Surviving Among the Letters

Clap, clap, clap!

As I stepped out of the room, Director Messier greeted me with applause.

“So, you’ve succeeded in unlocking your ability. How does it feel?”

“I feel like I’m finally at the starting line.”

“Indeed. But the road ahead is still long if you want to save Remy.”

Wait… Did I just hear something strange?

“Remy is currently at FutureIce. You can visit her whenever you want. There’s a private plane ready, so just let us know when you’d like to go.”

It wasn’t my imagination.

“You’re calling her by her name now?”

This man, who had always referred to us as “Subject 13” or “Subject 14,” was now using a name.

“Of course, you’ve proven your worth. The deal is sealed. I’m counting on you.”

“Yes, Director.”

The director extended his hand for a handshake, and I accepted it.

Still, I was utterly exhausted.

No matter how much mental fortitude or drugs I relied on, this twelve-year-old body of mine wasn’t built to endure such grueling tasks.

“There’s nothing urgent now, is there? I’d like to rest.”

“There’s plenty of work to be done, but you can handle it after you’ve rested. None of it is time-sensitive.”

“Then… Haaah…”

I made my way to a chair in the corner of the lab and sat down.

Reclining the backrest, I lay down comfortably.

Ever since that day, I hadn’t returned to the dormitory, opting instead to sleep here every night.

I pulled a blanket over myself, turned off the lab lights, and quietly drifted off to sleep.

◆◇◆◇◆

Side: Messier Atreia

“Mmm… Mmm…”

Once I confirmed that Blanco was asleep, I left the lab.

Deputy Han approached me as I exited.

“It worked.”

“Did you think it wouldn’t?”

“I thought, even if it worked, it would be at a minimal level. You know, like having abilities but ones that are utterly useless. But what Blanco demonstrated was on a completely different level—black and white energy, or waves? Whatever it was, anyone could see it as an extraordinary power.”

Indeed, it looked like an extraordinary power to anyone watching.

But in truth, it was an ability derived from martial arts enlightenment, achieved through unconventional means.

Even I didn’t fully understand the scope of it.

After all, I wasn’t an expert in martial arts.

“So, Director, this experiment of yours has indeed created a new ability, right? But…”

“It’s ability creation, yes. But it’s not meaningful. The method relies far too heavily on talent.”

“I figured as much.”

It sounded easy in theory: extract enlightenment from those ten lines of poetry.

But how many martial artists had failed to grasp enlightenment and been left in despair because of it?

How many had stagnated, unable to progress to the next stage?

And this wasn’t limited to martial arts in China’s wuxia tradition.

Even knights from the Night Sky Order or mages from the EU Mage Tower had their own domains of enlightenment.

Many psychics had also claimed to achieve enlightenment as their abilities evolved.

Yet this child, Blanco, had done it effortlessly.

At the age of twelve.

With no accumulated experience.

And within less than a month, they had grasped enlightenment purely through their own mental efforts.

Could others replicate this feat?

“What we’re pursuing is entirely different. We can use it for reference, but direct application will be nearly impossible.”

“Understood. I’ll stay here and wait until Blanco wakes up.”

“When they wake, send them to my office.”

“Yes, Director.”

◆◇◆◇◆

Side: Blanco

I must have slept for a long time because I woke up naturally.

Pulling stray strands of hair from my mouth, I got off the chair and turned on the lab lights.

“Is anyone here?”

I peeked out into the hallway.

There, I saw Deputy Han, sitting with her head down, dozing off.

Smoothing my hair with my hands, I walked over to wake her up.

“Deputy Han.”

“…”

As expected, words alone wouldn’t wake her.

I shook her gently and called out again.

“Ari! Wake up!”

“Huh? Oh, oh… I’m up…”

“I’m awake now.”

“Oh, good… Haaah…”

Stretching and yawning, she stood up.

“The director wants to see you in his office.”

“Did you wait here just to tell me that?”

“Well, sort of. I was doing other work in between.”

She glanced at her wristwatch.

“Six o’clock… Is it six in the morning?”

She pulled out her phone to check the time.

“Yep, it’s morning. Well… Guess I’ll take a day off today. Haaah…”

With that, Deputy Han left, presumably heading to the researchers’ dormitory.

After watching her leave, I turned and headed to the director’s office.

◆◇◆◇◆

Knock, knock!

“Come in.”

I opened the door and sat on the sofa inside the director’s office.

Director Messier rose from his desk and walked to the coffee pot.

“Want some coffee?”

“Do you have latte?”

“Hmm… Let me check.”

The director opened the fridge to look for milk.

“Nope, none. Anything else?”

“Never mind, then.”

Closing the fridge, he returned to the coffee pot, made a cup for himself, and sat across from me.

Taking a sip, he began to speak.

“The deal is settled. You’ve proven your worth.”

“Shall I recap? First, turning Remy into a cryogenic subject.”

“That’s already done.”

“Then the deal boils down to one sentence. Could you hand me some paper?”

Messier handed me a piece of paper and a pen.

I wrote:

[Blanco will wholeheartedly assist Messier in his ability creation experiment. In return, Messier will implant regenerative abilities in Remy upon the experiment’s success.]

“Does this work?”

“You didn’t need to write it down. We could have made a magical contract.”

“Ah.”

I realized I was still somewhat anchored to mundane methods. Magical contracts hadn’t even crossed my mind.

“It’s fine. This works, too. But honestly, our relationship isn’t one that needs contracts, is it?”

“True.”

After all, Messier could break the deal anytime. He could use me and discard me once I was no longer useful.

This arrangement was based purely on mutual trust.

“Now that that’s settled, let’s move on to some practical matters.”

“Practical matters?”

“Yes. First, your name.”

“?”

“Blanco isn’t your real name, is it?”

“Ah.”

Surely, even this body must have been given a name at some point.

If I wanted to know it, I could probably find it easily enough.

But so far, I’ve been using the name Blanco—the one Remy gave me—and I intend to continue using it.

“If you’re going to keep living with that name, you’ll need a new identity.”

“Yes, please take care of it.”

“Would it bother you if I took you in as my adopted daughter?”

“…What?”

“Why are you so surprised? It’s much easier to register you under me than to create an entirely new identity from scratch. It’s not like we’ll only meet a couple of times.”

When I thought about it, it wasn’t a bad idea.

A 12-year-old assisting the director’s research seemed odd, but an adopted daughter helping her father’s research? That sounded much more reasonable.

And at least if we were registered under the same household, he wouldn’t be able to simply discard me.

“Let’s do that, then.”

“Blanco Atreia. Is that name good enough for you?”

“Yes, it’s perfect.”

“The adoption process will take about a week. Officially registering a test subject as my daughter will require some… creative adjustments.”

“Not like anyone would believe it otherwise.”

“Haha! True enough. Now, onto the second issue—your ability.”

My ability?

Was there a problem with it?

Something I shouldn’t reveal to others, perhaps?

“What name should we give your ability?”

…Why was I so tense? That was a silly thing to worry about.

“Don’t look at me like that. This isn’t a pre-existing ability, is it? It doesn’t even seem to have anything similar to compare it to.”

“Nothing similar at all?”

“No. Because of its color.”

“Its… color?”

“Energy, or waves—whatever you want to call it. It’s identical in every aspect except for its color. That’s unheard of.”

“And how does that relate to its name?”

“It means we get to name it ourselves! Do you know how valuable that is?”

The director moved closer, setting the stage for his dramatic explanation.

“The name of a superpower is permanent. Do you know what that means?”

“Not really…”

“If the first person to name it picks something terrible, that name sticks forever! Do you want your power to be called something like Ai Quoc?”

The director slammed his hand on the desk, nearly spilling his coffee, and launched into an impassioned rant.

“Take Ho Chi Minh, for example! He had an extraordinary ability to absorb and release physical energy. He used it to defeat the French army and secure independence—an incredible feat! But why on earth would you name that ability Ai Quoc after his pseudonym?”

“…His pseudonym was Ai Quoc?”

“Yes! Should we just be grateful they didn’t use his real name?”

“What was his real name?”

“Nguyen Sinh Cung.”

“…”

Is this… borderline offensive to Vietnam?

“It’s not about mocking Vietnam!”

How did he read my thoughts?!

“Superpower names should be straightforward and cool. Something like Flight if it lets you fly, or Invisibility if it makes you invisible. It should also translate easily into other languages. Or something stylish like One for All. That has no direct meaning, but it’s undeniably cool.”

“…”

“Alright, I got carried away. It’s just… reading research papers with terrible names makes my blood boil. So, have you thought of a name?”

“I’ve just been calling it Black and White for now.”

“Black and White? Hmm, it’s straightforward, but it lacks flair.”

…Excuse me?

“You’re Spanish, right? What’s ‘Black and White’ in Spanish?”

“Uh… Negro y Blanco.”

“Too long. Plus, negro could be problematic. Any cooler words you can think of?”

I needed to calm him down quickly. Let’s just go with something simple and in English.

“Monochrome. Let’s call it Monochrome.”

“…I like it. Let’s stick with that.”

Finally, he seemed satisfied.

“Now, as for other matters…”

“Wait, isn’t the fact that I unlocked this ability through an experiment more important than the name?”

“We’re not making that public, are we?”

“Of course not.”

“Then everything’s settled. But I do have one last question for you.”

“What is it?”

It’s probably something trivial.

“Have you heard of the Star Cluster?”

The Star Cluster.

The name sounded familiar.

Think, brain.

Right—it’s the organization first introduced in Chapter 2.

The final boss, Luca Cortez, was part of it.

It’s through them that the Swordmaster, Cielo, learns about the protagonist.

Beyond that, the original story didn’t delve into it much.

I’d assumed it was just a group for the elite.

But was it more than that?

“Why the strange expression?”

“I’ve heard of it, but I don’t know much about it.”

“Haha! The fact that you’ve even heard of it puts you in the top 0.1%. That’s impressive.”

“…Huh?”

“Let me explain. The Star Cluster is an organization of those who challenge the impossible.”

[1. Pursue an impossible goal.]
[2. Possess the abilities necessary to take on that challenge.]
[3. Be willing to sacrifice everything to achieve it.]
[4. Assist one another, provided it doesn’t violate the above rules.]

“And I want to recruit you into the Star Cluster.”

Me?

In the Star Cluster?

An organization that includes the president of Avio Genesis and the Swordmaster of the Order?

“Me?”

“Yes. You have an impossible goal. You’re willing to sacrifice everything to save Remy. You’re a perfect fit.”

“But…”

“But what?”

“Saving Remy isn’t an impossible goal.”

If it were truly impossible, I would’ve let her go already.

We’d have had a beautiful farewell.

No… That’s not true.

I would’ve done everything I could to save her.

In any case, I don’t see it as impossible.

“It doesn’t matter. It aligns with my goals, so that makes it impossible enough. Will you join or not?”

“I’ll join.”

Connections are always good to have.

“Perfect!”

Why is he so excited?

The director hummed a tune as he pulled out his phone and made a call.

“Hey, old man! I’ve got a new recruit. Yes, the one I mentioned. Yeah, a kid. No, not just a kid—she’s 12.”

Suddenly, yelling erupted from the other end of the call.

[!#%!%!%!@$#^&&^%]

“Calm down! Just meet her first. We’ll be at Dongbaek Island tomorrow. Gather the others.”

[@#!%&!@%]

“Alright, I’m hanging up.”

The director hung up and pocketed his phone.

We locked eyes for a moment.

“…”

“…”

At first, he gave off the vibe of a mad scientist.

Lately, though, he feels more like a neighborhood uncle.

Sigh…