Chapter 99: Acceleration (1)

Translator: Dreamscribe

The handmade candy he'd received from Kamijo Yuu. No, the Mind Break Grenade. Kang Jae-ha, having received it, gave a smile.

"Anyone who saw this would just think it was candy."

Maybe because she was a good cook, the candy Kamijo Yuu had made was high quality. Believable enough to pass for store-bought candy. Kamijo Yuu, the very person who had made the Mind Break Grenade, giggled.

"Thank you. I actually always liked making cookies and candy, but it'd been so long I was worried I'd mess it up. It turned out better than I expected, though."

An A-class Japanese actress made a Mind Break Grenade and then wore a bashful smile. Anyone who knew the truth would gape in disbelief. Anyway, Kang Jae-ha looked down at the yellow-tinted handmade candy and let out a low murmur.

Because a certain thought had suddenly struck him.

"Now that I think about it, Kamijo Yuu, you could've wiped out the entire Mercenary Corps if you'd wanted to. You were the Corps' personal cook, after all."

"Huh? Ah! Yes! I definitely could've...huh?! No! There's no way I'd ever do something that insane!"

"I'm just saying, hypothetically."

"No, no, you shouldn't even joke about that!"

"All right, all right, I get it."

Kang Jae-ha brushed it off casually, but in reality Kamijo Yuu really could have annihilated the Mercenary Corps. The outcome would've been closer to brain death than actual death, but the result wasn't all that different.

'Even without physical prowess or killing skills, looking purely at 'Ability', Kamijo Yuu was, in offensive terms, the most exceptional of all my subordinates.'

Had Kang Jae-ha known Kamijo Yuu's 'Ability' back then, she'd have been assigned to combat forces without question, not the kitchen. Then Kamijo Yuu spoke up, though it clearly took effort.

"Honestly, I kind of hate my 'Ability'. I really do love cooking."

"Nothing you can do about it, you just have to accept it. As long as you don't use your 'Ability', there's no problem."

"That's true."

"And these candies are all infused with your 'Ability', right."

"Yes! Eat one and your mind gets destroyed."

"Something like brain death, I'd guess."

"Pretty much."

While Kang Jae-ha was nodding along, Cha Chung-hyeon, who had been feigning disinterest a good distance away, wandered over. Spotting the candy in the Commander's hand, he licked his lips. Drowsiness was Cha Chung-hyeon's default state, so he always kept candy or jelly in his mouth.

"Uh, Commander, give me a candy too."

Kang Jae-ha smirked and handed the yellow candy in his hand to Cha Chung-hyeon. Ha Yeon-ji stifled a laugh and Kamijo Yuu jolted in alarm. Cha Chung-hyeon, unaware of any of this, tore open the wrapper on the handmade candy.

"Cha Chung-hyeon, if you eat that,"

Kang Jae-ha warned in a low voice.

"that genius brain you're always bragging about is going to get blown to bits."

"Huh? How's a piece of candy gonna blow my brain up? You know how many bags of candy and jelly I go through in a single day-"

Cha Chung-hyeon trailed off, and then it clicked in an instant.

"Wait. Don't tell me?"

Kamijo Yuu's 'Ability' had come to mind. Cha Chung-hyeon promptly held up the unwrapped candy to Yuu. His fingertips trembled slightly.

"I-is this that thing?"

It was Korean, but Yuu, who had understood him perfectly, nodded.

"...Mm. It is."

Cha Chung-hyeon immediately shoved the candy right up in front of Kang Jae-ha.

"Commander-nim. Please spare me."

"Give it here."

"If it was that terrifying a candy, you should've told me beforehand. Scared the crap out of me."

Kang Jae-ha lifted the corner of his mouth, and a sudden curiosity welled up in him. What would this candy taste like? Jae-ha immediately flicked the yellow candy in his hand lightly into his mouth. Cha Chung-hyeon, of course, but also Ha Yeon-ji and Kamijo Yuu, went wide-eyed in horror.

"Ah!!"

"Commander!!"

"Commander-nim!"

Kang Jae-ha rolled the candy around in his mouth, and his reply was brief.

"Tasty."

He'd eaten the Mind Break Grenade, but nothing happened to Kang Jae-ha. He just went on sucking the candy. Of course. No 'Ability' worked on him whatsoever. His subordinates realized this only belatedly.

"..."

"..."

The subordinates watching their Commander suck on the candy in silence actually got chills. Kamijo Yuu kept worrying about Jae-ha.

'I-is he really okay?? My heart nearly burst when he just popped that candy in his mouth!! There's no predicting this man at all.'

Ha Yeon-ji and Cha Chung-hyeon were dumbfounded.

'Crazy bastard. The Commander is definitely a crazy bastard. Even if no 'Ability' works on him, to swallow that terrifying thing in one go...'

'A monster of a man. Then again, this guy did tear into a Demonic Beast's flesh and eat it.'

Kang Jae-ha, on the other hand, crunched down on the Mind Break Grenade, chewing it up like it was nothing, and gave his subordinates their orders offhandedly.

"Let's go, I'm hungry. Let's eat first. How about pork cutlets."

A few hours later.

Kang Jae-ha, his face changed, and Kamijo Yuu arrived at Shiori Production, the company producing 'Spring at the Borderline'.

Cha Chung-hyeon and Ha Yeon-ji stayed on standby at the lodging.

The one who greeted Jae-ha and Yuu was the Head of Production, Ogawa Sayaka. Kang Jae-ha was familiar with her, but for Sayaka, who owed Jae-ha a debt over the Towase Rino affair, this was the first time seeing Kang Jae-ha wearing a mask.

Perhaps because she was busy, Sayaka was even more gaunt than before, and she first exchanged greetings with Kamijo Yuu.

"Kamijo Yuu-ssi, I'm Ogawa Sayaka, the one who contacted you. We actually met a very long time ago at the Tokyo International Film Festival. I wonder if you'd remember."

Yuu took the hand Sayaka extended and expressed her apologies.

"I'm sorry. If it was back when I went to the Tokyo International Film Festival, that's just too long ago."

"It's all right. I heard you've been resting lately due to health reasons. How are you doing?"

"I've fully recovered. My condition is better than it's ever been."

"That's a relief."

After asking after her well-being for a bit, Sayaka brought up Kang Jae-ha.

"By the way, what sort of connection do you have with Manager Kang Jae-ha?"

Even though Kang Jae-ha was right beside her, Kamijo Yuu played dumb and delivered the line the Commander had given her in advance.

"I nearly made my debut in Korea once. I met him a few times back then."

"I see. Manager Kang Jae-ha seems to think quite highly of you, Kamijo Yuu-ssi."

Even as she spoke, Sayaka stole a glance at the cold-eyed man. Looking at this man who was Kang Jae-ha and yet not Kang Jae-ha, Sayaka thought.

'The fact that he came with Kamijo Yuu means...is he someone from her agency, Mirai Stage? But Mirai Stage must be in chaos right now.'

She asked the masked Jae-ha.

"And you are?"

Kang Jae-ha, a faint smile playing on his lips, answered vaguely.

"I'm not with Mirai Stage. You can just think of me as someone temporarily handling Kamijo Yuu-ssi's affairs."

"Ah."

Naturally, it never occurred to Ogawa Sayaka that Kang Jae-ha was Kang Jae-ha.

'This person has a rather chilly air about him.'

On top of that, she hadn't the faintest idea he was Korean. Jae-ha's Japanese was that of a native, plain and simple. That Kang Jae-ha said to Sayaka,

"You can get to the point."

"Yes."

Sayaka nodded and turned her gaze to Yuu.

"Kamijo Yuu-ssi. As I briefly mentioned over the phone, I'd like to extend a casting offer for the project we're currently preparing, 'Spring at the Borderline'."

"I'm sorry, but due to circumstances, if you do join us, Kamijo Yuu-ssi, things will move a bit more urgently for you than for the other actors. Would that be all right?"

"Yes! It's no problem for me."

"Understood. Then let me see a bit of your acting, Kamijo Yuu-ssi, if I may keep it simple."

Having finished talking, Sayaka guided Kang Jae-ha and Yuu to a different conference room. Several executives from Shiori Production were seated there, and Sayaka took a seat as well before requesting Free Acting from Yuu.

"So then, if you would."

Kamijo Yuu nodded, took a small deep breath, and stole a glance at the masked Commander. It was a look for the sake of mind control. Kang Jae-ha didn't say anything in particular to her. He simply spoke with his eyes.

"..."

Cut loose to your heart's content.

At this, Kamijo Yuu steadied herself.

'It's okay, my acting is going well, no trouble there. And the Commander-nim is right beside me.'

The people from Shiori Production, Sayaka included, on the other hand, harbored a slight distrust toward Yuu. They had investigated Kamijo Yuu and confirmed a fair few facts, and they'd heard some rumors.

'That incident where she handed back a role because she couldn't pull off the acting. I wonder how she is now.'

'Kamijo Yuu's public recognition is fine. But whether it's mental issues or whatever, she's been on a long break. No matter how urgently we need to fill a hole in the cast, we can't use an actress who can't act.'

Sayaka was curious.

'Why would that exceptional Manager Kang Jae-ha recommend Kamijo Yuu? Whether it's recognition or filmography, she's still A-class for now, but looking at roughly the past year of her track record, she's walking the road to washed-up.'

At that moment.

-Swish.

Kamijo Yuu, all expression wiped from her face, looked at the people of Shiori Production and opened her mouth.

"You know? Today, again, I pretended nothing was wrong."

She had begun her Free Acting monologue.

"Pretending to be fine, pretending it was all familiar, pretending this much was nothing at all. Does my smile look real to you? It isn't. More than anything else, it's a lie."

A faint breath of a smile drifted across Yuu's expressionless face.

"Maybe I'm a far weaker person than I ever thought I was."

At this line, the people of Shiori Production were startled.

"!!!"

Ogawa Sayaka's eyes, in particular, went the widest of all.

'The emotion is restrained, calm. And yet there's a sense of light and shade to it. Her diction is impeccable, needless to say. Above all, her gaze, her expression, it's gripping. Somehow...it seems very different from her past acting. Instead of hiding away, was she training her craft??'

For about five minutes, Sayaka took in Yuu's acting like that. Sayaka's conclusion came faster than ever.

'She's several times better than Towase Rino. No, going by acting alone, she's on a completely different level, isn't she?'

Yuu, having finished the Free Acting, recovered her real smile.

"That's all from me."

Soon the people of Shiori Production began murmuring among themselves, and Kamijo Yuu, letting out a light breath, sat down demurely beside Kang Jae-ha and whispered.

"How was it? Did I do well?"

Kang Jae-ha nodded simply.

"Yeah, you did well."

"This just came to me, but I think the thing that made me happiest was cooking and having you, Commander, tell me it was delicious."

"Kamijo Yuu-ssi, your acting was wonderful. Please be sure to show us that in 'Spring at the Borderline'."

It meant Kamijo Yuu had landed the role.

Early afternoon or so.

Kamijo Yuu, now officially joined to 'Spring at the Borderline', and Kang Jae-ha got out of a taxi. The location was in front of a mansion apartment that looked to be over twenty floors, a little ways from Tokyo Station.

It was Yuu's home.

They'd stopped by Yuu's place for a moment because she had something to pick up. Kamijo Yuu said to Kang Jae-ha, who had taken out his phone.

"I'll be right back out."

Kang Jae-ha, still wearing the mask, nodded.

"Take your time, I'll be here."

"Okay, okay."

Kamijo Yuu headed for 'Unit 1402', where she had nearly made a drastic choice, while Jae-ha started going through the pile of messages he'd accumulated over near the mansion's entrance.

Around this time, across the street, a man seated by the window on the second floor of a café, with a clear view of Yuu's mansion, stood out.

He had been watching Kamijo Yuu from the moment she got out of the taxi.

"...Hm."

The man standing at the mansion's entrance. That is, he'd been keeping a close eye on the face-changed Kang Jae-ha.

"What's with that bastard."

By the feel of it, he seemed to have been waiting for Kamijo Yuu from the start. Soon the man started snapping photos of Jae-ha with his phone. Then he pulled out a palm-sized notebook. Jotting something down, he muttered quietly to himself.

"Kamijo Yuu, out of sight for a while, then suddenly shows up with some guy I've never seen before-"

He lifted his eyes from the notebook and raised his head again. But then.

"Huh!"

The man flinched. The reason was simple. The Kang Jae-ha who'd been in view was gone. What the hell? he thought, and quickly scanned his surroundings.

At that moment, low-toned Japanese sounded from behind him.

"Sato Shota."

The man, who'd been looking all around, flinched. His own name had come out of nowhere. As he slowly turned his head, his eyes suddenly went wide. It was because of the cold-eyed man standing close by.

The man was the masked Kang Jae-ha, who had been standing in front of the mansion's entrance.

-Swish.

Jae-ha, sitting down without a care in the seat beside the wide-eyed man, asked him quietly. In Japanese, naturally.

"Sato Shota, have you been watching Kamijo Yuu? As a fellow Mercenary Corps member."

"...!"

In that instant, the thoughts of the man called 'Sato Shota' came to a halt.

*****

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