GOOD DEAL

"General, may I ask something?" Walking down the long hallway leading to the detention section, Lieutenant Kang spoke up suddenly.

"Do you still want to know what the president said to Director Lee?" Anticipating the junior officer's question, General Kim replied while giving him a sidelong glance.

Lieutenant Kang remained silent, only nodding his head.

"To be honest, I have no idea." This response from General Kim took not only the lieutenant by surprise but also Ijin, who had been accompanying them all this time.

"But..."

"While I don't know what the president said to Director Lee, I suppose it wasn't something he liked." The ironic tone in General Kim's voice caused his escorts to smile faintly. For them, who had been mentally clashing with Director Lee's security agents, seeing his displeasure upon receiving that call was a kind of victory.

"If I may ask, General Kim, how did the president know when to call?" Suddenly, Ijin asked a question, catching everyone's attention.

Both General Kim and his escorts glanced briefly at the young man, making Lieutenant Kang tense. While they hadn't mentioned anything about the boy's presence in all this discussion so far, it now seemed they were considering whether he should remain here.

However, the general merely smiled faintly. "I called the president after leaving the interrogation room, before reaching my office. I didn't know if the president would call before or after speaking with Director Lee, but to our satisfaction, his call came at the perfect moment."

Everyone present mentally nodded at these words, as it was quite a spectacle to see how hard Director Lee had fought to gain custody of the captive boy, only for a call from the president to overturn everything he had achieved.

"And what did you tell the president to prevent Director Lee from getting his way?" Lieutenant Kang asked.

That question came just as they arrived in front of a closed door. On the other side was the boy in captivity.

"I simply told the president that this boy was more than just a young man... I told him that if the NIS were to take custody of the boy, not only the country's stability but the entire region would be compromised."

Giving an answer that surprised the two special forces members, one of General Kim's escorts opened the door.

They entered a small room measuring 3x3 meters, not too small but not too large. Inside was a twin-size bed, a small desk, and an old chair.

The only point of entry was the door that had just been opened, and ventilation was provided by a small window covered with sturdy bars.

This wasn't exactly a regular room; it was a containment room, a place much better than a cell but still designed to keep its occupant confined.

And inside this room, our protagonist sat casually on a small bed. His face no longer showed the slight arrogance from a few hours ago, nor was he as flippant with his words. His eyes lacked their previous vitality, the spark he had when mentioning deciphering part of the cryptic text message he had been given.

When the newcomers entered the small containment room, Robert glanced at them briefly, then his gaze turned to the small window looking outside.

Though he didn't say it aloud, it was evident that the news he had received a few hours ago had deeply affected him.

And who wouldn't be affected?

It was truly mind-boggling to be told that everything you knew—your parents, your friends, your entire life—had changed completely.

"Is it time to head to some research center and become a lab rat?" Despite his visible downturn, his sarcastic attitude hadn't been lost.

"Fortunately for you, young man, that won't happen, not if you behave. We won't harm you and you may even regain your freedom," General Kim seemed unfazed by the way the young man spoke, finding him much improved from his initial somber demeanor.

"Oh really?" the boy asked with a smirk. "So I can just walk out of here freely?"

"Haha, don't get ahead of yourself, kid," the general smiled. "You'll undergo a thorough investigation, one that doesn't involve scalpels or dissections. You'll adapt to your new reality and collaborate with us as much as possible... afterward, we'll see if it's possible for you to reintegrate into society."

This response caused Robert to furrow his brow, as if he was uncertain about what he was hearing. He said nothing, neither serious nor sarcastic; he simply stood there, as if analyzing the new information.

Lieutenant Kang, observing this, understood the boy's cautious attitude and General Kim's condescending demeanor. In the hypothetical scenario where they ended up stranded in another reality, it would be a blessing if they weren't used as experimental subjects. Even if that didn't happen, they wouldn't expect to receive better treatment than this, where they were offered freedom and the chance to reintegrate into everyday life.

This raised another question.

Why was General Kim being so accommodating this time?

Could the answer lie in the current situation and the abilities displayed by the boy?

That could be a possibility.

However, there must be something more that the lieutenant didn't know, something that both General Kim and Director Lee knew, something motivating them to fight.

Unbeknownst to him, the lieutenant was correct... there was indeed a greater reason to fight for custody of this boy.

"This... you know? Sounds too good to be true," Robert finally spoke. "I know I'm not in a position to demand anything, but could you tell me the truth about why I'm being treated so well?"

This question made both Lieutenant Kang and Ijin glance sideways at General Kim, even the military escorts appeared slightly curious.

General Kim merely smiled at this logical question. If he were in the boy's shoes, he wouldn't believe he'd be treated this well either.

"Looks like you're not an idiot, that's good," the general replied. "I could tell you that we're treating you well because you're a Korean citizen, or because we don't practice the same tactics as other countries, but that would be a lie."

General Kim walked over to the small table and placed one of the two folders he had been holding onto it.

"In this folder, there's information not only about your abilities shown during your interrogation but also about your own body, capabilities that you seem unaware of but will discover sooner or later. So I want you to work with us so we can harness those abilities while you learn to harness them yourself."

Both Robert, Lieutenant Kang, and Ijin looked at the folder on the small desk, trying to guess what the general was referring to on Earth.

"We'll give you ten minutes to read it and decide what to do. If you choose to help us, I promise to do what I can to ensure you live with dignity in this... reality. If you refuse, we'll have to resort to less friendly methods. Let's see how smart you are."

With these words, General Kim gestured for all his companions to leave the room.

When Robert was completely alone, he stood up from the bed, took a few calm steps, and picked up the folder, opening it and reading its contents. His eyes widened in surprise!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Is this true?!"

Outside the room, Lieutenant Kang exclaimed in surprise, his hands clutching the other folder that General Kim had brought. It wasn't just the lieutenant; the young man accompanying him also had a look of astonishment.

"Yes, it's true. We received that report from the military laboratory that analyzed the boy's samples," General Kim responded.

"But this isn't what we were given when we requested the lab results!" Lieutenant Kang protested with a slight tone of complaint.

When Robert was still unconscious, he was in a kind of isolation because he had been found amidst all those corpses, and it wasn't known if he had been exposed to any toxic substance. Even all members of the various squads were temporarily isolated because they had come into contact with beings that had never been seen on Earth before. However, it was soon determined that the soldiers were not affected and were released. Only Robert remained in isolation for some time longer, undergoing various medical exams.

"I know, Lieutenant, but what you received was what the researchers were allowed to report," the general replied. "However, I recommend you watch your tone, as I may be a friend of your father's, but right now we're inside military facilities."

"I-I'm very sorry, General!" Lieutenant Kang realized how he had spoken and bowed in apology. "It's just that this is truly surprising!"

"Don't worry, just remember not to let it happen again," the general spoke calmly. "And yes, this is surprising, which is why we kept it hidden."

The general shook his head at the way both the lieutenant and the young man reacted, as it wasn't far from his own reaction when he first learned about this.

During the nearly twelve hours that the boy was unconscious, scientists and medical researchers had conducted multiple experiments with his blood and tissues, discovering truly astonishing things. Initially, the lab tests showed values that were completely normal, as if it were the blood of an ordinary adult. However, when his blood was exposed to various chemical agents, they were completely neutralized.

The scientists viewed this with great curiosity, as it was something impossible to happen. Therefore, they began injecting various chemical substances into the blood sample to see what would happen. Just like the first time, all these substances were neutralized and eliminated.

With this success, the researchers didn't stop and started adding not only chemical substances but also harmful and deadly substances such as mercury, ammonia, strychnine, arsenic, sarin, tetrodotoxin, among others. However, the result was the same!

The researchers, ecstatic, didn't add more harmful substances but began using biological agents to see what the reaction would be. Microorganisms from the environment were used for experimentation, and they reacted violently, as if they had a life of their own, completely destroying them!

The researchers, surprised, decided to try more potent infectious agents, such as the bacteria causing syphilis, pneumonia, tuberculosis, and meningitis. But to their surprise, the blood reacted in the same way, quickly eliminating these pathogens without a trace!

They even asked the virology department of KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) to send several samples of different viruses such as HIV, hepatitis virus, Ebola virus, Marburg virus, among others. However, even these feared lethal infectious agents, which in another human could cause certain death, were completely eliminated!

It was madness.

Quickly, the scientists began preparing everything to genetically map the DNA sequence of this boy and thus be able to replicate these amazing effects, but something incredible happened. The blood, which until recently had destroyed and annihilated everything added to it, began to agglutinate, with the subsequent destruction of all its cellular elements!

This left all the scientists involved bewildered!

They quickly took blood samples from the boy, but these reacted in the same way when trying to undergo genetic analysis. It was as if the blood of this boy had its own consciousness and was trying to defend itself against the intrusion into its genetic secrets!

But this wasn't what surprised the researchers the most, or not.

By the time they tried to take blood samples for a third time, they couldn't get anything out anymore!

The boy's skin, which until recently had been as fragile as that of any human, now seemed like a hardened barrier that prevented needles from extracting blood. It was as if the boy's body knew what they wanted to do, so it reacted and protected itself by hardening the skin as if it were made of steel tissue!

This was something that defied all medical logic.

It was at this moment that Lieutenant Kang could understand why General Kim and Director Lee were fighting for custody of the boy. This dispute had nothing to do with the superhuman strength displayed, but with his very nature!

Accepting this truth, one could say that this boy was one of the most valuable assets South Korea had.

"Now I understand why you left the information for me to read... you want to build trust," Lieutenant Kang's words were accompanied by nods from General Kim and Ijin, who also grasped the fantastical implications of this information.

At this moment, the primary goal was to establish a sort of trust relationship, as Koreans were not the only nation capable of harboring this boy.

If we take the boy's words as true, Robert was not only a citizen of South Korea but also of the Russian Federation. If information about a subject who has crossed dimensions and possesses multiple extraordinary abilities in his body were to become known to spies from that country, it would cause complete chaos!

The Russians would not hesitate to make a scandal out of this, as the potential gains from the secrets of this boy are truly lucrative. Even though South Korea has the USA as military and strategic allies, Russia has alliances with China and India, powerful nations in terms of military power.

And perhaps it's an exaggeration to think that these countries would fight over a single subject about whom exact knowledge is lacking, but the boy's abilities alone would be enough for these countries to enter a new period of covert battles!

In this scenario, South Korea would be the only losing nation.

"General... this information is really delicate," Lieutenant Kang spoke. "Why have you shown it to me now when you initially hid it from me?"

The general looked at the lieutenant for a moment and smiled.

"Before, it wasn't necessary for you to know, Lieutenant. Now, however, it is," the general walked up to the lieutenant and stood in front of him, looked at him, and then glanced at Ijin. "This is your new mission: to maintain custody of this boy at all costs, train him to survive any eventuality, and try to integrate him into society. I believe this is something you're already familiar with."

Initially, Lieutenant Kang widened his eyes at the general's words, but in the next instant, he adopted a firm stance and raised his hand in a military salute.

"Understood, sir!"

Lieutenant Kang knew he couldn't argue, as he knew he owed the general. The custody of Ijin was something he could maintain thanks to General Kim's actions, who gave carte blanche so that the teenager's past and the mercenary group to which he belonged were not investigated.

There was no way the South Korean army would allow a former mercenary to roam the streets of Seoul, even if he were a Korean citizen. That's why Lieutenant Kang owed this to General Kim.

Just then, the door of the room opened, drawing everyone's attention. Robert, our protagonist, calmly walked out, showing a much better attitude than he had previously.

Now he seemed to have the confident demeanor he had shown in the interrogation room.

"Well, you didn't take long," General Kim spoke. "Tell us, what did you decide?"

Everyone looked at the boy, awaiting his response.

"Phew... man, do I have an alternative? Of course, I accept."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

(containment room, 8 minutes earlier)

"Man, this turned out much better than I thought."

Standing up while holding the folder containing information about his body, Robert wore a genuinely surprised expression. However, outwardly, he had a big smile.

"And here I thought all my acting wouldn't work, and I'd have to fight my way through all these soldiers and escape this place... lucky for me, everything turned out exactly as I planned," our protagonist mentally remarked to himself.

While pretending to carefully read the different sheets of paper to deceive the people monitoring him through the security cameras, his thoughts were entirely different.

From his 'collapse' in the forest to his capture by special forces, his backstory, his reactions—everything was something he had foreseen. Right from the start, even before they found him among all those corpses of those beasts, Robert had been planning every sequence of events up to now!

"Now, what's the next step to take?... I wonder what the hell that damn old man is thinking by giving me this 'gift' to help me do things better. Am I in a damn video game?"

As the boy continued to pretend to read the documents in his hands, he subtly looked forward, where he could see something that was only visible to his eyes.

Floating in front of him, a blue screen displayed some really strange text.

[Congratulations! You have completed the infiltration mission! You have earned +15 stat points! You have earned a reward! Do you accept the rewards?]