "The monsters’ appearance is a worldwide disaster. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"We quickly introduced the iron soldiers to fight monsters, but we don’t know what kind of monsters will show up. We found another possible way of dealing with monsters through you."

"Through me?"

Sora became nervous, and Eunseo continued calmly, "You earned your supernatural power while dealing with a monster."

Sora frowned slightly.

"Are you going to have me fight these monsters?"

Eunseo shook her head. She was devoid of expression and not joking at all.

"But we wish that you participate in our research."

"Research?"

"You are the first person to activate a supernatural power by encountering a monster. If we study you, we may find ways to deal with them."

"That means I won’t have to fight the monsters?"

Eunseo nodded, but Sora hesitated.

Doyeol had been listening and said, "You must be thinking we’ll treat you like an alien from outer space. I’ll give you some advice. We are only interested in how you activated your power, where that power came from, and how we can use that power. I promise you won’t be in harm’s way."

Sora was still hesitant, and Doyeol made a signal with his eyes. Dohee pulled out a document and gave it to Sora. She looked at it, and her eyes widened.

"I told you, saving humanity rests on you. If you help us out, we will give you a small sum in return," Doyeol said calmly.

"A small sum?!"

Sora looked at the number, and her eyes lost focus. If she agreed, they would give her $10 million. When they found ways to use her power, they would recognize her contribution and give her an additional $1 million a year.

"Are you joking?"

Doyeol’s eyes didn’t move, and he said, "I don’t have the spare time to make jokes. I took a helicopter here to tell you that."

Sora wasn’t feeling well. Doyeol was too charming for her.

"So, if I agree right now, you will give me the money right away?"

"Sure. Only, you have to sign a confidentiality agreement and, while research is underway, you may not contact the outside world."

"If I can’t communicate with the outside world, how do I know I’ll be safe?"

Doyeol chuckled.

"Don’t worry about that point. We just want to keep it a secret. You may contact your family."

Sora smiled and bowed. Junhyuk wanted to laugh aloud but couldn’t. Sora had the power to run away from that place if she wanted to. Unless they put her in a sealed room, no one could follow her around because of her power.

Doyeol asked Sora, "How about it? Are you going to sign?"

Sora asked carefully, "If I agree to this, which company will I belong to?"

Doyeol looked at Eunseo.

"Surely, you’ll belong to Guardians."

Eunseo knew what Sora wanted to find out.

"You’ll be a researcher in the research team."

Sora made up her mind and smiled. She had almost died and had activated her power. For that, she was given the biggest opportunity of her life.

"I will. I will," she said.

"Good."

Doyeol looked at Eunseo.

"We’ll give you a detailed schedule and further information."

"Thank you."

Sora bowed to Doyeol, and he looked at Eunseo.

"We hired her, but I want to talk to her alone."

"OK."

Eunseo went out, and Junhyuk started following her, but Doyeol called for him.

"Junhyuk, stay for a moment."

Junhyuk looked at Eunseo, and she nodded, so he stayed behind in the meeting room. Doyeol looked at Sora.

"So far, we made the official contract. Now, it’s time for the unofficial contract."

"Unofficial contract?’

Sora started feeling uneasy, and Doyeol crossed his hands together and said, "It’s about the Dimensional Battlefield."

Junhyuk shivered slightly, and Doyeol looked at him.

"Junhyuk, take a seat."