Chick SS13

The Chick Class Hunter Is Honoring Their Parents! Side Story 13

Gego composed herself with effort and got straight to the point.

“Hey, Groo. Mommy has somewhere to be for a little while, would you come with me?”

She absolutely had to take the child to the press conference hall before five o’clock in the afternoon.

“But Groo wants to go see Daddy. Right, Wooju?”

“That’s right, we have to greet Uncle and see the ‘Invincible Battleship.’”

What on earth was this ‘Invincible Battleship’ that had captivated the children so entirely?

Anyway, if Groo referred to someone as ‘Daddy,’ it could only be On Joorim.

There was no way she could meet On Joorim as things were now.

Gego checked the time anxiously on her phone, fidgeting nervously.

“Mommy is really busy, so what should I do? We’ll see Daddy later; we need to go now, or we’ll be late, okay?”

“Hmph.”

Groo pouted and narrowed her eyes.

What should she do? Locking eyes with Wooju in secret, the two exchanged a knowing look, and Wooju resolutely shook his head.

If they followed the fake mommy, something bad might happen, so their decision was clear: they needed to report the fake mommy to a trustworthy adult as soon as possible.

And that trustworthy adult could only be Joorim.

Groo fiddled with the watch on her wrist.

The fake mommy’s anxious fidgeting made it seem as if there really was something urgent going on.

But at the same time, it felt as though she was determined not to let Groo out of her grasp.

Why?

“Groo… please, just this once. We’ll be late if we don’t hurry. You don’t want to make everyone late because of you, do you?”

Groo stared steadily into her eyes.

“But, Mommy, why do I have to go?”

“Because Mommy doesn’t want to be away from you for even a moment, that’s why.”

“I see…”

Groo blinked slowly.

How could she prove that this wasn’t her real mother?

Wait—what if the fake mommy was just in disguise?

Groo raised her index finger and brought it to her mother’s left eye.

“Mommy, your green contact lens is crooked.”

“…!”

In that instant, Gego hurriedly covered her eyes and sprang to her feet.

An aghast Wooju gaped at Groo.

“It’s true!”

“She really is a fake mommy!”

She truly was a fake mommy!

They were right! Just as they’d suspected!

Thrilled that their guess had been proven correct, Groo and Wooju clenched their fists in excitement.

Immediately, Groo seized Wooju’s hand and tried to dash across the parking lot.

“So it was true—they really are clever.”

But they got no further. In moments, both children were dangling in Gego’s grasp, held aloft by her hands.

“Let us go!”

Wooju shouted, while Groo attempted to press the button on her wristwatch.

But then—

“I know all about that watch, too. But tell me, don’t you want to see your real mother?”

Groo’s hand froze in place.

“Your real mother is in prison…”

“Mommy’s been released. I was the one who got her out. Want me to prove it?”

Gego lifted Chloe’s phone and connected a call to Joorim.

—Chloe? How is Groo?

“She’s doing well,” replied Gego, putting a finger to her lips to signal the children.

“Just checking in to report. We’ll play a bit more and then I’ll bring her home. I’ll hang up now.”

—Ah, wait. I wanted to ask—

Beep—beep—beep.

Gego pressed the red button and ended the call immediately.

“See?”

“…”

“…”

Wooju and Groo sat quietly in the car, blinking in disbelief.

Their real mother was outside. And now, in the hands of a villain!

---

The car carrying the children sped along, silent and swift.

Its destination was the press conference venue, the country’s largest convention center.

“Is Mommy there?”

“Yes.”

While Gego answered Groo’s question, Wooju surreptitiously tried out his phone, but when he saw there was no signal, he sighed deeply.

Gego chuckled softly at the sight.

Wooju glared at her and asked,

“What do you want from us?”

“Such a bold little friend,” Gego replied, pulling chocolate bars from her coat and handing one to each child.

“We are Gego—a hacker organization created to reveal hidden truths to the world.”

“Hidden truths?”

Wooju rolled his eyes, clutching the chocolate bar absentmindedly.

If there was anything being hidden…

He glanced at Groo, who wore a strangely inscrutable expression.

…It was just that Groo was Fakeclaw, wasn’t it?

“You seem to have some idea, don’t you?”

“No, none at all.”

“Fair enough. I’d expect as much.”

Wooju tried his best to act nonchalant, but Gego, seated across from him, clearly didn’t care whether he was telling the truth or not.

He looked at Groo and spoke.

“We’re going to expose Project Wasteland—the one you participated in. People need to know, in detail, just how cruelly and inhumanely the government trampled on human rights in the name of benefiting the next generation.”

Even after capturing On Ijo, the US-Korean government had hidden him away for fear the related truths would come to light.

Gego had no intention of letting this pass.

The truth was power for those who held it, and their goal was to expose it and redistribute that power.

The smoothly moving car entered the underground parking lot of the convention center.

“It takes more than a few documents to shake up what has already passed. People want reality.”

Groo sniffed.

She didn’t understand a word of what he was saying.

Neither did Wooju. These were topics far too advanced for kindergarteners.

But what came next was perfectly clear.

“I want you to show proof, in front of the reporters, that you’re special.”

Groo blinked at her own raised finger, now pointing at herself.

“You’re the final, perfected subject of the experiment. The reincarnation of On Ijo.”

“…?”

“…?”

Groo’s mouth fell open.

“That’s why you were adopted by the On family, and call Dr. Chloe Han your mother. To you, as a test subject, Chloe Han must be like a mother. You’re the only successful case that’s managed to copy On Ijo’s abilities.”

Huh?

A giant question mark might as well have appeared above Groo’s head.

Wooju, trembling, looked at Groo, who flapped her head back and forth in denial.

She tried to protest, to shatter this huge misunderstanding, but Gego was already out of the car.

Left with no choice, the children followed Gego across the parking lot as he beckoned for them to come.

“Groo, you…”

“No, it’s not true.”

“Then why is that person acting like that?”

“I have no idea!”

Wooju, his face ashen, sighed so deeply it could have caved the ground in. Never in his life did he think he’d be kidnapped by such a lunatic.

Watching Gego for any reaction, Wooju leaned in and whispered in Groo’s ear.

“Anyway… you really are special, aren’t you?”

“Mhm!”

Groo raised her eyebrows and nodded.

Wooju was right—she was special. After all, Groo was an S-class Hunter!

“…What are you going to do?”

At Wooju’s hesitant question, Groo grinned broadly.

“If they want to see it, I’ll show them.”

“You’re really going to do what that crazy old man says?”

Even though it would mean revealing that she was Fakeclaw?

“Crazy old man, huh…”

Gego, overhearing due to Wooju’s raised voice, turned back toward the children.

Just then, the elevator arrived.

Ding—

The elevator doors opened. Inside stood a boy with black hair, upright and still.

As he lifted his gaze, stars seemed to twinkle in his pupils.

When his mouth slowly opened, his teeth—sharp as a shark’s—were revealed.

His mouth, opening ever wider toward Gego’s back, looked bizarrely huge.

Wooju’s eyes quivered.

Sensing something wrong, Gego turned around.

Chomp!

Gego was swallowed whole in a single bite.

Bailach licked his lips and wiped his mouth.

“He, he ate him!”

Wooju shouted, and Bailach frowned in annoyance at the noise.

“I’ve only put him in my stomach for now.”

“Well done, Baii.”