Chick 315
by Cristae315
“He had a lover.”
The words, uttered as if they were nothing, left On Suhyeong’s face momentarily blank.
“She’s the mother of Groo. She and hyung—On Ijo—had a child.”
He spoke deliberately, trying to stay calm, not wanting his father to be too shocked.
“…Are you playing some kind of joke?”
Joorim let out a bitter laugh.
He knew his father understood this was no joke.
It was simply too unbelievable, so On Suhyeong found himself questioning it without meaning to.
That’s why his voice was trembling at the end.
“A lover? Ijo had a lover?”
“Chloe Han. She was a researcher for Project Wilderness.”
“My God.”
On Suhyeong clamped a shaking hand over his mouth.
“If you’re lying to me, don’t think of showing your face again.”
He winced in pain, unable to believe it.
“So please, don’t say it’s a lie. Please.”
At that, Joorim pulled an envelope from his coat and handed it over.
On Suhyeong looked through the documents and shut his eyes tight.
A report confirming with 99.9% probability that On Groo was On Ijo’s biological child.
A metallic rasp escaped his lips.
“So Groo…”
He stared blankly at the monument engraved with On Ijo’s name.
“So it’s true. It’s true.”
“…”
“How much must Ijo have loved her…”
Hot tears streamed from On Suhyeong’s eyes.
While Groo played in front of the memorial, she wandered into the exhibition hall.
Inside, it was dim and silent, with a large hologram at the center.
A repeatedly looping projection depicted On Ijo using his skills.
Thump thump.
When she saw the small monsters forming in his hands, Groo’s heart began to pound.
He seemed so amazed at what he was doing that even the holographic On Ijo burst into a wide smile.
‘Uncle makes familiars too, just like me.’
From what Joorim had told her, On Ijo was a Maker-class, possessing godlike abilities to create anything in the world.
Flying archaeopteryxes, thundering dinosaurs—could he have created whatever Groo wished for?
If so,
How far could Groo go herself?
Groo spread her hands.
She didn’t know if it was her bloodline from On Ijo, or if it was because of the experiments her mother described, but—
Groo also had L-rank skills, as well as abilities as an S-rank Maker.
She had only made a tiny rabbit familiar so far, and couldn’t yet turn Bailach or Yulian into humans, but she’d managed to make a respectable S+.
She was constantly growing.
‘Can I be like Uncle, too?’
Would people someday say Groo had godlike abilities as well?
As she let her mind drift into a cloud of imagined possibilities,
‘Hm?’
She saw a goldfish’s fin.
‘Chuen unni’s goldfish?’
But just as she noticed it, goldfish began to cluster around her, conjured by magic.
“Um?”
What’s happening…?
Groo squirmed in confusion.
Footsteps sounded nearby.
‘I can’t see!’
Thinking it might be Joorim, Groo called out to him.
“Daddy?”
“…Yes.”
It wasn’t her father’s voice. It was softer, tinged with tears.
But it wasn’t unfamiliar.
In fact, it was a voice she’d heard somewhere recently.
“Yes. I’m your dad.”
Groo twisted her head among the goldfish.
Her heart thudded so loudly it might explode.
She tried to brush away the goldfish, her face turning bright red with effort, but they wouldn’t budge.
A tear hit the floor as the man smiled, lips trembling.
“It’s Daddy, Groo. Daddy.”
He repeated it, again and again, drawing her into an embrace.
As the goldfish vanished, Groo blinked.
Her uncle, presumed vanished along with the 100th floor, was now right in front of her.
‘Did I lose control of my powers again?’
Come to think of it, her controller had broken.
She thought of the photocard-style controller she used to wear around her neck.
Since it broke, her skills hadn’t gone off at random as before, but sometimes her emotions would still set them loose.
Could it be…?
‘Did I unconsciously create my uncle again…?’
Groo’s shoulders shook. Had she conjured this vision from longing?
So she believed.
But when she squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again, she froze.
The goldfish were gone, but the man before her remained.
He just stood there, a little distance away.
Like a mirage—his face identical to the hologram’s.
Groo swallowed hard.
The hologram of On Ijo smiled again.
The man before her smiled in exactly the same way, with dimples in the same place.
On Ijo had appeared.
[Subject: Rumor has it On Ijo appeared at the Memorial Park]
Is it for real?
[Comments]
- That’s BS
- As if
[Subject: On Ijo photo about to get deleted]
(Blurry photo supposedly of On Ijo at the memorial)
[Comments]
- It’s obviously photoshopped
- Just someone who looks like him
- Fact: On Joorim and On Suhyeong were also seen at the park + lookalike = nothing to see here
True fact: Once bitten, twice shy
- He looks even better than the real guy lol
Fact: The real deal is just handsome, period
[Subject: Is something big happening?]
Did On Ijo really show up?
[Comments]
- If he had, every broadcast would’ve stopped for a special report
Embargo, lol! Like there’s an embargo in your heads! If it were real, the media would’ve lost it
- My friend’s friend swears they saw him at the memorial (for real)
- So what’s On Ijo doing now, anyway?
[Subject: If you don’t know the On Ijo situation, come in—I’ll summarize]
Other day, On Joorim, On Suhyeong, and On Groo showed up at the On Ijo Memorial Park
It’s a tourist spot so a lot of foreigners took photos (so far, that’s confirmed fact)
A few foreign tourists even posted “evidence shots” claiming they saw On Ijo there
No idea why people in the 21st century use such junk phones, but the picture quality sucks
But the guy looked like On Ijo (board mods keep deleting the photos, it’s getting crazy)
People say, “there’s no way someone who looks like On Ijo would show up the exact same day his family’s there”—so that’s the theory
Now it’s a full-on flame war: Real On Ijo vs. Conspiracy Theory
Conclusion: For the day we really spot On Ijo, get yourself a good phone. End of summary.
[Comments]
- So that’s what the fuss was about
- Why would he just show up? The fact that it’s so blurry is already so obvious, lol, who even uses a camera like that nowadays
- UFOs are always caught on cameras like that too
What’s harder to spot, a UFO or On Ijo?
UFOs are real, man…
- Come on, if On Ijo really appeared, would Korea be this calm? LOL get real
Wouldn’t just Korea, but the whole world be going nuts? Conspiracy theorists are something else tsk tsk