CONSEQUENCES

Very early, almost at dawn, two people were talking inside the café managed by Kang Seth's mother.

"Ma'am, it's a pleasure to see you."

One of them was a tall man dressed in a black suit, standing over 190 cm tall. He had black, spiky hair, and a short beard. His hardened face bore a grotesque scar stretching across his forehead and nose, while his eyes were hidden behind black glasses.

This man was named Oga Ajax, Kang Sun's partner and one of the founders of Sunshine Corp, currently responsible for the entire company. However, this man was speaking respectfully to the woman in front of him.

"Do you have the information I asked for?"

Anna Jin, Seth's mother, spoke in a flat tone, her face showing an indifferent expression.

"Well, we found something when we looked into that boy you asked us to investigate... but we uncovered more questions than answers."

"What do you mean by that?"

The man named Ajax took out a folder and handed it to Anna, who began to read it carefully. After a while, the woman's brow furrowed.

"As you can see, that boy's name is Robert Lee, and he studies at Shinan High School in his third year of high school. However, we found out that his surname is his mother's; his father's surname is Jovanovich. As far as we know, the boy was living in Russia and just recently came to study in South Korea... however, beyond that, we couldn't find out more about the boy."

"I knew it... I knew that child wasn't normal," Anna Jin murmured while holding the folder with the information about our protagonist.

From the first time she saw him, she knew it wasn't a coincidence that he came to have breakfast at her place. She had never seen him before, and he just appeared when her son was about to go to high school for the first time.

Moreover, he wasn't intimidated by the presence of the bodyguards who were guarding her son, and he even came back the next day to have breakfast, which was already very strange.

Yes, he hadn't enrolled in the same school as Seth, but his presence was very suspicious.

Additionally, she didn't know how to explain it, but Anna felt a slight threat coming from this boy, which made her even more on guard.

She knew that in this country, apart from a couple of individuals, there was no one who could rival her in strength and pose a direct threat to her. And even though this boy came from another country, she didn't believe he was a threat.

However, the fact that he came from Russia could complicate things a bit.

"Is he a member of the Russian mafia?" the woman asked.

"So far, we haven't seen him interact with anyone except a classmate and attending a gym... however, that's not what worries me, ma'am," Ajax replied.

"What is it?"

"In these two days we've been following him, we realized that we're not the only ones watching him."

"What? Someone else has him in their sights?" Anna raised her face, showing slight curiosity. "Did you find out how many and who they are?"

"So far, we know of two groups," Ajax replied. "One of them appears to be military; the other group, we're not exactly sure where they're from, but they move in government cars... maybe members of the secret service."

"The secret service... this child is definitely not simple."

"Exactly, that would also explain why we can't find much information about him."

"So, do we know anything about him?"

Ajax adjusted his glasses and took a smartphone out of his coat pocket.

"We know one thing," he said, playing a video and showing it to the woman. "We know he has a fighting style that is far from amateur."

Anna Jin, who watched the video, narrowed her eyes again as she saw our protagonist fighting with Gunner.

It was the fight that had taken place the day before.

"That style... it looks like a combination of mixed martial arts... but of great mastery," Anna Jin was slightly surprised to see the fight. "Who is the red-haired boy?"

"That boy's name is Cheo Gunner, a young man under the observation of Cha Dusik's group, which is in charge of Gwangjin-gu."

"And is he a promising boy?" Anna asked.

"I spoke with Dusik, and he told me that the boy named Gunner was very promising but had refused to join their ranks. He even managed to defeat several of his best men at the same time."

"And yet he was easily defeated by this mixed-race boy," Anna responded as she watched Gunner being defeated. "And why were they fighting?"

"As far as we know, it was all because of Kim Hee-jin, the youngest daughter of Congressman Kim, to whom Gunner owes a debt. She asked him to beat up the newly transferred boy named Yu Ijin, and Robert intervened in the fight."

"Congressman Kim, tch, that stupid man getting into trouble at every moment," Anna rubbed her head upon hearing that troublesome name.

Congressman Kim was one of the many politicians to whom they had donated money for their campaigns, binding them to owe some favors.

That congressman didn't know that Cha Dusik's group, the mobster he worked with, actually didn't work for him but was a group belonging to the large conglomerate Sunshine, which was there to accumulate more of the congressman's dirty deals and thus have him more tightly bound by the balls.

However, that congressman, in particular, had caused more problems to solve than benefits, so right now, she was weighing whether to keep him or take him off the map.

"Tell me, that boy named Yu Ijin, what do you know about his background? The fact that he is newly transferred and that they defend each other is clearly a sign that they have something in common."

"With respect to Yu Ijin... we only know that he came from abroad, specifically we don't know the place, but that he was out of the country for 10 years. We know that the reason Gunner was told to beat him up is because Ijin hit Congressman Kim's son first," Ajax replied. "Since he wasn't the target, we didn't find out more, but now it's of vital importance to know if he is someone similar to our target."

Anna remained silent for a moment, planning her next course of action.

"Tell Cha Dusik that if Congressman Kim tries to ask him for anything against the target, he should tell him to go to hell. Send him, and have him test the boy Yu Ijin, but if he is not dangerous, not to hurt him much. You will be in charge of finding out the true intentions of the target... discover to what extent the government is involved with that boy."

"Yes, ma'am."

......................

"Ah damn it! I knew you'd be the first to get into trouble!"

Inside the apartment where Robert currently lived, three people were gathered.

One of them was Ijin, who had his characteristic poker face. The other was our protagonist, who was lounging relaxedly on the couch.

The third person was Lieutenant Kang Ham-chan, who looked really frustrated at the moment.

And it was no wonder, because right now he should be on a date with his fiancée; instead, he was scolding these two brats for fighting at school!

"But Lieutenant, Ijin was the one who started the fight," Robert tried to defend himself.

"But Ijin wasn't recorded, and his fight video wasn't uploaded to the internet!" Lieutenant Kang responded more frustrated. "Do you know how many favors we had to call in to get that video removed from the web?"

"Well... that sounds like a lot of favors."

"Ah... damn it," Lieutenant Kang rubbed his face. "At least when you were in the barracks sleeping with every woman you saw, that wasn't so problematic."

"Yeah... good times," Robert sighed nostalgically, which made both Lieutenant Kang and Ijin look at him with eyes full of contempt.

And it was no wonder, since his reckless behavior in the army was something they had to deal with constantly!

And, as stupid as it sounded, that behavior was approved by the top military brass!

Since it was impossible to regulate or duplicate Robert's blood or any other bodily fluid, the military high command suggested that they let the boy try to have offspring, maybe then they could study his genes.

And the high command agreed to this stupid idea, as long as the women involved didn't know that these encounters were happening for that purpose and that they weren't forced.

To say that when Robert was told about this plan, his eyes seemed to sparkle!

But it seems that, like his blood, his seed also had a mind of its own, as none of the women Robert slept with got pregnant!

That was something that filled Lieutenant Kang with frustration, as well as a bit of envy.

And for Ijin... well, he just couldn't stand Robert's pretentious behavior.

"At least do you know who you hit?" trying not to think about it anymore, Lieutenant Kang tried to continue the conversation.

"Yes... I know that boy was under the scrutiny of a gang, which might be involved with some big shots," Robert, who had stopped dreaming about the women in the army, responded.

"The Sunshine group... I don't know much about them, but I know that more than fifteen years ago, the members who founded that group turned the underworld into hell... managing to unify it completely and even compete with the Castle group in the south of Korea."

Lieutenant Kang sat informally on another piece of furniture while keeping his eyes closed.

Ijin, who was standing, looked out the apartment window, looking south.

Of all the most problematic criminal groups in the country, the 'Castle' group was the one that had historically remained in power. No matter how many governments passed, that group always maintained control of the underworld.

However, as Lieutenant Kang had said, it was the Sunshine group that changed this more than fifteen years ago.

'Indeed... violence remains the same, no matter where I am.'

"Well, I know I crossed the line a bit, I promise to hold back next time," Robert stood up and walked over to a small bookshelf. "Here, I think this will make old General Kim happy."

"Huh? What's this?" Lieutenant Kang caught an envelope that Robert threw at him.

"It's part of the coded message they asked me to solve. I've deciphered the first characters, and there's some really incredible, almost fantastical stuff in what it means. There are two copies in the envelope, give one to the old man at the NIS so he doesn't try to infiltrate."

Lieutenant Kang opened his eyes, realizing what the envelope contained, as this was something that interested the two heavyweights of the country!

"Ah damn it... alright, I hope you're more prudent next time. However, it's best that both of you stay alert for any retaliation those guys might have against you."

"Understood, Lieutenant," Ijin responded.

"Yes, yes, whatever you say, Lieutenant," Robert responded.

..................

"Ha, a kid will always be a kid, no matter how smart he is."

Inside a sophisticated office was Lee Byung-hong, the director of the NIS, who was smoking a cigar while watching a video on his computer screen.

Seated behind a large oak desk, his expression remained impassive.

"Ah... that's what I would say if I believed for a moment that kid was an idiot."

Behind him and on either side, two men in black suits stood like statues, with such a passive aura that if someone didn't see them, they would go unnoticed.

However, these two men were real monsters!

In front of Director Lee stood a handsome, well-built man dressed in office attire.

He said nothing, didn't move at all, simply stood there like a statue.

"What do you think, Agent Nam?" Director Lee asked.

"Sir, I think this is something that doesn't compromise our plans much," the man referred to as Agent Nam responded. "Cheo Gunner was one of the individuals the NIS had under surveillance. Maybe with this defeat, he'll seek a way to strengthen himself, and that's where we can come in to offer him a new type of training."

"You're saying we can take advantage of that kid's loss to use him as a guinea pig, right?"

"Exactly," Agent Nam replied.

"Well, that would be beneficial since we lack youthful material for that... the new serum created from those monster corpses needs to be tested on someone who can withstand it... and the brainiacs in the research department are going crazy trying to find someone for that," Director Lee spoke. "Now then, what else can you tell me about this?"

"The criminal group watching that red-haired boy is part of the secret branches of the Sunshine group," Agent Nam replied.

"Tch, that damn name again... that means that woman might get involved in this matter."

"I'm afraid so, and if that happens, I don't think I can be of much use in facing her."

"Don't apologize, Agent Nam, we know your limits. I would never send you to die in vain. Even if we deployed the best agents we have in service, it would cost us an arm and a leg to get rid of her, and that's not counting the old monsters still hidden in those mountains who would undoubtedly come down if anything happened to Anna Jin."

With these words, the NIS director tried to console his loyal agent.

It's not that they couldn't do anything, it's just that if they made a wrong move, everything would go to hell!

As the director of the intelligence agency, Lee Byung-hong knew perfectly well what secrets this world hid.

Things that stupid politicians ignored and that in other times would be thought of as science fiction, but which truly existed.

Humans who had managed to break their limits and become real monsters... beings capable of achieving real feats with their own hands!

And it wasn't just in Korea, but all over the world that these types of beings existed.

With the mere presence of one of these individuals, Anna Jin, the balance of the underworld trembled completely. He didn't want to imagine what would happen if all those reclusive martial artists presented themselves to current society.

"Don't worry, young man. You know your mission is to spy on the movements of Joo Kang-Chan, the head of the Jootung Construction company, who came in second place in the presidential elections. The fact that you learned about this because Kang-Chan's daughter studies at that school is a crossing of events."

As the NIS director had said, the so-called Agent Nam, a former army member and ex-mercenary, had been an undercover NIS agent since his early days, raised from childhood to become one of the agency's best agents.

When his active duty period in the South Korean army and other paramilitary agencies ended, he returned to South Korea to serve as head of security for the aforementioned Joo Kang-Chan, the director of the Jootung construction company, which was one of the most powerful construction companies in Seoul, only behind those owned by Uju Corp and Sunshine Corp.

Joo Kang-Chan had participated in the recent presidential elections but was defeated by Moon Joo-jin, the current president of South Korea.

However, unlike the peaceful and almost cowardly Moon Joo-jin, Joo Kang-Chan was a real demon in human skin who didn't mind stealing, cheating, abusing, and even killing to get to power.

That's why the NIS director ordered Agent Nam to serve as the head of security for that man so that if in an eventual future he came to the presidency of the republic, they would have a mole infiltrated in the government.

"Ah... that kid Jovanovich... his body holds the secrets for us to take the next step... to surpass those monsters hidden in the mountains and regain control of our society... but it seems that fate wants to deny us that opportunity."

The old NIS director leaned back in his leather chair and closed his eyes, as if trying to think of something.

"Do you want me to keep him under surveillance?" Agent Nam asked.

"No, your interest in him would be too obvious if you did that, and the maniac Joo Kang-Chan would notice. Just tell him to keep his daughter in check. That Congressman Kim will meet a bad end because of his daughter's whims; we don't want our horse to end up the same way."

"Understood, sir."

"Besides, I already have that boy under surveillance... whatever he does, whoever he meets... anything remotely related to him... I will make sure to find out everything about that boy to get the most benefit out of him."