It was around the time I'd finished everything on my day's agenda and was slumped bonelessly in my office.
Out of nowhere, the CFO — the man who held Black Cell's purse strings — came looking for me.
Not by calling me directly, though.
He reached out through Amano, my successor.
I had no idea why he'd done it that way.
But when the money man wants a meeting, you don't keep him waiting. I headed straight to the Finance Department.
Clack clack clack!!!
"Deputy Lee? What's the status on last month's revenue report?"
"We just need Section Chief Seo's portion and we're done."
"I— I'm so sorry!! I'll have it written up right away!!"
It was pushing midnight, and the office staff still hadn't gone home.
Most of them, though, had no idea about Black Cell's darker side.
Everyone was bone-tired, but the financial compensation kept the mood surprisingly upbeat.
'Looking at it like this, this place seems like any ordinary company.'
Of course, whether here or anywhere else, people were suffering under a black company — and a brief, melancholy feeling welled up in me.
As I moved deeper inside, the office workers' eyes followed me, and a mid-level manager with a section chief's title came over.
"And you are…?"
"Maxwell Gray. I was told the CFO wanted to see me."
"Th— the CFO himself, sir?"
In a typical company, the hierarchy runs from section chief to deputy manager to department head, and then to the CFO.
The CFO, or Chief Financial Officer, is even considered one of the three most critical positions in any company, alongside the CEO and COO.
The moment word spread that someone like that had summoned me, the office fell briefly quiet.
Then a department head — a senior-level figure — stepped forward immediately and escorted me in.
Though I had to wonder — was my name really circulating that much among the office staff?
The department head, the backbone and central pillar of any company, was practically fawning over me.
"To think I'd get to see Maxwell Gray up close like this — what an honor!"
"Likewise. It's a pleasure to meet the department head who keeps the Finance Department running. Though it's strange — we work in the same company, yet it's so hard to cross paths."
"Ha ha ha, you're such a busy man, Mr. Maxwell. Please don't worry yourself about us."
No matter how critical a figure I was on the operational side.
I was, rather remarkably, still junior-level.
And yet a senior-level manager was being this deferential to me.
That told me something about why the CFO had called me here.
When I stepped into the inner office, the CFO had already risen from his seat to receive me.
"Mr. Maxwell, it's been quite a while since that time."
He extended his hand for a handshake right away.
The bright, polished business smile he wore told me this man was acutely attuned to the flow of power within the company.
***********
They say a position makes the person.
But there are plenty of cases where a person simply worked their way up to that position on their own merits.
The CFO — a non-ability user — was clearly the latter, just from looking at him.
In any case, the moment we'd exchanged greetings, he had me seated.
He seemed to want to break the ice first, so he opened with a word of thanks.
"Thanks to you, Mr. Maxwell, the company's financial indicators have become genuinely healthy."
"I'm sorry, but all I've really done lately is look after the children?"
"That's precisely the point. Those little ones were dangerous beyond imagination."
The CFO let out a long sigh, then activated some kind of device.
A strange film materialized around the room.
"It's a device that prevents sound from leaving the room. It also neutralizes all eavesdropping equipment inside — micro-cameras and the like — so you needn't worry."
As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together. The CFO, a non-ability user, was just as meticulous as the Director.
Once he'd confirmed all risk factors were neutralized, he shared some of his grievances.
"Quite a few Lower-level Managers in the underground complex have been dying at the hands of the test subjects. Do you have any idea how many managers those children have killed?"
"I've only heard the rough outline, so I couldn't say exactly."
"If you average it out, you're looking at roughly one death per day. And when a Lower-level Manager dies, the family receives a death benefit — factor in the confidentiality costs on top of that, and you're hemorrhaging tens of billions a day. Then there's the specialized containment facility that requires periodic—"
In short, the children were burning through hundreds of billions every month.
And yet, rather than simply refusing to pay out, they followed the company's internal systems to the letter — which, honestly, made it feel all the more real that I was inside a comic.
'Right. This is a fake dystopia.'
A real dystopia is when someone like the CFO does nothing of substance but is obscenely greedy about it.
Watching a competent system efficiently suppress and control the masses — there was something almost impressive about it.
The CFO then apologized for letting the conversation drift and handed me a business card.
[ Black Cell. ]
[ CFO Park Tae-seong ]
"We'll be seeing a lot of each other from here on — please, speak freely."
"I appreciate the consideration, Director Park."
He was making it clear he wasn't an enemy — simply an ally.
I was thinking he was the consummate businessman, genuinely easy to deal with, when he apparently decided the time was right and revealed the real reason he'd called me in.
"I heard you'll be heading to the Hero Academy shortly, Mr. Maxwell."
"I expect to go just before the academy's summer break."
"Hmm… So you'll be delivering the sponsorship funds at the end-of-term ceremony."
Director Park rose from his seat and retrieved a briefcase.
He opened it and showed me the contents directly.
Inside were a considerable number of crisp cards.
I could immediately tell what they were for.
[ Black Cell Special 50% Discount Voucher ]
[ Black Group Products 30% Discount Voucher ]
"Discount coupons?"
"Ha ha ha, calling them that so casually — I suppose that's perfectly fine."
"But the reason you're showing these to me is…?"
"To be absolutely clear, this is not a request to go out and do sales."
The CFO made the bold decision to hand me the entire briefcase of discount coupons and give me full discretion over them.
"Are you sure that's all right?"
"You'll be the one going out publicly the most, so it makes no difference."
He followed that with a smile that said, 'You know what to do with these,' and just like that, I'd acquired a wild card for making a better impression on the heroes.
Director Park also offered several cautions and tips.
"For starters, it would be best to give roughly half of these to the academy's dean."
"Perfect for making a show of generosity. And since they'll handle distribution from there, it takes the burden off me as well."
It would even create a situation where the dean owed me a favor.
And the students would naturally benefit in turn.
"If anyone ever claims you're showing favoritism toward certain heroes, this gesture will serve as your shield."
This man was genuinely capable.
Clearly wanting to strengthen our alliance further, he then shared something quite significant.
"It seems the head of Black Group sent someone to you, Mr. Maxwell. Could you give me a rough account of what happened?"
"Fortunately, it was nothing more than a probe."
"That's a relief, then. However — because of the chairman's actions, other subsidiaries within Black Group have their eyes on you. Including, I'm afraid… some individuals who are rather difficult to speak of openly."
So Nathan's other children might come looking for me as well?
I'd only been exposed to capable people through the Director, but there were plenty of insufferably arrogant figures within Black Group.
The thought of enormous pieces of garbage heading my way drew an involuntary sigh from me.
"This is… quite unsettling."
"Even so, you're within Chairman Nathan's line of sight, Mr. Maxwell, so they won't be able to move against you easily. And with Director Eileen there as well, even less so."
The chairman was a sociopath, much like the Director — he didn't particularly care what his children got up to. But anyone who wasn't useful to the group got treated worse than an animal.
Since I was responsible for the group's future, Director Park's advice was that they'd treat me almost like the eldest son of the family.
And with that, we were able to solidify our alliance.
***************
Yoon Carter, Security Director, who commanded Black Cell's military force.
Cain Kreuz, Chief Researcher, who oversaw the underground research complex.
And finally, Park Tae-seong, CFO — as good as a financial backer and patron.
The people whose business cards I'd received were quite the distinguished lineup.
So I'd finally gotten myself somewhat established.
But the fact that there was still an absurdly long road ahead suddenly made my chest feel tight.
'Even so, the time limit keeps ticking.'
Right now, the test subjects weren't particularly needed due to the most critical research phase.
But just in case, Black Cell was still continuously bringing in test subjects.
Some of the senior researchers were even running their previous experiments in parallel.
So the bodies kept piling up — just at a reduced rate.
And now there was a new threat on top of everything else.
"To think we actually have to stay inside Black Cell now…"
"And they confiscated our phones too! Aren't you uncomfortable, Senior Maxwell?!"
"But there's nothing we can do about it."
The information about the Awakening Factor discovered within Black Cell could leak to outside parties through a whistleblower.
Since I was practically living here for the children's sake, it didn't particularly affect me.
But the other researchers had to endure what amounted to confinement, all to guard against external threats.
Of course, such heavy-handed suppression was bound to breed serious resentment.
"Everyone doing all right?"
"…………"
But there was no one foolish enough to defy the Director when she came out of her inspection rounds.
After that, everyone maintained their silence as time continued to pass.
Wriggle wriggle wriggle!!
Thwack!! Thwack thwack!!
"Eeeeek!!"
"Grrrrrr!!!"
"H— hey, you two?"
I kept arranging three-way meetings between the children.
Liberty and Victory, still climbing all over me, were kicking at each other.
Gloria watched the two of them with an expression of pure exasperation.
But it was clear they'd fully adjusted to each other by now.
When I relayed this to the Director, she was delighted and made a proposal.
"You probably already knew, but I'm planning to make a sponsorship timed to the academy's summer break. How about taking Victory along?"
"Victory, you say?"
The Director had always intended to put the children to use.
So she was probably looking to test Victory first — the one who communicated best.
And a mental shackle is incomparably stronger than a physical one.
The Director seemed confident that Victory wouldn't run, precisely because of the shackle that was me.
There were clearly plenty of other reasons I couldn't quite identify.
But if we were going to live together, the children needed to see the outside world at some point.
The question was what Victory thought about it.
On top of that, she had multiple personalities, which meant far too many variables.
"Ninety-nine percent of your worries are things that will never happen, so don't fret."
"…You've been placing a great deal of trust in me lately, Director."
"That just means you're that capable. So — what do you think?"
"Let me hear Victory's thoughts first, then we'll decide."
And just like that, an outing plan with Victory was set, sudden as it was.
What would she think of it?
The academy's end-of-term ceremony wasn't far off, so I asked Victory right away.
But rather than being happy, she was deeply flustered.
"Vi— Victory is… Victory is…"
Fear carved itself into Victory's red eyes.
I didn't know the specifics, but being a mutant, she almost certainly carried a painful past.
'Perhaps for the children… Black Cell was nothing less than a shelter — something that kept the outside threats at bay.'
Even Gloria, who had endured agonizing experiments inside Black Cell.
She hadn't tried to escape even when the opportunity arose.
She even had the intellect of an adult — so why had she made that choice?
The most likely answer was that she'd judged this place to be better than the outside world.
But that had to change now.
If the world was still too harsh for these children.
Then I would simply stand in front of that wave until it subsided.
At last, I left the confused Victory alone.
I stepped outside the containment room.
But I kept the door open, and without a word, I extended my arm toward her.
Had she understood what the gesture meant?
Victory looked back and forth between the inside of the containment room and me.
Behind her, a bed sat forlornly in the empty, darkened cell.
Ahead, the corridor's soft lighting framed me with my hand outstretched.
Watching Victory stand there, not knowing what to do — it was genuinely heartbreaking. But this was a choice she had to make for herself.
And so time passed, slowly, in silence and stillness.
Countless personalities must have been clashing inside her — Victory broke into a cold sweat, and eventually sank to the floor, clutching her head.
Even so, perhaps the time we'd spent together until now had given her enough courage.
Victory squeezed her eyes shut, then unsteadily pulled herself to her feet.
The small, scarred white rabbit finally stepped out of her nest.
And threw her tiny body into my arms.