It wasn’t that he had major business at the center, but lately, he had been dropping by frequently on purpose.
It was to indirectly check the internal atmosphere of the center and Koo Hyukjun’s recent status.
Of course, there was also the purpose of stopping by his private room to leave a record that he had used pseudo-guiding drugs and machinery.
Stepping out on the first floor above ground, Lee Dohoon leisurely strolled through the lobby.
The interior of the center was exceptionally bustling in preparation for the upcoming founding anniversary event.
In fact, Lee Dohoon, much like Han Jihyuk, didn’t feel very positive about hosting a founding anniversary event.
In the current situation where gate outbreaks were frequent, pushing ahead with a large-scale event to begin with was a complete out.
Furthermore, a sense of unease still lingered. It was because Koo Hyukjun’s intentions were suspicious.
In a situation where a gate could break out during the event, wasn’t he trying to excessively concentrate manpower deployment onto the event?
Of course, since it was a major event rather than a general one and a large number of attendees were expected, putting effort into safety management was naturally understandable.
However, using all S-class esper personnel for the event was a massive waste.
Moving his steps lazily, Lee Dohoon scanned his surroundings without a break.
He maximized his sense of hearing, checking if there was anything unusual. Starting from the tiniest sounds, all sorts of random noise cluttered his ears.
Keeping his hearing open excessively for a long time brought on a headache, so he roamed here and there, leaving slight intervals in between.
Adopting a moderately relaxed attitude so as not to appear suspicious.
“Ha, damn. I even dragged out loans to the maximum limit, so there’s no hole left to make money. What do I do now?”
“That’s why I told you to lay off gambling a bit, you bastard. Where else is there that pays a salary as high as ours, yet you’re spending it all recklessly, dammit?”
“Ah, I don’t know. What do you expect me to do when I just can’t quit, fuck.”
“What am I supposed to do when you’re throwing a fit like this? This won’t do, this bastard.”
Thinking it was truly the most useless story among all the background noise, Lee Dohoon formally identified the owners of the voices.
Two espers were visible conversing in the corner of the lobby.
“Hey. Don’t be like that, isn’t there anywhere else I can borrow some money? The loan was barely approved because you helped me out, you know.”
“Haa. I’m telling you to get your head straight.”
“Just this once. Just this once, huh?”
“There is one place, though…… it’s a bit tricky, so I don’t know if it’ll work out.”
“Where’s that?”
“Ha, jeez. You can’t go around telling anyone about this, okay? The content’s a bit sensitive.”
“Of course not, you jerk.”
Glancing around his surroundings, the esper whispered something into the ear of the esper who was desperate for money.
And that small whisper was clearly audible to Lee Dohoon’s ears.
“You know the Life Sciences Research Institute, right? The government-designated official institute.”
“Of course I know it. But why there?”
“Word is they’re secretly gathering esper sperm over there.”
“What? Are you insane……!”
As the voice of the listening esper rose in volume, the esper beside him hushed him urgently.
“Hey, hey. Keep it down. You got a death wish spreading this around everywhere?”
“Why on earth are they gathering that sort of thing there?”
“I don’t know the exact details, but it seems they extract esper sperm and use it in life-support experimental devices. High-ranking folks are always into that kind of stuff, aren’t they? Like eternal youth and immortality, or whatever.”
What kind of ridiculous story was this again? A glint of novelty flashed in Lee Dohoon’s eyes.
“No, damn. We aren’t sperm vending machines or something……. What does that have to do with life support, why are they looking for it?”
“Esper energy cells themselves are pretty tough, right? They’re trying out various things with them, and it seems it might help with life support. Anyway, they said they give a pretty hefty amount of money in return if you provide sperm.”
At those words, the cash-strapped esper swallowed hard and asked.
“Wh-how much?”
“They said they give a few tens of millions per donation?”
“Whoa, are you crazy? But why give so much?”
“Because it’s hush-money pay, obviously. It’s not the kind of story you go around blabbering about anywhere, considering they’re collecting esper sperm.”
“Well, I suppose that’s true.”
The two espers who had been chatting quietly soon vanished from sight.
Lee Dohoon, who had been standing still in place to listen to the conversation, resumed his steps.
The Life Sciences Research Institute, huh…….
The conversation the two espers had carried out still lingered inside Lee Dohoon’s head.
It was already a well-known fact that high-ranking folks were obsessed with life-extension research.
To the point where he couldn’t understand why they were making such a fuss over that obsession with eternal youth and immortality.
However, he hadn’t expected them to be seeking out even sperm targeting espers.
“For a pack of useless trash, truly laughable to the extreme.”
Muttering to himself, Lee Dohoon curved the corners of his lips crookedly.
Since there were people who had risen to high-ranking positions even within Lee Dohoon’s own family, a pessimistic attitude naturally bled out.
Just as Lee Dohoon was stepping into the elevator, thinking he should head to his private room soon.
The fact that the distance between the center and the Life Sciences Research Institute was quite short suddenly popped into his mind.
The distance between the two buildings was so close that it wouldn’t even be strange to consider them neighbors.
“Wait…….”
Stopping short, Lee Dohoon muttered quietly a moment later.
He knew that Koo Hyukjun was also quite interested in life-extension research.
However, considering his high level of interest, Koo Hyukjun’s frequency of visiting the research institute was remarkably low.
Compared to others who visited frequently enough to seem desperate.
Lee Dohoon’s brain began to spin rapidly.
It felt strangely interwoven with his earlier phone call mentioning that a human experimentation lab might be in the capital.
With the feeling that a clue was about to be caught, Lee Dohoon redirected the elevator heading to his private room to a different floor.
It was because he felt he needed to meet with Han Jihyuk right now.
Unlike Kang Taewon or Shin Heesung, Lee Dohoon didn’t have any particular grievances regarding Han Jihyuk ruining Go Yeonwoo’s ankle.
If anything, he was closer to being pleased about it.
