Chapter 143. Where I Belong (3)
Yukgap followed No. 11 for a long time.
Eventually, they arrived at an unfamiliar corridor.
It was an area he had never once entered during his time with Abraxas.
“Where is this?”
Yukgap looked around cautiously.
No. 11 answered calmly.
“You could call this the place where Abraxas was born.”
Yukgap flinched without realizing it.
He did not know why.
Instinct alone was screaming that he should not go any farther.
“...”
“Go inside.”
Perhaps noticing his hesitation, No. 11 quietly urged him forward.
Yukgap shook his head, fear filling his face.
“I-I don’t want to.”
No. 11’s expression turned terrifying.
“Go!”
“If you enter, you’ll learn the truth about your real homeland!”
“Go inside!”
Overwhelmed by the pressure in his voice, Yukgap reluctantly stepped into the corridor.
Was the secret of the Archons really hidden here?
Was the truth about himself here too?
Fear and curiosity alternated through him.
Holding his breath, Yukgap slowly continued forward.
“This is...”
At the end of the corridor lay a vast room lined with enormous flasks.
As though entranced, Yukgap peered inside one of them.
“...What the hell is this?”
Floating inside were unidentified lumps that resembled human bodies but had never fully formed.
Some had only heads.
Some had heads and arms.
Some consisted only of upper bodies.
They looked as though human beings had been cut apart, crushed together, and thrown inside.
And every single one of them had one thing in common.
“That’s... me.”
They all had Yukgap’s face.
The only difference was that Yukgap possessed a complete body.
The things inside the flasks did not.
Each incomplete figure with his face floated silently with its eyes closed.
“To be precise, those are the failures created before you were completed.”
No. 11, who had followed him inside, explained calmly.
Yukgap could not understand what he was seeing.
“What does that mean?”
No. 11 quietly searched through his memories.
“Approximately thirteen years ago, Abraxas launched the Archon Project.”
“It was a plan to fuse humans with animals and create powerful chimera weapons.”
“More precisely, it was a project to create the Body of God.”
Yukgap could no longer endure it.
“What are those things?!”
“Explain that first!”
No. 11 ignored his outburst and continued.
“Abraxas contacted talented soldiers, assassins, intelligence agents, and covert operatives around the world.”
“And we made them an offer.”
No. 11 placed a hand against the cold surface of one of the flasks.
“In exchange for enormous compensation, they would provide us with their genetic information.”
“After their deaths, Abraxas would be free to use that genetic material however it wished.”
“What does that have to do with me?”
Yukgap demanded, breathing heavily.
No.
It can’t be.
The unease that had been crawling through him since he entered the corridor was becoming unbearable.
But Yukgap desperately rejected the conclusion forming in his mind.
No. 11 glanced at him and continued with perfect calm.
“Afterward, Abraxas spent a great deal of time searching for suitable candidates.”
“We collected genetic information one person at a time.”
“And among those people was a highly capable mercenary named Kim Changi.”
“What?”
The name Yukgap had believed to be his real identity left No. 11’s mouth.
He froze.
“Kim Changi was an excellent soldier.”
“He possessed exceptional judgment, a flexible and agile body, composure, and speed.”
“He had genetic traits extremely well suited to becoming an Archon.”
No. 11 continued without emotion.
“Abraxas approached Kim Changi.”
“In exchange for providing enormous compensation to his family, he agreed to provide his genetic information.”
“Later, Kim Changi was shot and killed during a mission.”
“His body was returned to his family.”
A memory flashed through Yukgap’s mind.
The grave in the cemetery.
[Grave of Kim Changi]
And his younger sister screaming at him.
What are you?
“N-No...”
Yukgap shook his head in terror.
He wanted someone, anyone, to tell him his conclusion was wrong.
No. 11 showed no mercy.
“After Kim Changi died, Abraxas acted according to the contract.”
“We used his genetic information to cultivate a cloned human.”
“Then we fused that clone with the abilities of a cheetah and created an exceptional assassin.”
“That can’t be true...”
Yukgap could only repeat the words in shock.
The more desperately he denied it, the more pitiful he looked.
No. 11 stared straight at him and clearly stated the truth Yukgap had been trying so desperately to reject.
“That clone is you, No. 6.”
“No!”
“That can’t beeeee!”
Yukgap’s scream echoed throughout the facility.
No. 11 looked down at him with a faintly mocking expression.
“You never had a hometown.”
“You never had a family to return to.”
Every word struck Yukgap like a sentence being passed down.
“Those things belonged only to the original Kim Changi.”
“From the very beginning, you were a chimera created in a cold laboratory with nothing of your own.”
“Aaaah...”
