24 Tangent Future IV

Kim Hosup is a portly young man with an appearance resembling a pig. It is not as depressing as it sounds. That means he is just cute, bubbly, and eats a lot. He is definitely the last to die if sudden starvation hits his neighborhood.

That aside, he is a talented young man who has the Gift [Superhigh Speed Network] which allows his brain to connect with a computer. In this day and age, who doesn't use the internet? Not to mention computers? This makes him a very competent information gatherer.

With his ability, his potential to be a monstrous informant is just around the corner. For the current Hosup though who is still lacking in self-esteem, he doesn't see the best of what he can do yet.

As a valuable member of the Computer Club, he has become a famous figure immediately. Of course, there is occasional bullying and name-calling, but his mind is as tough as his heart, he has developed tolerance towards 3D girls.

"Watashi wa saikōdesu~!" He cheers himself up as he excitedly makes quick work of the Personal Computer the Computer Club is giving to its prospects. Despite being Rank 2900, a frighteningly low rank, he is someone Cube will definitely not let go of. It is because he has a Gift.

Gifts are quite difficult to awaken, and more so specialized Gifts. In order to awaken to a Gift, a person must surpass their human limitations and arrive at an insight that will qualitatively change their souls.

Kim Hosup's method of achieving his Gift is rather straightforward. After countless days and nights of straightforwardly using the computer, surfing the internet, consuming mass media, and playing games, he suddenly achieves enlightenment.

Others who develop and awaken their gift also experience something similar. By doing the extreme, they can awaken a Gift. While there are research groups who desire to replicate the awakening of Gifts, it is impossible for them to do so as each Gift is unique to its owners.

After setting up his PC, Hosup immediately plugs himself into the computer... as in literally. He feels the buzz of his Goft stirring and connecting to the internet. He clicks the mouse and keyboard while his eyes scan the zeroes and ones on a multitude of processes. Several tabs open up on his PC screen. He is not so strong as to interpret information within microseconds, but his ability to multi-task compensates for what he lacks in speed with flexibility.

Maybe, someday in the future, he can wield his Gift while working parallel with his thought process. By that time, he doesn't even need to multi-task as his prowess of extracting information will be so fast, that he only needs to think about what he needs to find. Theoretically, he can be a couple of milliseconds faster than the built-in search engine of his browser by that time.

For now, he can settle with watching his current favorite anime, while reading its manga version and reading its light novel version at the same time.

"Oh, Hajin-chan and Hyung-chan… I almost forgot them…" Too happy with his new PC, Hosup almost forgets his 3D friends. He opens several tabs on Social Media platforms and adds Hajin and Hyung as friends, and while at it clicks follow.

To his surprise, Hosup finds a tonfuck amount of Social Media accounts of Hajin. "Hajin-chan… I never realized... you are this prolific…" He snickers as he cannot imagine the guy being this active on the internet.

But Hosup finds an incongruity immediately. Kim Hajin's accounts are only recently created, about… yesterday… "Hajin-chan works fast…"

That aside, there is something more surprising to learn. Something Hosup learns out of simple curiosity by checking up on Hyon Hyung. It is not his habit to stalk his friends on the internet, but if your superpowers are 'cyber stalking' then there is really no helping it. Tapping information on the internet has been second nature to him like an instinct.

"Hyung-chan... What is the meaning of this?" Kim Hosup feels weirded by what he has found out. Hyon Hyung seems to lack any digital footprint. Hajin back in the Agent Military Academy days did not involve himself with the internet much, but he still has a digital footprint on the internet which Hosup is able to quickly uncover.

Hyon Hyung however is a ghost… "I… should try harder…" Hosup is feeling a sense of dread... and perhaps an odd gut feeling that there is something wrong. "Maybe I only missed it. I cannot really tell I am the best out there…" He even stops inserting Japanese in his monologue.

After several hours of hard work, he still finds nothing… except… the class picture and the related documents back in the Agent Military Academy… And. Unlike what Hyon Hyung is even telling them "That he is their close friend (Hajin and Hosup)," it seems that is not the case.

From the class picture of their batch, Hyon Hyung is sitting far away from Hajin and Hosup. The picture is unofficial and only for fun. It is a class picture where those who are close can get together.

"He is lying…" Hosup realizes. Keeping his thoughts to his own, he continues researching Hyon Hyung. "Are you hiding something, Hyung-chan?"

A Ghost. That is what Hyon Hyung is like in Hosup's eyes. To his eyes, seeing a person lacking any digital footprint is like seeing a ghost, straight out of a horror story. Kim Hosup delves deeper into his research, even going as far as tracing Hyon Hyung's history from when he was but a toddler but to his own surprise, he finds nothing. There is no baby Hyon Hyung... It might be self-explanatory that Hyon Hyung has no parents if he is raised in an orphanage. But clearly again, there is no baby Hyon Hyung.

"I might be overthinking." Hosup unplugs himself from the computer. "There is no way he can just pop up into existence… He must have a history… Just something… but there must be a reason why he is hiding it. Maybe, it is not even him who is hiding it… Or maybe 'Hyon Hyung' is not even his name..."

Several conspiracy theories run through his head, causing him to overheat.

What Hosup doesn't know is that it is actually possible for someone to just pop up into existence. Hyon Hyung is that kind of existence, a total nobody, but whether it can be proven is a topic of another time.

Pushing Hosup from his idle thoughts is his smartwatch vibrating. Reading from it is [Hyon Hyung]. Hosup accepts the call. "Yo~ Hyung-chan! How are you?"

"Man, I have a business opportunity for you. The gig has low money, but just think of it as helping a friend…" Hyung jubilantly cries.

Hosup is wary. He doesn't want to waste his time on useless things— things that don't involve video games and anime— which is his highest priority. "As long as it is not a hassle." He adds.

"It is fine. I will give you 2 mil a month. It is for Hajin. I have no plans on taking any money. The 'work' itself is payment enough for me. So, the gig is like this—"

Hosup listens well to the salesman and understands the concept immediately. "Something like a promoter huh? And you want Hajin-chan as your first client? Does Hajin-chan want to get famous? That's new..."

"Yes," Hyung squeaks, his fear of rejection apparent to Hosup's ears.

"I am in. If it is for Hajin, sure…" Hosup gives an affirmative.

There is a reason for him not to reject it. Kim Hajin (Chundong) has been a great friend to him for the past years. He is a good guy. Seeing past Hosup's ugly ass is Hajin's (Chundong's) kindness. So if there is something he can do for his friend then he will do it.

Kim Hosup receives the various data regarding Hajin's Social Media accounts so that he can keep tabs on them from now on. "Back then, Chundong was introverted, but still had an outgoing personality… But now Hajin is more defended for some reason as if he is a different person…"

Unknowingly, an invisible correction force of nature sweeps Hosup's mind. "Eh? I feel like something is wrong… Chu- what? Chun-jin? Ha-jin?" But then he quickly forgets about it.

Breezing past the truth, and remaining ignorant of it might be a blessing in disguise for Kim Hosup.

He starts thinking of his only two friends. Perhaps, Hyon Hyung is just like him whom Hajin (Chundong) helped. There is no need for Hosup to be too suspicious since they are friends.

***

Meanwhile, Yun Seung-Ah is having a headache. On her desk is the data about Hyon Hyung. The other guild representatives should be experiencing an equal amount of hurt in their brain cells.

"Just where did this ghost come from?"

Despite activating all of the resources available to them including their own guild resources on top of the Hero Association's resources, they still have nothing about Hyon Hyung except his information on Agent Military Academy.

This gives them a reason to think he might be a Djinn hiding in Cube, but as a freshman who almost dies to a Djinn attack, that just sounds ridiculously impossible.

"The only information we have about him is that he is a mediocre student from Agent Military Academy, and beyond that, we have nothing… For now, include him in our suspect list…" Yun Seung-Ah tells the staff waiting for her.

Inside the Hero Tower is her temporary office. The Hero Association is paying big money and using a lot of favors within just this investigation. They are trying to find the Djinns hiding in plain sight, but Yun Seung-Ah has reasons to believe that there is more to it.

If the Hero Association is truly concerned with Djinns, they should have been purging Cube for a time already before all of the incidents happened. Back then... There are already signs of Djinn activity. While the Hero Association does show a token of concern, it is merely a hoax, in a poor attempt to not spend money.

In their own reasoning, killing these Djinns will be easy after all.

But now. The Hero Association is so eager to spend money so suddenly. Spending the favors they are accumulating for some time on top of this, just makes it more suspicious.

At first, Seung-Ah is thinking that the Association has finally found its resolve to do good, and finally abandoned its corrupt ways. But that is too much wishful thinking. The Hero Association's corruption runs deep.

***

The turning of time continues to deviate from the original.

Thus, heed this warning— Change. Has. Already. Come.